ub hi:: jliiiSii;!^' li!;!;''' i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS D0DQ5t.t.Elfl7 • « <» " <^ ^ > *■ t • ;/ X '--VVX^/^'./V" -) ^''^^''y"^ '*^q,**'^?*V %''^*^*V'' no ©no 4^ ^**"^ ♦ .v«» .^^ %.** .* 1^ -•f^" , . . Z^-fro '4/', . UL*. '*-f 0^' -is^ihir. AN AD V A N C E D HISTORY OF ENGLAND ..™». MiK .''*'" v„„'v -'m MAP OF ROMAN BRITAIN I Typo.EUhin^^ Co AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF ENGLAND From the Earliest Times to the Present Day BY CYRIL RANSOME, M.A. PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY AND ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE YORKSHIRE COLLEGE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, AUTHOR OF 'an ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND,' 'a SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLAND,' ETC. WITH MAPS AND PLANS NEW YORK MACMILLAN AND CO. 1895 yK.\ This History may also be had in Two Periods : — PERIOD I.— To ELIZABETH, 1603. 4s. PERIOD II.— To VICTORIA, 1895- 4s. ? u> r:). 3 9Mr04 ^VvYv/iijtr»'\* PKEFACE The object of this book is to carry the study of English History a stage further than has been done in my Short History of England (Longmans and Co.). It has been specially designed to meet the wants of four classes of readers : (1) of those, either at school or college, who, having mastered the elements of English History in such a book as the author's Elementary History of England (Rivington, Percival, and Co.), and what are known as the ' outlines ' in such a book as the author's Short History, are preparing to study in greater detail such a period as 1485 to 1603, or 1714 to 1815 ; (2) of teachers who, while taking a class in the ' elements ' or ' outlines,' wish to have in their own hands a fuller and more developed treatment of events ; (3) of university students, who require a fuller treatment of the whole course of events than is given in the Short History ; and (4) of those of the general public who wish to have in their hands a handy but fairly full history to which they may turn for ready information on the historical points that crop up day by day in politics or conversation. In trying to supply these needs I have throughout tried to keep in view certain principles which it may be useful to state. In selecting materials my rule has been to give more about matters of great importance, but not to introduce new matter which is itself of secondary importance. For example, in the Civil War period, I have introduced very few new names and events beyond what are mentioned in the Short History, but I have given a great deal more about the characters and motives of Laud, Strafford, and Cromwell, the Petition of Right, the Solemn League and Covenant, and the King's trial. As it is most important at this stage of historical teaching to show as far as may be on what history is based, I have systematically vi An Advanced Hidonj of England introduced into the text tlie exact words of such great documents as the Petition of Right and Habeas Corpus Act ; and throughout the narrative quotation marks, except in a few obvious cases, mean that the words enclosed come from some good contemporary authority. In arranging the material my rule has been as far as possible — and it is a most difficult thing to do especially in the later part — to treat each matter as a whole, and to avoid the fatal error of having notices of a closely-connected series of events scattered about dis- connectedly in the course of the general narrative. For examj)le, the events which led to the Scottish and Irish Unions are respec- tively grouped together. As a vivid idea of great national heroes ought to be one of the most valued treasures of the nation, I have throughout laid great stress on biography and character-sketching. In dealing with those great men, such as Strafford, Laud, and Cromwell, whose actions still provoke bitter controversy, I have followed as far as possible the rule of letting them speak for themselves, and, where I have been compelled to express an opinion on their actions, have endeavoured to give them credit for the best motives. The same rule applies even more forcibly to the statesmen of our own age and of that immediately preceding it. The dictum of John Bright that there is no jDart of history so difficult for a young- man to make himself acquainted with as that just beyond his own personal memory is undoubtedly true, and I have endeavoured to aid such persons by bringing the narrative down to the resignation of Lord Rosebery in 1895. In dealing, however, with such recent history the difficulties are enormous, but I hope I may be thought to have, at any rate, made an honest attempt to overcome them. One error of historians is to give to the minor details of modern politics a space wholly disproportioned to their relative importance. This I have tried to avoid, and have endeavoured to make the space allotted to any subject, wherever it may come in, bear a close relationship to its importance. There is, however, one subject in which it is almost impossible Preface vii to do this. Probably the greatest event in modern history is the development of the British colonial empire ; but it is most difficult to make colonial history occupy a space at all commensurate with its importance. With India the case is otherwise, for few events give greater opportunities for dramatic narrative than it ; but no one can make the history of Australia exciting, and though the same remark does not apply to the early history of Canada, its development of late years has been along the happy but uneventful lines of peaceful progress. In dealing with the question of religion, I have avoided, as far as possible, doctrinal points, and where they have been unavoidable have stated them in the words of the original documents, and have throughout used terms which I believe to be acceptable to the various religious bodies of whom history treats. Similarly, in treating of points where the national feeling or pre- judices of the various races who now share the common name of British may be touched, I have endeavoured to avoid anything which may add bitterness, have laid stress on such exploits as each remembers with pride, and have been careful by the use of the word British to draw attention to the common share in common glories and common dangers in which we have all participated. One great difficulty has been to determine the amount of space to be allotted to literature. This I would gladly have increased had it been possible ; but have been compelled to refrain, my rule being that in the earlier part of the history, say to the beginning of the Elizabethan period, literature is so closely connected with the history of the nation that it is impossible to separate them, but that after that date not only do considerations of space become more exacting, but also, as a matter of fact, the class of readers I have in view are in the habit of studying literature in a different text-book. Only where the literature bears a very close relation to politics have I ventured to allow myself a few lines on the sub- ject. The same rule applies to manners and customs. The ma]3s are numerous, and each contains the minimum of viii An Advanced History of England necessary names, so as to enable its general effect to be seen at a glance. In deciding which battles should have plans allotted to them, I have acted on the principle that where the arrangements of a battle are fairly known, and cannot well be understood without a map of the ground, as in the case of Dunbar and Salamanca, there ought to be a map ; in the case of a battle like Naseby, which though very important is perfectly easy to understand, there should not. In each plan I have endeavoured to picture some definite event in the course of the battle, and not tried to get in everything at once. In the case of Waterloo and Poitiers, in which latter battle I have followed the narrative of Galfrid le Baker, I have given two plans, showing the position of the forces at different times. The names are spelt in the manner sanctioned by the only satis- factory rule — long usage — but in some of the earlier names, to avoid the possibility of mistake, the less familiar form has been added in a bracket. As I hope the book may be largely used for reference, great pains has been taken with the index, and to aid those who are reading special periods numerous references have been inserted in the text, and even a certain amount of repetition has been introduced. The figures at the top of the pages represent with a few obvious exceptions the furthest dates reached by the general narrative at the beginning of the left-hand page and the end of the right. The Handbook in Outline of the English Political History, by Acland and Eansome, now published by Longmans and Co., will be found a great assistance in following the chronology.' In conclusion, I must thank all who have so kindly helped me in the past by pointing out errors in my former books, and in the MS. and proofs of this.' Though every possible care has been taken to make the statements exact, it is not to be expected but that some errors remain, and any one who will kindly draw my attention to them will confer a great favour upon the author. C. R. Leeds, Jnltj 1895. CONTENTS Book I ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST. CHAPTER PAGE I. PREHISTORIC AND CELTIC BRITAIN", 3 Prehistoric Inhabitants — Thelvernians — The Celts — First Civi- lised Visitors — Caesar's Expeditions. II. BRITAIN UNDER THE ROMANS, . . . '. . .13 Roman Conquest of Britain — Introduction of Roman Civilisa- tion — Causes of the Withdrawal of the Romans. III. THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN BRITAIN, .... 19 Little known of first English Invasion — Gildas' Account most trustworthy — Later Conquests of Ceawlin and Ethelfrith — Effects of the Conquest on the Britons. IV. THE CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH, 26 Preaching of Augustine and of the Celtic Missionaries — Synod of Whitby — Organisation of the Church of Theodore — In- fluence of the Church — Supremacy of the Northumbrians, then of the Mercians, then of the West Saxons under Egbert. V. INSTITUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH, 40 Physical Features of the Country — Local Government of the Township, the Hundred, and the Shire — Central Government in the hands of the King and Witenagemot — English Society in the Ninth Century. VI. THE INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN, 51 The Ethnology of the Northmen — Their Early Invasions — The Youth of Alfred the Great — Accession of Alfred — His struggles against the Danes — Peace of Wedmore — The Dane- law — Political Effects of the Danish Settlement — Reorganisa- tion of his Kingdom by Alfred — Later Wars with the Danes — Death of Alfred. X An Advanced History of England CHAPTER PAGE VII. RECONQUEST OF THE DANELAW, 61 Edward the Elder begins au oflfensive War against the Danes, and secures his Conquests by Fortifications— Edward is acknowledged Overlord by the whole Island— Battle of Brunanburh— Conquest of Strathclyde— The Policy of Edgar and Dunstan. VIII. THE DANISH CONQUEST, . 69 Renewal of the Danish Invasions — Feeble resistance of the English — Canute's Reign — Rise of Godwin — Reigns of Harold and Hardicanute. IX. THE NORMAN CONQUEST, 7.6 The Character of Edward the Confessor — Influx of Normans- Godwin and his Family unsuccessfully oppose the Normans — Visit of William of Normandy to England — Return of Godwin and Banishment of the Normans — Character of Harold, Godwin's Son — Accession of Harold — Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. Book II THE NORMAN KINGS OF ENGLAND (1066-1154). 1. WILLIAM I. (1066-I087), Completion of the Conquest — Apportionment of the Soil and Offices — Discontent of the Normans — Doomsday Book — Quarrels in the Royal House. II. WILLIAM II. (1087-IIO0), Contest with the Barons continued — Tlie enforcement of the Feudal Dues— The first Crusade. III. HENRY I. (1IOO-II35), Conciliatory measures — Suppression of the Barons — The In- vestiture question — Reorganisation of the central Govern- ment — Social Progress. IV. STEPHEN (11 35-11 54), Stephen's success— Contest for the Crown— Battles of North- allerton and Lincoln— Siege of Oxford— Effects of the War- Henry of Anjou. Contents xi Book III THE EAELIER ANGEVIN KINGS, SOMETIMES CALLED PLANTAGENETS. ;hapter page I. HENRY II. (ll 54-1189), 135 Keorganisation of the Kingdom — The great Scutage — The Becket Quarrel — Judicial Eeforms — Conquest of Ireland — Abortive Revolt of the Barous — Quarrels in the Royal Family. II. RICHARD I. (1189-II99), 157 Exploits and Imprisonment of Richard — lu his absence the Kingdom is governed by his Ministers — C^onstitutional and Social Progress of the time — Richard's Death . III. JOHN (i 199- 12 16), 167 John's ill character leads to the loss of France, a quarrel with the Church, and finally his iniquitous life and Government cause a union of all classes to extort the Great Charter — A French Prince invited to take the Throne. IV. HENRY III. (1216-I272), . . . . . . . 182 The Regency of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke — His place taken by Hubert de Burgh — Henry takes the rule into his own hands, governs badly, and allows himself to fall into the hands of Favourites — Rise of a Baronial Party under Simon de Montfort — The Barons' Wars. Book IV THE LATER ANGEVIN KINGS, SOMETIMES CALLED PLANTAGENETS. I. EDWARD I. (1272- 1 307), 205 Age of Legislative Activity — Final Conquest of Wales — A Scottish Dynastic difficulty leads to its Annexation — Com- plete and Model Parliament — The Confirmation of the Charters — Scottish Revolt. II. EDWARD II. (1307-I327), . . . . . . . 228 Piers Gaveston — The Lords Ordainers — Gaveston's Death — Bruce's Scottish successes — Bannockburn — The Despeusers — Lancaster's Defeat at Boroughbridge, and Death — General combination against the Despensers, headed by the Queen and Mortimer, leads to Edward's Dethronement. xii An Advanced History of England CHAPTER PAGE III. EDWARD III. (1327-I377), • 242 Fall of Mortimer— Scottish Affairs bring on War with France, which led to important Constitutional Developments— Battles of Sluys and Crecy— Siege of Calais— The Black Death, and its effects on the Manorial System— Battle of Poitiers and Treaty of Bretigny — Spanish Expedition leads to a disastrous renewal of the War — Growth of a strong feeling against the Pope and the Clergy — John of Gaunt and Wyclif — The Reforms of the Good Parliament. IV. RICHARD II. (1377-I399), 278 The Minority— Peasant Revolt — The Lollards— Opposition Nobles displace the King's Ministers — Richard's personal rule — His revenge on the Nobles, and final fall. Book V THE LANCASTEIAN AND YORKIST KINGS. I. HENRY IV. (1399-I413), ...... 299 Rebellions in Richard's Favour — The Lollards — Owen Glen- dower — The Risings of the Percies and of Scrope — Foreign Affairs — Henry's Constitutional Government. II. HENRY V. (1413-I422), 313 The French Wars — Agincourt — Siege of Rouen — Treaty of Troyes. III. HENRY VI. (1422 — DETHRONED I461 — DIED I471), . . 324 French Wars — Siege of Orleans — Loss of France — Growth of Hostile Parties headed respectively by the Beauforts and the Duke of York — Outbreak of Civil War — Dethronement of Henry vi. IV. EDWARD IV. (1461-I483), ....... 348 Battle of Towton and Suppression of the Lancastrians — Edward's Marriage — Warwick intrigues for Power — Restora- tion of Henry— Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury— Death of Henry— Expedition to France— Power of Edward. V. EDWARD V. (1483), 361 Richard of Gloucester becomes Protector, and eventually Edward is dethroned. VI. RICHARD III. (1483-1485), 365 Murder of the Princes — Morton's Conspiracy — Benevolences condemned— Conspiracy of Henry Tudor— Bosworth. Contents xiii Book VI THE HOUSE OF TUDOR. HAPTER PAGE I. HENRY VII. (1485- 1 509), 376 Policy of Henry vii. — Rebellion of Simnel and Perkin — Ireland — Strengthening of the Crown — Foreign Affairs. II. HENRY VIII. (1509- 1 547), 392 Foreign politics — Flodden — Wolsey's career — The Divorce ques- tion leads to the fall of Wolsey and the separation from Rome — Changes in the Church — Dissolution of the Monas- teries — Resistance to these changes — Henry's domestic life — Later foreign policy. III. EDWARD VI. (1547- 1 5 53), 426 The Arrangements for the Minority — Somerset — Battle of Pinkie, and Rebellions in Devonshire and Norfolk — Ascen- dancy of John Dudley — The Reformation— Unpopularity of the Government — Plot to alter the Succession. IV. MARY (1553-1558), 437 The Accession — The Spanish Match — Gradual Repeal of the Ecclesiastical Legislation passed since 1529 — Persecution of the Protestants — War with France and loss of Calais — Unpopularity of the Government. V. ELIZABETH (1558-I603), 448 Elizabeth's Religious Settlement — Foreign Affairs— The Refor- mation in Scotland — History of Mary Queen of Scots to her Flight into England— The Civil Wars in France— The Revolt of the Netherlands — Improvement in Elizabeth's position — The Rivalry of the English and Spaniards in the South Seas — Danger from Mary Queen of Scots — Her Execution — The Spanish Armada — English Command of the Seas — Irish Affairs— Essex's Career and Execution — The Monopolies. Book VII THE STUARTS. I. JAMES I. (1603-1625), 485 The Main and Bye Plots — The religious question — Parliament — The Gunpowder Plot — The constitutional difficulties of James — Death of Raleigh— The Thirty Years' War— Buck- ingham — the Spanish Match. xiv An Advanced History of England CHAPTER ^'^' II. CHARLES I. (162 5- 1 649), 5( Quarrels with his first Parliament— The Petition of Eight— The Rise of Laud and Wentworth— Imprisonment of Eliot— Arbi- trary Rule— Wentworth in Ireland— Religious Difficulties in Scotland— First Bishops' War— The Short Parliament— Second Bishops' War. III. CHARLES I. (part II.), 5: The Composition of the Long Parliament— The Trial and Death of Straft'ord— Reforming Measures— The Religious Question and Division of Parties — Impeachment of the five Members- Opening of the War — First Civil War — Imprisonment of the King — Second Civil War —Trial and Death of Charles. IV. THE COMMONWEALTH AXD PROTECTORATE, .... 586 The Commonwealth — Wars in Scotland, Ireland, and with the Dutch — Expulsion of the ' Rump ' — Barebone's Parliament — The Instrument of Government — The Petition and Advice- Death of Cromwell — Events which led to the Restoration. V. CHARLES II. (1660- 1 685), . 613 The Acts of the Convention Parliaments — Clarendon's Ministry —The First Dutch War— Fall of Clarendon— The Cabal— The Treaties of Dover— Second Dutch War — Fall of the Cabal — Danby's Ministry — Rise of the 'Country' Party — The Exclu- sion Bill— Fall of the Whigs. VI. JAMES II. (1685-1689), 644 Character of James — Monmouth's Rebellion — The Dispensing Power — Hales' Case — The Ecclesiastical Commission — Attacks upon the Universities — The Declaration of Indulgence— Ad- verse Feeling in the Country — Birth of James' Son — Trial of the Seven Bishops — Expedition of William of Orange — Flight of James — The Interregmim — The Declaration of Right. VII. WILLIAM AND MARY (1689-I702), 667 The Revolution in Scotland and Ireland — War with France — Rise of Party Government — Financial Measures — Treaty of Ryswick — The Partition Treaties — The Grand Alliance. VIII. ANNE (1702- 1 7 14), 705, Character of Marlborough — The War of the Spanish Succession — Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet — The Union of England and Scotland — Ministerial Intrigues— Prosecution of Sacheverell and Fall of the Whigs — The Treaty of Utrecht — The Schism Act — Death of Anne. Contents xv Book VIII THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. CHAPTER PAGE I. GEORGE I. (17 14-1727), 734 The Whig Ministers — Jacobite Kebellion of 1715 — Foreign Policy — Stanhope and Sunderland — The South Sea Bubble — Walpole in Power — Wood's Halfpence. II. GEORGE II. ( 1 727-1 760), 756 Walpole in Power — The Wesleyans — The Opposition — Spanish War and Fall of Walpole — Carteret in Power — Foreign Affairs — Henry Pelham — The '45 — Rise of Pitt and Fox — Domestic Affairs — The Seven Years' War — Triumphs of Pitt. III. GEORGE HI. (part I., I760-I789), 804 Fall of Pitt — The Wilkes Case — Estrangement of the American Colonies — The Middlesex Election — Junius' Letters— Loss of the American Colonies — Parliamentary and Economical Re- form — The Coalition — India — Ministry of the younger Pitt. IV. GEORGE III. (part II., 1 789- 1 820), THE WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, . . . 854 Causes and Progress of the French Revolution — Its effect on the Relations of Great Britain and France — The War against the French Republic — Irish Affairs — The Union, and Fall of Pitt — The War against Napoleon — The Peace — Its effects on England. V. GEORGE IV. (1820- 1 830), 920 The Queen's Trial — Signs of Progress — Death of Castlereagh — Policy of Canning and Huskisson — Affairs of Greece — Roman Catholic Emancipation. VI. WILLIAM IV. (1830- 1 837), 936 The Great Reform Bill — Period of Active Legislation — The Irish Church — Slavery — -The Poor Laws — The Municipal Reform — Peel and Conservative Reaction — Lord Melbourne's Govern- ment. VII. VICTORIA (part I., 1837-1865), 954 Canada — The Chai'tists — The Corn Law Agitation — The Afghan, Scinde, and Sikh Wars— O'Connell— Repeal of the Corn Laws — The Year of Revolutions — The Russian War — Indian Mutiny — Parliamentary Reform — Foreign- Affairs — Death of Palmer ston. XVI An Advanced History of England CHAPTER VIII. VICTORIA (part II., 1 865- ), House Suflfrage granted to the Towns— Great Legislative Activity under Gladstone — The Russo-Turkish War — Gladstone's Ministry of 1880 to 1885— The Irish Question— The Occupa- tion of Egypt— Lowering of the County Franchise— Home Rule adopted by Mr. Gladstone— Unsuccessful Attempts to carry his Views into Effect— Extension of Popular Govern- ment to Counties and Parishes— Problems of the Future- Conclusion. PAGE 1004 EKRATA Page 304, line 26— /or the little read Edmund. 305, line 6 from 'bottom— read Edmund, earl of March. 424, line 2 from bottom— /or though read as. 801, map — Gwalior is a place, not a district. 885, map— A^o^e : The size of the ships is exaggerated. 901, map — add Picton's name commanding the British right. 906, line 5 from bottom— /or fifteen read ten. 965, line 16 — insert a comma after Akbar. 985 — Note : Maj^ represents the close of the siege. 1004, line 1,/or Chapter vi. read Chapter VIII. 1026, 5, 3, (^eZe^g the commas. 1026, ,, 16, /or interests read interest. 1027, 5, 10, from bottom, after enemies add or. 1034, ,, 10, from bottom, before members read Nationalist. ADDENDUM Page 1039, line 31— The result of the General Election of 1895 was to give the Unionist Government a large majority in the House of Commons, and no less than four members of Lord Rosebery's Cabinet, including Sir William Harcourt and Mr. John Morley, were defeated at the polls. TABLES OF GENEALOGIES BOOK I NO. I. Kings of the House of Egbert, 802-1066, II. Danish Kings of England, . PAGE 2 2 BOOK n III. The Norman Kings of England, IV. Kings of Scotland, 1066-1214, 90 90 BOOK III V. The Earlier Angevin or Plantagenet Kings, 1154-1272, VI. Kings of Scotland, 1153-1286, VII. Kingsof France, 987-1285, 133 134 135 BOOK IV VIII. The Later Angevin or Plantagenet Kings, 1272-1399, . . . 202 IX. Kings of Scotland, 1165-1406, 203 X. Kings of France, 1270- 1422, and Edward III. 's claim to France, . 203 The Bohuns, 229 BOOK V XL The Houses of York and Lancaster, 1399-1485, XII. Kings of Scotland, 1306- 1488, XIII. Kings of France, 1350-1515, The Beauforts, .... The Woodvilles and Courtenays, The Staflfords, .... The De la Poles, b 296 297 297 338 360 365 368 XVlll TcMes of Genealogies BOOK VI NO. XIV. The House of Tudor, 1485-1603 XV. Kings of Scotland, 1460-1603 XVI. Kings of France, 1485- 1603, Charles v. of Spain, The Poles, The Howards, . The Dudleys and Sydneys (later Sidney), PAGE 374 374 375 388 419 422 433 BOOK VII XVII. The Stuarts, 1603-1714 .484 XVIII. Kings of France, 1589-1715, . 484 The House of Spain, to illustrate the disputed Spanish Succession, 700 BOOK VIII XIX. Kings of France, 1609-1848, . XX. The exiled House of Stuart, . XXI. The House of Hanover, 1714 to present day, 732 732 733 LIST OF MAPS AND BATTLE PLANS PAGE Eomau Britain, Frontispiece England and Wales, showing Forests, Fens, and Moorland, . . . xx Battle of Hastings, 85 England, 1066-1399, 88 France, 1066-1815, 132 English and Scottish Border, 1290-1603, 204 Wales and the Severn Valley, 215 Crecy, 254 Poitiers (two), 262 North of France, and Campaigns of Crecy and Agincourt, .... 298 Agincourt, 319 Towtou Field, 349 The Flodden District, 396 Ireland under Elizabeth, 476 England during the Civil War, 538 Operations connected with Edgehill, 559 Part of Yorkshire in 1643-1644, 567 Marston Moor, 568 Scotland after 1603, 574 Ireland after 1603, 589 Dunbar, 592 Worcester, 594 The Netherlands, Qm Blenheim, 708 Ramillies, 711 Dettingen, 770 British Colonies in North America, 789 Quebec, 795 India, 801 American War of Independence, 826 Battle of the Nile, 871 Gibraltar and Trafalgar, 885 Spain and Portugal, 895 Salamanca, 901 The Waterloo Campaign, 907 Battle of Waterloo (two), 909 The Crimea, 984 Siege of Sebastopol, 985 xix L— KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF EGBEET, 802-1066. Egbert, 802-839. Ethelwulf, 839-858. Ethelbald, Ethelbert, Ethelred I., Alfred, 858-860. 860-866. 866-871. 871-901. Etlielwald. Edward the Elder, 901-925. Athelstan, 925-940. Edmund I. , 940-946. Edred, 946-955. Edwy, 955-959. Edgar, 959-975. Edward the Martyr, Ethelred the Unready, = (1 ) Elgiva ; (2) Emma 975-979. 979-1016. I of Normaudy. (1) Edmund Ironside, (2) Edward the Confessor, 1016. 1042-1066. Edmund, d. 1050. Edward, d. 1057. Edgar Atlieling, d. 1120. Margaret, d. 1093=Malcolm Canmore, d. 1096. Matilda, d. 1118=Henry I., d. 1135. II.— THE DANISH KINGS OF ENGLAND. Harold Blatand or Bluetooth. I I I Sweyn, d. 1014. Great-graiiddaugliter of I Harold Blatand = Godwin. Canute, 1016-1035. Harold I., Hardicanute (Emma's 1035-1040. son), 1040-1042. I I I Harold II., Edith, = Edward the Tostig, d. 1066. d. 1066. d. 1075. Confessor. Reigning sovereigns are in small capitals. (1) or (2) signifies by first or second wife or husband. CHAPTEE I PREHISTORIC AND CELTIC BRITAIN Prehistoric luliabitants — The Ivernians — The Celts — First Civilised Visitors — Cresar's Expeditions. In prehistoric times Great Britain and Ireland formed part of a large peninsula which stretched out into the Atlantic from the northern shores of France and Belgium. In those days the extremes of tempera- primeval ture were much greater than they are at present, and con- ^^^t^i"- sequently this peninsula was inhabited during the warm season by the hippopotamus, the bison, and the mammoth, and in the cold weather by the lemming, the reindeer, and the musk - sheep. Among the remains of these creatures, found in the river deposits of the valley of the Thames, flint tools made by the hand of man are occasionally discovered. The makers of these tools were in the lowest state of civilisation, for they were unable to construct handles for Primitive their sharpened flints, and had to hold them in their hands. Inhabitants. Their lot was in every way a hard one, and their livelihood most precarious, and they seem to have disappeared along with the now extinct animals among whom they lived. Their place was taken by a somewhat superior race, who used flints of a better shape, and fitted them into handles which they manufactured out of wood or bone, paleolithic They- had also considerable artistic skill, which they showed ^^"* in ornamenting these weapons with spirited illustrations of the beasts they slew in the chase. Nevertheless, they were in a very low state of culture, for they took no care of their dead ; and, though they could clothe themselves with the skins of wild beasts sewn together by means of sinew threads, they had no domestic animals and knew nothing of the arts of spinning and weaving. Years passed away, and, after a period of time of which it is impossible to form any trustworthy calculation, this race, like its predecessors, 3 4 Prehistoric Britain disappeared for ever from Britain, and is only represented in our day by the Eskimos, who have something of its artistic skill and exhibit the same indifference in dealing with the bodies of their dead. To both these races archeeologists give the name of Palaeolithic or old stone men ; and they describe the former as Eiver-drift men, and the latter as Cave-men. Their place was taken by a third race who came from the south-east, and Neolithic brought with them most of the domestic animals that are ^^"' now in use, such as the dog, ox, pig, sheep, and goat ; they were also acquainted with the arts of spinning and weaving, but in con- sequence of the imperfection of their tools these were only practised by them in a very rude form. Before the date of their arrival, owing to the sinking of the land, the ocean had overflowed the lower levels, and had formed the British Channel, the Irish Sea, and the German Ocean, so that they must have had some knowledge of navigation ; while the discovery of their flint works at Brandon and elsewhere proves that they had considerable skill in excavation and mining. To this comparatively civilised people archieologists give the name of Neolithic or newer stone men. They buried their dead with great care, making a chamber of flat stones in which they placed the body, and erecting over it a pile of earth or of stones, which naturally assumed an elliptic shape, not unlike a pear cut in half lengthwise and placed with its flat surface downwards. These burial-places are known as long barrows. From the remains found in them a good idea can be formed of the appearance and physique of the Neolithic men. In stature they were short, the height of the men averagmg not more than five feet five inches, and in complexion they were swarthy. The colour of their hair, which was curly, was black ; and their eyes, it is believed, were dark. Their skulls, if looked at from above, were oval ; their faces, too, had the same shape, the forehead being low, the chin small, and the cheek-bones not protruding. For how long a period the Neolithic men of this race remained in undisturbed possession of these lands it is impossible to estimate ; but, having regard to the great geological changes that took place in their time, it must have been very considerable. At length, however, their settlements were invaded by a set of new-comers who, by reason of strength, numbers, or skill, were able to drive out the older race and to take forcible possession of the districts where game was the most plentiful The Celtic o^ where agriculture was most productive. The new-comers Invasion, ^re known as Celts. They were the advanced guard of a group of nations who have played a most important part in the history of the world, and are known to ethnologists as the Aryan family. The terms Aryan and Celt are quite diff'erent from Palaeolithic and Neolithic. The Aryans 5 The former are race names, while the latter simply denote a state of civilisation. For a time both the Celts and the people they displaced were in the Neolithic stage, and consequently when it is needful to distinguish between them it is usual to employ some other term. For this reason we designate the older race by the name of Iberians or Ivernians. The Ivernians are the oldest race which has taken any part in forming the blood of the present European population. As a separate nationality they are only represented at most by the Basques of the Pyrenees, and there is some doubt even about this. It is, however, certain that at one time they were spread over all Europe west of the Khine and the Rhone, and over Switzerland ; and their blood has largely mingled with that of their Aryan conquerors. Where the Aryans came from is a matter of great dispute. Some cling to the theory that the original home of the race was in Central Asia, on The iV*»T7or\c the upland slopes which lead to the Himalayas ; others believe that the true mother-land is to be found near the shores of the Baltic, on the flats of Pomerania, or among the marshes of Sweden. However this may be, the Aryans have now established themselves in all, or almost all, the temperate regions of the globe ; for there belong to this race not only the main stock of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans of the ancient world, but a considerable portion of the Hindoos, and of modern Europeans, the French, Spaniards, Germans, Slavs, and Italians, besides the inhabitants of the British Isles and their descendants in America, South Africa, and Australia. Climate and the continual mingling of their blood with that of other races have long since modi- fied the aspect of the Aryans, and made it very hard to say which of these nations has preserved most of the original characteristics of the stock. It is not difficult to distinguish between the two races. The Celts were light of limb and tall of stature, having indeed an average height of five feet eight inches, or three inches taller than that of the Ivernian men. The outline of their skulls, viewed from the same • . The Celts position, was round. Their foreheads were high, their cheek-bones prominent, and their eyes, it is believed, were blue. Like the Neolithic men, the Celts were in the habit of burving; their dead with reverence ; but, unlike them, they covered the grave with a barrow shaped like a cone or a bell. Some of the bronze-using men, however, made a practice of burning their dead, and the two methods of burial were apparently carried on side by side. This difierence of practice may have been caused by a difference in religion, or possibly the reason may be connected with the arrival of a new race. The language of the 6 Celtic Britain Aryans, which is represented not only by those of the nations mentioned above, but also by Sanskrit and Latin and Greek, is very different in structure both from Basque, which is the modern representative of Ivernian, and also from Hebrew and Arabic, which belong to the Semitic family. For example, the first four numerals in Welsh are un, dau, tri, in Greek they are eis, duo, tris, and in Sanskrit eTca, dir, tri, while in Basque they are bat, hi, hirii. When the pioneers of the Celtic race invaded Britain they had almost brought to a close their contest with the Ivernians of the continent, Celtic Con- having compelled them to evacuate the north of Italy, quest. almost the whole of Gaul, and much of the Spanish Peninsula. This contest, which occupied a very considerable period, took place at a time when the Celts were passing through a transition stage in civilisation ; for whereas at the beginning of their invasions they were using practically the same stone weapons as their antagonists, at its close they had adopted weapons of bronze of an ancient Mediterranean type. The importance of this change is obvious ; for not only did their better weapons give the bronze-using men an enormous superiority over those who had nothing more efi'ective than stone, but also in the unending struggle with nature man acquired a most valuable reinforcement of aggressive power. Hitherto, though Neolithic man had possessed some acquaintance with the cultivation of wheat, and knew the valuable properties of some of the herbs and vegetables which we now use at table, agriculture on a large scale had been impracticable. But the introduc- tion of metal tools revolutionised the farmer's life. Henceforward the axe became more efficient, the spade and the plough became possible ; forests could be felled, fens could be drained, wastes could be cultivated, and the age when nature, which was formerly the tyrant, became the handmaid of man may fau'ly be said to have begun. Whether the in- vading Celts met with much resistance at the hands of the older inhabi- tants of the island, or whether the stone-using men at once recognised the hopelessness of the contest, has not been determined ; but it is certain that the remains of both races are to be found in the same barrows, at any rate in France, and that skeletons combining the characteristics of both bear evidence of intermarriage. After the lapse of some time a new swarm of Celts made their appear- ance in Britain and drove the older settlers before them, as they, at an earlier date, had displaced the Ivernians. The result of this was to cause a westerly movement of the whole population, in the course of which, if not before, the older race of Celts made their way into Ireland. The Ivernians were driven into the west of that country and into the 330 B.C. Pytheas' Voyage 7 north of Scotland, and, probably being unable to maintain their independ- ence, and impelled by the fear of a new danger, made common cause with their old antagonists against a common foe. It is not thought that there was any marked difference in the physical characteristics of the Celts, new and old ; but they spoke different though kindred languages, and at a later date it is possible to tell by a study of their inscriptions and of their place- names which parts of the country were inhabited by each. It is usual to speak of the older Celts as Goidels, Gaedels, or Gaels, and of the newer as Brythons or Britons. The name Brython probably means clothed ; the meaning of Goidel is unknown. It is from the Brythons that the name of Britain is derived ; but the oldest name of the island is Albion, the origin of which, how- ever, is a matter of uncertainty. Meanwhile, the existence of the islands had become an object of interest to the civilised races which dwelt round the Mediterranean. The necessity of securing a constant supply of tin forced Massiiian the bronze-using nations of antiquity to search in all direc- Discoveries, tions for that metal, and produced a keen rivalry for the possession of those districts where it could be found in the greatest abundance. Amongst these the Spanish Peninsula was famous, and it was early monopolised by the merchants of Tyre and, on the decline of that city, by its colony Carthage, which made the rigid exclusion of all rivals a matter of unvarying policy. Such jealous exclusiveness naturally pro- voked reprisals, and in the latter half of the fourth century before Christ, when Alexander was in the midst of his Asiatic conquests, the Eomans sent an ambassador to the Greek colony of Massilia (Marseilles) to inquire whether the merchants there could tell them anything as to the possibility of opening up a trade with the tin-producing countries of the north-west. The Massilians could tell the Eomans little or nothing ; but, their own curiosity having been aroused, they fitted out two expeditions, one of which was to explore the coast of Africa southwards ; the other, passing by Cadiz, the most westerly of the old Phoenician settlements, was to make its way to the northwards in hopes of finding new stores of tin, and also of discovering the situation of the coast whence from time immemorial large quantities of amber had been carried overland to the shores of the Adriatic. Pytheas, who took command of the latter fleet, was a man of science who gained a great reputation by accurately cal- culating the latitude of Massilia, and also by explaining the causes of the tides ; and it is from his own pen that we learn what is known of the expedition in which he bore so distinguished a part. Unhappily, his original work has been lost ; but so great was his reputation that 8 Celtic Britain 330 B.C. almost all the Greek iind Koman geographies contain quotations from it, so that a considerable number of fragments have in this way been preserved. After calling at Cadiz, Pytheas made his way to the mouth of the river Loire, and thence, without attempting to land in what is now called Voyage of Cornwall, of whose wealth in tin he appears to have been Pytheas. ignorant, continued his voyage to the coast of Kent, and, landing there, was probably the first civilised man who set foot on the shores of Britain. He seems to have reached the island in early spring, and remained there till the summer, when he set sail in search of the amber-coast, and is thought by some to have penetrated the Baltic as far east as the mouth of the Vistula ; he also followed the coast of Norway till he found himself within the Arctic circle, where the sun ceases to set, but ' revolves from west to east and shines through the whole summer's night.' At this point he changed his course and returned to the coast of Britain, which he followed southwards as far as Kent. After a short rest he sailed for home, and, landing at the mouth of the Garonne, made his way to Marseilles by land. Unfortunately, Pytheas was not versed in ethnology, so he does not tell us much that we should like to know about the distribution of the races of Britain, and his chief inquiries were doubtless about the supply of tin. He tells us, however, of the abundance of grain which he observed in the fields ; of the peculiar but pleasant drink which the islanders made by mixing wheat and honey, in much later ages known to their Welsh descendants under the name of metheglin ; of their threshing-floors roofed in to provide against changes of weather ; and of a species of beer. Though there is no written authority for the fact, it is believed that the explorations of Pytheas led to the opening up of a trade between Marseilles and the north, the staples of which were British tin and Baltic amber ; and this theory is supported by the fact that the earliest Greek coins found in the island belong to the age of Alexander. About . two hundred years after the time of Pytheas, Britain was Posidonius. . • 1 T T^ . 1 . „ T^, visited by Posidonius of Ehodes, who in his old age was the tutor of Cicero and possibly of Julius Csesar. He made his way as far west as Cornwall, and describes how the natives brought the tin in wagons as far as the island of Ictis,i where it was carried on board the ships of the Gallic merchants, who transported it to Portus Itius.^ There it was placed upon the backs of pack-horses for conveyance to the Rhone, down which it was carried in boats to Marseilles. This 1 Ictis is generally thought to he Isle of Thanet, and Portus Itius is taken to be Boulogne. 55 B.C. Ccesar^s Invasions 9 long journey with its many changes points to a very considerable degree of civilisation along the route and of a widespread commercial spirit. Meanwhile, the steady pressure of the Germans from across the Rhine caused the Celts of Gaul to continue their westerly movement, and the Belg?e, a tribe who dwelt between the Seine and the Scheldt, began to send colonies across the Channel and to dispossess ^ the Brythons of southern Britain. The main settlement of the Belgse took place during the earlier half of the first century before Christ, but it is possible that some of them may have made their way over at an even earlier date. It is not unlikely that the restlessness of the Belga? was connected with the conquests that the Eomans were at this time making in the south of Gaul. The first serious attempt of the . , . ^ Advance Romans to conquer Gaul was made m the year 118 b.c. of the By that date the Roman dominion had been established throughout Italy, Spain, the Balkan Peninsula, including Greece, the coasts of Asia Minor, and over all the islands of the Mediterranean. It was only necessary for them to conquer Gaul to make themselves masters of the whole of the northern shores of that great inland sea. For fifty years, however, they confined their operations to the coast, for their first object was the completion of a great military road between Italy and Spain along the route formerly followed by Hannibal in his famous march ; and they had also much ado to defend their new province from the attacks of wandering bodies of Teutons, who from time to time attempted to make settlements in the Roman territories. However, in the year 58 b.c, Julius Csesar, the greatest of all the Romans, was sent to Gaul, and, after severe fighting, he carried the Roman arms triumphant over the whole of modern France. He found, however, that there would be little chance of permanent tranquillity while on the one hand the eastern frontier was in terror of a renewal of the German invasions, and on the other the Belg?e of northern Gaul could hope for assistance from their kinsmen across the British Channel. Accordingly, in the c^sar's first year 55 b.c, he determined to demonstrate to both the invasion. Germans and the Britons the invincibility of the Roman arms. He struck terror into the hearts of the Germans by suddenly throwing a bridge across the swift-rushing Rhine and apj^earing in force amidst the forests of Germany ; and then, withdrawing his legions with equal rapidity, he appeared upon the shores of the Channel and embarked his troops for an invasion of Britain. With ten thousand foot soldiers he sailed from the Portus Itius and made his way to where the white clifis of 10 Celtic Britain 54 B.C. Dover could be seen upon the horizon. Having with some difficulty effected a landing, the Romans found the Britons not unwilling to treat and even to give hostages. However, the sudden destruction of the Roman fleet by a storm encouraged the Britons to further resistance, and il was only after having been defeated in an attempt to storm the Roman camp that they offered terms. Ccesar, who had repaired his ships, and perhaps found the enterprise to be more serious than he had anticipated, decided to accept these, and forthwith returned to Gaul. The next year, second having provided a larger fleet and more suitable vessels, he nvasion. j-g^urned, and, landing without opposition, stormed an en- trenched camp of the Britons situated about twelve miles from the place of his landing. Again time was lost in repairing the damages done by a storm, and this gave the Britons opportunity to organise an alliance under the leadership of Cassivellaunus, chief of the Catuvelauni, whose stronghold was an entrenched camp believed to have been situated not far from St. Albans. In the face of the enemy C?esar crossed the Thames, and marched against the allies. On the road, however, the Romans, as was their custom, contrived to sow dissension among their opponents, and one tribe of the Trinobantes, who lived in w^hat is now called Essex, deserted Cassivellaunus and ranged itself on the side of Caesar. The Romans then stormed the camp, and the British leader, finding that a diversion which he had planned, by directing the four chiefs of Kent to attack the ships, had been repulsed by the Roman guard, determined to send in his submission. His proposals were well received, and Caesar, whose object had been accomplished by the submission of the Britons, and who was not prepared to undertake the conquest of the country, returned home, and left the brave islanders in peace. In his celebrated narrative of the Gallic war, from which this account , has been taken, Caesar gives a description of Britain. In this scription of he speaks of its large population, its numerous houses, built almost in the Gaulish fashion, and of the large herds of cattle. Tin, he tells us, was common, but iron was scarce, and bronze had to be imported, from which it appears that the working of copper was as yet unknown. Of the trees common in Gaul the beech and the pine alone were v^^anting ; and Caesar noticed that the climate was more temperate than that of Gaul, the cold being less severe. The inhabitants of Kent he found to be the most civilised, for some of the tribes of the interior sowed no corn, but lived on milk and flesh, and clothed themselves in skins. All of them, however, painted themselves with woad to present a more horrible appearance in battle, all wore their hair long, and shaved their faces except the upper lip. In their warfare the most striking 54 B.C. Distribution of Inhabitants 1 1 feature was the employment of war-chariots, with which their warriors did not charge among the ranks, but galloped along the front of the enemy's lines, and, when they perceived a weak place, flung themselves into it and fought on foot. Meanwhile, the charioteers awaited at a convenient distance the result of the conflict, and, if their comrades were defeated, were ready to take them up and either make a retreat or seek a fresh point for attack. The religion of the Britons, which CcTesar tells us had been adopted by the continental Celts, was Druidism. The Druids were an order of priests who exercised a paramount influence over their followers. 'They taught the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which, they believed, had a tendency to inspire men with courage by making them indiff'erent to death. They also devoted much thought to astronomy, to the magnitude of the universe and of the earth, to the nature of things, to the power and prerogatives of the immortal gods ; and their learning they taught to the young men.' Some of their rites were utterly barbarous, and they did not scruple to offer human sacrifices. The influence that Druidism exercised over its followers was immense, for it is thought that it was under the direction of its votaries that the tremendous undertaking of collecting and placing in position the huge blocks of stone which form the mighty monument of Stone- henge and other similar works was carried out. Csesar made no scientific distinction between the races of Britain ; but modern research has decided that, speaking generally, the distribution of Brythons, Goidels, and Ivernians was as follows : — Except Ethnology the south-eastern counties, inhabited by the Belgse, the great °^ Britain, part of southern Britain was occupied by Celts of the Brythonic type, who touched the southern shores of the Bristol Channel, Belsrse. occupied a wedge of country between North and South Wales, afterwards known as Powys, the district between the Dee and Morecambe Bay, and extended northward across the friths „ •^' Brythons. as far as Loch Earn. This left South and North Wales, the Lake district, the Western Lowlands, and the low-lying lands north of the Forth in the hands of the Goidels, who also occupied the islands of Mona and Man, and all that part of the British isles which was not in the hands of the Ivernians. It is impos- sible to say how far the Ivernians existed as an independent , . , Ivernians. people. it IS probable, however, that the pressure oi the Brythons on the Goidelic Celts had led to a fusion of the latter with the Ivernians. A century later Tacitus mentions that in his day the Silures of South Wales presented an appearance difierent from that of 1 2 Celtic Britain the other Britons, and speaks of the olive tincture of their skin and the natural curl of their hair as distinguishing them from the ruddy- haired Celts north of the Wall. From this it is probable that the inhabitants of South Wales had received a large infusion of Ivernian blood. North of the Firth of Clyde and the Tay, it is probable that the Goidels had not established themselves more than along the Eastern Lowlands, and that the Highlands, so far as they were inhabited at all, were still in the hands of an Ivernian population. The conclusions arrived at from time to time with regard to the difficult but interesting question of the distribution of the early inhabitants of Britain depend upon a variety of evidence. This is supplied by archaeology, ethnology, place-names and inscriptions ; and the deductions drawn are liable to modification from time to time, as further information makes possible a more exact approximation to the truth. CHIEF DA TES. B.C. Visit of Pytheas, .... c. 330 Csesar's invasions of Britain, . 55 and 54 CHAPTEE II BRITAIN UNDER THE ROMANS Roman Conquest of Britain — Introduction of Roman Civilisation — Causes of the Withdrawal of the Romans. After Ciesar's invasion, Britain was left in peace by the Konians, partly because their attention was absorbed by the civil wars which j)receded the establishment of the Empire, partly because after the restoration of tranquillity it Avas the policy of Augustus and Tiberius not to engage in wars of aggression. For nearly a century a Roman force was not seen in Britain, and during this interval the Britons made much progress in the arts of peace. Trade with Gaul flourished, and the coins of this period give evidence of the ingenuity and wealth of the inhabitants. However, in the year 43, Tiberius Claudius (41-54 a.d.), the fourth ^, . Emperor, determined to annex Britain, and sent Aulus Roman in- Plautius to efi'ect its subjugation. Plautius found the chief power in the hands of the children of Cunobelinus, who appears to have been a grandson of Cassivellaunus and to have succeeded to his position. The names of his sons were Togodumnus and Caractacus. auIus Aulus Plautius, who had serving under him the famous Pl^^tms. Vespasian and his son Titus, defeated the islanders in a battle in which Togodumnus was killed ; and thereupon Caractacus betook himself to the Silures, who lived among the mountains and moorlands of South Wales, and who were probably largely Ivernians. This success led the way to the conquest of the south-eastern portion of the island, and Claudius himself came over to be present at the reduction of Camulodunum (Colchester), where Ostorius Scapula, the next governor, founded a Roman ostorius colony. His next step was to march against Caractacus, Scapula, who had been taken as king by the warlike Silures. Him he defeated and sent prisoner to Rome ; but he was unable to efiect the subjugation of the mountaineers, and had to content himself for the present with bridling their territory with a line of forts stretching from the Usk to the Dee, the 14 Roman Britain 43 A.D. chief of which were Caerleon and Chester. The next governor, Suetonius PauUinus, made an attack upon the island of Mona, now called Anglesea, Suetonius then the headquarters of the Druids, whom the Eomans Pauilinus. rigiitly regarded as the centre of national resistance. In the battle which ensued the Britons fought w^ith unexampled fury, even the women mingling in the fray, and the Druids themselves struck terror into the soldiers by the violence of their imprecations ; but at length Koman discipline carried the day, the Druids were massacred, and the sacred altars and groves were burnt to the ground. Meanwhile the unaccustomed exactions of the Koman tax-collectors had roused the resentment of the high-spkited Celts. Moreover, they were indignant at the monstrous treatment received by Boadicea and her daughters, in spite of the fact that they had been specially commended to the kind treatment of the Eomans by her husband, the late king of the Iceni. Accordingly, the Revolt of Britons took advantage of the governor's absence in Mona Boadicea. ^^ break out into open revolt. Camulodunum was stormed, and it is said that 70,000 Romans fell victims to the vengeance of the infuriated Britons. Suetonius, however, was prompt to return ; against the trained skill of the legions the valour of the Britons only served to swell the number of the slain ; and though numbers of the rebels con- tinued under arms, the new province was saved to the Empire. Boadicea, scorning to fall into the hands of her oppressors, saved herself by suicide. The next important governor of Britain was Agricola, an old officer of Suetonius, and the father-in-law of the historian Tacitus, who has handed . . , down to us a valuable narrative of his career. On his arrival Agncola. he found that his immediate predecessor, Frontinus, had subjugated the Silures. So he turned his attention to their neighbours the Ordovices, a Brythonic race who lived in what is now Central Wales ; and after conquering them he passed on to attack Mona. By causing his auxiliary soldiers to swim across the straits he appears to have surprised the defenders, and the surrender of the island immediately followed. ' Agricola,' says Tacitus, ' was an excellent ruler ' ; he was well acquainted with past events, and knew ' that conquest, while it loads the vanquished with injury and oppression, can never be secure and permanent.' He determined, therefore, to remove the seeds of future hostility. ' For this purpose he reformed abuses in the army ; made promotion strictly a matter of merit ; arranged that the forced contribu- tions to the maintenance of the army should be as little irksome as possible,' and was so successful that after his time the Britons are described as ' willingly sup^Dlying the army with new levies, paying their tribute without a murmur, and performing all the services of government 410 Walls, Towns, and Roads 15 with alacrity, provided they had no reason to complain of oppression. When injured their resentment was quick, sudden, and impatient ; they were conquered, not broken ; reduced to obedience, not reduced to slavery.' Agricola also encouraged and even aided the Britons to erect temples, courts of justice, and commodious dwelling-houses ; he encouraged the use of Latin, and in fact did all he could to Komanise the natives. The Brigantes, who occupied the territory north of the Humber, having been already conquered, Agricola carried the Koman arms across the Cheviots, and even across the Tay ; but though he Mons beat the Caledonians at the battle of Mons Graupius, between the Tay and the Islay, he contented himself with fixing the Eoman frontier between the Firths of Forth and Clyde, and Agricoia's in 81 defended it by erecting a series of forts. Agricola F°rts. was of opinion that a conquest of Ireland would have been both useful and easy, but was recalled before he had time to carry his plan into eftect. In 121, while on a visit to Britain, the Emperor Hadrian gave orders for the building of a stone wall from the mouth of the Eden to that of the Tyne. This fortification was strengthened Hadrian's by succeeding commanders till ultimately it consisted of '^^^^• a stone wail to the north, an earthwork to the south, and a series of forts between them. South of this line of demarcation the Eomans set themselves the task of creating a civilised Britain, as they had already created a civilised Gaul and a civilised Spain. In the first place they secured a complete military ascendancy by occupying all the old duns or natural fortifications which had already been selected by the Britons, and fortifying Roman them after their own fashion, selecting the most important Towns, of them as sites of future towns, and connecting these by a series of first-rate military roads. Of the towns the most noteworthy are London, situated at the lowest point on the Thames where the river is sufficiently narrow to be bridged, and where there was also a firm bank suitable for un- lading merchandise ; York, at the junction of the Foss and the Ouse, the centre of the great plain of the north ; Lincoln, on the highest point of the low ridge that bounds the Trent valley towards the east ; Chester, which commands the lowest crossing-place of the Dee ; Uriconium, on the Severn ; Caerleon-upon-Usk ; and Bath, even then celebrated for its hot springs. The main trunk roads were four in number. First, the Watling Street, which, setting out from Dover, crossed the Military Thames at London, and then turning north-west, made waUhig- its way to Chester along a line not very different from that Street, followed in our own day by the London and North - Western 16 Roman Britain 43 Railway, taking in Uriconium on its route ; second, the Fosseway, which, starting from Falmouth, crossed the country to Lincoln, cutting the Watling Street not far from Eugby at a place now called High Cross ; third, the Ermine Street, which, passing north from London, made its way to Lincoln, whence one portion of it Ermine went northwards to the Humber, across which travellers Street. were taken in a ferry-boat, and so on to York ; the other, crossing the Trent, made for Doncaster, and then, keeping direct north, reached Tadcaster, where a branch road completed the connection with York. Beyond Tadcaster the main road was continued to Borough Bridge, or rather to the station of Isurium (Aldborough), about a mile lower down the Ure, where it met a branch road from York. After crossing the L^re it went straight to Catterick Bridge on the Swale, where it parted into two branches, one of which crossed the hills to Carlisle and the other made its way to Newcastle, and so completed the connection between London and the two extremities of the great Wall. The fourth of the trunk roads was the Icknield Street, believed to have icknield been called after the Iceni, which ran from Norwich south- Street, west and ultimately joined the Fosseway near Exeter. These roads were the chief lines of communication, but a network of local roads connected the main thoroughfares with each other, and with towns and ports lying off their track. For example, a con- tinuation of the Watling Street ran from Chester to Man- chester and thence to Isurium, where it joined the Ermine Street. The roads did an immense work for the furtherance of civilisation by opening up the country, facilitating town life, and by introducing habits of com- mercial enterprise. In short, they made Britain for the first time a part of the civilised world. Nothing proves this more forcibly than a study of the Roman remains which have been brought to light in various parts of the country by the labours of archaeologists. They have enabled us to picture for ourselves Roman Britain almost as if it had been visited by travellers of our own time. We can see before us the lofty walls by which the towns were surrounded, and the fortified gates at Avhich watch was kept day and night. We know, too, of beautiful villas with tesselated pavements, of baths public and private, of temples and law-courts, of theatres and amphitheatres, some of which we can see with our own eyes, Roman others which we are able to realise by the aid of the more Civilisation, perfect remains which have been preserved upon the Continent. Besides building towns, bridges, and roads, the Romans did much to develop the natural resources of the country. Traces of their 410 Roman Civilisation 17 manufactories of glass and pottery are abundant. Iron, tin, and lead were worked by them upon an extensive scale, and the corn-producing powers of the island were so far developed that Britain became the granary for the legions on the Rhine. As regards the influence of the Roman occupation upon the population of the island, it is probable that its tendency would be towards increasing the mixture of influence on races which abeady existed. It was the practice of the Population. Romans never to quarter troops in the district or country where they had been enrolled ; and they sent the British recruits to Africa or the Rhine while foreigners took their places in the stations along the Roman wall. These, when paid off, settled on lands assigned to them in Britain, and added a new element to the race. Another result of this intermixture of the races was the spread of ideas. After exterminating the Druids, the Romans, as was their habit, left the Britons perfect freedom in the exercise of their religion, and the old gods seem to have been worshipped under Roman names ; but after a time the knowledge of , , . 1 T 1 • -I Introduction Christianity was brought over, and, though little is known of Christi- of its arrival or of the history of the British Church, it is ^"^ ^^ certain that it acquired a strong hold not only over the Romans in the island, but also over the Romanised Britons. In consequence of its distance from the capital, Britain, happily for its tranquillity, took little part in the political life of the Empire ; and the chief events Severus. in its history were the visits of the Emperors Hadrian and Constantine. Severus and the expedition of Constantine, whose career as the son of a Roman father and a British mother may possibly even have excited a national sentiment. In this way the history of Britain flowed peacefully on for more than three hundred years, when rumours of impending troubles began to make their appearance. This was due to the fact that, owing to internal decay, the Empire was unable to defend itself any longer against the hosts of Barbarians who from the earliest days of Roman ascendancy had been trying to establish themselves within its limits, and saxon had only been kept back from doing so by the whole Pirates, strength of the Roman arms. Of this pressure from the Barbarians Britain felt her full share. Not only did the incursions of the non- Romanised Britons from beyond the Wall and the raids of the Scots from Ireland become more persistent, but also the eastern coast was so much harassed by Saxon pirates from the Elbe that a line of forts had to be constructed to guard the coast, and its defence was intrusted to a special officer with the title of Count of the Saxon shore. As the danger to the heart of the Empire became more and more pressing, the B 18 Roraan Britain 410 Eomans naturally withdrew their garrisons from the outlying provinces, and the inhabitants of these had either to make terms with the Barbarians or organise the best resistance they could. This was precisely what happened in Britain ; and in the year 410 the Britons were of the ^^^^ informed that they must take the responsibility of defending Romans themselves, and need no longer look upon their island as from Britain. ' " /- part of the Roman Empire. ' Then,' in the words of the Venerable Bede, ' the Eomans ceased to rule in Britain, almost 470 years after Caius Julius Csesar entered the island. They resided within the rampart which Severus made across the island, on the south side of it, as the cities, temples, bridges, and paved roads there made testify to this day.' Bede died in the year 735, but long after his day Gerald the Welshman, who lived in the time of Henry 11., tells us of the magnificent ruins which still astonished the eyes of travellers on the site of the ruined Caerleon. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Roman conquest begun, .... 43 Agricola's forts touilt, ..... 81 Hadrian's Wall begun, 121 Britons left to defend themselves, . . 410 CHAPTER III THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN BRITAIN Little known of first English Invasions— Gildas's Account most trustworthy —Later Conquests of Ceawliu and Ethelfrith— Effects of the Conquest on the Britons. After the departure of the Roman legions in the year 410, a thick darkness settles down over the fate of the island, which is not finally dispelled for more than a century and a half. Consequently, we are quite ignorant of the details of the English conquest, and even of Conquest some essential particulars ; and the imagination of historians, ""^"°w"' both mediaeval and modern, has been freely taxed to supply the deficiency. For some time before the final departure of the legions their presence had been intermittent ; and as during all that time Britain had been exposed to the constant incursions of the Barbarians both by land and by sea, some experience of defence must have been acquired by the native levies. Besides the possession of an army, there was no lack of fortifica- tions. Against invasion from the north there were the Walls ; and every inlet of the sea from the Solent to the Wash was secured by Defences of a fortress against the intrusion of the Saxons. These coast ^^^t^in- defences saved southern Britain from immediate invasion, and by their means the Britons of the Saxon shore were able for a whole generation to keep their German assailants at bay. In the north, however, the attacks of the Picts and Scots were incessant, but appear to have been raids rather than attempted conquests ; and neither the Barbarians from beyond the Wall nor the marauders from Ireland ever succeeded in making a permanent settlement on the southern side of Hadrian's great barrier. For some years, therefore, after the departure of the Komans the Britons contrived to present to their enemies a creditable front ; and though some of the Latin-speaking inhabitants of the south wrote a pitiful request for Roman assistance, styled ' the tears of the Britons,' there does not appear 19 20 The English Settlement 4io to have been any real danger so long as the barrier of the Saxon shore was successfully maintained. However, about thirty years after the Invasion of departure of the Romans, the Saxons made their way into the Saxons, ^j-^g country, and before many years had passed they were masters of all the south-east corner of the island—that is, of those districts where the domination of Rome had been most complete ; and these Picts and marauders were known as Picts, Scots, or Saxons. Besides Scots. these, the Britons were attacked by the Scots of Ireland and by the Picts from beyond the Wall. The home of the Saxons was the tract of low-lying country that borders the banks of the river Elbe, the peninsula of Denmark, and the c islands which stud that part of the Baltic Sea. They Home of i /. the Saxons, belonged to the Low German branch of the Teutonic family of the Aryan race. At that date the Saxons had no preten- sions to education, so for our knowledge of their manners we have ania *^ ^'^^^ upon the accounts of others. Of these the most of Tacitus, important is that which Tacitus gives in his Germania, a description written by him in the first century after Christ for the information of the Roman world. Speaking of all the tribes who dwelt A earance between the extremity of the Baltic and the Rliine, he of Saxons. remarked that they were an unmixed race,^ having ' the same form and feature, stern blue eyes, ruddy hair, their bodies large and robust, but powerful only in sudden efforts.' A few tribes had kings, others had chiefs, but the authority of their kings or chiefs was extremely Their limited ; indeed, as one of these told Cresar, ' the peojDle had Institutions, c^g many rights against him as he had against them.' Both the kings and the military leaders were chosen in open meeting of the freemen of the tribe or clan. In matters of inferior moment the council of chiefs decided, but graver questions were submitted to the assembly of freemen ; and so independent were the warriors, that they rarely arrived punctually on the day appointed for' fear of being thought to have shown a servile respect for authority. ' In the assembly the king or chief of the community opened the debate : the rest were heard in their turn, according to. age, nobility of descent, renown in war, or fame for eloquence. No man dictated to the assembly ; he might persuade, but he could not command.' For purposes of government the territory of each tribe was divided into districts called ^J«< n . tery of Whithern, converted the rude tribes of Galloway ; and Patrick, a native of Dunbarton (Brythons-town) at the mouth of the Clyde, won the Goidels of Ireland to the Christian faith. Before the close of the sixth century all the Britons who lived either in Ireland or south of the Firth of Clyde were nominally converted to Christianity. The Scots of Argyll, however, and the other inhabitants of northern Scotland were still heathen. However, in 563, St. Columba, •26 597 Augustine's Mission 27 an Irishman from Ulster, the greatest of the Celtic missionaries, at- tempted their conversion, and, having persuaded their king to give him the island of lona, built upon it a monastery which for several centuries was a home of missionary effort. In his immediate neighbourhood Columba converted the Celts, and then passed on to address himself to the Picts of the north, to whom he could speak only through an interpreter. But though Columba went so far afield in search of converts, it does not appear that he made any advances to the English conquerors ; and two other great Irishmen, St. Columban and St. Gall, passed England by for the field of Continental labour. However, according to the well-known tale, the little slave boys, captives in a civil war between the Anglian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira, attracted the pity of Gregory, a Koman priest, the Gregory the greatest ecclesiastic of the time ; and in the very year of Great. Columba's death, Gregory (now pope) despatched the monk Augustine and his followers to win back to Christendom the lost isle Mission of of Britain. So ignorant were the Italians, and so credulous Augustine, were the missionaries of Gallic stories of English barbarity, that for a time Augustine hung back, and only the positive orders of Gregory com- pelled him to proceed. The mission was directed to Ethelbert, king of Kent. That sovereign was by no means ignorant of Christianity, for he had married Bertha, a Christian lady, the daughter of Charibert the Frank, king of Paris, and she was allowed by her husband to practise her religion. In 597, Augustine and his forty followers, all monks like himself, landed in the island of Thanet. For fear of magic Ethelbert received them sitting in the open air ; and, having heard Augustine's sermon, and seen the image of the Saviour painted upon a board, and listened to the harmonious chanting of the monks, he made, as reported by Bede, who learned the tradition of it from successors of Augustine, the following wise speech : ' Your words and promises are very fair, but as they are new to us and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them so far as to forsake what I have so long followed with the whole English nation. But because you are come from far unto my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to impart unto us those things which you believe to be true, and most beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you ftivourable entertainment, and take care to supply you with your necessary sustenance ; nor do we forbid you to preach and gain as many as you can to your religion.' The monastic sim- „ . . Conversion plicity of the apostles of the new faith, and their manifest of the Kent- intention of practising in their own persons the virtues they prescribed to others, won many converts. Before long Ethelbert 28 Conversion of the English 597 himself accepted the new religion, and Kent was reckoned to be the firstfruits of the conversion of the English. On hearing of their success, Gregory wrote to the missionaries a series of very politic directions for their future conduct, and also sent a letter Gregory's ^^ advice to Ethelbert himself. He counselled the mission- Instructions, aries to utilise as far as possible not only the fabrics of the Pagan temples but also the habit of attending them at certain times for religious purposes. The buildings, he directed, were to be purified and a Christian turn given to the old ceremonial ; for, wrote Gregory, ' it is impossible to efiace everything at once from their obdurate minds ; because he who endeavours to ascend to the highest place rises by degrees or steps, and not by leaps.' To the king, however, he enjoins the duty of putting down the worship of idols with a stern hand, coupling it, how- ever, with that of setting to his subjects the example of a Christian life. Having apparently no clear notion of the political divisions of the English, Gregory was in expectation that the conversion of the whole race would follow immediately on that of theKentishmen, and accordingly he devised a constitution for the English Church based on that supposition. There were to be two archbishoprics, York and London, of which the primacy was to be enjoyed by the senior of the two archbishops for the time being. Together they were to direct the afi'airs of the English Church, and each was to consecrate twelve suffragan bishops who were to act as his synod. This plan, however, was too comprehensive and far-seeing to square with the actual possibilities of the case ; and Augustine found it better to make Canterbury, Ethelbert's capital, the metropolitan see, and during his own lifetime he was only able to place suffragans at Rochester and London. Augustine was soon called upon to ftice the difficulty created by the existence in the island of a British church. This church had no connec- Ceitic ^^0^ "^ith that of Gregory, from which it had been separated Christians, fgj. nearly two centuries by a gulf of barbarian heathenism. In their isolation the British Christians had retained several practices which had been discarded at Rome. They did not keep Easter accord- ing to the newest calculation, and they shaved the heads of their clergy in an unusual pattern. According to Bede, St. Augustine met the leaders of the British clergy at a place which was called Augustine's Oak, now Aust, and began by brotherly admonitions to persuade them that, preserving Catholic unity with him, they should undertake the common labour of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. However, his advances were not favourably received ; and after a second failure the division between the two churches became even more marked — so much so that when the monks of Bangor were slain by Ethelfrith at the battle of 625 Faulimcs' Mission 29 Chester, the Koman missionaries regarded their fate as a judgment of (jrod. A similar advance to the Irish church was equally unavailing, so the Welsh and Irish continued for many years to work on different lines from the Anglican churches. In the year 616 Ethelbert died. As Bede quaintly puts it, 'He was the third of the English kings that had the rule of all the southern pro- vinces that are divided from the northern by the river Death of Humber ; but the first of the kings that ascended to the Ethelbert. heavenly kingdom.' A pagan reaction followed his death, and spread to the neighbouring kingdom of Essex. Augustine was Pa?an dead ; the bishops of London and Kochester fled to the Con- Reaction. tinent, and Lawrence of Canterbury was on the point of departure when he was stayed by the appearance of a vision. His decision was justified by the event, and the church, though not so prosperous as it had been in the days of Ethelbert, succeeded in holding its ground. Meanwhile, political events were bringing about a new opportunity for missionary enterprise. From the earliest landing of the English the wars for supremacy among themselves had been as frequent as those with the Britons, and now one king and now another had gained autho- rity over the neighbouring states. The king who for the time being exercised supreme authority, styled himself Bretwalda — a i>he Bret- word of doubtful meaning, sometimes interpreted as ruler waida. of Britain, sometimes as broad-ruler. Among those who exercised such a leadership south of the Humber, Bede names Ella, king of the South- Saxons, Ceawlin, king of the West-Saxons, Ethelbert of Kent, and Red- wald of East-Angiia. A still more extensive sway was exercised by the great Edwin of Northumbria, who ' commanded all the nations as well of the English as of the Britons, except only the people of Kent. However, between Northumbria and Kent an alliance was made. A marriage was arranged between Edwin and Ethelburga, daughter of Ethelbert, but it was stipulated that she should follow her own faith ; and in the year 625 she set out, taking with her as her chaplain a follower of Augustine, named Paulinus, who had been con- secrated bishop. Edwin, who is represented as being a man of most honourable feeling, and of an original and independent turn of mind, reserved his opinion on the new faith ; and though he listened to the eager arguments of Paulinus, ' being a man of extra- ordinary sagacity, he often sat alone by himself a long time, silent as to his tongue, but deliberating in heart how he should proceed, and to which religion he should adhere.' No efforts were spared to gain so valuable a convert. The pope himself addressed long and excellent 30 Conversion oj the English 625 letters both to the king and to the queen, and sent to Edwin some clothes and a gold ornament, and to Ethelburga a silver looking-glass and a gilt ivory comb. An escape from assassination, the birth of a daughter, and a decisive victory over the West-Saxons also influenced the king ; and at length he took council with his wise men, who seem to CQjf^.g have been as shrewd and serious as their master. One of Speech. them, Coifi the high priest, declared he could see little value in the old faith, or he, the most diligent of its votaries, would be in greater prosperity than he was ; and another of finer mould pro- nounced a parable which will never be forgotten for its beauty : ' The present life of man seems to me, king, in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supjDcr in winter, with your captains and ministers of state, and a good fire in the midst, while the storms of wind and snow rage abroad : the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within is safe from the wintry storm ; but after a short space of fair w^eather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight into the dark winter from which he had escaped. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before or what is to follow we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed.' Paulinus was then called in to state his views, and after hearing them Coifi was the first man to desecrate the Conversion ^ ^ ^ ^ • • -ni-T- of the North- temples 01 the heathen deities. Edw^in himself accepted ""^ ^ ■ the new creed, and his subjects by the thousand presented themselves for baptism. A friend of Bede had actually spoken to one of these converts, who described Paulinus ' as tall of stature, a little stooping, his hair black, his visage meagre, his nose slender and aqui- line, his aspect both venerable and majestic' One advantage of the introduction of Christianity was that from that period we can rely upon documentary evidence, which is both truthful and well-informed, and so leave behind us the period of conjecture and myth. At the time when Edwin received Christianity, his authority was acknowledged as paramount by all the kingdoms of the English except Revolt of that of Kent, and also by the Britons ; but about seven Penda. years afterwards a coalition was made against him by Cadwallon. Penda, king of the Mercians, and the British king Cad- wallon (Cad walla). They fought against the Northumbrians at Hatfield, on the Eoman road between Doncaster and Lincoln. Edwin was de- feated and killed ; and Cadwallon, who, according to Bede, was more cruel to the English Christians than if he had been a heathen, ravaged !i 642 Aidan's Mission 31 Northumbria with fire and sword. Before the storm Paulinus retired by sea to Kent, taking with him Ethelburga and some of the king's children, and for a time Christianity perished. Edwin's place was taken by a younger brother and by a son of Ethelfrith, who divided the kingdom between them ; but within a year both were slain by Cad- wallon, one in fight, the other by treachery. Then Oswald, another son of the great Ethelfrith, who during the reign of Edwin had lived in exile at lona, came to the throne. He was a mighty warrior, and with a small force he encountered and over- threw the boastful Cad wallon at a place called the Denissburn, Battle of the site of which, though it cannot now be identified, is Denissburn. said by Bede to be near Hexham, and not far from the Eoman wall. After this victory Oswald reigned in peace for nine years. This interval was employed by the king to restore Christianity. He sent for missionaries from the abbey of lona, where he had Celtic Mis- himself learned the faith in exile, and the abbot selected sionanes St. Aidan for the work. He was a man of singular tact ^°^ °"^' and discretion, of great purity of life and nobility of character, who gained the confidence of the English by ' teaching no otherwise than as he and his followers lived.' Oswald himself was pleased to act as the interpreter of the bishop, and, supported by such authority and example, the popularity of Christianity was restored. Aidan, being a Scot, fol- lowed the practice of that church in making a monastery the centre of his operations. This he fixed on the island of Lindisfarne, within sight of Bamborough, the royal city, and Lindisfarne became to the Northumbrians what lona had been to the Scots. Meanwhile, the Roman missionaries had been by no means idle. Essex had been won back to the faith ; Felix, a Burgundian, whose name is still preserved in Felixstow, had converted the East conversion Anglians ; Birinus, an Italian, had won over the West- oftheEast- , Anghansand Saxons. The Mercians, under King Penda, and the outlying West-Saxons, kingdom of the savage South-Saxons, alone remained completely heathen. Like Edwin, Oswald is described by Bede as having ' brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain ' ; but his power raised up resistance, and in 642 he was killed in battle by Penda at a place called Maserfield, which is generally thought to be B^ttie of identical with Oswestry in Shropshire, formerly spelt Maserfield. Oswald's-tree. Oswald appears to have been a man of fine character, brave, generous, and singularly humble-minded. Succeeding ages recognised him as a saint, and many churches were dedicated to his honour. On the death of Oswald his place was taken by his brother Oswy, the 32 Conversion of the English 642 last of the sons of Ethelfrith, who secured his power by the treacher- ous murder of Oswin, the son of King Edwin. For thirteen years _ Oswy's kingdom was cruelly harried by Penda and the Mercians ; but at last in 655 Oswy defeated him in a \Afinwed. battle by the river Win wed, said by Bede to have been in ^^^^' the neighbourhood of Loidis or Leeds, and the old king- he was eighty years of age — perished in the fight. Penda was admitted by his enemies to have been a man of some nobility of character. He made no objection to the preaching of the missionaries in his dominions, nor to the acceptance of the new faith by his son ; but if the Christian converts were slack in the performance of their religious duties, he was unsparing in his contempt. Three years after the death of Penda, the Mercians regained their independence, and set up as their king Wulfhere, a son of Penda. He was a Christian ; and from that date, 658, Sussex alone remained heathen. Meanwhile, a serious difiiculty was arising through the divergence in practice which existed between the Scottish and Roman churches, to ^.^ which the northern and southern churches of the English Difference ^ between respectively belonged. Colman, the successor of Aidan, Celtic maintained the superiority of the Scottish practice ; but Churches, j^j^gg ^q Deacon, a follower of Paulinus, who had stayed in the north when his chief left Northumbria, had always adhered to the Roman calendar, and he was now supported by Wilfrid, abbot of Rij)on, a young man of great ability, who had been instructed abroad. To con- s vnod of sider the question, a synod was held at Whitby (664), of which Whitby. the leading members were Colman, Agilbert the Frank, who had become bishop of the West-Saxons, Wilfrid, and James. The crisis was momentous, for a victory of the Scots would have had the effect not only of cutting off the English church from communion with the great mass of Western Christendom, but also of depriving the English nation of a share in the wealth of Roman culture and civilisation, of which the Roman church was the chief depository. Colman spoke first. 'The Easter I keep,' said he, ' I received from my elders, who sent me hither as a bishop, and all our forefathers kept it after the same manner.' For the other side, Wilfrid based his defence on the ground that the Roman plan was used in Italy, France, Africa, Asia, Egypt, Greece, and, indeed, by all the world ' except the Picts and Britons, who foolishly in these two out-of-the-way islands — and only in a part even of them — oppose the rest of the universe.' After some further debate, Oswy inquired of Colman, ' Whether it were true that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter by our Lord ? and, Whether he could show any such 1664 The Synod of JVliithy 33 power given to Columba I ' Colman answered, ' None.' Then said the king, ' If Peter is the doorkeeper, I will never contradict him ; but so far as I know and am able, I will obey his decrees in all things, lest when I come to the gates of the kingdom of heaven there should be none to open them.' The king's decision commanded applause. Colman went home, and after a short time Wilfrid became the . . . Withdrawal bishop of the Northumbrians. From this time forward the of the Celtic English church followed the Koman customs, and after ^^^y- a time the Irish and Scottish churches began to conform to its example. Wilfrid was perhaps the most picturesque and interesting figure pro- duced by the native English church before the days of Dunstan. Son of a Northumbrian thane, his ability early attracted the Bishop notice of Eanfled, the wife of Oswy, and he was sent by her 'VViifrid. to be educated in Aidan's monastery of Lindisfarne. Then, accompanied by his friend Benedict Biscop, he made the journey to Eome, and on his return, filled with enthusiasm for Kome and all she had to teach, he was intrusted with the task of edvicating the king's son. Afterwards he became abbot of Eipon, and took a distinguished part in the Synod of Whitby. On his promotion to the see of York, Wilfrid crossed over to Gaul to assure himself of a canonical consecration, and on Chad, his return found that his place had been occupied by Chad, a missionary monk of the type of St. Aidan. Meanwhile, a vacancy having occurred in the see of Canterbury, Oswy sent an Englishman to be consecrated at Rome. There he died in 667, and in his place Pope Vitalian consecrated Theodore, a Greek Archbishop and native of Tarsus in Cilicia. Theodore's mission was to Theodore, carry out a complete reorganisation of the English church, and his first act was to place Wilfrid at the head of the see of York, though he con- ferred on Chad the scarcely less important bishopric of the Mercians. Theodore then held a synod of the whole English church, and explained the canons which he thought proper to be observed. Bishops were for the future to confine themselves to their own dioceses, and clergymen were to preach only in dioceses where they held organisation a licence from the bishop. Theodore travelled throughout qO^^ , the length and breadth of the land, seeing with his own eyes that his orders were observed, deposing some bishops and translating others, and everywhere enforcing the order and regularity which were characteristic of the Roman world. In his own diocese Wilfrid showed an example not only of apo- stolic energy, but also of the magnificence which had begun to be a c 34 Conversion of the English 709 characteristic of the Roman clergy. In a country which had hitherto contented itself with buildings of wood he built minsters of the most elaborate workmanship then attainable at York, Ripon, in North- and Hexham, while his friend Benedict Biscop revealed umbna. ^^ j^.^ countrymen the glories of stained glass and choral music. However, a quarrel arose in which Wilfrid appears on one side and King Egfrith and Theodore on the other. Driven into exile, Wilfrid preached to the Frisians, and so became the first of a line of English missionaries, the most famous of whom is Boniface, the apostle of Germany. The pope then took up his cause, but Egfrith and Theodore paid little attention to his authority, and Wilfrid was cast into prison. Released at length, he fled to the heathens of Sussex, whose respect he won by teaching them the art of fishing, and so efi'ected their long-deferred conversion. Presently a reaction occurred in his favour ; the dying Theodore named Wilfrid as his successor, but, his enemy Egfrith being dead, Wilfrid chose to return to his own see of York. Again he quarrelled with the king ; again he appealed to the pope ; and this time, being supported by the archbishop of Canterbury, he triumphed, and in the year 709 Wilfrid closed his long and wearisome career in peace. His life was written by his friend Eddi, and is a valuable addition to our knowledge of the time. Besides Wilfrid, the chief saints of the native English church are Caedmon, Cuthbert, and Bede. Caedmon, the poet, was attached to the abbey of Whitby, and composed there a paraphrase of the Old Testament. Cuthbert was a monk of Melrose who "^ ^'^ ' became abbot of Lindisfarne, and afterwards bishop. He was a man of singular piety who delighted in nothing more than in preaching the Gospel to villages so remote and inaccessible that others had passed them by for more frequented paths. Bede was a monk of Jarrow who never held ofiice in the church, but devoted a long life to the acquisition and difi'usion of knowledge. He left no less than thirty-seven works, and his Ecclesiastical History is the only really complete account of the English at the date of their con- version. The change which had been introduced into England by Archbishop Theodore finally decided the form which should Church ^6 taken by the constitution of the Church of England. In ^°n^/"" *^^ ^^y^ which followed the flight of Paulinus, Gregory's system had for all practical purposes been forgotten. In the church of St. Aidan a wholly difi'erent system of government prevailed. There the life of the church had its centre in the monastery. The bishop was the subordinate of the abbot, and looked to his monastery 709 National Life of the Church 35 for orders and advice. Moreover, the tendency of the bishop was not to attach himself to a fixed sphere of work, but to wander about the country ; and so the multiplication of bishops became a fruitful source of disorder. The Roman plan was the very opposite of this. Founded probably in imitation of the political system of the Roman empire, the Roman church sought its ideal in the regular succession of powers — the parish, the diocese, the province, and the papacy. Every church official of the church worked in a well-defined sphere : no Govern- ^ ' merit. one was to intrude upon the province of another. The in- troduction of such a system into England was the very best thing that could have happened in the interest of national unity, and it was even fortunate that in Theodore's constitution there was only one archbishop for the whole land. Theodore's national synods, and the enforcement of one ecclesiastical system for the whole island without ,..,,... Its influence regard to mmor political distinctions, were exactly what was on National wanted to counteract the element of discord supplied by the unceasing struggles between rival kingdoms. The strongest proof of the beneficent result of the Roman system is supplied by the history of Ireland, where the church, having no centralised constitution of its own, fell completely into subservience to the politics of the local chiefs, and so missed the opportunity of conferring an inestimable blessing upon the country. From a similar disaster in England we were saved by the decision of King Oswy and by the organising ability of Archbishop Theodore. Here the church contrived to avoid the snare of being drawn into the strife which raged between the petty kingdoms, and had as a rule kept itself clear of the political squabbles which agitated each of the little states into which the land was divided. It maintained the principle that the church was the church of the whole English nation when the existence of such a nation was barely recognised by the lay world ; and the synods and councils, attended by bishops from the length and breadth of the island, were for long the only councils in which men from difierent kingdoms consulted together for purposes that affected the whole English people. In the courts of law there was as yet no distinc- tion between the layman and the cleric. The crimes of each were dealt with in the same courts and by the same process example of of law ; and the presence of the bishops and of the parish Monlc^^""^ priests was in itself a check upon the barbarity of those early times. Moreover, the whole influence of the church was thrown into the scale in favour of purity and innocence of life. The pure lives of the monks who came with Augustine and with Aidan were, as we saw, the best credentials of Christianity ; and though, when monasteries grew 36 Conversion of the English 753 common and theii- opulence increased, many unworthy men and women took the vows, still the existence in such barbarous times of monastic establishments whose inmates were men of peace, and maintained a standard of culture superior to that of their neighbours, distinctly made for civilisation. But if the monks taught by example, the parish clergy brought a sterner code to bear upon the passions of the people. Hitherto the idea of sin had been little known. In the eye of the state, murder could be expiated by the jDayment of a fine ; and so slight was the value put upon human life, that crimes of violence were of everyday occurrence, while vice and gluttony passed unrebuked. Against this state of things Theodore opposed the penitential system of the Roman church, according to which murder was not only a crime against the state, but The Peni- . . ^ -, , • -, i i ^ , tentiai a sm agamst God to be expiated by the penance oi the ys em. murderer. Such crime carried with it the necessity of fasting and prayer, often carried on for years ; and until the penance ^ enjoined by the church was complete the guilty party was regarded as outside the pale of the church and debarred from the benefit of taking part in its rights. In this way the church surrounded crime and the criminal with a feeling of religious awe ; and though the temptation to commute penance for a money payment ultimately proved too strong for many of the clergy, and at the best too little stress was laid on the inward nature of repentance, still it is incontestable that among a rude people like the Saxons the eff'ects of the first introduction of the penitential system were excellent. The Venerable Bede died in 753, and after his death and the termination of his Ecclesiastical History it is very difficult to follow the intricacies of Death of English aflFairs. No other historian arose to take his place, ^^^^- and for a long time the entries in the Chronicle are provok- ingly meagre, and have to be eked out by scraps of information collected in the twelfth century by Henry of Huntingdon and William of Malmes- bury from authorities which have not come down to us. Contem- Apart from the introduction of Christianity, the most im- AuThorities. po^tant events which took place in the seventh and eighth centuries were those which were concerned with the struggle for supremacy which was going on between the several English kingdoms ; but as this did not properly come under ecclesiastical history, even Bede supplies very little information, and after his death we are even more ignorant of what went on, until the great Alfred placed the compilation of the Gironicle upon a systematic footing. 757 The English Kingdoms 37 It appears, however, that about the time of the coming of Augustine the scattered English settlements had been consolidated as follows : — In the north, the Anglian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira had been formed into Northumbria ; the north folk and the men "of ' south folk made up the kingdom of the East-Angles : Essex, ^"S^l,^*^ ^ , ^ o ' 5 Kingdoms. Kent, and Sussex remained much as they had been at the conquest ; Wessex had come to include not only the lands south of the Thames, but also the Isle of "Wight and those districts of the Severn valley which had been overrun by Ceawlin. The rest of Middle England was occupied by a number of small tribes, who ultimately coalesced into a kingdom known by the vague title of Mercia, or the borderland. Between these kingdoms there was for two centuries almost constant war ; and if one of them acquired a temporary superiority, it was only at the price of having to meet a succession of rebellions from struggle for its subject neighbours. For a time the West-Saxons, under Supremacy. Ceawlin, seemed likely to take the lead ; but after the battle of Chester the Northumbrians came to the front, and in the reigns of Ethelfrith, Edwin, Oswald, and Oswy enjoyed a distinct supremacj^, though from time to time the continuity of its sway was broken by brian successful revolts. Of these the most persistent was that "premacy. organised by Penda, who for a short time after the battle of Maserfield was decidedly the most powerful king in the island. Under Oswy, how- ever, Northumbria recovered her position, and on the whole _ '. . ^ . ' Battle of kept it till the year 685, when her king Egfrith and almost Nectans- his entire army were destroyed by the Picts in the disastrous battle of Nectansmere, ' by the shores of the North Sea.' After this a long period of disorder followed, in which the strength of Northumbria was dissipated, and then Mercia came to the front. Under Penda she had already been a formidable rival, and under Mercian his son Wulfhere and his grandnephew Ethelbald her Supremacy. power greatly increased. Wulfhere's principal achievement was the conquest from the West- Saxons of their possessions in the Severn valley ; Ethelred, another son of Penda, overran Kent ; Ethelbald conquered Somerton from the West- Saxons, and led the _ , ,, , , 11-. . . , Ethelbald. whole force of the Southumbrians against the Welsh. In 752, however, he was routed by the West-Saxons at the battle of Burford ; but his place was taken by Ofiii, who of all the Mercian sovereigns was the most renowned. Offa was a descendant of Penda, and came to the throne in the year 757. He defeated the Kentish men at Otford ; the South-Saxons at 3S Conversion of the English 757 Bensington ; and, having enticed the king of the East- Angles to his court, he had him treacherously beheaded. Thus he gained suiDremacy over the south of the island ; but though Northumbria was unable to dispute his power, his authority does not appear to have been recognised beyond the Humber. Against the Welsh, Oflfa was more successful than any English king since the days of Ethelfrith and Edwin, for he captured the great border stronghold of Shrewsbury, settled Englishmen on the low-lying lands to the west of the Severn and the Dee, and secured them from molestation by erecting from the mouth of the Dee to that of the Wve the rampart of earth the remains of Offa's Dyke which are still known as Offa's Dyke. Offa persuaded Pope Hadrian to make Lichfield an archbishopric, and to place under it the sees of Worcester, Sidnacester, Leicester, Hereford, Elmham, and Dunwich ; so that London, Selsey, Eochester, and Winchester were left under Canterbury, and Eipon, Hexham, Lindisfarne, and Whithern under York. However, after Offa's death, Lichfield lost its archbishop, and the suffragan sees reverted to Canterbury. It was in Offa's days Charles the ^^^ Charles the Great began the career which ended in the Great. restoration of the Koman empire of the West — the most important event in Europe since the invasion of the Teutonic hordes ; and it is a strong proof of the esteem in which the great Englishman was held that Charles condescended to correspond with him on terms of equality. Englishmen, indeed, were well known to Charles, for Alcuin, one of his most learned men, came from Northumbria, and from Alcuin's letters we learn that English merchants were in the habit of resorting to his dominions. One untoward event marked Offa's reign, namely, the first appearance upon the coast of the Scandinavian pirates, who were to attempt in the ninth century to repeat the settlement which the English had carried out in the fifth and sixth. Offa died in 796 ; and though his successor Kenwulf retained Offa's power, from his death the power of the Mercian monarchy, mainly owing to struggles for the crown, rapidly declined. Meanwhile, the West-Saxons, who since the death of Ceawlin had held a distinctly secondary place, were rapidly coming to the front. This was West-Saxon ^^^^ ^0 the ability of their king, Egbert, who, having during Supremacy. \)^q Yiie of Offa been compelled to take refuge at the court of Reign of Charles the Great, had learned from the Franks a culture of Egbert. mind and a refinement of manner to which the English were strangers. He acquired, also, the political and military skill for which the Franks were celebrated ; and the fame of his accomplishments having reached Wessex, his countrymen invited him to return home and assume the crown, which he did in the year 802. 839 Supremacy of the West-Saxons 39 During his reign of thirty-seven years, Egbert devoted himself to the task of bringing the neighbouring kingdoms under his sway, precisely as his predecessors Edwin and Offa had done in England, and as Charles the Great, king of the Franks, had recently done on the conquest of Continent. His first exploit was the complete subjugation Cornwall, of Cornwall or West-Wales, and in 825 he broke the power of Mercia by defeating an invading host of Mercians under their king Beornwulf in the great battle of EUandun. This success he instantly Battle of followed up by overrunning the Mercian under-kingdoms, and EUandun. compelled the men of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Essex to acknowledge his overlordship, while he received the East-Anglians, the hereditary enemies of the Mercians, into alliance. Two years later he invaded Mercia and subdued it, so bringing under his authority all England south of the Humber ; and a threat of invasion was sufficient to acquires a force the Northumbrians also to offer obedience and allegiance. &^"^^^i ^ supremacy In 828, Egbert again turned his attention to the Welsh, and in South Rritain conquered North Wales, so that only the Welsh of Strath- clyde and the Picts and Scots remained wholly independent. The last years of Egbert were occuj)ied in defending Wessex itself against the invasions of the Northmen — a subject which belongs to a subsequent chapter. At his death, which happened in 839, his dominions showed the same symptoms of disintegration which had been exhibited by those of his predecessors and by the Continental dominion of Charles the Great ; for while his eldest son, Ethelwulf, received Wessex, apparently with the overlordship, Kent, Essex, and Sussex were made into an appanage for his younger son, Athelstan. Great indeed as were the achievements of Egbert, there is nothing to show that they would have been more lasting than those of Edwin and Offa had it not been for external causes which ultimately resulted in permanently placing the supremacy of all England in the hands of the West-Saxon dynasty. CHIEF DA TES. Arrival of Augustine, . Aidan's mission, .... Synod of Whitby, Arrival of Theodore of Tarsus, . Supremacy of Northumhria, Supremacy of Mercia, . Egbert becomes King of the English, A.D. 597 634 664 668 603-658 757-825 827 CHAPTER V INSTITUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH Physical Features of the Country— Local Government of the Township, the Hundred, and the Shire — Central Government in the hands of the King and Witenagemot — English Society in the Ninth Century. It is now time to deal with the political constitution of the English kingdoms and with the social customs of the English. From the close of the sixth century to the time of Egbert seven king- The Seven donis stand out as always distinct from one another, though Kingdoms, sometimes united in more or less political union. These are those of the Northumbrians, the Mercians, the East-Anglians, the West- Saxons, the East-Saxons, the South-Saxons, and the Kentishmen ; and it is important to note that it was usual to speak not of Wessex but of the West-Saxons, the men of the race and not the territory in which they dwelt constituting the political state. Sometimes other groups are spoken of as having a separate existence, such as the men of Surrey or the Lindis- waras ; but in general the states named are the most prominent. Of these the South and East Saxons were single tribes ; the Kentish- men seem to have been formed by the union of two tribes, whose respective capitals were Eochester and Canterbury ; the Mercians and Northumbrians were agglomerations of smaller settlements, whose names and boundaries were preserved down to the time of the settlement of the Northmen ; the East-Anglians comprised the North and South folk ; and the West-Saxons had absorbed the Meonwaras, Jutish settlers who dwelt in and near the Isle of Wight. Each of these kingdoms was complete in itself ; and the position of Egbert was that of a king of the West- Saxons whose overlordship was, for the time being, acknowledged by the other English states. The boundaries of these kingdoms were prescribed to them by the lie of the country ; for in those days the country was covered with rugged mountain, soaking bog, and impenetrable forest to an 40 Geographical Divisions 41 extent which it is now difficult to realise, and the rivers themselves must have flowed in volumes of which the dwindled currents oeographi- of the present day give a very inadequate conception, of^hg^^"*^^^ Little indeed was the acreage of arable land which re- country, mained when the waste was subtracted from the area of the country. Besides the dreary moorlands which stretched in almost unbroken solitude from the Firths of Forth and Clyde to the Peak, and the wild uplands of Cleveland, Northumbria consisted of little more than a narrow strip of coast-line from the Forth to the Tees and the plain of the Yorkshire Ouse. Between it and Mercia lay the Humber -p^g and the waste of marshes into w^hich was gathered the Humber. whole of the western drainage of the moors of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire. Further inland, the forest of Elmete, which occupied the country between the Wharfe and the Aire, connected the barrier of the marsh with the highlands of the Pennine chain. Between Mercia and East Anglia stretched along the course of the Ouse as far as Cambridge a dreary waste of fen broken only by verit- able islands ; and at Cambridge the forest began, and con- . The Fen. nected the marshes of the Ouse with those of the estuaries of the Stour and Orwell, so completing the isolation of East Anglia. From Cambridge another line of woodlands followed the slopes of the Chiltern Hills and divided the East and West Saxons from The the men of Mercia, as they were divided from those of Chiltern Surrey and Kent by the channel of the Thames. Closely followed by the Icknield Street, this line of wood seems to cross the Thames near Wallingford, and under the name of the Bearroc Wood divides the men of Surrey from the West- Saxons ; and then, expanding into the tangled labyrinth of the Weald, which in Alfred's _, „, ,^ '^ / ' The Weald. tmie was one hundred and twenty miles long and thirty broad, it formed the boundary of the South-Saxons both against the Jutes of Kent and the West-Saxons of the valley of the Itchen. Further west the advance of the Saxons was long delayed by the forest of Selwood, which occupied the water-shed between the Bristol Channel, the Thames, and the Hampshire Avon ; while the Mercians were debarred from the direct road into the valley of the Severn by the mass of forest land, afterwards known as the Forest of Arden, which lay between the Severn, the Warwickshire Avon, and the upper waters of the Trent. Within the kingdom the territorial divisions recognised by the English were the township, the borough, the hundi-ed, and the shire ; Territorial and some of the original kingdoms were so small that the Divisions, last division was superfluous. The township and hundred seem to owe 42 Institutions of the English their origin to the circumstances of the invasion itself, which took the form of the settlement in a conquered and possibly in a deserted country of a host of warriors who had arrived with their wives, children, and slaves, bringing with them their flocks and herds — in short, as an emi- grating community. In the time of Tacitus the Germans appear to have divided their fighting force into companies of hundreds, without, however, adhering strictly to the exact numerical standard ; and this organisation seems also to have been that of the English invaders of Britain. The township, therefore, appears to have been either the estate of a single warrior with his family and dependents — in fact, a plantation — or The t^^ smallest emigrating community of independent settlers. Township, j^g constitution accordingly varied: in some places it retained traces of its origin as a free and equal community cultivating the ground in common ; in others it had become the property of a single lord, even if it had not been so constituted from the first, in that case being little difi'erent from the manor of a later date. From the point of view of the state, the township, as a community, was bound to fulfil certain obligations. These were called the trinoda necessitas, and consisted of keeping in repair the bridges, fortifications, and roads which fell within its limits, and of sending a contingent to the national host in case of an outbreak of war. The head of the township was the tun-gerefa or town- reeve, sometimes an elective officer, sometimes named by the lord. Eccle- siastically, the township was, as a rule, the charge of a single priest, and the name was often sunk in that of parish ; but in thinly populated districts, especially in the north, the parish often contained several town- ships. The affairs of the township were managed by its inhabitants, who met for this purpose in the town-moot. There they elected the reeve, unless he was named by the lord ; appointed the bydel, or beadle, and other village officers ; formally received new householders into the community ; saw that the obligations of the village were duly discharged in regard to roads and fortifications ; and enforced the by-laws of the place. Each old English township, therefore, had a comj)lete system of local self-government, which never wholly passed away, for some of the functions of the town-moot were discharged by the meeting, others by the courts of the lord of the manor, of which a fuller account will presently be given. Since 1894, however, the recognition in small parishes of the parish meeting, and the creation in larger of the parish council, have practically restored the working of one of the oldest English institutions. If the settlement was defended by a mound and a ditch instead of the tun, or quickset hedge, which gave its name to the township, it was called Township and Hundred 43 a burh., a name which takes the forms borough, bury, and burgh in different parts of the country. The head of a burh was called a burh- gerefa, or borough-reeve. Sometimes the chief officer was ^j^g known as the port-reeve. When the settlement had been Borough, formed for security in an Old Roman camp, the name castra usually clung to it in the form cester, Chester, or caster. No difference in kind existed between the smaller boroughs and the townships ; but some of the larger boroughs comprised several townships, and the government of such boroughs resembled that of a ' hundred.' A group of townships formed the hundred. The area of the hundred varied greatly — jjartly, no doubt, due to the fact that the number of warriors in a nominal hundred was itself variable, but also ^he to the nature of the soil, which would make the district Hundred, required for a settlement greater in some places than in others. The name for this division also varied in different parts of England. In the south, 'hundred' was the term usually employed ; in the east midlands and in Yorkshire, ' wapentake '; and in the very north, ' ward.' In some places even the division was called a 'shire.' Who was the head of the hundred is a matter of some uncertainty. It is, however, generally thought that the elected head was called the ' hundred-ealdorman,' or alderman of the hundred, and that the authority of the king was repre- sented by a gerefa, the same officer who after the Norman Conquest was generally known as the ' bailiff.' Like the township, the hundred had a meetino; for the management of its own affairs. This assembled monthly, and was attended by the lords of land within the hundred or by their stewards, and by the parish priest, the reeve, and the four best men from each toAvnship. The business of this court was to try criminals, to settle disputes, and to witness transfers of land. Judicial matters were for convenience submitted to the decision of twelve men, who came to be known as ' the twelve legal men ' of the hundred. Even in very early times some of the great landowners exercised a jurisdiction on their own estates which made them independent of the hundred court, and these estates constituted, as it were, private ' hundreds.' At a later date these came to be known as ' liberties ' or ' franchises.' The whole question of the ' hundred ' is very obscure, and probably there was much variety in practice. Above the hundred stood the shire. The origin of English shires as we have them at the present day is exceedingly various, ^^^ shhe and few if any of their present boundaries date back to the time of Egbert ; but similar divisions certainly existed, and for the sake of convenience it will be better to deal with them all at once. At the 44 Institutions of the English present day we have at least seven kinds of shires. Sussex, Essex, Kent, and Surrey are ancient kingdoms which preserve more or less their old Origin of boundaries. Northumberland is likewise an ancient king- Shires. (Jqj^^ ]y^^^ much reduced in size. Cornwall is the kingdom of the West Welsh. Cumberland represents the English share of the old British kingdom of Strathclyde. Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Devonshire, and Dorsetshire represent the old tribal divisions of Wessex. Counties like Worcestershire, Leicestershire, and Bedfordshire, and other midland shires, which take their names from their county town, date back to the time when, the old tribal divisions having been obliterated by the settlement of the Northmen, a new and artificial division became necessary. Durham corresponds to the old district ruled over by the Bishop of Durham. Cheshire is a county palatine created at the Conquest ; and Lancashire, Westmorland, and Eutland have even been organised as counties since the compilation of Domesday Book. However, in the time of Egbert the tribal settlements still formed the basis of the ' shire,' and the organisation of the ' shire ' as it existed in his time was simply transferred in later times to the new territorial divisions. At the head of the shire stood the ealdorman. In the case of well- established shires, such as Dorsetshire and Wiltshire, he was appointed by Government the king and the witenagemot ; but in that of shires which of the Shire. ^yQi^Q j^g^ ceasing to be smaU kingdoms, such as Kent and Sussex, the office frequently remained in the hands of the ancient dynasty, on the extinction of which an ealdorman was appointed in the ordinary way. The chief business of the ealdorman was to lead the forces of the shire, and to be present at the meetings of the shire-moot. This body met twice a year on the summons of the shire-reeve or sheriff", who represented the authority of the king. There were present at it the ealdorman and the bishop, who declared respectively the laws of state and church on all points that arose ; the sheriff", who saw the decisions of the court carried into eff'ect ; and all the suitors at the hundred-court, including the reeve and four men from each township. The shire-moot tried all cases that had not been disposed of in the hundred-court. In cases between man and man there was certainly, a little later than Egbert's time,- an appeal to the king and the witenagemot, but in criminal cases the decision of the shire-moot was final. The military force of the shire was represented by the fyrd, or expedition. This was made up of all the freemen of the shire between the ages of sixteen and sixty. The men of each family marched together, and formed with others from the same township the unit of the fighting force, which was led by the town-reeve ; the reeves The King and Witenagemot 45 and their men from each hundred were led by their hundredman, and the force of the whole shire by the ealdorman ; the contingents of the liberties and the men from the lands of the church also placed themselves under him. The kingdom was ruled jointly by the king and the witenagemot, or meeting of the wise men, often expressed by the word witan^ The King- or the wise. The witenagemot was a close body, consisting '^°^' of the king, sometimes accompanied by his wife and grown-up sons, the ealdormen and bishops, the chief abbots, the great officers of The Witena- the court, and an ever-increasing body of the king's thegns. s^"^ot- The witenagemot, besides meeting at more or less regular intervals for the purpose of being consulted by the king, had a number of special functions. It was its business to elect the king ; but it rarely chose a man except out of the royal family. Usually the man chosen was the best qualified man who was near in blood to the late king ; and in practice, though by no means invariably, the choice fell upon his eldest son. In theory, however, the choice was perfectly open, so that the old English kingship must be reckoned as an elective monarchy. In a few cases the witenagemot of the older kingdoms exercised the right of deposing an incompetent sovei;eign in favour of one more efficient ; but there is no instance of this being done after the time of Egbert. The king and the witan jointly named the ealdormen ; but the tendency was for these posts to become hereditary, and in other cases for the real choice to lie with the king. Bishops were sometimes elected by their clergy, sometimes named by the king and the witan ; but in either of these cases their formal reception into the witenagemot may be taken as a confirmation of the appointment. From time immemorial all legislation required the assent of the witenagemot, as was the practice in all Teutonic nationalities ; but among the English new laws were rarely made, and it was thought sufficient to restate and confirm the old ones. Another duty of the witan was that of reg-istering; and confirming all grants made from the public territory or folkland to private persons. The witan, too, con- stituted a court of appeal -in cases between man and man which had not been satisfactorily settled in the shire-moots, and tried in the first instance cases where the criminal or parties concerned happened to be too powerful to have justice done in the local court. In ordinary times no taxes were required for the king's ordinary revenue ; the contribution of ships, the fyrd, and the trinoda necessitas made a money revenue un- necessary. The chief functions, therefore, of this assembly were to elect the sovereign ; to confirm, at least, the appointments of ealdormen and bishops ; to act as the high court of justice of the realm ; to state, 46 Institutions of the English codify, or amend the law ; to vote additional taxation, and to advise with the king in all cases of national emergency. The edifice of the state is crowned by the king. The title means ' father of a family,' and it recalls the recollection of a time when the state and the family were one. When Tacitus wrote, few German tribes were ruled by kings, but kingship was universal among the English who had settled in Britain ; and perhaps the success of the invasion was the cause which conferred the higher distinction on the ealdorman, or princeps, or chief who had led the bands of emigrants. The English looked on their kings as descendants of a mythical hero Woden, and as such regarded them and their families with awe. The king represented the unity, dignity, and historical career His Preroga- of the race. He was the leader of the host in war, and in tives. peace he was regarded as embodying the ideas of law and order, so that the officers of state who were responsible for their main- tenance were spoken of as his officers, and all crimes of violence were held to be violations of ' the king's peace. ' The sheriffs in a special manner were his stewards ; even the witenagemot, which had elected him and might depose him, was called his witenagemot. On the other hand, dignified as the king's position was, his prerogatives were carefully circumscribed. He was not the supreme landowner, and could make no grant from the public land, even to himself, without the consent of the witan. Without its advice and consent he could not levy a tax or alter the law. At the same time, it must be remembered that by increasing the number of the king's thegns he could always command a majority in the witenagemot, and that if he were a man of strong will and high character he was able to shape the whole policy of the state. The revenue of the king was provided for in a variety of ways. As a private individual he was at liberty to hold property and bequeath it by His will, and as sovereign he had control over the estates of the Revenue, crown, which might even include cities and boroughs founded upon it ; and he had also a right to certain contributions from the holders of folkland. His money revenue was derived from the fines levied in the law-courts, the produce of wrecks and of treasure-trove, of mines and salt-works, tolls and other dues levied in markets and ports, and of the heriots which were paid by his special dependants. The regalia of the monarch consisted of throne, crown, sceptre, and standard ; and at his enthronement he was both crowned and also anointed with oil as a sign that he was an independent and not a subordinate king. At his coronation the king was bound by a solemn promise to keep the peace, to put down robbery and rapine, and to secure justice for all his people. State of Society 47 As the estates of the crown and the folklands were scattered all over the iviiigdom, the king and his train of followers were forced to go from one li strict to another in order to eat up the provisions which had , ^ 1 . . f , 1 . His Estates. been prepared for their maintenance, and hence the sovereign svas brought into frequent contact with all parts of his dominions. Access to him was therefore easy for all his subjects, and the frequent presence of the king's eye was the best security against the oppressions of the local nobility. It is remarkable how soon the royal houses succeeded in raising themselves to a fairly high pitch of civilisation ; and the tone of mind adopted towards Christianity by such kings as Ethelbert of Kent \nd Edwin of Northumbria reflects credit on the race to which they belonged and the institutions under which they lived. English society was divided into two great classes, freemen and slaves, the relative numbers of which before the Norman Conquest English ire unknown. Freemen, again, were divided into sethelings, Society, sorls, ceorls, and thegns ; and slaves into theows, or slaves pure and mnple, esnes, who worked for hire, wite-theows, who had The Free- lapsed into slavery through inability to pay their debts, "^^"• bouse-slaves, and farm-slaves. For the death of a freeman the law exacted from his slayer compensation according to his rank, but took no cognisance of the death of a slave until Christianity enforced the duty of humanity by the penalty of penance. Of the freemen, some were landed and some landless : and this was a vital distinction ; for whereas the law recognised in the landed man a citizen of full responsibility, it compelled the landless man, Landed however high his birth, to put himself under the protection Freemen, of some landed man whom the state might hold responsible for his acts. At the time of the arrival of the English two ranks only appear to have been recognised — gentle and simple, or noble and non-noble, which were distinguished as setheling or eorl and ceorl. By degrees these names came to change their signification, and eorl or earl (a form derived from the Norse jarl) was reserved for the title of an ealdorman, and setheling for the son or brother of a king.- This was the more easy as the old distinctions of rank had been superseded by the rise of a new order — that of the thegns, and especially of the king's thegns. Tacitus had noticed that among the Germans it was a distinction to be attached to the service of a great man, and the greater the man the greater the distinction. Indeed, in the higher ranks little or no difference was made between the term gesith or companion and that of thegn or servant. Accordingly, a new gradation of rank made its appearance. The thegn of a king took precedence of the thegn of an 48 Institutions of the English ealdorman, and the thegns of an ealdorman those of a simple eorl. The king soon found it to his advantage to increase in every way the importance of his thegns. With the consent of the witen- ^^"^" agemot he bestowed on them shares of the public land, and called upon them to take their seats in the witenagemot itself. He also added to his military strength by requiring the personal services of them and their followers, so providing himself with a force more devoted to himself and more amenable to discipline than the ancient fyrd. By-and- by it came to be considered that any man of a certain wealth ought to rank as a thegn, and then it was enacted that any one ' who throve till he possessed five hides of land should be of thegn-right worthy.' Landless men of whatever rank were obliged to attach themselves to a lord ; and as for the sake of peace many landed men were also in the Landless habit of putting themselves under the protection of Freemen, their more powerful neighbours, there was the beginning. of a system in which all ranks of society would be bound together by a chain of mutual dependence and protection. The land system of the old English was very complicated. The broadest distinction was between alod and folkland, that is, between land which had been assigned to some particular proprietor or proprietors and land which, being still unallotted, was regarded as belonging to the state. On the other hand, the allotted land might be held by an individual or by a small community. In the latter case the homesteads were private property, while the plough-lands were cultivated in common, and the flocks and herds were pastured on the common waste, subject, however, to the by-laws of the little conmiunity. The next estate might be that of a private individual who cultivated the soil with his own hands, or, if large, by the labour of hired servants or slaves of various kinds. The proof of ownership of such allotted estates lay in the common voice of the community ; but in the case of grants made out of the folkland, which could only be made with the consent of the king and witan, greater formality was observed, and the title-deed was always written out. This document was called a hoc, or book, and land so held was distinguished as bocland. As such grants were being constantly made, and were also usually large, the proportion of bocland to alod was constantly increasing. Justice as it Avas administered among the Angles and Saxons was in . a transition state, just emerging from a time when justice tion of was regarded merely as a sort of regulated revenge, to one in which the heinousness of crime is regarded as lying mainly in the wrong done to the state. In the case of murder, for example, the Administration of Justice 49 iggrieved parties were the relatives of the murdered man, and their I grievance extended to the family of the murderer, just as in a blood-feud. Here the state stepped in and insisted that the case should be formally investigated. The kinsmen of the accused were responsible for producing him in the court ; and if he did not appear, sentence of outlawry was pronounced against him, and then the law gave him no further protection. If he admitted his guilt, and the case could not be shown to be justifiable by custom, the court determined the compensation which was to be paid (1) to the family of the murdered man, and (2) to the king for an infrac- tion of his peace. If he swore his innocence he was required to support his assertion by the oaths of his friends, who were called his compurgators ; and if he failed in this he was put to the ordeal. This consisted in walking over redhot ploughshares, carrying three paces a bar of redhot iron, or plunging his bare arm into boiling water. In either case, if his wounds were not healed within three days he was regarded as guilty and dealt with accordingly. If we try to picture to ourselves English life as it existed in the ninth century, we must set before ourselves an agricultural population divided into a number of small communities, each complete in itself. ^ . . , , . ^ ... English Life Some were free cultivating communities ; in others, and in the Ninth the increasing number, the real head was the lord who owned the soil, and to whom the mass of the inhabitants were bound in a variety of ways. Of the land, more than half would probably be wood or waste ; and of the remainder the greater part would be pasture, a little meadow, and the rest under the plough. • Of the inhabitants, the most important rented portions from the lord ; but the mass held their land from him on condition of doing for him a fixed quantity of work of difierent kinds. Others again, inferior to these, had to work practically whenever they were ordered, but yet had a tenement of their own, from which they could not be disturbed so long as their services were performed. These service-doing landholders afterwards came to be called villeins. Below these were the class of actual slaves or theows, who were the property of their lords, and could be bought and sold at will. This class, however, tended to diminish, as the church did all it could to encourage manumission. The lord intrusted the supervision of the serfs' labour to a steward, who was responsible to him ; careful accounts were kept of the duties of each tenant, and the lord received the produce of the estate, moving about with his retinue from one place to another so as to consume the produce of each. Besides members of the free village communities, the lords of land and their villein cultivators, there were few inhabitants. The towns were few and D 50 Institutions of the English small, mining was rare, and there was only domestic manufacture. Salt, however, was made either from brine or the water of the sea ; and by the rivers there were fisheries, the weirs for which had to be kept in order by the villein tenants. What commerce there was was carried on by chapmen ; and as the lords, under such a system, were very wealthy, the chapmen were often men who possessed a considerable stock of goods and travelled about the country with a large retinue of armed followers — a precaution rendered necessary by the number of robbers and outlaws who swarmed in the extensive forests. Provision for the amusement of the lords and their households was made by the bands of gleemen, jugglers, and tumblers who wandered from house to house, and who, if their entertainments were not very refined, did something to keep alive the ballad literature of the country. i CHAPTEE VI THE INVASIONS OF THE NORTHMEN Egbert, . . a.d. 802-839 Ethelwulf, . . 839-858 Ethelbald, . . 858-860 ENGLISH KINGS Ethelbert, . A.D. 860-866 Ethelred, . . . 866-871 Alfred, . . . 871-902 The Ethnology of the Northmen— Their early Invasions— The Youth of Alfred the Great — Accession of Alfred — His Struggles against the Danes — Peace of Wedniore— The Danelaw— Political Effects of the Danish Settlement — Ee- organisation of his Kingdom by Alfred — Later Wars with the Danes — Death of Alfred. It is a question whether the union of the English under Egbert would have proved more permanent than previous attempts at consolidation, had not a completely new turn been given to English affairs by the invasions of the Northmen. The name of Northmen was given by the English to all the inhabitants of Denmark and of th"e° °^^ the Scandinavian peninsula, and it is perfectly exact as far Northmen J- ' '- "^ or ' Danes. as it goes, for up to this time these people had not been con- solidated, as they afterwards became, into Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes ; but, as the Britons called all the English Saxons, so the English frequently spoke of the Northmen as Danes, and, since this name is short and convenient, we may do the same, provided it be remembered that many of the invaders came from other parts of the north of Europe besides Denmark. The Northmen belonged to the German branch of the Aryan family ; but while the English spoke a dialect of the Low German tongue which was common to all the tribes who dwelt on the low plain from the Scheldt to the Elbe or thereabouts, the dialect of the Northmen is distinguished as Scandinavian, and differs from Low German in some essential particulars. In the ninth century the Northmen were still heathen, and they retained all the fighting qualities of their savage origin unimpaired by contact with civilisation. In fact, they were in the time of Egbert what the English had been at the time of the first settlements, and so fiir as they differed from the English in character 51 62 Invasions of the Northmen 787 seem to have done so in the direction of greater dash and brilliancy. They were also far abler seamen than the English, and had greater skill both in constructing and defending earthworks. The first invasion of the Northmen took place in the reign of Offa, and from that time till the reign of William the Conqueror the fighting between the ;^nglish and the Northmen was almost incessant. Nor Invasion of did England sufi'er alone, for during that period Northmen the^North- established themselves in large territories both of Northern France and Southern Italy ; twice attacked Constanti- nople, founded a dynasty in Kussia, and plundered almost every sea- port town from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. In their invasions of England it is possible to distinguish three distinct epochs : first, that of -plunder ; then that of English settlement ; and, third, that oi political conquest. The Danes first appeared on the Periods of coast in the year 787, and before the close of the century four plundering expeditions had landed on our shores and the great abbeys of Lindisfarne and Wearmouth, the homes of Aidan and Bede and the centres of Northumbrian culture and piety, had been pillaged and destroyed. Then there was a respite till 828, when the Danes landed in Wessex, and defeated Egbert in a pitched battle. How- ever, in 837 Egbert contrived to get the mastery over a combined force „ , - of Cornishmen and Danes in the battle of Hengist's Down. Battle of ® Hengist's From 837 to 840, every summer saw the heathen men at their deadly work. Three pitched battles at least were fought ; in each the English were beaten, and London, Eochester, and Canterbury were taken by storm. In 851 the Danes, for the first time, wintered in the Isle of Thanet ; and the same year no less than three winter in hundred and fifty-one of the pirate vessels made their Than^et. °^ appearance in the Thames. London and Canterbury were again pillaged, and the Mercians were defeated ; but when the Danes passed into Surrey they were routed with enormous slaughter Battle of at the battle of Ocley. In 855 some Danes passed the Ociey. winter in Sheppey ; but in 860 a body of Danes who had sacked Winchester were defeated by Osric, ealdorman of Hamp- shire, and Ethelwulf, ealdorman of Berkshire. On the whole, therefore, the Saxons were making a fair defence, when in 866 a new army, far more formidable than its predecessors, made its appearance in East-Anglia. After passing the winter there, the 'great heathen army' crossed the Humber into Northumbria, and, as it found the NorthumlDrians engaged in a civil war, seized York without difficulty. Next year the army, leaving Guthrum in charge of York, advanced into Mercia and seized 871 Invasio7is of the Northmen 53 Nottingham ; but a great force of Mercians and West- Saxons compelled them to withdraw to York. However, in 870 they invaded East- Anglia, defeated and slew Edmund its king, and sacked Peterborough and Crowland ; and in 871 they attacked Wessex. The reigning king of the West-Saxons was Ethelred, the grandson ot Egbert. Egbert died in 839, and was succeeded by his son Ethelwulf. Ethelwulf appears to have devoted more attention to the in- Reig-^ ^f junctions of the church than to the affairs of his kingdom, Ethelwulf. judging by the fact that he chose the year when the Northmen wintered in Sheppey to pay a visit to the pope. On his return he visited the court of the Emperor Charles the Bald, and took as his second wife his daughter Judith. Ethelwulf died in 858, and left four sons, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, Ethelred, and Alfred, each of whom in turn Reig-n of became king. Ethelbald reigned first, making Ethelbert Ethelbald. under-king of the south-eastern kingdoms. His reign, however, only lasted two years, and then Ethelbert came to the throne. In his reign the victory was gained which followed the sack of Win- Rgig-n of Chester, and during the remainder of Ethelbert's life the Ethelbert. invaders confined their attention to the under-kingdoms of East- Anglia and Northumbria. However, in 866 he too died, and was succeeded by Ethelred, as it had been arranged, by the Reign of will of Ethelwulf and with the consent of the witan, Ethelred. that each of his sons should succeed in turn, to the exclusion of his grandchildren. The object of this arrangement may have been to secure the succes- sion of Alfred, who appears from his earliest youth to have given promise of his future excellence. Alfred was born at Wan- Early Life tage, in Berkshire, in 849 ; and, though it is hard to believe °^ Alfred, all the stories of his precocity, he soon attracted attention by his abilities. In 853 Ethelwulf sent his little son to Eome, and while there he was in some sort consecrated a king by Leo iv,, who had heard rumours of Ethelwulf's death. When Ethelwulf visited Eome Alfred returned home with him, and till the age of twenty led an active life, dividing his time between study, hunting, and the exercises of religion. Even as a young man he was noted for the seriousness of his character, and a copy of the Psalms prepared for his own use was his constant companion. In 868 he married Elswitha, the daughter of the ealdorman of the Gainas, a tribe whose name is still preserved in Gains- borough. Alfred, therefore, was twenty-two years of age and a married man when the great invasion took place. In 871 'the great army,' supported by its fleet, made its way up the valley 54 Invasions of the Northmen 871 of the Thames, and, following the practice of pitching their camp in the angle between two rivers, entrenched itself in the angle of ground between the Kennet and the Thames, close to the town of Reading. Great Invasion They then began their usual practice of plundering the ofWessex. ^.Q^^^j-^.y j^j^(^[ collecting the spoil into their camp. One of their bands, however, was defeated by Ethelwulf, the veteran ealdorman Battle of ^^ Berkshire ; and three days later Ethelred and Alfred, with Reading, youthful impetuosity, attempted to storm the camp itself. In this, however, they overrated their strength. Behind earthworks the Danes were invincible ; the assault was beaten off ; and the brave Ethelwulf was killed. Encouraged by this, the Danes sallied forth in Battle of force, but were met on the Berkshire downs at Ashdown by Ashdown. the wliole force of the West Saxons. There the invaders were completely routed, apparently owing to the adoption by Alfred of the method of forming his men in a close column of attack instead of fighting in loose order. The losses in these three engagements fell heavily on the English ; and a fortnight later, in trying to Basing. prevent an invasion of Hampshire, they were beaten at B tti f Basing ; and two months later, probably at Harden in Wilt- Marden. shire, they were again routed after a most stubborn en- Reign of counter. Here Ethelred appears to have been mortally wounded, and Alfred at once stepped into his place. To Battle of n^ake matters worse, the Danes received reinforcements, and Wilton. ' ' Alfred was beaten at Wilton. ' Nine general battles,' says the Chronicle^ ' were fought this year south of the Thames, besides which Alfred, the king's brother, and single ealdormen and king's thegns oftentimes made incursions on them, which are not counted.' However, the general result of the fighting seems to have discouraged the Danes, for the next year the camp at Reading was broken up and the army, though it did not quit the country, fell back on Northmen ^ ' . . . retire from London. Next year it passed into Lincolnshire, and in 874 it drove Burhed, king of Mercia and brother-in-law of Alfred, from his kingdom and gave it to Ceolwulf, ' an unwise king's thegn,' to hold as tenant-at-will. Then one-half of ' the army,' under Halfdene, seized Northumbria and divided it among themselves and \ raided on the Picts and Strathclyde Britons ; while the other, under Guthrum, occupied Cambridge and prepared for another invasion of Wessex. This occurred in 877. The heathen men sailed through the Straits of Dover, landed at Wareham, and formed their fortified camp by drawing a trench between the rivers Frome and Piddle. This time Alfred was 878 Alfred 55 too wary to risk a repetition of the Reading disaster, so he contented himself with preventing phmder, and did it so effectively that at last the Danes came to terms. Some of them, however, broke their word and made their way by land to Exeter, where invasion of they were next year joined by the main body, which, however, ^thrum^^ was weakened by the loss of one hundred and twenty ships in a storm. Again Alfred kept to his blockading tactics, and with such success that the Danish army gave up the game ; and, terms having been made, it retired by land into Mercia and spent the autumn and early winter at Gloucester. At Christmas, however, the Danes were joined by a countryman, Hubba, who had been plundering in South Wales, and he persuaded Guthrum to renew the war. Accordingly, in the depth of winter, Guthrum broke up his camp and plunged into the heart of Wessex, while Hubba and his ships made for Devonshire. So swift were Guthrum's marches, that he was master of Chippenham before Alfred could oppose him ; and the king, seeing that it was useless to attempt to collect forces in the east of his kingdom while the Danes held the key of the position, retired into the great forest of Selwood, and waited till the return of spring should enable him to take the field with advantage ; and, mean- while, Hubba's force was cut to pieces by the men of Devonshire. Alfred made his headquarters at the isle of Athelney, a stronghold among the marshes of the river Parret ; and retires to while he kept up the spirits of his men by successful ^ "^•^' skirmishes, he fixed Brixton in Wiltshire as the place, and May 12th as the day, for the assembling of his great expedition. Sheltered by the Downs, or concealed from observation by the thickets of Selwood, Alfred's warriors made their way to the appointed spot, and, falling on the Danes at Edington, 878, put them to complete Battle of rout. From the field the Danes fled to their camp ; but, Edington. being separated from their fleet, they were soon starved into surrender, and Guthrum was compelled to enter into a permanent peace, and to be baptized as a Christian, which accordingly was done at Wedmore, a royal palace in Somerset. By the peace concluded at Wedmore the Watling Street was made the boundary of the English and Danish districts ; but in 886 Alfred took advantage of a partial rising of the Danes of East pg^^g of Anglia to secure a better military frontier on the south-east. Wedmore. The new boundary ran along the estuary of the Thames to the mouth of the Lea, along the Lea to its source, then across country to Bedford, and then along the Ouse till it crossed the Watling Street, and so on to the 56 Invasions of the Northmen 878 Welsh border. This gave Alfred a very strong frontier as against the East- Anglian Danes, and secured him possession of London and with it the command of the Thames. Between this boundary and the Tees the land was held by Halfdene and Guthrum, and by them was apportioned among their followers. The land between the Tees and the Forth, how- ever, which formed the old kingdom of Bernicia, still remained English, and was in the hands of a descendant of the ancient Northumbrian kings, who ruled as an ealdorman at Bamborough. What the settlement of the Northmen was like, it is exceedingly difficult to realise, because we have no means of knowing the proportion which existed between the English and Norse population ; of\hT'^*^'^ but, compared with the English conquest of Britain, and the Danish Norman conquest of England, it was much more like the Settlement. ^ o 7 latter than the former. Between the conquerors and con- quered there was no radical diflFerence of blood or of speech, and the difference of religion was soon removed by the conversion of the new- comers to Christianity. However, the permanent results of the conquest showed themselves in several ways. In the first place, though the mode of local government in use among the Danes was much the same as among the English, so that the old courts went on as before, the use of Danish valuations for wergilds (sums paid in compensation for murder), and possibly the more frequent resort to trial by battle, gave to the laws of the Danish districts such a distinctive character that the district was long known as the Danelaw. The speech of the north, not only in place-names but also in the parlance of everyday life, is full of words and expressions which bear the stamp of their Danish origin ; and wherever we find the termination ' by,' ' thorpe,' or ' thwaite,' there we know that there was either a new settlement of men who used the Northern speech or that an old settlement became the property of a Norse settler ; while the dialect of the north, and especially the vocabulary of the farmyard, is as full of Norse terms as it well can be. Moreover, it is difficult to ascribe to anything else than the infusion of Norse blood the diff'erence of character which certainly exists between the bulk of the population of the north and similar classes in the south ; though here, and also in the language, the fact that, roughly speaking, the north is Anglian and the south is Saxon must not be left out of account. On Wessex the political efi'ect of the settlement of the Northmen was T, ,-.• , twofold. First, it cut off" from it the under-kingdoms that Political ' => Effects of the lay beyond the Watling Street ; and, secondly, it gave to the West-Saxon sovereigns in full sovereignty that part of Mercia and Essex which lay between their new frontier and the 878 Alfred 57 Thames. This included the towns of London, St. Albans, Oxford, Worcester, and Gloucester ; so that, if the peace of Wedmore reduced the area of Alfred's nominal dominions, it added considerably both to the area and importance of his own possessions. The new Mercia was intrusted by Alfred to the ealdorman Ethelred, who became the husband of his daughter Ethelfleda. Socially, the long struggle with the barbarians had been absolutely disastrous. In times such as those, when almost every year some part or other of the country was subjected to the full horrors of heathen war, the material prosperity of a nation, to say nothing of the amenities of civilisation, suffered heavily ; and, as it happened, the Danish invasions had fallen most severely on those of the national elements which were doing most for civilisation, on North- umbria, on the monasteries, which had been sacked again and again, and upon the towns. Alfred himself is our authority for the melancholy condition in which he found his kingdom ; and his actions show the obliga- tion he was under of building up society almost from its foundations, when the cessation of hostilities gave him the opportunity of playing the statesman. To the work of reconstruction Alfred at once devoted his energies ; and during the remainder of his reign, whatever were the distractions which came upon him, one aspect or other of this great undertaking was never absent from his mind. With this view he made his own court a model of the life which he wished to see adopted by his subjects ; and as it moved about the kingdom from one royal estate to the next, men might see in it an example of economy both of wealth and time, of organises strenuous and well-regulated endeavour, of healthy amuse- ^^ King- ment and sober recreation, of womanhood respected and the young well cared-for, of learning honoured and frivolity discouraged, of wholesome patriotism free from insular prejudice against foreigners, of real piety carried into everyday life — in short, of the highest ideal of life. Of the Englishmen by whom it was adorned, the greatest were Ethelred of Mercia, the bishops Plegmund, Werfrith, and Denewulf ; and of foreigners, John the Old Saxon, Grimbald the Frank, Otliere the Norseman ; and last, but not least, his biographer, Asser the Welshman. With these men his constant talk was of progress, of educa- tion, of social and ecclesiastical reconstruction ; for Alfred believed that no side of national life was unworthy of the attention of a king. His first care was to remodel the defences of the country. So early as 875 he had employed a fleet, and his ships had proved useful during the last campaign. He now put the navy upon a permanent footing, arranged that each part of the kingdom 58 Invasions of the Northmen 878 should do its fair share towards providing ships, and had the new vessels built on lines suggested by himself. To man the vessels and to instruct his countrymen, he took into his service Frisians, Britons, and Danes, the most notable of whom was Othere the Norseman, who made a cele- brated voyage of discovery round the North Cape and into the White Sea. So far the brunt of the fighting had fallen on the fyrd, led by such captains as the brave Ethelwulf of Berkshire, and on the king's thegns ; but Alfred, having experienced the difficulties which arose from the unwillingness of the men to remain long from home, organised the force on the basis of one-third of the able-bodied soldiers serving during the summer season for one month, and staying at home two — ^' a plan which not only removed the old trouble, but also added to the efficiency of the troops by giving them regular train- His Fort- ing. He also reconstructed on improved principles the resses. fortresses of the country, which had recently proved to be so inefficient ; and, lastly, he rebuilt and refortified London so as to bar the passage up the Thames. Alfred was a rigid enforcer of justice. With the aid of his wise men, he not only drew up a new and improved code of law, but also insisted _ upon his ealdormen and reeves making themselves com- The Admi- ^ . . ,..,.., . nistration petent to administer their judicial functions, and restored oi Justice the efficiency of the local courts. He'also put into working order the principle of mutual responsibility, throwing upon the kindred, the lord, or the guild brethren of a malefactor responsibility for his crime. For education Alfred did much by the foundation and en- couragement of schools ; and, being well aware of the part played by books in moulding the character of readers, he took pains to provide his subjects with a library, which he had prepared in their own tongue, for he was not one of those who despised translations, but thought that Revival of great ideas might as well be conveyed in one language as in Learning, another. For this purpose, with the aid of Grimbald and Asser, he paraphrased or translated Orosius's work on Geography and History, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Boethius's Consolations of Philo- sophy, Gregory's Pastoral, and some selections from the works of St. Augustine of Hippo. One other literary legacy of priceless value Alfred bequeathed to his countrymen. This was the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the oldest history Anglo- ^^ ^^^ °^" tongue possessed by any European nation. Realis- Saxon ing the value of history in the formation of national spirit, Chronicle. .{r- ^ i ,-, , -, „ , . ^ ' Altred gave orders that the events of each year smce the settlement of the English should be collected from the best sources and 592 Alfred 59 irranged in the form of a chronicle, and that henceforward the narrative )f contemporary events should be kept up year by year, so that hence- brward the people of England should have access to an authentic larrative of the chief transactions in the history of their own race. In ifter years this was carried out, though not so fully as Alfred intended ; )ut, still, down to the Norman Conquest the Chronicle is the chief uithority for the history of affairs. The condition of the church filled Alfred wath anxiety. Even before he invasions it seems to have deteriorated much from what it had been n the days of Theodore and Bede. South of the Humber there were in Alfred's young days few clergy who could 'turn a Latin letter into English, and north of it not many.' Then, however, the churches had )een full of treasure, and the monastic libraries full of books ; but now hat the churches and abbeys were all ' waste and burnt up,' things were vorse than ever. Accordingly, the king placed over the church 'hurch the best bishops, English and foreign, whom he Reform, iould find, and insisted on their doing their duty ; he built a model ibbey for monks at Athelney, and another for nuns at Shaftesbury, ;etting John the Old Saxon over the one and his own daughter over the )ther ; and he also set apart a large share of his income for the restora- ;ion and equipment of other religious houses and churches. With the exception of the rising in 885, which was stimulated by a :resh arrival of Danes, peace continued till 892 ; but in that year a ^reat army of adventurers from all parts of Northern Europe, which had for years been the terror of the Empire, led by Hastings, ' who,' in the Dpinioh of a French chronicler, was 'the worst man that Later Wars 3ver was born, and who has done most harm in this age,' ^^*^ Danes, came to England. One part of it entered the Thames, and the other made a camp at Appledore in Sussex. In face of this danger Alfred called out half his forces, instead of the usual third, and, placing himself half-way between the two camps, adopted his old tactics of checking plunder, and so starving the marauders out. This plan forced the Danes to evacuate their first positions and to concentrate near the mouth of the Lea, where their camp was stormed by the Londoners. Then another force of Danes appeared at Exeter, and, while Alfred was engaged with them, the main body, reinforced by adventurers from all parts of the Danelaw, contrived to pass London, and, plundering as they went, passed up the whole course of the Thames, and, Battle of crossing to the Severn, ascended it as far as Buttington in Buttington. Montgomeryshire. There they were attacked by an overwhelming force of English and Welsh, led by Ethelred, the ealdorman of London, which 60 Invasio7is of the Northmen 90i routed them so eflfectively that they fled with all speed to Essex. How- ever, the next year they were again at Chester, and after plundering the North Welsh returned to Essex, and in 896 they sailed up the Lea, Alfred was in command, and by making two fortresses, which com- manded a narrow part of the river, completely blocked the return of the ships. Seeing this, the Danes made another effort to get into Wales, where they seem to have hoped to settle, and marched as far as Bridge- north ; but again Alfred's tactics wore out their patience, and at last, in 897, after having kept all England in terror for nearly five years, the great army broke up, ' some for East-Anglia, some for Final Defeat t^ , / . . , , i of the North- Northumbria ; and they who were moneyless procured '"^"' themselves ships there, and went southward over sea to the Seine.' One more attempt to land near the Isle of Wight brought the efforts of the army to a close, and after its dispersal Hastings and his followers disappear from English history. Four years after this great deliverance Alfred died, in 901, and left behind him almost a unique reputation as a warrior, a statesman, and a man. While Guthrum and his Northmen had been effecting their settlement of Northern England, another body of Northmen, under Ralf or RoUo, had formed a similar settlement in the north of Gaul, and of the North- Compelled the king of the Franks to recognise their right to Normandy ^ territory which stretched on both sides of the river Seine. The Normans, as these settlers in Gaul came to be called, soon gave up their own language for the debased Latin which was just passing into French, and otherwise showed themselves wonderful adepts at adopting the civilisation of their new country. CHIEF DA TES. First invasion of the Northmen, . Great invasion of Wessex, . Battle of Ashdown, Battle of Edington, Treaty of Chippenham or Wedmore, Northmen settle in Normandy, . A.D. 787 871 871 878 878 876 I CHAPTER VII RECONQUEST OF THE DANELAW ENGLISH KINGS Edward the Elder, a.d. 902-925 Athelstan, . . 925-940 Edmund, . . . 940-946 Edred, . . a.d. 946-955 Edwy, . . . 955-959 Edgar, . . . 959-975 Edward the Martyr, . . 975-978 Edward the Elder begins an offensive War against the Danes, and secures his Conquests by Fortifications — Edward is acknowledged Overlord by the whole Island — Battle of Brunanburh — Conquest of Strathclyde — The Policy of Edgar and Dunstan. On the death of Alfred, his eldest son Edward, commonly called Edward the Elder, became king of the West-Saxons. His accession was opposed by his cousin Ethelwald, the son of Alfred's elder brother Ethelred ; but this prince found little or no sujDport among Edward the the English, and had to take refuge among the Northumbrian ^^' Danes. By them he was accepted as king, and, crossing into East-Anglia, planned an invasion of Wessex. The Danes crossed the Thames at Cricklade and harried Wiltshire, but were forced to retreat by the strategy of Edward, who met their invasion of Wessex by an attack upon their own settlements across the Watling Street. Returning in hot haste, Ethelwald and his friends threw themselves on the Kentish division of Edward's army, and in the fight Ethelwald was slain ; so that, though the Danes were victorious, the movement in his favour came to an end. Peace was then made, and appears to have been fairly kept till 910. Edward the Elder was not so distinguished as his father in the arts of peace, but he was one of the greatest warriors that ever sat on the English j throne. Discarding the title of king of the West-Saxons, he styled him- / self king of the English or Anglo-Saxons, and set before himself the task of bringing the whole island under his sway. In this he was aided by his sister Ethelfleda and her husband Ethelred, 61 62 Eeconquest of the Danelaw 90i the ealdorman of the Mercians, who had taken a most distinguished part in the fighting of the last reign. The strength of the Danes south of the Humber lay in two districts : the valley of the Trent, where they held the strong towns of Leij:iester, The Five Nottingham, and Derby, which with Stamford and Lincoln Boroughs. ^ygj.g l^nown as the Five Danish Boroughs ; and the valley of the uppier Ouse, where they held Northampton, Huntingdon, Cam- bridge, and Bedford. In 907 the first forward stej) was taken by repair- inof the Roman fortifications at Chester, which had lain desolate since the victory of Ethelfrith. Chester, on the Watling Street, commanded the crossing of the Dee and the shortest road from Northumbria to Wales ; it was also the best port by which the Northmen of Ireland could com- municate with their friends in England, and was therefore a place of great strategical importance. In 912 Ethelred died, and Edward took into his own hands the lower part of the Thames valley with the towns of Oxford and London, while his sister, who was now called the Lady of the Mercians, ruled the rest of her husband's territory. The Edward's .„'.„. . . Fortifica- busmess of lortification now went on apace ; sometmies it took the form of casting up a great mound in some defensible position, sometimes of repairing Roman work, and in a few cases towns were surrounded with new stone walls. In these, new settlers were placed with orders to defend the adjoining territory, and in this way the work of reconquest, if slow, was sure. Ethelfleda secured her end of the Watling Street against the Danes by the fortresses of Stafford, Tam- worth, Eddisbury, and Runcorn, and against the Welsh by that of Bridgenorth ; in like manner Edward built Hertford, Witham, and Buckingham. Warwick was built by Ethelfleda to guard the Fosseway, and, the line of communication being secure, an advance Danes^south ^as made against the Danish strongholds. Edward took of the Bedford and Huntingdon, and compelled the men of Northampton and Cambridge to keep the peace ; Ethelfleda captured Derby and Leicester. In 918 Ethelfleda died, and then Edward took the whole of Mercia into his hands. The fall of Nottingham and Stamford followed, and at these places and at Bedford Edward built a new English quarter to keep the old inhabitants in check. His next step was to push forward from Chester and seize Manchester on the road to York, and to fortify Bakewell in the Peak country, which secured the passes into Northumbria and connected Manchester with Derby and Nottingham. That done, he seems to have been preparing for a fresh invasion of the north, when he was met at Dore, on the road from Bake- well to Sheffield, by offers of submission. These came not only from 937 Edward and Athelstan 63 the Danes of York, but also from the English kingdom of Bernicia, Avhich had never been overrun by the Danes, from the Welsh of Strathclyde, and even from the king of the ov^fo^rdship Scots. All these swore to take him as 'father and lord.' fg^^"^^" As in 922 he had been taken as overlord by the three ^^^ whole princes of North Wales, Edward had now succeeded in establishing some sort of authority over the whole island, except, per- haps, over the Northmen, who occupied settlements in the extreme north, and who had long been the terror of the Scots north of the Huniber ; however, he can hardly be re- Edward^*^ °^ garded as having had much authority, though at a later date Oyeriord- very great stress was laid on this submission of the Scots. Within his own dominions Edward carried out the work of organisation which his father had begun. The old tribal divisions of the Midland English, which had been obliterated by the Danes, were replaced by a new division into shires, of which Edward's tion of new forts and the chief Danish towns became as a rule the ^^^^* centres, and give such names as Warwickshire, Bedfordshire, Hert- fordshire. This rearrangement is a matter of inference ; but of the chief events of Edward's reign we have the fullest information from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which in his time is singularly graphic. Edward died in 925, and was succeeded by his son Athelstan. This king was a man of great courage and ability, and under him the work of consolidating the kingdom went on without interruption. Rgign of Athelstan's first act was to give his sister in marriao-e to Athelstan. Sihtric, the Danish king of Northumbria ; and on his death, two years later, Athelstan took his kingdom and drove into exile his two sons. In the south Athelstan extended his frontier by destroying the inde- pendence of the Welsh inhabitants of Exeter, and making the Tamar the boundary between England and Cornwall. He also exacted a money tribute from the princes of Wales. Trouble, however, soon arose in the north. Constantine, king of Scots, aided the sons of Sihtric, and in 933 Athelstan invaded that country and apparently reduced Constantine to submission ; but in 937 * the hoary warrior, the old deceiver,' was again in arms and at the head of a conspiracy in which the Danes, the Scots, and the Welsh of Strathclyde banded themselves together with the aid of the Northmen of Ireland to throw off the English yoke. Athelstan and his brother Edmund, then a lad of fifteen, met them at the battle of Brunanburh, and completely routed the con- Brunan- federates in a fight so bloody that it was known for years as 'the great battle,' and was celebrated by the chronicler in one of the 64 Reconquest of the Danelaw 937 finest outbursts of Old English song. Of the details of the fight, and even of its geographical position, we are, however, ignorant ; some fixing the neighbourhood of the Huraber, others that of the Mersey, as its site. Great, however, as was his victory, it is doubtful whether Athelstan's power over the Danelaw was as great after it as it had been before. The importance of Athelstan's position and the high estimation in which Greatness of ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ neighbours IS shown by the marriages Atheistan. contracted by his sisters. One was the wife of Charles the Simple ; another of Otto, son of Henry the Fowler ; and a third of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris. Like his grandfather, Atheistan was a law- giver, and portions of his code, which have come down to us, shed much light on the social conditions of the time. Atheistan died in 940, and was succeeded by his brother Edmund, aged eighteen. His accession was the signal for a general rising of the Reign of Danes, and both those of Northumbria and those of the Five Edmund. Boroughs threw ofi" their allegiance and sent for Anlaf of Ireland, who had fought at Brunanburh, to be their king. However, after some fighting Edmund regained his authority in both districts. Conquest of ^^^ chief exploit of Edmund was the conquest of Strath- Strathciyde. clyde. This he effected in 945, when the Welsh king Dun- mail was routed in a pass between Grasmere and Thirlmere, where the memorial pile of stones raised on the field may be seen at the present Strath 1 de ^^^' Edmund granted Strathclyde to Malcolm, king of granted to Scots, to be held by him ' as his fellow-worker as well by sea King of ' as by land.' The district so dealt with comprised all the ^°*^' land that lay between the river Derwent in Cumberland and the Firth of Clyde, and was bounded, inland, by the Pennine range of hills and the forest of Ettrick. How far Strathclyde was then really British is unknown ; now, at any rate, the place-names, though many of them are Celtic, point to a large immigration of English and Northmen, and the only relic of the Celtic speech is preserved in the numerals used by some of the shepherds for counting sheep. It is thought that the anglicising of the district was also facilitated by a large emigration of the Celtic inhabitants to Wales. Edmund had only reigned six years when he was slain by a robber ; but his title of Magnificent— that is, the doer of great deeds — marks the estimation in which he was held by his countrymen. Edmund was succeeded by his brother Edred. The reign of this king, Reign of though short, is in every way remarkable, for it brought to Edred. ,^ c\o^q the long struggle with the Danelaw, and once more established the authority of the West-Saxon kings upon a firm footing. 955 Edmund, Edred, and Edwy 65 The method of his accession serves to mark the progress that had already been made towards national unity ; for Edred was chosen by a witena- gemot in which sat Englishmen, Welshmen, and Danes, and he was con- secrated by the two archbishops of Canterbury and York. The north submitted quietly to his rule, and the Scots renewed their oath of allegiance. Aided, however, by their kinsmen in Denmark, the Northumbrians, with Archbishop Wulfstan at their head, ventured to throw off their allegiance ; but Edred's vengeance was so severe that sub- mission soon followed, and the archbishop was removed to a less dangerous see in the south "of England. Then Edred became full king in North- umbria, and the send-independence of the north came to an end. In the last year of his short reign Edred took the title not only of king of the Anglo-Saxons but of C?esar of Britain — an assumption which marks the attainment of the highest dignity possessed by the Old English kings. Instead of dividing his new dominions into shires, as had been done with the southern parts of the Danelaw, the region north Ne-^ of the Humber was divided into two earldoms, one of Earldoms, which, now or a little later, was intrusted to the king of Scots ; the other, from the Tweed to the Humber, was given to Osulf, an English- man. Edred was never a strong man, and after a reign of nine years he died in 955. During the reign of Edred his chief adviser and friend was Dunstan, the most remarkable English subject who lived before the Norman Con- quest. This wonderful man was born in Somerset and educated at the monastery of Glastonbury, where he had the advantage of the teaching of the learned Irishmen who were in the habit of visiting that shrine. Being by birth well connected, Dunstan soon made his appearance at court ; but the jealousy of his talents which was shown by the other courtiers made his life so unpleasant that he was forced to withdraw for a time, and became a monk. Edmund, however, recalled him to court and made him abbot of Glastonbury, and under his successor Dunstan acted as the leading adviser of the king, ac- companied him on his campaigns, and became guardian of the royal treasure. The rest of his time was given to education, and he and his friend Ethelwold, abbot of Abingdon, set on foot a revival of learning in the south of England which may be compared with the similar movement in Northumbria of which Caedmon and Bede were the chief ornaments. At Edred's death the crown reverted to Edwy, the elder son of King Edmund. The new sovereign was a boy of fifteen, whose character was quite unformed, and he appears to have been a mere tool in the hands of E 66 Reconquest of the Danelaw 955 his immediate relations, who were hostile to the influence of Dunstan and his friends. The foolish conduct of Edwy, who escaped from the solemnity Reign of ^^ *^^ coronation feast, and was by the orders of the witan Edwy. dragged back by Dunstan, completed the breach. Dunstan was exiled, while Edwy offended the clergy by marrying a lady within the prohibited degrees of relationship. At the same time he weakened his power by reviving the office of ealdorman of Mercia, which had been abolished by Edward the Elder, so parting with direct authority over all England north of the Thames. Meanwhile, Odo the archbishop of Canter- bury had denounced the king's marriage as incestuous, and a general revolt followed. All the earldoms declared for Edgar, the king's younger brother, and Edwy only retained possession of that part of England which lay south of the Thames. The revolution showed how weak the English kingshij) really was ; but the division was soon healed by the death of Edwy, and the severed portions were reunited under Edgar. Under Edgar Dunstan again became powerful, and it is difficult to say how much of the policy of Edgar's reign is due to the king and how much to the minister. Edgar was fortunate both at home and abroad. The wars waged against the Danes by the Emperor Otto gave emplojanent to the free- Reign of footers of the north. At home his wise administration Edgar. removed the causes of disaffection and conciliated his various subjects, while his vigorous enforcement of justice, and the un- tiring energy which he displayed in seeing with his own eyes the carrying out of his injunctions secured for his reign a long reputation as a time Edgar's ^f peace and prosperity. Edgar's policy seems to have been Policy. iq allow each of the great earls to manage the affairs of his own earldom, while he himself confined his attention to the security of the realm and the administration of his own district of Wessex. In pursuance of this plan, every summer saw Edgar inspecting his fleet and arranging for a complete circumnavigation of the coast with a view to the suppression of piracy ; each winter found him travelling from place to place seeing with his own eyes what was going on, and finding remedies for all abuses. Well, however, as this arrangement worked in the hands of a powerful king like Edgar, it obviously was calculated to lead to very difierent results in the hands of a weaker man ; for earls so free as these would naturally strive after independence, and such in- dependence would naturally lead to anarchy. Indeed, this was exactly what happened all over the world wherever this tempting plan was adopted ; and, consequently, its adoption in England makes a turning- point in the history of the Old English monarchy. I 975 Edgar and Edward 67- Another change of Edgar's reign which led to important consequences was the revival of monasticism. Before the invasions of the Northmen both the north and south of England had been thickly Monasticism studded with monasteries, and the monks had played a revived. ^reat part in the advancement of civilisation. But the barbarities of the Danes had proved their ruin, and even in Wessex very few had survived. Moreover, the temper of the English had been setting against a monastic ife, and when Alfred founded his monastery at Athelney he was obliged :o bring his monks from abroad ; though he found English ladies who »vere willing to become nuns at Shaftesbury and Hyde. Similar causes lad produced a decadence of the same kind in Europe, when, in the tenth century, a revival was brought about by the piety of the monks of the ibbey of Clugny, in Burgundy ; and their example fired other monasteries. The influence of the movement began to make itself felt in ^^, . ,, ° Ethelwold. Endand under Edgar. Ethelwold, abbot of Abingdon, was •^ ^ , , . Oswald, 'ull of it ; Oswald, bishop of Worcester, had himself lived in I Clugniac house ; and Dunstan during his exile had been an inmate of a itrict abbey in Ghent. Accordingly Ethelwold and Oswald, with the issistance of Edgar and the approval of Dunstan, set on foot a monastic -evival in England which took the form both of rebuilding ancient, but 'uined, monasteries such as Ely, Peterborough, and Crowland, and also )f restoring the use of the monastic rule in cathedrals where it had brmerly been in use. The number of new monasteries founded, how- 3ver, does not appear to have been large, and the north was hardly iflfected by the movement. There seems, however, to have been much difference of opinion as to .he merit of the new movement, and in some places the changes met with a vigorous resistance. On the whole it was thought that the new nonasticism was a good thing. It was certainly favourable to learning ; md from this time forward the duty of keeping up the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was regularly undertaken by the monasteries, so Chronicle, bhat the entries, which had become meagre in the extreme, again expand into valuable contemporary narratives, the most useful of which were :hose kept at Abingdon, Worcester, and Peterborough. In 975 Edgar died. His son Edward, who was not more than thirteen, Ijecame king, but three years later he was murdered by a party which liad always been in favour of the accession of his half- Reign of ' br4)ther Ethelred ; and Dunstan, though he remained arch- Edward, bishop of Canterbury, was deprived of all political influence. This event brings to a close a well-deflned period of English history, for with 'the accession of Ethelred the invasions of the Danes were renewed, and 68 lleconquest of the Danelaw 975 ultimately developed into an attempt to effect tlie conquest of the country. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Reconquest of the Danelaw, 910-924: Edward the Elder hecomes overlord of the whole island, 924 Battle of Brunanburh, 937 Strathclyde conquered, .... 945 Dunstan becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, 960 CHAPTER VIII THE DANISH CONQUEST ENGLISH KINGS Etlielred the Un- Canute, . a.d. 1017-1035 ready, . . A.D. 978-1015 Edmund Ironsides, 1016-1017 Harold I., . . 1035-1040 Hardicanute, . 1040-1042 Renewal of the Danish Invasions — Feeble Resistance of the English — Canute's Reign — Rise of Godwin — Reigns of Harold and Hardicanute. The accession of Ethelred was followed by the virtual exclusion of 3unstan from power, and the direction of affairs fell into the hands of lis opponents. When Ethelred grew up he showed himself Reign of .0 be the worst sovereign of his race— vicious, idle, cruel, Ethelred li, 11-advised, and unlucky in everything he undertook. It is, however, mfair to throw upon Ethelred responsibility for all the disasters of his ceign ; something must be allowed for general causes, and it is doubtful ivhether the skill of even Alfred or Edgar could have stemmed the tide Df misfortunes which Ethelred had to meet. The Northmen, instead of being a mere group of scattered tribes, had now settled down into the three powerful kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden ; and while the Swedes directed their attacks upon Eussia and the southern shores of the Baltic invasions of Sea, the Norwegians and Danes, sometimes separately and ^|n^°^^^" sometimes in unison, brought all their forces to bear upon the British Isles. Moreover, the Northmen of the Danelaw sympathised with the new comers, and gave them active assistance ; the hardly smouldering jealousy of the ealdorman broke out into oj^en flame ; local jealousy was rife ; and for some unexplained reason Edgar's fleet seems to have disappeared, so that the Northmen came and went at will. The invasions began in 980 by the plundering of Cheshire, Thanet, and Southampton, where 'most part of the townsmen were slain or made captive.' For seventeen years no competent leader seems to have C9 70 The Danish Conquest 980 arisen, and the country became perfectly demoralised by the atrocities of the ubiquitous Northmen. Single shires and ealdormen fought -well ; but, in the words of the Chronicle. ' no shire would help Weakness ... of the other,' and no one seemed able to organise a national resist- Enghs , 2in.Q,Q. Dunstan died in 988, and his successor Sigiric enjoys the sinister distinction of being the first to propose that the Danes should be bought off by a money payment. Then a treacherous attempt was made to ' betrap ' the enemy after the conclusion of a truce ; but the plan was betrayed by Elfric, the most trusted of the king's ealdor- men. In 993 Bamborough was stormed, and the country north and south of the Humber was pillaged ; but when an army was collected, it was ' the leaders first of all who began the flight.' At last Ethelred contrived to divide his assailants by making a separate treaty with Olaf, .0 king of the Norwegians, who ever after kept the peace ; and in 1002 he secured the neutrality of the Normans by a marriage with Emma, the sister of their duke Richard. However, a massacre of all the Danes who had recently settled in England, which was carried out on St. Brice's day, served only to exasperate Sweyn of Denmark, whose sister had been put to death. His attacks went on as before, and constant gifts of money and provisions only served to whet the appetite of the invaders. Throughout this miserable time the only bright spots are supplied by the valour of the Londoners, who held their town during a succession of sieges, and throughout the whole reign blocked the road up the Thames, and by the conduct of individual ealdormen like Briht- noth of Essex and the brave Ulfcytel of East Anglia, who gave the Danes ' worse hand-play than they ever had before among the English.' The actions of these heroes, however, only serve to place in stronger light the ignominy of Ethelred, who never seems to have adventured his person in battle, and whom the Chronicle describes in 1005 as 'beginning to consider ' what could be done after fifteen years of disaster. However, in 1007 an able man, Eadric, became ealdorman of Mercia. His low birth made him distasteful to the nobles, his avarice is shown by his nickname of Streona or the Grasper, and he was Eadric. "^ ^ undoubtedly treacherous ; but he does seem to have made some eff'ort to turn the tide. The want of a fleet was sujDplied by the con- tributions of the whole country ; but when it assembled, the quarrels of the leaders and an unlucky storm dashed the hopes of the nation, and ' it Ravages of seemed as if it had been all hopeless.' The country became the Danes, more demoralised than ever ; and the Danes marched hither and thither, burning, ravaging, and slaying, just as they pleased. At length, in 1013, Sweyn came over in person and attempted a .016 Ethelred II. 71 brmal conquest. Sailing up the Trent to Gainsborough, he received ^here the submission of the Northumbrians and of the men of the five Danish boroughs, and took hostages from every shire. Then sweyn taken le advanced, phindering as he went, across the Watling ^^ King, street, and received the submission of the Western thegns ; and, finally, vhen even the Londoners had given up the task of resistance as hope- ess, ' the whole country held him as full king.' Abandoned by his subjects, Ethelred took refuge in Normandy ; but within a year Sweyn lied, and then the English sent again for Ethelred, assuring him ' that 10 lord was dearer than their own lord, if he would rule :hem better than he had done.' Accordingly he returned ; of Ethel- 3ut his health was failing, and for the short remainder of ^^ ' lis life the real power was divided between his son Edmund, who from [lis strength and courage was called Ironside, and Eadric the Grasper. The two, however, were jealous of each other, and there was little more inity than before. Meanwhile the leadership of the Danes fell to Swejm's son Canute, an able and enterprising man. He soon renewed the war, was joined by the traitor Eadric, and Northumbria ' submitted to him for need.' In 1016 Ethelred died, and all England except London chose Canute as king. Edmund, however, was supported by the brave Londoners, and he soon showed what could be done by a really national Reign of leader. Withdrawing himself to the forest of Selwood, he Edmund ii.; appealed to the descendants of the men who beforetime had rallied round the great Alfred. With a small force he put Canute to flight in a battle at Pen Selwood, and, success bringing followers to his ranks, he again routed the Danes in a hard-fought battle at Shirestone. Battle of The importance of this victory is shown by the fact that Shirestone. the traitor Eadric, who had fought for the Danes, thought it advisable to change sides, and, wonderful to relate, was received into favour, ' than which,' says the Chronicle, ' nothing could be more ill-advised.' Men from the most distant shires now came to Edmund's aid, and with a really national force he defeated the Danes at Brentford, 11- cTi 11 PI- Battles of raised the siege oi London, and by a tourth victory at Brentford Otford drove a large body of them into the Isle of Sheppey. ^" t or . Then, crossing the Thames, he attacked Canute's main force at As- sandun in Essex. The English were fighting with every Battle of hope of success when the traitor Eadric, who was said to Assandun. have sold himself to Canute, led his followers from the field and ruined the chance of victory. Edmund continued the fight till nightfall, and even by moonlight, and was only forced to retreat by the death of his 72 The Danish Conquest loie bravest warriors. He then withdrew into Gloucestershire, and another battle was imminent, when the Witan, acting apparently under the _. . . r advice of Eadric, proposed to secure peace by dividing the the King- kingdom. Edmund unwillingly gave his consent, and it was arranged that he should keep Wessex and East Anglia as over-king ; and that Canute as under-king should receive Mercia and Northumbria. However, within a few weeks Edmund died, murdered, according to one story, by Eadric, and then Canute became king of all England. Whether, had he lived, Edmund would have rivalled Alfred Death of ^s a ruler it is impossible to say ; but he certainly rivalled Edmund, j^j^^ exploits as a warrior, and nothing but the miserable treachery of Eadric deprived him of complete victory. The story of his brief triumph is the best commentary on the imbecility of Etlielred, and shows that it was not so much the degeneracy of Englishmen as the incompetence of the central government that had been responsible for the disasters of his reign. Canute began to reign in 1017 ; and though his early life had been stained by many acts of treachery and violence, his character as he grew Reign of older underwent a change, and ultimately he became an Canute. excellent sovereign. Like Julius Csesar, he possessed the faculty of attaching to himself nations whom he had conquered in battle, and he soon made Englishmen respect and trust him just as though he had been one of themselves. This feeling was reciprocal, and Canute frequently promoted Englishmen to bishoprics in his hereditary dominions and employed them in his Continental wars. As elected king of the English, Canute regarded himself as inheriting the imperial rights of his predecessors. He enforced the supremacy over „, « ,. the Welsh, and he compelled Malcolm, king of the Scots, His Policy. i , • , • . to do homage, with his under-kings. His views of dominion, however, extended beyond the shores of Britain, and he designed to create a northern empire which was to include Norway, Denmark, and England, just as the Eoman Empire of the West had been revived by Charles the Great. He was already king of England and Denmark, and in 1028 he conquered Norway. His dominions, however, fell asunder at his death, but the idea of [an empire of the north has not been without its influence on the affairs of Europe. Canute's first care was to get rid of the surviving members of the royal family. Edmund's baby children were sent to the king of Sweden, who passed them on to Stephen, king of Hungary, where, contrary to Canute's intentions, they were carefully brought up ; Edwy, Edmund's brother, was outlawed and soon after- wards slain ; and Canute conciliated the Normans and g-uarded himself 1021 Canute 73 against the two sons of Ethelred and Enama by a strange marriage with their mother, who came to England and left her children behind her in Normandy. Determined to show that he trusted the English, Canute dismissed his Danish fleet after paying the sailors by levying a land-tax called the Danegeld ; and the only force he retained was his famous bodyguard of house-carls, into which he enlisted Englishmen and Danes indiff'erently. This force, which was in fact a small The Hus- standing army organised under strict military discipline, '^^^^s- was perhaps imitated from the guard maintained by the Greek emperors at Constantinople, in which many Norsemen served. Canute retained the great earldoms. Over the East-Auglians he placed Thurkill, a Dane, who had been his right-hand man at the battle of Assandun ; over the Northumbrians he set his own The Earl- brother-in-law, Eric ; Eadric Streona kept Mercia ; and the ^°"^s. king himself acted as earl of Wessex. This arrangement, however, did not last long. At Christmas, 1013, Eadric Streona, of whose power and character Canute must have been well aware, was put to death, as one chronicle says, ' very rightfully ' ; and his earldom was given to Leofwine, an Englishman. In 1021 Thurkill was banished from England, but made viceroy of Denmark. The earldom of the Northum- brians was restored to the ancient line ; and another Englishman, Godwin, was made earl of the West-Saxons. Godwin, who for the next forty years was the most prominent figure in English affairs, seems to have raised himself to favour by his own exertions and ability. He is described to us as a man sagacious 1 . ,.,. . , . o Godwin. m counsel, strenuous m war, duigent m the transaction of business, weighty in speech, of winning manners, and of admirable temper. His early history is unknown, but at the very beginning of Canute's reign he was in high favour, and selected to be the king's companion on his first journey to Denmark. There he won further distinction, and on his return married Gytha, a connection of Canute himself. After this he was raised to the earldom of Wessex, which remained in his family till his son Harold became king of the English. For the remainder of Canute's reign Godwin was the king's most trusted servant, his adviser when in England, his representative when business required the king's absence abroad. With Canute's exploits on the Continent English history has little to do. His reign at home was a time of profound peace. Ad- • 1,1 1 1 111-.,. -. Good effects mn-able order was preserved, and the land was distressed of Canute's neither by invasions from without nor by rebellions within. ^°^^'^^' The observance of law was enforced on English and Danes alike, and 74 The Danish Conquest 1021 Canute took for his model the rule of Edgar, ' whose law,' according to the famous formula, ' he promised to observe.' The most picturesque event in the later life of Canute is his pilgrimage to Kome. As king of England he had always shown signs of religious devotion, had founded a church upon the hill of Assandun, and been liberal in his gifts to churches and monasteries ; and in 1027 he made a pilg-rimacre to Kome, where he was received with great His Pil- 1 & o ' o grimageto honour both by the pope and by the emperor. Thence ^°"^^' he wrote to his subjects an admirable letter, written in the tone of a father addressing his children, and giving a full account not only of his travels but of his designs for the future. The long and peaceful reign of Canute is believed to have been a turning-point in the history of English towns. Hitherto, except as Growth of fortresses, the towns had played a very small part in English the Towns, j^fg . ^^^^^ under Canute the union of England, Denmark, and Norway was favourable to commerce, and the Danish population which had settled in England appears to have been more commercial in its instincts than the pure English race. London and York were the chief marts for foreign trade ; Oxford, Chester, and Bristol were rising in importance ; while Winchester, the ancient capital of the West-Saxons, was falling into the second rank. At his death, in 1035, Canute left tliree sons, Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute (Harthacnut). The last was the son of his Norman queen Emma ; the others of an Englishwoman, ^Ifgifu, who, strictly speaking, was hardly his wife at all. Probably Canute intended that Emma's son should succeed him in England, and accordingly Hardi- canute was supported by Godwin and the West-Saxons ; but the northerners, actuated perhaps by resentment against the favour shown by Canute to Godwin and the southerners, preferred Harold. Ultimately it was arranged at Oxford, by discussion and compromise, that Harold Reign of should reign north of the Thames as over-king, and that Harold. Hardicanute should have the south. Hardicanute also obtained Denmark, while Sweyn had Norway. However, Magnus, the son of Olaf of Norway, soon dispossessed Sweyn ; and as he also threatened Denmark, Hardicanute was detained to look after his interests there, and was unable to visit the West-Saxons, who were ruled by Emma and Godwin. This state of affairs encouraged Alfred and Edward, the sons of Ethelred and Emma, who had grown up in Normandy, to attempt the recovery of their father's throne ; and Alfred at any rate, and possibly Edward, came over for that purpose. Alfred fell into the 1042 Harold and Harthacnut 75 hands of Harold's men, who put him to a cruel death at Ely. Whether Godwin took any part in his arrest it is impossible to say. If Godwin arrested Alfred, he was simply doinf^j his duty ; and it was .,, ^, ^ ' ^ "^ , "^ Alfred s Ex- Harold and his men, and not Godwin, who were responsible pedition and Death. for the cruelties that followed. However, the result of the suspicion against him was to create ill-will between the house of Godwin and that of the dukes of Normandy. For two years the West-Saxons waited for Hardicanute ; but, as he did not come, they then joined the rest of their countrymen in acknowledging Harold, and Emma took refuge with Baldwin of Flanders. ^^ ^. ' ° . , . Hardi- There she was joined by her son, and preparations were being Canute's made for an invasion of England, when Harold, who had ^^^"* for some time been ailing, died at the age of twenty-three. The whole nation then chose Hardicanute as king. The new sovereign's reign was brief. The only events of importance were the employment of his house- carls to collect an oppressive tax and the invitation to England of his half-brother Edward, This was accepted, and when Hardicanute died suddenly at a marriage feast in 1042 all the English agreed in choosing Edward king, and so returned to the ancient line. CHIEF DATES. Invasions of the Northmen renewed, Death of Dunstan, Massacre of the Danes, Battle of Assandun, Accession of Harold, A.D. 980 988 1002 1016 1017 CHAPTEE IX THE NORMAN CONQUEST ^] ENGLISH KINGS Edward the Confessor, a.d. 1042-1066 i Harold ii., . . a.d. 1066 The Character of Edward the Confessor — Influx of Normans — Godwin and his Family unsuccessfully oppose the Normans — Visit of William of Normandy to England — Return of Godwin and Banishment of the Normans — Character of Harold, Godwin's Son — Accession of Harold — Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. The character of Edward the Confessor is difficult to understand. The personal piety which gained him his surname suggests a comparison with Henry vi. ; his addiction to foreign favourites anticipates Edward the Henry III. ; his fitful energy, combined with incapacity for on essor. continuous efl'ort, recalls his father Ethelred. Though a man of mature years and of much experience, he was always controlled by the influence of others ; and his manliness was chiefly shown in an inordinate addiction to the chase. During the first part of his reign, Godwin, Leofric of Mercia, and Siward of Northumbria continued to be the leading personages. Godwin had become an elderly man ; but his sons were growing up to manhood. Sweyn (Swegen) and Harold were already earls, and his daughter Edith became the king's wife. Edward had been brought up in Normandy, and he was naturally fond of Norman life and manners. These as a rule were more refined than the English, for the Normans, though the last of the Teutonic settlers in the Eoman Empire, had shown a wonderful power of Introduces assimilating its civilisation. They had entirely given up Normans, their own language for French, and delighted to welcome among them any foreigners who were distinguished for learning or accomplishments. Edward, therefore, was wishful to bring over to England what he could of Norman civilisation. He spoke French himself, and soon filled his court with French-speaking Normans, some 70 1051 Edward the Confessor 77 of whom he raised to high office in church and state. One, Eobert of Jumieges, became bishop of London in 1044 and archbishop of Canterbury in 1051. The king's nephew, Ralph, became an earl and ruled in Herefordshire ; Richard, another Norman who received lands in the same county, built the first private castle in England, and the village of Richard's Castle in Herefordshire still perpetuates his evil meniorj^ Among the rest arrived Ranulf Flambarcl, afterwards so notorious under William Rufus. At the same time, general causes w^re brinrnng England into closer touch with the Continent. Foreign merchants flocked to London, and it seemed as though a similar change to that which had turned the Normans into Frenchmen was beginning to take place in England. Naturally there was much discontent at this, and Godwin and his sons set themselves at the head of the English party. Matters came to a head in 1051, In that year Eustace of Boulogne, Discontent, brother-in-law of Edward, came over on a visit, and on his E^ngi^g^ return marched into Dover as though it were a conquered Eustace of town, and attempted to quarter his men on the inhabitants. Boulogne- The men of Dover resisted, and a fight followed in which twenty Englishmen and nineteen foreigners were slain. Edward then called on Godwin as earl of Wessex to punish the townspeople. Godwin very properly demanded that the men of Dover should be heard in their own defence, and, calling on his sons Swegen and Harold, the ^ , . ' ' ^ , *=> ' Godwin three earls assembled their forces at Beverstone near heads the Gloucester, at which town Edward was keeping his court. "^ ^^ To balance their force Edward summoned Leofric, earl of the Mercians, and Siward, earl of the Northumbrians. On Leofric's suggestion both armies were dismissed and a w^itenagemot was summoned at London ; but for some unexplained reason Godwin, who seemed all-j)Owerful at Gloucester, found himself so weak in London that he was Godwin outlawed with his sons and fled the country. Godwin exiled, himself, with his sons Swegen and Tostig, took refuge with Baldwin of Flanders at Bruges, and Harold sailed for Ireland. Edith, the king's wife, was shut up in a monastery at Wherwell, and for a time the foreigners reigned supreme. While the English party was thus scattered, Edward received a visit from William, Duke of Normandy, whose great-aunt Emma was Edward's mother, but he had himself no blood relationship „,.„. ' ^ Wilham, with the English royal family. The Duke was now about Duke of twenty-four years of age. He was the son of Duke Robert and Herleva or Arietta, the daughter of a tanner at Falaise. His father 78 The Norman Conquest I05i dying when he was about eight years old, William had had a hard struggle to maintain his doubtful title ; but his courage and resource had enabled him while yet a boy in years to triumph over all opponents on the field of Val es dunes, and he was now undisputed ruler of his duchy, and already recognised as one of the ablest men of his time. In England there was everything to rouse his ambition. He knew that Englishmen had chosen Canute king and loyally served him. He His Visit to found Normans round the king, he saw Normans filling England. great places in church and state, he heard French spoken on every side ; and it is no wonder that he conceived the idea of being himself king of England. For a Norman there was nothing uncommon in this. At that very time Robert Guiscard, another Norman, was establishing himself as ruler of Southern Italy. William had seen men like Harold Hardrada and Swegen Estrithson win the crowns of Norway and Denmark ; and if Godwin and his sons were out of the way, and the state full of his well-wishers, there was no likeliliood that the Norman duke would meet with any serious resistance. It is pretty certain that Edward made some sort of promise to secure the succession to William. This he had no right to do, and such disposition of the crown could in no way curtail the free choice of the Witenagemot ; but it certainly was taken as giving William a claim to consideration, if to nothing more, and he returned home well satisfied. Next year, however, the scene was completely changed. A reaction occurred in favour of Godwin, w^ho was encouraged to request leave to Return of return ; and on Edward's refusal he gathered an armed Godwin. force, and, being joined by Harold from Ireland, sailed up the Thames. Edward also gathered his forces, principally from the north ; and a battle seemed imminent, when fighting was averted by the mediation of Stigand, bishop of London, and it was agreed to submit the whole case to a witenagemot to be held the next day. During the night the Frenchmen made their escape. Headed by Robert of Jumieges, the primary cause of the trouble, and by Ulf, the bishop of Dorchester, . who is said to have done ' nought bishoplike,' they fought of the their way to the coast and took ship for home. Next morning the great gemot met in the open air. Robert and Ulf were expelled from their sees and outlawed, Godwin and his sons were restored to their dignities, Edith was summoned back from Wherwell, and ' good law was decreed for all folk.' The archbishopric of Canterbury was then given to Stigand, and the triumph of the English party was complete. For the last fifteen years of Edward's reign he was as much under the 1063 Edward the Confessoi' 79 control of the house of Godwin as he had formerly been under that of the Frenchmen. Godwin died in 1053, and, as his eldest son Sweyn had died on pilgrimage, his honours passed to his second son TT 1 1 1 1 1 T • n Ascendancy Harold, who was then about thirty-two years of age. of the house Besides his position and influence, Harold also inherited the ° ° ^^"' abilities of his father both in war and peace, and he added to them a certain nobility of mind which made him a finer character than Earl Godwin. In 1055 Siward died, and, as his son Waltheof was yet a child, his earldom was given to Godwin's third son, Tostig, who „ . . 1 , , . X I T o •, Godwin's was a great favourite with the king. In 1057 Leofric, the Sons Harold last of the three great earls, also died, and, after being held ^" ostig. for a short time by his son ^Ifgar, his earldom passed to his grandson Edwin. Gyrth, Godwin's fourth son, became ^Ifgar's ^j^ ^ . successor as earl of the East- Angles ; and his fifth son, dom of Leofwine, ruled over the group of shires which border the estuary of the Thames. Thus the whole land, with the exception of some of the midland shires, was under the supervision of Harold and his brothers. As Edward had no children, it was determined to send for Edward, the son of Edmund Ironside, who had grown up an exile in Hungary ; and he accordingly returned to England with his wife and three children, Edgar, Margaret, and Christina ; but almost immediately on his arrival he sickened and died, so that the male line of Alfred was Edgar only represented by the boy Edgar. The importance of the Athehng. return of Edward is that it shows how little regard was paid to the alleged promise of Edward to William of Normandy. During the fifteen years of the authority of the house of Godwin much progress was made in the conquest of Wales. Since the days of Cadwallon, the ally of Penda, no Welsh sovereign had really been dangerous ; but in 1039 Griffith, son of Llewelyn (Grufiydd- ap-Llewelyn), ascended the throne of Gwynedd or North Wales, and soon afterwards, having annexed South Wales to his dominions, allied himself with ^Ifgar of Mercia, and made his name a terror in the valleys of the Usk, the Severn, and the Wye, and even sacked and burned the cathedral city of Hereford. The whole regular force of the kingdom, headed by Harold and Tostig, was needed for his overthrow ; but at length, in 1063, his people were so discouraged that they slew their too adventurous sovereign and brought his head to Harold. His dominions, shorn of some of the fertile lowlands, were then granted to two of his relations to be held as vassal kingdoms. The power of the Welsh was thus broken for many years. 80 The Nmiiian Coiiquest 1063 The fall of Grufiydd reduced the number of Harold's opponents, but in 1065 the power of Harold was seriously weakened by the expulsion of Fall of ^i^ brother Tostig from the earldom of the Northumbrians. Tostig. Tostig began by being a man of good intentions, but was utterly wanting in tact; and he allowed the severity necessary to curb the rude Northumbrians to pass into tyranny, and even to be sullied with treachery and murder. Accordingly, taking advantage of Tostig's absence at Edw^ard's court, the leading Northumbrians held a meeting at York, declared Tostig deposed and outlawed, and chose in his stead Morcar (iSIorkere), the younger son of JElfgar. With Morcar at their head they marched into Middle England, where they w^ere joined by his brother Edwin, and even by a body of Welshmen. In face of such unanimity, Edward and Harold yielded. Tostig's expulsion and Morcar's election were both confirmed, but the earldoms of Huntingdon and Northampton were taken from the earldom of the Northumbrians and given to Waltheof, the son of Siward. Tostig withdrew to Flanders. From that moment his character utterly deteriorated, and he became the evil genius of his greater brother. To Harold this revolution in Northumbrian aftairs was a most serious blow ; for, besides withdrawing North umbria from his control, it practically added it to the dominions of Edwin, so that the lands of the house of Leofric were both larger in area and more compactly situated than those of the house of Godwin. More- over, Edwin was a born intriguer, determined to carry out a separate policy for the north and to maintain the independence of that part of the country as far as he possibly could. The death of Edw^ard soon followed the fall of Tostig. He died on January 5, 1066, just after the consecration of his noble abbey church at Death ot Westminster ; and then the difficult c^uestion of the succession Edward. came up for settlement. Of the direct English line there was living the Atheling Edgar ; but he was quite a boy, and even wdien he grew up his character was very w^ak. With Tostig burning for revenge and William bent on prosecuting his claims, it was no time for repeating the minority of Ethelred the Unready ; and as Edward in the Reign of solemuest manner had on his death-bed named Harold as Harold II. j^[g successor, the Witenagemot lost no time in confirming his wishes. The post of honour and of danger was accef)ted by the great earl, and a day later Harold was crowned at Westminster by Ealdred, archbishop of York. His whole reign was made up of a struggle for his kingdom. The first act of the new king was to make sure of his accej^tance among the Northumbrians by a visit to York ; his next to conciliate Edwin and 1066 Harold II. 81 Morcar by marrying their lieautiful sister Eaklgyth, the widow of the murdered Griffith. From the first he must have felt the danger in which he was placed by the hostility of the house of Leofric, the policy of which was to maintain at any cost the virtual ' ^ ^' independence of the north, whether the king of the West-Saxons were Harold, or Edgar the Atheling, or William of Normandy. If Edward the Confessor had been succeeded by Edward of Hungary, or his son the Atheling Edgar, William could have said little or nothing ; but it happened he could make out a more plausible tale William's agamst Harold than agamst any other candidate. Accordmg case against to the most probable story, Harold had been wrecked during a pleasure expedition on the coast of Ponthieu, and had been handed over by the count of Ponthieu to the duke of Normandy. Some time was spent by him at the Norman court, and he even accompanied William in an expedition against the Bretons ; and it is during this visit that he is said to have promised to become William's 'man,' to marry his daughter, and even to support his claim to the English crown. More- over, the oath which he took to fulfil his promise was made additionally solemn by William's craftily inveigling Harold into unknowingly swear- ing on the most sacred relics. These details cannot be proved ; but it is noteworthy that, while French writers place great stress upon the oath, English writers attempt no categorical denial. Again, Harold and his brothers had incurred the hostility of the Normans by their former resistance to foreigners. Something, too, might be made of the murder of Alfred the Atheling. More important still, it was possible to secure the benediction of the pope for an expedition one of whose objects was represented to be the punishment of the English for the uncanonical expulsion of Kobert of Jumieges ; and Stigand, his successor, had made matters worse by receiving his pallium from an anti-pope, Benedict x, Moreover, the adviser of the pope was Hildebrand, afterwards Gregory VII., and he may well have seen that a conquest of England by William, under the benediction of the pope, would be certain to lead to an increase of papal authority over the English church. Meanwhile, since his visit to England, William had been steadily growing in power. In 1053 he had strengthened his European position by a marriage with Matilda, the daughter of Baldwin of „. ° 5 ta History of inlanders; five years later he had decisively beaten the William king of France and his ally, Geofi'rey of Anjou ; in 1063 ^'"" '°^^' he had annexed the county of Maine ; and he had recently con- cluded a successful war wdth Brittany. Each of these triumphs added something to his territorv, and strengthened his claim to the title 82 The Norman Conquest 1066 of Conqueror or acquirer. However, on the death of Edward he turned aside from his French policy and devoted himself entirely to the prosecution of his alleged claim to the English £r^anTn-°"^ crown : his first act being to put in a formal applica- vasion of ^Jq^ fo^ the crown : his next to publish a statement of England. , , . i p his claims ; and his third to prepare lor an armed invasion of the country. Armed with this plausible tale of personal and ecclesiastical wrongs, William placed his case before the Norman barons, foremost among The Norman whom Were William Fitz-Osbern, Odo of Bayeux, Eobert of Barons. Montgomery, Hugh of Avranches, Hugh of Montfort, and William of Warenne, names long celebrated in English annals. Led by William Fitz-Osbern, the barons gave a somewhat hesitating assent, and promised to furnish contingents of ships and men ; Eustace of Boulogne and Alan of Brittany also agreed to join the host, and a multitude of adventurers from all parts of Europe flocked to take part in a holy war which promised such substantial rewards of honour and spoil. On his side Harold was not idle. For the defence of his kingdom he trusted first to his fleet ; secondly, to his land forces, consisting of the Preparations house-carls or standing army, the thegns and their followers ; of Harold. ^.ndi. lastly, the general levy of the freemen of the realm. In the early summer Harold assembled his fleet and army on the southern coast, and distributed his men in garrison at the most im- portant points. He was, however, before the time, as William had to build his fleet before he could sail ; and it was not till August that the Norman ships were all ready. By that time, however, the patience of Harold's soldiers was quite exhausted ; the harvest required their presence at home, and, doubtless much against his will, Harold permitted the thegns and the freemen to depart, so that the house-carls alone remained under arms. The fleet also retired to London. Unfortunately, Normandy was not the only place from which invasion was threatened. Tostig was burning to recover his earldom, and was so far _ lost to a sense of rio-ht that he was travellino; from court to court Tostig. . .* . ^ in search of foreign assistance. From William he received little attention, for it was no part of the duke's plan to replace one son of Godwin by another ; but he contrived to get together a few ships and to plunder some of the English ports. However, on the arrival of Harold's fleet he made his way to Scotland, where he was well received ; and there, Harold either by accident or appointment, he met with Harold, Hardrada. surnamed Hardrada, or the stern of counsel, king of Norway, who on his own account was preparing for an invasion of England. 1066 Harold IT. 83 Harold, who was the younger brother of Olaf the Saint, was a type of his mergetic and far-wandering race. As a young man he had served in the juard of Norsemen who surrounded the Eastern emperors at Constanti- lople, he had visited Jerusalem and Egypt, and had gained a great •eputation by slaying a crocodile. He had subsequently fought his way ;o the crown of Norway, and had the reputation of being not only a nighty warrior but also the strongest and tallest man of the north. If William's host included representatives of all the Romance-speaking lations of Europe, Harold Hardrada had under his banner adventurers rom every Scandinavian land. With this mighty host Tostig and Harold sailed to the English coast, 'avaged Cleveland and burnt Scarborough, and then entered the number. The Northumbrian fleet had retired up the tVharfe to Tadcaster ; so the Northmen left their vessels at by^Tostrg iiicall, where they guarded the junction of the Wharfe and ^^ ^^^^^^ ;he Ouse, and marched by land to York. Harold had ■eckoned that Edwin and Morcar would fight hard for their own earl- loms, and he was not disappointed ; for the earls made a furious attack )n the invaders at Fulford, on Wednesday, September 20, Battle of )ut were completely routed and driven with great slaughter Fulford- nto York. On hearing of this invasion, Harold and his house-carls mrried north, and, collecting forces on the road, reached York on Mon- iay, 25th, only to find that it had surrendered to the Northmen the day jefore. Luckily, however, the invaders had retired some eight miles to Stamford Bridge, on the Derwent ; and thither, without a _ , , '^ ' ' ' Battle of moment's delay, Harold pursued them. He found their Stamford irmy encamped at both sides of the river Derwent, and, ^ surprising the division on the right bank, he fought his way across the aarrow bridge and routed the main body with terrible slaughter on the battle-flats ' above. Tostig and Harold Hardrada both lay dead, and for years afterwards the fields around were whitened by the skeletons Df the slain. But while Harold was winning this glorious fight, the south wind, for which William had long been waiting, had wafted the Norman transports icross the Channel, and his army had effected an unresisted William's landing on the shingly beach at Pevensey, where the grass- Landing, grown walls of the Roman Anderida told the tale of a yet earlier conquest. Spurring horsemen carried the news to York. ' Had I V . . . Harold been there,' Harold is said to have exclaimed, ' they had marches never made good their landing.' No time, however, was lost. Edwin and Morcar were enjoined to march south without delay ; 84 The Norman Conquest 1066 Harold himself, with liis brothers Gyrth and Leofwine and his house- carls, at once took the road to London, where the whole force of England was ordered to assemble. From all the southern shires, and from the earldoms that owned the sway of Gyrth, of Leofwine, and Trcschcrv of Edwin of Waltheof the son of Siward, there was no hanging back. and Morcar. -p^^^^^ Cornwall to Norfolk, from Worcester to Kent, free- men and thegns came to the meeting-place ; but Edwin and Morcar, true to their separatist policy, and forgetful that but for their defeat at Fulford William's landing might never have been made, held their troops back, and Harold, impatient at the stories of Norman plundering, was obliged to march without them. By this time William had advanced to Hastings. Between the southern coast and London are two ridges of downs, one near the coast, the other much nearer the Thames ; and between them lay, Geography ^^ those days, the forest tract of the Weald. Probably it of the South -would have been the best generalship to have compelled William to advance through this, and fought on the northern ridge ; but Harold refused to allow so much of his kingdom to be ravaged, and he also declined an oflFer of Gyrth to go forward with an advanced guard, while Harold arrayed the whole strength of the king- dom for a decisive battle. The plan which he chose was to make the first battle a real trial of strength, and to fight it on the hill of Senlac, seven miles from Hastings, on October the 14th, 1066, the day of Saint Calixtus. The place of battle was admirably chosen for the sort of battle Harold had in view — one in which foot-soldiers armed with battle-axes and Choice of a javelins were to be attacked by archers and cavalry. In Battle-field, many respects the site reminds one of the field of Waterloo. It was a ridge which commanded the road from Hastings to London, and was so near to the former that William was compelled either to take it or starve ; so that Harold gained the great military advantage of forcings his enemy to fight on ground of his own choosing, and in the way thati suited him best. The ridge of Senlac, now partially covered by the towi of Battle, is about a mile long ; and the English had time to strengthen its front by a ditch, and possibly by a palisade. For the last fifty years the regular weapon of the English professional soldiers had been the double-handed axe ; and they used long shields for defence and^weapons against the arrows. The house-carls— each of whom was En ^Ish thought equal to two ordinary men — took their stand in the centre. On the wings were the freemen and thegns, armed,i some with axes, others with javelins and the ancient two-handed 1066 Harold II. 85 swords. Besides their shields, the professional soldiers and thegns had coats of mail coming down to the knee, with sleeves reaching to the elbow. From their king downward the whole army was on foot. The force appears to have been neither too large nor too small for its work ; but if some of the freemen could have been replaced by the stout house- carls whose corpses lay at Stamford Bridge it would have been more efficient, for the freemen, though brave and enthusiastic, were the weak point in the array. Vz 34 I Mile. , wmmm-^: 2^ ^ ^ -\-^4'iii""'' ■ ... •• ' _ ^^^ H^^ iW^ ^^5 Battle of Hastings or Senlac. OCTOBER 14 1066. ^P^Siiggcstcd position of Palisade. tS%=3 English, t^h Norman Archers. ^^ Normans. BB Valley behvecn armies. Meanwhile, William made the best dispositions in his power. The strength of his army lay in the armoured knights, who trusted chiefly to the light javelins which they hurled from a distance or _ used at close quarters to stab and thrust, and in the and arms archers, whom William had brought to great efficiency ; but, ^or^ans as the attack had to be made uphill, both men-at-arms and archers were at a great disadvantage. William's plan was to send his foot-soldiers to the front supported by archers, and to reserve his men- at-arms till they could be used with advantage. He ranged his motley force according to nationalities : Bretons on the left, Normans in the centre, adventurers on the right. His best chance of success lay in the 86 The Norman Conquest 1066 fact that his men were, for the most part, professional soldiers who had, doubtless, learned to act in concert, and also that the English, having no archers, could do little harm to their assailants except in hand-to-hand fighting. At nine o'clock in the morning the battle began, and at three in the afternoon, though foot and archers and cavalry had done their best, th,e Battle of English line was still unbroken. William himself had given Hastings, j^jg j^^gn ^n example of reckless daring, and had slain Gyrth with his own hand ; Harold himself, constant at his post, where waved the Dragon of Wessex and his own standard the Fighting Man, had been equally an example of patient endurance. The Normans were beginning to despair, some even were counselling retreat, when accident revealed to William the weak point of his opponents. Weary of their long wait- ing, the freemen on the left broke their ranks to pursue some flying foes, and the gap thus left remained unfilled. With the decision of genius William ordered a feigned flight, and his skilled followers carried out his orders to the letter, and then, turning upon their pursuers, established themselves within the stockade, and took the English centre in flank. Such a disaster would have been as fatal to Wellington's plans at Waterloo as it was to Harold's at Hastings. For a time, however, the shield- wall of the house-carls was still unbroken, and night would soon have covered the English retreat, when William, as a last resource, ordered his archers to shoot into the air so that their arrows might fall on the heads of the English. This second device proved as successful as its predecessor : Harold himself fell, his brothers Gyrth and Harold and Leofwine Were already slain, no unwounded leader was the^^ngHsh ^^^^ ' ^^^^' ^^^^^ night closed in, the Normans had possession of the place of carnage, and the English, defeated but not cowed, and turning upon their pursuers at every point of vantage, were making a sullen retreat. Four hundred years passed before such another stubborn fight was fought on English soil ; never again till Towton did such a multitude of slain bestrew an English field. As at Towton, science, and science only, carried the day ; and the descendants of both conquerors and conquered may be proud of the fight of Senlac, and take the attack and defence as typical of what a British army can do now that Normans and Englishmen have united to form one nation. The real seriousness of the defeat of Hastings lay in the slaughter of this English leaders. No one was ready to step into the place of Harold and his brothers. Edgar Atheling was a mere boy, and Edwin and Morcar were worse than useless. Otherwise the fight might well have been 1066 Interregnum 87 renewed, for the survivors of Hastings might have been rallied, and Northumbria and Mercia were as yet untouched. As it was, there was no one to lead, and William was free to take his own way. His first care was to secure his retreat, and for this purpose he seized Dover, Eomney, and Winchester. He then marched by way of Canter- bury to Southwark. This he burnt, but, making no attempt ,y^,..,. to cross London Bridge, he marched up the Thames to march on Wallingford, ravaging as he went, and, crossing there, placed his camp at Berkhampstead. The place was admirably chosen, as it com- manded the junction of the Watling Street, Ermine Street, and Icknield Street, and so completely isolated London. Meanwhile, a witenagemot at London had elected Edgar Atheling king ; but without help from the north his position was hopeless, and Edwin and Morcar declined to jeopardy their power in his defence, even had William not been barring the way. That such was the case became more evident day by day ; and at length, perhaps in hopes that William might turn out a second Cnut, an embassage of the chief men of the south, in- cluding Edgar himself, made William a formal ofier of the ,„.,.. -r T n . , 1 1 • William crown, it was accepted, and with that a new epoch m accepted English history began. On the whole, we cannot regret the ^^ '"^* result of Hastings. In the creation and development of the British nation it was a necessary if painful factor. Just as great advantages had come to England from her union with the Church of Kome, so it was of prime importance to the country to become an important member of the family of European nations. The Normans brought with them the greatest political ability and their clergy the highest culture then known in Europe ; and, though it is a hard thing for any nation to be con- quered, still the descendants of the heroes who fought at Hastings have derived greater advantages from the defeat of Harold than they could possibly have done from his victory. CHIEF DATES. A.D. William of Normandy visits England, . 1051 Tostig expelled by the Northumbrians, . 1065 Battle of Stamford Bridge, September 25, 1066 Battle of Hastings, October 14, . . 1066 Typo.htdiitig Co.Sc. Book II THE NORMAN KINGS OF ENGLAND 1066-1154 III.— THE NOKMAN KINGS OF ENGLAND, 1066-1154. William the Conqueror, = Matilda of Flanders. 1066-1087. Robert, Duke William Rufus, Henry, = Matilda Adela= Stephen of of Normandy, d. 1135. 1087-1100. 1100-1135. (seel.), d. 1118. William, William, Matilda=^(l) Emperor Robert of Henry V. Gloucester. (2) Geoffrey of Anjou. d. 1128 d. 1120. d. 1167. (2) Henry II., 1154-1189. Blois. Stephen, = Matilda of Henry, 1135-1154. Boulogne. Bishop of I Winchester. Eustace, d. 1153. And others. IV.— THE KINGS OF SCOTLAND, 1066-1214. Duncan I., 1034-1040. Malcolm III. 1058-1093. Margaret, Donald Bane, 1094-1097, d. 1093. ancestor of John Comyn, murdered by Bruce, 1306. Duncan I., Edgar, Alexander I., Matilda, David I.,--=Dau. of 1093. 1097-1107. 1107-1124. d. 1118, 1124-1153. m. Henry I. , d. 1135. Waltheof. Henry, Earl of Huntingdon. Malcolm IV., 1153-1165. William the Lion, 1166-1214. David, Earl of Huntingdon, ancestor of Bruce and Balliol. signities illegitimate. I CHAPTER I WILLIAM L: 1066-1087 Born 1027 ; married, 1053, Matilda of Flanders. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY FRINGES Scotland. France. Emperor. Malcolm iii., 1056-1093. Philip i., 1060-1108. Henry iv., d. 1106. Popes. Alexander II., d. 1073 ; Gregory vii., 1073-1085. Joinpletion of the Conquest — Apportionment of the Soil and Offices — Discontent of the Normans — Doomsday Book— Quarrels in the Royal House. William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster on Christmas i' Day, 1066. Nominally his right to be king was derived from his election by the Witenagemot, in reality he reigned as the victor of Hastings ; but in all his legal documents Harold's rule was ignored, and William was spoken of as the successor of Edward the William's Confessor. This twofold right of election and conquest Position, received a sinister illustration on the coronation day. Within the abbey the ceremony was performed as heretofore, and the consent of the congregation was demanded as usual ; but without it stood a guard of Norman soldiers, who, taking the acclamations of the con- gregation as the roar of an outbreak, set fire to the neighbouring build- ings, and the day ended in destruction and massacre. The advantages of the election and coronation were immense. Henceforward William was a full king, and any movement against him would, in the eyes of the law, be not legitimate warfare but treasonable rebellion. The conquest of the country was, however, far from complete. At Hastings William had overthrown the standing army of Harold and the forces of the southern and south-eastern shires ; but he „ Partial had yet to fight against the Mercians, the Northumbrians, nature of the and the men of the south-west. What Edwin and Morcar ^o"'!"^^^- might do was uncertain ; but within a few weeks they presented them- selves before William and accepted him as king, so that William's position 91 92 The Norman Kings 1067 at the beginning of 1067 was not unlike that of Edward the Elder before the conquest of the Danelaw. William accepted this, and, leav- ing the earls undisturbed, contented himself with apportioning among his followers the lands of the house of Godwin and of those who had fought against him at Hastings. In March 1067 he paid a visit to , Normandy. In his absence the general management of William "^ . visits Nor- English affairs was entrusted to his half-brother Odo of man y. Bayeux, who in Norman eyes was a man ' worthy as well of love as of respect,' and to the king's great friend William Fitz-Osbern, who as long as he lived was always called on for service when anything specially difficult required to be done. However, in the Conqueror's absence the insolence of the Norman adventurers seems to have goaded the English to revolt ; and in Herefordshire they rose under Eadric the Wild, and in Kent with the help of Eustace of Boulogne. The First Eng- risings were unconnected ; and as William had taken with lish Risings, j^-jj^ j.(jg.^j, Atheling, Edwin, Morcar, Waltheof, Stigand, and the abbot of Glastonbury, there was no one to weld them into a national movement, and consequently they were easily put down. However, on William's return he resumed the work of systematically conquering the island. His first attention was given to Exeter, where Gytha, the widow of God^vin, and her grandchildren, the sons of Harold, had taken refuge, Exeter seems to have had some idea of becoming a free city ; but William would hear of no half-allegiance, and after a siege of eighteen days Harold's family made their escape and Exeter capitulated. The same year Edwin and Morcar and Edgar Atheling escaped from the court, and a revolt was organised under the nominal leadership of Edgar. As the rebels expected aid of Swegen Danish In- Estrithson, king of Denmark, the danger was formidable, terference. ^^^^ William marched north in person. His advance was slow but sure, for, repeating the tactics of Edward the Elder, he seized town after town in the midlands, and secured each by the erection of a Castle- Norman keep, strong, well-provisioned, and holding such a building, powerful garrison that no insurgents would dare to leave their lands at its mercy. Among others, Warwick and Nottingham were so treated. At the news of his approach, Edwin and Morcar lost heart and submitted, and Edgar fled to Scotland ; so William contented himself with erecting a castle at York, of which William Malet was made governor, and then, marching southwards, he erected castles at Lincoln, Stamford, and Cambridge. As he had already erected fort- resses at Hastings, Dover, Winchester, London, Norwich, Exetei Bristol, the permanency of the conquest in the south was now fully^ .071 JVilliam I. 93 provided for, and two attempts of the sons of Harold to raise the west ?anie to nothing. The north, however, was still unsubdued ; and in 1069 the men )f Durham murdered Kobert of Comines, who had rashly accepted William's offer of the earldom of Northumbria (meaning the district oetween the Tees and the Tweed), and encouraged by this the men of !fork rose. Again William marched to York, and erected Revolt of mother castle on the opposite side of the Ouse. In the ^^^ North, lutumn, however, a great Danish fleet entered the Humber ; and the English under Waltheof having joined them, the wooden castles of York were both burnt to the ground, and the garrisons captured or slain — an action in which Waltheof gained great renown by his personal courage and strength. A third time William made his way north ; and now, im- patient of the obstinacy of the men of Yorkshire, he harried the arable country between the Humber and the Tees, so as to interpose a wilder- ness between him and his northern antagonists. Convinced of the hope- lessness of the struggle, Waltheof then made his submission, while the inaction of the Danish fleet was secured by a payment of money. The north being now ' pacified,' William crossed the hills into Chesliire and subdued Chester, the last English town to maintain its independence. Meanwhile, Edgar Atheling had taken refuge with Malcolm, king of S'cots, but did little for his cause besides repeatedly crossing the Tweed and plundering the northern counties, so that what little had been left l)y the mercy or weakness of William fell a prey to the rapacity of Malcolm. So great was the ruin of the north, that it is doubtful if that district, always less fertile than the south, ever recovered either its material prosperity or its relative civilisation till after the great revival of manufacturing industry during the latter half of the eighteenth century. The fall of Chester in 1069 marks the completion of the actual conquest; but in the same year the men of the Fens rose under Hereward the Wake, who found a stronghold in the Isle of Ely. In 1071 Edwin Revolt of and Morcar again took heart to revolt ; but Edwin was Hereward killed, probably by his own men, during an attempt to Edwin and make his way to Scotland, and Morcar joined Hereward. o^^ar. Their insurrection, however, was short-lived. William made his head- quarters at Cambridge, and attacked Ely both by land and water. Hereward seems to have escaped ; Morcar was captured and imprisoned for life. Hereward, however, soon made his peace, and like Waltheof was admitted to favour. The insurrection at Ely was the last attempt NPPi?&glishmen, as Englishmen, to maintain their independence. 94 The Norman Kings i07i After these insurrections were over, William directed his attention to the three great objects of his general policy : (1) To secure his hold over the country, (2) to reward his Norman followers, (3) William's ^ ^^"^ , 1 « 1 . PI General to keep the Norman nobles from becommg too powertul. o icy. rpj^g ^g^ YiQ had already in a great measure accomplished by castle -building in the south and ravaging in the north ; but he also Grants of secured his position by grants of land held from himself, Land. which made every Norman landlord a representative of the Norman ruling class in his own district, while in all but a comparatively few cases in each county the English landowners sank into the under- tenants of the Norman lords. Also, all English freeholders were forced to receive back their lands by the king's sj)ecial grant, so that there was not a rood of English land from the Land's End to the Tweed the title Knight to which was not based upon the king's grant. These grants service. were made on condition that the holder served the king ^\^.th a certain number of knights {dehituin servitium), apparently calcu- lated at five or some multiple of five, who could be called on to serve with the king's person for forty days in each year, in which the coming and going were not counted. It was, however, a most difficult matter to prevent the great nobles themselves becoming a source of danger to the royal power — capable on Danger from the one hand of defying the authority of the king, on the the Nobles, other of destroying every vestige of liberty in the people. This was what happened in Germany and in France, and it is due to the genius of William the Conqueror that it did not happen in England. He had himself been duke of Normandy, and he was determined that no one in England should have similar power under him. Accordingly, in rewarding his followers with titles and lands he followed a well thought- out plan. To very few was given the title of earl, and if a man were earl of two shires they were never adjoining. Of land he had plenty to dispose, for he not only forfeited the property of all who had fought at Hastings, but each subsequent outbreak was followed by wholesale confiscation, while what remained of the old folkland was henceforth regarded as the estate of the king. The greater part of these vast ter- Distribution ritories were distributed to his followers ; but care was of Property, taken that if a man had many manors they should lie in different parts of the country. For instance, William's half-brother, Robert, count of Mortain and earl of Cornwall, had seven hundred and ninety-three manors ; but they were situated in twenty counties. Moreover, the power of the sheriff*, the king's representative in each county, was carefully preserved, so that it was no easy matter for such 1071 William I. C 9g I noble to concentrate his military forces and prevent his followers bein^j crushed in detail by the royal officers. Strictly speaking, only three exceptions were made : the bishopric of Durham, the earldom, of Kent, and the earldom of Chester. In these bhe whole land of the county was held by the earl. There were no tenants-in-chief of the king, but all landholders, except the clergy, held mediately from the earl. The bishopric of Durham was designed to guard against invasion from Scotland ; and as bhe bishop was unable to found a legal family, at every vacancy the kino- could secure an occupant for the see well disposed towards himself. Similarly, the earldom of Kent was given to Odo of Bayeux, who was likewise an ecclesiastic ; and after his death no successor was appointed. The earldom of Chester, granted to Hugh of Avranches, was the only palatine earldom in lay hands ; but the positions of Eobert of Mont- gomery, earl of Shrewsbury, and of William Fitz-Osbern, earl of Hereford, were not very dissimilar, so that the three great earls of the Welsh border were the most powerful subjects of the king. Fortunately, their energies were usually absorbed in fighting with their turbulent neighbours, the Welsh. Again, in regard to the building of castles, William, with very few exceptions, kept all castles in his own hands ; he named the governor or constable and paid the garrison, so that, unlike the con- Garrisoning tinental castles, which were the strongholds of disaffection of Castles. and robbery, under William the Conqueror each castle was a guarantee for the quiet both of the English and Normans of its neighbourhood. Just as William placed Normans at the head of the landholders, he set Normans, or at any rate men of foreign birth, at the head of the church. As abbeys and bishoprics were vacated by death or deposition, Foreign foreigners took the place of Englishmen. In 1070, Stigand, Bishops, whose position as archbishop had always been dubious, was set aside ; William gave the office to his friend and adviser Lanfranc, abbot of St. Stephen's abbey at Caen, and about the same time Thomas of Bayeux, one of the most learned men of his time, became archbishop of York. Lanfranc was a real statesman, and the changes which he made in the English church were on the whole beneficial. He raised its spiritual condition by frequent councils, encouraged learning, revived the discipline of the monks, and also followed the most advanced thought of his time by forbidding for the future the marriage of the clergy. These changes all tended to make the clergy a distinct body ; and as William the Conqueror deprived the bishop of his right to sit with the earl as president of the shire-moot, and 90 The Norman Kings 1072 crave him a court of his own in which clerical offences and ecclesiastical cases were to be tried, the general effect of his policy was to make more distinct than before the separation of church and state. • These changes resulted in a substitution of foreigners for Englishmen in all position! of importance ; but the old English laws were not done Reluitofthe away with, and the English courts, from the Witenagemot cSHges. downwards, were still preserved, though their importance was materially diminished. French was, of course, the language of the oreat ; but there was no attempt to prevent the use of English, and the kino- himself is believed to have taken lessons in the language of his subjects. He certainly tried to ascertain what the English laws were, for in 1070 he caused twelve men from each county to be chosen for the purpose of stating on oath the customs of the country. While William was carrying out his domestic policy he steadily main- tained the rights of the old English kings. He invaded Scotland, penetrated as far as Abernethy, near the banks of the Tay, F^reil!!''^ and compelled Malcolm to 'become his man' in 1072. Policy. Probably by the same treaty, he secured the expulsion of Ed^ar Atheling, who is next heard of as a sojourner with the count of Flanders. A year earlier Malcolm had married Edgar's sister, Margaret. This marriage was a turning-point in Scottish history. Hitherto the Condition of kings of the Scots had preserved their Celtic character ; but Scotland. Malcolm's stay with Siward acquainted him with English manners, and his predilection for them was confirmed by his marriage. Henceforward his English earldom of Lothiaa was recognised as the most important part of his dominions. English habits were adopted by the king and his courtiers, and for many years the king of Scots held the position of first lay baron at the court of the king of England. The Wales and overlordship of the king over the princes of Wales was Ireland. likewise strictly enforced. At the same time something was done towards acquiring influence in Ireland. Two successive Danish archbishops of Dublin came to Lanfranc for consecration, and it is said that William's sudden death alone prevented him from attempting to effect the conquest of the sister island. With Pope Gregory vii., the famous Hildebrand, William had also many dealings ; but he refused to acknowledge that he held England in any respect as a fief of the papal see, saying that Relations such had never been the practice of his predecessors. Pap^acy! Moreover, he carefully defined the conditions on which the authority of the pope over the English church was to be exercised. To provide against the case of a disputed election, 1074 Willimn I. 97 ' no pope was to be recognised in England unless by the king's authority'; and to secure that no orders of the pope should interfere with the royal power, 'no papal bull was to be received unless it had first been inspected by the king.' More- siastical over, no council of the clergy was to be held without the " ^^' king's approval, and no laws or canons were to be enacted but with his consent. Nothing had been a more fruitful source of trouble abroad than the enforcement against the royal officials of the ban of excommunication, so William gave out that in the ecclesiastical courts none of his lieo-e- men or officials should be excommunicated or proceeded against for vice without the king's express sanction, William's determination to secure the royal power and to put a check upon that of his barons was a sore disappointment to those who had joined in his expedition in the hope of themselves becoming- dukes or earls when their duke himself became a king. For of the one hundred years they and their successors struggled ^""^^s- against the bonds imposed on them by the Conqueror's system, and attempted to secure the freedom from restraint which they saw enjoyed by their fellows on the Continent. Against their efforts the king was usually able to rely on the clergy, the English, and especially on the townspeople. Before the Conquest we saAV that the towns were beginning to be of considerable importance ; and the new order of things was extremely favourable to their growth. The new tastes Growth of introduced by the foreigners, the security of property ^^^ Towns, so sternly enforced by King William, the constant traffic between the English and Norman ports, all tended to foster commerce, and soon the English boroughs assumed an importance wholly unknown in earlier times. The disaff'ection of the barons first showed itself in 1074. The leaders of the movement were Ealph of Wader or Guader, earl of Norfolk, son of an old Breton officer of Edward the Confessor, and Koger of Breteuil, second: son of William Fitz-Osbern, who on the Hon of the death of his father had been made earl of Hereford. ^^'■°"^- Ralph, against William's injunction, married Emma, the sister of Roger ; ^ and Waltheof, son of Siward, who since his adhesion to the court had been made earl of Northumberland, and had married the Conqueror's niece Judith, was a guest at the wedding. At the marriage Roger and Ralph decided on an insurrection, which was to be undertaken while the king was in Normandy, and Waltheof was asked to join. Tf they ^ ' There was that brideale to many men's bale.' 98 Norman Kings 1074 succeeded, one of the three was to be a king, the other two dukes. In an evil moment Waltheof gave his consent ; but soon repenting, he acquainted Lanfranc with what was on foot. According to the plan, the joint-rising took place in 1075 ; but against such a movement William could rely on the church and the English; and while Wulfstan, the English bishop of Worcester, with the sheriff of Worcestershire, dealt with Roger, Odo of Bayeux and others advanced against Ralph. Roger was captured. Ralph fled to Denmark, but his newly married wife held out in Norwich Castle for three months. Roger and Waltheof were then tried before the Witenagemot. The guilt of Roger was notorious, that Death of of Waltheof doubtful ; but nevertheless Roger was sentenced Waltheof. ^^ imprisonment, and Waltheof to death. Even if guilty, he was the less guilty of the two ; but the sentence was carried out at Winchester, and many regarded the earl as a martyr. His daughter married David, afterwards king of Scots, and through her the earldom of Huntingdon was long held by the Scottish kings. William's next trouble arose in his own family. He had three sons who grew to manhood — Robert, born about 1056, William, born about William's 10^0, and Henry, born in 1068. It was part of his policy V Sons. ^Q g^yg jjQ English lands to his children, and this is said to have caused the anger of Robert, who, though distrusted by his father as unstable and frivolous, was the favourite of his mother Matilda. In 1078 Robert left his father's court, and, with the help of some other young men, among whom was Robert of Belleme, son of the earl Rebellion of of Shrewsbury, led a wandering life for some years. In Robert. IQ'iQ the king of France established him in the border castle of Gerberoi. There Robert was besieged by the Conqueror, and, father and son having met in single combat, William was unhorsed, and only saved from death by the bravery of an Englishman, who paid for his loyalty with his life. Some time afterwards Robert was reconciled to his fiither, but William's distrust of his character remained to the last. He was, however, employed in a raid on the Scots, and signalised his stay in the north by building the fortress of Newcastle-on-Tyne at one end of the Roman Wall. In 1082 the wrath of the king was excited by the unbridled arrogance of his half-brother, Odo, bishop and earl. After the death of Waltheof, Imprison- William's attention had been occupied mainly with Con- mentofOdo. tinental affairs, and during that time Odo had been left in charge in England. His rule had been by no means to his brother's liking. He had oppressed the poor, he had irritated the whole people by unjust exactions, he had punished the murder of the bishop of 1085 milimn I. 99 Durham with wholesale and indiscriminating cruelty, he had stolen from Durham a pastoral staff, and finally, dreaming of the papacy, he had enlisted soldiers for a campaign beyond the Alps. The last action roused William to interfere. Crossing the Channel, he arrested Odo, not, as he said, 'as bishop of Bayeux, but as earl of Kent,' sent him to Normandy, and confined him in the castle of Kouen. A year later Matilda died ; and 1084 was memorable for an expected invasion from Denmark, only prevented by the assassination of the Danish king, Canute, by his own subjects. This event concentrated William's attention for a time on England, and in 1085, after ' mickle thought and very deep speech with his Witan,' he decided on a great survey of the country to find 'how it was set, and by what men,' and, moreover, how much land each man had and what payments were due to the king. A year was occupied in the inquiry. Commissioners were sent to the shire-moots, where they learned the great divisions of the shire ; and finally they had before them the reeve, the parish priest, and six villeins from each manor, from whom they asked the following particulars: Doomsday What the manor was called ; who held it in the time of Book. King Edward ; who held it now ; how many hides ^ ; how many plough- lands ^ were in the lord's demesne ; what was the population ; how many were respectively villeins, cotters, slaves, freemen, and socmen ^ ; how much wood, meadow, and pasture ; what mills and fishponds (or fisheries) ; how much had been added or deducted ; how much it was worth as a whole, and how the amount was made up ; how much each freeman and each socman possessed. The answers were to refer to three dates — that of the time of King Edward, that of the grant of the manor to its present owner, and that of the date of the survey ; and they were to add whether it could be held at a higher rate than at present. Similar questions were put to the townspeople, and the whole was care- fully enrolled in what was afterwards spoken of as the Doomsday Book. The information was not extracted without difficulty. All men resented such minute inquiries into their conditions ; and the writer of the Peterborough chronicle said that 'it was a shame to speak what he thought it no shame to do.' But William was strong enough to efi'ect his purpose. Cumberland, Westmorland, Northumberland, and Durham were unsurveyed, the two former being in the hands of the Scots, the two latter being utterly wasted. The result, however, to us is the 1 A varying amount, fixed by Henry ii. at 100 acres. 2 The amount a man with one plough could till in a season — a variable quantity. Free landowners not noble. L.otC. 100 Norman Kings 1085 possession of the most complete and accurate record of the condition of our country eight hundred years ago that it is the privilege of any nation to possess. To William himself the immediate results of the Doomsday survey were of the hio-hest value. On its completion he at once summoned every free- ^u o 1- holder to Salisbury, and there, on the plain below the ancient The Salis- •' ' bury Oath. \{t\\ of Sarum, William exacted from each man the oath of allegiance to himself. The importance of this can hardly be over- estimated. On the Continent no freeman took an oath of allegiance to any one but his immediate lord : the men of Normandy, for example, owed no duties except to their duke ; to the king of France they were under no obligation. If their duke rebelled against the king, it was their business to follow him to battle. To do so was no act of treason ; but in England all was different. Vassals as well as lords fought against the king with a halter round their neck, and few things did more to curb the power of the great nobles than this principle of double responsi- bility. By it, moreover, William was placed at once in a position more powerful than any of his predecessors. He stood to his subjects in a position far stronger than that occupied by Alfred, by Edgar, or by Canute, and by doing so he had placed the unity of England and the nationality of the English nation on a far firmer basis than before. Though this oath was not only not feudal, but struck at the very founda- tion of feudalism, it is not inconvenient to take the meeting of Salisbury as the date of the establishment in England of what is vaguely called feudalism. The central ideas of the organisa- tion of feudal society are : (1) that all land is ultimately held by grant from the king ; (2) that the grant is made on condition of performing some service to the sovereign, of which the most honourable was military service, and paying him certain dues ; and (3) that those who hold directly from the king are bound together by so doing in a certain Tenants- l^gal and social relation. Moreover, it was the privilege of in -chief. each of the 'tenants-in-chief,' as those are called who hold Mesne direct from the king, to sublet his land on the same terms Tenants. ^0 others, who held from him as 'mesne tenants,' who might in turn also sublet on similar terms ; though the lowest grade of land- holders, even if required to fight for their lord, usually held their lands Serfs. ^^ ^^^^* ^^^ c^^^di servile tenure— that is, by doing certain customary services, as ploughing, sowing, and the like. Moreover, both the king and his tenants were in the habit of holding law- courts, in which the tenant of the king or the subtenants of the tenant- in-chief were bound to attend and have their cases tried according to the 1087 miliam I. 101 rules of the country. Besides, the king or tenant-in-chief had the right to levy taxes called tallages or tallies on their vassals. This was the ideal of feudalism, but in England it never existed in perfection. There had been traces of it before the Conquest, and after the Conquest all land was certainly held by the king's grant ; but in other respects the practice varied. Besides the Salisbury oath, the importance of which has been pointed out, the preservation in England of the witenagemot, and of the courts of the shire and the hundred, prevented the feudal courts from engrossing jurisdiction ; and the Norman kings and their successors were quick to perceive Modifica- that their true interest lay in preserving every institution peudaHsm which could be used to check the power of the great vassals. Still, for one hundred years the struggle between the king and the barons took the form of a contest as to how far the bar-ons should intro- duce into this eountry the forms of Continental feudalism. The first blow was struck at their plan by the division of estates, the second by the oath of Salisbury. During the whole of his reign William was engaged in more or less open hostility with Philip, king of France, who naturally looked askance at the successes of his powerful vassal. In 1073 an English army attacked Maine, a French province lying between Normandy and Anjou, and effected its capture ; in 1079 we saw Philip giving his wars with countenance and aid to William's rebellious son. In 1087 France. William, stung by a coarse joke of the French monarch, invaded the Vexin, the district between Normandy and Paris, of which the chief town is Nantes on the Seine. This William burned, and while riding through the streets his horse plunged on some hot cinders William's and threw his rider violently against the high iron pummel ^^^ath. of the saddle, causing a fatal internal injury. For six weeks William lingered at Kouen, attended by his sons WiUiam and Henry ; and then, after releasing his prisoners and making a disposition of his property, he died. William was a harsh ruler, and it is impossible, on moral grounds, to justify his invasion of England and the atrocities to which it gave rise ; but, nevertheless, he bestowed on the country a great boon, wiUiam's for he made England a united kingdom, in a sense which Character, she had never been before. He arrived at a critical moment of history, when the great earls were developing a system of local independence which in all probability would have run the same course as a like move- ment did in France and in Germany, and produced the same weakness in the crown, the same oppression for the people. From this fate William 202 Nmiiian Kings 1087 saved Enoland ; and by making the crown powerful, and relying on the Euoiish and the clergy against the barons, and enforcing one law and one allegiance, he took a great step towards making her a strong and united kingdom. It cannot, however, be doubted that his character was sullied by terrible crimes. The judicial murder of Waltheof cannot be defended on the evidence known to us ; and his barbarous action of laying waste a vast area of cultivated Hampshire to create the New Forest was a sin against civilisation. Churches and villages alike were levelled to make room for the 'tall deer,' whom the king was said to love 'as though he were then- father.' Still, on the whole, William must be reckoned as one who, according to his lights, strove to do what was right, and whose best deeds have left a mark more enduring than his crimes. Among the changes of this reign, the waste lands not enclosed in any manor or township began to be called the Forest, and were reserved for the king's sport. The bishoprics, which the English had usually placed in villages, were transferred to towns, as Dorchester to Lincoln and Crediton to Exeter. The name township, though retained, was usually superseded by the manor. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Conquest of England completed, . . 1071 Conspiracy of the Norman Earls, 1074 Doomsday Book produced, .... 1086 Great Court at Salisbury, .... 1086 CHAPTER II WILLIAM II. : 1087-1100 Born c. 1060. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperor. Malcolm ill., d. 1093. Philip i., d. 1108. Henry iv., d. 1106. Pope. Urban II., 1087-1099. Contest with the Barons continued — The enforcement of the Feudal Dues — The first Crusade. In disposing of his property, William the Conqueror followed the ideas of the time, which happened to agree with his own. To his eldest son Eobert he bequeathed his hereditary duchy of Normandy, with the adjoining county of Maine. The second, William, queror's he despatched to England with his dying recommendation to the primate Lanfranc to secure his election to the crown. The third, Henry, a lad of nineteen, had to content himself for the present with a legacy of ^5000. Lanfranc had been tutor to the younger William, and had knighted him. He knew well both the abilities and the vices of his pupil ; and while, in accordance with the request of the late king, he summoned such an assembly of magnates as might constitute a witenagemot, and recommended William for election, he was careful to exact _, Election of a solemn oath that the new sovereign would 'preserve "William justice, fairness, and mercy in every transaction,' would defend ' the peace, liberty, and security of the church,' and would in all cases be guided ' by the advice and counsels ' of Lanfranc himself. William ii., who was called Rufus from his ruddy countenance, is generally admitted to have been a man of bad life, though it must be remembered that his character was drawn by monks, to ^is whom he was no friend ; but his abilities, especially for Character, war, were decidedly great, and during the thirteen years of his short reign he not only retained the hold which his fether had won over his 103 104 Norman Kings los? newly acquired dominions, but in many directions made himself more powerful and more secure than his father had ever been. The instinct of self-preservation made him the natural foe of the great barons, whose tendency to make themselves omnipotent in their own districts was the greatest danger to civilisation ; and his steady check on castle-building and rigid enforcement of the king's peace were of the greatest service to the townspeople, on whose prosperity the advancement of the country ultimately depended. Moreover, his struggle with the barons compelled him to secure as far as possible the goodwill of the English ; and so circumstances obliged him, whether designedly or not, to follow such measures as would in the end advance the unity and prosperity of the land. During the first six years of the reign, the chief attention of William had to be given to the movements of his brother Eobert and of the Trouble with barons with whom he was in alliance. As these had lands Robert. |^q|.j^ jj^ Normandy and in England, their policy consisted in preventing either a war or a separation between the kingdom and the duchy ; but as most were of opinion that the yoke of the easygoing and affable Eobert would be lighter than that of his brother, Eobert had no difficulty in finding adherents who would help him against William. Of these the most formidable were Odo, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent, whom the Conqueror's death had released from prison, Eoger of Montgomery and his turbulent son Eobert of Belleme, and Eobert Odo's Con- Mowbray. Odo took the lead, and, bargaining with Eoljert spiracy. ^^^ ^|^g ^-^j ^£ ^ Nomiau army, organised in England a vast conspiracy which was to include risings in no less than seven districts. Ee himself led the Kentish insurgents, and, intrusting Eochester to Eustace of Boulogne, awaited in Arundel Castle the landing of Eobert. William's first care was to secure the j^erson of Odo, and after a siege of seven weeks Arundel Castle was taken ; Odo was then despatched to order the surrender of Eochester, but he treacherously threw himself into the castle and made a most formidable resistance. In these circum- stances William saw that his best chance was to appeal to the English, who naturally regarded the tyranny of a host of petty chieftains as Siege of worse than that of a single king. Accordingly, he sum- moned the ' brave and honourable English,' and called on them to lead their countrymen to his aid, declaring at the same time that any who held back would be branded with the name of ' nithing,' or ' good-for-nothing fellow,' which the English regarded as disgraceful, and accordingly flocked to his standard in crowds. By their aid the castle was taken ; but even William dared not proceed to extremities against his uncle, and, much to the disappointment of the 1095 miliam 11. 105 Enciish, who wished to hang him, contented himself with driving Odo into an ignominious exile. Meanwhile, Kobert had dallied in Nor- mandy, partly through indolence, partly from want of money ; and many of his followers who had ventured over by themselves had fallen into the hands of privateers whom William had permitted to be fitted out by the English ports. The conspiracy, therefore, completely failed, for all the local risings had been put down by the king's men. Koger Montgomery made his submission ; and though Kobert Mowbray in the north was still unsubdued, southern England was completely in William's grasp. Seeing that he was the stronger, some of the barons were now ready to aid him to dispossess Robert of Normandy ; and in 1091 William him- self appeared with an army in the duchy. The French king Philip, how- ever, offered his mediation, and the barons negotiated a treaty between the brothers by which Robert renounced all claim to Eng- Treaty with land, and agreed in consideration of the grant of some ^°^^^^- English estates to allow William to retain several strong castles in Normandy. A [provision was also inserted that whichever brother survived should succeed to both Normandy and England. As William repeatedly delayed to hand over Robert's indemnity, war again broke out, and William was carrying all before him when the French king again interfered. In the emergency William ordered an English force of foot-soldiers to be assembled at Hastings ; but when they arrived his justiciar Ranulf commuted their services for a payment of ten shillings per man, and sent the money to the king. With it William bought off the French king, and was again driving Robert to extremity when the serious state of affairs on the Welsh border forced him to return to England in 1094 His presence was sorely needed, for the Welsh had seized Mont- gomery Castle, and, the barrier being thus broken, had poured out of their fastnesses over Cheshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire. William met the danger by an organised invasion of the mountains, wars with It was, however, a failure, for he had not yet learned by ^^^ Welsh, experience that his heavy cavalry were no match for the agile Welsh- men, who, refusing all offers of a pitched battle, contented themselves with cutting off stragglers in their mountains and ravines ; and a second invasion in 1095 met with no better success. Thus baffled, William left the war to be carried on by less regular though more effective methods, and, having arranged that all lands taken from the Welsh should be held by its conqueror as a free grant, he departed. This plan afforded occu- pation to the unruly barons of the border, and was so successful that in a short time almost all the lowlands of Wales and the southern coast 106 Norman Kings 1089 were in the hands of Norman adventurers, whose castles crowned the hill-tops of the marches or border-land. With Scotland William had better luck. Malcolm, king of Scots, took advantage of William's first absence in Normandy to invade the Invasion of northern shires. On his return William invaded Scotland, Scotland. ^^^^ Malcolm agreed to become his man and do all such obedience as he had done to his father. On his homeward march William was struck with the excellent military position of Carlisle, commanding the passage of the lower Eden. Accordingly, he ordered it to be fortified, and peopled it with a colony of south countrymen, said to have come from the New Forest. Situated near the western extremity of the Roman wall, Carlisle matched Newcastle at its eastern end, and these two towns long remained the gTcat fortresses of the northern border. As Strathclyde had been since the grant of King Edmund in the hands of the Scottish king, the fortification of Carlisle, ^ which carried with it the loss of Cumberland, was naturally resented ; and, finding no redress, Malcolm again took up arms, but perished, with his eldest son Edward, in an ambush near Alnwick in 1093. After his death a series of contests for the Scottish throne kept the north of England in peace. William's difficulties with the Scots and Welsh being thus dealt with, his arms were turned against Robert Mowbra}'-, who was again conspiring to dethrone him. Bamborough Castle, how- ever, which was too strong to be stormed, and too accessible by sea to be starved into surrender, defied his attacks, so William contented him- self with building over against it another stronghold, Malvoisin, or the ill neighbour. The plan was successful. Decoyed from his fastness, Mowbray was captured by the garrison, and a threat to put out his eyes Ca ture before his wife's face compelled her to surrender Bamborough of Bam- in 1095, The next year Robert found reason to pledge °^°^s ■ Normandy to William for ten thousand marks (13s. 4d. each), which concluded the long contest between William and his brother. Lanfranc died in 1089. He was in many ways a great man, if not a great bishop ; and so long as he lived he was thought to have exercised a Death of restraining influence over the young king. No archbishop an ranc. ^f Canterbury was appointed for four years, but in temporal matters William gave his confidence to Ranulf, surnamed Flambard, or Ranuif the Torch, a clever, witty, but unscrupulous ecclesiastic, who had been in England in the time of the Confessor, and had been one of the commissioners of the Doomsday survey. It was he who took money instead of service from the foot-soldiers at Hastings. The customary payments made by the feudal landholders for their 1095 mUiam 11. 107 land were called feudal dues, and down to the reign of Charles ii. these constituted the bulk of the royal revenue. It must always ^ , , ^ •^ . . Feudal Dues, be borne in mind that the first idea of feudalism was to provide the king with an efficient cavalry force, and that the tenants-in- chief, as commanders of their sub-tenantry, were in a position somew^hat analogous to colonels of regiments at the present day. When one of these died, his heir had to pay a sum of money called a ' relief,' so named from the Latin releviiim, which meant 'the taking up again ' „ i- *• Relief, of land which had lapsed to the king by the death of the former tenant. If the heir was a minor, and consecjuently incapable of discharging the duties of his position, the king appointed a guardian who managed the estates for the benefit of the king and super- „, , , . , 1 . mi • Wardship. intended the bringing up of the young heir. This was called ' wardship,' and was a source of much profit ; and when the minority ended, a relief had to be paid as usual. If the heir was a woman, the king, on the ground that she must not ally herself with one of his enemies, claimed the right to bestow her in marriage, ., . , . . , . Marriage, and in this way the king rewarded his friends. If the person suggested was distasteful to the lady, he would sometimes excuse her on the payment of a sum of money. Those three rights, ' relief,' ' wardship,' and ' marriage,' were strictly enforced by William Rufus and his successors. Besides these payments incidental to the life of the tenant, three other dues came into use subsequently, incidental to the life of the sovereicjn. These were the payment of an aid to *^ . / "^ Ransom, ransom the lord from captivity, as in the case of Richard i. ; another for the marriage portion of his eldest daughter on her first marriage ; and a third payable on the knighting of his eldest son. These were first enforced in the reign of Po^-ticnfof Henry i. The tenants-in-chief of the king exacted the ^aufhter*^^^* same dues from their subtenants ; but in the case of the Knighting lesser tenants the relief was commonly called a /^mo^, which of King's . eldest son. recalled the giving-up of the tvar-gear to the chief on the „ • death of his follower. The right to collect these feudal dues in reasonable amounts, and with proper regard to the interest of the tenant, was not disputed ; but bitter complaints were made of the atrocious exactions of William and Flambard, who set custom at defiance in their greediness of money. The clergy held the greater part of their lands just like laymen, by feudal tenure, but with this difference. There were no Ecciesiasti- minorities and no heiresses, so the king and Flambard ^^^ Holdings. made up for this loss to the revenue by keeping bishoprics and abbeys 108 Norman Kings 1095 vacant while they seized the revenue, and instead of a relief they exacted a large payment of money from the incoming bishop or abbot. Thus after Lanfranc's death no successor was appointed for four years, and William was only induced to name Anselm as archbishop when he believed himself to be at the point of death. Anselm was an Italian by birth, who had made his way to the monastery of Bee, where he succeeded Lanfranc as prior. He was a man who had the confidence of Lanfranc, and at the moment of his appointment he was on a visit to the earl of Chester. He w^as a man both of ability and courage, of pure and saintly life, and his book Cur Deus Homo proves him to have been one of the greatest theologians of his time. Altogether the choice was an excellent one ; but on his recovery William found that in his new archbishop he had to deal with a man whose stern rectitude brooked no tampering with vice of any kind. With such a man William had nothing in common. Anselm would neither stand by and see the church plundered nor wink at the sinfulness of William's court. A series of quarrels followed, and in 1097 Anselm, unable to bear the wickedness of William, retired to Rome in order to lay his case before Pope Urban 11. In 1096 all Europe was stirred by the preparations for the First Crusade. In 635 Jerusalem had been conquered by the Arab followers The First of Mahomet ; but under the influence of Mohammedanism Crusade, ^^le Arabs had become a comparatively civilised people, of the stamp depicted in the Arabian Nights. After the first conquest was over they had begun to treat the Christians well, and allowed them either to live in the city or to come and go as pilgrims and merchants. Under their rule the great Easter fair at Jerusalem became one of the Causes of. ^^^^^ events of the commercial world, where Italian traders from Amalfi, Pisa, and Genoa, and latterly from Venice, met the merchants of the East and exchanged the manufactures of Europe for the silks and spices which were brought across the desert in caravans from Arabia and India, and even from distant China. All this was changed, however, when, in 1076, Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Seljukian Turks, a wild tribe of Mohammedan mountaineers, who emerged from the highland fastnesses of Central Asia and invaded the civilised lowlands, much as the Goths and Vandals had done in Europe. They hated Clnistianity with all the old Mohammedan frenzy, and cared nothing for conmierce ; so they persecuted the pilgrims and robbed the merchants. Moreover, their steady advance into Asia Minor threatened to rob the Eastern Emperor of some of his most valuable dominions, and even menaced Constantinople itself The cries, therefore, of the 1099 William, II. 109 persecuted pilgrims, the murmurs of bankrupt merchants, and the demands for assistance from the Eastern Emperor, Alexius Comnenns, created great excitement in Europe. The Normans, too, who during the last fifty years, under Eobert Guiscard and his brother Koger, had recon- quered Southern Italy and Sicily from the Saracens, were most anxious to carry their arms into Asia ; and all joined to make the most of a wave of enthusiasm excited by Peter the Hermit, who had himself suffered from j)ersecution, and who travelled through Europe to preach a holy war for the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre. Pope Urban ii., seeing that such a course would redound to the honour of the papacy and make for the unity of Christendom, placed himself at its head. At the council of Clermont, the cry of ' Dieu le volt ! ' was adojDted as the watchword of the Christian army. Thousands of soldiers, some from pure motives, some from interest, others from mere love of adventure, were eager to join in the expedition. The kings of France and England approved of it, for it took away some of their most warlike subjects ; and William Rufus was glad to advance ,£6666, or 10,000 marks, in pledge for Normandy, to enable his troublesome brother Robert to betake himself to the East. The main body of the Crusaders, led by Bohemund of Taranto, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Normandy, Stephen of Blois, and other chieftains, made their way to Constantinople. There they crossed the Straits, and, after winning a battle near Nicara over the Turkish cavalry, besieged and took Antioch. Jerusalem was taken 1099, and a Christian capture of kingdom on a feudal model was established there under Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon. Except a few of the leaders, such as Bohemund of Taranto, who became prince of Antioch, few of the Crusaders gained much except glory from their efforts ; but the real importance of the Crusades was much more considerable than is represented by the transient fame of the knights or the short-lived splendour of the kingdom of Jerusalem. The tide of Mohammedan conquest was undoubtedly turned back many years, and a fresh lease of existence was gained for the Empire of the East. Co-operation in the Crusades spread a European feeling among the hitherto disconnected countries of Europe, and opened up the knowledge of a higher civilisation to those which were less advanced. A taste for the luxuries of the East raised the whole standard of Western civilisation. Even learnine: and literature profited. Peace and order were better secured by the consolidation of the great monarchies, and the merchants of the Italian Republics re-established their trade with the East. The cession of Normandy to William made him the most powerful 110 Norman Kings iioo monarch of Western Europe. He had successfully put clown the power of his rebellious vassals, and had filled his cofi'ers at their expense. The Greatness of Scots and the Welsh had ceased to be dangerous. An ex- WiUiam. pedition against Ireland, which would have completed the plan of the Conqueror and consolidated the British Isles, presented no very serious difficulties. In 1100 the duke of Guienne and count of Poitou had actually oftered to pledge his dominions to the rich English king. WiUiam was barely forty, and it seemed as if his career might have only begun, when a sudden death brought it to a close. Though many and picturesque accounts have been given of his death, the actual manner of it is unknown. After a jovial meal, he and his companions set out to hunt in the New Forest, and in the His Death. . , /• ,i i • • i i i , evenmg the corpse oi the kmg, with an arrow through the heart, was found by a poor woodman. Who shot the arrow none could tell, and whether it struck the king by accident or by intention was never known. One story pointed to Sir Walter Tyrrel as the accidental slayer of the king ; but he denied it on his oath, and no witnesses of the deed were forthcoming. The corpse was taken in a cart to Winchester, and there buried ; and in the excitement of a new reign few cared to inquire how the Red King met his end. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Lanfranc dies, 1089 Cumberland taken from the King- of Scots, 1092 Anselm becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, 1094 Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders, . 1099 I CHAPTEE III HENRY I. : 1100-1135 ■D lAco ™ -if 1100, Matilda of Scotland. Born 1068; married^ no, a i i ^r I 1121, Adela oi Louvain. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperors. David I., 1124-1153. Philip i., d. 1108. Henry iv., d. 1106. Louis VI., d. 1137. Henry v., d. 1125. Conciliatory measures— Suppression of the Barons — The Investiture question — Reorganisation of the central Government — Social progress. The sudden death of William and the absence of Eobert in the East left the throne vacant for the Atheling Hemy, the only one of the Con- queror's sons born after he became kino;. Left landless by ,, ^ . Henry s his father, Henry's cool and calculating nature had shown early him how to make his own fortune out of the quarrels and weaknesses of his brothers. He invested three thousand pounds of his father's legacy in buying from the spendthrift Kobert the investiture of Mont-Saint-Michel and the surrounding district ; and he soon showed William that it was better to have him as a friend than a foe in his wars with his elder brother. Accordingly, after 1095, Henry had lived for the most jDart in England, and was now ready when the opportunity came. His first act was to gallop to Winchester and seize the treasury, his next to get together a hurried meeting of the witena- Elected gemot and secure the form of election. From the first he King, was well aware that he would have to fight for his crown against Eobert, and for the dignity of the throne against the barons ; so his conciliatory next steps were all directed to secure a party for himself, measures. His main hope was from the English, and, to secure their goodwill, he married Matilda of Scotland, niece of Edgar Atheling and the heiress of the claims of the old English line, in order that his children, as descendants of William the Conqueror and of Alfred, might have an equal claim to the goodwill and allegiance of both races. He also hoped to conciliate the barons by imprisoning Ranulf 111 212 Norman Kings iioo Flambard, and by the issue of a Charter of Liberties ; and he delighted churchmen by recalling the saintly Ansehn. Henry's Charter is a very important document ; for it shows us what were the chief grievances of which the nobles and clergy complained, and the way in which they might be remedied. After boldly His Charter, g^^^- ^^g ^.j^^^ j^g j^^d been crowned by the ' common counsel of the barons of the whole realm,' Henry declared that the church should be free and that on the death of archbishops, bishops, or abbots he would exact nothing from their lands, or from their men, until a successor had entered upon possession. In regard to feudal dues, the heirs of tenants were not, ' as in the time of his brother,' to pay an extor- tionate sum, but a just and legal relief ; and the tenants-in-chief were to observe the same rule with regard to their subtenants. Barons were to notify to the king the intended marriage of their female relations (as in the case of Eoger of Breteuil), but the king would neither exact a fee nor forbid the match, unless the proposed husband was an enemy. Heiresses were to be given in marriage according to the advice of the barons ; and childless widows should not be married except at their own pleasure. Similar treatment was to be given by the tenants-in-chief to their subtenants. The king's sole right to coin money was to be maintained. Money and personal property might be disposed of by will. Forfeitures were not necessarily to forfeit a man's whole estate, as they had done under the two Williams, but should be moderate in amount. Lastly, the law of King Edward, with the improvements of the Conqueror, was to be restored. These arrangements were a distinct improvement, and show the king in his best light as the medium of securing even justice between one class and another. In one particular, however, a most dangerous privilege was intro- duced. Lands held on military tenure, so long as the nobles kept themselves well furnished with horses and weapons for the king's wars, were to be free from any other tax or service. The danger of this enactment lay in its creating a non-taxpaying class, who, if the feudal service fell into disuse, as it subsequently did, would be relieved from contributing to the expenses of the country, as actually happened in the case of the French nobles. The imprisonment of Eanulf Flambard was pleasing to churchmen, nobles, and people alike. It was said that he had not only fleeced but Imprison- ^^^^^ ^^^ flock. His ill-gotten wealth, however, helped ment of him to get a rope conveyed into the Tower in a iar of Flambard. . i -,1 • , , wme, and with it he managed to escape and fled to Nor- mandy, where he soon occupied himself with intrigues against Henry. 1100 Henry I. 113 The need of all these concessions was shown when, at the close of 1100, Eobert returned to Normandy. For he was at once invited to attack his brother, both by Eanulf Flambard and by a majority of p ^ ^ the barons of England, who begged him to come and be claims the their king, and to rid them of the goodman Godric and his wife Godiva, as they called Henry and Matilda, after some English story. But, though the barons were faithless, Anselm and the English, who rejoiced in Henry's marriage and made much of his English birth, were loyal, and declared that if Henry put himself at their head they had no fear of meeting the Normans. Accordingly, when Eobert landed at >^-^ Portsmouth, Henry met him at Alton with a powerful army, and the issue was so doubtful that terms were made. Eobert gave compromise up his claim in exchange for a yearly pension of ,£2000 ; arranged. Henry handed over to Eobert almost all his Norman possessions ; and it was arranged that the survivor should inherit the dominions of the other if the deceased left no lawful heirs. Eobert then went home. The invasion, however, had shown Henry which of his barons were faithless, and he methodically set himself to deprive them of their dan- gerous power. The strongest and most turbulent of all was Robert of Eobert of Belleme, now earl of Shrewsbury, whose castles Beileme. in Sussex and on the Welsh border, and especially that of Bridgenorth, made him a most formidable subject. Forty-five charges of treason were ^~- brought against him, and, as he failed to appear when called on, Henry at once marched on Bridgenorth, and in three weeks it surrendered. The fall of Shrewsbury and Arundel quickly followed, and Eobert was forced into exile in 1102. All England rejoiced at the oppressor's departure, and cried with one voice : 'Eejoice, King Henry, and praise the Lord God because you have begun to reign in freedom, now that you have conquered Eobert of Belleme, and driven him out of the country.' Similar justice overtook others. Ivo, of Grantmesnil, wdio boasted that he was the first man in England who had ' declared war on a neighbour,' was heavily fined, to hinder others from doing the like ; William of Mor- tain, the unworthy son of the great Eobert, was also banished ; so that, of WiUiam the Conqueror's great earldoms, the bishopric of Durham and the earldom of Chester alone were left. The troubles with Normandy, however, were not yet concluded. The clever Eobert of Belleme contrived to win Duke Eobert to his side, and in 1104 war again broke out between the brothers. For invasion of <:. some time no decisive battle was fought ; but in 1106 Normandy. Henry, fighting on foot, English fashion, at the head of an army composed H 114 Norman Kings iioe of Anglo-Norman barons and English footmen, defeated Robert and his Norman chivalry. This battle was fought on September 29th, the fortieth Battle of anniversary of the landing of Dnke William ; and the English Tenchebrai. .^pg ^r^{^ to have regarded Tenchebrai as a proper revenge for Hastings. Indeed, these wars between the English kings and the Nor- man dukes must be regarded as chiefly important because they fostered an English, as against a Norman, feeling, so that the sons and grandsons of the victors of Hastings began to regard themselves as Englishmen when matched against the barons of Normandy. In the battle Robert was taken prisoner, and lodged in Cardiff Castle, where he remained till his death in 1135. Henry was now undisputed king of England and duke of Normandy. With Scotland he was on friendly terms, as brother-in- law of its king. The Welsh princes, bridled in their mountains by a ring of castles, were giving no trouble ; and the Teutonic element west of the Severn was further strengthened in 1105, when Henry liberally gave homes in Pembrokeshire to a colony of Flemings whom a sudden inroad of the sea had deprived of their native district. For more than ten j-ears the whole of Henry's lands enjoyed peace. The year 1107 witnessed a most important alteration in the method of appointing bishops and abbots. The question how this should be done Investiture ^"^'^^ ^^r some years been the subject of a struggle between Question. the popes and the emperors, generally known as the 'con- test about investitures ' ; and Anselm, during his residence abroad, had imbibed the papal views on the subject. At that date a bishop or abbot filled two different positions. As a churchman, his functions were those of an ecclesiastical authority, and of a sacred character ; as a landholder, he was a feudal vassal of the king and a leader of soldiers. The two were obviously incompatible ; but, as such was the case, it was of the utmost importance to the king that bishop or abbot should not be one of his enemies— to the church, that he should not be a mere partisan soldier of the king. The difficulty, in fact, was not unlike that raised by the marriage of heiresses, in which a voice in the choice of a husband was claimed both by the king and by the lady. Before the Conquest such elections had been made in the witenagemot, practically in deference to the wishes of the king ; and a similar practice had been in use under the Conqueror. Anselm now wished that the bishop or abbot should be elected by the clergy, and that he should receive the ring and crozier, the insignia of his office, not from the king, but from the archbishop. For some time neither Henry nor Anselm would give way, and Anselm again left England. But as Henry and Ansehn were both reasonable and far-sighted men, who knew well how much each had to lose by a 1107 Henry I. 115 quarrel with the other, a compromise was arrived at in 1 107. The election of bishops was to he in the hands of the cathedral chapters, or in the case of Canterbury of the monks of Christ Church, but was settled by to be held at the king's court. On election, the new bishop Compromise, was to do homage to the king for his lands, and, that done, he was to be consecrated by the archbishop and bishops and receive the ring and crozier. In this way the spiritual rights of the church were secured, and due stress laid on the ecclesiastical character of its prelates, while the royal influence was paramount at the election, and his rights as feudal superior were fully guarded. This arrangement was afterwards adopted as the basis of the settlement of the same question on the Continent between Pope Calixtus v. and Henry's son-in-law, Henry v. The contest about investitures was only one phase of the great question of the proj)er relation between church and state. During the middle ages it was the constant aim of the clergy to raise the church into a self- governing corporation, as far as possible independent of the state. To complete their scheme, they required to elect their own officers, to make their own laws, to try their own criminals, and to pay taxes Aims of the only to ecclesiastical authorities ; and at one time or Church, another every one of these became the subject of a struggle with the English kings. It was a part of the same scheme to separate the clergy, as far as possible, from all external interests and connections ; and for that purpose the more advanced thinkers among them were for rigidly enforcing the celibacy of the clergy. Anselm attempted to enforce this rule in England ; but it was long before it was very strictly observed by the beneficed clergy. In England the gift of parishes was usually in the hands of the lord of the manor, and consequently the laity always retained a strong hold over the secular clergy, both in the upper and lower ranks. The first bishopric to which an election was made, according to the new method, was that of Salisbury ; and the choice showed the working of the new system, for it fell upon Henry's chaplain and treasurer, Koger, whom he had originally engaged on the ground of the Roger of extreme rapidity with wdiich he could perform the Mass, Salisbury, which it was then usual to hear daily. Koger, however, soon showed himself to be an excellent man of business, equal to everything placed in his hands, and after Henry's accession he became the king's right-hand man in everything which concerned the business of the kingdom. Henry delighted in order, and the years of peace that followed the battle of Tenchebrai gave him the opportunity he desired of putting both the local and central government of the country on an orderly footing. j^lC Norman Kings 1108 Accordingly, between 1108 and 1112 an order was issued for the holding of the courts of the 'hundred' and the ' shire' 'according to the fashion in which they had been held in the time of King Edward, and not otherwise.' The importance of this was twofold. First, Courts^of the .^ secured that justice should be administered at every and the man's door ; and second, it checked the tendency for the administration of justice to fall, as it did on the Continent, into the hands of the barons, and kept it in those of the king. The courts were presided over by the king's ofl&cer, the sheriff. The decisions in cases between man and man were made by the whole body of persons who attended the court by right ; in criminal cases the ancient practice of compurgation and the ordeal were still used, though the Normans preferred the methodof trial by judicial combat between the accuser and the accused, or their representatives. After the Conquest the place of the Witenagemot was taken by the Mag- num Concilium, or Great Council. The difference, however, was mainly Maffnuml 0^® ^^ name, as the Normans spoke of, as a great council, Concilium, ^yliat the English described as a witenagemot. The arch- l)ishops, bishops, abbots, and earls still held their places ; but the king's thegns were now called barons, for the English thegns, if they retained their lands, became tenants-in- chief, and all new grants of land after the Conquest were made on feudal terms. As the archbishops, bishops, abbots, and earls held their lands on the same tenure, the council was in practice a meeting of the king's tenants-in-chief, and in this its character as a witenagemot became gradually lost. The fuU Magnum Concilium, however, was only summoned on very great occasions, such as the meet- ing at Salisbury in 1086 ; and the ordinary business of state was done by the King's Council, or Curia Eegis. This body, whose Curia Regis. "^ ......,, , "^ . , *^ exact position it is impossible to define, consisted, generally speaking, of the king in council with the chief officers of state, such as the justiciar, the chancellor, the treasurer, the chamberlain, the constable, the marshal, and any other persons whose attendance the Its Members. , . , kmg chose to require. The justiciar, under the Norman and early Angevin kings, wasthe chief officer of the realm. When the king was in Normandy he acted as regent, and in his absence presided over the Curia Regis. His memory is still preserved in the title of the Lord Chief- Justice, the head of our system of common law. The chan- cellor was the king's chief secretary, and keeper of his seal. The chamberlain had charge of the king's household. The constable and marshal were chiefly concerned with military matters touching the feudal array. 1118 Henry I. 117 The duties of this body were most varied. When it was sitting to give advice to the king on matters of state, it was called the king's ' ordinary council,' as opposed to the Magnum Concilium, ,., .,. c, ,- -. .1 Its Duties. which sat on special occasions. Sometimes it acted as a law-court, and tried cases between great barons, such as would formerly have come before the witenagemot, or cases brought up on appeal from the shire-moot. It was then called simply the Curia Eegis. A great part of its business concerned the collection of the revenue, and when sitting for this purpose it was called the Court of The Exchequer. Fortunately, its accounts were most carefully Exchequer, kept ; and as the Pipe Roll, or revenue account of 1130 has been pre- served, a good idea may be formed of the working of the court. Every- thing turned upon money, for Roger was just as strict as Ranulf Flambard had been in exacting every penny due to the king ; and in it is seen what a profitable source of income were reliefs, wardships, and marriage, to say nothing of payments to expedite or delay justice, to secure the king's influence, or permission to be relieved from duties or absolved from promises, to take up an office or be allowed to vacate one — for in Henry's days everything had its price, and every function of life was made somehow or other to contribute its quota to the royal exchequer. Through the various functions of this court-of-all-work the king was able to keep a tight hand over the government of the country ; and it was mainly through its working that a superstructure of Norman centralisation was placed over the strong groundwork of '- '^ ^ Norman English local government, which is the great constitutional Centralisa- achievement of the family of the Conqueror. To complete the system, however, it was needful to create a close connection between the central Curia Regis and the local courts; and the way to do this was indicated in 1124, when a special deputation from it was sent to hold a session in the country, and 'hanged so many thieves as never was before, being in that little while altogether forty -four men.' This vigorous administration of justice by the royal authority gained Henry the title of the ' Lion of Justice ' ; and the stern grasp which was knitting together the inhabitants of England of all races into the English people was an immense boon to the country. Queen Matilda died in 1118, leaving Henry two children — Matilda, a girl of sixteen, and William, fifteen. Matilda had at eight _ , , „ I . ^ Death of years of age been married to Henry v., the emperor, and Queen her marriage portion was levied as a feudal aid, at the rate of three shillings per hide. At the moment of his wife's death Henry "^ 11^ Norman Kings iiis was again at war, for Louis vi., king of France, had formed a league ao-ainst him, which included Fulk of Anjou and Baldwin of Flanders, ^William and was designed to aid the interests of William Clito, the Clito. only son of the imprisoned Duke Kobert of Normandy. Baldwin, however, died the saniQ year ; Fulk was detached from the leacrue by a promise that Henry's son should marry his daughter ; and in 1119 Henry defeated Louis and William Clito in a skirmish at Brenville. The league was thus broken up, and soon after, by the media- tion of the pope, peace was restored. Henry's next object was to secure the succession of his son to the English throne. He had already had allegiance sworn to him by the Norman barons, and Avas returning in triumph to England, Henry's son, when the prince was drowned in the 'White Ship,' w^hich WiUiam. ^^g ^^^ upon a rock by the drunken carelessness of the crew. After the death of his son, Henry married again, but had no children, so his hopes of keeping the succession in his own line rested on his being able to persuade the barons to accept as queen his daughter Matilda, who was left a childless widow in 1125, and returned to England. Accordingly, in 1126 he induced the Great Council to swear to receive Matilda as the future sovereign. A formidable rival, how- Matilda . , . , ^ p TT--1T /^Ti 1 accepted as ever, existed m the person oi William Clito, who was a young man of excellent character and considerable ability, who had by no means relinquished his hopes of succeeding his uncle. In 1123 he had risen in Normandy with the aid of Count Waleran. FoQed there, he again allied with the king of France, who named him count of Flanders, as the representative of his grandmother Matilda, on the death of Charles the Good. Henry's resentment, however, pursued him here, and aided the disaffected to revolt. D ath f '^^'^^^ ^^1^16 William was victorious ; but, unluckily for William him, a slight wound from a lance was allowed to mortifv, and he died just when good fortune seemed to be return- ing, in 1128. A few months before the death of William Clito, Henry married his daughter Matilda to Geoffrey, eldest son of Fulk, count of Matilda . . ^ ^ t> n c n^i marries Anjou, a lad ot hlteen. The counts of Anjou had long Anjouf^ °^ played an important part in the history of Northern France. Their territory of Anjou, with the neighbouring districts of Maine and Touraine, over which they claimed and often exercised a suzerainty, adjoined the lands of the dukes of Normandy, Brittany, and Aquitaine, and the royal domains of the kings of France. As a family they had shown a remarkable aptitude for affairs, both military and 1135 Henry I. 119 civil ; had, as a rule, been distinguished by thoroughness ; and had con- siderable inclination for intellectual studies. Fulk himself had been a very successful ruler, and the marriage of his heir to the heiress of Henry of England was a great triumph for his house. Geoifrey himself though now quite a boy, was quick-witted, handsome, and attractive, though his sharp temper and the disparity of the ages of bridegroom and bride prevented the marriage from being a really happy one. No child was born to Geoffrey and Matilda till 1133. From the point of view of both English and Normans this marriao-e was most unpopular : with the English, because it was a marriao-e out of the country, which was understood to be contrary to the kind's promise ; and with the Normans, because they hated the Angevins, and regarded the acceptance of an Angevin ruler as a sort of degradation. Henry, however, repeatedly insisted on a renewal of the oaths made to Matilda ; and when her son Henry, afterwards Henry ii., was born, the name of the child was joined in the oath with that of Henry's his mother. On the birth of his little grandson, Henry Death, finally left England, and died somewhat suddenly in Normandy, in 1135. Henry i. was a great king. Policy made him identify himself with what was best for his people, who wanted nothing so much Henry's as to be safe from the tyranny of the great landowners. For Character two-and-thirty years— almost a generation — he secured ^^^' absolute peace in England ; and the great strides made by the country in material and intellectual progress attested the value of the work of the peace-loving king. During this time commerce increased by leaps and bounds. The connection of England with the Continent brought it within the influence of the wave of commercial prosperity which was stimulated by the Crusades. The union of Normandy and England under the same crown made the Channel for many years almost an English lake ; and our merchants traded regularly not only within Henry's dominions but with Ireland, Brittany, Flanders, and Denmark, and even further afield. Moreover, the good order kept in England, and particularly its freedom from the Continental curse of private war. induced numbers of artificers and craftsmen from other lands to settle under Henry's protection, and their industry gave a further impetus to the growth of the middle classes. In these circumstances the townsmen were anxious to get from the king such constitutional rights as would secure them Growth of something at any rate of the local self-government en- *^^ Towns, joyed by the free cities of the Continent. At first the beginnings 120 Norman Kings iioo were small. The great desires of the townspeople were— (1) to pay the hurgifirma or principal tax of the town direct to the king, instead of having it collected by the sheriff and counted with the contribution of the shire ; (2) to elect their own officers, and to have their cases tried in their own courts ; (3) for the chief traders to form themselves into a guild recognised by the feudal law. In most cases English towns were on the demesne of the king ; in others, as in that of Beverley, on that of the archbishop of York ; in others, as Leicester, on that of the earl. Charters granted to London and Beverley in the reign of Henry i. are still preserved, and may be taken as examples of what other towns were aiming to acquire. The progress made by the monastic bodies during the peace was almost as important as that of the rise of the middle classes in the towns. The Norman Conquest of England nearly coincided with a considerable revival of religious life in Europe, phases of Avhich were the reformation of the papacy under Gregory vii. (Hildebrand), the struggle about investitures, the great outburst of crusading zeal, and finally the reformation of old and the foundation of new monastic orders. This movement took its rise from the abbey of Clugny ; and the priories founded as off- shoots of that great monastery, of which Pontefract, Beading, and Lewes are examples, carried its ideas into this country. The Clugniac monks made much of the services and decorations of their chapels, and may be regarded as the ritualists of monasticism. They were also most important as being the first monastic body which regarded its different monasteries as being all part of a congrega- tion which managed its affairs as a whole. Their example stimu- lated others, and soon two other orders came into existence, both Austin designed to improve on their ideal. The first of these was Canons. ^j.^^ Austin Canons, designed to be a link between the secular parish clergy and the monks, of which the first priory founded was that of Holy Trihity, Aldgate, in London. The second and more _. , . important w.^s that of the Cistercians, so called from Cistercians. ^ ^ ' Citeaux, in Burgundy. The true founder of the order was Stephen Harding, an Englishinan ; and its most distinguished member the famous St. Bernard. The Cistercians were the puritans of monasti- cism. Unlike the Benedictines, whose great abbeys had become centres of industrial life and the nucleus of flourishing towns, the Cistercians sought the wild and more unfrequei\ted valleys for the sites of their houses ; unlike the Clugniacs, they disdained all ornaments in their \ 1135 Henry I. 121 chapels. They had no coloured glass and no bell-tower, and by their white dress they endeavoured to indicate they were not as the black- robed Benedictines. This effervescence of new monastic life seems to have had a stimulat- ing effect upon other orders ; and William of Malmesbury, himself a Benedictine, tells us that the Cistercians were ' a mirror to the diligent, a goad to the negligent, a model to all.' Situated as abbeys were in flourishing towns, or by the side of a Norman castle, and acting as hotels where great and small, king and palmer, found accommodation for the night, an observant monk found himself in touch with every movement of his time ; and one of the most remarkable proofs of the reality of the better life springing up under Henry, and a strong proof of how rapidly Saxon and Norman were mingling into one nationality, is the revival of an entirely new interest in the history of England. The Revival of only survivor of Alfred's scheme of a regularly kept history, chronicle was that preserved in the abbey of Worcester. About the year 1120 a copy of this was made for the use of the monks of Peter- borough ; and while the original has been lost, the copy remains, and was continued by the Peterborough monks in English till the year 1154. Besides this, Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon, began about the same year to collect materials for a complete history of England ; and William of Malmesbury, the greatest historian since Bede, was . . 1 . . . , William of writing his Acts of the Bishops and his Acts of the English Malmes- Kings, and brought his history down to the events of his "^^' own time. Henry himself was a scholar. He spoke English, French, and Latin. His children were well educated ; and his illegitimate son, Eobert of Gloucester, was a personal friend of William of Malmesbury. The Latin classics were by no means unknown. One copy, at least, of Euclid found its way to England. It is from the reign of Henry i. that we can trace the first beginnings of the university of Oxford. Henry built a palace at Beaumont, on the north side of the town, and it is possible that his presence Beginnings attracted learned men. At any rate, it is certain that of" Oxford. between 1117 and 1121 Thibaut d'Estampes, a learned Norman, was teaching letters to some sixty to one hundred scholars. In 1133 Eobert Pullein, afterwards a cardinal, gave lectures on the Holy Scriptures. The name of another teacher is also known — Robert of Cricklade ; and in the following reign Vacarius further enlarged the course of studies by lecturing on the civil law. From this time forward Oxford appears to have had an uninterrupted succession of scholars and teachers. 122 Norman Kings 1135 Altogether the England of Henry i. exhibited in almost ever}- direc- tion a hopeful promise both of constitutional order, national feeling, and material and intellectual prosperity, Avhich is the best record of the success of its scholarly sovereign. CHIEF DATES. Expulsion of Robert of Belleme, Battle of Tenchebrai, Investiture Question settled, Battle of Brenville, Matilda marries Geoffrey of Anjou. Birtii of Henry of Anjou, . A.D. 1102 1106 1107 1118 1128 1133 CHAPTER IV STEPHEN : 1135-1154 Born c. 1094 ; married, 1124, Matilda of Boulogne. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Enq^eror. David I., d. 1153. Louis vi., d. 1137. Frederic Barbarossa, Malcolm iv., d. 1165. Louis vii., d. 1180. 1152-1190. Stephen's success — Contest for the Crown — Battles of Northallerton and Lincoln — Siege of Oxford — Effects of the War— Henry of Anjou. When her father died in Normandy, Matilda was in Anjou ; and she and her husband, instead of hurrying to England and securing it at all hazards, made the fatal mistake of making the first attempt upon Mistakes of Normandy. If they thought that in consequence of the Matilda, late king's arrangement the succession of Matilda was a matter of course, they were completely mistaken ; for a rival was already in the field, and acting with such promptitude that the crown of England had slipped from Matilda's reach almost before her movement in Normandy had begun. This rival was Stephen of Blois, third son of the Conqueror's clever daughter Adela and her husband the count of Blois, count of Mortain by gift of Henry, and of Boulogne by right of his wife, the character of heiress of the younger Eustace. Stephen was a man of Stephen, whom it might be said that he would have been thought to have had every qualification for kingship if he had never reigned. He was now about forty years of age, handsome and vigorous in body, and a master of all chivalric exercises. His courage was unimpeachable, and his personal character excellent. His wife was the daughter of Christina, younger sister of the good Queen Matilda ; so his children, like those of Henry, represented the old English line. Unlike Matilda, who was barely known to the English people, he had been bred in Henry's court, lived all his life in England, and had been formally acknowledged to be, after the king of Scots, the first baron of the realm. He seemed just the man to be an ideal English king in every way superior to his rival 123 124 Norman Kings '^'^Tn Matilda, by birth a woman— and no distafl' had yet reigned over th( chivalry of Western Europe— by education a German, by marriage arj4* Ancrevin, who represented, moreover, in the eyes of the baronage th( ' stern system of repression and exaction as practised by Eanulf Flambarc and Eoger of Salisbury. It was not, however, by the nobles that Stephen was first chosen aj kinc^. Sailing at once from Boulogne, he was accepted with enthusiasn His prompt ^^1 ^^e men of London ; and, their aid being secured, he mad( action. j-^jg -^^y to Winchester, where he was gladly received by hi? I brother Henry, the bishop, and put in possession of the king's treasure Already the confusion incident on the cessation of the king's peace, ai the death of the king, showed the necessity for an immediate decision and, actuated probably by this, Eoger of Salisbury, the justiciar anci official representative of law and order, threw in his lot with Stephen, bringing with him his nephew Nigel, bishop of Eh'', the treasurer, and his illegitimate son Eoger-le-poer, the chancellor. William, archbishop Crowned of Canterbury, performed the coronation ; so that, with ^^"^- the townspeople, the officials, and the church on his side. Stephen's position seemed well assured. Some of the barons hesitated longer, especially Eobert of Gloucester, eldest son of the late king ; but eventually Stephen won them by lavish promises, and the Norman barons, thankful to escape from an Angevin ruler, followed suit. Foi a time it seemed as if Matilda was not to have a single open adherent, either in England or in Normandy. Before long, however, the real unfitness of Stephen for his post began to show itself. He was too lavish both of promises and gifts. Besides Unfitness of promising generally to observe the good laws and customs Stephen. ^f Henry and Edward the Confessor, which he did in two charters issued at his coronation, and at the holding of his first council, he also recklessly diminished his wealth by lavish grants of lands, and all without winning the real affection of the recipients or binding them to him by obligation. A favourite maxim of the Empress Matilda, ' Never glut a hawk if you wish him to serve you,' may well have been derived from observation of Stephen's error. The first person to declare in Matilda's favour was David, king of Scots ; but Stephen bought him off for a time by the grant of the earldom of Carlisle, with the county of Cumberland for his David, King -n- t-i j • -.i^^ i of Scots, son Henry. But m 1138 he again took up arms, and, after Maifma.^°'^ cruelly ravaging Northumberland and Durham, made his Avay into Yorkshire. By this time, however, he was not Stephen's only opponent : Eobert of Gloucester and Miles of Hereford .139 Stephen 125 vere in rebellion, and Stephen was amply occupied in a series of sieges entailed by the need of bringing them and their friends to reason. j'ortunately, the north was in good hands. Archbishop Thurstan of York tnd Walter Lespec, the founder of Eievaulx abbey, assembled the lortherners at York ; and, the aged Thurstan being left behind, Walter ed them out to Cowmoor, two miles beyond Northallerton, and there, at ;he spot where the Hambledon Hills come near to the lower spurs of ;lie Pennine range on the west, they awaited the onset of the Scots. The whole army fought on foot round a car on which, as , , Battle of I standard, were placed on masts the sacred banners of Northaller- 5t. Peter, St. Wilfrid, and St. John of Beverley. The ^°"' charge of the Scots was fierce and well sustained, but they could make 10 impression on the solid array of spearmen, while the archers, already beginning to take their place in English warfare, sent their shafts with 'atal efiect among the unarmoured Scots. In the end the Scots withdrew, eaving more than a thousand dead, and all their spoil and baggage ; and "or nearly two hundred years the memory of the Battle of the Standard saved Yorkshire from invasion. Meanwhile, Stephen's military skill had served him well in the south. Bristol was unassailable, but Hereford and Shrewsbury fell into his hands. His queen captured Dover ; Eobert and Miles fled the country ; md the hanging of some of the garrisons taught a severe lesson to the rest. Altogether, the year 1138 was Stephen's fortunate year. Its successor, 1139, was as unfortunate. Hitherto, Stephen had wisely kept on good terms with Eoger of Salisbury, in whose hands rested the administration of the country, and had even granted his Stephen most exorbitant requests ; but in a fatal moment he quarrelled quarrels with Eoger and his family, seized their castles of Salisbury, Roger of Ely, and Devizes, and flung them, bishops as they were, into ^ ^^ " ^' prison. Nothing more foolish could well have been done. The fall of Roger threw the whole administrative machine out of gear ; while the imprisonment of a bishop, which might have been tolerated from the Conqueror, was not to be endured from his grandson, and had the efiect of throwing Henry of Winchester and the whole infiuence of the church on the side of the empress. On August 29th Henry summoned his brother to appear before a church council to answer for his conduct ; and, though Stephen tried to save himself by a humiliating submission, Matilda and her brother Eobert landed at Arundel on the , ., , . , Matilda last day oi September, where they were received by Adela, arrives in the late king's widow. Eobert soon passed on to Bristol ; "S a" • but Matilda was for some weeks besieged at Arundel by Stephen. 126 Norman Kings U39 Eventually, however, feeling probably that liobert was his more dangerous opponent, Stephen allowed Matilda to join her brother. The personal contest between Stephen and Matilda was almost confined to the years 1139-1143. After Matilda joined her brother, Stephen made no attempt to penetrate into the west-midland shires, where the influence of Robert of Gloucester and Miles of Hereford was supreme, but contented himself with holding the shires that lay east of a line drawn from the Peak to Wareham, with securing the waterway of the Thames, and en- deavouring to prevent other barons from going over to the side of the empress. In the winter of 1140 the earl of Chester, the one English earl whose position approached that of Continental feudalism, and whom Stephen had done all in his power to win, seized Lincoln castle. The citizens and Bishop Alexander appealed to Stephen to aid them against the tyrant. On arriving at Lincoln, Stephen found that Randolf, captured at or Ralf, of Chester had left the castle to be defended by his ■wife, and had himself gone to Chester to raise forces. The castle of Lincoln, which with the cathedral is situated on a high rock on the north side of a gap in the wolds, through which the Witham, rising near Grantham, makes its way round to the sea at Boston, is an ex- tremely strong place ; and before Stephen could take it, the earl, who had been joined on the Fosse way by Kobert of Gloucester, arrived to relieve it. Swimming their horses across the ford of the Witham, they attacked Stephen's forces in the early morning on the low ground between the river and the castle height. The followers of the two earls vied with each other in the energy of their attack. Stephen's Flemings, under William of Ypres, were put to the rout ; and he himself, after a terrible conflict on foot, in which he broke a battle-axe over the helmet of the earl of Chester, was taken prisoner. The city was then sacked to punish the citizens for their appeal to the king. This happened in February 1141, and for a short time Matilda carried all before her. Robert d'Oilly, the constable of Oxford castle, put that important fortress into her hands. Henry of Winchester, disgusted at his brother's failure, and alarmed for the interests of the church, used his authority as Matilda P^^P'^^^ legate to bring the clergy over to her side ; the recognised submission of London followed, and Matilda was formally 3,s i-^ady . _ of the recognised as Lady of the English, No sooner, however, "^ '^ • was Matilda in power than, like Stephen, she began to show Topu" d'ty ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ *^ govern. If he listened only too readily to foolish counsellors, she would give heed to no counsel at all— not even to that of the old king of Scots or of Henrv of 1147 Stephob 127 W^inchester. She confiscated wholesale the lands of her opponents, lisposed as she pleased of church property, refused to give to the citizens )f London the laws of Edward the Confessor, and browbeat the most nfluentiid citizens in order to exact money. Meanwhile, Stephen's queen, Matilda of Boulogne, had been showing lerself a worthy great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside. With the lid of William of Ypres she had landed in Kent, and her 1 T 1 1 • T 1 • • 1 i London ipproach to London determined the citizens to revolt. As declares for )ne man they rose against the empress, and an ignominious ^^ licrht to Oxford brought her brief success to a close. Again Henrv )f Winchester changed sides ; and Matilda, furious at his want of 'aith, at once besieged him in a new castle which he had just built at ^Vinchester. To aid the bishop, Matilda of Boulogne and William of i^'pres marched with the Londoners and Flemings. Matilda Stephen ivas again compelled to fly, and in trying to cover her retreat released. ler brother, Robert of Gloucester, was captured. In November he was jxchanged for Stephen. In 1142 Robert of Gloucester went to the Continent to persuade j-eoffrey to come to his wife's assistance ; and in his absence Stephen oesieged the empress in Oxford castle. The importance of r^ P -, , . • -■• ., . ,. n . Matilda Dxiord Jay m its commanding the navigation oi the upper besieged in Thames ; its strength in its situation on a spit of land ^ °^ • between the Thames and the Cherwell, surrounded on all sides but one by marshes. With great difficulty Stej^hen forded the river and formed the siege ; but before long a frost set in, the marshes and rivers were frozen hard, and the castle could be strictly blockaded. Before Robert could relieve her, the case of the garrison was desperate ; but with four chosen knights all dressed in white the empress escaped across ice and snow to Wallingford, where she was welcomed by Brian Fitz- Count, one of her stoutest supporters. Oxford immediately surrendered, and shortly afterwards the forward movement of the empress's party Returns to came to an end. The empress herself remained in England Normandy. till the death of Earl Robert in 1147, soon after which she returned to Normandy. Meanwhile, her husband Geofirey had been far more successful. When his wife set off for England he had begun a campaign against Normandy. Here his engineering skill stood him in good stead. Castle after castle fell before his machines, and by 1144 the whole success in of the duchy was in his hands. Till 1147 Geoffrey kept it N°^"^^"dy' under his own control ; but, his son Henry being then fifteen years of age, Normandy was given over to him. \^ 128 Norman Kings 1147 Younf Henry had received an excellent education, partly conducted under the eye of his scholarly father, partly under the no less competent Robert of Gloucester ; and he was now expected to take his Hen?yof ° part in activc life. In 1149 he visited England, and was Anjou. knighted by his great-uncle David of Scotland ; but he soon returned, and till 1152 was busied in the affairs of his duchy, which he had to defend against the attacks of Louis vii. In 1151 the differences between the house of Anjou and the king of France were arranged by the mediation of St. Bernard. In the same year Geoffrey died, leaving his son count of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine, besides being duke of Normandy ; and in the spring of the next year Henry made himself the mightiest uncrowned head in the west by acceptincr an offer of marriage made to him by Eleanor, He marries -to o j j Eleanor of duchess of Aquitaine and countess of Poitou, Saintonge, and Limousin, the divorced wife of Louis vii. Another war with the French king followed, in which Henry had decidedly the better; and in the spring of 1153 he found himself strong enough to leave the Continent and renew the contest with Stephen. Since the siege of Oxford, the war in England had ceased to be carried on in any regular way ; but that brought no diminution of its horrors to -- the wretched -inhabitants of the country. All the lawless rl errors " of the spirits of the time took advantage of it to work their own Civil War. .„ ,-, - . „ f. . Aviil. Oastles sprang up m all directions, and the garrisons lived on the plunder of their neighbours. For the only time in English history men built castles when and where they listed ; and no less than twelve hundred of these dens of iniquity, giving an average of thirty a county, sprang up during Stephen's reign. Barbarism was rapidly re- turning. ' If three men came riding into a town,' wrote the chronicler, ' all the inhabitants fled.' You could ride a day's journey without seeing a man cultivating the ground. Trade and ag:riculture were alike ruined ; and it was said that ' God and his saints were asleep.' Some barons made horrible things called ' rachentages,' or neckties, so devised that when one was put on a man he could neither ' sleep, nor stand, nor lie, but had to bear all the iron ' ; others threw their prisoners into noisome dungeons with rats and toads ; others hung them up and caused smoke to blow over them, so that they were all but choked. Such things were the everyday life of France and Germany, but in England, happily, they were new ; and the experience of Stephen's reign taught Englishmen, once for all, that without a strong central administration the bcirons could not be kept in check. . Since the death of Robert of Gloucester, however, Stephen had been 1154 Stephen 129 gradually gaining ground ; and in the winter of 1152 he besieged Brian Fitz-Count in his castle of Wallingford. To save him an appeal was made to Henry of Anjou, and he came over in person. The two armies met at Malmesbury, but the retreat of Stephen arrives in prevented a battle. The barons of neither side were "^ ^" anxious for a complete victory, but wished to prolong the war for their own interests. At this critical moment, however, Stephen lost his eldest son Eustace, for whose interests as well as his own he was now fighting. Archbishop Theobald took advantage of the occasion to propose a com- promise ; and in November 1153 it was agreed at Walling- Treaty of ford that Stephen should hold the crown for the remainder Wallingford. of his life, and that Henry should be his adopted son and successor. The treaty of Wallingford brought the long contest to a close. As recognised successor, and, according to one account, with the actual office of justiciar, Henry took into his own hands the restoration of order ; and so well did he do his work that it was said that, during the two last years of his reign, Stephen had more of the reality of sovereignty than he had ever possessed before. So much progress, indeed, Stephen's was made that Henry was able to revisit his Continental l^eath. dominions, and was there in 1154 when Stephen's death made him the recognised king of England. In spite of all the horrors of Stephen's reign, perhaps aided by them, the monastic revival had made much progress. The military knights of St. John and of the Temple had established many of their _ , . ^ . ^ . "^ Ecclesias- depots in the country. The Premonstratensian order of tical Pro- canons had also been founded ; and a peculiarly English order of convents for monks and nuns had been founded by Gilbert of Sempringham. The church, too, had gained strength. The only element of consistency to be found in the policy of Henry of Winchester is his attachment to the interest of the church ; and his aims were more rationally pursued by Archbishop Theobald, whom the pope was per- suaded to recognise as the ' born legate ' of the pope in England. Theo- bald collected round him a number of the ablest young men of the time, among whom was Thomas of London, afterwards the famous archbishop of Canterbury. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Battle of Northallerton, .... 1138 Arrest of the Bishop of Salisbury, . . 1139 Matilda in England, .... 1139-1142 Henry of Anjou marries Eleanor of Guienne, 1152 Treaty of Wallingford, .... 1153 I Book III THE EARLIER ANGEVIN KINGS SOMETIxMES CALLED PLANTAGENETS z o o H.". , ,^- O t^?« ••= AN lULUSTR RS IN T 66-181 P5?2^ UJc. Fh ^ m u cJ ui O -z- > M « E^ W &-S v.— THE EARLIER ANGEVIN KINGS, 1154-1272. Henry II., = Eleanor of Guienne, 1154-1189. divorced wife of Louis VII. , d. 1204. Heiiry, Richard I., Geoffrey, d. 1183. 1189-1199. d. 1186. Constance John, of Brit- 1199- tany. 1216. Arthur, d. 1203. -Isabella Eleanor=Kiug of of An- gouleme. Henry III., 1216-1272. Eleanor of Provence. Joan, m. Alexander of Scotland. I Eleanor m. Simon de Montfort. Edward I., 1272-1307. Edmund Croucliback, d. 1295. Margaret, m. Alexander ill. (see VI.). Castile. Blanche, Louis of France (see VII.). Richard, King of the Romans, d. 1271. VI.— THE KINGS OF SCOTLAND FROM 1153-1286. Henry, Earl of Huntingdon (see iv,). Malcolm IV., 1153-1165. William the Lion, 1166-1214. Alexander II.. = Joan, sister of Henry iii. 1214-1249. Alexander III., m. Margaret, daughter of Henry iii., 1249-1286. 133 VIL— THE KINGS OF FRANCE, 987-1285. Hugh Capet, 987-996. Robert I., 996-1031. Henry I., 1031-1060. Philip I., 1060-1108. Louis VI., 1108-1137. Louis VII., = (1) Eleanor of Provence, 1137-1180. divorced 1152. (2) Constance of Castile. (3) Alice of Champagne. Philip Augustus (3), 1180-1223. Louis VIII. = Blanche of Castile (invader of England 1216), 1223-1226, (see v.). Louis IX. (Saint), 1226-1270. Philip III. 1270-1285. Robert (see v.), ancestor of the Bourbon kings. 134 CHAPTER I HENRY II. : 1154-1189 Born 1133 ; married, 1152, Eleanor of Guienne. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperor. Malcolm iv., d. 1165, Louis vii., d. 1180. Frederic i., d. 1190. William the Lion, d. 1214. Philip Augustus, d. 1223. Po2)es. Hadrian iv. (Nicholas Breakspear), 1154-1159 ; Alexander ill., 1159-1181. Reorganisation of the Kingdom — The great Scutage— The Becket Quarrel — Judicial Reforms — Concptest of Ireland — Abortive Revolt of the Barons — Quarrels in the Royal Family. The acquisition of the English crown made Henry ii. the monarch of greatest consequence in Europe. He was king of England, with feudal rights over the sub-king of Scothind and the prince of North Dominions Wales; he was duke of Normandy, count of Anjou and of^enryll. Maine ; and in right of his wife he was duke of Aquitaine, which gave him not only the actual rule of Poitou, Perigord, Querci, Limousin, and Gascony, but also a suzerainty more or less real over all the countries which lay west of the Rhone, chief among which was the county of Toulouse. To these extensive dominions he virtually added the duchy of Brittany, through the marriage of his son Geoffrey to its heiress Constance in 1160. After this event he had in his hands the mouths of the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne, and with them command over the greater part of the coasting trade of France. These possessions would have made any prince powerful ; but Henry owed their acquisition mainly to his own character, and the energy and skill with which he had made the most of the advantages he derived from his birth. Henry's gifts, both of mind and body, were clearly to be traced to his ancestry. The bent of his mind was Angevin, and showed the same eagerness and thoroughness, combined with versatility, that His Char- had long been characteristic of the counts of Anjou. His a'^t^^- body, strong, thick-set, and sinewy, might have been derived from either 136 Earlier Angevin Kings U54 side of his descent. Like all his ancestors, he was thoroughly versed in war, and had the Angevin talent for diplomacy, while his love of law and order connected his mind with that of Henry i. His energy was wonderful. Not for a moment was he idle. His days were spent in war or the chase, in the conduct of business, or in vigorous discussion. He rarely sat down ; and so difficult was it for him to sit still and do nothing, that he usually occupied himself with drawing pictures while hearing the Mass. Such a man gave little rest to his at- tendants. He kept his courtiers working till they were tired. He rarely slept two nights in the same place ; and so rapid were his journeys, that hardly an officer in all his dominions could be certain that the king might not visit him in the course of the day. In days when, as had been amply demonstrated in the time of Stephen, the whole working of the administrative machine depended on the personal influence of the king, these qualities were invaluable. He had also the royal gift of remembering faces he had once seen ; but his good qualities were to some extent marred by the inheritance of the terrible Angevin temper, which often led him into actions which afterwards cost him dear. One of Henry's first actions indicated the lines of his future policy. He sought out Roger of Salisbury's nephew Nigel, bishop of Ely, and . , made him his treasurer, with orders to restore the exchequer mentofthe to the condition under which he remembered it in the old equer. ^^y^ of Henry I. This Nigel did, and from 1156 we have handed down to us the first extant pipe roll since that of 1 130. The accounts clearly show the disastrous efiects of the late reign. The revenue had diminished by two-thirds, and the large sums needed for repairs prove the ruinous condition of the royal property. From that time forward there was a steady improvement, and Nigel was able to hand his office on to his son Richard, bishop of London, from whose pen in the Dialog us de Scaccario we have a most interesting and even amusing account of the working of the exchequer in his day. Henry appointed two justiciars— Richard de Lucy, honourably known as the loyal constable of the Tower of London and of Windsor Castle, and Robert, earl of Leicester. The chancery he gave to an even more interesting character, Thomas of London. Thomas was born at London in 1117, and was the son of Gilbert Becket, a native of Rouen, and Rohesia of Caen, his wife. His father was a Thomas of burgess of London, and at one time port-reeve. The boy was sent to be educated by the Austin canons at Merton in Surrey, and then for a short time to Paris. He then entered business, but friends found him a more congenial place in the household of arch- 1158 Henry 11. 137 bishop Theobald. His talents were fully appreciated by the archbishop, who made him his confidential adviser. With Theobald he went to Eome in 1143, and to the Council of Eheims in 1148 ; and some time between these dates he gave a further year to study at Auxerre and Bologna. In 1155 Thomas took deacon's orders on his aiDpointment to the important position of archdeacon of Canterbury ; and when Henry became king, Theobald strongly recommended him for the office of chancellor. The new chancellor was now thirty-four years of age, of an extremely handsome appearance, charming manner, and also a thorough man of business ; and before long he made himself as necessary to Henry as he had been to archbishop Theobald. At his coronation, and again at his first council, Henry promised reformation, and in general a return to the ' days of his grandfather ' ; and the first years of his reign were devoted to this work. Abuses The foolish grants of crown-lands made by both Stephen abolished, and Matilda were resumed ; the eleven hundred and fifteen ' adulterine castles' built in Stephen's reign were ordered to be levelled to the ground ; the bad money issued from irregular mints was replaced by a good coinage, issued in 1158. The bands of Flemish and other mercenaries who had fought for either side and plundered for themselves were expelled from the country ; and in 1155 and 1156 the judges from the king's court went on circuit through thirteen shires as they had done in the time of Henry i. The most troublesome matter was to get back the royal castles from the hands of the barons, and Henry found it necessary to march in person against some of the more recalcitrant. Thus earl William of Aumale, lord of Holderness, was made to give up Scarborough ; and upon this William Peverel of the Peak and Koger of Hereford submitted. Hugh Mortimer, strong in his castles of Cleobury, Wigmore, and Bridgenorth, tried resistance, but utterly failed ; and, the most powerful being thus subdued, the rest submitted. At the same time Henry insisted upon his sovereign rights ; forced his cousin Malcolm, king of Scots, to give up Cumberland, Westmorland,^ and Northumberland, with the strong castles of Newcastle, Scotland Bamburgh, and Carlisle, which had been held by the Scots ^"'^ Wales, during the last reign ; and Malcolm acknowledged himself to be Henry's man, 'in the same manner as his grandfather had been the man of Henry the Elder.' Henry had more trouble with Owen, prince of North Wales, with whom he fought an indecisive battle at Consillt, near Flint, in 1157 ; but eventually Owen, alarmed by the landing of an expedition sent to Anglesea, agreed to do homage, and his submission carried with it that of his vassal princes of South Wales. 138 Earlier Angevin Kings 1158 ; England being now at peace, Henry was able to go to France in 1158 | and stay there six years, and occupied himself with enforcing his rights j over his Continental dominions. He had already paid a Jhrcond- Hying visit there in 1156, in consequence of the pretensions "^"*" of his brother Geoffrey, who, under his father's will, claimed Anjou, Touraine, and Maine as soon as Henry became king of England. Henry, however, declined to recognise his right, and not only compelled him to give up his claim, but took from him his castles. The chief object of his present visit was to secure the town of Nantes, and he then County of went on to assert his claims to the suzerainty over the Toulouse, county of Toulouse. The right of the dukes of Aquitaine to this was somewhat uncertain, but it had been asserted by Louis vii. so long as Eleanor was his wife ; now, however, he denied it, and prepared to help the count in resistance to Henry's demands. Henry therefore organised a great expedition to Toulouse ; but on arriving there he found that the king of France had thrown himself into the town, and, declining to set his own vassals the bad example of a vassal besieging his liege lord, Henry retreated, taking care, however, to retain possession of all the castles which he had taken in his advance. Eventually, in 1172, Raymond did homage to Henry for his county of Toulouse. The expedition to Toulouse of 1159 had indirectly an effect of much import to the future of the English nation by being the occasion of the The Great imposition of the Great Scutage. According to feudal s outage. j.^^y^ ^ tenant-in-chief was bound to serve his lord either in person or by deputy for forty days each year, in which the coming and going did not count. This plan worked fairly well for an expedition to Wales or a short campaign against an unruly baron ; but it was obviously unsuitable for continued warfare, and, when the scene of strife was distant, inflicted great hardship upon the tenant. Accordingly, in 1156, when Henry made his expedition to Normandy against his brother Geoffrey, he excused the clerical holders of fiefs from attendance on payment of so much per knight's fee of shield money ; and in 1159 he extended the same privilege to all the barons of Normandy and England, and used the £180,000 so obtained in hiring soldiers, while he exacted personal service from the men of his father's dominions and of Aquitaine. Scutage, therefore, in its institution appeared as an indulgence advantageous alike to both king and barons ; in reality, however, it struck a hard blow at feudalism. For, in the first place, by enabling the king to hire trained soldiers, it made him independent of baronial assistance ; and, secondly, it broke down the unwise concession of Henry's charter, that lands held by knight service should be liable to no other 1163 Henry II. 139 impost. Scutage, which, once begun, rapidly became a regular institution, also helped to make the feudal tenants less warlike, and aided the tendency which was rapidly making progress in England by which feudalism, instead of being, as on the Continent, the basis of society, -^^^^^ of was becoming merely one among the four usual methods of Land . . Tenure. land tenure. These were knight service, free socage, frank almoign (the tenure on which some church lands were held), and customary service or villein tenure. The institution of scutage, even if not suggested by Becket, was pro- bably carried into effect by him. Thomas had made an admirable chancellor, throwing himself into all Henry's plans with characteristic energy, perhaps even sinking too much the elected deacon and friend of archbishop Theobald in the lay official. Clergymen, at any rate, thought he had been hard on his own order in the matter of the scutage ; and when, on the expedition to Toulouse, he appeared in full armour, and actually overthrew a French knight in single combat, he seemed no whit behind the military ecclesiastics of an earlier age. Henry therefore was perfectly satisfied ; and when Theobald died in 1161, he was determined that Becket should add to his office of chancellor that of archbishop, that the threads of both civil and ecclesi- astical administration might be in the hands of his most trusted servant, Theobald, too, had desired Becket for his successor ; so in 1162 he was elected archbishop by the monks of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, in presence of a great council — Gilbert Foliot, bishop of Hereford, alone of the council objecting on the ground of the scutage — and was consecrated by the aged Henry of Winchester. The king, however, had made a mistake. As those who knew him best had always expected, Becket showed himself to be at heart the ecclesiastical disciple of Theobald. From the moment of his consecration he set himself to magnify his office, and, in proof of his new attitude, roused Henry's disgust by resign- ing his post of chancellor, as inconsistent with the demands of his new position. The resignation, indeed, meant more than Henry at first im- puted to it. For it marked the moment when the ecclesiastical revival, which under various forms had been promoted by Anselm, Henry of Winchester, and Theobald of Canterbury, had made the old relations be- tween the church and the state impossible. Many causes had led to this, and it was a question rather on what battle-ground the next quarrel between church and state should be fought, than whether there should be a contest at all. The first question on which the king and the archbishop difi'ered was one of taxation. In July 1163, Henry, in a council held at Woodstock, 140 Earlier Angevin Kings 1163 proposed that a tax of 2s. per hide, the greater part of which had of late been used to pay the expenses of the sheriffs, should go direct into the king's exchequer. For some reason Becket objected to with the*'^'^^ this, and declared that he would take care that no more Archbishop. ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ church lands. The matter is obscure, but ultimately the king gave way, and the tax under the old form was apparently abolished. The incident, however, is the first example since the Conquest of successful resistance to taxation. In the end, however, the quarrel turned, not as might have been expected on scutage, or upon the taxation of church lands, but on the right way of dealing with clergy accused of crime. Before the Conquest, when the bishop sat with the ealdorman in the shire-moot, and the archdeacon brought his cases before the hundred court, little distinction had been made between lay- men and ecclesiastics. William the Conqueror, however, probably with the sole view of weakening the influence of the English bishops, had re- moved the bishop from the shire-moot and given him a court of his own, and ordered that the archdeacon should no longer bring suits in the hundred court. Henceforth all clerical cases were tried in ecclesi- TrialofEc- astical courts according to the church, or canon, law; c esiastics. .^^^-^ ^^iq lay authorities were directed to aid the clergy in carrying out the sentences of their courts. The change, however, was wider than William had ever anticipated. The practice of using the papal tribunal as a court of appeal from the English ecclesiastical courts was the logical consequence of the new system ; while the use of the canon law, made even more a distinct branch of laAv by the attention given to the revived study of the Roman law, did more than anything else to make the clergy a separate caste. Moreover, the ecclesiastical courts could inflict no punishment which involved the loss of life or limb. Its sentences were restricted to a fine, or to imprisonment in a monastery, or to depriving the criminal of his orders. The Clerical This state of affViirs was most serious. The word ' clergy,' as then interpreted, included bishops, priests, and deacons, who were described as clerks in holy orders ; subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, and ostiarii ; and also persons who had received the ' first tonsure ' but were for all practical purposes laymen, so that in practice all the professional classes, except regular soldiers, were included in it. Moreover, the king's justices complained that since his accession no less than one hundred murderers and innumerable thieves and robbers had made their escape from due punishment on the plea that they were clerics. The facts, indeed, were notorious ; but the clergy, who feared that, if the jurisdiction of the lay courts over 'criminous clerks' were 1164 Henry 11. 141 once admitted, a serious diminution of clerical independence would follow, believed that the right remedy was to be found in a stricter exa- mination into the character of candidates for the tonsure ; and Becket, on becoming archbishop, at once set himself to do this. Henry's Henry, however, was not prepared to wait the action of so Proposition, slow a remedy, and proposed that for the future a criminal, who, on being brought before the ordinary courts, claimed to be a clerk, should be handed over to the bishop to be tried before the ecclesiastical court in the presence of a royal officer. If convicted, he was then to be unfrocked, and handed back to the lay authorities for the infliction of the usual punishment. To this Becket demurred, asserting that it would be sufficient punishment for a cleric to be degraded from his orders. If he oftended a second time he would do so as a layman, and could be treated as such. In 1163 the case of Philip de Broi, a clerk accused of crime, drew special attention to the matter, and the question was raised at a council held at Westminster in October 1163. The council of discussion was renewed at Clarendon in January 1164, and Clarendon, there Becket, under some pressure, agreed to ' obey the customs ' of the realm. The question arose what these customs were. Accordingly, Henry appointed a commission to inquire, headed by Kichard de Lucy. In nine days it presented its report in the form known as the ' Constitu- tions of Clarendon.' These constitutions, however, sixteen in number, dealt with many other things than the trial of ' criminous clerks,' and attempted to settle most questions then in dispute between the church and _ n^^ • ■ CoHStltU- state. Thus, questions about advowsons and presentations tions of to livings were to be tried in the king's court. Clerics were not to quit the realm without the consent of the king. Appeals from ecclesiastical courts were to go to the king ; and unless he consented that they go no further, the litigants were to be content with the decision of the archbishop. The old rule of William the Conqueror that no tenant-in -chief or minister of the king should be exconnnunicated without his consent, and the rule that clergy were to hold their lands as tenants-in-chief, and to perform all duties and attend the kings court with the other tenants-in-chief, were reaffirmed. Elections of archbishops, bishops, and abbots were to take place by order of the king, in the king's chapel ; and the bishop or abbot elect was to do homage for his lands before he was consecrated or installed. These were merely restatements of ordinary practice and of the settlement of Henry and Anselni. A clause, however, that the sons of villeins should not be consecrated without the consent of their lords was new. It was probably 142 Earlier Angevin Kings 1164 designed partly to safeguard the rights of the lords of the manor, Avho lost the services of the villein who took orders, and partly to put a check on the ordination of the lower classes. In practice, the leave of the lord could always be obtained on payment of a small sum. These constitutions, therefore, amounted to a code, and justified Becket's fears that in agreeing to ' obey the customs ' he was committing himself to more than he intended. For six days they were Bucket's Opposition debated, clause by clause, and finally he refused to give his and Flight. ^^Qj^gg^^^ During the spring and summer Thomas twice attempted in vain an escape from England and appeal to the pope ; and meanwhile his enemies at court w^ere doing all they could to foment the quarrel between him and the king. Their success was seen when the council met at Northampton in November. A series of charges were brought against Becket, culminating in a demand for the immediate pro- duction of the whole of the moneys that had passed through his hands as chancellor. Becket, on his side, seems to have lost his temper under persecution, and behaved with such rashness that Gilbert Foliot, now bishop of London, called him 'a fool.' His brother bishops were unable to persuade him to bate a jot of his pretensions by way of meeting the king. Henry, on the other side, was full of fury at the arrogance of the arch- bishop ; and at length, escaping from the town at dead of night, Becket made his way to the coast and took ship for the Continent. His departure was a serious matter for Henry, as Becket's presence on the Continent introduced a new complication into his difficulties with the king of France, and also because the open quarrel between the king and the archbishop dissolved the alliance between the church and the crown which, on the whole, had been preserved since the Conquest, and so far strengthened the hands of the feudal barons. Becket found the pope unwilling to take his side, for at that moment Alexander iii. was contending against the pretensions of an anti-pope, Becket ^^^ ^^^ supported by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa ; appeals to and too much enthusiasm for Becket might have thrown Henry on the same side. For six years, therefore, the struggle went on. Henry's first move was to confiscate the whole of the property of the see of Canterbury and drive from the country all the kindred of Becket. In 1166 the archbishop retorted by excom- municating seven of Henry's strongest adherents, at the head of whom was the justiciar, Richard de Lucy ; and in 1167, after an unsatisfactory interview with Henry, Becket excommunicated Gilbert Foliot and nine others. In time, however, both Becket and Henry grew weary 1170 Henry 11. 143 of the struggle. The archbishop was anxious to return : Henry had recognised how much harm was being done to him by Reconciiia- Becket's alliance with the French king ; so in 1170 a H°e"nry^^d^" reconciliation between them was patched up, without any Becket. settlement of the question of the Constitutions, and after some delay Becket returned to England on December 1st. It is difficult to see how such a reconciliation could have been more than a truce ; but, unfortunately, a new cause of offence had been given to Becket. Some years before Henry had formed a New scheme for getting his eldest son, Henry, crowned king of Quarrel. England during his own lifetime ; and in the summer of 1170, before his reconciliation with Becket, he determined to carry it out. By ancient right the function of crowning the king of England was a privilege of the archbishop of Canterbury ; but in Becket's absence Henry decided to have the ceremony performed by the archbishop of York, Koger Pontl'eveque, an old rival of Becket. The exiled archbishop was furious, and obtained a papal bull forbidding Eoger to perform the ceremony ; but, in spite of this, Roger persevered, and, supported by Foliot, bishop of London, and Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury, performed the coronation in Westminster Abbey, in the presence of Henry himself. In spite of this, the reconciliation took jjlace ; but, on returning to England, Becket brought with him letters from the pope suspending all the bishops who had taken part in the coronation ceremony. Becket was warmly received by the populace, but was treated coldly by both the laity and clergy of the upper classes, and was forbidden to visit the young king. His spirit, however, was in no way Murder of depressed. He refused to absolve the bishops, and on Becket. Christmas day he issued another excommunication against Ealf de Broc, who had been steward of the lands of Canterbury during his exile. Meanwhile, the bishops of York, London, and Salisbury had hurried over to Normandy to lay their case before the king ; and exaggerated tales described Becket as traversing the country surrounded by a guard of supporters. Furious at the bishops' story and the other reports, Henry let fall the words : 'Are there none of the cowards eating my bread who will rid me of this turbulent priest ? ' It was not the first time Henry had used words to much the same effect ; and probably he meant nothing except that he was very angry, for a council was called to deliberate on the matter, and arrangements were made for arresting Becket on a charge of treason. However, before this could be done, a terrible crime had been committed. Four knights, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, Reginald Fitz Urse, and Richard le Breton, took 144 Earlier Angevin Kings 1170 Henry's rash words in a literal sense ; and, slipping unnoticed from the court, they made their way separately to England, and met one another at the house of Ralf de Broc. Thence, on December 29th, they pro- ceeded to Canterbury, and, making their way into the archbishop's palace, demanded in rude terms that he should withdraw the excom- munication of the bishops. Becket refused with equal rudeness, and then made his way into the cathedral, pursued by the knights. There, after further altercation, in which equally exasperating language was used on either side, the knights drew their swords, and, being deserted by all his companions save his cross-bearer, Edward Grim, who himself tells the story, the archbishop was butchered on the altar-steps of his own cathedral. Nothing worse could have happened both for Henry and for England. Public opinion, which had looked coldly on Becket during his life, veered Effect of round after his death. In spite of all Henry could do to the Murder. gj^Qp ^he reports, it was believed that miracles had been wrought at Becket's tomb, and his fame as a saint and a martyr were fully established. That Henry was guiltless of any intentional part in his death was generally admitted ; and, having sworn his innocence, he received full absolution from the papal legates. To enforce the Constitu- tions, however, was utterly impossible ; and, consequently, for over three hundi-ed years criminous clerks continued to be tried by the ecclesias- tical courts ; appeals continued to be sent to Rome ; and, the royal power over church aflairs having received a decided check, opportunity was given for an increase of the influence of the pope, of which full advantage was taken. For years the pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury was the most popular event in English life ; and it was only by very slow degrees that the state recovered the hold over the clergy and the church which was lost by the fatal impatience of the murderers of Thomas Becket. During the time the struggle with Becket was going on, Henry had not ceased to carry forward his schemes for the reform of the Judicial administration of justice. As early as 1155 he had revived Reforms. Yv\^ grandfather's plan of sending judges from the curia regis to sit in the county courts. The visitations of the judges may be regarded as a substitute for the regular journeys of the English kings, serving to connect the local courts with the central administration, to keep in check the power of the provincial magnates, and to bring to Justices- every one's door the power of appeal to the highest autho- in eyre. ^.j^^ -j^ ^^^ Iqjx,^, These judges were called justices-in-eyrCf a corruption of the latin form in itinere. The administration of justice, 1170 Henry II, 145 however, was not their only business. To look after the collection of the king's revenue was quite as important a function : and they had also to see that the proper precautions were taken for keeping the hinges peace ; that the oath of allegiance was taken by those from w^hom it was due ; and that care was taken that every one should be enrolled in a frank 2)ledge or association of ten men for mutual security, which was an ancient device for securing the apprehension of criminals, and making each person's good conduct a matter of concern to a number of others. In 1173 the circuits of the justices-in-eyre were fixed at six — the home, midland, eastern, western, north-eastern, and northern circuits — and remained substantially the same till recent times. Besides arranging the regular circuits of the judges, Henry also intro- duced changes into the method of administering justice, both in civil and criminal cases. In old English times, civil cases or disputes Trial by between individuals were decided by the whole body of J^^y- suitors at the shire-moot, in accordance with the oaths of persons who knew the facts, such as where the boundary of the estate ran, or who owned a certain wood. The Normans, however, had intro- duced the method of trial by battle, or of a judicial combat between the litigants or their representatives. Such a decision was obviously unfair, and was extremely unpopular, especially among townspeople ; so Henry introduced an improved method. Ever since the Conquest, and possibly earlier, use had been made of the method of ' sworn inquest,' by which a body of sworn men were employed to record certain facts. William the Conqueror employed it to discover the laws of the old English in 1070, and again in the Doomsday survey. This plan Henry ^1 Vll \^ nScS* II. now applied to civil cases, offering it, however, as an optional alternative. The new regulation was promulgated in the grand assize, the date of which, however, is unknown, but must be earlier than 1164, for in that year a clause in the constitutions of Clarendon enjoined the use of the same plan in the case of disputes about ecclesias- tical property. In 1156 the process of criminal judicature was dealt with by the assize of Clarendon. Hitherto the old English method of compurgation and the ordeal, or the Norman plan of trial by battle, had criminal been in use ; but Henry now ordered that, when the royal Cases, judges came into a county, twelve legal men of each hundred, and four legal men from each township, should present to them on oath any one in the township or hundred who was notoriously a robber, murderer, or receiver of such ; and in case the judge was not in the county but near it, the sheriff had to make a similar inquiry and report to the judges. The K 146 Earlier Angevin Kings 1170 accused were then put to the ordeal of water. If they failed, they were punished by hanging or otherwise as the judges directed ; but if they by any chance passed the ordeal, it was assumed that men who stood so badly in the opinion of their neighbours must be good-for-nothing fellows, and they were ordered to leave the country within forty days. Jury of Pre- ^^e body of sixteen men who formed the 'jury of present- sentment. ment ' may be regarded as a sort of grand jury who decided that the prisoners ought to be tried, or, in modern parlance, ' returned a true bill against the accused ' ; but the question of guilt or innocence was determined by the ordeal. This scheme was reissued and the severity of the punishment increased by the assize of Northampton, enacted in 1176. However, in 1216 a Lateran Council, held in Kome by the famous Innocent iii., forbade the use of the ordeal as an institution too barbarous for Christian men, A substitute for it was found in the institution of the petty jury or little jury. This consisted of twelve Petty Jury. sworn men, M'ho w^ere taken from the neighbourhood where the crime was committed, and were supposed to know the facts of the case. If they did not agree, others were added till twelve gave a verdict one way or another. This plan, how^ever, was awkward, and by degrees the additional jurymen came to be merely witnesses, who gave their evidence before the court ; and the verdict was pronounced by the original twelve, who were required to be unanimous. As the petty jury was a substitute for the ordeal, which was regarded as the judgment of God, there was no appeal from its decision. Moreover, the accused was not allowed to call witnesses on his own behalf or to be represented by an advocate. It was, however, assumed that unless the jury were quite satisfied of a prisoner's guilt he should have the benefit of the doubt — an assumption, however, not always observed in practice. Meanwhile, during the course of the Becket struggle a step had been Conquest of taken towards the conquest of Ireland. The condition of Ireland. Ireland had long been an invitation to interference. Both in regard to the constitution of its society and its system of land tenure that country was still in the state of tribal organisation from which every other Aryan nation in Europe had long ago emerged. The only state of the social tie recognised was real or imaginary relationship to Country. g^^^g chieftain, which constituted membership of his sept or clan. To this the land of the district belonged in common ownership ; and individual ownership of land, which experience has shown to be necessary for any serious advance in agriculture or civilisation, was practically unknown. Among the crowd of petty chieftains, however, four had a pre-eminence, styling themselves respectively kings of U70 Henry 11. 147 Ulster, Connaught, Leinster, and Munster ; but their authority was of a most fluctuating character, the power of the Ardriagh or head king was absokitely nominal, and the country was kept in continual turmoil by their dissensions and rivalries. On the coast were the settlements of the Northmen, in Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick ; but the Ostmen never succeeded in conquering the inland districts. At one time it seemed possible that a new invasion of the Northmen , might lead to the establishment, of a strong government, either Norse or native. This, however, did not happen. On the one Invasions of hand, the Northmen were defeated by the natives in the the North - great battle of Clontarf in 1017 ; on the other, Brian Boru, "^^"' or Boroimhe, the strongest of the native kings, fell at the moment of victory ; and though the invaders had been driven off, the country relapsed into its old tribal condition. In England the unity of the church had been a most powerful factor in promoting the unity of the state ; but in Ireland the church was almost powerless for this purpose. Ever since the synod of Whitby it had been cut off from intercourse with the churches of the West ; it had never been organised mi T 1 1 T • • T • 11 Irish Church, by a Theodore, and consequently had mamtamed its old defective monastic organisation without properly defined dioceses ; and when its immense monastic institutions, which had been the home of its famous learning, such as Bangor or Clonmacnoise, had been sacked by the invading Northmen, it sank into profound disorder. Since the Norman conquest of England, however, something had been done to improve its condition. Lanfranc and Anselm had both tried to make obedience to Canterbury the basis of a reorganisation of the Irish bishoprics ; and owing to the exertions of St. Malachi, who became archbishop of Armagh in 1134, a papal legate was sent, dioceses were properly divided and placed under the direction of four archbishops, those of Armagh, Tuam, Cashel, and Dublin. Meanwhile, the conquest of Ireland, as the natural completion of that of England, had often been mooted at the English court ; and in 1155 Henry ii. took advantage of the papacy of Nicholas Breakspear, the only born Englishman who ascended the papal throne, to obtain from him a bull authorising him to conquer Ireland 'for the ^ ^ Papal Bull, enlargement of the church's borders^ for the restraint of vice, the correction of morals, and the planting of virtue.' Nothing, however, was done at the time, for the Empress Matilda strongly advised Henry to defer any action ; and eventually the squabbles of the Irish princes, and not English ambition, proved the cause of the loss of Ireland's independence. 148 Earlier Angevin Kings ii70 As early as 1152, Dermot Macmorrougli, king of Leinster, had carried off by force Devorgil, the wife of O'Ruarc. the chief of the men of Breffny, in the adjoining kingdom of Connaught. For eighteen years the Dermot of injured husband never forgave the thief; and he found his Leinster. opportunity of revenge when his friend Roderic O'Connor, kino- of Connaught, defeated Murtogh O'Lochlainn, the representative of the ancient house of the O'Neals of Ulster, and had become the most powerful king in Ireland. O'Ruarc persuaded him to order the banish- ment of Dermot. Accordingly, Dermot was compelled to fly ; but he betook himself to Bristol, and, thence making his way to Henry's court, offered him homage and fealty, and implored him to aid him against his enemies. At the moment, 1166, Henry was far too busy to undertake an expedition himself; but he accepted the homage and the fealty, promised a speedy aid, and gave him a letter authorising any of his subjects to join the Irish prince. Armed with this letter, Dermot sought aid among the Norman settlers in South Wales, who represented the forward movement of the conquering Normans in this country, and Richard de "^on over to his side Richard de Clare, earl of Striguil, Clare. better known as Strongbow, to whom he offered the hand of his daughter Eva and the prospect of succeeding to the crown of Leinster. By the promise of the crown of Wexford he also enlisted the services of two half-brothers, Maurice Fitzgerald and Robert Fitz- Stephen. Accompanied by a small band, Dermot then returned to Ireland in 1167, but was promptly defeated by Roderic O'Connor, and compelled to await in hiding the arrival of his Welsh allies. However, in 1168 Robert Fitz-Stephen landed at Bannow, joined Dermot, and captured Wexford. Some time was then spent in a series of expeditions against Dermot's special enemies ; but in 1169 Maurice Fitzgerald made his appearance, and the allied forces then captured Dublin. Not till 1170 did Strongbow cross the Channel. Waterford was immediately taken. The marriage of the earl of Striguil and Eva followed. In 1171 the death of Dermot transferred his rights to the husband of Eva ; but the invaders had much ado to hold their own in Dublin against an army of Northmen from Man and the Western Isles, who had been summoned to the aid of their kinsfolk ; and, the Northmen being expelled, they had to repel another attack of Roderic O'Connor. It was now clear to Henry that the Norman adventurers were in all probability about to set up a semi-independent power across St. George's Channel, Henry in which might be a cause of the utmost annoyance to him- re an . ^^^^ jj^ therefore determined to interfere, and in 1171 he came over to Ireland with a large force, and received the submission r U73 Hennj II. 149 of the English adventurers. The adhesion of the Irish chieftains soon followed. The first to do homage was Dermot Macarthy, king of South Munster. His example was followed by Donell O'Brien, king of North Munster, and others ; and in 1172 Koderic O'Connor of Connaught, who claimed to be king of all Ireland, also yielded. Henry then placed garrisons in Waterford and Wexford, and made a grant of Dublin to the Bristol merchants ; but his projects for a complete conquest of the island were frustrated by the necessity of himself returning to England, and he never found another opportunity of revisiting the country. In 1177, however, he formed a plan for making his youngest son, John, lord of Ireland ; but no real progress was made in the work of reorganising the country, and the English with difficulty maintained their hold on Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford, and the districts immediately round them, which came to be known as the English pale. . One reason for Henry's visit to Ireland had been his desire to be out of the way till " the storm of indignation caused by the murder of Backet had in some degree subsided ; but during his absence the threads of a formidable conspiracy were woven, which broke out in 1173 and 1174, and taxed to their utmost the resources of the court. This conspiracy had its origin in two causes — (1) The vexa- 1 • 1 TT Conspiracy tion 01 the barons at the succession oi blows which Henry of the had struck at the power of feudalism ; (2) the dissatisfac- ^'^°"^- tion of Henry's sons with his proposed disposition of his dominions. Since Henry's accession, the barons felt that their rights and privileges had been invaded on every side. The resumption of the royal castles had reduced their military power. They were no longer allowed the privilege of coining money. Scutage had not only diminished their military efficiency, but had destroyed their cherished hope of immunity from general taxation. The aids for the knightino- of the kinsr's eldest son and for the dowry of his eldest daughter had been rigorously col- lected. Above all, the assize of Clarendon had shown that the king meant to be in all cases and over all causes supreme, and that no baronial privileges or immunities were to stand in the way of the equal administration of the law of the land. To such men as the great earl of Chester, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, Robert, earl of Leicester, the unworthy son of the old justiciar, and Robert Mowbray, who regarded themselves as the representatives of the great barons of the Con- quest, his whole policy seemed one long insult to their class, and they were only waiting their opportunity to set on foot a formidable rising;. 150 Earlier Angevin Kings U73 In the second place, Henry had signally failed to preserve harmony in his own house. His coronation of his son Henry had proved to be a mistake, for the young man could not understand that his Dissensions, fj^ther designed his coronation to be little more than a means of securing his undisputed succession to the throne, while his marriage to a daughter of the king of France exposed him to the influence of his intriguing father-in law, Louis vii. It was a rumour of young Henry's discontent which recalled his father from Ireland ; and after a visit paid to the court of France in 1172, the young king asked his father to give him England, Normandy, and Anjou as a separate sovereignty. Henry, however, had never designed to play the part of King Lear, and refused to do anything of the kind. For his younger children, Richard and Geofi'rey, Henry thought he had made ample provision ; Richard was to succeed his mother and be duke of Aquitaine. Geoffrey was to be duke of Brittany as the husband of Constance, daughter of Duke Conan. In 1167 his plans, however, were somewhat upset by the birth of his youngest son John, whom he forthwith named Lackland ; and it was the necessity of providing for this child that was at the bottom of much of his subsequent trouble. In 1173 Henry proposed to give the castles of Chinon and Mirebeau, formerly held by his younger brother Geoffrey, as a provision for John ; but to this scheme the young Henry, as count of Anjou, refused consent, and, escaping by night from the court, fled to the king of France. There he was joined by his younger brothers, Richard and Geoftrey ; and their mother Eleanor, disguised in men's clothes, was also on her way, when she was arrested and imprisoned. The French court then became a centre of intrigue, and the young princes spared no bribes to gain allies against their father. They found few, however, among Henry's Continental vassals ; but the English barons jumped at the opportunity, and soon a most formidable conspiracy was on foot, led by Hugh of Chester, Hugh Bigod, Robert of Ferrers, and Robert Mowbray. William the Lion, king of Scots, was won over by an offer of the earl- dom of Northumberland ; Hugh de Puiset, prince-bishop of Durham, alone among ecclesiastics also took the same side ; while a promise of the earldom of Kent and the county of Mortain won the assistance of Philip of Flanders and Matthew of Boulogne. Against this formidable conspiracy Henry relied, for the defence of his Continental dominions, on the service of twenty thousand Brabanters, Henry's whoui his wealth enabled him to hire as mercenaries ; for Successes, ^.j^^^ ^f England, he depended on the efforts of Richard de Lucy, the justiciar, William Mandeville, earl of Essex, Ralf Glanville, sheriff" of Lancashire, and a number of lesser barons and officials. He 1174 Henry II. 151 had also on his side all the bishops except Hugh of Durham ; all his own towns ; and, of more importance still, the goodwill of the masses of the people, who were ready to serve in the militia and give a loyal support to his officers rather than risk a renewal of the evil days of King Stephen. Taking advantage of the absence in Normandy of the earls of Chester and Leicester, the king's friends struck the first blow by besieging and taking the town of Leicester in July 1173 ; in the same month a chance shot killed Matthew of Boulogne ; and in August, Hugh of Chester was taken in the castle of Dol. Louis would gladly have made peace ; but as Henry still refused to give up his hold over the government of his dominions, his sons were determined to carry on the war. Accordingly, Eobert of Leicester made his way to England and joined Hugh Bigod in his stronghold of Framlingham in Suffolk ; but the two earls were utterly routed by the constable Humphrey de Bohun at the battle of Fornham, and their Flemish mercenaries were killed off almost to a man by the peasantry. The Earl of Leicester himself was taken, and joined Ralf of Chester and Queen Eleanor in the dungeons of Falaise. Meanwhile, the king of Scots had been checked from joining his friends by the necessity of breaking through the line of strong border castles from Carlisle to Newcastle which barred his southern march ; but they were one by one falling into his hands when Henry, in 1174, found himself strong enough to leave Normandy, and, taking his prisoners and Margaret, wife of the younger Henry, with him, crossed the Channel to Southampton. Henry had long before acquitted himself in the eyes of the law and the church from complicity in the murder of Becket ; but he felt it needful to do something which would strike the popular imagination, so he at once proceeded to Canterbury, made his way barefoot Henry's to the cathedral, submitted to be scourged before the mar- Penance, tyr's tomb, and spent a whole night in prayer before his shrine. Thence he went to London, where the joyful news reached him that, at the very moment that he was on his knees at Canterbury, the king of Scots, made venturesome by success, had been surprised and taken at Alnwick by Robert de Stuteville, sheriff of Yorkshire. The the King of • Scots material and moral effect of the capture and coincidence was invaluable to Henry ; and he lost no time in following up his success by marching on Framlingham and compelling Hugh Bigod to surrender. The leaders being thus disposed of, the surrender of their castles soon followed. Hugh of Durham gave up Durham, Norham, and Northallerton ; Robert Mowbray surrendered Thirsk. In the three weeks from his landing Henry had received the submission of all the rebels, and the country was once more at peace. 152 Earlier Angevin Kings 1174 Such a signal collapse of the English rebellion, proving as it did how completely the policy of Henry was supported by the English people, and how little even the quarrel with Becket had disturbed ^f°the"^^°" the loyalty of the church, completely discouraged Henry's Barons' continental foes. Louis w^as soon compelled to sue for Rebellion. ... -i ,t , n -, • peace. Young Henry's submission, and that 01 his brothers followed ; and, a general amnesty being agreed on, they accepted the terms offered by their father the year before. Thus closed the last attempt of the English barons to compel the king to permit them to make feudalism as it was on the Continent— as it happened, just a hundred years after the first attempt for the same purpose. Of the capture of William the Lion Henry took instant advantage to place on a definite footing the relations between England and Scotland. Ever since the days when Constantine, king of Scots, with the consent of his people, took Edward the Elder for father and lord, the Scottish kings had at intervals done homage to the kings of England ; but as, in addition to Scotland proper, they also held Galloway by a special grant of King Edmund, and Lothian as an English earldom, it was not very clear what the homage meant, and naturally the Scots interpreted it in the most limited, the English in Treaty of ^^^^ widest sense. Henry now determined to set the matter Faiaise. ^^^ pgg^ Qj^^g f^p ^jj gy ^j^g treaty of Falaise, William agreed for himself and his heirs to be the liegemen of the English king for Scotland and all his other lands, and, as security for his good behaviour, placed in Henry's hands the castles of Edinburgh, Stirling, Koxburgh, Jedburgh, and Berwick. The rebellion being thus put down, Henry was able to give his atten- tion to reforms. By a series of measures all the castles in the kingdom ^ . were either destroyed or taken into his hands. In 1176 the Assize _ '' of North- assize of Northampton renewed that of Clarendon, and also contained a number of other regulations for the better pre- servation of the king's peace. In 1178 he made a change in the con- stitution of the curia regis, which was a great step in developing a judicial system. As business increased, there was a natural tendency that the cnria regis, which in the days of Henry i. had dealt with all the business of the crown, should split up into smaU committees. The earliest of these was the Court of Exchequer, for financial matters. In 1178 Henry made a selection of five judges from those of the curia regis, Law Courts '"^^ intrusted to their hearing a great part of the judicial business which had formerly come before the court as a whole. Before long this court developed into two courts of King's Bench and U81 Henry 11. 153 Common Pleas. In theory, the Court of Exchequer tried cases con- nected with finance ; that of King's Bench, pleas in which the king was concerned, including some criminal business ; and that of Common Pleas, cases between one subject and another. In practice, however, their functions were not so distinct. From each of these courts there was, in civil cases, an appeal to the king in the Ordinary Council. His last measure of reform in England was the assize of arms, issued in 1181. In old English times the defence of the country had been intrusted to the fyrd, or militia (see page 44), in which Assize of every man between the age of sixteen and sixty was bound Arms, to serve if required. To this the Danish kings had added the huscarls, a body of professional soldiers (see page 73) ; and, though these perished at Hastings, no king since the Conquest had been without a body of paid soldiers, whom he employed in garrisoning his castles, and in warfare both in England and on the Continent ; and since the institu- tion of scutage, Henry ii. had relied mainly on hii-ed troops. Moreover, since the Conquest, the feudal array, of which some germs were to be traced at an earlier date, had become a regular part of the military machinery of the country. However, since the institution of scutage Henry had used the feudal obligation as a means rather of raising money than soldiers. He was naturally jealous of anything which might increase the military efficiency of the barons, while circumstances had fully shown how excellent a force the fyrd might be made, and how loyal the freemen who composed it were. It had done excellent service against the Scots at Northallerton and Alnwick ; and against the rebellious barons of 1173, 1174, it had formed almost the sole reliance of the justiciar. Such a trustworthy force deserved encouragement, and in 1181 Henry issued the assize of arms, in which it was carefully stated what weapons of oftence and defence every freeman was to possess, in accordance with the value of his estate, and arranged for the inspec- tion of these at regular intervals. No serf was allowed to serve in the militia. In this way the king had two armies : one a small one of paid troops, whom he hired to garrison his castles and fight his battles on the Continent ; the other the militia, on which he relied for the defence of England against foreign foes, or for putting down insurrections at home. From this time forward, feudalism became more than ever a mere method of land tenure. In those days armies were rarely large. Fighting consisted almost entirely in the defence and besieging of castles. Very Method of few pitched battles were fought, and it was in sieges and ^^^'■^^'■^■ not in open warfare that Henry and his son Kichard won their great 154 Earlier Angevin Kings iisi reputations as soldiers. The art of castle-lniilding had been carried to a very high pitch, and as a consequence the machines used for attackino- them were also most elaborate. Enormous catapults and mangonels capable of hurling huge rocks were employed; and the arts of mining and countermining had been developed to a high pitch. Indeed, gunpowder had comparatively little to add either to the violence of the projectiles used or to the murderous nature of the assault. After the rebellion of 1174 Henry had no more trouble with the English barons ; but for the remainder of his reign his troubles with his sons never wholly ceased. This was partly due to the intrinsic difficulty of governing the unruly barons of Aquitaine. This task Henry intrusted Henry's to Ms second son Richard, whom he designed to succeed his Sons. mother as duke. At seventeen Richard undertook the task, and, throwing himself into it with all the energy of his nature, soon established apparent peace. The barons of the south, however, to whom private war was as much a part of life as the songs of their troubadours, bitterly resented any interference with their habits ; and one of the ablest of them, Bertrand of Born, who added the qualities of a born lampooner to those of a political intriguer, set himself to stir up strife, not only among his fellow-barons, but also between Richard and his brothers. The jealousy between them soon grew to such bounds that Henry with difficulty kept the peace. Young Henry w^as in constant alliance with his father-in-law Louis, and, after his death in 1180, with his brother-in-law Philip Augustus ; while Geoffrey of Anjou was so unpopular that his difficulties with his own barons of Brittany were a constant source of anxiety. However, in the middle of these disputes, young Henry died in 1183 ; but his death rather accentuated the difficulties with Richard, who hated Henry's plan of removing him from Aquitaine in order to give it to John, and consequently was willing to make common cause with Philip of France, to w^hom he offered to do homage for hi^ duchy of Aquitaine and all the hereditary dominions of the house of Anjou. In 1186 Geoffrey too died ; but as he left a daughter, Con- stance, and a posthumous son, Arthur, his death made little difference to the situation. The next year matters were still further complicated by a proposition for a third Crusade. The small Turkish states, which had been singly no Third match for the Christians, had lately been united into a Crusade, powerful kingdom, stretching from the Euphrates to the Nile, by the genius of Noureddin and his son Saladin ; and before its 1189 Henry II. 155 strength the Christians of Jerusalem were defeated at the battle of Tiberias, in July 1187, and Jerusalem was taken. This news stirred Europe to its depths. Pope Gregory viii. at once proclaimed a third Crusade ; and in 1189 the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa started for the East. To Henry ii. the disaster came home with especial force. On the marriage of Geoftrey Plantagenet to the Empress Matilda, his father Fulk had retired to Palestine, married Milicent, the daughter of Baldwin i,, and the heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem. An Angevin dynasty therefore reigned both in Palestine and in England ; but in 1186 the male line of the Jerusalem Angevins died out, leaving a girl, Sibyl, who bestowed herself and her crown on the valiant Guy of Lusignan, who had made the last stand against Saladin's advancing host. To Henry, therefore, the fall of Jerusalem was almost a family disaster. His first impulse was to join the Crusade at once ; and to provide money he ordered the tenth part of the goods of every man in England to be collected under the name of the Saladin tithe, an impost of some constitutional importance Saladin because it was levied on personal property, and not, like all Tithe, previous taxes, on land. As early as 1185 Henry had proposed to go to the aid of the struggling Angevins ; but a great council had implored him not to abandon his people, and the project had been given up. Now, however, he felt that he ought to go ; but the difficulties in his way were enormous. Philip and Richard were again making common cause, and endeavour- ing to compel Henry to permit the marriage of Richard to Philip's sister Adela, to whom he had been^long betrothed, and who had been Henry's brought up and educated under Henry. Before this alliance ^^^th. Henry was able to make little resistance. The linal blow fell upon him in 1189, when he found his Angevin dominions suddenly invaded by a powerful army from France proper led by Philip, and another from Poitou under the command of Richard. Henry was ill ; he had no English troops with him, his mercenaries had deserted for want of pay, and few of his old followers remained to aid him but his illegitimate son Geoffrey and William Marshall, who, having been the faithful friend of the younger Henry, had now attached himself to the falling fortunes of his father. In spite of all Henry's efforts, both Tours and Le Mans were lost ; and, all hope being abandoned, the sick and worn-out man was compelled to come almost as a suppliant to a meeting-place appointed for him, and to accept a humiliating treaty by which all the demands of Philip and Richard were granted without reservation. Among them Henry had agreed that the allegiance of all Richard's associates should be transferred to him ; and when at the head of this list he 156 Earlier Anc/evin Kings 1189 read the name of his favourite son John, he abandoned himself to despair, allowed the fever to take its course, and the third day he died. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Thomas Becket becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, 1162 Constitutions of Clarendon, . . . 1164 Assize of Clarendon, 1166 Murder of Becket, 1170 Norman expedition to Ireland, . 1169-1170 Great rising of the barons defeated, . 1174 Treaty of Falaise, 1174 Assize of Arms, 1181 I CHAPTER II KICHAKD I.: 1189-1199 Born 1157 ; married, 1191, Berengaria of Navarre. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperors. William the Lion, d. 1214. Philip Augustus, d. 1223. Frederic i., d. 1190. Henry vi., d. 1197. Pope. Innocent III., 1198-1216. Exploits and Imprisonment of Richard — In his absence the Kingdom is governed by his Ministers — Constitutional and Social Progress of the time — Richard's Death. On the death of his father, Richard was immediately accepted as king, even by such immediate followers of Henry as William Marshall, who had fought Richard hand to hand a few days before. Accession He at once despatched his mother Eleanor to England, o^^^ichardi, Avhile he stayed to make terms with Philip Augustus, whom Henry's death had changed from a friendly colleague into a jealous rival. He then crossed the Channel, and was crowned with unusual ceremony at Westminster. Richard's character was cast in a different mould from that of any of his predecessors. His huge frame, long legs and arms, and herculean strength might remind men of his ancestor the Conqueror, , ^ . ^. ' Character. whose genius for war and whose uncompromising will he also inherited. His fresh complexion and golden hair also showed his Norse descent, and when he was in the East his natural aptitude for naval affairs showed him no less the descendant of the Vikings. The firmness with which he had enforced law and order in Poitou proved him to be no Stephen ; but, on the other hand, he had little aptitude for business or for the subtler forms of diplomacy in which the Angevins excelled ; and, except as a leader of the host and enforcer of order, and a magnificent personality, he had few of the qualities needed for an English 157 158 Earlier Angevin Kings ii89 y kinf^. Fortunately, however, Eichard was aware of his own deficiencies, and throughout his reign he had the good sense to intrust the govern- ment of England to subordinates ; and usually he chose as his officials men who had been well trained in the methods of his more businesslike father. Richard had taken the Cross in 1187, and wished to start on the Crusade as soon as possible ; so his first measures were directed to raising money and to making the necessary dispositions for the good government of the country during his absence. It had long been a custom that officers of state should pay for leave to undertake their duties and for leave to lay them down. Eichard took advantage of this to make a wholesale change in his officials, to fill up as many vacant offices as possible both in church and state, and to grant rights and immunities to any one who was willing to pay for them. Among other appointments, Eichard Fitz-Nigel, author of the Dialogus de Scaccario, the treasurer, was made bishop of London, William Longchamp bishop of Ely, and Hubert Walter bishop of Salisbury. Ealf Glanville, who was going on the Crusade, had to pay for resigning the office of justiciar, and Hugh de Puiset or Pudsey, bishop of Durham, and William Mandeville for sharing it between them. Most of the sherifi'doms also changed hands ; charters were granted to towns ; and, above all, the treaty of Falaise with the Scots was cancelled. For a payment of 10,000 marks the castles of Roxburgh and Berwick were restored to the king of Scots, and he and his heirs were released for ever from the homage promised for Scotland itself. Having raised money in this way, he had next to consider the peace of the country. His first difficulty was with his brother John, of whose treacherous character he was perfectly aware. The best ment of course would probably have been to have taken him with him to Palestine ; but it was decided to leave him in Europe, but bound on oath not to revisit England for three years, and to apjDeal to his gratitude by such a liberal provision as should leave him nothing to ask for. Accordingly, besides giving him the county of Mortain, he received grants in England amounting to nearly one-third of the kingdom, and comprising the castles of Marlborough, Luggershall, and Lancaster ; the honours without the castles of Wallingford, Tickhill, and Nottingham ; and the shires of Derby, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset, with all their revenues. In the general management of the country Eichard trusted to the good sense and tact of his mother Eleanor. The actual administration, after several changes occasioned by the sudden death of William of Mandeville, he virtually placed in the hands of William Long- champ, the chancellor; and on December 11th, 1190, he quitted England. U91 Richard I. 159 As was usual when people were filled with crusading zeal, the Jews suflered from persecution. In England the Jews were regarded technically as the king's special dependants, and, being taxed Persecution b}'' him at will, were a great source of wealth to him. Most o^ the Jews, of their riches were acquired by money-lending ; and as, owing to the canonical prohibition of usury and to the uncertainty of the times, a high rate of interest was charged, and also in an agricultural community the value of being able to borrow capital was not understood so well as by a commercial people, they were extremely unpopular. Special quarters were assigned to them in most towns, which were walled in and the gates locked at night ; they were compelled to wear a particular dress, and any favourable opportunity to attack them was seized by their debtors. A disturbance of this kind broke out in Westminster on Eicliard's coronation day, and during the autumn and winter riots against the Jews attended with bloodshed occurred at York, Norwich, Stamford, St. Edmunds, and other towns. At York the unhapi^y Jews were allowed to take refuge in the castle, where they were regularly besieged ; and, despairing of life, the men killed the women and children and, having set fire to the castle, flung themselves into the flames. Altogether not less than five hundred perished at York alone, and one of the first duties of the chancellor was to punish the rioters. William Longchamp, who had acted as Eichard's own chancellor for many years, and who was thoroughly devoted to his master, was a lame man, of insignificant appearance and lowly birth. He was, wiiiiam however, a thorough man of business, industrious, energetic, Longchamp. and inventive ; but he knew nothing of England and the English, his manners were far from conciliatory, and before he had been long in office he contrived to make himself thoroughly unpopular. This gave John an admirable opening for mischief. Against Eleanor's advice, Richard had foolishly excused him from his oath of absence, and when, in 1191, Eleanor was obliged to leave England, John returned home, acted as king in his own counties, appointed a regular staft' of officials, and apparently took it for granted that he had seen the last of his brother. His attitude encouraged Hugh of Durham and others to revolt ; and as William of Longchamp had no personal friends and many enemies, the whole kingdom was soon in a condition of smouldering insurrection. Hearing, on his journey, of Longchamp's difficulties, Richard sent to England Walter of Coutances, the bland and waiter of inoffensive archbishop of Rouen and old official of Henry ii., Coutances. with orders to do the best he could. Walter reached England in April 1191, and found things for the moment quiet. A new trouble, however, 1(30 Earlier Angevin Kings 1191 soon arose through the conduct of William Longchamp to Geoffrey, the illegitimate son of Henry 11., whose election as archbishop of York had been secured by Eichard. Like John, Geoffrey had been put under a vow of absence, but had also been released, and arrived in England in Auo-ust 1191. Longchamp refused to believe in his release, and had him seized in a church at Dover ; and the archbishop was dragged through the streets to the castle by his hands and feet, clinging to his pastoral cross and excommunicating his t6rmentors as he went. Such a scene recalled all the difficulties that had arisen from the quarrel with Becket. John, of course, made common cause with Geoffrey ; and then Walter of Coutances, thinking it time to produce his commission, took the reins of government into his hands, William of Longchamp left the country, and the new arrangements, made by Richard's authority, were cheerfully acquiesced in. Meanwhile, Richard had made himself a European reputation by his exploits in the East. He had joined the French king at Vezelai in the Richard's summer of 1190, and then, leaving Philip to go by land, had Journey. made his way to Marseilles, where he took ship. He reached Sicily in September, and became the guest of Tancred, the de facto king of Sicily, who was himself a Norman. In Sicily he stayed till the following March, when he was joined for four days by his mother Eleanor, who brought with her Berengaria of Navarre, to whom he was at once betrothed ; and then, setting sail, he was driven to Cyprus, which he took from its ruler, Isaac Comnenus, as a punishment for the massacre of some English sailors who had been wrecked on that island. There he married Berengaria; and in June 1191 he reached Acre. The strong fortress of Acre is situated on a j)romontory, which forms the northern side of the bay of Acre, of which Mount Carmel forms the Siege of southern. It was in the hands of the Turks, and had been ^^^^- besieged by a Christian army, under Guy of Lusignan, since August 1189. The siege, however, had made little progress. Frederick Barbarossa had set out in 1190, but met an inglorious ending by being drowned in a little river in Asia Minor in July the same year. In con- sequence of this, only a small fragment of the German contingent ever reached Syria. Philip Augustus reached Acre in April 1191. The leaders, Richard, Philip, and Guy, however, showed little harmony or vigour. The camp was ill-arranged and undrained, and, as a matter of course, disease broke out, of which Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury and Ranulf Glanville had both died before Richard's arrival. Mean- while, Saladin had gathered a large force for the relief of Acre, and had 1192 Richard I. 161 hemmed in the Christians on the land side, so that it was difficult to say who were the besieged and who the besiegers. Things were in this hopeless state when King Richard arrived ; and his acknowledged military skill put new heart into the besiegers. The military engines were plied with fresh vigour and more capture of intelligence. Richard, with his crossbow, fought in the ^'^^^• front ranks, and within a month, in spite of a serious illness which for some days incapacitated him, a breach was made and the town stormed with terrible slaughter. The sacrifice of life, however, had been appalling. In one cemetery, it is said that no less than 124,000 corpses were buried within the year, and it was reckoned that by disease and the sword the capture cost the lives of 300,000 men. Acre being taken, an attack on Jerusalem was the next project of the crusaders. Advance on but the difficulties of keeping together such a motley host as Jerusalem, the crusading army was quite beyond Richard's diplomacy, while his very success at Acre awakened the jealousy of other princes. The great bone of contention was the crown of Jerusalem. Sibyl had died child- less, and Richard favoured the claims of her husband, Guy ofLusignan. Philip preferred those of Conrad of Montferrat, marquess of Tyre. However, in August 1191, Philip pleaded illness and went home, so that the chief command remained in Richard's hands. Under his guidance the army turned south and beat off a great Saracen host at the battle of Arsuf, where the steadiness of the footmen, and especially of the cross- bowmen, showed to the cavaliers of Europe the value of infantry. All Richard's efforts, however, were in vain. Twice he led his troops within twelve miles of Jerusalem, but each time, recognising the folly of be- sieging such a fortress with Saladin's unbroken army in the field, he felt compelled to retreat. At length Richard saw that the task on which he was engaged was hopeless with his materials. The news of John's pro- ceedings in England warned him that he ought to be absent no longer, and in September 1192 he concluded a treaty with Saladin, by which Joppa and its district were secured for the Christians, with the right of free access to the Holy Sepulchre, and with full liberty to carry on commerce over the whole land. In leaving Jerusalem, Richard presented to Guy of Lusignan the island of Cyprus. This done, Richard left the task of bringing back the English Crusaders to Hubert Walter, and himself set sail for Marseilles in October 1192. Unfortunately, his squadron was dispersed Richard's by a storm ; and when Richard himself was within three Return, days' sail of MarseilleSj he learned that Raymond of Toulouse meant to seize him on landing. Contrary winds not only made it impossible to ] (52 Earlier Angevin King^ 1192 pass through the Straits of Gibraltar, but even drove the king to Corfu. Thence he ao-ain set out in a small pirate craft, but was -vrrecked near Rat^usa, and his only chance was to make his way through the empire in disguise. By some mismanagement he arrived at V ienna, where resided his personal enemy, Leopold, duke of Austria. By this time his presence was well known ; and, being recognised by emissaries of the duke, he . . ^^ was arrested and thrown into prison. Overjoyed at his Imprisoned, luck, Leopold wrote in triumph to Philip Augustus, and the French king passed the good tidings on to John. John instantly spread a report that Richard was dead, demanded that all the castles of England should be handed over to himself, and did T u . homacfe to Philip Augustus for Richard's Continental John s => ^ ® Treachery, dominions. Eleanor, however, refused to be taken in by the rumour, and made common cause with Geoffrey of York and Hugh of Durham. Presently Richard's true fate was ascertained, and com- munication was opened with him. Early in 1193 Leopold transferred his captive to the hands of the Emperor Henry vi. at Speyer. On his way to Speyer, Richard met two abbots who had been sent out from England to meet for his Re- liiui, and negotiations were at once began for his release. The terms demanded by the emperor were hard. £100,000 of English money were to be paid as a ransom ; Isaac of Cyprus was to be liberated ; and Eleanor of Brittany was to be betrothed to a son of Leopold of Austria. The money, however, was cheerfully paid, both by the laity and the clergy ; but it took much ingenuity to raise so large a sum, and eventually four distinct taxes were imposed by a great council : (1) An aid for the king-'s ransom, at the rate of twenty shillings per knight's fee ; (2) an income and property tax of one-fourth of the income and movable property of every man in the kingdom, lay or cleric ; (3) a one-fourth part of the wool of the Cistercians and of the Gilbertines (see page 129) ; and (4) a carucate of two shillings on the hide, a caru- cate which was taken for the purpose as equivalent to one hundred acres. In January 1194 Richard was released, and at once returned to Arrival in England. Before leaving Henry, he agreed to do him England, homage for the titular kingdom of Burgundy ; and to remove any doubt as to his rank, he was careful to wear his crown in England, with some of the solemnities of a new coronation. Richard landed in England on March 13th, just in time to take part in capturing Nottingham, the last stronghold of his brother John. He remained in England till May 12th, when, his presence being urgently needed in France, he again sailed for the Continent, and never was able to return. 1194 Richard I. 163 During his second absence the government of the country was intrusted to the justiciar, Hubert Walter, now archbishop of Canterbury, till 1197, and then to Geoffrey Fitzpeter ; and these two old servants Hubert of Henry took care to manage everything according to the Walter, practice of their former master. Fortunately, they had no more trouble with John. Warned by past experience, Richard was careful to return to his brother none of the property that had been forfeited by the justices. Henceforth he had to content himself with money only, and John himself was wise enough to recognise that his true interest lay in keeping on good terms with his masterful elder brother. Besides the ordinary routine of business, the chief care of the justices had to be devoted to raising money. During the last years of his life, Richard was engaged in a constant struggle with Philip Difficulties Augustus, who represented the natural tendency of the ^^^^ France. French kings to encroach on the territories of their vassals. To check this, Richard trusted first to creating a great alliance of the neighbouring states against Philip, for which purpose, in 1197, he used his influence as king of Burgundy to secure the election of his nephew Otto, son of his sister Matilda and Henry the Lion of Saxony, as successor to the Emperor Henry vi. ; and, in the last resort, to a magnificent castle, the Chateau Gaillard, which he built near Les Andelys, on the chateau Seine, as a defence for the Norman frontier. This great GaiHard. masterpiece of engineering skill of the time was designed by Richard himself. It completely commanded the river, and he believed it capable of checking any advance into Normandy till a relieving force could be collected from England. The administration of Hubert Walter is marked by several incidents of constitutional importance, most of which were merely developments of the methods of Henry 11. In 1194, in issuing a commis- sion to the itinerant justices, besides intrusting to them tional • ■ Prosfrcss an immense list of multifarious business, all connected, more or less, with the exchequer, he directed that all their inquiries were to be conducted by taking the evidence of sworn recognitors, appointed as follows : — Four knights were to be chosen out of the whole shire. These were to choose two from every hundred, and these two named ten others to act with them as ' legal men.' This practice is im- portant, not only in connection with the jury, but also with the practice of election. In 1194, and also by the method of recognition, a survey of the whole land was carried out with a view to the new method of taxa- tion by carucate, which had the efi'ect of superseding the ancient Dooms- day survey ; and again, ' the lawful men of the shire ' acted, along with 164 Earlier Angevin Kings 1194 commissioners, in assessing the amount due from each estate, a further step in connecting taxation and representation. Other expedients for taxation had important social effects. Tourna- ments had hitherto been discouraged in England : they were now licensed by Richard's orders, but every knight who took part in one ments. j^ad to pay for an individual licence to do so according to his rank. The ready grant of charters, moreover, had an immense effect on the development of the towns, in the history of which almost an epoch is caused by the charters of Eichard. The intimate connection between England and the Continent, and the good order kept at home Charters to ^Y Henry II., had both been favourable to the development Towns. Qf town life, and the English trading classes had rapidly restored the losses of Stephen's reign. In consequence, the process of bargaining for privileges, which was noticed under Henry i., was renewed. The citizens of London paid 100 marks to have sheriffs of their own choosing. The burghers of Cambridge paid 300 marks of silver and one mark of gold to have their town at a ferm or fixed rent, and to be free from the meddling of the sheriff of the shire. Shrewsbury did the like. The weavers of Oxford paid two marks to have a guild of their own. Thomas of York gave a coursing dog to be alderman of the guild of merchants. Besides these payments, which are recorded in the pipe roll, and which are typical of hundreds of the kind, numbers of charters were granted. These, for the most part, followed the lines of those granted to some neighbouring town. The burghers of Bedford copied their charter from Oxford ; those of Preston, that of Newcastle. Most striking of all, the citizens of London took advantage of the squabble between William Longchamp and John, to bargain for the right to have a communa, apparently a corporation after the Continental fashion ; and henceforward their chief officer was styled the lord mayor, and the town governed by him and tAvelve aldermen, one from each of the city wards. In assessing taxes, however, the new officers of London, who be- longed to the merchant class, were thought to be unfair to the poorer "William citizens. The grievances of the latter were taken up by Fitz-Osbert. wini^m Fitz-Osbert, a member of the burgher class, who had been a Crusader, and who was marked as an eccentric character by his habit of wearing a beard. As William was a born agitator, and apparently a capital speaker, the disturbance grew so serious that Hubert Walter was forced to interfere. His proceedings were charac- terised by some rashness and much brutality. When William took refuge in a church, the archbishop ordered it to be set on fire, and when 1199 Richard I. 165 William rushed out he was seized, and, wounded as he was, stripped, dragged through the city at a horse's tail, and hanged with eight of his comrades. The affair of William Fitz-Osbert is typical of what went on in most corporate towns, where the jealousy between the governing class and the general body of the citizens, represented respectively by the merchant guild and by the inferior craft guilds, in which the weavers, arrow- smiths, and other artificers banded themselves, was always an important feature of medioeval town politics. Hubert's action, though successful for the moment, met with so much disapproval that he was obliged to resign, but took office again at Richard's special request. In 1198, how- ever, a new trouble arose, and both Richard and his justiciar met a serious rebuff. Richard, finding that he wanted not only money but men to withstand Philip's constant attacks, sent a demand for three hundred knights, to be paid by his English vassals. However, when Hubert proposed at a great council that he and the other crown vassals should agree to the king's request, Hugh of Avalon, the Hugh of most saintly and respected bishop of the English church, Avalon. demurred, and, stating his opinion that English military tenants were only bound to do service in England, refused his consent. The bishop of Salisbury followed Hugh's lead ; and though their objection struck at the principle of scutage for foreign wars, as well as at personal service, the scheme had to be given up. This successful resistance to a scheme of taxation marks a further advance in constitutional progress. After this failure, Hubert Walter became still further discredited, and had to hand over his office to Geoffrey Fitzpeter, another Geoffrey official trained in the school of Henry ii. The administra- ^^tzpeter. tion of Geoffrey, however, was suddenly cut short by the wholly un- expected death of Richard himself. In the spring of 1199 he seemed to be coming to the end of his difficulties with Philip. His league against the French king had at length been formed ; and his Chateau Gaillard, or Saucy Castle, was bidding defiance to any French attack along the line of the Seine, when Richard was informed that a treasure had been found on an estate in Limousin. Rumour exag-gerated the value of the prize, and, as money was of great consequence to Richard, he advanced his claim to the whole of it as legal right of the duke of Aquitaine. His demand was rejected by the viscount of Limousin and by Achard, the actual owner of the estate of Chalus, where the treasure had been found. The castle was not particularly strong, and was defended by only seven knights and eight serving-men ; but one of them, who had stood a whole day defending himself with a frying-pan against the enemy's bolts on the chance of a shot at King Richard, at length got his 166 Earlier Angevin Kings 1199 opportunity, and lodged an arrow in the neck of the king. Bad Death of surgery and Richard's impatience brought on mortification, Richard. .^^^^ -y^ g^ fg^ (j^ys the king was dead. The personality of Eichard the Lion Heart has secured permanent fame. His personal share in the administration of English affairs was Importance slight and unimportant ; but the advantage gained by of his Reign, \\^q country from ten years' continuance of the system of Henry 11. was most valuable, and its effects were seen in the combina- tions of parties during the next reign. Richard himself had the power of attracting the personal love of his intimate friends, though his character was not one to secure general respect. In private life he was witty and humorous. When the pope claimed as 'his son' a bishop Richard's men had captured in battle, he sent in reply the bishop's coat of mail, with the request that he would see 'whether it were his son's coat or no.' He was also a man of generous im- pulses and faithful to his friends, but was wanting in nobility of character and in the higher virtues of statesmanship. His bravery was unquestioned ; but even in war his cruelty, selfishness, and vanity deprive him of much of his apparent claim to respect. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Siege of Acre, 1191 Richard imprisoned, .... 1192-1194 Chateau Gaillard built, .... 1197 CHAPTEE III JOHN: 1199-1216 ,. ,,„^ . - rll89, Hadwisa or Avice of Gloucester (divorced) ; Born 116/ ; married ,^ ' x i n r a t^ 11 200, Isabella of Angouleme. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperor. William the Lion, d. 1214. Philip Augustus, d. 1223. Otto iv., 1208-1218. Alexander ii., d. 1249. Pope. Innocent in., 1198-1216. John's ill Character leads to the Loss of France, a Quarrel with the Church, and tinally his iniquitous Life and Government cause a union of all Classes to extort the Great Charter — A French Prince invited to take the Throne. In the early days of his reign, Richard had regarded Arthur, the son of Geoffrey, as his heir ; but after Arthur had been handed over by the Bretons to Philip, and was being educated at the French ^ '^ . Question of court with Philip's son, he seems to have changed his mind, the Succes- and during his last years he certainly regarded John as his successor, and on his death-bed he made his followers swear to receive his brother as next king. Philip, however, was still in Arthur's favour, and at Eichard's death made an effort to secure his succession. When his brother died, John was abroad. His first step was to secure Normandy ; but while he was doing so, young Arthur, aided by his mother Constance and the Bretons, secured Anjou, Action of Maine, and Touraine ; and for these counties Arthur John, immediately did homage to the French king. Eleanor, however, who wished John to succeed, as being more likely than Arthur to keep together all the vast dominions of herself and her husband, showed that even threescore years and ten had not damped her energy. Summoning to her aid Mercadier, the commander of Richard's paid Brabantines, she attacked Anjou, and then cleverly secured Aquitaine for John by com- pelling Philip to receive her homage for it as duchess in her own right. 167 168 Earlier Angevin Kings U99 Aquitaine and Normandy being thus secure, John was able to leave his other Continental dominions for the present and secure his position in England. Ab-eady he sent over Archbishop Hubert and William Marshall to aid Geoffrey Fitzpeter in his difficult task of keeping the peace. In England there never seems to have been any question of taking Arthur as kino-. A meeting of the most important barons was held at Notting- ham, and there, Hubert and the Marshall promising all good things in his name, John was elected king, the uncle of full age being Jo n e ec e . p^g£gj.j,gj^ according to the old English practice, to the nephew, who was a minor. In May, John came over, and after a solemn admonition was crowned at Westminster by Archbishop Hubert, who carefully stated in his address that John succeeded not by any inherent right, but by the unanimous choice of the realm. Geoffrey Fitzpeter remained justiciar, William Marshall kept his office, and Archbishop Hubert showed how completely the ecclesiastical ideas of Archbishop Theobald had passed away by accepting the post of chancellor. Geoffrey Fitzpeter was then made earl of Essex, in succession to William de Mandeville ; and William Marshall, to whom Kichard had given Strongbow's heiress, Eva, was made earl of Striguil, though he is better known as earl of Pembroke. In June, John was back on the Continent, where he found the tide completely turned in his favour. Philip had disgusted Arthur and the Arthur Bretons by treating his conquests in Normandy and Maine discredited, ^g j^jg Q-^n. The count of Flanders and Otto the emperor were preparing to aid John. The troubles of an interdict, which Philip had brought on himself by putting away his wife Ingeborga of Den- mark, and taking instead Agnes of Meran, were impending. Philip, therefore, found peace necessary, and offered favourable terms. John was recognised as lawful ruler of all his brother's dominions ; and as a pledge of amity, Louis, Philip's eldest son, married John's niece, Blanche, the daughter of Blanche of England and Alphonzo of Navarre. To fetch the bride, the indefatigable Eleanor at once set out to Spain, and on account of the interdict the marriage was celebrated at Rouen. The character of John is one not easy to draw. He was handsome, well made, and of most insinuating manners ; clever enough when he John's chose to exert himself, and neither a bad general nor a bad Character, cliplomatlst. He also had been well educated, and was well read. All these good qualities, however, only made his complete failure the more signal. His ruin was due to his utter indifference to jDrinciple of any kind. Neither truth, nor pity, nor duty stood in the way of his 1199 John 169 will. His passions required to be gratified at all costs ; being a bad man himself, he judged others by his own standard, and was incapable of appealing to anything higher. Even these bad traits, however, might not have sufficed to ruin him had it not been that on the Continent he had to deal with Philip Augustus, an abler man than had sat on the throne of France for years ; and in England he had to meet for the first time since the Conquest a people who, having realised what good govern- ment meant, were determined not to allow the wickedness or weakness of the sovereign to be a cause of the reappearance of disorder, John's first act of infatuation was to divorce his wife Hadwisa or Avice Divorce of of Gloucester, to whom he had been married since 1189. •^^'^e. She Avas the granddaughter of Kobert of Gloucester, and therefore John's third cousin ; but the marriage had been celebrated under a papal dis- pensation. It had, however, from the first been protested against by Archbishop Baldwin, and John, probably by a lie, now persuaded three Aquitanian bishops to annul it. On this her lands should, of course, have been restored to her, as had been done in the case of John's mother Eleanor ; but John gave the county of Gloucester only to the husband of Avice's elder sister, and kept the rest himself. Avice had a crowd of relations who were equally off'ended by the insult to herself, and exasperated by the loss of her lands ; so the whole Gloucester con- nection was now turned against John. As though this were not enough, John then proceeded to marry Isabella of Angouleme, the affianced bride of Hugh the Brown, son of the count of La with"sa^ Marche, and nephew of Guy of Lusignan. The marriage A^ng^o°fgrne was made by the consent of the bride's father, and ap- parently of the bride herself ; but the whole family of Lusignan were furious. As they were the most powerful and turbulent of the barons of Poitou, their wTath w^as no slight matter ; and John immediately made things worse by seizing the castle of another member of the family. In 1202 the barons of Poitou, with the Lusignans at their head, appealed to Philip ; and the French king, having now arranged his matrimonial difficulties by taking back his former wife, at ^ , . ^ •^ *= ' Quarrel with once took up their cause. John was summoned to answer the Barons for his conduct before the French court, and, as he did not appear, was condemned in default to forfeit all lands held under the crown of France. The legality of this sentence was extremely doubtful ; but Philip at once summoned the aid of Arthur and invaded Nor- mandy, while Arthur laid siege to his grandmother Eleanor, whom the Poitevin troubles had drawn from her retirement at Fontevraud, in the castle of Mirebeau. Eleanor's danger roused John to momentary 170 Earlier Angevin Kings 1202 exertion, and he surprised Arthur just when on the point of success, and carried him off prisoner. This success gave John the better of the wame • but having imprisoned his nephew first at Falaise and then at Rouen, it is certain that he was wicked and foolish enough to compass T^ .u f his death, though how or when is not certainly known. Arthur. ^g goon as Arthur's death was known, Philip invaded Normandy, and the Norman towns fell fast before him. So long, how- ever, as Chateau Gaillard held out Rouen was safe, and its siege was the Invasion of crisis of the war. The defence was intrusted to Roger de Normandy. La^y, and the stand he made gave ample time to John, if he had used it well, to bring an overwhelming army to its relief. But for some reason or another John's abilities failed him at the crisis. A night attack on the besiegers planned by him, but carried out by the earl of Pembroke, failed, owing to the boats of the expedition being behind time. Then the king sank into aimless despondency, wandered hither and thither without object or result, and finally left Normandy to its fate. After holding out from August 1203 to March Gaillard 1204, Roger de Lacy was compelled to capitulate ; but the capture . igj^gj^j^ gf \^[y\\q gained and the difficulties of the besiegers amply demonstrated both the judgment and the skill of its founder and _ , , architect. A month later Eleanor died, and with her de- Death of ' Eleanor of parted John's last hold on the loyalty of his Continental subjects. After Chateau Gaillard had fallen, Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, and Maine soon fell into Philip's hands ; and before the Loss of summer of 1204 was out, nothing but the Channel Islands Normandy, remained to the English king of the hereditary territories of William the Conqueror and Geoffrey of Anjou. The loss of Normandy marks a very important epoch in the history of the English baronage. Up to this date, many of the greatest of them. Influence of swch as the earls of Chester, held lands on both sides of the Channel. Now they were forced to choose between the two. Generally speaking, one son took the French lands and another the Eng- lish ; but, whatever arrangement was made, divided interest became a thing of the past. Henceforward, the English barons, though they still spoke French, regarded themselves as Englishmen, and looked on Eng- lish interests as their own ; and thus the Anglicising of the Normans, which had been begun by the wars between Duke Robert and his brothers, was carried a step further by the loss of Normandy. Any physical distinction between the English and Normans had long been lost. William the Conqueror had established a special fine to be levied on a hundred when any Norman was murdered within its bounds; 1204 John 171 but the author of the Dialogus de Scaccario tells us that under Henry ii. this fine was paid in all cases ; ' for, in consequence of marrying and giving in marriage, the nations were so mingled that at that day it was impossible, speaking generally, to say who was a Norman and who was an Englishman.' At the same time, it is a remarkable fact that in spite of this movement the use of the French language was spreading. Between 1154 and 1205 no book written in English survives ; and apparently French was the habitual language of conversation, not only at court, but among the upper classes generally. The last years of the twelfth century, though unfruitful of English literature, were fruitful of Latin writing, and especially of history, which was written not so much by monks, as in the preceding Historical period of literary activity, as by men of the world. As a "Writings, contemporary record of events the Acts of Henry II. and Richard /., written by Richard Fitz- Nigel, treasurer, bishop of London, and con- tinued by Roger of Howden, another officer of the court, is invaluable, as the work of men who took an actual part in the events which they chronicled ; while far removed from these, but connected in spirit with William of Malmesbury, stands William of Newburgh, an Augustinian canon of Newburgh, near Coxwold in Yorkshire, who attempted to make his history of England from William the Conqueror to John a really philosophic work. Besides these we must place Gerald the Welshman, the most amusing writer of his day, the chief authority on the conquest of Ireland and the contemporary topography of Wales ; and Walter Map, the known author of the Trijiings of Courtiers, and reputed writer of the satirical Aioocahjpse and Confession of Bishop Goliath, a bitterly satirical exposure of the frailties of the clergy. By the time of Gerald the Welshman, Oxford had become the resort of the ' most learned and renowned clerks in England,' had regular faculties, teachers of various grades, and a numerous body _ , ' & 7 -1 Development of scholars. There grammar, dialectics, and rhetoric — the of the ... T 1 1 1 • • 1 ■,^ Universities, trivium — were studied by the juniors ; and geometry, arith- metic, music, astronomy — the quadrivium — by the seniors ; while more advanced learners still specialised on theology and law. All the students were, in the eyes of the law, regarded as clerks, though many were not even in minor orders ; and before long the relations between the church and the universities became a matter of great importance. England, therefore, had reaped and was reaping a great harvest from the peace and good government of Henry ii. and of Richard's ministers, Hubert Walter and Geoffrey Fitzpeter, when the loss of his Continental possessions forced John to take up his residence in his island kingdom. ;[72 Earlier Angevin Kings 1204 John's troubles soon began. Since the death of Becket, the struggle between church and state had been almost suspended. At his death nine sees were vacant, which enabled Henry 11. to pack Hub^i'rt'*^ the episcopate with his nominees, with the result that, ^^^^^''' during the remainder of his reign and those of his sons, the ecclesiastical bishops of the type of Theobald or Gilbert Foliot disappeared, and were replaced by a set of official bishops of the type of William Longchamp and Hubert Walter, among whom St. Hugh of Avalon, appointed bishop of Lincoln in 1186, was quite an exception. In 1205 Hubert Walter died, and John naturally expected to replace him by one of his own friends. It happened, however, that the right of electing the archbishop of Canterbury had been for some time in dispute. It was claimed as their exclusive privilege by the monks of the abbey of Christ Church ; but a concurrent voice at least was also demanded by the suflFragan bishops of the province of Canterbury. For some time, how- ever, the difficulty had been got over by a compromise. In the case of Becket the actual election seems to have been made by the monks, and the bishops gave their consent, thus affording Gilbert Foliot an oppor- tunity for his remonstrance. In no other see did the bishops claim to interfere. Usually the election was made by the chapter, and the king gave or refused his consent to their choice, as when Henry 11. refused to admit Gerald the Welshman as bishop of St. Davids when his name was presented by the chapter. However, on Hubert's death the junior monks of the cathedral priory of Christ Church, thinking to elude the interference both of the king and of the bishops, secretly held a meeting, and without even the an Arch" ° king's licence to elect chose Reginald their sub-prior, a man bishop. Qf jiQ uiark whatever. In pursuance of their plot they hur- Reginaidthe ried off Reginald to Rome to ask the pallium from the pope, Sub-Prior. , • , . - K^ y after makmg him promise not to assume his dignity till he had made sure of the pope's goodwill. The vanity, however, of Reginald got the better of his discretion, and directly he landed on the Continent he assumed the state and with it the slowness of an archbishop-elect. News of his proceedings, therefore, reached England, and the bishops had time to reach Rome and anticipate Reginald's request by a protest Election of ^^''^^^^^ ^^^ election. John, too, was not idle. He sum- John de moned a formal meeting of the monks and insisted on Grey. . . their electing John de Grey, one of his officials, and a man of much military and administrative ability. That done, he despatched twelve of the monks to Rome, and made them swear to elect no one but John de Grey. After carefully hearing the case. Innocent set aside the 1212 John 173 claims of the suffragan bishops, but declared both elections to be invalid : that of Reginald as secret and without the king's licence ; that of de Grey- as premature, having been held before Reginald's was annulled. He then persuaded the monks to elect Stephen Langton, an Englishman of distinguished learning and irreproachable Stephen character, well known to John. He had been rector of the university of Paris, had been raised by Innocent to the cardinalate and employed by him in the most important business of the papacy. In spite, however, of the great suj)eriority of his candidate, Inno- cent's action was most high-handed, and John refused to receive Langton. Innocent proceeded to consecrate Lang-ton in 1207 ; and, on John's further persisting, in 1208 he put the country under an -pj^^ interdict. The ecclesiastical weapon had first been em- interdict, ployed on a large scale in the eleventh century. It consisted in forbid- ding all religious services except baptism and extreme unction. Marriao-es could not be celebrated, and the dead were placed without service in unconsecrated ground. An exception in favour of the chapels of the Templars was the only one allowed. It had been found extremely effective in moving j)ublic opinion against recalcitrant kings and lawless barons, and had recently been used with great effect against Philip Augustus. John, however, cared little about it, and retaliated by seiz- ing the property of all the priests and orders that obeyed it ; so, in 1209, Innocent went a step further, and excommunicated John himself. John's reply was to seize the property of the bishops. With the money thus taken from the church, John raised large forces, and took the oppor- tunity to settle his outstanding difficulties with the Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh. He compelled the king of Scots to do him homage, to per- mit him as overlord to arrange the marriages of his son and daughters, and to pay him £10,000. In Ireland he reduced the barons to order, divided the Pale into counties, ordered English law to be observed, and left John de Grey in charge as governor ; and he compelled the submis- sion of Llewelyn, prince of Wales. Finding John still obdurate, the pope proceeded, in 1211, to issue a threat of deposition. This soon brought matters to a crisis. Hitherto the laity had looked on in silence, but the threat of deposi- Threat to tion brought their smouldering discontent to a head ; and, depose John, from this time forward, a distinct movement for his expulsion seems to have grown up, of which the most obvious mark was the circulation of a prophecy of Peter the Hermit of Wakefield, that within a year John would cease to be king. All 1212 Philip was collecting his forces, and, though John was doing the same, he became more and more aware that 174 Earlier Angevin Kmcji^ 1212 his position was hopeless. It was true that he had a force of 60,000 men and a fleet strong enough, on paper, to beat ofi" any invasion ; but his real difficulty arose from the disaffection of his people. The church he had set utterly against him ; the nobles he had disgusted not only by systematically calling for scutage and other imposts more frequently and of larger amounts than had ever been known before, but also by seizing their castles and demanding their children as hostages for their good behaviour, and, above all, by the unblushing brutality with which he out- rao-ed their family life for the gratification of his lusts. It was clear, therefore, to John that unless he could divide his enemies he would be lost ; so, in 1213, he made up his mind, at all hazards, to secure the pope as his friend. The price the pope demanded terms"with was high, but John did not shrink ; and he actually agreed the Pope. ^^ \io\^ England as a fief of the papacy, to swear fealty to the pope, and to pay a yearly sum of 1000 marks. No act of John's has been more severely condemned by posterity than this ; but it is fair to remember that the kings of Sicily and Aragon held their territories on similar terms without experiencing serious inconvenience, and that in the eyes of some of the nobility it may even have appeared an advantage to have the pope to appeal to as overlord. At any rate they took the advan- tage of their right, and no serious objection seems to have been raised to John's action at the time. The immediate result of John's submission was an order from the pope to Philip to stop his proceedings. The French king, therefore, turned his attention to Flanders, and John took the opportunity to Jefuse^to^^ despatch an English fleet under his half-brother William invade Lougsword, earl of Salisbury, which destroyed the French vessels in the harbour of Damme, and removed all fear of invasion. Elated by this success, John called on his barons to serve in an invasion of France ; but his barons had no real trust either in his intentions or his capacity, and excused themselves on the ground that the sentence of excommunication had not yet been removed. To get rid of ^ this difficulty, John then agreed to give full compensation to those who had 1/ been injured during the interdict, and received Langton. Having thus pur-' ' chased his release, he again called on his vassals to cross the Channel, and himself reached Jersey. The barons, however, again refused to embark ; some on the special ground that their term of service had expired ; but the northern barons took up the general ground that John had no right to demand their services for foreign warfare. Furious at this plea, John returned home, but was met by a demand preferred by Langton that the off'enders should be tried by their peers ; and his expedition to the north 1215 John 175 effected nothing. Meanwhile, the justiciar, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, had summoned at St. Albans a remarkable assembly, composed both of the magnates and of the reeve and four villeins from each manor on the royal domain. The special object of their coming was to assess the damage done to the clergy, but many other matters were discussed, and eventually the justiciar gave orders that the laws of Henry i. should be observed. Three weeks later, Langton carried matters a step further by reading to the barons assembled at St. Paul's the charter of Henry i. This gave just the definiteness to the demands of the barons which had hitherto been needed, and it was at once determined to compel John to give some such charter as a proof of his intention to rule better for the future. Almost directly afterwards Geoffrey Fitz-Peter died. The death of this faithful servant, who had on the whole preserved the traditions of Henry ii., was felt by John as a relief. 'When he gets to _ , „ J "> J & Death of hell ' said he, ' let him go and salute Hubert Walter, for, Geoffrey . . Fitz-Peter by God's Feet, now am I for the first time king and lord of England.' Innocent iii. had foiled John's attempt to place a creature of his own at Canterbury ; over the justiciarship he had no such control, and John gave it to Peter des Koches, a Poitevin, whom he had had made bishop of Winchester, and who since his struggle with the church had aided and abetted him in all his measures. His appointment re- moved all hope that the king's violence might be kept under control, and showed the barons that they must trust to themselves alone. The next year, 1214, was spent by John mostly on the Continent ; but for all that it was the critical year in the history of the struggle. A great league had been formed by him with Otto, the emperor, and Ferrand, count of Flanders, with a view to crushing Philip ; and, this done, England's turn would come next. John himself went to Poitou ; but an English force under Salisbury was sent to join Otto and Ferrand in an attack upon Philip in Flanders. The allied forces met at Bouvines, and Philip won a complete victory, capturing Battle of both the count of Flanders and the earl of Salisbury. Few Bouvines. battles have had more far-reaching effects, both on Continental and English politics. John was forced at once to make a truce with Philip for five years, and to return to England to face the storm of opposition. He found the barons determined to enforce their rights, which had been formulated as the laws of King Edward with the Barons other liberties granted by Henry i. To sain time, he demand ^ ®, . the Laws put them off with a promise to answer their demands of King at Easter ; and meanwhile he did what he could to sow dissension, and to strengthen himself for the struggle. He fortified 176 Earlier Angevin Kings 1215 his castles ; brought over a crowd of foreign mercenaries from Poitou and Brabant ; appealed for protection to the pope ; made a desperate effort to win over Langton and the clergy by granting freedom of election to episcopal sees and religious houses ; demanded an oath of allegiance from every freeman throughout England, and a renewal of fealty from every feudal tenant ; and, finally, put himself under the special protection of the church by taking the cross as a crusader. The barons, however, were too strong for him. With the full consent of the archbishop, they mustered their forces at Stamford. The host numbered two thousand knights, besides squires and foot- prepare for men, and was under the leadership of Eustace de Vesci and ^^' N icholas de Stute ville, leaders of the northern barons ; Kobert Fitz-Walter, who, as grandson of Kichard de Lucy, may be taken to represent the official nobility of Henry 11. ; Eoger Bigod of Norfolk {| and Henry Bohun of Hereford, representing the old nobility ; and William Marshall, Pembroke's son. Thence under the command of Fitz-Walter they marched south, and from Brackley sent commissioners to the king to set forth their demands. These were reported to John by the archbishop and William Marshall ; but John's angry exclama- tion, ' They might as well have asked my crown,' showed that he would only yield to force. The barons, therefore, marched on. Before long, however, it was clear that they had the nation at their back. The publication of their demands was received with enthusiasm. The Lon- doners welcomed them with open arms. Even John's most faithful followers, such as the earl of Pembroke and Kalf of Chester, felt that his case was desperate, and, coming to London, threw their influence into the national scale. John found himself deserted by all but foreigners like Peter des Roches, and mere mercenaries like Folkes de Breaut^, and, brought to bay at last, was obliged to agree to the 1 he Great ' o ^ j & » Charter demands of the nation and affix his signature to the Great Charter, which he did at Runnymede, near Windsor, on June 15th, 1215. The demands of the barons, to which John now gave his consent, form the Great Charter. This document contains altogether sixty-three clauses, and deals with the church, the baronage, the collec- tion of aids and scutages, the administration of justice, purveyance, trade, and a variety of other points, some of permanent and others of only temporary interest. The most important of John's concessions were these : — The church of England was 'to be free and have all its rights,' especially the newly -granted right of ' freedom of election.' It should 1215 John 177 be noted, however, that no attempt was made to define the rights of the church ; and with regard to elections, such important matters could not be left wholly to the caprice of the cathedral clergy and the ^. p. monks. What the king lost the pope gained ; but in practice the pope was generally willing to nominate the prelate whom the king wished, and this continued to be the case down to the Reformation. The feudal dues were fixed. In the charter of Henry i, it had been conceded that reliefs should be 'just and lawful.' This had not been found sufficiently definite, and the relief was now fixed for _ , , _ •^ ' Feudal Dues. an earl or baron at ^100 for each whole barony, and for knights at 100 shillings for each whole knight's fee of twenty pounds a year in value. The estates of minors were for the future to be well managed, and the buildings kept in repair. Not more than a fair profit was to be made, and when the heir came of age the estate was to be handed over to him without a relief. Heiresses and heirs were not to be contracted in marriage without notice being given to their relations, and widows were not to be married against their will. No aids and scutages were to be collected^ ' unless by the common consent of the realm,' except ' for redeeming the lord's body from captivity, for the making his eldest son a knight, and for Aids and the first marriage of his eldest daughter.' Any other aids Scutages. and scutages were to be voted by a council, ' to which were to be sum- moned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons by sealed letters.' A general summons was also to be issued through all sheriSs and bailifis to the other tenants-in-chief, and the letters were to state the cause why the meeting was to be held. The result of this con- cession was to secure the feudal landowners as a class from the illegal exaction of feudal dues. It cannot, however, be taken as forbidding arbitrary taxation in general, but only as an important step in that direction. The assembly also was a strictly feudal assembly, composed entirely of tenants-in-chief, present in their own persons, and was in no way representative. It forms, however, an important step in the growth of parliament. Another very important provision connected with the land was that no tenant by knight service, or by any free tenure, could be asked to perform any service to which he was not bound, a wide-reaching phrase, which probably points to the vexed question of foreign service. As has been noted, the higher courts of the country were developed out of the Curia Eegis. This court went with the king or with the justiciar (when the king was abroad) wherever he might happen to The Law go, which was a great source of hardship to suitors, for, as ^°^^ts- the king was incessantly travelling, they might have to journey from M 178 Earlier Angevin Kings 1215 one end of England to the other before their suit could be heard. To remedy this, it was arranged that the Court of Common Pleas should always stay at a fixed place. The place ultimately chosen was West- minster, where lay one of the king's chief palaces. In time the other chief courts, the King's Bench and Exchequer, settled at the same place ; and Westminster Hall, built by William Rufus, continued for centuries to be the headquarters of English judicature till the erection of the New Law Courts in 1882. It was also settled that the justices-in-Eyre were to make their circuits four times a year, so that suitors should not be kept waiting. Justices-in- At these assizes, the judges dealt with criminal prisoners, Eyre. ^-ith all cases of recent dispossession of property (novel disseisin), with questions arising out of succession to landed property (mort (V ancestor), and with matters concerning presentation to livings (darrein presentment). Such cases were to be decided by a jury, and all fines were to be similarly assessed. ' No free man,' ran the xxxix. clause, ' is to be taken or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way molested. Habeas no^ will we go upon or send upon him, except by the Corpus, legal judgment of his equals, or by the law of the land.' This celebrated clause must not be taken as conferring any new right ; but simply as restating in the fullest terms what had been in theory and usually in practice the right of every Englishmen from the earliest recorded days. The difficulty, however, lay not in stating the law but in carrying it into effect, and many centuries had to elapse before this elementary right was secure for every class. By the law of the land was meant the judgment by the ordeal, then on the point of being abolished, or trial by battle. Scarcely less important was the xl. : ' To none will we sell, to none will we deny right or justice.' An attempt was made to get rid of the abuses of purveyance, by which the kings could require the services of carriages and Purveyance, . , . carts, and to be supplied with provisions at the market rate ; but as the right of pre-emption was preserved, there was still plenty of room for abuse. London was to have the same rights with regard to aids and scutages as the barons, and other towns were to keep their charters. Merchants were to come and go freely into the kingdom, and to be subject to no exactions. Those of states with which we were at war were to be treated by us as we found that our merchants were treated by them. One of the best features of the Charter was the way in which every 1215 John 179 rio-lit granted to a baron was carefully extended to include the case of the simple freeman. The stock of the merchant and tradesman, and the agricultural implements of the villein, are preserved from undue amercement just as much as the land of the lord. His property was to go to his heirs as much as that of the landowner ; and, hnally, by a most comprehensive enactment, the barons and clergy Mesne- agreed that every liberty granted by the king to his tenants Tenants, should be observed by them towards their men. These provisions and many others, which concerned every class of the population, form the substance of the Great Charter, which has ever since been regarded by Englishmen as the foundation of their liberties. In later times it took the position in popular esteem which had hitherto been held by the 'laws of Henry i.' or the 'laws of King Edward,' and has been confirmed over and over again. To ensure that its provisions should be carried out, a committee of twenty-five barons was appointed, including Robert Fitz- carrying Walter, Eustace de Vesci, Roger Bigod, Henry Bohun, pibT/^ation and the mayor of London ; and a copy of it was sent to °^ Charter, every county and to every important church and town in the kingdom, some of which copies are still extant. No sooner, however, was the Charter agreed to than John set about freeing himself from his oath. Flying secretly to the Isle of Wight, he hurried ofi" Pandulf, the papal legate, to represent to The Pope Innocent the injury done to the interests of the crown, from his^" and therefore indirectly to the papacy itself. Pandulf Oath, did his work well. The pope granted the necessary dispensation. He also threatened to excommunicate the barons for levying war on a crusader, and for exacting concessions detrimental to the honour of the Holy See ; and, finally, suspended Langton, whose conduct had naturally been painted in the blackest colours, from the exercise of his episcopal functions. In September, Langton left England to lay the case before the pope. John on his side was not idle. The granting of the Charter had satisfied the wishes of his opponents, and such faithful friends as the earls of Pembroke, Chester, and Salisbury were willing to give him a further chance. He himself, however, could think of nothing but mere revenge. All summer he was collecting troops, and after harvest was over he sent a body of foreign mercenaries, under the john command of Falkes de Breaute, to harry the estates of the Estaf es of^ barons with fire and sword, and himself, spreading devas- *^^ Barons, tation as he marched, crossed the border to ravage Scotland, in revenge 180 Earlier Angevin Kings 1215 for the young King Alexander's adherence to the side of the popular party. Dismayed at the ruin of their estates, and apparently unable by their own resources to make head against John's trained mercenaries, the Crown barons, at the close of 1215, offered the crown to Louis, ofTeredto eldest son of Philip Augustus, and husband of Blanche Louis of , . 1 • 1 11 1 France. (see page 168). By him it was accepted m the alleged rii'ht of his wife. John's great fleet having been destroyed in a storm seven thousand Frenchmen landed in November ; and in February another band of Frenchmen sailed up the Thames and joined the barons in London. In May, Louis followed, and his arrival oft' Sandwich with six hundred and eighty knights was the signal for a precipitate retreat of John. Want of resolution in imminent danger was one of the most salient features of the king's character ; but in this case he may have felt doubtful whether his French mercenaries would fight against the son of their king. Ravaging as he went, John retreated to Winchester ; and meanwhile Louis made his way to London, where he was received with enthusiasm by the barons and accepted by citizens. The young prince made a very good impression, oners. ^^^^^ ^^^^ popularity by making Simon Langton, a l:)rother of the archbishop, his chancellor. The French mercenaries, of whom John's army was largely composed, refused to fight against him. Alexander of Scotland travelled to Dover to do him homage. William of Salisbury and other earls declared for Louis ; and for a time it seemed as though John would be completely deserted. A reaction, however, set in. Though Louis was received by the open country, the castles were all held for John. An attempt to seize Dover, John's commanded by Hubert de Burgh, ended in failure, and Successes, ^y^sted three months of valuable time. A siege of Windsor was equally fruitless ; while a report, which was industriously circu- lated, that if Louis were successful his first act would be to rid himself of all those barons who had taken arms against their lawful sovereign, spread consternation among his followers. For some time John remained in the south ; but at the end of September he marched north, ravaging as he went, and took the city of Lincoln. Thence he went by way of Peterborough to Lynn, where he had placed much of his treasure. Disasters at From Lynn he marched back into Lincolnshire, across the sands of the Wash ; but in crossing the channel of the Welland his baggage was overwhelmed in a whirlpool, caused by the violent collision between the w^aters of that river and the incoming tide. 1216 John 181 Prostrate with vexation, John made his way to the abbey of S wines- head, and there, according to the story, he endeavoured after his fashion to drown his grief in a hearty supper. The result was a fever. With difficulty he reached Newark, and there died on October Death of 19th, 1216, leaving behind him the name of the worst king }°^^- who ever reigned in England, and one of the Avorst men who have ever disgraced our race. Had he lived he would probably have lost his throne : his death at this crisis saved the kingdom for his descendants. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Loss of Normandy, .... 1204 Hubert Walter dies, .... 1205 John does homage to the Pope, 1213 Battle of Bouvines, .... 1214 Great Charter, 1215 CHAPTER IV HENRY III.: 1216-1272. Born 1207 ; married, 1236, Eleanor of Provence. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperors. William the Lion, d. 1214. Philip Augustus, d. 1223. Otto iv. , d. 1218. Alexander ii., d. 1249. Louis viii., d. 1226. Frederick n., d. 1250. Alexander ill., d. 1286. Louis ix., d. 1270. Philip in., d. 1285. Popes. Houorius in., d. 1227 ; Innocent iv., 1241, d. 1254 ; Alexander iv., d. 1261. The Regency of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke — His place taken by Hubert de Burgh — Henry takes the Rule into his own hands, governs badly, and allows himself to fall into the hands of Favourites — Rise of a Baronial Party under Simon de Montfort — The Barons' Wars. The reaction against Louis, of which some symptoms had appeared before John's death, made rapid progress after the removal of the Henry's tyrant. The wickedness of John and the enmities which advantages, j^jg personal character had created were buried in his tomb, while the innocence of his eldest son Henry, now only in his tenth year, called for the protection of all good subjects. It took time, however, for a new roytil party to be formed, and at first the supporters of the king were outnumbered by those of Louis. No time was lost by Pembroke in putting Henry's rights on a legal footing, and on October 28th he was crowned at Gloucester, and did homage to Gualo, the papal legate, as representative of the pope. That done, a council was held, in which the magnates, following the practice of the kingdom of Jerusalem, elected the earl as rector regis et regni, ruler of the king and kingdom, while the king's person was intrusted to Peter des Eoches. To First S^^^^ support and to break definitely with the evil traditions t^l^Re[^^ °^ ^^ *^^ ^^*^ reign, the royalists then took the judicious step of publishing so much of the Charter as met with general approval and presented no special difficulty in execution. They omitted, 182 1217 Henry III. 183 however, the clauses about taxation — perhaps as too hampering to the government at such a crisis as a civil war — and those dealing with the forests and some other matters, all of which were postponed for future consideration. The conduct of the war next claimed their attention. With the excep- tion of Dover Castle, which the bravery of Hubert de Burgh had main- tained for the royalists, Louis was supreme in the south- lqujs's western shires. Elsewhere also he had many supporters in the Position, open country and in the towns ; but the castles of the midlands and the north were all in royalist hands — and in those days the possession of the castles was the real test of military superiority. The citizens of Lincoln, for example, were eagerly in his favour, but the castle was held for the royalists, and till it was taken the town could not be left unpro- tected. In December, Louis was obliged to pay a visit to France, and his departure was the signal for the desertion of the earl of Salisbury and William Marshall, Pembroke's son, who threw in their lot with the young king. In April he returned, and at once despatched the count of Perche to aid Robert Fitz-Walter in the siege of Lincoln, while he him- self resumed the attack on Dover. Perche's march was a scene of terrible outrage, for Louis' foreigners showed themselves as unscrupu- lous plunderers as those of John. To relieve Lincoln, Pern- Battle of broke collected a powerful force. Passing round the town, Lincoln, he stormed the northern gate, assisted by a sally from the castle, took the besiegers in the rear, threw them into confusion in the narrow, winding, and steep streets of the town, and completely routed them. Perche was killed and Fitz-Walter was taken prisoner. To punish the citizens for their disloyalty, the town was then sacked ; and so great was the booty that the battle was long remembered as ' Lincoln Fair.' The disaster at Lincoln destroyed Louis' military supremacy, and forced him to return to London ; but he still had hopes of the arrival of a fleet of eighty vessels under Eustace the Monk, with the reinforce- Battle of ments collected by the energy of his wife Blanche. By Dover, this time, however, the indefatigable Hubert de Burgh had supplied the loss of John's fleet by collecting another at Dover. He had only forty ships, but with these he boldly sallied out, on August 24th, and, making up by skill for his want of numbers, took the ' weather-gauge ' of the French by a clever manoeuvre, and, as his men grappled the French vessels, he ordered them to throw quicklime in the eyes of their defenders. This new method of attack took the Frenchmen by surprise. The rout of their fleet was complete ; their leader was killed, and Louis' last hope ruined. The victory was a signal for a general advance of the royalists ; and 184 Earlier Angevin Kings 1217 Louis saw that nothing was to be gained from continuing the struggle. On September 11th, the treaty of Lambeth brought hostilities to a close ; and within a few weeks Louis had left the country. The treaty ^ r of Lambeth is almost as important as the Great Charter Treaty oi '■ Lambeth, itself. It was based on the principle of a general amnesty for the past, and the restitution of all forfeited property. Ten thousand marks were paid to Louis, nominally for his expenses, in reality to secure his speedy departure ; and shortly afterwards Pembroke and Gualo wisely issued a new edition of the Great Charter, and also a Charter of the Forests, which included not only the articles relating to forest law embodied in the original form of the charter, but other regu- lations which i3robably made it almost as popular a document as the Great Charter itself. When for the future the confirmation of the charters was demanded, the Great Charter and the Charter of the Forests are the two meant. These events occupied the year 1217. At the close of that year, Gualo, who seems to have worked in harmony with Pembroke, and to whom some praise is certainly due for his share in these pacificatory measures, left the kingdom, and his place was taken by Pandulf, an inferior man, who remained till 1221. However, in 1218, Langton returned to England, and, till his death in 1229, had the chief ecclesiastical power. In 1219 Pembroke died, leaving behind him a reputation not only for unflinching loyalty but also for priceless services to the country at large. No ' rector ' was appointed in his place, but the Hubert de chief power was exercised by Hubert de Burgh, who had Burgh. h^en justiciar since 1215. Hubert was the last of the great statesmen trained under Henry 11., and his rule from 1219 to 1232 was a period of great importance. His chief task was to complete Pembroke's measures by getting all the castles back again into the king's hands, and also of ridding England of such lawless foreigners as Falkes de Breaute, whom Pembroke had been obliged to tolerate as the price of their military services. In achieving his first object, the chief obstacle was the action of William of Aumale, who repeated the conduct of his grandfather in 1155, William of ^^^ refused to give up his castles. He was abetted by the Aumale. g.^^^ ^f Chester, and also by Falkes, and probably had the secret support of Peter des Roches, who was jealous of Hubert's authority. The years 1220 and 1221 were mainly occupied in dealing with Falkes de ^^^"^5 ^^^^^ at length he was reduced to complete submission. Breaute. Falkes' turn came next. This rascal, a refugee from Nor- mandy, had been John's right-hand man, and as such had been rewarded 1227 Henry III. 185 with everything his master had to offer. He had married an heiress, had received numerous estates ; he was sheriff of six counties, and had the custody of several castles, notably that of Bedford. This he in- trusted to his brother William, a man as lawless as himself, who actually ventured to imprison one of the king's judges because he had condemned him to pay a fine at Dunstable assizes. Hubert immediately marched to besiege the castle. The siege of Bedford Castle was a most formidable undertaking, and typical of the warfare of the time. The defences consisted of an outwork or barbican, of an inner wall, and of the keep itself. It was siege of amply provisioned and garrisoned, and Falkes expected it Bedford, to hold out for twelve months. The attack began in midsummer. Hubert erected against it two wooden towers, from the tops of which the archers could shoot down on the defenders of the outer works, and with their aid the barbican was assaulted and taken. Then seven military engines were brought to bear upon the inner wall. That, too, was forced, and the cattle and horses of the garrison fell into the hands of the besiegers. Finally, under the protection of a machine called a cat, the sappers began operations and undermined the huge walls of the keep itself. One corner sank, and a vast rent appeared in the walls. The garrison then sued for mercy, but Hubert wished to give a lesson to such as they. Eighty of the leaders were hanged, the rest driven from the country, and the castle itself was razed to the ground. Falkes himself then gave up the game and was allowed to relieve the country of his presence by a permanent exile. The discomfiture of his friends dis- couraged des Roches; and after 1224 he had little influence for some years, and, being dismissed from the chancellorship in 1227, left the country to take part in the Crusades. In 1227, Henry, who was then twenty, declared himself of age to govern. His minority, besides the stirring events already mentioned, was remarkable for several advances in the unwritten law. . . . . , . Henry Durmg its continuance there springs into evidence an inner comes of circle of advisers, who revived in a somewhat difierent form ^^^' the political as distinguished from the judicial powers of the old Curia Regis. The appointment of the regent by the common council appears to be the beginning of a claim for the nation, as represented by the council, to have a voice in the appointment of ministers ; and, lastly, the distinc- tion naturally drawn between a boy king, who could in no way be responsible for the policy of the government, and the ministers them- selves, seems to have been the orio-in of the maxim that ' the king can do no wroncr.' 186 Earlier Angevin Kings 1227 The character of the new sovereign presents a curious group of anomalies. Avoiding altogether the personal wickedness of his father, ru t i Henry derived from him the faithlessness and cunning Henry III. which had been shown by many of the Angevin race. He had, too, his father's capacity for exciting personal enmity ; but lacked his ability and capacity for vigorous action. He had no military tenden- cies and no special political ideas except gratitude and attachment to the papacy, and dislike of the influence of strong men. In private life, how- ever, his character was blameless. A fondness for extravagant display was his chief fault, and was to some extent redeemed by his fondness for architecture, literature, and culture. In personal appearance he was slight, and a droop of one eyelid gave an unhappy expression to his face. Under his personal rule, Hubert continued to act as justiciar for five years longer ; but in 1 228 he lost a good supporter by the death of Arch- bishop Langton, whose death was at once followed by an Papal Taxes. . attempt of the pope to raise a regular revenue from England. Already he received 1000 marks a year as overlord, and £199, 8s. in Peter's Pence, paid in a certain fixed sum for each diocese. These sums, how- ever, were inadequate to support the expenditure of the popes. This had been enormously increased by the necessities of their temporal posses- sions, the mass of business which the energy of Innocent iii. had accumu- lated in their hands, and by the constant wars in which his successors, Gregory ix. and Innocent iv.,were involved with the Emperor Frederick 11. The first taxes raised from the clergy had been collected, nominally at least, for the Crusades, on the principle that if the laity of Europe fought for the holy cause the clergy of Europe ought at least to provide the money ; but the practice once begun, call after call was made, and eventu- ally even the pretence of a crusade was dropped. The right of the pope to demand such payment was based on the analogy of feudalism, and the taxes were supposed to correspond to the aids paid to the temporal lord. In England the pope, as overlord, proposed to exact money from both Refusal of ^^^^ ^'^^^J ^^^ the clergy, and in 1229 Gregory ix. demanded the Laity. .^ tenth of all property for the war against the emperor. He was, however, met by such a firm refusal from the former, headed by Submission R^nulf of Chester, that he had to give way ; but the clergy of the Clergy. ^ygj.e compelled to yield, and eventually had to set aside for the pope the tenth of their yearly income and the first year's emoluments Annates and ^^ ^^^ benefices. These sums were called annates and first- First-fruits. fruits. In addition to these, special gifts were sometimes asked ; and under Gregory ix. the demands were so exorbitant that 1228 Henry III. 187 the laity began to remonstrate at the impoverishment of the country. In 1237, Cardinal Otho came over, and, in spite of the irritation of the clergy and people, collected vast sums for the papal treasury ; and, in 1245, at the council of Lyons, the English complained that 60,000 marks a year went into the hands of the pope and the foreign clergy. Besides this direct taxation, the pope supplied his needs indirectly by paying his servants with English livings, just as the kings had paid their justiciars and chancellors by getting them made bishops. This system was called provisors, and created great indigna- tion on the part of the patrons whose rights were thus invaded. The laity were the first to remonstrate. A Yorkshire knight. Sir Robert Twenge, had the public spirit to go to Rome and lay his case before the pope ; and his remonstrances were so far successful that the pope promised henceforth to confine his interference to livings in the gift of the clergy. Their case was then taken up by Robert Grossetete, bishop of Lincoln, and eventually the pope promised to stop the practice — a promise, however, which was ill kept. It was during the sordid controversies between the pope and the ancient and wealthy ecclesiastical orders of endowed clergy that a change little short of a religious revolution was being introduced into Eng- pj jgg ^^ ^^^^ land by the arrival of the mendicant friars of the orders of Friars. St. Francis and St. Dominic, and their later rivals the Carmelites and the Augustinians. The founders of the two former, St. Francis (1182-1226), St. Dominic (1170-1221), had been struck by two phases of contemporary life with which the church as it then existed seemed power- less to deal. Dominic, as a Spaniard, orthodox, rigid, dog- matic, mourned the heresy which he saw spreading among the town popu- lations of southern France, and believed the only remedy for it was to be found in an order of popular preachers : men who should be able to meet the heretical ministers on their own ground, and should show by their devotion, their poverty, and their learning that Christianity had some- thing more to ofi'er than was apparent in the lives of gorgeous ecclesiastics wholly immersed in secular business, or fat monks and abbots whose highest ideal was to withdraw themselves into the solitude and sanctity of their cloister and leave the world to get on as best it could. St. Francis, on the other hand, an Italian, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was struck, not with the heresy of the upper classes, but with the irreligion and misery of the squalid population, whom the growth of commerce and the tyranny of the rural nobility were accumulating in the towns. He saw that the authorities of these were wholly incapable of dealing with the sanitary difficulties inherent to 1§8 Earlier Angemn Kings 1228 the rapid growth of population in a limited area, and that the clergy were quite inadequate either in numbers or zeal to grapple with a problem so rapidly increasing both in magnitude and difficulty. But though they approached the subject from different points of view, Francis and Dominic were practically in accord as to the methods to be adopted. Both placed their reliance on the creation of an order of preaching brothers, who were to live on the alms given them by the poor among whom they were sent ; both abandoned the monkish idea of a religious life of country seclusion ; and both sent their disciples to preach, at any rate in the first instance, to the mass of squalid, heterodox, ii-religious humanity which weltered in the unutterable filth and the pestilential atmosphere of the purlieus of mediaeval towns. But though, in general, their objects were the same, a gradually widening distinction existed jj^g between the two. The Dominican always made preaching Dominicans, against heresy his great object ; the Franciscan took a broader view of his duty, and soon the old saying ' nothing that concerns humanity is outside my sphere of interest' might be taken as their motto. Dominic, as a profound student of theology, was naturally in ^jjg favour of that study ; but St. Francis, with somewhat of a Franciscans, practical tradesman's contempt for literary culture, inter- dicted or at any rate discouraged study among his followers, and wished them to devote themselves entirely to a life of action. Facts, however, were too strong for St. Francis. Before long, his followers found that if they were really to aid the diseased, the lepers, and the maimed, they must study anatomy and the science of medicine — and in doing so they became the first physicists in the world ; that if they would cope with the sharp wits of the townspeople they must not neglect their logic ; and consequently, if the Dominicans have to boast the great names of Thomas Aquinas and Albert the Great, the Franciscans may glory in those of Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. The Dominicans arrived in England before 1221 ; the Franciscans in 1 224 ; but the success of the two orders was by no means equal. The The Friars English Were not given to heresy, and the black friars found in England. j^^Qj-g scope among the Albigenses of Toulouse than on the banks of the Thames ; but for the Franciscans there was ample work, and in a short time these grey friars became by far the most popular of all the orders. Soon every town in England had its convent of grey friars, invariably built like a mission chapel of the present day in the lowest slums, and from it there issued forth, two and two, a band of devoted men eager to help their poor neighbours in every possible way, as preachers, doctors, comforters, or friends. The influence of such a 1232 Henry III. 189 body was enormous, for the friars held, in the thirteenth century, the position held now by the press. Their sermons took the place of the leading article ; the arrival of a friar from Oxford or London was the event of the day ; his opinions represented the latest news ; and, as he was thoroughly democratic in habits and tone, the influence of the friars gave an enormous impetus to the spread of popular ideas and the forma- tion of public opinion, Hubert de Burgh, the great justiciar, fell in 1232. Earl Eanulf, whose spirited action in 1229 defeated the papal schemes, was by no means a good friend to Hubert de Burgh, Eepresenting as he did yaW of the last of the great barons of the Norman Conquest, there Hubert, was much in Hubert's policy which galled him ; and, in 1232, he made common cause with Peter des Roches, who had come home in 1231, to induce Henry to dismiss his minister. Hubert had many enemies. His great wealth excited the cupidity of some ; his marriage with a sister of the king of Scots aroused the envy of others ; his stern enforcement of law and order gained him the hatred of a third section ; and Henry, whose habitual dislike of any powerful adviser was beginning to show itself, was Avon over by their representations. In 1232, Hubert was suddenly dis- missed, and a long series of charges, not unlike those made by Henry ii. against Becket, were brought against the fallen minister. Before the trial Hubert took sanctuary in a church. Henry had a moat dug round it and starved him into surrender. He was then strijDped of most of his wealth and placed in honourable confinement. From this he escaped, but made no attempt to regain his power, and died in 1234. Hubert de Burgh was the last of the line of great justiciars. After his fall the importance of the office declined, mainly because the king was of full age and, having hardly any continental dominions, was constantly in England. The name gradually drops out of sight, and the chancellor became the most important of the king's officers. After Hubert's fall, Henry took the conduct of afitiirs into his own hands, and twenty-six years of bad government followed. This was partly due to Henry's own character, but was partly due Henry's to changes which were taking place in the country, and 1 1 Competitors than thirteen competitors put m a claim for at least a share for the of the spoil, but of these the three most important were John Balliol, grandson of the eldest daughter of David, earl of Huntingdon, brother of William the Lion ; Robert Bruce, the son of David's second daughter ; and John Hastings, lord of Abergavenny, the grandson of the third. The contention of each had a certain element of plausibility. Balliol claimed the crown on the ground that he was the direct descendant in the eldest line ; Bruce, that though he stood in the second line he was a degree nearer to David than Balliol ; while Hastings contended that the daughters of David ought to be regarded as co-heiresses, in which case a third j)art of the kingdom ought to be allotted to each. No one of the three could be regarded as particularly Scottish in feeling ; all had taken their place in English politics, and Bruce had for a time acted as chief justice of the King's Bench. To arrive at some settlement which would stave off the impending calamity of a civil war, the Scots submitted the case to the Edward's decision of Edward, who had established a European reputa- Arbitration. tion for the fairness of his decisions in several other complicated cases of 218 Later Angevin Kings 1290 arbitration. Before acting, however, Edward claimed to be recognised as superior lord of Scotland, and after a month's investigation of the historical basis of his demand, his rights were fully admitted by all three competitors. The question was then submitted to the judgment of eighty Scots, half named by Balliol and half by Bruce, and of twenty-four Englishmen appointed by Edward himself. Their investigations were most elaborate, and the decision was not pronounced till 1292. Then, through the mouth of Burnell, Edward made his award, rejected the claims of both Bruce and Hastings, and gave the kingdom, whole and undivided, to John Balliol — a decision whose correctness no one can question, and whose disinterestedness in setting aside the tempting opportunity of weakening the northern kingdom by adoi)ting Hastings' suggestion places it above suspicion. It was at once accepted by all parties, and Balliol, after doing homage, was crowned. Had matters stood here, Edward would have gained a great success in definitely settling the relations between the two kingdoms, and have Question of '^dded to his rejDutation for upright dealing ; but unluckily Appeals. ^]^g coronation of Balliol proved a turning-point for the worse in the history of the two kingdoms. The fault was not altogether Edward's. As we have repeatedly seen, the vassals of the various great feudatories of the French king claimed and exercised a right of appeal to the king's court at Paris, and the lawyers held that by similar analogy there should be an appeal from the Scottish courts to that of Edward as overlord. In the first year of King John's reign four aggrieved Scottish suitors, of whom the most important was Macduff, the son of the earl of Fife, appealed to Edward to reverse the decision of the Scottish law-courts. According to the usual French form, with which Edward as duke of Aquitaine was only too well acquainted, Balliol was called on to defend his decision, which he was at liberty to do either in person or by deputy. However, in Macduff's case, Balliol appeared in person and denied Edward's right to hear the appeal, and on his return home the case was taken up by his nobles, who, apparently distrusting BaUiol's intentions, appointed a committee of twelve to manage the afiairs of the kingdom, prepared for armed resistance, and entered into negotiations with the king of France. Meanwhile, a difficulty had arisen in France in which the parts of Edward and Balliol were reversed. It chanced that a Norman sailor had Trouble I'een slain in a casual dispute with an Englishman. In with France, revenge the Normans seized an English ship, dragged out of it a passenger, and hanged him at the mast-head with a dog at his feet. As the passenger happened to be a merchant from Bayonne, this 1295 Edward L 219 brought in the Gascons, and for some time the blood feud arrayed against one another the Normans and the English and the Gascons. Eventually, in 1293, after much promiscuous fighting, a pitched battle was fought in the harbour of St. Mahe, in Brittany, between a fleet of Normans, Flemings, and French, and of English, Gascons, and Irish. The result was the total discomfiture of the French, the caj)ture of their ships, and the loss, it was said, of fifteen thousand lives. Exasperated at this disaster, Philip IV., commonly called the Fair, who had succeeded his father in 1 285, called on Edward, as duke of Aquitaine, to answer in the French court for the conduct of his Gascon subjects. Edward neglected to appear, on which the French king declared his duchy to be forfeited. Anxious to accommodate matters without war, which in the then state of Scottish aff'airs would be specially inconvenient, Edward sent his brother Edmund, the earl of Lancaster, to negotiate ; but the earl allowed himself to be gulled by Philip into handing over the Gascon castles as a matter of form, and when after six weeks Edward demanded repossession, the wily Frenchman refused to budge, cancelled the terms of agreement, poured an army over the border, and entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with the Scottish nobility. Edward's hands were now full. For four years England and France were at war ; Scotland was seething with dis- content ; and in 1295 no less than three revolts broke out simultaneously in south and north "Wales, the chief of which was headed by Madoc, an illegitimate son of the last Llewelyn. It was in these circumstances that Edward took the wise step of making a formal appeal to the patriotism of all classes of his English subjects by calling a complete and model parliament. In this assembly Model Parlia- were represented each of what were beginning to be known r"ent of 1295. as the three estates of the realm, the clergy, the nobility, and the com- monalty. For the clergy, separate writs were sent to the archbishops, the abbots, to the masters of Sempringham and of the Temple, and to the prio of the Knights Hospitallers ; and the archbishops and bishops were also '}jre- monished and each directed to bring with him the prior of his cathedral, his archdeacons, one proctor for the cathedral chapter and two for the parish clergy of each diocese. The number of bishops summoned was twenty, and of abbots sixty-seven. A day later writs were sent to seven earls and forty-one barons ; and two days afterwards the sherifi' of each county was directed to send two knights, elected by his county, and two citizens and burgesses from each city or borough within his shire. Thirty years had elapsed since the citizens and burgesses had been called to Simon de Montfort's convention in 1265. Since then it had been no uncommon thing to summon knights and burgesses to parliament, but the exact 220 Later Angevin Kings 1295 constitution of the assembly was by no means definitely settled, and a mere parliament of barons was thought as competent as a regular gathering of representatives of the people. This is, therefore, the first real parliament in which they had ever taken part ; but since 1295 all full parliaments have included the whole of the lay members mentioned above. The clergy, however, preferred to make their money grants in the two convocations of' the provinces of York and Canterbury, so that though the premunientes clause was long retained in the bishops' writs, the archdeacons and proctors rarely if ever came, while the abbots were abolished at the Reformation. The meeting of the Model Parliament of 1295 was a memorable day for England, and marks the beginning of a new era of parliamentary government. The liberality of the Model Parliament completely justified Edward's trust in the generosity of his people. The clergy granted one-tenth of their goods, the earls, barons, and knights of the shire voted First Cam- e> j 5 j o paign in one-eleveutli, and the citizens and burgesses one-seventh. "VYit^li the money so raised, Edward was able to act vigorously. Already the least serious danger, that of Wales, had been removed, for, as before, Edward's tactics of blockading the insurgents in the barren wilderness of Snowdon had been successful against Madoc. Edmund of Lancaster was sent out to Gascony ; Edward in person took the field against the Scots. Accompanied by Earl Warrenne and the bishop of Durham, and taking with him the sacred banner of St. John of Beverley, that had already waved defiance to the Scots at the battle of the Standard, and after receiving at Newcastle a message from Balliol formally renouncing his allegiance, the English king crossed the border and captured Berwick in March. In April, Earl Warrenne with the vanguard inflicted a crush- Battle of iiig defeat on the Scots, who had been foolish enough to Dunbar. abandon a strong position on the Lammermuir hills and descend into the plain near Dunbar, in hopes of overwhelming the English. The result of this defeat was decisive. Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Dunbar, Edinburgh, and Stirling opened their gates. Balliol surrendered ; but as he had already renounced his allegiance he was not reinstated, and after a short sojourn in the Tower of London w\as permitted to retire to his French estates, where he died in obscurity. After receiving Balliol's submission, Edward marched north as far as Elgin to show his power, and then, after receiving the homage of the leading Scots, and appointing Earl Warrenne and other English officials to represent him, he returned to England, well contented with his new and unexpected conquest. Edward's next step was to organise a great alliance against France. Ednumd of Lancaster had died at Bayonne, but his place had been filled by 1297 Edicard I. 221 the earl of Lincoln, and Edward designed a double attack on Philip — one from Gascony, led by Lincoln, the other from the north-east, led by himself and the count of Flanders. Unexpected difficulties, IP 111 Alliance however, arose. Pressed, as usual, for money, he had not against been scrupulous in his means of getting it, but had seized the wool of the merchants, tallaged ^ the towns and the tenants on the royal estates. A feeling of irritation was natural, especially as much money had been spent on subsidising foreign allies who had done very little by way of return. However, if the expedition were to start, supplies must be obtained, and the king summoned a parliament, exactly modelled on that of 1295, to meet at Bury St. Edmund's, in November 1296. When clergy refuse it met, the barons and knights granted a one-twelfth and the ^° pay Taxes, citizens and burgesses a one-eighth. The clergy, however, under Archbishop Winchelsea, refused to contribute, on the ground that since the last parlia- ment a bull, dericis laicos, had been issued by Pope Boniface viii., in wliich the clergy had been forbidden to pay any state tax whatsoever out of the revenues of their churches. As the clergy persisted in this refusal, Edward did what John had once threatened to do, and what Richard had actually done in 1198, viz., denied the clergy the right to sue in the king's courts, which, in effect, amounted to a sentence of outlawry, and enabled them to be robbed and plundered with impunity. While waiting the effect of this measure Edward summoned a meetino- of the earls and barons ; and, in February 1297, laid before them his plan for the expeditions to Flanders and Gascony. But here a new difficulty met him. One by one the barons began to stable and excuse themselves, and in particular Roger Bigod, earl of ^hln refuse Norfolk, the constable, and Humphrey de Bohun, earl of *° ^^^'^ ^ ' ' 1 J J separate Hereford, the marshal, who were asked to take charge of Expedition the Gascon expedition, raised the point of law that they were bound by the duties of their respective offices only to attend the king's person. 'By God, sir earl,' said Edward, addressing Hereford, ' thou shalt either go or hang.' ' By that same oath, king,' was the marshal's reply, ' I will neither go nor hang.' It was soon evident that the recalcitrant earls had popular feeling on their side. The meeting at once broke up ; the two earls retii'ed to their estates followed by no less than fifteen hundred picked knights, and prepared, if necessary, to appeal to arms. Driven to extremity by this, Edward took extraordinary measures to provide himself with funds, seized the wool of the merchants 1 A tallage is a feudal tax levied on towns and lauds in demesne. 222 Later Angevin Kings 1297 Edward promises to confirm the Charters. and requisitioned provisions from the counties, giving tallies in acknow- ledgment for both. Meanwhile the clergy were in despair. Lent was fast slipping away, and Edward had threatened that unless they gave way before Easter he would confiscate the whole of their lands. A new convoca- ofthT^^^^ " tion was summoned by Winchelsea for the 26th of March,' Clergy. ^^^ ^^ ^j^^^ j^^ receded from his former position and advised his fellow-clergy to make the best terms they could. Weary of the long contest, the clergy one by one gave way, some making the king a gift, others leaving money where the royal officers could find it, and others paying for protection. Winchelsea himself was still obstinate, and in consequence Edward seized the lands of his see. In spite, however, of his double difficulty, Edward did not abandon his intended expeditions ; but issued orders for a military levy who held lands over ^20 a year to meet at London on July 7th. Again the marshal and constable refused to go ; but Edward, by promising to confirm the Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest, contrived to induce the leading men of the levy to agree to a wholly unconstitutional grant of an eighth of the mov- ables of the barons and knights, and one-fifth from the cities and boroughs. At the same time the archbishop made his peace, and agreed to call a convocation on August 10th to see about making a regular grant. The two earls, however, and their followers continued firm, and sent Edward a petition on the part, not only of themselves and the barons, The Earls' re- ^^^ ^1^0 on that of the clergy and of ' the whole community monstrance, ^f \^q land,' in which they boldly declared that whether their tenures bound them or not, they were utterly ruined by tallages and other forms of exaction, particularly by a new customs duty (the maltote) laid on wool, which amounted to the fifth part of their income ; demanded that the Great Charter and the' Charter of the Forests should be confirmed ; and suggested that Edward would do better to stay at home until he had better security from the Flemings, and Scotland less likely to break into insurrection. This outspoken document reached Edward in September, when he was on the point of sailing for Flanders, and he simply answered that he could not consider it without his council, and that some members were in London and others had crossed to Flanders. On the 22nd he sailed away, leaving his son Edward, then a lad of thirteen, the regent, and his counsellors to do the best they could. No sooner w\^s the king gone, than the two earls appeared in London and peremptorily forbade the 1297 Edward I. 223 officers of the exchequer to collect the aid of one-eighth. The counsellors were at their wits' end. Resistance was out of the question, and parlia- ment was somewhat irregularly summoned to receive the „ ^ r. 1 /-NT rrn 1 Confirmation Confirmation of the Charters. Ihese documents, however, of the from which all reference to taxation had long been omitted, did not cover the case in point, so the earls insisted on the addition of several new clauses, to the efi'ect, (1) that the king would not take as a right all such aids and tasks as have been given him heretofore by his peoj)le's freewill, and ' would not take such manner of aids, tasks, or prizes but by the common assent of the realm, and for the common profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prizes due and accustomed ' ; (2) that the maltote on wool should be given up, and that neither the king nor his heirs would take any such thing or any other without the common consent and goodwill of the commonalty of the realm ; saving to us and to our heirs the custom of wool, skins, and leather, granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. The custom referred to in the last clause was the Ancient or Great Custom agreed to in the parliament of Westminster, 1275, as a commuta- tion of the king's immemorial right to take a portion of all r^^^ Great goods coming into or going out of the kingdom. In this Custom, form the Confirmation of the Charters w^as sent to the king, and received his assent, which was again given as a further security in 1298, 1299, and 1301. At the time of the first Confirmation of the Charters, an unauthorised abstract was published, known as the De tallagio 7ion concecleyidoj which repeated Edward's grant but without the modifying word ' such.' In after times this came to be regarded as a statute, and was alluded to as such in the preamble to the Petition of Right of 1628. It is not easy to overestimate the constitu- tional importance of this struggle and its successful issue, of the'pon'^-^ Hitherto the right of the people to a voice in taxation had fi'^"^^**°"s- been little more than a usage ; even the concessions made to the tenants- in-chief in 1215 had been dropped in the following year. It now became a matter of written right, from which followed the natural development of our parliamentary government. It was not creditable to Edward that he should have asked and obtained from the pope a dispensation from his assent, which, fortunately, he did not venture to put into practice. The Flemish expedition, for which Edward had provided with so much difficulty, produced no great results. His Continental allies r. f French proved, as usual, selfish and inefficient, and the war was Quarrel soon confined to Gascony, wdiere the earl of Lincoln still held Bayonne. The disputes between the two sovereigns were at length 224 Later Angevin Kings 1297 healed by the good offices of Pope Boniface viii., who had conceived the idea of saving bloodshed by making the papal court into a court of arbitra- tion for the settlement of national disputes. Neither Philip nor Edward, however, would admit Boniface's interference in his official capacity, but they accepted his good offices as a man, and eventually the whole of his Gascon possessions were restored to the English king. A good under- standing for the future was secured by a double marriage : Edward, who had been a widower since 1290, marrying Margaret, the sister of Philip, and his son Edward, aged fifteen, being betrothed to Philip's five-year-old daughter Isabella. In Scotland, meanwhile, things had been going altogether wrong. Earl Warrenne, the guardian, had been non-resident ; and Cressingham, the Rebellion of treasurer, and Ormesby, the justiciar, ruled the Scots with a Wallace. rod of iron. The natural result was an insurrection, analo- gous to that in Wales in 1282, but difiering from it in the fact that it was led neither by a member of the reigning house nor by the nobility, but was a genuine outbreak of general discontent. Various leaders appeared in various parts, but eventually the movement concentrated round William Wallace or Waleys, i.e. the Welshman, and Sir Andrew MiuTay. In the suimner of 1297, Warrenne returned at the head of a large Cambus- army, but in September allowed himself to be defeated at kenneth. Cambuskenneth, near Stirling. At that place the Forth was crossed by a long bridge, so narrow that only two armed men, presumably horsemen, are said to have been able to pass abreast, and reacliing the northern bank of the river at a point where a range of low hills comes close to the water. Behind these hills Wallace and Murray concealed their soldiers, and when five thousand English soldiers under Cressingham had crossed the bridge, they were suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of Scots from the high ground. Cressingham himself perished, and few if any of his men made their escape. The news of the victory caused the rebellion to spread like wild-fire. The English had to fly for their lives, and a provisional government was set up under William Wallace and Andrew Murray, ' the generals of the army of the kingdom of Scotland ' and guardians for King John. During the whole of this year Edward himself was in Flanders, almost as much troubled to keep the peace between his Flemish, English, and Welsh soldiers as to fight the French, but in 1298 an ojDpor- Second ^ime truce gave him an opportunity to return to England, hf Scotland. ^"^^ ^^^ marched north to crush Wallace. The task was not easy, as the lowlands had been so ravaged that feeding the army was all but impossible, and a retreat was inevitable when Edward 1303 Edward L 225 learned that Wallace lay in Falkirk wood ready to fall on his rear. The news revived the drooping energies of his soldiers, and a rapid march brought them in view of the Scots on July 22nd, 1298. Battle of Being deficient in cavalry, then the ofiensive part of an Falkirk, army, Wallace took post behind a morass, drew ujd his spearmen in four circles defended by palisades, linked them together by a line of archers, and placed his scanty troop of cavalry in the rear. Edward, however, showed himself equal to the occasion. Sending his cavalry to right and left of the morass, he put the Scottish horsemen to flight, and drove the archers into the squares, and then bringing up his own archers and military engines he plied the Scots with missiles till well-directed charges of cavalry were able to break their ranks. The defeat of Falkirk was fatal to Wallace's power, and after less than a year's prominence he dis- appears from the scene, and seems to have spent the next feAv years l^artly in hiding, partly in France. Though Wallace left the field, his place was taken by others ; and between 1298 and 1303 the chief burden fell on John Comyn, sister's son to Balliol, and the bishop of St. Andrews, and by their comyn's efforts the independence of Scotland north of the Forth was Rebellion, mamtained. Their chief exploit was the victory of Koslin in 1302. During those years French affairs still detained Edward; but in 1302 the Flemings defeated Philip in the famous battle of Courtrai ; Philip himself was further absorbed in a quarrel with Boniface ; and in 1303 Edward was again able to give his personal attention to Scotland. The result showed how much the Scottish resistance had been indebted to the French troubles. Almost without fighting, he marched his army across the Forth, and made his way to Aberdeen and Banff. This display of power frightened Comyn into submission. During the winter he negotiated for himself and his friends, and was permitted to make his peace : the same indulgence being- offered to Wallace ' if he thought proper.' Wallace, however, made no sign, and Edward, fearful lest his continuance at large might lead to further troubles, made it known that his favour might be won by the apprehension of the outlaw. The hint had its effect. Wallace was was seized by the sherifl' of Dumbarton, Sir John Menteith, and was carried to London. There he is said to have pleaded that Execution what he had done was not treason, as he had never sworn °^ 'Wallace, allegiance to Edward. He was condemned to be hanged by the neck for the robberies, murders, and felonies of which he had been guilty. His head was placed on London Bridge, and his quarters distributed to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth. Wallace had played for a great stake and lost ; but his death made him the hero of Scottish independence ; p 226 Later Angevin Kings 1303 and legend, song and fiction have tended to exalt his rejDutation somewhat unfairly at the exj^ense of other Scottish jjatriots. Resistance being now apparently at an end, Edward produced his scheme for the government of Scotland. The administration of Scottish Or anisation '^^'<^^^ "^^'^^^ placed under his nephew John of Brittany as of Scotland, lord-lieutenant and guardian. Two justices each wer6 allotted to four cu'cuits into which the land was divided. The Scottish laws were to be revised and those that were barbarous or contrary to the will of God abolished. Lastly, some representatives for Scot- land were to be i^resent in the English parliament. This scheme, if fairly carried out, was not l)ad ; but a national feeling had begun to rise among the Scots, and a new pretender soon appeared to take Robert advantage of it. This was Robert Bruce, gi'andson of Bruce. fj^e claimant. Though his father played an ambiguous part, this young man, now about twenty-five, had hitherto been on Edward's side, and was consulted by him about the management of the kingdom ; but in 1306 he determined to try for the crown Murder of l^iii^self. In an interview held at Dumfries in 1306 Corny n. Bruce, in a fit of anger, stabbed Comyn, and whether his determination to try for the crown dates from before or after the murder it is impossible to say. At any rate he raised his standard in Galloway ; and, being soon joined by a small following, was crowned at Scone in March. At first the matter did not seem very serious, for Bruce could not hold his own in the open field ; but Scotland diflered from Wales in this, that whereas in Wales the district of Snowdon could easily 1)C blockaded, in Scotland the lowlands were fringed by a backgTound of inaccessible moors, mountains, and islands to which retreat was always open, and in which pursuit was in vain. Consequently an outlaw could bide his time, and while striking sufficient blows to keep up his reputa- tion and encourage resistance could always keep himself out of harm's way. This was Bruce's game, and circumstances ultimately enabled him to play it with success. Chief of these was the death of the veteran Edward. Over fifty years of active life and anxiety had begun to break down the iron Death of Constitution of the king. In the autumn of 1306, when Edward. |jg ^^.g^ heard of Bruce's rising, he had had to make the journey to Carlisle in a horse litter ; and though in 1307 he thought himself so far better that he was able to mount his charger, the eflbrt was too much for his strength, and after two short marches he died at Burgh -on-the Sands on July 7th, 1307. Edward was twice married, first to Eleanor of Castile, Avho died in 1307 Edward I. 227 1290. By her he had four sons and nine daughters. Of the sons one only, Edward, the youngest, survived his father. Of the daughters, one married Earl Gilbert of Gloucester ; another married Edward's HumjDhrey, earl of Hereford. By his second wife Margaret family, he left two sons, Thomas, earl of Norfolk, and Edmund, earl of Kent. Most of his other daughters married abroad. CHIEF DA TES. Statute of Mortmain (de religiosis), . Final Conquest of Wales Second Statute of Westminster (de donis), Statute of Winchester Third Statute of Westminster (quia emptores Scottish award, First complete and model Parliament, Battle of Dunbar, Battle of Camhuskenneth, .... Confirmation of the Charters, , Battle of Falkirk Bruce's rebellion begins, .... A.D. 1279 1282 1285 1285 1290 1292 1295 1296 1297 1297 1298 1306 I CHAPTEK II EDWARD II.: 1307-1327 Born 1284; married Isabella of France, 1308 ; died 1327. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Robert i., 1306-1329. Philip iv., 1285-1309 (see page 246). Piers Gaveston— The Lords Ordainers — Gaveston's Death — Brace's Scottish suc- cesses — Bannockburn — The Despeusers — Lancasters Defeat at Borough- bridge, and Death — General combination against the Despensers, headed by the Queen and Mortimer, leads to Edward's Dethronement, Edward, Prince of Wales, who succeeded his father at the age of twenty-three, was one of the worst of the English kings. His father Character of Edward and his grandftither Henry were both cast in Edward II. .^ diflerent mould ; but the younger Edward inherited neither the statesmanlike ability of the one nor the piety of the other. He grew up utterly frivolous and unprincipled ; and though he was handsome, accomplished, and endowed with the power of winning the attachment of his intimate associates, his reign was a complete failure. The most obvious cause of this was his addiction to favourites. The word ' favourite ' is one which needs to be used with discrimination. Its Meaning of most obvious signification is that of some one in whom the sovereign delights, and on whom he lavishes gifts and favours ; but it is also used less correctly of any person who has si^ecial influence over the king's policy, though such influence may be the proj)er reward of distinguished ability. Favourites of the first class were hateful to the general body of tlie people, because the wealth lavished on them impoverished the crown, and consequently had to be made good by increased taxation ; those of the second were specially disliked by the nobility. In England, it was the claim of the great nobles to be the hereditary advisers of the crown, and as such to have access at all times to the king's person, and, therefore, they regarded with jealousy any one, whether he were an upstart or one of themselves, who secured a para- mount influence in the king's deliberations. For centuries this feeling 228 1307 Edward II. 229 was one of the permanent factors of English politics, and somewhat curiously it seems to have been accepted as right and proper even by the general body of the people. If the king were strong he was able to pro- tect his servants ; if he were weak, he and they fell together ; but the hatred between the titled nobility and the untitled ministers of the king always existed. It appears in the cases of Flambard and Becket, and such a man as Wolsey, for example, knew that his enemies were always on the watch to attack him the instant the king's favour was withdrawn. The rallying-point of the nobility against ' the favourite ' was almost invariably in England a younger member of the royal family. Even Simon de Montfort, being brother-in-law of Henry iii.. The opposi- can hardly be regarded as an exception to the rule. The ^^°"' cause of this was in some measure the difficulty of jDroviding for the princes of the blood. Henry ii. had endeavoured without much success to carve portions for his younger sons out of his continental possessions. Richard was childless. John's sons were children. Henry iii. made his only brother, Richard, earl of Cornwall, a position which carried with it the enormous wealth which accrued from the Cornish tin mines. On his second son, Edmund Crouchback or Crossback, Henry, after failing to make him king of Sicily, bestowed the earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby, the two latter the forfeited holdings of Earl Simon and Earl Ferrers. Edmund was succeeded by his son Thomas, who married the heiress of Edward's faithful friend the earl of Lincoln and Salisbury, and so expected the eventual succession to two more earldoms, Lincoln and Salisbury. Thomas, generally known as Thomas of Lancaster, was a man of great force of character and violent temper, but in no sense a real statesman. Of the other great earldoms of the country, those of Norfolk and Kent had been given to Edward i.'s little sons, Thomas and Edmund : those of Cornwall and Chester w^ere in the hands of the kino- : Gloucester, in those of Gilbert, the king's nephew ; Hereford, in those of Edward's brother-in-law, Humphrey de Bohun ; ^ and Pembroke, in those of Aymer de Valence, the king's half-cousin. Such a concentration of 1 THE BOHUNS. Humphrey de Bohun, friend of Simon de Montfort, died 1275. Humphrey de Bohun, of the Confirmatio Chartarum, died 1298. Humphrey de Bohun, m. Elizabeth, daughter of Edward i.; I killed at Boroughbridge, 1322. Humphrey de Bohun. I I Eleanor, m. Tliomas Mary, m. Henry of of Gloucester. Bolingbroke (Henry iv.). 230 Lakr Angevin Kings 1307 property in a few hands was totally foreign to the ideas of such a king as William the Conqueror, for it resulted in any quarrel between the king and his relatives taking the form of civil war. This moment, when the influence represented by the great earldoms was specially concentrated and powerful, Edward chose to advance a Piers favourite, whose name has become typical of such characters Gaveston. f^j. ^\ ^{^^q^ This was Piers Gaveston, a Gascon, who had been the king's playfellow as a boy, and had gained such an influence over him that Edward seemed incapable of existing happily without him. His character, perhaps unfairly, has been assumed to be more than ordinarily dejDraved ; but it is certain that Edward considered him a most improper companion for his son, banished him from the court, and made it one of his last requests to his son that he would free himself from his influence. On the contrary, no sooner was his father dead than Edward recalled Piers, made him earl of Cornwall, a proceeding so unpopular that few would address him by the title ; married him to his niece, Margaret of Gloucester ; dismissed at his bidding Walter Langton, the trusted treasurer of his father ; presented him with vast sums of money, especially with £32,000, reserved by his father for a crusade ; made him regent when he went over to France to marry the beautiful Isabella ; permitted him to carry the Crown at the coronation, and to take pre- cedence of the ancient nobles of the realm. Had Gaveston been a man distinguished for modesty and tact, such favours would have ensured his unpopularity ; but, in fact, he was utterly devoid of any capacity for conciliation, made new enemies by his insolent ostentation, and exas- perated the jealous nobles by inventing for them offensive nicknames, which by the folly of his royal patron became public property. Thomas of Lancaster he called ' the Hog ' ; Warwick, ' the Black Dog of Arden ' ; Pembroke was 'Joseph the Jew ' ; his brother-in-law Gloucester was ' the Cuckoo,' and so on. The natural result of such folly was that at the very first great His dismissal council held by Edward in April 1308, the prelates, earls, eman ed. ,^^^ barons unanimously demanded his banishment ; and Edward had to give way. His 'popularity — if he ever had any — was absolutely gone. He had shown not the slightest capacity for carrying on the ordinary business of state, and what time he could spare from the most frivolous amusements he devoted to plotting the return of his favourite, whom he had made governor of Ireland. In 1309 a Parlia- ment met, and the list of complaints presented proves conclusively in how short a time the Course of such a monarch could affect the whole routine'of government. Edward was ready to promise amendment, 1312 Edward II. 231 especially as the pope had at his request released Gaveston from his oath to remain out of England ; and his one wish was to win the consent of the nobility to the favourite's return. For the moment he succeeded ; hut Gaveston made fresh enemies, and in 1310 a great council, held at Westminster, fell back on the precedent of 1258, took the government out of Edward's hands, and placed it in those of a body of The Lords twenty - one lords ordainers, including archbishop Win- Ordamers. chelsea, the earls of Pembroke, Lancaster, Hereford, Warwick, and Gloucester, with directions to regulate the king's household, and to reform the abuses of the realm. To escape from their surveillance Edward hurried to the Scottish border, taking Gaveston with him, and remained there for a year. In his absence the ordainers had a free hand, of which they took full advantage to draw up a lengthy scheme of reform, of which the most important items were the perpetual banishment of Gaveston, . Gaveston the appointment for the future of all state officers by the again counsel and consent of the baronage, the holding of a par- '^"^'^^e . liament at least once a year, and a complete reform of the administration. To this Edward, after humbly entreating mercy for ' his brother Piers,' was compelled to assent in 1311 ; but in 1312 the infatuated king again recalled Gaveston, and restored his forfeited estates. On this Arch- bishop Winchelsea put the favourite under the ban of the Church ; while Lancaster, Pembroke, Warwick, and Hereford raised their forces and besieged Gaveston in Scarborough Castle, where Edward had placed him for safety. Here Gaveston was forced to capitulate, and was then sent to Wallingford under the safe-conduct of the earl of Pembroke, to await the assembling of parliament. Warwick and Lancaster, however, were in no mood to wait, and when Gaveston had reached Deddington in Oxfordshire, he was seized by ' the Black Dog of Arden,' and hurried off to Warwick Castle, where he found Lancaster, Hereford, and Arundel awaiting his arrival. A discussion took place as to his fate ; but the words of the proverb, ' If you let the fox go, you will have Gaveston to hunt him again ' decided his destiny ; and Lancaster and executed. Hereford saw his head struck off on Blacklow Hill, on the road to Kenilworth. Such a murder of a political opponent had hitherto been almost un- known in England, and it marks the beginning of a series of butcheries which can hardly be said to have closed till the accession of TT /^ , , T . 1 1 T . , Demoralisa- Henry VII. Contrasted with the thirteenth century, those tionofthe of the fourteenth and fifteenth appear to indicate a distinct ^°""^''y- deterioration in the aims and ideals of the great men of the time. 232 Later Angevin Kings 1312 Whether it was due to the hardening influence of the protracted wars with Scotland and France, or to the adoption of chivalry with its thin veneer of courtesy and breeding, ill serving to conceal licentiousness, class feeling, and real heartlessness, or to the decay of personal religion, it is certain that such a degradation was at work among the uiDper classes of society. The change seems to be connected with and pretty The French much coincident with the adoption of the French language, Language. manners, and culture by the English. This movement gained strength under Henry in., from whose reign dates the first state paper in French ; under Edward i., that language was adopted in the Law Courts, and by the time of Edward ii. it is generally believed to have been the language of society. Its adoption must not be associated either witli, the Norman Conquest or with the French possessions of Henry ii. It is more analogous to the adoption of French as the usual language of the uj)per classes in Eussia at the present time. The language spoken, too, was not the old Norman French of the Conquest, but the dialect of Paris and the Isle of France, which was now becoming the standard French language. Beneath it, however, the real English, which for a long time had been eclipsed as a literary language by Latin, was beginning to assert itself; and the very period when French was most widely spoken in this country was also that which saw the fore- runners of Wyclif and Chaucer. Edward was powerless to revenge the death of his friend, so again turned his attention to Scotland, where Bruce had been making rapid Successes of progress. The English hold on Scotland dejDended on Bruce. retaining possession of the great castles of southern Scot- land, of which the chief were Roxburgh, Linlithgow, Perth, Edinburgh, and Stirling. In the course of five years — from 1307 to 1312 — Bruce had overcome all opposition in the field, whether from the English soldiers or discontented Scots ; and by 1312 he seems to have had the population on his side almost to a man. In 1311 his progress was interrupted by the invasion of Edward and Gaveston ; but as soon as they were gone, Bruce encouraged his soldiers by an invasion of Eng- land, in which the northern counties were ruthlessly ravaged, and then began a systematic attack on the castles. In January 1312 he took Perth by assault ; on March 7th Roxburgh surrendered ; on the 14th his sister's son Randolph and a band of thirty men scaled the precipitous rock which is crowned by Edinburgh castle, and took that great strong- hold by surprise. About the same time Linlithgow castle was taken by the address of a countryman named Binnock or Binnie, Avho concealed some soldiers in a load of hay, and then stopj)ed his waggon in the gate- 1314 Edward 11. 233 way, so that the portcullis could not l)e lowered. Other successes fol^ lowed, and at length Stirling alone held out ; and so beset were the garrison that the governor. Sir Philip Mowbray, agreed to surrender on June 24th, 1314, unless before that date he were relieved. Edward, therefore, had ample time to relieve the town, and indeed Bruce was highly incensed when he heard what favourable Expedition terms had been oflFered to the garrison. However, he *° Scotland, foolishly left matters till the last moment, and only fixed the 11th of June as the day for a general rendezvous at Berwick. On that day a vast array of horsemen, many clad in full armour, and many thousand archers, the value of whom was beginning to be fully recognised, assembled ; and the numbers might have been even greater had not Lancaster kept sullenly aloof. The gallant force made its way un- opposed through the Lowlands ; but did not come within sight of Stir- ling till the very day before the jDromised surrender. Arrived near Stirling, the English found that Bruce was waiting to fight, and that the ground he held was terribly strong ; but there was no time left to wait or to manoeuvre, and at all risks a battle had to be fought there and then. Bruce had drawn up his men on some rising ground behind the little stream of the Bannockburn in such a way as to command all the roads which approached Stirling from the south-west. His right The Scottish was covered by a marsh, through which the stream passes, and Position, between his left wing and the Forth lay a piece of low, wet land, broken by pools of water, and made still stronger by concealed pits, which Bruce had caused to be dug wherever the ground was firm. The strength of the position was shown on the evening the English arrived, for Ran- dolph, earl of Moray, easily defeated an attempt to throw reinforcements into Stirling ; and Bruce roused the enthusiasm of his followers to the highest pitch by killing an English knight, Henry de Bohun, in single combat. For the fight Bruce drew up his infontry in four divisions, all armed with long spears. Each division was circular in form, and the spears of the men of the front ranks stuck out in front like the spines The Battle of a hedgehog, making it almost impenetrable for cavalry, of Bannock- His horsemen Bruce kept in reserve. None of the English leaders, Edward himself, Humphrey of Hereford, or Gilbert of Gloucester, seem to have had any experience of high command ; and, compared to the efficiency and readiness of Bruce, the English army was all confusion. At Falkirk, Edward i. had won the battle by first dispersing the Scottish cavalry and then bringing up his archers against the spearmen, who 234 Later Angevin Kings 13U could offer little resistance against missile weapons ; but at Bannockbum the archers were allowed to advance in a long line some way in front of the men-at-arms, while the Scottish cavalry was still unbroken. Of this mistake Bruce took instant advantage, and, bringing his horsemen round the marsh, hurled them on the flank of the English bowmen. Taken thus at a disadvantage, the whole line of archers were cut to j)ieces, and the Scottish horse had time to regain their old position before the English men-at-arms came ujd. This success decided the battle, for Edward's mail-clad cavalry could do nothing against the forests of levelled spears that met its attack, and its headlong valour simply served to swell the slaughter. Presently, from behind the Scottish ranks, what appeared to be a fresh army was seen to be advancing, though in reality it was nothing more than a sham army of camp-followers, and the acci- Defeatofthe dent or ruse completed the confusion of the English lines, nghsh. Taking advantage of their disorder, Bruce ordered a general advance. Gloucester perished on the field ; Hereford and Edward both took refuge in flight ; and a terrible slaughter of the now despairing fugitives, and the surrender of Stirling, closed a day as disgraceful to the English leaders as it was creditable to all ranks of the Scots. 1319 Edward 11. 235 This victory comj)leted the work of the Scottish independence, and for the remainder of the war the Scots were the aggressors. Already, Bruce had found time for the conquest of the Isle of Man. In 1315 his The Scotch brother David crossed the sea to Ireland, and endeavoured ^" Ireland, to emulate his brother by winning the crown of that island. His arrival was the signal for a partial rising of the natives ; but the chiefs of Connaught and Munster remained true to the English crown. Next year he was joined by the king of Scots ; but an attack on Dublin failed. Robert soon returned ; and Edward Bruce, after being victorious in eigh- teen battles, was defeated and killed at Fagher, near Dundalk, in 1318. Beyond adding another to the list of sanguinary wars which desolated that unfortunate country, the expedition had no permanent effect on the condition of Ireland. While Bruce had been away, Eandolph, Douglas, and Bishoj) Sinclair had well filled his place, and on his return he proceeded to besiege and take Berwick ; and the eastern road into England beino- thus 1 • 1 o 1111 Scottish clear, every harvest tnne saw the Scots over the border and invasions of ravaging far and wide. On one occasion Scarborough, "^ ^" ' Northallerton, Boroughbridge, and Skipton were all burnt, and the whole country to the northwards harried with fire and sword. In 1319 they were again in Yorkshire, and the clergy, wishing to emulate the achievements of 1338, led out their flocks to withstand the invaders. Over such an army Randolph won an easy victory. Encountering them at Battle of Myton-on-Swale, he fired some stacks so that the wind blew Myton. the smoke into the eyes of the peasant host, and then charging with all his power he put them to the rout and slew so many of the white-surpliced clergy that the fight was named the Chapter of Myton. So terrible were the ravages of the Scots that no less than eighty-four villages were excused payment of taxes on the ground of their utter ruin • j^^jj, Qf ^j^g and it is a certain fact that Northumberland farms, which North, had been in a flourishing condition down to 1314, were so devastated by the increasing warfare of the border that they never recovered their prosperity till after the accession of James i, of England. To add to this misfortune of the kingdom, the years 1315 and 1316 were years of famine. In England famines were extremely rare, owing partly to the gTeat diversity of the soil and climate, so that if some districts did badly others were better off, partly to the high standard of living to which the agricultural classes adhered, which ^he great gave a large margin between their ordinary fare and starva- famine, tion. However, in these years incessant rain through the summer pre- vented the corn from ripening. In 1315 south Wales and Devonshire 236 Later Angevin Kings 1319 and Cornwall escaped, but in 1316 the rain was universal. Consequently the mass of the people were put to sore straits to find food, many died, and even the royal table was with difficulty supplied with bread. Matters were made worse by the action of the great lords, who were driven to dismiss their retainers and servants ; and these poor fellows, unaccustomed to work, and indeed without the means of getting a livelihood, betook themselves to robbery and pillage. So serious was the mortality that a permanent rise of wages to the extent of twenty per cent, was caused by the scarcity of labour. Cattle disease also broke out and caused great losses all over the country. The disgrace of Bannockburn, the inroads of the Scots, the disasters of famine and pestilence completed the discredit of Edward's administration ; Thomas of while his cousin, Thomas of Lancaster, saw in the disasters Lancaster, ^f j^jg country nothing but an excellent opportunity for push- ing his own fortune. Since Gaveston's death his importance had been steadily growing. In 1311 the death of his father-in-law, the earl of Lincoln, gave him the two earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury. Arch- bishop Winchelsea died in 1313, and was replaced by the feeble Reynolds. Bannockburn removed the brave and high-minded earl of Gloucester, the noblest character among the English barons. Warwick died in 1315. Lancaster's chief friends were Humphrey of Hereford and the two Eoger Mortimers, of whom the elder, the lord of Chirk, was the nephew of the younger, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore ; and in the council he was practi- cally supreme. Against Lancaster's influence Edward tried to strengthen himself by the fi'iendship of the earl of Pembroke, who had never forgiven Lancaster for his share in taking Gaveston from his charge, and by that The ^f t^^® Hugh Despensers, fether and son. Hugh Despenser Despensers. ^]^g elder was the son of another Hugh, the friend of Simon de Montfort. He was a man of considerable ability, but grasping after wealth and tactless. His son Hugh, who had originally been placed near the king by Lancaster's influence, rapidly took the place in Edward's aff'ections formerly filled l)v Gaveston. Edward gi^atified his new favourite by marrying him to his niece, one of the co-heiresses of the earl of Gloucester, which brought him into rivalry with Here- ford, as lord of Brecon, and his fellow-marcher, Roger of Wigmore. Their rapidly accumulated wealth also added to their unpopularity. No less than sixty-three English manors were in their hands; and though by birth they ranked with the ancient families of the realm, they were almost as much hated as Gaveston, or as the foreigners of 1258. For some time, however, neither party was strong enough to crush the other ; but the country was kept in constant agitation liy wars on the Edward 11. 237 Welsh march, by tournaments which served as excuses for armed assemblies of barons, by struggles for supremacy in the council, and by rumours that one party or another was intriguing with the Scots. At length matters came to a head in a full parliament, which met at Westminster in July 1321, where a formal attack was made on the Despensers. The earl of Hereford appeared as chief jDrose- , cutor, and the favourites were accused of having prevented dismissal the magnates of the realm from having access to the king and of having removed ministers appointed by them, of having stirred up civil war, and generally of perverting and hindering justice. On this charge the barons condemned both Despensers to forfeit their property or to go into exile, and not return without the permission of the pre- lates, earls, and barons duly summoned in Parliament. Two months afterwards a reaction took place. Lady Badlesmere re- fused to admit Queen Isabella, who asked for a night's lodging in her castle of Leeds in Kent. Badlesmere was himself a foe of ^he Queen Lancaster ; and when Edward ajDpealed for aid to punish the ^suited, insult, Lancaster allowed him to get together a considerable force, of which Edward cleverly took advantage to attack the earl of Hereford. So much unexpected energy did the king display, that Lancaster was quite taken by surprise, and allowed the king to force the passage of the Severn, to crush the Mortimers, to capture the towns of Hereford and Gloucester, and to recall the Despensers in triumph. Hearing of these disasters, Lancaster, who had advanced into the Midlands, turned and fled north, probably hoping to join the Scots, with whom he had been engaged in a traitorous correspondence, and on his road was joined by Hereford and other fugitives from the west. On March 16 he reached ® . . Battle of Boroughbridge on the Ure, but found the bridge held by Sir Borough - Andrew Harclay, governor of Carlisle. A des23erate attenij)t ^^ ^ was made to force the passage, but the archers on the northern bank commanded both the bridge and a neighbouring ford. Hereford was killed by a Welshman, who concealed himself among the supports of the bridge and stabbed him from below ; and Lancaster, in utter despair, took sanctuary in a church. Thence he was dragged by Edward's men, who had closed upon his rear. Mounted on a wretched horse, he was taken in triumph to Pontefract, and there his Execution of head was struck off with every -circumstance of contumely Lancaster. and insult. Lord Badlesmere and twenty-eight others were hanged ; the Mortimers and a number of others were imprisoned ; and it seemed for the moment as though a clean sweej) had Ijeen made of the baronial 238 Later Angevin Kings 1321 party. Strangely enough, in spite of the known bad character of Lancaster, his evil life, his cruelty, selfishness, and contempt for human life, his showy popular qualities and his opposition to the still more detested Edward ultimately gained him the reputation of a saint — a fact which impressively shows the degradation through which the country was being dragged. The fall of the Lancastrian party, however, w^as not in itself a blow to political progress such as a triumph of John over the barons of the Charter would have been. It is clear that Lancaster's tional im- i^^^ of ^^1© was not that of the king and nation working Lanca"er^ together, as had been the wish of Edward i., but rather of a baronial oligarchy controlling the king's policy by electing his council and officers, but not taking the people into their confidence. Even the Despensers had more conception of a national policy than their opponents ; and the acts of the parliament of York, called in May 1322, two months after the battle of Boroughbridge, are of distinct constitutional importance. In it the Ordinances were formally repealed, on the ground that they had been drawn up and published by men chosen only by the lords ; and the fundamental doctrine of the English constitu- tion was formulated, that ' matters which are to be established for the estate of our lord the king and of his heirs, and for the estate of the realm and of the peo]3le, shall be treated, accorded, and established in parlia- ments by our lord the king, and by the consent of the prelates, earls, and barons, and the commonality of the realm, according as hath been hereto- fore accustomed.' At the same time, as at Marlborough in 1267, the most valuable parts of the Ordinances were carefully re-enacted. When parliament was dissolved, Edward made a futile attempt to regain popular- ity by an invasion of Scotland ; but the expedition was a complete foilure. The Scots were too Avary to fight ; the country had suflered too much to Escape at iTi^intain an army ; and when Edward recrossed the border Byland. the Scots entered England at his heels, all but took him prisoner at Byland Abbey, and routed him on the slopes of the Hambletons in October.. Lancaster's treachery proved infectious ; even Harclay, the victor of Boroughbridge, who had been made earl of Carlisle, was seduced from his allegiance, and, his crime being detected, he was degraded from his earldom and knighthood and ignominiously hanged within a year of his victory. With such a king, and with such leaders, the continuance of the war was impossible, and in 1323 a truce for thirteen years was made with the Scots. Unwarned by their previous disaster, the Despensers, with almost inconceivable folly, again excited disgust, the elder by his greediness, the 1327 Edward 11. 239 younger by the arrogance of his behaviour. The whole framework of government seemed about to dissolve : the law was unexecuted ; the taxes were unpaid; the royal officials were detested; the clergy yo\\ ofth were neutral or disaffected : everything denoted a further Despensers. revolution. Only a leader was wanting, and this was supplied in 1324 by the escape from the Tower of Koger Mortimer of Wigmore. Next year Edward found it necessary to send his queen to France to negotiate with her brother about the homage due from Gascony and ^p^e Oueen Ponthieu. While there she was joined by Eoger Mortimer, ^" France. who soon alienated all her affection from her husband, and engaged her in a plot against the Despensers, of which the leading spirit was Mortimer's friend, Adam Orleton, bishop of Hereford. Of this plot Paris became the headquarters. Edward, duke of Aquitaine, now a lad of fourteen, who was sent over to do homage on behalf of his father, became a mere tool in his mother's hands. Compelled by her brother to leave Paris on the ground of her scandalous connection with Mortimer, Isabella removed to Hainault, where she secured a refuge and an of°tlfe'Queen army by negotiating a marriage between young Edward and ^."*^ yiov- Philippa, the daughter of the reigning count. At length, in September 1325, all was ready, and the conspirators landed at Orwell in Suffolk. Meanwhile, Edward had found himself incapable of securing the means of defence, and his fleets and his armies alike dispersed for want of pay. The Despensers brought nothing but additional unpopularity ; incapacity and when the queen landed, earls, bishops, barons, and °^ Edward, townsmen crowded to join her, while her husband was all but deserted. Such rapid success naturally increased the ambition of the conspirators, and an expedition originally directed against the Des^Densers develojDed into one for the deposition of Edward himself. Not knowing where to take refuge in England, the king played into the hands of his enemies by an abortive attempt to escape to Ireland. He then wandered aim- lessly about in Wales and the marches, accompanied by the younger Bespenser, and ultimately fell into the hands of his enemies in November. On Edward's flight to Ireland becoming known, young Edward was proclaimed guardian of the realm, and a parliament was summoned to meet in January 1327. Before it assembled, however, sum- ^ •^ ' ' Execution mary revenge was taken on the most unpopular of the king's of the • ^^csiDcnscrs mmiediate followers. On October 15, BishojD StajDleton, the treasurer, was murdered by the Londoners ; on October 16, the elder Bespenser was captured and hanged at Bristol; on November 17, the 240 Later Angevin Kings 1327 earl of Arundel was beheaded at Hereford by order of Mortimer ; and on November 24, at the same place, the younger Despenser was hanged on a gallows fifty feet high. The king's fate, however, requii'ed some deliberation ; but when parliament met, Bishop Orleton's terse question, ' whether they would have father or son for king,' disclosed an ahuost unanimous feeling Deposition against the elder Edward. Articles were drawn up in which of the King, ^j^g king-'s incompetence, his addiction to evil counsellors, his loss of Scotland, his violation of his coronation oath to do justice to all, and the utter hopelessness of expecting his amendment, were stated as obvious causes for his deposition. A request, however, was sent to Edward demanding his assent to his son's election. To this Edward was forced to consent. The homage and fealties sworn to him were then formally withdrawn, the high steward broke his staff, and the reign was thus declared to be at an end. The ex-king was then handed over to the custody of Sir John Maltravers, his bitter enemy. By him he was carried successively to Murder of ^^^ castles of Corfe, Bristol, and Berkeley, and subjected to Edward II. j^q grossest indignities. So long, however, as he lived none of the conspirators could feel safe, and he was put to death on September 21, 1327. His corpse was then exjDosed to view, and was then quietly buried in the abbey church at Gloucester. The plea that he died a natural death deceived no one ; but for some time reports were current that the corpse exposed was not that of the king's, and that he was really living in concealment. Edward does not seem to have been especially bad or incompetent — not so bad, for instance, as John, or so incompetent as Henry iii. ; but he did not realise that the first duty of a mediaeval king was ' to scorn delights and live laborious days,' and his disasters are to be traced chiefly to this radical defect. The reign of Edward 11. was remarkable for the fall of the Knights Templars. This order was founded in 1118, and was an attempt to ^ , , , combine the duties of a Christian soldier with the vows Order of the . ^ ^■ Templars of monastic chastity, poverty, and obedience. During the fighting in Palestine it had, with their fellow-order the Knights Hospitallers, done yeoman service ; but after the fall of Acre in 1291 its original mission might be regarded as ended. Ofiers of territory had been made to both orders. Kichard i. had ofi'ered Cyprus to the Templars, Rhodes had been occupied by the Hospitallers ; but while the latter turned Rhodes into a fortress and made it, for two centuries, the bulwark of the Grecian archipelago against the inroads of the Mahommedans, the Templars gave up all connection with the east, and 1327 Edward 11. 541 so abandoned all pretence of fulfilling the object of their existence. Naturally, such conduct drew upon them the condemnation of public opinion, and a body which was at once rich, landed and idle, and had at command a body of 40,000 picked cavalry, could not expect to be viewed with indifi'erence. In addition to this, rumours were in circulation that life in the East, and their long contact with the Mohammedan world, had impaired both the orthodoxy and the manners of the knights. These accusations obtained the widest credence in France, where the order was particularly strong, and were taken up by Philip the Fair. As Pope Clement v. was a mere creature of Philip, the hostility of the French king was fatal to the order. After an investigation, the value of which is much decreased by the use of torture to extort confessions, a council held at Vienne in 1311 suppressed the order, and the bulk of its property was assigned to the Hospitallers, whose operations at Rhodes had recently gained them considerable popularity. CHIEF DATES. The Lords Ordainers, . Gaveston's death, Battle of Bannockburn, Battle of Boroughbridge, Execution of Lancaster, A.D. 1310 1312 1314 1322 1322 CHAPTEK III ED w AKD III.: 1327-1377 Born 1312; married, 1328, Philippa of Hainault. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS Scotla7id. France. Castile. Robert i., d. 1329. Charles iv., d. 1328. Pedro the Cruel, 1350, d. 1368. David II., d. 1370. Philip vi., d. 1350. Robert ii., d. 1390. John, d. 1364. Charles v., d. 1380. Emperor. Louis IV., 1313-1347. Fall of Mortimer — Scottish Affairs bring on War with France, which led to important Constitutional Developments — Battles of Sluys and Crecy — Siege of Calais— The Black Death, and its effects on the Manorial System — Battle of Poitiers and Treaty of Bretigny — Spanish Expedition leads to a disastrous renewal of the War — Growtli of a strong feeling against tlie Pope and the Clergy — John of Gaunt and Wyclif — The Reforms of the Good Parliament. The deposition of Edward ii. had been effected by the coalition of tliree parties : a court party, represented by Isabella and the king's Condition half-brothers, the earls of Norfolk and Kent ; the Lords of Parties. Marcher, headed, by Mortimer; and the Lancastrians or Northerners, led by Earl Thomas's younger brother Henry ; and in nominating a standing council of fourteen to manage the State during the new king's minority, the claims of each Avere fully taken into con- sideration. Henry of Lancaster, who, on the reversal of his brother's attainder became earl of Lancaster, Leicester, Lincoln, and Derby, was its president ; and other leading members were the earls of Norfolk and Kent, Bishop Orleton, the treasurer and confidant of Mortimer and the queen, and John Stratford, the rising administrator and friend of Lancaster, who had drafted the articles of accusation against the late king. Mortimer contented himself with the reality of influence, and devoted himself to amassing enormous w^ealth. 242 1328 Eclioard III. 243 The immediate attention of the new government had to be given to Scotland. In 1323, a truce for thirteen years had been signed ; but the confusion into which English aftairs had fallen suggested to Scottish Bruce the opportuneness of the moment for securing a Affairs, complete recognition of his independence ; and in 1327 he broke the truce, and sent an army under Douglas into the northern counties. The tactics of the Scots made them the most formidable of raiders. Their soldiers were all mounted. Each carried on his saddle a bag of oatmeal and an iron j^late on which he cooked it, mixed with water from the nearest stream. For meat they trusted to plunder, and invasion of having flayed the captured beasts, they fastened their skins England, by the legs to four posts, filled them with water, and, having lighted a fire beneath, boiled the flesh. Such an army was too rapid in its motions to be easily followed ; but after a long chase Edward found them encamped on the banks of the Wear, near Stanhope. Their position was too strong to be assaulted with success : a proposal that the English should be allowed to cross without opposition and fight on fair ground was scornfully rejected by Douglas ; and, after some manoeu\Ting, the Scots broke up their cam^) and recrossed the Border. Such an inglorious campaign gave little encouragement to either party to continue the war. Bruce was now an old man, and was anxious to secure a peaceful reign for his little son David ; the northern barons were tired of having their estates subjected to continual pillage ; and, accordingly, in 1328, a treaty was made at Northampton, by which in Northamp- return for ^20,000 the English king renounced the claim to overlordship made by his grandfather, and gave his sister Jane to be brought up as David's affianced wife. The next year Kobert Bruce died, and was succeeded by David, who, at his coronation, was anointed with oil, thus asserting that he reigned as an independent monarch, and not merely as the vassal of England, Prudent as the peace of Northampton undoubtedly was, it proved exceedingly unpopular in the south of England, where the ravages of war had not been felt. One of the chief accusations against the late king had been the loss of Scotland ; and the appropriation by Mortimer and Isabella of the £20,000 seemed to be the culmination of the dis- grace. For some time the council had been anything but harmonious ; and in 1328, Lancaster, disgusted with a position which gave him the appearance of responsibility without any of the reality of power, formed a plan to get rid of Mortimer, who had recently been piots against created earl of March. The scheme, however, was pre- Mortimer, mature : the earls of Norfolk and Kent, who for a moment joined 244 Later Angevin Kings 1328 Lancaster, deserted him, and the earl was compelled to make terms. Mortimer then turned on the unfortunate earl of Kent, accused him of plotting to restore Edward ii., of whose continued existence he had been persuaded by Mortimer's agents, and in March 1330 hurried him to execution. This wicked act roused the horror of the whole country : Lancaster felt tliat he would be himself the next victim, and he at once took effective measures to secure the assistance of Edward for the overthrow of his mother's paramour. The young king had been married in 1328, and was already the father of a son, after- wards the Black Prince, when in 1330 Lancaster opened his eyes to the extraordinary insolence of Mortimer. Then measures were promptly taken. In spite of all Mortimer's precautions he was arrested in Not- Mortimer tinglmm Castle, and, having been taken to London, was hanged. hanged on the elms at Tyburn. Isabella herself was stripped of her ill-gotten wealth, restricted to a pension of £3000 a year, and condemned to perpetual residence at the manor of Rising, where she lived till 1358. With the fall of Mortimer, the real reign of Edward iii. may be said to begin. The young king was, and continued to be all his life, primarily Character of ^ soldier. His morality was founded on the code of honour Edward III. enjoined by the laws of chivalry, and he represented in his own person the strength and the weakness of that institution. Honour- able in dealing with all who came within the social pale of the knightly order, he had little sympathy for the trader or the peasant. Scrupulously courteous, he was little affected by the laws of Christian morality. A mirror of knightly accomplishments, he was vain, selfish, and pitiless. He regarded England chiefly as the source of his supplies of men and money, and persisted in pursuing his warlike schemes long after his subjects had become tired of them. At the same time his reign, though mainly associated with his wars, was very important from a con- stitutional point of view, as his constant demands for money compelled negotiations with parliament, and the consequence was a steady progress towards constitutional government. In the early years of his reign, Edward gave his chief confidence to John Stratford, who became archbishop of Canterbury in 1333, and ^ , who, with his brother Robert, engrossed the chief adminis- Stratfords. . , . ^ , ' ^ ^ , „ trative busmess of the next ten years. Both were men oi industry, honesty, and considerable ability ; but none of the officials of Edward's reign were marked by any pre-eminence in statesmanship, a circumstance which makes Edward's personal power more conspicuous than it would otherwise have been. 1341 Edward III. 245 In 1332 a new difficulty arose in Scotland. A number of Encrlish barons, who held lands at both sides of the border, had lost their Scottish estates by the sej)aration of the two kingdoms. These Edward made common cause with Edward Balliol, son of John, the Baiiioi. late king, and, the border being closed against them by the orders of the government, took ship at Ravenspur, on the Huniber, and landed an army on the coast of Fife. There, by a wonderful stroke of fortune, they defeated a Scottish army with enormous loss in the night battle of Dupplin Moor ; and Balliol was crowned at Scone within a few weeks of his landing. His fall was equally rapid. Five weeks later he was badly defeated, and returned to England a helpless and solitary fugitive. Edward had discountenanced this expedition ; but as its events seemed to show the weakness of Scotland, he imitated the bad example of Bruce in similar circumstances, and determined to take advantage of David's minority to renew his claim to homage. Accordingly he recognised Edward Balliol's pretensions, and sent him with an army to undertake the siege of Berwick, where he himself arrived in 1333. To save the town, a relieving force of Scots under Archibald Douglas attacked Edward on Halidon Hill, a piece of rising ground two miles Battle of north of the town. Standing on the defensive, the English ^^^^^^o" ^»IJ- archers repelled every effort of the Scottish horsemen to make their way up the slope. The obstinacy of the Scots only added to the slaughter ; and eventually Douglas himself fell, and with him perished the flower of the Scottish nobility and a vast number of less distinguished combatants. Berwick instantly surrendered. Young David and his queen were hurried off to France, and Balliol was again placed on the throne. His second reign, however, was little longer than his first. Disgusted to find him a mere English puppet, who was willing not only to hold his crown as a vassal of England, but even to hand over to the English king that part of the lowlands which lies east of a line drawn from Linlithgow to Dumfries, i.e. roughly speaking, the old earldom of Lothian (see p. 65), the Scots again rose, and, though Balliol maintained Failure of his ground while English support was forthcoming, the ^^ ^° ' English were no sooner engaixed in the French war than he began to lose ground. In 1339 he was forced to evacuate the country by David's brother-in-law, Robert the Steward ; and, in 1341, David ventured to return to Scotland. The only permanent result of Balliol's temporary success was the acquisition of Berwick by England, The French war grew out of Edward's attack on Scotland. An alliance with France against England had been from the first the policy of the Scottish patriots ; and this policy, which brought untold misery 246 Later Angevin Kings 1314 on all three countries, now showed its baleful eltects. The Scots called on Philip vi. for aid, and in spite of the remonstrances of the pope, Causes of the he took advantage of the situation to attack Gascony. French War. Edward was naturally furious ; and, unluckily, circumstances gave him an opportunity of raising a claim to the French crown, which was the cause of almost interminable hostilities, and an utterly un- natural feeling of hereditary hatred between the two countries. In 1316 died John i., the infant son of Louis x., who had succeeded his father, Philip the Fair, in 1314, and himself died in the following year. Anxious to avoid giving the crown to Louis' daughter Joan, then a mere child, the French nobles took advantage of a law of the Salian Franks, which disqualified a woman from reigning, and gave the throne to Louis' next brother, Philip v. In 1322 he too died, leaving only daughters, and the precedent having been established, the crown passed to his brother Charles ; and at his death without a son in 1328, to his cousin, Philip of Valois, the son of Charles of Valois, brother of Philip the Fair.^ In 1328 Edward, as the son of Isabella, had made some demur to the accession of Philip vi. ; but as he had done him homage for Gascony and Ponthieu in 1329 and 1331, his objection might be regarded as withdrawn. Edward, however, not only professed to believe that his claim was just, but it is indisputable that, at the commencement of the war, he per- Causes of the suaded the English parliament that if he succeeded it would rench War. -^^ ^^ advantage for the country. Many causes j)robably contributed to this end. There was something in the idea that the cost of a court might be more easily borne by two countries than by one ; the memory of the prosperity of English commerce when both sides of the Channel were in the same hands, and annoyance at the ravages com- mitted by French pirates would dispose the merchants in its favour ; 1 Philip hi. d. 1285. i 1 I Philip iv., Charles of d. 1314. Valois. Louis X., Philip v., Charles iv., Isabella, Philip of Valois, d. 1316. d. 1322. d. 1328. m. Edward II. succeeded 1328. I i I daiaghters. daushters. John, Joan, Edward hi. d. 1316. Queen of Navarre. I Charles the Bad. 1338 Edward III. 247 and an alliance with the Flemish wool merchants, always at variance with their count and with their overlord the king of France, would seem a valuable security for the wool trade. The country, too, was prosperous ; the spirit of chivalry was in the air ; and since the cessation of the Crusades in the East, foreign war had become almost the only opening for gratifying the love of adventure inherent in the English race. At any rate, Edward secured the hearty sympathy of his subjects, which Parliament showed by voting for each year from 1336 to Money 1340 a fifteenth from the knights and barons, a tenth from Grants, the towns, and a tenth from the clergy for five years in succession ; by raising the wool tax in 1336 to forty shillings per sack ; and in 1338 giving him no less than half the wool of the realm, amounting to 20,000 sacks. Encouraged by finding parliament so ready to aid him, Edward took the title of King of France in 1337 ; and in 1338, ' by the assent of the Lords and at the earnest request of the Commons,' he prepared to enforce his claim by arms. For an army, Edward relied The English neither on the feudal array nor on the militia. He filled ■^'""^y- the ranks of his army by hiring soldiers, so that the English force which fought the battles of the French war was in reality a volunteer army, like that which exists at present, excej)t that the men were hired not for a regular term of service, irrespective of peace and war, but for the war only. Such an army was far more efficient than any feudal levy or array of soldiers furnished by requisition from the counties, of which such a diverting description is given in Shakespeare's Henry IV., Part ii. The men were picked men, kept in order by the fear of being turned adrift in a foreign country, accustomed to act together, and sufficiently practised in the rude drill required for efficiency as footmen. Above all, they were thoroughly versed in the use of their weapons, and steady practice on Sunday afternoons had made every English yeoman a well- trained archer. The six-foot yew bow and three-foot arrow, the head of which was drawn level with the ear, was an eflfective weapon up to 250 yards, while the use of sword and buckler was the ordinary accomplishment of all who valued a reputation for manly vigour. Soldiers took service under some great leader, like Sir Walter Manny, and looked to him for the pay and orders which he received from the king, so that the whole force was a disciplined and well-organised body. Moreover, in England there was comparatively little of the class feeling whichxwas so fatal to the harmony of feudal armies. Halidon Hill and Bannockburn had conclusively proved that the real strength of an English aWy lay in its archers ; and that cavalry, however chivabous, could do little or nothing 248 Later Angevin Kings 1338 without their support. Nothing did more than the recognition of this fact to cement all classes together. In an English force, noble and yeoman fought on foot and side by side. Efl&ciency was, as a rule, made the qualification for command ; and miserable as were many of the results of the French wars, they gave us the memory of some splendid victories, which are the heritage not of the nobility or of the gentry, but of Englishmen of every class. For allies, Edward followed the obvious policy of confederating the smaller states on the French borders. The emperor, Louis of Bavaria, Edward's ^^d William of Hainault were his brothers-in-law ; the Flem- Aihes. jj^gg^ under the great brewer, James van Artevelde, were to him what the Scots were to Philip of France ; and he hoped by a free distribution of money to attack the north-eastern frontier of France with an overwhelming force ; while Henry, earl of Derby, son of Henry of Lancaster, undertook the task of defending Gascony. In 1338 Edward sailed to Flanders, and called on his allies to fulfil their promises. The response, however, was extremely tardy. Some refused to invade France ; others to advance far across the frontier ; and Edward, having in vain challenged Philip to a fair battle, and waited his onset for a whole day at the village of Flamengiie, was forced to retrace his steps, after incurring the enormous debt of £300,000. Such a deficit compelled Edward to make a further appeal to the patriotism of his subjects. Nor did he ask in vain, for in 1339 the barons ofiered him the tenth lamb, the tenth fleece, and the Further , , ,. n , i i Money tenth slieaf ; and the commons no less than 30,000 sacks of wool. These grants, however, were not made without equivalent concessions on the king's side. The taxpayers were perfectly aware of the strength they derived from the king's necessities, and steadily adhered to the i^arliamentary maxim, that redress of grievances must always precede supply. The grants, therefore, were made con- ditional upon the king's accejDtance of a series of articles of reform. These were most important. By one, the king promised that he would ^^ ,, collect no more unauthorised tallages — a concession which Edward s ° Conces- completed the restrictions on arbitrary taxation contained in the Conjirmatio Chartarum. By a second, redress was promised of the grievances of purveyance. A third did away with the ancient impost of 'presentment of Englishry,' which prac- tically amounted to a fine on the hundred of about £40 for every un- punished murder. Other causes besides the war helped to increase the power of parlia- ment.^ By the statute of York in 1322, the commons had obtained full 1340 Edward III. 249 recognition of their right to a share in the deliberations of ParUament. In 1331 and 1332 the knights of the shire had deliberated by themselves on the question of Edward's quarrel with France, and a pro- posed crusade. From this time the separation between the Power^of ^ knights and the barons seems to have been usual, and in ^^^^'^'"^"t. 1341 the knights are recorded to have sat in one body with the repre- sentatives of cities and boroughs. This change was most important. By birth the knights of the shire were of the same into^wo°" class as the lords ; often they were younger sons of baronial ^°"^^^- families. As landholders, though their properties were smaller, they tended to look at things from the same point of view as the barons ; while by sitting with the townsmen they learned to appreciate their standpoint, and to act in common with the trading classes. A hundred years later the towns had even begun to elect country gentlemen as representatives, so that the distinction between town and country became almost obliterated. This arrangement, which was almost peculiar to England, marked the great difference between the English j)arliament and the estates, diets, and cortes of the continent. In these, the three divisions between nobles, clergy, and commonalty gave the sovereigns a •welcome opportunity of playing off two classes against the third to the ruin of all ; whereas in England, the union of the bishops, earls, and barons in one house, the union of the knights of the shire, citizens, and burgesses in another, and the absence of the inferior clergy, though it spoilt the symmetry and even the completeness of the representation, effectually deprived English sovereigns of this method of attack. The presence of the bishops and abbots in the Upper House also Strength made the House of Commons to be distinctly the house of of the the laity, and consequently the representative of a feeling of resentment against the engrossing of offices by the clergy, which had already begun to show itself. The community of feeling between the barons and the knights of the shire, and the disadvantage under which the barons found themselves in being outvoted in their own house by the solid phalanx of clerical members, soon led to the lords pushing the commons forward into the forefront of the constitutional battle, and to their finding their best advantage in bringing forward their stewards for election as knights of the shire, and using all their territorial influence to secure a majority in the popular chamber. The consideration of the terms demanded in 1339 took some time, and the grants were not made till April 1340, when, in consequence of the king's concessions, both barons and commons made an even more liberal contribution than they had originally offered. Philip had l)y this 250 Later Angevin Kings 1340 time altered his tactics ; and instead of playing a waiting game within his own frontier, had taken measures to prevent Edward from again landing Battle of in the Netherlands. With this view he had sent to the Sluys. harbour of Sluys, on the coast of Flanders, a fleet of over tAvo hundred vessels. Edward had wisely expended part of his money on restoring the navy. He was, therefore, able to collect a strong force from the southern ports ; and without waiting for the northern con- tingent, sailed in June to attack Philip's fleet. He found it drawn up in four lines, the shij)S of which were chained together, bow and stern, so as to make a floating rampart, on which the men-at-arms could fight as on land. Against this Edward devised an ingenious method of attack. He arranged his ships in groups of three ; that in the centre carrying men-at-arms, those to right and left of it, archers. Then wait- ing till the afternoon sun was at his back, he bore down on the French lines. His ingenuity was rewarded with a great success. The archers soon cleared the decks of the French vessels ; the men-at-arms completed the victory by boarding, and soon every ship in the front line was in English hands. At this moment the contingent from the northern ports came up, and a fresh advance was prepared for. Terrified at the pros- pect, the Frenchmen in the second and third lines leapt overboard ; but the sixty ships of the fourth line fought well, and a few made good their escape under cover of the night. The immediate efi'ects of the victory were most important. Every French port was opened to Edward, and though, in 1350, he had a severe struggle with a fleet of Spanish privateers, the dominion of the seas was secured for England for nearly thirty years. Flushed with his success, Edward then formed the siege of Tournay. But again Philip's tactics foiled him. Tournay was held by a powerful garrison. Philip with a large army hovered near, ready to take advan- tage of any mistake but resolutely determined not to fight on equal terms. The long delay exhausted Edward's supplies, and when winter came on he was obliged to raise the siege. Furious at his disappointment, Edward foolishly allowed himself to be hurried into a quarrel with the Stratfords, who had been his faithful _ , servants for ten years. Like every other minister who was Quarrel "^ -^ with the not a baron, the Stratfords had enemies among the nobility, and the archbishop had probably aggravated their hostility by courageously setting his face against the growing immorality. There was also rising a feeling against the monopoly of office enjoyed by the clergy. As the official representative of the old Lancastrian i^arty, Strat- ford was also opposed by Orleton and by Burghersh, bishop of Lincoln, a 1341 Edivard III. 251 nephew of Lord Badlesmere ; and Edward, angry at the slowness with which supplies had been sent, allowed himself to lend a ready ear to the accusations of Stratford's enemies. Accordingly, in November, he arrived without warning in London, and the very next day turned Kobert Stratford out of the chancellorshiii, dismissed a number of other officials, and even imprisoned some merchants, among whom was William de la Pole. He then made one layman, Robert Bourchier, chancellor, and another, Sir Robert Parning, treasurer. Meanwhile the archbishop, flying before the storm, had taken refuge at Canterbury, and when Edward summoned him to court, he declined to place himself in the king's power. In some respects the quarrel recalls that between Stephen and Roger of Salisbury ; but the conditions were really very different. If Stratford had trusted to his position as a churchman he would have leant on a broken reed ; but in trusting to the support, not of garrisoned castles, but of the goodwill of the English people, he stood on far stronger ground than either Thomas of Canterbury or Roger of Salisbury. Stratford maintained that the recent arrests were illegal, and declined to meet the king except in full parliament. Edward, on his side, accused Stratford of wasting his money, and so of being the real cause of the recent failure. In April 1341 parliament met. When the archbishop appeared he received orders to present himself before the court of exchequer. His answer was a demand to be tried by his peers. The case was referred to a committee of twelve lords, who The Rights reported that to try a peer except in full parliament and ° ^^^^' before his peers was illegal. This decision showed that Stratford had the parliament at his back, and Edward wisely gave way. Not contented with this victory, for which they were mainly indebted to Stratford's courage and character, the lords and commons proceeded to extract further concessions as the price of the additional _ ^ . Further gTant. Again Edward was forced to yield, and his con- Concessions stitutional concessions embodied three rules of very great importance. First, that the accounts of the kingdom should be audited by auditors elected in parliament ; second, that the chancellor ^ ^.^. . '' r > > Auditing of and other great ministers should be appointed by consulta- Accounts, tion between the kino; and his lords, and should be sworn Appointment *=> ' .of Ministers, before parliament to keep the law ; third, that at the begm- ning of each parliament ministers were to resign their offices into the king's hands, and be compelled to answer complaints brought j^fij^jg^erial against them. The first of these gave parliament increased Responsi- control over the purse, for it enabled it not only to vote taxes but also to inquire how they had been spent : the second and 252 Later Angevin Kings 1341 third contained the principles that parliament ought to have a voice in the appointment of ministers, and also that ministers, when appointed, are responsible to parliament for their management of affairs. These contain in the rough the framework of the constitution as we see it working at present. Could they have been maintained in practice, the parliament of the fourteenth century would have anticipated, by more than three centuries, the actual growth of parliamentary government. The ground, however, so gained was too advanced to be held. In October, when the king had obtained his supplies, he ventured to revoke his concessions, and the next parliament raised no opjiosition to his action ; but, short- lived as they were, they serve to show how uniform have been the objects aimed at by English statesmen, and how strong parliament had become. For some years after the abortive expedition of 1340 the French war languished. To the credit of successive pojDes, great efforts were made by the church to effect a reconciliation between Edward and Abortive Negotia- Philip on the basis of Edward receiving Gascony in full sovereignty in exchange for a renunciation of his claim to the crown ; but though they were able to negotiate prolonged truces, the suspicions of both sides jjrevented the conclusion of a definite peace. However, a disputed succession in the duchy of Brittany between John de Montfort, the brother, and Jane, the daughter of the late duke, ojDened up a new field of warfare. Edward, with curious inconsistency, supported the claims of John ; Philii^, more logical, as correctly distinguishing between the succession to a crown and that to a duchy, espoused that of Jane, and soon a civil war was being fought in Brittany with the aid of soldiers from both England and France. Meanwhile Edward had become disgusted with his northern allies. Louis of Bavaria had deserted him ; James van Artevelde had been murdered in 1345 by the men of Ghent as their answer to a suggestion that they should take Edward's son Edward as then- lord ; nothing more could be hoped from Hainault, so Edward determined to attack France from a new quarter. Since the cessation of the war on the Flemish frontier, Philip had been able to concentrate his forces in the south, and had pressed hardly on the English garrison of Gascony. The earl of Derby, however, had defended himself with great skill, and at Auberoche had won a brilliant victory over a superior French force. Accordingly, in 1346, Philip determined Invasion of to crush him with an overwhelming army of 100,000 men ; Normandy. ^^^^ ^g ^ diversion, Edward crossed the Channel and landed in Normandy. After reaching Caen he proceeded to Eouen, intending to cross the Seine and make a junction with a body of Flemings who were ravaging in the north-east. He found, however, that the bridge was 1346 Edward III. 253 strongly held, and that Philip with a numerous force was guardinc the northern bank. Foiled at Rouen, Edward marched up the river, sackino- and burning Mantes and Vernon as he went ; but failed to find a bridge or ford unguarded. His movements were followed by Philip on the north bank ; and it seemed as though retreat either to Gascony or to his ships was inevitable, when a clever feint on Paris caused Philip to hurry on, and Edward rapidly retracing his steps, seized the bridge of Poissy a few miles below Paris, and flung his army across the river before his design was discovered. (See p. 317.) From Poissy Edward made all haste towards the Flemish frontier, hotly pursued by the French ; but his road was barred by the river Somme, which flows slow and deep through a marshy soil, and could only be crossed at a few points. These were all held, and through Edward found himself enclosed in the angle between the ^^"^e. river and the coast. Escape seemed impossible, when a peasant was induced by promises and threats to disclose the existence of a bar of white shingle, still called Blanche Taque, where the Somme could be crossed at low- water just above its junction with the sea. On arriving there the ford was found to be defended by a powerful force of cavalry ; but the English, impelled by the courage of despair, fought their way across, and Philip only arrived in time to see the incoming tide efiectually jjrevent the continuance of the pursuit. Chagrined at his disappointment he retraced his steps to Abbeville, while Edward, who was now deter- mined to risk a fight, turned to bay at Crecy, a little village situated in his hereditary county of Ponthieu. The ground chosen may well have reminded Edward of Halidon Hill, where he had seen archers defeat a force of cavalry similar to that by which he now expected to be attacked. Behind the village ^ , . , Crecy. of Crecy a piece of high ground slopes away on three sides for a distance of six hundred yards from a windmill which still marks the spot. Such sloping ground was exactly what was wanted for archers, in order that the rear ranks might have a good view of their opponents, and it also gave the cavalry the additional disadvantage of having to charge uphill. Accordingly, Edward halted there on the evening of August 25, and prepared to fight Philip on the following day. The rest was a great help to the English, and they made good use of it to prepare for the coming fight. Edward drew up his men on the hill- side with their backs to the light, in three bodies each com- Position of posed of men-at-arms and archers. All were on foot. The ^ ^ "g 's . archers of each body were arranged in lines behind one another, like the teeth of a harrow, or the pieces on a draught-board so that those 254 Later Angevin Kings 1346 in the rear could slioot over the heads of their fellows. Behind the archers stood the men-at-arms, armed with spear, sword and buckler, and provided with coats of mail. The first division, led by the Prince of Wales, now a lad of fifteen, assisted by the earls of Warwick and Oxford, was on the right. Behind him were a body of Welsh and Irish footmen, armed with long knives. To the left of the prince's men, and a little in their rear, was the second division under the earl of Northampton. The third, under Edward himself, was in reserve. Edward is said to have had in these divisions only four thousand men-at-arms and twelve thousand archers ; but besides these he had the Welsh and Irish, and a body of archers had been told off to guard the baggage and the horses. C=Vadicoiirt aboitt J^ tniles /roDi La Broye. \ English Foot. .» Archers. -J^rer.ch. 4« Cross erected to met}iory of the King of Bo>t€7nia Position of the French. Against this smaU but highly efficient force, in which nobility, gentry, and yeomanry stood side by side, presenting on the battlefield the unity of sentiment which was the true cause of the national strength, Phili]3 brought an army, vast indeed, but singularly typical of the distracted condition of the country. The vast majority of the fighting-men were feudal vassals, arrayed in full armour and on horseback. The middle classes were conspicuous by their absence. A few serfs, dragged unwillingly to the field, made up the native infantry, to which was added a body of fifteen thousand Genoese crossbowmen by 1346 Edimrcl III. 255 way of supplementing the most obvious of their deficiencies. Philip, who liked not pitched battles, wished to postpone the fight till the next day ; but the impetuosity of his men, who looked on victory as certain, flunci prudence to the winds. The first to attack were the Genoese ; but a heavy thunder-shower had wetted their crossbow-strings, and their bolts flew feeble and inefficient. The English, on the other hand, to whom rain was no stranger, had kept their strings under their coats till the last moment, and their arrows flew true and strong to the mark. Before such a deadly hail the Genoese drew back, and the French knights, furious at thek defeat, cut down the poor fellows as they ran. Then the serious fighting began. As at Halidon, the cavalry struggled to mount the hill, but the English shafts soon strewed the ground with struggling horses and fallen men, among whom the Welsh and Irish did terrible slaughter with their long knives. At length by sheer weight of numbers the French closed on the English ranks, but so w^ell did the first and second divisions stand their ground, that the king, who from the windmill commanded a perfect view of the field, never found it necessary to engage his reserve at all. In vain the count of AleuQon, the brother of the French king, sacrificed his life ; in vain the blind old king of Bohemia, who was fighting as an ally of Philip, caused his horse to be led into the fight so that he might have one stroke at the English. When night fell the English ranks were still unbroken, while the French, wearied and leader- less, were in hopeless confusion. Philip, wounded, fled from the field to La Broye, and thence to Amiens. The next day a dense mist prevented the French from rallying or seeing their enemies, and the slaughter of stragglers was said to have exceeded that of the battle itself. Altogether, eleven princes and twelve hundred knights met their death, and of those of less note a number estimated at thirty thousand. The glory of the day was given to the Prince of Wales, who adopted as his own the motto Icii clien, ' I serve,' said to have been that of the king of Bohemia ; but the chief merit of the victory was really due to the archers. From Crecy, Edward marched to Calais and laid siege to it. For several reasons Calais was a valuable prize. Its possession siege of would place in English hands a convenient landing-place for Calais, troops, contiguous alike to France and Flanders. It would also be an excellent emporium for trade ; and, moreover, would destroy a nest of pirates which had long been a bugbear to the merchants of the Channel. The works of Calais, however, were strong ; the marshes by which it was surrounded were passable at few places. Winter was coming on, so Edward decided not to hazard the risk and loss of English hfe that must 256 Later Angevin Kings 1346 attend a regular siege, but to house his men comfortably, exclude all provisions from the beleaguered town, and wait for famine to do its awful work. Such a course, the hardships of which fell not so much on the fighting-men of the garrison as on the unfortunate inhabitants of the town, added a new and terrible horror to war. PhiliiD's first hope was that a Scottish invasion of England might compel Edward to return. At his request David had crossed the border Scottish with a large force of light horsemen, and made his way by Invasion. Hexliam into the bishopric of Durham. To meet them, a second army was collected by the orders of Queen Philippa, under the archbishop of York and the lords Henry Percy and Ealph Neville, and compelled the Scots to fight at Neville's Cross on October Battle of -"^ ° Neville's 17. Hedges and enclosures encumbered the Scottish attack. Checked by these, their horsemen presented an easy mark to the English archers. As the Scottish ranks wavered, the English in their turn charged, and so vigorous was their onset that both wings of the Scottish army were quickly broken. In the centre, however, David fought with unflinching courage, but an arrow- wound in the face brought him to the ground. Coupland, a Northumberland gentleman, effected his capture ; and the discomfited Scots fled in utter disorder. The victory of Neville's Cross and the capture of the Scottish king effectually secured Edward from Scottish interruption ; and his sailors beat off a relieving fleet which Philij) dispatched to succour the garrison. All through the winter the terrible blockade went on, and when spring came Philip summoned another army and advanced to raise the siege. His efforts, however, were abortive. He found the English lines too skilfully planned and too well defended to offer the least prospect of a successful assault ; and though Edward, somewhat rashly, advanced into the open country and challenged him to an equal fight, Philip preferred an ignominious retreat to another experience of English archery. Thus, deserted by their sovereign, and having finished their provisions, the garrison had no course but unconditional surrender ; and on August 4, Surrender 1347, Calais capitulated. Edward made some show of punish- of Calais, jjjg j-}jQ townspeople for their piracy ; but graciously yielded to the milder counsels of his queen, Philippa. Determined to hold the town at all costs, Edward removed all the inhabitants who declined to take an oath of allegiance, and filled up their places with colonists from England. To secure the prosperity of the town, a market was established for the staple commodities of tin, lead, and cloth, and as the chief channel for trade between England and the continent it enjoyed, under its English rulers, many years of great prosperity. The defences were put 1349 Edward III. 257 in such good order as to be deemed impregnable, and a strong garrison maintained. While Edward had been successful in the north, a less conspicuous but even more honourable war had been maintained in Gascony. -^^j. • Philip had sent his best troops to the south, and the summer Gascony. of 1346 saw John, duke of Normandy, his eldest son, enter the province with an excellent force of six thousand horse and fifty thousand foot, and a full complement of besieging engines. Before them the Gascon fortresses fell fast, till at length the castle of Aiguillon, defended by Sir Walter Manny, checked their progress. From May till the end of August, this brave man and his heroic followers repelled every assault. Famine, how- ever, was imminent, when the news of Crecy recalled Duke John to the assistance of his father ; and the earl of Derby, vigorously taking the offensive, was able not only to clear Gascony of the French, but to storm and plunder the rich town of Poitiers. In recognition of his t^i^xq of services, Derby, who in 1345 had become earl of Lancaster, Duke, was in 1351 honoured with the title of duke, a rank first created in England for Edward's eldest son, who had been made duke of Cornwall in 1337. The capture of Calais brings to a close the first period of the war. Towards securing the crown of France, Edward had made little or no progress, but he had taken Calais, brought home quantities of ^ ® ' . . Effects of spoil, and permanently enriched the annals of England with the French the memory of the victory of Crecy. On the other hand, war and plunder had begun to have a demoralising efi'ect on the country. The standard of luxury is thought to have been permanently raised by the lavish squandering of the spoils of France ; the profession of arms had been exalted to an undue eminence, to the disadvantage of more use- ful though less showy avocations ; and habits of plunder and rapine, learned in foreign war, were not readily abandoned, and tended to harden the national character. For a time, however, the attention of men was diverted from the war by the arrival of a new and horrible calamity. This was the ^he Black Black Death, the best-known of a series of plagues which l^eath. devastated England during the years 1349, 1361, and 1369. It was believed to have broken out in China in 1333, and gradually made its way to Europe, devastating each country through which it passed with all the rapidity and destructiveness of a new disease. Carried by infec- tion along the usual trade-routes, it reached Constantinople and Cyprus in 1347. It appeared at Avignon in January 1348 ; in April it reached Florence ; and the first cases were noticed in Dorsetshire in August. R 258 Later Angevin Kings 1349 From the Dorsetshire ports it spread to Bristol, and thence to Oxford, and from Oxford it made its way to London, and from there to Norwich. It then spread over the northern counties. For some time, however, it was checked by the devastated line of the border, and the exultant Scots began to swear ' By the foul death of the English ' ; but presuming on their fencied impunity, a raiding party ventured across the line, and the disease soon showed itself no respecter of persons. From England it travelled to Norway, and finally reached Eussia in 1351. Everywhere it went its ravages were terrible ; the strongest died even more suddenly than the weak. Neither palace nor cottage was spared. The spread of infection was aided by the filthy habits of the people, and the neglect of all sanitary precautions. It is hard to know how many persons died. There were then no registers of deaths and burials, and in time of panic such matters are apt , to be exceedingly exaggerated. The best modern calcukitions, Extent of & J »» _ 5 the Mor- however, put the number at one in three of the whole popu- ^ ^ ^' lation. The disease spared no class. A daughter of Edward, and two archbishops of Canterbury, were victims of the first year ; in the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire, one half of the parish priests are said to have perished. On some manors whole families seem to have been cleared off. The Oxford students were decimated. In many monasteries the numerous vacancies had to be filled as best they could, and a permanent deterioration in the character of the monks seems to have been the consequence. On the other hand, the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, sufi'ered little — an escape probably due to the good supply of pure water, which, a century before, they had prudently laid on from the hills. This great disaster was sufficient to cause an economical revolution. At that date England was almost wholly an agricultural country. Some The Manorial cloth was made, indeed, but mostly for domestic use and System. j^q^ fQp gg^jg . ^^ greater part of the English wool being despatched to the looms of Flanders. The whole of rural England, outside the forests, was divided into manors,^ which pretty nearly corresponded in area to the ancient township, and the manor was organised on a system which appears to have been in course of gradual development since the pre-Norman period (see page 40). Usually half the arable land was in the hands of the lord of the manor, and called the ' demesne ' — a name 1 Our knowledge of the internal condition of the manor is derived from the Manorial Accounts, which began to be kept and enrolled on parchment about the year of Earl Simon's rebellion, and these play in the history of rural England the same part which the great Pipe Eoll does in that of the kingdom as a whole. 1349 Edimrd III. 259 which, under the form ' mains,' or even ' remains,' may often be traced in English farms at the present day. A second portion was usually in the hands of a body of freeholders, who might be military tenants holding the whole or part of a knight's fee, or socage tenants, who paid such a sum to the lord as had been fixed from time immemorial. Sometimes these freeholders made a payment in kind, such as a pound of pepper, a hawk or hound, or performed some duty, such as keeping two lamps lighted in the church. The rest was in the hands of villeins, and was held on more onerous terms, discharged partly by doing so much manual work on the lord's demesne, partly by money payments, partly by payments in kind. The villein was also restricted from leaving the manor without his lord's licence, from marrying his son or daughter without the same, or selling his stock, or cutting down timber, without the lord's consent. In return for these his holding, in some cases, was as much as twelve acres, at an estimated rent of about sixpence an acre, though sometimes the conditions were much harder. In every case, however, the villein had fixity of tenure so long as his dues were paid ; the rules show him to have been often the possessor of cattle and horses ; he had the run of the common for his stock, and could cut wood and get turf on the wastes ; the lord's licence could always be obtained for a money payment, and even if he chose to take French leave to the neighbouring town, the chances of his being reclaimed w^ere not great. Two opportunities of rising presented themselves — the church and the army — and the examples of Robert Grossetete, who became a bishop, and of Robert Sale, who became a trusted knight and officer of Edward iii., prove that servile birth was no check on the ambition of the intelligent and the brave. Beside the lord, the free tenants, and the villeins, all of whom were engaged in the actual cultivation of the soil, there were also certain artificers and craftsmen who held merely their houses, and perhaps a right to a run on the common for their cattle or poultry. Such were the miller, who rented the mill, the smith, and, in a large village, perhaps a regular weaver. There was also the parson, and perhaps a clerk of some kind, who undertook the prepara- tion of accounts, drew leases, and the like. Conspicuous among the inhabitants of every manor was the reeve, generally himself a villein, whose duty it was to see to the lord's interests, to exact the money pay- ments due to him, to require the fulfilment of labour duties, and to keep an exact account of the earnings and outgoings of the manor. In Chaucer's Prologue we have contemporary accounts of the miller, the reeve, and the ploughman, which should be read in this connection. If the lord was the owner of two or more manors, he visited each in 260 Later Angevin Kings 1349 turn to eat the produce of his estates ; and the arrival of himself and his servants must have been the event of the year. At other times the manor-house was the residence of the lord's bailiff. News from the outer world came from the lord's household, or the visit of a preaching friar or pardoner from Kome, or in times when land needed little atten- tion, lord, villein, freeholder and artisan might be found on pilgrimage. Such was the ordinary life of an English village in the thirteenth century. Life was hard, especially in winter, and comforts were few, but there always seems to have been plenty to eat. A man out of work, who wanted it, was unknown. The great curse of modern labour — uncertainty of employment — was absent ; and though the conditions of indoor life were inexpressibly dirty, fresh air and clean water were abundant, and the plentiful leisure of Sunday and holiday gave every one a fair chance of enjoying such sports and pleasures as lay within his reach. The chief business of the country was done at the great fairs, where the baihfFs brought their wool-packs, and the miners their pigs of lead or iron to seU to the foreigner or to the merchant of the town. The chief of these was that held at Stourbridge, near Cambridge, where the wares of different nations were arranged in sections and streets, as in a modern exhibition, and where it was the custom of the people of the eastern counties to lay in their stock of goods for the winter. Others were St. Bartholomew's fair in London, St. Giles' at Oxford, and St. Giles' at Winchester. At the period when the preservation of the manor rolls gives an accurate view of the condition of an English manor, two changes were Changes in taking place. First, just as the king had commuted mili- Progress. ^^-^j service for the payment of scutage, so the lord of the manor was gradually commuting labour services for money payments. When such a change was made, a memorandum of it was entered on the back of the manor roll, a copy of this was given to the villein, who then became what was called a copyholder, and his land a copyhold. All copyhold land at the present day must at some time or another have been in the hands of villeins. The second tendency was for the lord of the manor to give up farming himself, and to let his demesne to a farmer for a term of years at a fixed rent. This was certainly done so early as 1280. Such an arrangement generally involved the letting of the demesne as ' a going concern,' including the farm-buildings, implements of husbandry, and the stock. At the close of the term, the implements and stock, or their equivalents, had to be restored ; but it was the business of the lord to repair the buildings, and it is from this that the exceptional rule in English law that the landlord, and not the tenant, sliould do the repairs, takes its rise. 1355 Edward III. 261 This was the condition of rural England when some third of the population perished by the Black Death. The immediate result was a rapid rise in wages, and in the price of all articles in which the cost of labour was the principal item. This change fell the Black most severely on those estates where the lord had gone ^^^*^- furthest in the direction of commuting the services of his villeins, and on those farmers of demesne land who trusted to hiring labour. All landholders, in fact, except those who were themselves labourers, were very hard hit ; and ruin seemed imminent unless the price of labour could be kept down. Two plans presented themselves : the most obvious was the passing of a law to forbid any one to pay or to take wages higher than those paid in 1347 ; the second was to exact to the uttermost the labour services of those who had not entered into a composition. The first of these was done by a series of royal ordinances and statutes, known as the ' Statutes of Labourers,' which were passed in 1351, statutes of and again in 1362 and 1368, after renewed outbreaks of Labourers. plague. The second became the regular business of every reeve in the country. The effect, however, of the first remedy was exceedingly small. It is pretty certain that the statutes were evaded even by the reeves themselves, who found it needful at all costs to get their corn sown and their crops gathered ; and the average rate of wages increased by about one-half. The second merely caused a widespread exaspera- tion, which only waited for a favourable opportunity to produce a serious outbreak. For some years after the siege of Calais the French war languished, partly due to the plague, partly to the praiseworthy efi'orts of successive popes to arrange truces and to facilitate negotiations. In ^ , ,„ '^ . . Y 5 French War. 1350 Philip died, and was succeeded by his son John, a better soldier than his father, who had usually commanded the French troops in Gascony ; but Edward's terms — Gascony in full sovereignty, in exchange for the renunciation of his claim to the crown — were still indignantly rejected both by the king and his subjects ; and at last in 1355 the war was renewed in full violence. That year the Black Prince — a name given to the Prince of Wales possibly from the armour worn by him in some now-forgotten tournament — with sixty thousand men marched up the fertile and prosperous valley of the ujDper Garonne, devastated the whole country with fire and sword, and returned to Bor- deaux laden with sptoil. Next year the prince ventured into the heart of France with no more than twelve thousand men, and, sweeping north- ward from the scene of his last year's raid, harried the country from the frontier of Guienne to Poitiers. Near that city, however, he was forced 262 Later Angevin Kings 1346 to stand at bay at Maupertuis by an army which, unknown to him, had been collected by the king of France. Escape seemed utterly impossible. The French outnumbered the English by at least four to one ; and so desperate was the case, that the prince, in deference to the wishes of Cardinal Talleyrand, who, as representing the pope, was doing all he could to avert hostilities, offered to surrender his spoil and his prisoners. I. French attack. Eingr REFERENCE. A Salisbury. ^..-JVar^uick. C 2^hc Prince. '^ ' Cavalry. '^Mp:- "*" Farm of r^l:^-.. Ma2iJ>ertuis. ^:. '!i\\m^ Battle of POITIERS. _ 19%}? 1356.' ■"^i- ■'Oilu,'--'' '-''jj.V. REFERENJCE. y A^~.Salisl>ury' B IVarwick. ^.-JThe Prince, •^-^arin of Maupcrtitis. G. Detachynent seni to take the Prcnch in the rear. and to give a promise not to fight again for seven years as the price of a free retreat. Puffed with pride, however, John refused anything short of unconditional surrender, and the prince and his little band prepared to sell their lives dearly. The scene of the battle of Poitiers lies about four miles south-east of 1356 ' Edward III. 263 the town of Poitiers, near the present farm of Maupertuis. The ground occupied by the English at the beginning of the battle consisted of a broad plateau on the left, a hill on the right, and a Battle of ravine with a marshy bottom in the centre. All the slopes Poitiers, were covered with brushwood and vineyards, and in front of the left and left centre ran a hedge, in which, opposite the left, was a gap, doubtless for carts. The hedge and gap were defended by the earl of Salisbury, the ravine and marsh by the earl of Warwick, and the Prince with the earl of Oxford was on the hill. The reliance of the English was, as usual, on the archers, who occupied the hedge and every available piece of cover, while men-at-arms on foot were placed on the wings to guard against a flank attack. The French army was posted on the plateau in three great divisions, led resf)ectively by the king, the duke of Orleans, and the Dauphin. Mindful of Crecy, where the French wrongly be- lieved themselves to have been beaten by the dismounted men-at-arms, all the French were on foot, with the exception of two bodies of horse, who were to act as a forlorn hope and begin the action by charging, one at the gap, the other along the upper edge of the ravine. This attack completely failed ; for the French at the gap were utterly foiled by the showers of arrows that came through and over the fence, while their fellows suffered not only from these, but from the men in the ravine and even from the Prince's men across the ravine. A grand attack on foot by the Dauphin's division fared no better. Then followed a pause ; and Orleans, despairing of success, withdrew his men from the field. Seeing this, the Black Prince decided to take the offensive against the king's division. For this purpose he brought back his men from the hill, and formed most of them up with those of Salisbury and Warwick for a front attack, and also sent a body of men-at-arms and mounted archers to pass round the hill, keeping out of sight, and come out on the plateau in rear of the king. This combined attack proved completely successful. In spite of desperate bravery, John and his son Philip were both taken, and the French army was completely routed. Taking his prisoners with him, they returned in safety to Bordeaux. The capture of John was a terrible blow to France. That country had suffered infinitely more than England. Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Poitou, and Auvergne, had all suffered the worst horrors of Effects on war. The finances were in utter confusion. The nobles, the peasantry, and the burghers were divided against one another, and the king's captivity soon brought the whole country to the verge of anarchy. Its desolation was its only defence against the English, but that was adequate enough. Every march through such a desert meant 264 Later Angevin Kings 1356 the loss of hundreds of lives. An advance of Edward in person to Paris, in 1359, was thought to have surpassed in hardshij) all previous experi- ences of war ; and in 1360 the utter exliaustion of the French, and the obvious hopelessness of further success for the English, compelled both sides to come to terms. The result was the Great Peace, made at Bretigny in 1360. By it Edward gave up his claim to the French crown, and, Avith the exception Peace of ^^ ^^^® Channel Islands, to Normandy, Anjou and Maine — Bretigny. t,hat is, to the continental possessions derived from Henry ii. On the other hand, he was to keep in full sovereignty the whole of the duchy of Aquitaine as the descendant of Eleanor of Guienne, the county of Ponthieu as the grandson of Eleanor of Castile, and his recent con- quest, Calais. By this arrangement, Edward gave up the empty dream of uniting the two cro^vns, a task even more beyond his resources than the conquest of Scotland, and secured for his jDeople the rich valley of the Garonne, with its trade in wine and salt ; Calais, with the command of the narrow seas and an easy road into the continent for either our wool or our soldiers ; and for himself, the reputation of the greatest soldier of his time. In addition, the impoverished French were compelled to jDay a large ransom for the release of their king. This sum, however, proved far beyond their resources, and John died in London, unransomed, in 1364. The districts thus ceded were made into a principality for Edward's eldest son, on the analogy of Wales, and of the district of Dauphine, which had been handed over by the Dauphin or Dolj)hin, its hereditary ruler, to the French crown. The transaction, however, was incomplete until certain formal renunciations of homage and fealty had been performed. These ceremonies, however, were delayed by the procrastination of the lawyers, and eventually were not finished when a fresh outbreak of hostilities put a stop to the negotiations. In 1357 a permanent peace was made with Scotland. Ever since 1333 Edward had been in name the ally of Edward Balliol ; but in 1356 Balliol, Peace with old and childless, surrendered his hereditary rights and the Scotland, estates of his family for a sum of money. Edward, how- ever, was now prepared to acknowledge David's position without reserve, on payment of a ransom for the king and a further sum for the renun- ciation of his claim. This was agreed to, and the money, though a great strain upon the Scots, was most punctually paid. David's death occurred in 1371. By his wife, Joan of England, he left no children, and the throne went to Eobert the Steward or Stuart, the son of his sister Margaret and his father's old general, Walter the Steward. 1367 Edward HI. 265 While England and France had been at war, Spain had been convulsed by the crimes of Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile. Unlike France or Germany, Spain had never made any pretence of being a united kingdom. The inroads of the Moors, which ^^^"' reached their greatest extent in the tenth century, had left the Chris- tian inhabitants huddled up on the slopes of the Pyrenees, and of the Asturias, in the districts of Arragon, Navarre, and Leon. When the tide turned, two new kingdoms — Castile, or the Castle land, and Portugal, the name of a colony of mixed settlers on the shores of the Atlantic — had also been formed of lands retaken from the Moors. Of these Arragon was chiefly important from its connection with Italian politics and with Toulouse ; Navarre from its proximity to Gascony ; and Castile from its ever-increasing size. In the fourteenth century, the crowns of Castile and Leon had been united by marriage, and this had given Castile a decided pre-eminence. A revolt had just broken out against Pedro the Cruel, one of the most sanguinary tyrants who ever disgraced a throne. It was headed by his illegitimate brother, Henry of Trastamare, who, with the aid Pedro the of the ' companies ' of professional soldiers who, during the ^'"''^^^• later years of the war, had fought both on the sides of the French and the English, and had lost their occupation by the Peace of Bretigny, had already pressed his brother hard. Pedro visited the Black Prince at Bayonne and besought his aid ; and nothing speaks worse for the tone of mind produced by the rules of chivalry than that the Black Prince should have felt himself under any obligation to assist so undeserving a fugitive. Such, however, was the case; and in 1367, Edward, by leave of Battle of the king of Navarre, led an army of thirty thousand men Navarette. through the passes of the Pyrenees and advanced into the plain of the Ebro. There, between Navarette and Najara, not far from Vittoria, he encountered and routed Henry, and restored Pedro to the position he had disgraced. The success, however, brought in its train a series of disasters. Pedro re- fused to repay the money raised by the prince for the expenses of his expedi- tion ; the summer heats of Valladolid jDroved fatal to the English soldiers ; and, eventually, the Black Prince retraced his steps, hopelessly loaded with debt, and with his constitution ruined by an insidious disease. His assistance did little good to Pedro. So soon as his back was turned, Henry of Trastamare again invaded the country, and Pedro was defeated. In an interview with his brother he made an attempt to despatch Henry. A struggle followed. The tyrant was stabbed to the heart, and Henry ascended the throne as the persistent enemy of the English. 266 Later Angevin Kings 1367 Meanwhile the Black Prince, driven to his wits' end by the impor- tunity of his creditors, was compelled to levy a hearth tax on his French French War principality. By some it was readily paid ; but in the renewed. recently-annexed districts it was bitterly resented, and an appeal against it was lodged at the French court. As the renun- ciation of suzerainty had never been made by the French king, Charles agreed to hear it, and summoned the Black Prince to appear before him. Edward replied that he would willingly do so, but ' with 60,000 men at his back.' The boast, however, was a vain one ; and in 1369 the war was resumed under very unftivourable circumstances for the English. In any long war the balance always turns in favour of the country attacked. The invaders have against them the difficulty of keeping up their supplies of men and money, of getting adequate and trustworthy information from a hostile peasantry, and of having all the country against them, except that which is in the imme- diate occupation of their armies. All these began to be felt in full force by the English. Besides these, there were special causes. The battles of Crecy and Poitiers had been won by trained soldiers over hastily- gathered feudal levies. In the latter part of the war, the French armies were chiefly composed of professional soldiers commanded by such chiefs as the celebrated Bertrand du Guesclin, who thoroughly understood their business. Again, the most disastrous thing for a defending army is a defeat ; for invaders not to be able to fight at all is ahnost as ruinous. The truth of this had been as much demonstrated by the campaigns in which the French had avoided battle as those in which fighting had been attended by defeat ; and the new king, Charles v., was fully determined that come what might he would never allow himself to follow his father's imprudence at Poitiers, or that of his grandfather at Crecy. He was also extremely economical, and contrived to get the uttermost value out of his limited resources. In such circumstances, and against such an antagonist, the Black Prince would have been sore bestead, even if he had been in his full . vigour. Weakened by disease, and embarrassed at every Illness of ® -^ ' '' the Black turn by want of money, it was out of the question for him to bring the struggle to a successful issue. In 1370, the French invaded Aquitaine in force ; but, avoiding a pitched battle, they contented themselves with throwing garrisons into all the disaffected towns, among others into the cite or episcopal town of Limoges. Roused by the danger, the prince gathered his forces, and caused himself to be carried in a litter to besiege it. The inhabitants and garrison defended themselves bravely ; but in spite of all their efforts a breach was made, 1374 Edward III. 267 and an assault was on the point of being delivered, when an offer of capitulation was made. So furious, however, was the Prince at what he regarded as the insolent treachery of the citizens, that he refused all terms, and actually ordered that every soul in the cite of Massacre of Limoges should be put to the sword. This atrocious order Li"^o&es. seems to have been literally carried out. Man, woman, and child perished, with the exception of a body of knights, who had placed their backs to the wall, and were preparing to sell their lives dearly, when their bravery won the compassion of Edward. Such a horrid deed as the massacre of Limoges admits of no palliation. Indeed, the sparing of the knights makes the slaughter of the unoffending Avomen and children even worse ; for it shows the class feeling which was one of the worst products of the debased chivalry of the time. In the eyes of his contemporaries the Black Prince might, indeed, be the mirror of chivalrous virtue ; but, judged by any other standard of morality, the massacre of Limoges has left a foul stain on his character. Soon afterwards the Black Prince returned to England. Two years later, a disaster befell the English cause which made their position even more serious. An English fleet, under the earl of Pembroke, was defeated off La Rochelle by the Spaniards ; and the Battle of dominion of the sea, which we had held since Sluys, passed Rochelle. out of our hands. The result was to make the sea-route so precarious that next year an attempt was made to send succour to Gascony by marching an army from Calais. This was entrusted to the charge of John of Gaunt, Edward's second surviving son. The campaign, however, was a complete vindication of Charles' tactics. In July the great expedition left Calais. The French carefully avoided a battle ; but, hanging on the rear of the troops, they cut off" every straggler who left the ranks, harassed the baggage, destroyed the crops along the Losses in Fr3.ncc line of march ; and though the army eventually made its way to Gascony in December, it arrived in sorry plight, decimated in numbers, ruined in morale, incapable of adding any real strength to the defenders. After such a disastrous campaign, the French were able to advance with rapidity, and in 1374 the English had lost not only all the recent acquisitions of the treaty of Bretigny, except Calais, but all Ponthieu and all Gascony, except the towns of Bordeaux and Bayonne. Next year, by the intervention of the pope, a truce was negotiated, and was fairly observed till the end of the reign. It is now time to return to English aftairs. The activity of parlia- ment, which was noted as one result of the French war, showed no diminution during its continuance, and a number of notable statutes had 268 Later Angevin Kings 1352 been passed. Earliest among these is the Statute of Provisors, passed in 1351. By Provisors is meant the system by which the popes 'provided Statute of fo^^ their officials by giving them English preferments. Provisors. gi^ce John had granted free election to the clergy, and had confirmed it by the Great Charter, the actual method of appointing bishops had been the subject of much contention, which, on the whole, had been decided in favour of the popes. Left to themselves, chapters rarely came to a unanimous decision. When they could not agree they appealed to the pope ; and so frequently was he called upon to arbitrate that at length he almost succeeded in making it a rule, that in case of dispute the election should be set aside, and that he himself should appoint the new bishoj). Besides this, the popes also invented a system by which, before the death of a bishop, letters were written to the chapter reserving the next appointment to the pope ; and, moreover, it became an accepted rule that if a vacancy were created by the removal of a bishop to another see, the new vacancy so caused should also be filled up by the paj)acy. These encroachments, however, met with less resistance than might have l)een expected, because the pope was generally willing to apjDoint the king's nominee, such as Archbishop Stratford. The provisions, however, were extremely unpopular in the country, especially after the popes had removed their residence to Avignon, and became the dei^endants of the French king. Accordingly, in 1351, the statute of provisors enacted ' that all persons receiving papal j^rovisions should be liable to imprisonment, and that all preferments to which the pope nominated should be forfeit for that turn to the king.' Ulti- mately a comj^romise was eifected wholly in the king's favour. When a see became vacant the king sent a conge d'elire, or licence to elect, accompanied by a ' letter missive,' in which he named a person whom, if elected, he would accept. At the same time the king requested the pope to name the same person by a ' jjrovision.' In this way the dignity of all concerned was saved ; and, so long as it lasted, the king j)ractically nominated his own friends to any vacant sees. By John's Charter free- dom of election had also been given in the appointment of abbots. In this neither pope nor king interfered ; the former probably because he trusted the monks, the latter because the elected abbots, chiefly absorbed in the internal afiairs of their respective monasteries, took little active share in the afiairs of state. In 1353 was passed the first Statute of Praemunire. These acts were an Statute of elaboration of the principle enunciated by Wilham the Pramunire. Conqueror, that no letters from the pope should be received if they had not been first shown to the king, and were specially directed 1368 Edtvard III. 269 against the growing practice of appeal from tlie English ecclesiastical courts to that of Kome. These appeals were regarded with great dis- like, partly because they tended to undermine the royal afithority, and much more, because they withdrew money from the kingdom and poured it into the laps of the lawyers and officials of the papal court, thus reducing the tax-paying capacity of the EngHsh clergy, and adding indirectly to the resources of the king of France. A statute was there- fore passed to prevent persons prosecuting suits in foreign courts with- out the king's leave. Its name was taken from the first words in the writ oi 'prcemunire (a corruption of prmmoneri facias, cause A.B. to be fore- warned). The act of 1353 was very carefully drawn, and the papal court was not mentioned by name ; but in a subsequent act, passed in 1365, suitors in the papal courts are distinctly mentioned by name ; and later still, in 1393, when the country was exasperated by the pope's resumption of provisions and reservations, it was enacted that 'all persons procuring in the court of Eome or else^vhere such transla- tions, processes, sentences of excommunication, bulls, instruments, or other things which touch the king, his crown, regality or realm, should suffer the penalties of prsemunire.' These penalties consisted of forfeiture of goods and imprisonment during the king's pleasure ; and though the statute was often evaded, the fact that such penalties hung over delin- quents was a very serious check on papal interference with the affairs of the English Church. Coupled with the statutes of provisors and prsemunire, must be taken a decision made in 1368, by which the payment of the one thousand marks promised by John was finally repudiated. The money had been paid under Henry iii., discontinued by Edward i. ; again paid by his unworthy son, and again discontinued by Edward in. At length, in 1366, the pope sent a formal demand for the payment of thirty-three years of arrears. The demand was submitted to parliament. Though the precise form of their answer is unknown, it is certain the payment has never again been made, nor did the pope again venture to ask for it. In 1352 a very important statute defined the meaning of treason. The person of the king had from the earliest times been hedged about with safeguards which did not exist in the case of ordinary men ; statute of and since the Norman Conquest, and especially since the Treason, rise of the great lawyers, the relations between the king and the people had been the subject of much definition. According to the view held in the fourteenth century, the relation between the king and his landed subject involved the ideas of fealty, homage, and allegiance ; with non- landed subjects, of fealty and allegiance only. Of these, fealty was a 270 Later Angevin Kings 1368 personal undertaking to be faitliful as between man and man, homage was the oath by which the vassal swears fidelity to the lord whose land he holds, allegiance was the duty which every subject — landed or landless — owes to the head of the nation to which he belongs. Every man of fourteen, on being admitted to his frank-pledge, swore to be ' foial et loial,' — faithful and loyal to the king ; and if a landowner he did homage as well on coming into his estates. Treason and treachery were the violation of these undertakings. Under the Norman and earlier Angevin kings forfeiture had usually been the punishment for treason ; but in the time of Edward i. the less common punishment of death had been inflicted, and the adoption of this penalty, while it brought home to men's minds the heinousness of the offence, also made it imperative to have an exact definition of w^hat constituted the offence of treason. This was given in the Statute of Treasons of 1352, which defined the crime as ' compassing the death of the king or of his eldest son ; the violation of the queen, or of the king's eldest unmarried daughter, or of his son's wife ; the levying of war against the king in his realm, adhering to the king's enemies, counterfeiting the king's seal or his money, importing false money, or slaying the chancellor, or treasurer, or judges in the discharge of their duty.' In 1362 a most important statute was passed on the subject of taxation. By Magna Carta the feudal vassals had secured themselves, as a class, against the imposition of extra feudal aids or scutages ; by Grants the Confirmatio Chartarum the freedom of the nation as a forbi en. ^^,|-^Qjg £^,qj^-^ arbitrary taxation was secured. Neverthe- less, tallages on the royal demesne, and the cities and towns in it, were occasionally levied till 1332, but were finally forbidden by a statute passed in 1340, by which it was enacted that the nation should ' no more be charged or grieved to make any common aid or sustain charge, except by the common assent of the prelates, earls, barons, and other magnates and commons of the realm, and that in parliament.' It still remained open for the king to enter into special bargains with particular bodies, such, for example, as the wool merchants. Of this opening Edward in. had constantly availed himself; but the parliament of 1362 deprived him of this mode of evasion by enacting that no further subsidy should be set on wool without the consent of parliament. The long series of financial measures necessitated by the war resulted in several important changes in the system of taxation. In the twelfth _ and earlier centuries all taxation had fallen on land, and had New Taxes. i • n n i i < j taken the shape of scutages, carrucates, and aids, all calculated on so much per given area of land. In the thirteenth century, however, 1374 Edward III. 271 the rise of the great wool industry and the increased prosperity of the merchant class led to the introduction of taxes calculated, not on land, but on movable property — such as tenths, twelfths, fifteenths, of its value. Moreover, at the close of the century, the growth of foreign commerce attracted attention to the customs as an important source of revenue ; and duties on various articles of export and import began to form a large item in the national accounts. Accordingly, the ancient impost of scutage became exceedingly exceptional after the reign of Edward i. On the other hand, the customs duty on wool was first formally granted in 1275, and a general customs duty, under the title of tonnage and poundage, calculated at 2s. on the tun of wine, and 6d. on the pound of merchandise, was first formally granted for two years in 1373, as a commutation of the king's ancient right to a ' prise' or share of all goods passing out of the country. From this time forward the customs duty on wool and tonnage and poundage became one of the most important items of the parliamentary grants. The three feudal aids, or rather two, ' pur fille marrier,' and for the knighting of the king's eldest son, continued to be collected as before. Besides these important statutes, jDarliament gave a great deal of attention to the regulation of trade, particularly the staples of wool, lead, and tin ; frequently altering the regulations under which the General sales of these articles were to be permitted. Their chief Legislation, objects were to render taxation easy by concentrating trade in a few places, and also to prevent gold and silver from leaving the country, a feeling which appears in the anti-papal legislation of the time, and which was based on the idea long held that the amount of coin in a country is the true test of its wealth. During the middle ages ecclesiastical affairs had always two aspects — (1) the connection between the church of England and the papacy ; (2) the internal condition of the English church. During the ^ , . '=' ^ . Ecclesi- reign of Edward iii. both require attention. For some time astical Affairs, a very serious feeling of discontent with the clergy had been growing up in the country and shown itself in various ways. One cause of the unpopularity of the ecclesiastics was the way in which, since the Norman Conquest, they had engrossed the offices of state. With the exception of the lay chancellor and treasurer, gjgi^^ named by Edward iii. in 1341, these offices had invariably been held by ecclesiastics ; and the minor offices of what we should now call the civil services were almost exclusively in the hands of ecclesiastics. For many years this had been almost an unavoidable necessity, in con- sequence of the almost exclusive possession by ecclesiastics of the 272 Later Angevin Kings 1374 knowledge of business, account-keeping, and of the civil law ; but of recent years the universities had been turning out students well skilled in such matters, and in particular the practice of the law was falling into the hands of laymen. To these, and to the baronage, the position of the official clergy seemed an injustice, and those who held this feeling were naturally ready to make common cause for the moment with the baronial party, which always (see page 228) regarded with hostility the official advisers of the sovereign. Against the parish priests the chief grievance was their non-residence, which arose partly from one clergyman holding several Hvings, and only Parish residing at most in one ; and partly from the practice of Priests. beneficed clergymen deserting their cures and residing in London or other towns, where they gained an easy livelihood as chantry- priests, while their livings were served by ill-paid curates. The 'regulars' were beginning to be unpopular on account of their wealth, which had turned even the Cistercians into little better than The Regular communities of rich sheep-farmers, while the Friars, though Orders. ^\-^q ywo^I recently created of the orders, had found the temptations of their vagabond existence too powerful to be resisted when the first ardour of their enthusiasm had passed away. More unpopular, however, than any one order were the officials of the ecclesiastical courts, who had long converted what was intended to be an . engine for the suppression of vice into a machine for coUect- astical ing blackmail from sinners, and whose j)erpetual meddling and prying made them universally detested. Two contemporary and easily accessible pictures of the ecclesiastical life of the day should be examined in this connection : the Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which he gives a kindly and not exaggerated sketch of the various ecclesiastics of his day, and the Vision of Piers Ploughman, in which the vices and avarice of the clergy are denounced in a sterner tone. To reform these abuses one party appeared who wished to drive the clergy from all secular offices, and another who wished to purge the church of abuses and restore it to the purity of primitive times. Of these sections the leaders were John of Gaunt and John Wyclif. John of Gaunt was only the third son of Edward, who had grown to manhood ; but the death of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, in 1368, and the John of l*^^o absence of the Prince of Wales in Gascony, made him Gaunt. ^\^Q most prominent man about the court. He had been born at Ghent in 1340, and was created earl of Kichmond. In 1359 he married Blanche, the daughter and heiress of Duke Henry of Lancaster, on whose death, in 1362, he had become duke of Lancaster, earl of 1374 Edward III, 273 Leicester, Lincoln, and Derby, and as such the natural leader of the old Lancastrian party. By his hrst wife, Blanche, he had one son, afterwards Henry iv., and two daughters. After her death he married Constance of Castile, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Pedro the Cruel, and when she died in 1394 he married Katharine Swynford, the governess of his children and sister-in-law of Chaucer the poet, by whom he already had several illegitimate children, afterwards well known as the Beauforts. His abilities were fair, but his personal character was bad, and he aj)pears to have had little skill in winning popularity. In consequence, he never acquired any real hold over the people at large, and his chief influence was exerted as the leader of the nobility. If the court was the headquarters of the hostility to the clergy, represented by the duke of Lancaster, Oxford was the headquarters of the hostility to clerical abuses, represented by John Wyclif. university Since Kobert Pullein lectured on the Scriptures in 1133, and of Oxford. Vacarius on Roman law in 1149, the schools of Oxford had steadily increased in importance ; and at some date unknown the body of teachers and scholars had come to be recognised as a university or corporation, presided over by a chancellor, named by the bishop of Lincoln as head of the diocese, and capable of conferring the degrees of doctor and master. So important were these schools, that in 1186, when Gerald the Welshman wished to make known his work on the Topography of Wales, he could devise no better way than to go to Oxford and read it on three successive days to the students. Another j)roof of their importance is shown by the efforts made by the various religious orders to get a hold over the teaching. In 1221 the Dominicans, on first landing, made their way to Oxford, and in 1224 were followed by the Franciscans, and afterwards by the Carmelites and Augustinians. Many of the older monastic orders, especially the Benedictines, sent scholars from their convent schools to reside at the university, and established for them special halls of residence. So successful were their eflorts that the mendicant orders soon became a very important and almost a dominant element in the life of the place ; and Roger Bacon, liimself a Franciscan, complains that they with- stood the progress of true learning no less than the clergy. Against this predominance of the orders a stand was made by Walter de Merton, chancellor of Henry iii. Hitherto with the exception of those who lived in one of the hostels of the orders, or had united for economy to hire a house under the leadership of a ' principal,' the pQu^dation students had lived in lodginos about the town. Walter's of Merton 1 . . ■ 1 • 1 J ^ College. plan was to mcorporate his students as an independent society, enjoying the advantage of the lectures of the ' schools,' but living s 274 Later Angevin Kings 1374 together under proper discij)line. Such corporate life was calculated to promote in his scholars a feeling of esprit de corps, and in his statutes Walter de Merton set before them an ideal dififerent from that preached by the orders. No ' religious person' — that is, no monk or friar — was to be a member of the body, and the scholars were to set before themselves as their aim, not the narrow vision of obedience to the petty interests of an ' order,' but to go out and to do good service in the great world. It was in 1264 that Walter de Merton obtained his charter, and in 1274 he settled his small body of Fellows and Scholars at Oxford. The foundation of Merton forms an epoch in the history of Oxford, for the example of Walter was soon coj^ied by others. The first ordinance of Balliol dates from 1282. Exeter College was founded in 1314, Oriel College in 1326, Queen's College in 1340. A similar change occurred in the life of the younger university of Cambridge, and in 1280 the statutes of Peterhouse, the first Cambridge college, were copied from those of Merton. The ' orders,' however, were not willing to lose their hold on the universities without a struggle, and it was as a leader in this rivalry between the 'seculars' and the 'regulars' that Wyclif»appears to have first established a reputation. John Wyclif is believed to have been born in 1324 at the village of Hipswell, near Richmond in Yorkshire, some ten miles from Wyclifi'e- ,.. on-Tees, the home of his family. Of his boyhood nothing is John \Vyclif. known, but that he found his way to Oxford ; and the first definite fact known of his later career is that in 1361 he became master of Balliol College. As a head of a college Wyclif was by position a leader among the ' seculars,' and his character well fitted him for controversy. To a temperament naturally witty, humorous, and acute, he had added an admkable training in the methods of scholastic philosojDliy which turned upon acute definitions and distinctions. His personal character was so good that his opponents could never find in it the slightest handle for personal attack ; while his genial temperament appears to have won him the love and co-operation of others. Such a man made an admirable leader of the movement against the 'regulars.' In 1366 Wyclif brought himself into further prominence by defending, before the university of Oxford, the decision to withhold from the pope the tribute of 1000 marks ; and in 1375 he was selected as one of a deputation who were to meet the pope's representatives at Bruges, and argue the whole question of the relations between England and the papacy. Meanwhile, in 1372, the court party had taken vigorous action against the ecclesiastical ofiicials. Taking up the policy of 1341, they had demanded and secured thek dismissal, and a heavy tax had been levied 1376 Edward III, 275 on lands taken into mortmain since 1282 for the purpose of raising a fleet. A parable of the time illustrates the attitude of the courtiers. The owl (the church) had iDorrowed its feathers (endowments) Hostility to from the other birds (the laity) ; but when the birds were *^^ Clergy, in danger from the hawk (the French), then the birds rightly demanded to have their feathers restored for their own defence. Ill luck, however, attended the application of the story, for the fleet so provided perished oft' La Kochelle (see p. 267); the expedition of John of Gaunt was a failure, and the new lay officials showed themselves less competent to manage affairs than the more experienced ecclesiastics. Of these ecclesiastics the most conspicuous was William of Wykeham. This celebrated man was born in 1324. He had long served the court in the capacity of surveyor of works, had built for Edward the william of castles of Windsor and Queenborough and many other "VVykeham. buildings ; and in reward had been made president of the king's council, bishop of Winchester, and chancellor. In 1386 he founded New College at Oxford, and the college of Winchester, to which he gave for a motto the maxim 'Manners makyth man.' To John of Gaunt Wykeham appears to have been personally distasteful, and as Wykeham's cause was taken up by the clergy as a body, the controversy betw^een the two assumed a national importance. Meanwhile, the general condition of the country had become most unsatisfactory. Queen Philij^pa died in 1369; and after her death Edward iii. allowed himself to be completely fascinated by ^ '- , "^ Demoralisa- the charms of one of her attendants, Alice Ferrers or tion of the Pierce, whom he publicly exhibited in the streets of London as ' the Queen of Beauty.' Under her influence his character suffered a rapid deterioration. Alice acquired a greater influence than any king's mistress before or since ; wheedled the king into granting her the late queen's jewels, made an open sale of her influence, and actually ventured to dictate the decisions of the courts of law. Under her influence, the extragavance of the court knew no bounds ; the king was over- whelmed with debts ; and courtiers, such as lord Latimer and lord Neville and Kichard Lyons, made money by buying up the claims of the king's creditors and getting payment for themselves at the expense of others. Such a state of affairs at court caused widespread dissatisfaction ; and in 1376 Edward the Black Prince, wdio, since his return to England, had been living the retired life of an invalid, roused himself to The Good exertion ; and, putting himself at the head of the malcontents, Parliament, demanded a change of ministers and the purification of the court. The 276 Lat^r Angevin Kings 1376 famous parliament of 1376, honourably distinguished as ' the Good Parliament,' met in April, and, probably under the direct guidance of the Black Prince and William of Wykeham, made a vigorous attack on the court. As their speaker they chose Peter de la Mare, steward of the earl of March, who had married the daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, and was friendly to a policy of reform ; and then proceeded to attack Latimer, Neville, Lyons, and Alice Perrers. Their method of attack was almost as important as the attack itself, for the commons proceeded by impeaching the accused before the House of Lords. In this method of procedure, the House of Commons, as a body, appears as prosecutor. The Lords act as judges ; hear the evidence brought by the managers for the commons, their speeches on it, and the answers of the accused, and finally pronounce by a majority the verdict and sentence. Latimer and Lyons were found guilty of having lent the king 20,000 marks and receiving ^20,000 in return ; Neville of buying up the king's debts ; and Alice Perrers of breaking an ordinance which forbade women to practise in the courts of law. In June the Black Prince died, leaving behind him a name for military courage and chivalry, and perhaps a sounder reputation for the reforming John of 2®^^ ^^^ ^^^^ shown in his later years. As in the eyes of the Gaunt. reforming party John of Gaunt was capable of any crime, the commons proceeded to take trenchant measures to exclude him from j)Ower, and to secure the succession of the little Eichard, the sole surviv- ing child of the Black Prince. They had Eichard brought before them as heir ; induced the king to accept the addition to his council of ten additional members of the popular party ; and they presented no less than one hundred and forty petitions, demanding the redress of griev- ances of all sorts and kinds dealing with the administration of justice, the claims of the pope and foreign clergy, into whose pockets no less than i;20,000 of English money was said to go yearly, interference with the right of free parliamentary elections, and the non-enforcement of the statutes of labour. So long as parliament was sitting, favourable answers were given to their requests ; but when it was dissolved in July, after the longest session then recorded, John of Gaunt resumed his influence. Alice Perrers was recalled. Peter de la Mare was thrown into prison, and an elaborate list of charges of peculation, similar to those advanced against Hubert de Burgh and Becket, was brought against William of Wykeham. The new members of council were not allowed to sit, and not one of the petitions received the formal consent of the crown. Eeadily snatching at any weapon with which to attack the 1377 Edivard III, 277 clergy, John of Gaunt had endeavoured to pose as a sincere friend of WycHf ; and the Oxford doctor, perhaps too sanguine, perhaps too easily carried away by the blandishments of the court, had allowed himself to appear as a friend of the duke. Confident in the strength of his position and his power to pack a parliament, Lancaster summoned that body in January 1376, and was so successful that a majority of the members petitioned for the restoration of Latimer, Neville, and Alice Ferrers, and voted a poll-tax of one groat per head. Exasperated by the attack on Wykeham, convocation then determined to strike at the duke through Wyclif, who was summoned to appear before a committee of bishops at St. Paul's. He appeared Trial of under the protection of John of Gaunt and his friend Henry "Wyclif. Percy, who, having been formerly a reformer, had been won over by the office of lord marshal. The natural result was an altercation between Lancaster and the committee. The chairman, Courtenay, bishop of London, was insulted ; and so angry were the Londoners at the insult ofi'ered to their bishop that a riot followed, in which John of Gaunt and Percy with difficulty escaped with their lives ; but no violence seems to have been offered to Wyclif, in spite of his association with the unpopular noblemen. As yet, however, Wyclif had not published the views which afterwards gained him the reputation of a heretic ; but his short experience of political life seems to have decided him in favour of more effective and permanent ways of increasing his influence. For the moment John of Gaunt seemed supreme, and nothing short of an armed insurrection seemed able to displace him, when Death of the death of the king in June 1377 opened a new page in Edward iii. the contest. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Battle of Halidon Hill, 1338 Battle of Crecy, . 1346 Black Death, 1349 Statute of Treasons, . 1352 Statute of Praemunire, 1353 Battle of Poitiers, 1356 Peace of Bretigny, 1360 The Good Parliament, 1376 CHAPTEE IV RICHARD II.: 1377-1399 T> -it^nn • 1 r 1381, Anne of Bohemia. Born 1366 ; married -{ ,„^_ Tin r -n. ' 1 1395, Isabella of France. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Emperor. Robert ii., d. 1390. Charles v., d. 1380. Wenceslas, deposed 1400. Robert ill. , d. 1406. Charles vi. , 1422. The Minority — Peasant Revolt — The Lollards —Opposition Nobles displace the King's Ministers — Richard's personal rule — His revenge on the Nobles, and final falL On Edward's death, his grandson Eichard, the son of the Black Prince, was made king. He was only eleven years of age, and his accession is a Accession of strong proof both of the popularity of his father and of the Richard II. strong hold gained by the idea of hereditary right ; for as yet, with the exception of Edward iii., no minor had been allowed to reign in England who had an uncle of full age ready to take the throne. The experiment, however, was fraught with many dangers, one of which was the accumulation of immense territorial influence in the hands of _ . . the royal fiimily. The problem of providing for their Provision '' . "^ ^ i o for younger younger SOUS has always been one of difficulty for mon- archs. Before the Norman Conquest, the temjDtation to find such provision in the revival of under-kingdoms frequently proved a menace to the integrity of the realm. It is a strong proof of the prudence of William the Conqueror, that he created none of his sons an English earl ; and Henry ii., in dividing his wide dominions, had wisely kept England intact. The first to depart from this wholesome policy was Henry iii. ' who created the earldom of Cornwall for his brother Eichard, 278 1377 Richard IL 279 made his eldest son, Edward, earl of Chester, and his second, Edmund earl of Lancaster, Derby, and Leicester. Edward i. was responsible for the marriage of Edmund's son Thomas with the heiress of Lincoln and Salisbury ; and Edward ii. gave the earldoms of Norfolk and Kent to his lialf-brothers. On the accession of Edward iii., therefore, he found the earldoms of Chester, Lancaster, Derby, Lincoln, Leicester, Cornwall, Kent, and Nor- folk in the hands of the royal family, and when his sons ^he ^reat grew up, he carried on and extended the system. His eldest Earldoms, son, the Black Prince, was created duke of Corn wall in 1337, and married his cousin Joan, the heiress of the earl of Kent. His second son Lionel, duke of Clarence, married the heiress of William de Burgh, earl of Ulster, and heiress of a third of the estates of the earls of Gloucester and Hereford. In 1368 Lionel died, leaving a daughter, Philippa, who united her great possessions to those of Eoger Mortimer, earl of March, the great-grandson of the traitor, and himself one the leaders of the reforming party in the Good Parliament. Edward's third son, John of Gaunt, earl of Richmond, married the heiress of Henry, duke of Lancaster, who brought her husband, besides Lancaster, the earldoms of Derby and Leicester ; and their eldest son Henry married the heiress of half the lands of the Bohuns of Hereford ; while her sister gave her hand to Edward's fifth son, Thomas of Woodstock. The accumulation of territory in the hands of the royal family was therefore enormous ; and as the possession of certain territories appeared inevitably to force on the owner a certain uniform line of policy, it may be said, roughly speak- ing, that John of Gaunt was at the head of the ancient combination of north-country barons, that the line of Clarence was identified with the lords marcher of Wales, while the king as earl palatine of Chester and earl of Cornwall had special powers, which gave him a strong claim over the loyalty of the men of Cheshire, and a certain revenue from the valu- able mines of Cornwall. The most important earldoms unconnected with the royal family were those of Northumberland, created at the close of the last reign for Lancaster's friend, Henry Percy ; Warwick, held by the Beauchamps ; Salisbury, by the family of Montacute or Montagu ; Oxford, by the family of Vere, and Arundel. A knowledge of the dis- tribution of these earldoms is essential for understanding the events of the fifteenth century. Following the precedent set during the minorities of Henry iii. and Edward in., a council of government was appointed, re- The Royal presentative of both parties, including, for example, the earl Counci . of Arundel as the friend of Lancaster, and also the earl of March. To 280 Later Angerin Kings 1377 avoid jealousy the king's uncles were all excluded, and the guardianship of the king's person and the general superintendence of affairs were left to his mother, Joan of Kent, who enjoyed unbounded pof)ularity. When parliament met, the same conciliatory policy was carried on. The commons were deferential to the duke of Lancaster, and he on his part made no complaint when Peter de la Mare was re-elected speaker. It was agreed that during the king's minority the chancellor, treasurer, and other great officers of state should be chosen by parliament, and also that two London merchants, William Walworth and John Philipot, under the name of treasurers, should superintend the expenditure of a liberal grant made for the war. This excellent beginning, however, proved too good to last. John of Gaunt was too ambitious to be content with a secondary position, too incompetent to govern well when he got power into his hands, and his combination of arrogance and inefficiency soon made him as unpopular as ever. The greatest event of the early years of Richard ii. was the peasant revolt of 1381. It was the result of a variety of causes, the most obvious Peasant ^^ which, if not the most important, was the poll-tax of Revolt. 1381. Driven to their wits' end to provide money, and very imperfectly informed as to the taxable capacity of the country, the commons in 1379 had followed the precedent set in 1377, and levied a poll-tax. This tax was graduated. A duke paid £Q, 13s. 4d., earls paid ^4, and so on to the humblest villein, who contributed one groat ; and the clergy paid on a similar scale. This tax was collected with great exactitude ; and in those counties where the rate-books have been preserved, and especially where they have been printed, they afibrd a complete and accessible census of the population. The amount raised, however, feU short of what was needed, and in 1380 a second poll- tax was imposed. The graduation of this, however, was by no means so fair. The poorest were to pay one shilling ; the richest only one pound. Such an arrangement, which brought home to every one's door the consequences of ill government and extravagance, produced widespread discontent ; and in June 1381 the Kentishmen rose in arms, headed by Wat Tyler, who is said to have been driven to fury by an insult oflFered to his daughter, and rescued from Maidstone gaol a priest of revolutionary views named John Ball, the author of the distich ' When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman ? ' who had been imprisoned by the archbishop of Canterbury. Simultaneous with the Kentish rising, but excited by various causes. 1381 Richard II. 281 insurrections broke out in Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge, and even in such an isolated shire as Somersetshire. The mainspring of these outbreaks was hatred of villein ao-e. In Kent villeinage was unknown, and there the movement was of the"^^"^ distinctly political ; but elsewhere the villeins were deeply ^^'^^""2- incensed at the attempted enforcement of the statutes of labourers and at the stop which had been put in practice to the commutation of villein services for money. The times were exceedingly prosperous ; wao-es were naturally high, and in consequence, not only was restriction on a further rise resented, but those who still continued in villeinage saw that the real money value of their service rents was steadily rising, while no lord would willingly exchange them for a money commutation. In addition to this, it seems certain that considerable excitement had been caused by the less temperate of Wyclif s simple priests and other enthusiasts ; and the materials for insurrection had of late years been much augmented by dis- banded soldiery, who had returned from the wars. Accordingl}^, all these causes worked together to produce the most serious popular outbreak that England has probably seen. The actual insurrection only occupied a fortnight ; but while it lasted, Tyler's all the south-eastern counties were in flame. Everywhere Revolt, the manor-houses were fired and the manor-rolls burnt, precisely as was done by the French peasantry in 1789 ; and every lawyer on whom the peasantry could lay hands was promptly put to death. Converging on London, the Kentishmen, under Wat Tyler, crossed the Thames at London Bridge, murdered Simon of Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor, who is said to have called them ' shoeless ribalds,' and his colleague. Sir Kobert Hales, the treasurer, and roundly declared that they would never have a King John to rule over them. The villeins were less outrageous and more reasonable. Eichard met the Essex men at Mile-end, and having gained their goodwill by promising the abolition of villein tenure, prevailed on them to go home. Next day he met Wat Tyler at Smith- field ; but in the course of the interview an altercation broke out, in which Tyler was stabbed by William Walworth, the lord mayor. Richard, however, showed great presence of mind. Lad as he was, he rode boldly forward and won the hearts of Tyler's men by exclaiming : ' I will be your leader ! ' Meanwhile, Henry Despenser, bishop of Norwich, had put down the Norfolk insurgents at North Walsham,and burnt the church in which they took refuge ; and in other parts of the country the news of the king's promises was followed by the dispersal of the villeins. Difficulties, however, presented themselves in the way of giving these 282 Later Angevin Kings I38i promises the sanction of law. The villeins' demands were that the customary services should be abolished in favour of a fixed rental of four- pence an acre, and that all should have liberty to buy and sell in fairs and markets. To promise on his own responsibility that these should be granted, was clearly in excess of the king's prerogative. It was giving away what did not belong to him ; and when parliament met, the members, while showing themselves willing enough to take up the political cries of the Kentish rebels, took up the unimpeachable legal ground that the king had no right to promise an arbitrary and wholesale commutation of customary services. Apparently the villeins had lost their case ; but in practice they gained from individual landlords what parliament refused to sanction in the Results of niass. Terrified by the prospect of a second outbreak, land- the Revolt. \qj.^^ willingly commuted services so difficult of exaction, and found their advantage in letting their lands to leasehold tenants who cultivated them with hired labour. From the villein tenants of the fourteenth century sprang the yeomen of a later period, holding their copyhold lands practically as freeholds ; while the landless wage-earning labourers enjoyed after 1381 a period of prosperity Avhich lasted more than a century, until the wholesale introduction of sheep-farming pro- duced a new economical crisis. The hostility shown by the Kentish rebels to John of Gaunt convinced that nobleman that he had little chance of playing a great political game , , , in England. Nevertheless, he retained considerable influence John of '^ ' Gaunt goes till 1385, when he began to make preparations for an expedition to Spain, where he had some hopes of winning the crown of Castile, as husband of the elder daughter of Pedro the Crael. In 1386 he left England, and did not return till the close of 1389. Meanwhile, the ideas of Wyclif had been rapidly spreading. Shortly after the death of Edward, a bull directing his trial for holding opinions subversive of church and state had been received from Wyclif. Rome ; but when Wyclif appeared to answer the charges, he was backed by the presence of a large body of Londoners ; and the Princess of Wales, who knew Wyclif 's worth, and seems to have generally consulted him about papal business, peremptorily stopped the proceed- ings. Upon this, Wyclif retired to his living of Lutterworth, which had been presented to him by the crown, seemingly for his services at Bruges in 1375, and devoted himself to popularising his ideas. In this work he showed a capacity with which his Oxford friends could hardly have credited him. Abandoning his scholastic style, he poured forth a series of tracts in homely English, which are generally considered to be the first 1384 Pdchard II. 283 specimens of literary English prose written since the cessation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the reign of Stephen, and which even had they no historical importance, would have given Wyclif a high place in the history of English literature. Besides this, he organised a body of poor priests, not by any means dissimilar to Wesley's preachers who were to go through the length and breadth of the land, teaching, when permitted, in the churches, when not, on the village green or common and who were to show in their own persons an example of real poverty and asceticism. But what did more tlian anything else to secure per- manence for his reputation was the English translation of the Bible de- signed by himself, and carried out partly by his own hand and partly under his supervision. This translation was made, not from the original Hebrew and Greek, but from the Vulgate or Latin version ; so good, however was the Latin text, that Wyclif s English version has been made the basis of our own translation, and many passages of the latter repeat almost verbatim the words of Wyclif, Though Wyclif's name is not directly connected with the risino- of 1381, for John Ball's ideas were quite independent of Wyclif's teachino-, there is little doubt that the doctrine of equality preached by his priests, and their invectives against wealth and luxury, attack on had not been without influence in producing the feelings which ^^ ^ ' gave rise to it ; and it is certain that its suppression was followed by a formidable attack upon the reformer. Simon of Sudbury was succeeded by Courtenay, bishop of London, and, in 1382, he called a provisional synod to consider Wyclif's views. In the former trials it was Wyclif's political tenets which had been called in question ; now he was accused of heresy, and twenty-four conclusions extracted from his writings were branded as heretical. Among these was one which questioned the literal truth of the doctrine of transubstantiation ; a second that ecclesiastics should not hold temporal possessions ; a third was that ' he who gives alms to a mendicant is excommunicate.' Having obtained this decision, Courtenay's next step was to attack Oxford, the stronghold of Wyclif's views, and drive his adherents out of the university. Peter Eigge, the chancellor, Wyclif's friend, was expelled ; some were compelled to recant ; others fled. At a parliament held in Oxford, Wyclif was summoned to appear before convocation and explain his views. The result was a further condemnation, upon which Wyclif for the last time retired to Lutterworth. But in England Courtenay could do no more. No law existed for the burning of heretics ; and Wyclif was too wyciifs infirm and too prudent to obey a summons to Kome, and died in peace at Lutterworth in 1384. So successful had he been that in 284 Later Angevin Kings 1384 spite of the suppression of his ' simple priests,' his tenets spread rapidly, not only among the poorer classes, but even at court. Richard's queen, Anne of Bohemia, whom he married in 1382, was a convert ; and so numerous were his followers that it was said by an exasperated monk that ' if you saw five men talking together, three were Wyclifites.' The general name given to them was Lollard. Its origin is unknown. Some derive it from lullen, 'to sing' ; but in 1396, Pope Boniface ix., "writing to Richard ii., mentions them as those who call themselves ' the j^oor men of Christ's treasure-house,' but whom ' the common people in more correct language have called " lollards," as being " dry tares," lollium aridum,' which may or may not be a pun. As there were no children of Richard's marriage, it was needful to provide for the succession, and in 1385 the young Roger, earl of March, Richard's grandson of Lionel, duke of Clarence, was definitely Favourites, recognised as successor in case the king died without children. The same year the Princess of Wales died ; and as she was a woman of ability and tact, her loss as a moderating and reconciling power was much felt. Richard was now nineteen ; but in spite of the promise given by his resolute conduct in 1381, it was a long time before he showed any real inclination to assume the responsibility of government, and at an age when his father and grandfather were immersed in affairs, he was still given over to jDleasure. In these circumstances, his immediate friends had much influence ; and, as a rule, their influence was bad. His half-brothers, Thomas and John Holland, earls respectively of Kent and Huntingdon, were violent and lawless men ; Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, the king's bosom friend, was in everything, except that he belonged to an ancient English family, very much a second Gaveston ; Sir Simon Burley, his tutor, inculcated notions of high prerogative which were sure in their application to lead to trouble ; and though Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, the chancellor, was a painstaking financier and honest soldier, he never won the confidence of the country. Against these men, who might be regarded as a court party, a powerful opposition was being organised by Thomas of Gloucester, the king's uncle. The Opposi- and by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, earl of Derby, son ^^°"* of John of Gaunt. Much more astute than Lancaster, Thomas and Henry made every effort to conciliate not only the clergy but the commons. Lancaster had offended the former by his attacks on Wykeham and his patronage of Wyclif ; Bolingbroke won their favour by deference to Courtenay and by discountenancing any approach to LoUardism. On his part, Gloucester cultivated popularity, made himself a rival of Richard for popular favour, aided Bolingbroke to win the 1387 Richard II. 285 alienated affection of the Londoners. The result was the orowth of an opposition of no ordinary power, including Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick ; Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham ; Thomas, bishop of Ely, and his brother, Eichard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, and even William of Wykeham, now a very old man. The attack, which was more personal than political, opened in the parliament of 1386, when a demand was made for a heavy tax to enable Kichard to carry on the war in person. This naturally led Suffolk's to discussion ; and Richard was ill-advised enough to take dismissal, this opportunity to make his friend, Vere, duke of Ireland. The result was a storm. Parliament demanded the dismissal of Michael de la Pole ; Richard declared that at their request not a scullion in his kitchen should be dismissed. On this the act of deposition of Edward ii, was moved for in the commons, and Richard, having convinced himself that parliament was in earnest, dismissed Suffolk, and made bishop Arundel chancellor. The fallen minister was then impeached on the usual charge of malversa- tion, found guilty, stripped of his property, and ordered to be imprisoned. The next step of the opposition was to demand the appointment of a commission to regulate the royal household and the reahn after the manner of the Lords Ordainers. This was agreed to ; but Royal though he had yielded to pressure, Richard was none the Household less furious at what he considered an insult to his prerogative, by Commis- Taking with him Sir Simon Burley, the duke of Ireland, ^^°"' archbishop Neville, Tressilian, the chief justice. Sir Nicholas Brember, a Londoner, and releasing Suffolk, he retired into the country, and elicited from the judges an opinion that the commission was contrary to the prerogative of the crown. In return, Gloucester charged Neville, Vere, Suffolk, Tressilian, and Brember with treason, and both parties prepared for war. The collapse of the king's friends was, however, complete. Bolingbroke defeated Vere at Radcot Bridge Radcot in Oxfordshire, and Vere at once fled to the continent. Suffolk and Neville did the like. Tressilian and Brember alone were taken. A new parliament met in January 1387, and in it the five named by Gloucester were formally charged by Gloucester, Derby, Nottingham, Warwick, and Arundel, who were named the Lords The Lords Appellant. The charges were various : ranging from ^^^ attempting to make Vere king of Ireland, to causing Richard to impoverish the crown by lavish gifts of lands and money. The judges declared an accusation brought in this form illegal ; but parliament over- 286 Later Angevin Kings 1387 rode tlieir decision, found the accused guilty of treason, and, by what amounted to an act of attainder, condemned all except Neville to be put to death. This was immediately done in the case of Tressilian and Brember, and Neville was disposed of by the ingenious device of getting Pope Urban vi. to promote him to the archbishopric of St. Andrews in Scotland, a country which acknowledged a rival pope. Besides Tressilian and Brember, Sir Simon Burley and three other laymen were put to death ; and these wholesale executions of rival politicians mark a further development of the barbarous practices which had been begun by the murder of Gaveston, and were to culminate in the wholesale attainders of the Wars of the Eoses, and the judicial murders of the Tudors and Stuarts. By such acts the parliament of 1387 well earned its infamous title of the Merciless. For about a year Gloucester and his friends retained their power ; but in 1389, Eichard, who was now twenty-two years of age, suddenly declared his intention of managing his own affairs, dismissed Arundel from the chancery and the lords appellant from the council, and apparently with great satisfaction to his subjects inaugurated a new regime. The character of the young king has always been regarded as one of the puzzles of history. Good-looking, clever, cultivated, inheriting the Character of popularity of his father and mother, he nevertheless proved Richard II. ^ complete failure ; and ended by having his crown taken from him by a decision almost as unanimous as that which dethroned Edward ii. One cause of this was undoubtedly his habitual idleness. Whether this was due to constitution, or was the result of an evil bringing- up, cannot now be determined, but it certainly was the dominant trait of his political character ; and the occasional flashes of fitful energy which he displayed only served to make his ordinary conduct more exasperating. Nevertheless, for eight years, from 1389 to 1397, in spite of his high views on prerogative, he reigned with considerable success, acting con- stitutionally through his ministers and by the advice of parliament ; and the contrast between this period and the two years which followed is so marked that it has been suggested, with some plausibility, that a mental change amounting to insanity is the true explanation of his later conduct. Several events made government work more smoothly after 1388. In 1389 John of Gaunt returned from Spain, and, instead of resuming his Quieter former intrigues, showed himself an honest subject and a Times. faithful adviser of his nej)hew ; and as he had great influence over both his brothers, Gloucester and York, this change in his conduct was of the first importance. In 1390 Henry of Bolingbroke left England to fight against the Lithuanians, in the ranks of the German knights. 1396 Richard II. 287 and with the exception of one short visit to England, stayed with them till 1392. Then he went by way of Prague, Vienna, Venice and Rhodes to Jerusalem, and returned home in 1393 by way of Italy and France. Suffolk died abroad ; and, as Vere never returned to England, a com- plete break was made between Richard and his old advisers. The energies of Henry Percy were for the most part occupied in border warfare, during which, in 1388, was fought the famous battle of Otter- burn, near Wooler, the true facts of which have been almost lost in the ballad of 'Chevy Chace.' The earl of March was in Ireland; and Warwick, Mowbray, and Arundel were not strong enough of themselves to give trouble. All these things made for peace. The chancellorship was first given by Richard to the aged WiUiani of Wykeham ; and on his death in 1391, to bishop Arundel, who held it till 1396, when he became archbishop of Canterbury ; and the treasury was occupied by a series of able but not re- tionai markable bishops, whose policy was confined to the routine °vernment. of office. The period covered by their rule is marked by all the signs of good government. Ministers were trusted by parliament, which, on one occasion, expressly declared that it had no fault to find with their rule. Taxation was moderate and regular. Prices were low and waoes good. The irritation of the villeins was fast passing away through the reason- able concessions of the lords. A series of truces were concluded with France. The eight years of constitutional government, moreover, were marked by a large amount of useful legislation, in which the com- mons had their full share. The statutes of provisors and statutes of proemunire were re-enacted with additional safeguards. The Provisors . . and statute of mortmain was enlarged so as to forbid the practice Praemunire of granting estates to laymen in trust for religious houses, and guilds or fraternities were also forbidden to acquire land. On the other hand, Richard, to his great honour, refused his consent to a monstrous proposal that villeins should not be allowed to acquire lands, or to send their children to school. Another statute, that of maintenance, dealt with an evil which was to be the curse of England for the next hundred years. In the days before the statute of quia emptores, the military strength of the great nobles had lain in their sub-tenants bound to do them mili- tary service ; but since the practice of subinfeudation had statute of been abolished, they had begun to replace their vassals by ^'" bands of hired retainers, men clothed and fed at their expense, who wore the badge of their lords, and who were ready at any time to fight in their battles. This practice appears to have been much stinnilated by 288 Later Angevin Kings 1396 the habits of coniinand acquired by the nobles in the French wars, and their capacity for indulging in it had been increased by the recent prac- tice of letting land for a money rent, which added to their command of ready money. The men thus hired constituted practically a small but efficient standing army at the beck and call of each nobleman, and their existence was at once an incentive to and a means of carrying on the civil warfare, which, from the battle of Eadcot Bridge to the battle of Stoke in 1487, was such a terrible characteristic of English life. In 1390, this practice was forbidden by the statute of maintenance, under the name of ' livery of company ' ; but this law, though often renewed, was a dead letter for want of an adequate force to compel its observance, and remained so till the time of Henry vii. The time which we are now dealing with was also remarkable as the culminating point in one of the great epochs of English literature. The fourteenth century was remarkable throughout Europe for Literature. . . . the progress made in ousting the literary Latin of the Middle Ages in favour of the vernacular tongue of each country. In Italy was written by Dante the great j)oem of the Divina Commedia ; France produced the prose Chronicle of Froissart ; Spain produced the Cid. In England the revolt was a double one. Not only had we to displace Latin but also French, which the spread of French fashions among the upper classes had made the usual sj)eech of court and castle, from which it had spread to such an extent that Eobert of Gloucester tells us that no man who valued himself neglected to learn it ; and William Langiand represents his poorest peasants as singing French songs on their way to work. When the great French war opened, a reaction set in. French began to be less used in documents of state ; and in 1362 it was forbidden in the courts of law. It held its own, however, with great tenacity. The rolls of parliament under Kichard ii. were always in French ; and, indeed, the phrase, ' yes ! yes ! ' {Oyez ! Oyez !) of the town-crier ; and the royal phrase, la reine s'avisera or la reine le veult survive to the present day. Fortunately the revival of English was contemporary with the ai3j)earance of three great writers — Wyclif, Chaucer, and Langiand — who did more than any three other men to make English the literary language, both of verse and prose, and to secure its acceptance by all classes of the community. Of Wyclif s life, his tracts, and his translation of the Bible, we have already spoken ; it remains to notice Chaucer and Langiand. Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of a London vintner, and was probably born in the year 1340. His father's interest sufficed to get him the post of page in the service of Lionel, duke of Clarence ; and he saw service 1396 Bichard II. 289 in France in 1359. About 1366, Chaucer married a sister of the Katha^ rine Swynford, afterwards wife of John of Gaunt. He then served in a variety of missions abroad, visiting among other places Genoa and Florence ; and was rewarded with the post of ^"'^^J'- comptroller of the customs and subsidy of wools, skins, and leather at the port of London ; and in 1382, comptroller of the petty customs, or tonnage and poundage. In 1386 he sat in parliament, but soon after- wards was dismissed from his post, and for some years was in money difficulties. He apparently recovered his good fortune by the aid of the Lancasters, and died in 1400. Chaucer was a voluminous writer ; but his best-known work is the Canterbury Tales, in which he o-ives a picture of most of the familiar characters of his own day. Though a courtier and a linguist, Chaucer chose to write in English, and the popularity of his tales and poems did much to secure the position of our native tongue. Of Langland, much less is known. He was born about 1332, near the Malvern Hills ; became a clerk, and lived in London, dying about 1400. His chief work is the Vision of Piers Ploughmanj in which the ploughman is depicted as living the only true Christian life, with which the lives of the barons, the clergy, and the gentry are forcibly contrasted. His works show much better than those of Chaucer the real grievances of the jieasants, and the feelings which led both to the revolts of 1381 and the revolution of 1399. The period of peace and good government terminated in 1397, and the change was led up to by several noticeable events. In 1394 died the good queen, Anne of Bohemia, whose influence, like that of Death of Richard's mother, had always made for peace, and whose Q"^^" Anne, funeral witnessed an unseemly scuffle between Richard and the earl of Arundel. The same year died John of Gaunt's wife, Constance of Castile, and he at once married Katharine Swynford, governess to the children of his first wife, and sister-in-law of Chaucer, by whom he already had a numerous family. To oblige his uncle, Richard promoted the passing of an act of parliament, by which the Beauforts— as these children were surnamed — were made legitimate, an act thought to have annoyed the dukes of Gloucester and York. In 1396, Richard, having concluded a truce of twenty-five years with France, went over to Paris and married Isabella, daughter of Charles vi., then a child of eight years. From this moment Richard's character seems to have changed, whether from physical causes, or whether his head was turned by the splendour of the French king, or by an illusory suggestion that he Deterioration should be elected emperor, it is impossible to say ; but from that time he gave free scope to his extravagant tastes ; is reported to T 290 iMter Angevin Kings 1396 have given ;£ 10,000 for a coat ; and to have filled the court with bishops and ladies, a change from which his subjects augured no good to the realm. Accordingly, the parliament of 1397 took up the old question of grievances ; and in particular, a complaint about the extravagance of the Haxey's royal household was brought forward by Sir Thomas Haxey, Case. ^ prebendary of the collegiate church of Southwell, who is believed to have been sitting as a proctor for the clergy. In the first instance Haxey's motion was accepted by the commons and passed on to the lords ; but Richard, hearing of it, made a violent protest, and declared it to be a most offensive interference with his rights. Before his wrath both lords and commons gave way, apologised for their mistake, and actually adjudged Haxey to die as a traitor. Archbishop Arundel, how- ever, saved him as a clerk, and soon afterwards he obtained pardon. The incident is most remarkable, and shows how little influence the commons had unless they were supported by the military power of the great barons. Fearful, however, lest the discontent of the commons should be taken advantage of by the old baronial party, who were exasperated by the Richard's \ong truce with France, to fetter his independence, Richard Coupd'Etat. determined to strike first. In July 1397, with the help of the Hollands, Rutland, son of the duke of York, and Nottingham, he carried out a couj) d'etat by suddenly arresting Gloucester, Arundel, and Warwick ; and provided against a new battle of Radcot Bridge by levying in his county palatine of Chester a formidable body of archers. He then called a parliament to meet at Westminster in September. The commons met in a temporary building, erected in Palace Yard, and were completely overawed by the presence of a body of 4000 Cheshire archers, ready to let fly their arrows at a moment's notice. The king also took careful steps to form a royalist party in the commons, headed by Sir John Bussy or Bushy, the Speaker, Sir Thomas Green, and Sir William Bagot ; and in the lords induced Nottingham, Rutland, John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, the earl of Salisbury, and three others, to accuse Gloucester, Warwick, and Arundel of treason for the acts done in 1387 and 1388. Arundel was tried first, convicted, sentenced by Lancaster as high steward, and beheaded the same day. Gloucester's turn came next ; but it was announced that, having been sent to Calais for safe keeping, he had died in prison. Whether Gloucester died a natural death is uncertain ; if he was murdered the blame must fall, as it did in current rumour, on Richard and on Nottingham, who, as governor of Calais, was responsible for his safe custody. Warwick was then sentenced on his 1398 Bkhanl IL 291 own confession to perpetual imprisonment, and was removed to the Isle of Man ; and a little later, Arundel's brother, the archbishop, was trans- lated by Boniface ix. to St. Andrews, a change equivalent to banish- ment and deprivation. In reward for their services, the earl of Derby who, though not an appellant, was seemingly a consenting party was made duke of Hereford ; Kutland, duke of Albemarle ; the two Hollands, earls of Surrey and Exeter ; Nottingham, duke of Norfolk • and Sir William Scrope, earl of Wiltshire. As soon as the trials were over, the parliament was adjourned till January 1398, when it again assembled at Shrewsbury. There it held a session of three days, again overawed by the Cheshire Shrewsbury archers, and passed three measures which practically cancelled Parliament. all the constitutional progress made during the last century. By the first, the whole of the acts of 1388 were annulled, and an amnesty granted. By the second, the great subsidy on wools, wool fells, and leathers, and an annual tax of one-fifteenth on the counties, and one-tenth on the towns, was granted to the king for life. By the third, the full powers of parlia- ment were delegated to a body of eighteen members : ten lords temporal, two earls as proctors for the clergy, and six members of the House of Commons. The eighteen, it is needless to add, were devoted followers of the king. Kichard's victory was now complete. He had secured a good income for life : he held parliament in the hollow of his hand ; he had terrified the opposition by executions, and possibly by murder ; he even obtained a confirmation of his acts by the pope. His position in 1398 is not unlike that of Charles ir. in 1685 ; but Kichard lived to face the reaction ; Charles, more fortunate, left the task to his brother. Whether, after all, Kichard exhibited the cunning of a madman, or whether, like many another ingenious schemer, he just overshot his mark, is a problem which in all probability will never, in the insufficiency of the evidence, be satisfactorily decided. The actual opportunity for the reaction arose out of a personal matter. In December 1397, the new dukes of Hereford and Norfolk were riding between Brentford and London, when, according to Here- . Quarrel ford's account, Norfolk informed him that Richard intended between to kill both Hereford and Lancaster ; and in answer to Here- and^Norfolk. ford's objection that he had the king's pardon, added that the king was not to be believed on his oath. By Richard's orders Hereford repeated the words before the Shrewsbury parhament as a slander on the king, and, after a personal altercation in Richard's presence at Oswestry in February, in which Norfolk gave Hereford the lie, the committee referred the matter to a court of chivalry, which ordered 292 Later Angevin Kings 1397 the disputants to decide the question by a judicial eonibat at Coventry, on the 16th of September. However, when the combatants entered the lists, Kichard stopped the iight, and, by his own award, without further trial, ordered Norfolk to quit the kingdom for life, and Hereford for ten years, which he afterwards reduced to seven. The unfairness as well as the injustice of this was obvious ; but Eichard may have thought him- self clever in ridding himself by one blow of two such barons. In banishing them, Eichard made them swear that they would not communi- cate with the exiled archbishop Arundel ; and promised Hereford that he should not be dejDrived of any lands or goods which might come to him by inheritance during his exile. News, however, had arrived that on July 20 1398, Eoger Mortimer, earl of March, had been killed in Ireland, in a skirmish between the t? ^A-*-^,. O'Briens and the O'Tooles : and Eichard, whose extra va- to Ireland, gance always kept him poor, took advantage of the death of John of Gaunt, which occurred in January 1399, to seize the Lancaster estates ; used them in fitting out an expedition to that country, and in May 1399 he sailed to Ireland, leaving his uncle York as regent. On Landing of the 4th of July, Henry landed in Yorkshire, demanded the Bohngbroke. restoration of his family estates, and was immediately joined by Percy, earl of Northumberland, who had his own quarrel with Eichard, and by other north- country barons. His arrival was the signal for a rising as unanimous as that which had dethroned Edward ii. All the friends of Gloucester, all who were aggrieved by Eichard's arbitrary government, all who had lands to leave to their heirs, and feared to see them share the fate of the Lancaster estates, rallied round the duke as the natural leader of a constitutional party. The adhesion of archbishop Arundel carried with it the support of the church, and without striking a blow, Lancaster found himself master of the country. On July 27 he was joined by the regent. On the 29th, Scrope, earl of Wiltshire, Bussy, and Green, who had been captured at Bristol, were put to death. Meanwhile, contrary winds had detained Eichard in Ireland ; and when he landed in Wales on July 25, he found that a body of Welshmen, Deposition whom the earl of Salisbury had collected to support him, of Richard. \^c^^ j^jg^ dispersed. Eecognising the futility of further resistance, he made an offer of resignation to archbishop Arundel and the earl of Northumberland. At Flint he met Lancaster, and went with him to London, where a full parliament was to meet on September 30. On the 29th Eichard affixed his signature to a written document in which he absolved his subjects from fealty, homage, and allegiance ; renounced 1399 Richard It. 29o every claim to royalty ; declared himself insufficient and useless, and not unworthy to be deposed ; and verbally expressed a wish that Lancaster might be his successor. This document was read to parliament, and in its turn parliament prepared a statement of thirty -three reasons why Richard ought to be deposed. None of these were trivial ; but, from a constitu- tional point of view, the most notable were the sixteenth, in which he was accused of asserting that his laws were in his own mouth and in his own breast, and that he alone could change and frame the law of the land ; and the twenty-sixth, which charged him with saying that the life of every liegeman, his lands, tenements, goods and chattels, lay at his royal will without sentence of forfeiture. Richard was then formally deposed. Then Henry of Lancaster spoke in English, and claimed the crown as of the right royal blood of Henry iii., and, more important, as sent by God to recover his right when ' the realm was on the point to be undone for default of governance and undoing of the claimed by good laws.' His plea was at once accepted unanimously, and ° '"^ he was led to the throne by archbishop Arundel of Canterbury, and arch- bishop Scrope of York. With the exception of the deaths at Bristol, no blood was shed in the carrying out of this great revolution. Richard had friends, but with the doubtful exception of bishop Merke of Carlisle, no one spoke on his behalf. At the moment the list of charges must have seemed overwhelming, and it was impossible for any Englishman to defend the position taken up by Richard in the clauses cited above. ,^ ^^ jj Outwardly there was much resemblance between the cases and of Edward ii. and Richard ii. In reality they had little in common except their melancholy fate. Edward fell because he never even attempted to play the part of a king : Richard because he held too exalted an idea of such a part, Avithout possessing the tact to secure a party and make his power a reality. Edward had the advantage of an admirable example in his predecessor, and of succeeding to a well- organised kingdom. Richard's difficulties were very largely inherited ; and it is to this and to the inculcation of altogether wrong principles of rule that his ftiilure is to be attributed, and not, as in the case of Edward, to personal worthlessness of character. As it was, he had played the game of high prerogative and lost, and the unanimous choice of the nation transferred the throne to a popular leader, who, they believed, would restore government on constitutional principles, and this distinction was made perfectly clear by Henry himself. For, whereas Richard had declared that the law was in the heart and mouth of the king, and that the goods of his subjects were his own, archbishop Arundel officially 294 Later Angevin Kings informed Henry's first parliament that the new king would act 'by common advice, counsel, and consent,' and *do right to all people in mercy and truth according to his oath.' y_. CHIEF DATES. A.D. The Peasant revolt, 1381 Death of Wyclif, 1384 Battle of Radcot Bridge 1386 The Merciless Parliament 1387 Battle of Otterhurn 1388 ' Maintenance ' and ' Livery ' forbidden by Statute, 1390 Parliament at Shrewsbury 1398 Roger Mortimer killed, 1398 Book V THE LANCASTRIAN AND YORKIST KINGS XL— THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER. Edward in., 1327-1377. Lionel, Duke of Clarence (2nd son), d. 1368. Edmund, Duke of York (4th son), d. 1401. John of Gaunt (3rd son), d. 1399. : Blanche of Lancaster. Philippa,= Edmund Morti- d. 1381. mer. Earl of March (great- grandson of Roger Mortimer, who was executed 1330). Elizabeth, m. Henry Hotspur. Roger, Earl of March, killed 1398. Edmund, Earl of March, d. 1424. Anne = Henry V. , 1413-1422. Henry IV., 1399-1413. Thomas, Duke of Clarence, killed 1421. John, Duke of Bedford, d. 1435. Henry VI., 1422-1461. Richard, Earl of Cambridge, executed 1415. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, d. 1446. Richard, Duke of York, killed at Wakefield, 1460. Edward, Duke of York (elder son), killed at Agincourt, 1415. Edward IV. 1461-1483. George, Duke of Clarence, executed 1478. Richard III,, 1483-1485. Edward V., Richard, Duke of York, 1483. supposed to have been murdered in the Tower, 1483. Elizabeth = Henry vn. 296 XII.— SCOTTISH KINGS, 1306-1488. Robert Bruce, 1306-1329. David II., Margaret = Walter the Steward, 1329-1370. I generally spelt Stuart. Robert II., 1370-1390. Robert III., 1390-1406. I James I. , = Jane Beaufort. 1406-1437. I James II., 1437-1460. James III., 1460-1488. Robert, Duke of Albany, d. 1420. I Murdoch captured at Homildon, d. 1425. XIII.— THE KINGS OF FRANCE, 1350-1515. John IL, 1350-1364. I Charles VL, 1380-1422. I Charles VII., 1422-1461. I Louis XI., 1461-1483. Charles VIII., 1483-1498. Charles V., 1364-1380. Louis of Orleans, murdered 1407. Charles, Duke of Orleans, captured at Agincourt, grandfather of Louis XII., 1498-1515. Philip, Duke of Burgundy, d. 1404. John, Duke of Burgundy, murdered 1419, at Montereau. Philip, Duke of Burgundy, d. 1467. Charles (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy, d. 1477, m. Margaret, sister of Edward iv. 2«7 CHAPTER I HENRY IV.: 1399-U13 •D loaa -J r 1380, Mary de Bohun. Born 1366; married -{,.^0 t r xt t^ , r t, . U403, Joan of Navarre, Duchess of Bnttauy. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS Scotland. France. Emperor. Robert iil., d. 1406. Charles vi., d. 1422. Sigismund, 1410-1437. Jaraes I., d. 1437. Rebellions in Richard's Favour — The Lollards — Owen Glendower — The Risings of the Farcies and of Scrope — Foreign Aifairs— Henry's Constitutional Government. It would not be easy to find two men whose characters presented a greater contrast than those of Henry iv. and his predecessor. Few of the graces that marked Richard 11. had fallen to the lot of his cousin, character of His person, though sturdy and active, appears to have been ^enry iv. neither handsome nor graceful ; and his square face and thick beard had little of the charm and refinement which had distinguished the son of the Fair Maid of Kent. But whereas Richard had been a mere carpet-kniglit, untried in the field, and dependent on others both for counsel and execu- tion, Henry was pre-eminently a man of action, who had seen much hard fighting in many lands, had been accustomed always to think and act on his own responsibility, and was capable of inspiring confidence in others by showing that he believed in himself. Nor was the difierence between their conceptions of kingship less marked than that between their personal characters. Richard, as Shakespeare has rightly delineated him, was the holder of a theoretical view of the dignity of royalty of the most exalted kind, to which his personal insufficiency acted as a perpetual foil. Henry, on the other hand, put forward no such theoretical claim to respect ; but his personal force of character and self-restraint secured him a deference to which Richard was a complete stranger. 300 House of Lancaster 1399 The new govermnent had to provide for the safe custody of the ex- king. By the advice of the lords, it was ordered that he should be removed to some safe place and there kept in custody ; that Imprison- no former members of his household should have access to ™^" him ; and that he should neither send nor receive letters of any kind. Accordingly, he was removed from the Tower at dead of night and taken to Leeds Castle, in Kent, and thence to the Lancastrian strong- hold of Pontefract, in Yorkshire. He had still a good many personal friends, of whom the chief were the eldest son of the duke of York, com- monly known as the earl of Rutland ; the Hollands, Richard's half-brother and nephew, earls respectively of Huntingdon and Kent ; John Beaufort, earl of Somerset ; and John Montague, earl of Salisbury. By request of the commons, the cases of these noblemen were examined by the lords, and after much consideration it was decided that they should forfeit all lands acquired since 1397, and they were expressly warned that any further support of Richard would be dealt with as treason. At the same time, a sweeping Act against retainers was passed, in hope of doing something to curtail the power for mischief possessed by the malcontents. In spite, however, of the warning against treason, the lords were no sooner at liberty than some of them began to plot. The chief conspirators Rebellion in were the earls of Huntingdon, Kent, Rutland, and Salis- his favour. \)X[T[j ; Roger Walden, ex-archbishoj) of Canterbury ; Thomas Merke, bishop of Carlisle ; two abbots, and a priest named Maudelyn, who happened to be in appearance a double of Richard himself. Their scheme was to assemble at Kingston in January 1400, and to cut off Henry, who was expected to be at Windsor, from his supporters the Londoners. Henry was then to be seized, Richard proclaimed, and Maudelyn was to play his part until his place of imprisonment had been discovered. At the critical moment, however, the marplot, Rutland, revealed the plan to his father, and York lost not a moment in warning the king. Without hesita- tion, Henry rode through the night to the capital, appealed to the Londoners, and within twenty-four hours had 20,000 men-at-arms, archers, and bill- men in the field. The king's midnight ride completely disconcerted the rebels ; a sharp fight took place at Maidenhead Bridge, and then they fled westward to Cirencester. There a new danger confronted them. The country people, flocking into the town, attacked the house occupied by the leaders, compelled them to surrender, and, without waiting the formalities of a trial, cut off the heads of Kent and Salisbury in the open street. Huntingdon was captured by the Essex men at Chelmsford, and beheaded at Fleshy ; Lord Despenser, another conspirator, was put to 1400 Henry IF, ;^q] death at Bristol ; Mauclelyn was hanged at Tyburn ; and the ex-bishops placed in safe custody. The most striking feature of this insurrection is the proof it gives both of the popularity of Henry and of the detestation in which the personal friends of Richard were held by the populace. To Richard himself it was fatal. Hitherto, the king himself had probably stood in the way of any violence to Richard's person, for on the first news of his capture, the Londoners had written to Henry asking that he should be beheaded at once ; and about Christmas, the duke of York and the earls of Northumberland, Westmorland, Arundel, and Warwick, had presented a petition to the same effect. Both these suggestions, however Henry had put aside, though he told his uncle and the other lords that if a rising took place, Richard should be the first to die. There is little doubt that he was as good as his word, and that while the rebels were out in the Thames valley, Richard was put to death at Richard's Pontefract. At any rate, by the end of January 1400, it Death, was generally accepted that he was dead; a body said to be his was exhibited and buried, and for some time the fact remained unquestioned. The exact date and manner of his death are, however, unknown ; and about two years afterwards rumours that he had escaped and was still living began to be current, which added so much to Henry's difiiculties that his enemies gave them every encouragement. Hardly had rebellion at home been put down, than Henry's attention was called to the affairs of Scotland. Since the release of David in 1357, the courts of England and Scotland had been, on the whole, Scottish on fair terms, though the unceasing raids of the border lords Affairs, kept the marches in constant disorder, and resulted from time to time in such a serious battle as that of Otterburn in 1388. In 1400 the nominal king of Scotland was Robert iii. ; but as he was a cripple, the real sovereignty was in the hands of his brother, the duke of Albany. A truce made by Richard expired at Michaelmas 1399, and it was extremely important to have this renewed to prevent the Scots giving their usual aid to the French, in case Richard's father-in-law, Charles vi., chose to make his deposition a pretext for renewing the war. Finding the Scots hesitate, Henry determined to force from them an acknowledgment of his accession and a renewal of the truce, and in the summer of 1400 he invaded Scot- land, accompanied by George of Dunbar,' earl of the march of Scotland, who had taken offence at the Scottish king. Warned, however, by much experience, the Scots declined to be drawn into battle, while Henry was too wary to attack them at a disadvantage ; so after burning Leith, he was compelled by famine to retire, leaving the exasperated Scots to revenge themselves on the next opportunity. 302 House of Lancaster 1400 With France dissatisfied and Scotland burning for revenge, Henry's hands were full enough, when a further trouble on the Welsh border was Owen Glen- added to his other difficulties. A Welsh landowner, Owen dower. Glendower — or, as he spelt himself in full, Owain ap GruflFydd, lord of Glyn-dyfrdwy, i.e. the Valley of the Black Water or Dee — had quarrelled with his neighbour, Lord Grey of Ruthin, and the squabble develoiDed into a national rising. Owen had been a law-student at Westminster, and an esquire of Henry himself before he came to the throne. He was a man of wealth and hospitality, of popular manners and address, and, as his subsequent career showed, possessed a genius for irregular warfare. While Henry was in the north, Owen's men not only harried the lands of Lord Grey, but attacked the English settlers in the towns, and even carried their depredations into the English county of Shropshire Hurrying west, Henry invaded Wales in September ; but his attempt met with as little success as his invasion of Scotland, for Owen retired into the mountains, and there, secure amidst inaccessible fastnesses, he bade defiance to the English till the November frosts compelled Henry to beat a retreat. He left his eldest son Henry, a lad of thirteen, to guard the borders as earl of Chester, under the guidance of Henry Percy, eldest son of the earl of Northumberland, an able and brave man, whose border raids had gained him the nickname of Hotspur. In January 1401 Henry assembled his second parliament at West- minster. The session was chiefly notable for the passing of the statute De Haeretico ^^ Hwretico Comhurenclo. John Wyclif had died in 1384 ; Comburendo. ^^^^ j^jg doctrines had been spreading since his death, and, though the Lollards can hardly be regarded as a defined and coherent religious sect, the number of malcontents both among the laity and the clergy was undoubtedly very large. . The chief points attacked by them were pluralities, the wealth of the clergy, the mendicant orders, image worship, the sale of pardons, pilgrimages, and habitual confession ; but some had followed Wychf in an attack on the doctrine of transub- stantiation. This state of affairs was carefully considered in 1401 by the convocation of the province of Canterbury. The Convocation of Canterbury consisted of two houses : the upper of which contained eighteen bishops, with the abbots of Gloucester and Glas- tonbury, and the prior of Christ Church, Canterbury; the lower, of the other priors and abbots, and the proctors of the cathedral and parochial clergy of the province. This body specially considered the views of four Lollards, of whom the most notable was a beneficed clergyman, William Chatrys — pronounced Sawtery or Sawtr^ — who had been vicar of a church at Lynn, but had afterwards removed to London. Eventually, this examination 1402 Henry IV. 3O3 turned upon his sacramental views. ' Bread,' he said, ' it remains ; but bread plus the body of Christ.' This, however, was not considered sufficient, and he was pronounced heretical, and degraded r • ^ "^ from the ministry. The same day Henry addressed an order Sawtr6. to the mayor and sheriffs of London, directing them to burn Chatrys alive. Such executions had been common enough on the continent, but it was the first of the kind in England ; and, to provide for other cases, convoca- tion petitioned the king to enact that heretics condemned, or relapsing after recantation, should be handed over to the king's officers, and that ' further action should be taken.' In accordance, therefore, with this re- quest, a statute was drawn up, by which all heretical writings were ordered to be given up within forty days ; and obstinate and relapsing heretics were ordered to be publicly burnt. This statute was passed by the advice of the lords and at the request of convocation ; but, as the commons thanked God for the king's destruction of evil doctrine and of the sect who preached it, the famous statute of de Hceretico Comhurendo must be regarded as an expression of the views of the time with regard to the proper way of dealing with heresy. From this time forward executions for heresy were not infrequent. One notable case is that of Badby, a tailor, burnt in London in 1410. As a rule, however, such events did not attract the attention of the chroniclers, but the expenses of burning a heretic occur from time to time in the accounts of cities and boroughs. The act, it must be noticed, dealt distinctly with doctrinal heresy, under which head many of the Lollard opinions did not come ; and the discontent of the people with the general condition of the church does not seem to have suffered any diminution in consequence of the new statute. After Henry's return to England in 1400, the conduct of the Scottish war was left to the earl of Northumberland, and the exiled earl of March. Little, however, was effected in 1401, which was chiefly g^^^jg ^f occupied with negotiations ; but in 1402 the earl of March, Nesbit Moor at the head of a body of English, defeated the Scots at the battle of Nesbit Moor, near Berwick ; and when Hotspur returned from Wales, a body of 10,000 Scots, under the earl of Douglas and Murdoch Stewart, earl of Fife, eldest son of the duke of Albany, Homildon Hill which had penetrated into Northumberland, was cut off at Humbledon or Homildon Hill, by the river Glen, utterly discomfited by the English archery, and both leaders were taken. Unluckily, the brilliant success of the Percies contrasted ill with Henry's personal achievements. Owen was still at large. All the eflbrts of Hotspur and the prince had failed to stop him raiding the open country, 304 House of Lancaster 1402 and the castles even were with difficulty defended. In the spring of v 1402 he captured Lord Grey de Kuthin ; and when Sir Edmund Morti- Disasters ^^^ ^^^ defending the Mortimer lands in the valley of the in Wales. Teme, he failed in an attack on Glendower at Brynglas, near Knighton, many of his followers perished, and he himself only saved his life by surrender. Then Henry himself attempted an elaborate invasion j but the ingenuity of Owen again avoided battle, and Henry's followers, drenched with rain and half-starved among the barren crags of Merioneth- shire, were forced, after three weeks, to make an ignominious retreat. Against such an enemy the ordinary resources of civilised warfare were expended in vain. Short campaigns were useless ; and Henry's want of money effectually prevented him from garrisoning his numerous castles with men sufficient to make them a terror to the surrounding country. Other causes also had by this time begun to undermine his unpopu- larity. The revolution of 1399 was soon followed by the inevitable reaction which waits upon all popular movements. Ham- Reaction •.IIP. against pered as he was both by foreign war and domestic revolu- ^^^^' tion, it was out of Henry's power to conciliate popular feeling by reducing taxation. His poverty deprived him of the means of conciliating opposition ; while his inability to pay his debts kept him a prey to the importunity of a band of discontented creditors. For some reason, in spite of his religious zeal, the mendicant friars were against him, and their preachers were doing all they could to promote discontent. Rumours of impending wars and conspiracies were in the air, and stories of Eichard's escape were being industriously spread. It might well seem that Henry was a failure ; and, though Richard was dead, the existence of the little earl of March, eldest son of Roger Mortimer, and his brother and sister, afforded a rallying point for any insurrectionary movement. Of this state of affairs the Percies determined to take advantage to raise a most formidable rebellion. Though the earl of Northumberland, in a fit of pique, had aided Henry to overthrow Richard 11., a long-standing feud existed between the _ . ^ ^ Percies and the house of Lancaster. Since Henry's acces- Discontent . ^ _ •' of the sion, a variety of causes had tended to bring about a renewal Percies of the strife. Foremost among these were money difficulties. The Percies, father and son, had for two years borne the brunt of the struggle, both in Scotland and Wales. Their expenses had been enormous ; and of ^60,000 which they had provided, ;£20,000 yet remained unpaid, while the condition of the royal finances made the raising of this sum almost out of the question. The brilliant part played by the Percies in the north contrasted with Henry's useless invasion of 1403 Henry IV. - 305 Scotland and his inglorious campaigns in Wales ; while Hotspur's tenure of office in North Wales had not been unproductive of jealousy and distrust. Matters first assumed a threatening aspect over the surrender of the prisoners taken at Homildon Hill, whom the Percies retained as a security for their money. A further difficulty presented itself in the case of Sir Edmund Mortimer, uncle of the young earl of Mortimer. Actuated partly by an idea that Sir Edmund had been a traitor all along, partly, no doubt, by a feeling that the uncle of the young earl was better out of the way, Henry refused to raise money for his ransom, saying that he would not pay money to help the Welsh. Mortimer's sister, Elizabeth, was Hotspur's wife, and the refusal led to an open quarrel, in which Henry is said to have actually struck Percy. The result of Henry's refusal was the marriage of Mortimer to Owen's daughter, and the creation of a grand alliance between his enemies — of which the heads were Owen and Mortimer, Percy's Henry Percy, the earl of Northmnberland ; his brother. Conspiracy. Thomas Percy, earl of Worcester ; Hotspur, and the earl of Douglas. Short of paying them their money, Henry had done all he could do to secure the goodwill of the Percies, even making them a grant of a large slice of southern Scotland which he had declared annexed to England after the battle of Homildon. He seems, therefore, to have been unpre- pared for their treachery, when, in the summer of 1403, he suddenly heard that Thomas Percy had escaped from Shrewsbury, taking with him all the treasure in his possession, and that Hotspur himself was in full march towards Cheshire with the evident intention of using his influence there to raise a force with which he could co-operate with Owen against the Prince of Wales. In Cheshire Eichard 11. had always been popular ; and Hotspur him- self had acquired much influence there during his residence in the marches ; consequently the Cheshire men flocked eagerly Battle of to his standard, and he soon found himself at the head of at ""^^^ ^^^' least 14,000 men. He then issued a manifesto accusing Henry of having murdered Eichard, of collecting taxes contrary to his word, and of tampering with free election to parhament, and declaring his intention of redeeming his own error in supporting him by placing on the throne the earl of March, the rightful heir of Eichard. After moving from Chester to Lichfield, Hotspur invested Shrewsbury, where the Prince of Wales was stationed, and waited the arrival of Owen's con- tingent ; but when he heard that Henry was marching from Burton to attack him, he concentrated his troops on a line of country, some three miles north of Shrewsbury, where a slight rise in the gi'ound would u 306 House of Lancaster 1403 give his archers a decided advantage, and awaited the king's coming. On his side, Henry, though he had an army at least as large as Hotspur's, was by no means eager to fight, but made every eflFort to induce the rebels to agree to an accommodation. His efforts, however, were fruit- less ; and on July 21 he gave the order for attack. A most obstinate battle was the result. The struggle began at noon : it did not close till nightfall. Seven thousand men are said to have fallen, and the struggle was probably more severe than any battle on English soil since North- allerton and Hastings. The result, however, was a complete victory for Henry. Hotspur fell in the thick of the fight, and the earls of Worcester and Douglas were taken prisoners. Two days after the battle, the earl of Worcester and two Cheshire gentlemen were executed for treason, and, as a proof of Hotspur's death, his head was exposed for a month on London Bridge. Henry seems to have been really grieved by Hotspur's fate, and did all he could to avoid the slaughter of another battle. Fortunately, the „ , . . aged earl of Northumberland had been completely cowed by Submission ° i j j of North- his son's death. On August 11 he met Henry at York, surrendered his person, and agreed to all the stipulations made by the king for the security of peace. Henry then marched to Worcester, to see what could be done against Owen. The depredations of that chieftain were at least as audacious as ever ; but he had no force in the field that could be regarded as a regular army, and Henry experi- enced exactly the same trouble in dealing with his guerilla troops as had twice before defeated his efibrts. In these circumstances nothing could be done but to keep up as far as possible the garrisons of the border castles, and to wait till the insurrection died out. The process, however, was excessively slow ; and Owen's power was a thorn in Henry's side till the day of his death. After 1407, however, the actual business of dealing with him was left to the Prince of Wales, who acquired on the Welsh borders the military experience which afterwards served him in such good stead. Within six months of his surrender, the earl of Northumberland was restored to liberty and his estates ; but Henry's kindly attempt to give his old friend a chance of making a fresh start met with little gratitude. Nothing could stop the earl from intriguing ; and in 1405 another conspiracy was formed between him and Conspiracy ^ "^ of Mowbray Thomas Mowbray, earl of Nottingham, son of the late duke ^ ■ of Norfolk, and Eichard le Scrope, archbishop of York, brother of Lord Scrope of Masham, and a kinsman of the earl of Wilt- shire (see page 291). The rebels, with 8000 men, were met on Shipton Moor, near York, by the king's thii'd son John, afterwards the great 1407 Henry IF, 307 duke of Bedford, and by Northumberland's old rival, Ralph Neville, earl of Westmorland. In some negotiations which passed between the leaders, Scrope stated their case against the king, accusing him of getting the crown by treachery and false promises, of conniving at Richard's murder, of illegally putting both clergy and laity to death, and generally of causing the destruction and misery of the country. He demanded a free parliament, a reduction of taxation, and the vigorous prosecution of the war against the Welsh. Reform, not revolution, seems to have been Scrope's desire, and no suggestion of March's claim seems to have been made. Though Mowbray had certainly been privy to an abortive attempt just made to release the Mortimers, Westmorland promised to lay their demands before the king, and on this assurance the rebel soldiers dispersed. Of this advantage was immediately taken to arrest Mowbray and Scrope. This time Henry showed no mercy ; and, after the bare semblance of a trial, both prisoners were beheaded. No such public execution of a bishop had ever yet taken place in England. The audacity of the act seems to have struck universal horror ; miracles were soon reported to be worked at the tomb, and an illness with which Henry was subsequently aflfected was generally believed to be a judgment for his crime. Meanwhile, Northumberland and Lord Bardolph had made their way north and escaped across the border ; while Henry seized Alnwick, Prud- hoe, and Cockermouth, and other Percy strongholds. There they vainly attempted to gain Albany's assistance, and, failing, made their way to Owen in Wales, and thence visited France and Flanders. At length, in 1407, they again returned to Scotland, and having crossed the border with some Scottish troops, were joined by a few of Northumberland's former tenants. Yorkshire, however, was against them ; and Sir Thomas Rokeby, the sheriff, at the head of the posse-comitatus, put them to rout at Bramham Moor, near Tadcaster. Northumberland ^^^^^^ ^^ perished on the field ; Bardolph was mortally wounded ; Bramham 111 Moor. and the long struggle between Henry and the barons was virtually at an end. About the same time, though Owen was still at large, he ceased to be formidable. A French force, which landed at Milford Haven in 1406, found almost as poor entertainment on the Welsh mountains as Henry himself, and returned home in disgust ; and after this effort the war gradually died out, though the fidelity of his countrymen enabled Owen himself to preserve his freedom till his death, which occurred several years after that of Henry himself. The prolonged struggle with Owen and the Scots, the rebellion of the Percies, coupled with the constant anxiety about money matters, made 308 House of Lancaster 1407 Henry's throne no enviable seat during the first eight years of his reign ; and no one but a man of first-rate ability and of iron resolution could have battled through his difficulties. As it was, the Difficulties of Henry's victory of Bramham found Henry, though only forty-one years osi ion. ^^ ^^^^ ^ -worn-out and enfeebled man ; and the last six years of his reign, though a period of comparative peace as far as external affairs were concerned, were passed by him in a constant struggle against a debilitating and wearisome disease. In other respects, however, fortune was kind, and two strokes of luck relieved him from anxiety on the score of Scotland and France. For years Robert iii. had been only in name a king — wandering from one abbey to another, a mere looker-on at the proceedings of his strong and energetic brother, the duke of Albany. At length Albany seized Robert's eldest son, the duke of Rothesay, and starved him to death in Falkland Castle. In 1406 the poor king despatched his second son James, then about twelve years old, to France. On his voyage, while becalmed off Flamborough Head, his ship was boarded by some English seamen, and , James was taken to Henry's court. Delighted to possess a Capture of . ^ James of further hostage for the good behaviour of the Scots, for Murdoch, Albany's eldest son, was already in his hands, Henry caused the boy to be carefully guarded at Windsor ; but gave him an excellent education, and the nineteen years passed by James in England were probably the happiest, and certainly the most peaceful, of his life. In France a struggle was taking place, not unlike the English Wars of the Roses, where the government of the country during the incapacity of the imbecile king Charles vi., was the prize contended for by gundians John, duke of Burgundy, the king's cousin, and Louis, duke Armagnacs °^ Orleans, his brother. This civil contest made foreign war impossible, and Henry had merely to watch his opportunity, and prevent the weaker side from being overwhelmed by the other. In 1407 the duke of Orleans was murdered in the streets of Paris ; but the quarrel was kept up by his son Louis, whose father-in-law, the count of Armagnac, was so powerful that the name of Armagnacs was fre- quently given to the whole Orleanist or southern party. The first duke of Orleans had made himself a personal enemy of Henry iv., so the English influence generally inclined to support the Burgundians, even after the murder of Orleans. In 1411 a considerable force was sent to their aid ; but in 1412, finding the cause of the Armagnacs failing, Henry transferred his assistance to them, and in this way peace was secured at the price of consistency. 1412 Henry IV: 309 The real interest, however, of the reign of Henry iv. lies not in the national aspirations of the Welsh, or the rebellions of the Percies or the fighting in Scotland, or the intrigues in France, but in the fact that Henry iv., as representative of the constitutional tiona?*"' ideas of the Lancastrian party, was honestly trying to govern ^''^^^"'"ent. as a parliamentary sovereign. In this respect, as well as in others a profitable comparison might be instituted between him and William in. Both were compelled to engage in long and not very successful wars ; both were confronted by a rival supported by a powerful party ; both were extremely badly ofi" ; and both had to deal with parliaments deter- mined to use the king's necessities for the advancement of their own rights. Throughout the whole reign, finance was Henry's great difficulty. His normal income amounted to rather over £100,000 a year ; made up of .£50,000 yielded by the ' great custom ' on wool and the Financial 'small customs' on other articles, and the remainder from Difficulties, the crowTi lands, feudal dues, fines, forfeitures, annual payments for charters, and a practically annual grant of fifteenths and tenths. During the first year of his reign, which included the putting down of the rising of the earls and the expedition to Scotland, his income was £109,249, his expenses £109,006, leaving a balance in hand of £243. As time went on, however, things grew worse. The expenses of the Welsh war alone were enormous ; a large force had constantly to be kept on foot ; castles to be garrisoned and kept in repair. Even in time of peace Calais cost £18,000 ; while the six great castles of North Wales : Conway, Car- narvon, Criccieth, Harlech, Denbigh, and Beaumaris, consumed over £5000, to say nothing of some fifty smaller strongholds, each of which required its garrison. The exjDenses connected with the restoration of Richard's widow, Isabella, accounted for £8000. Money was also needed for Guienne, for Ireland, for the Scottish border ; and, year after year, Henry had to tell his officers and his parliament that the exchequer was empty, and that he had no idea where money was to be got. In these circumstances, any attempt to govern without reference to the wishes of parliament would obviously have been futile ; but Hemy was on principle a constitutional ruler, and had no desire p^j.jjg_ to revert to the arbitrary practice of his predecessor, mentary •' ^ . . , . Influence. Accordingly, we find him carrying into practice the prin- ciple so often enunciated, that the king's ministers should be a body possessing the confidence of parliament. For example, in 1404 the king, at the request of the commons, named twenty-two members of parliament to be his great and continuous council ; and changes in its composition 310 House of Lancaster 1412 were made at the request of the commons in 1408 and 1410, throwing upon the council the responsibility of government, just as a constitutional sove- reign would now do ; and in 1406, when complaints were made of the in- efficiency of government, Henry's reply was that he would ask the council to do its best. Equally complete was the control of parliament over finance. The expenses of the royal household were regulated again and again, and various sums, ranging from about £7000 to £12,000 a year, were assigned for its maintenance, an arrangement wdiich anticipates the modern Civil List. In spite of some reluctance on Henry's part, the commons were permitted to name auditors to inspect the national accounts, and taxation without consent of parliament was not even imagined. Little less striking was the advance made by the House of Commons. Eegular sessions, one even extending over one hundred and fifty-nine days, con- solidated the corporate feeling of the members and accustomed them to act together. The paramount importance of finance increased the power of the commons. Being the poorer house, its votes were a fair test of the taxation which the nation was able to bear, and in 1407 the constitutional practice was made definite by a declaration of the king. For the future no report about money grants w^as to be made by either house tiU both were agreed, and then the report was invariably to be made through the Speaker of the House of Commons. The adoption of such constitutional principles and practice make the relations between Henry iv. and his parliaments quite unique in the history of the middle ages. One cause which decidedly aided Henry to maintain his position was the unvarying support he received from the church, as a body, under the Support of leadership of archbishop Arundel. The church, indeed, had the Church. jjgg(j ^q walk warily. The Lollard movement — particularly the non-doctrinal part of it, directed against the position and wealth of the clergy — had, for ahnost a generation, been undermining their position ; while the papal schism, which had followed the return of the popes from Avignon, had deprived them of any efiective support from the holy see. Consequently, they w^ere compelled to rely on the king, and a sovereign at once so orthodox and so constitutional as Henry became their natural ally. We, therefore, find the great ecclesiastics, such as Arundel and Beaufort, ready to advance money for the royal necessities, and the general body of the clergy making no objection to the severe taxation which Henry's difficulties entailed. From time to time, indeed, the grumbling of the commons reminded the clergy of the insecurity of their tenure. On several occasions it was suggested that the whole revenue of the clergy might be impounded for a year ; and in 1410 the 1412 Henry IV. 2,\\ commons actually brought forward a definite proposal to confiscate the whole property of the bishops and religious corporations, and to employ it to endow fifteen earls, fifteen hundred knights, six thousand esquires, and a hundred hospitals, an arrangement which would still leave £20,000 a year for the relief of the revenue. The plan, however broke down, not apparently from any regard for the church, but because it was obviously dangerous to add to the number of an already too powerful baronage. Both Henry and his eldest son were against it, and the suggestion was not renewed. Arundel, however, was by no means satisfied with a mere passive resistance. In his office of archbishop, he ciirried the war vigorously into the enemy's country ; and in 1409, by the authority of a church council, published a series of constitutions for the church, by one of which the Bible was forbidden to be translated into English until such a translation had been approved by the bishop of the diocese or a provincial synod ; while another forbade all disputes on points determined by the church. After the year 1405, a great change took place in the king's health. Opinions differ as to his malady ; but it is certain that he became a hope- less invalid, and apparently he suffered some diminution in , . , , „ , • , . 1 • . , . Failure of his mental as well as his physical capacity. At such times the King's the chief direction of affairs fell into the hands of the Prince of Wales, whose life was divided between active service in the Welsh or Scottish marches, and official business as chairman of the council in London. Next to the Prince, archbishop Arundel was decidedly the most important man in the country, and a steady friend to Henry j but his power was subject to the rivalry of the Beauforts. John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, son of John of Gaunt, died in 1410, leaving two sons, young John and Edmund, and a daughter Joan. He was not a man of much mark, but his younger /p^g brothers, Henry and Thomas, possessed more ability and Beauforts. ambition. Henry had been made bishop of Lincoln in 1398, and in 1404 he succeeded William of Wykeham as bishop of Winchester, He is said to have been tutor to the Prince of Wales, and he was through life his intimate friend. Thomas distinguished himself both as an admiral and a soldier, especially at Agincourt, and was ultimately created duke of Exeter. By the act of legitimation passed under Eichard ii., the right of the Beauforts to count as legitimate children of John of Gaunt was not limited by exclusion from the crown ; but when it was confirmed by Henry in 1407, he interpolated the words excei^ta dignitate regale, which, however, could not be regarded as having the force of law. Owing probably to the circumstances of their birth, the Beauforts always 312 House of Lancaster 1413 hung closely together, and, although friendly to the Prince of Wales, it was always possible that they might take a line of their own. Arundel, also, seems to have been less of a constitutional minister and more closely allied to the ideas of the old nobility than were the Beauforts, and to have been, far more than even Henry Beaufort, a representative of the separate interests of the church. We therefore find the chancellorship sometimes in the hands of Arundel, sometimes in that of a Beaufort, according to the policy in favour at the time, and also according as Henry or his son had the greater influence in the council. In 1407 Arundel became chancellor, and held the post till 1409. In that year, however, his promidgation of ' the constitutions,' and a quarrel which followed with Prince Oxford university, in which the Prince of Wales, himself Henry, ^n Oxford man, took the opposite side, made him unpopular, and the office was given to Thomas Beaufort. He held the place tiU 1412, during which time it is probable that the prince really governed in his father's name ; but in that year a crisis occurred, brought on, accord- ing to one account, by a formal suggestion by the f)rince and the Beauforts that Henry should definitely resign the crown. What happened, however, is obscure, but Arundel came back to power ; the Prince of Wales gave up the presidency of the council, and his place was taken by his second brother, Thomas, duke of Clarence, who appears to have always been against the Beauforts. Moreover, the expedition to France, which was sent to aid the Orleanists, was entrusted to the second brother. The change, however, was only temporary. Henry grew rapidly worse, and in March 1413 he died, leaving a name which ought to stand very high among English sovereigns, but has been much overclouded by pity for the misfortunes of his predecessor, and by the admiration excited by the showy exploits of his briUiant son. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Statute 'de liseretico comburendo,' . . 1401 Battle of Homildon Hill, . Battle of Shrewsbury, Scrope's rebellion, James of Scotland captured. Commons secure the final vote on taxation, 1402 1403 1405 1406 1407 CHAPTEE II HENRY V. : 1413-1422 Born 1388 ; married 1420, Katharine of France. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS Scotland. France. Emperar. James i., d. 1437. Charles vi., d. 1422. Sigismund, 1410-1437. Popes. Martin v., 1417-1429; Eugenius iv., 1431-1438. . The French Wars — Agincourt — Siege of Rouen— Treaty of Troyes. Tradition records that at some period of his life Henry the Fifth led a wild and riotous life. If this is true, it probably refers to the last year of his father's reign, when the Prince's enforced idleness Traditions of put him into the way of temptation. At all other times Early Life. authentic records show that he was far too busy with serious work to have time for dissipation. Whether the story, however, is anything more than a myth is immaterial ; at most, the riotous living was an interlude of idleness between two periods of hard work, and never after his accession did Henry show the slightest wavering in his determination to be, accord- ing to the ideas of his age, a thoroughly good king. In accordance with his preference for the Beauforts, the first act of the new king was to give the chancellorship to his uncle, Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, a change which left Arundel free to ^.j.^_ attend to his archiepiscopal duties. Determined, however, tory ^1 ensures* not to quarrel with the Arundels, he made his friend, the earl of Arundel, treasurer. In the same spirit of conciliation, he had the remains of Eichard ii. honourably re-interred at Westminster. A little later, he restored their lands to the sons of Hotspur and the earl of Huntingdon ; made a confidential friend of the young earl of March ; and arranged that the loyalty of the duke of York— formerly earl of Eutland —should be formally recognised by parliament. In short, he did all lie could to show that, in his eyes, bygones were bygones, and that he meant to act as kins: of a united nation. ° 313 314 House of Lancaster 1413 For playing this part, Henry had qualifications which had been denied to his father. He was perfectly satisfied of his own right to the crown, Personal ^^^^ haunted by no doubts as to the propriety of his former Character, actions, and he brought with him no blood-feuds, the relics of ancient entanglements in political intrigue. His personal qualities were excellent — tall, strong, stately, and of winning manners, he looked as he felt, every inch a king. His moral character was good ; his orthodoxy unim- peachable. He had received an admirable training in the business both of peace and war, and he had the invaluable capacity for taking infinite pains. Such a man would at all times have made his mark as a sovereign ; but, fortunately for Henry, the national bent for foreign war gave him exactly the opportunity he needed, and though we, with our later know- ledge, are tempted to impute to him the responsibility for the disastrous termination of his French enterprise, there is no doubt that his warlike policy was in perfect accord -with the ideas of the time, which regarded him as the mirror of chivalry. War, however, did not break out at once ; for mediaeval kings, who fought not for mere accessions of territory or for ideas, but for rights, were deliberate in their proceedings, and did not proceed to open hostilities before they had made their demands in a diplo- matic shape. The first two years of the reign, therefore, were occupied with preparations and the routine of ordinary business. The most striking exception to this was the afiaii^ of Sir John Oldcastle. Though few martyrs had braved the terrors of the stake, the Lollard Sir John views were by no means extinct ; and the first use Arundel Oldcastle. ^^ade of his freedom from the cares of the chancellorship was to attempt to make an example by striking at their most noticeable supporter at court. The victim he chose was Sir John Oldcastle, generally known by right of his wife as Lord Cobham, who had sat in the House of Commons as member for Herefordshire in 1404, and had been called to the House of Lords since ]409. Oldcastle was a brave and intelligent man, who had been one of Henry's best lieutenants in the Welsh war ; he was also a sincere adherent of Lollardism, and had aided to spread it by giving countenance to Lollard preachers, both in Kent and Hereford- shire. Acting under Arundel's direction, convocation presented an indict- ment against him, and he was summoned to appear before three bishops. Failing to appear, he was then arrested by the king's order, and, after a long examination before the archbishop, was pronounced to be heretical, and ordered to be burnt. Forty days, however, were allowed him to recant, and he used the opportunity to escape. A plot then seems to have been fonned to seize the king at Eltham on Henry's removing to London for a meeting in St. Giles' Fields, The king, however, was fully on the 1415 Henry V. 3].^ alert, and when the night came he closed the gates of London scoured the country in person with a body of horse, captured some sixty of the conspirators, and so effectually put a stop to the design that it has been doubted whether there was any reality in the St^GiiS'^" movement. All attempts to arrest Oldcastle failed for the ^^^^^^• time; and he was not captured till 1417, when, at the request of the commons and by sentence of the lords, he was put to death as an heretical traitor by being drawn, hanged, and burnt. Arundel died in 1414, and was succeeded by Henry Chichele, who, however, did not play so prominent a part as his predecessor. Lollardism still survived; and, forty years later. Bishop Pecocke of Chichester thought it worth while to attack it in a book called The Repressor of over-much Blaming the Clergy, in which he defended pilgrimages, confession, the decoration of churches with pictures, and other practices attacked by the Lollards, This fact shows the tenacity of Wyclif s teaching, and it is one of the problems of history how far the Lollardism of the Lancastrian era is connected with the reforming movement of the Tudors. The year 1414 was also notable for the grant of a parliamentary privi- lege which had long been a great object with the commons. The right of the commons to a share in legislation had been fully • 1 • 111 f. n 1 Petitions of recognised smce 1322, but the actual text of all laws was a the Com- matter for the royal officials ; and consequently, although the commons found their petitions granted in name, the actual statute fre- quently differed most materially from what they had suggested. Accord- ingly, in granting tonnage and poundage for three years, the commons asked ' that there never be no law made ' on their petition, ' and engi'ossed as statute and law, neither by addition or by diminution, by no manner of term or terms the which should change the meaning and the intent asked.' To which the king replied, that ' henceforth nothing be enacted to the petitions of his commons that be contrary to their asking, whereby they should be bound without their assent.' At the same time the king's right to grant or refuse his consent to a petition was fully confirmed. In 1415 Henry was ready to declare war against France. His plan was discussed in parliament ; received the consent of the three estates ; and supplies were voted and paid with a readiness which tends ^^^^^^ ^^ to show with what a wonderful recuperative power such the French an agiicultural country as England then was could take advantage of a very few years of peace. The same causes which contri- buted to the warlike enthusiasm of the early years of Edward iii. were doubtless again at work ; but in addition to these, the king, probably acting on the advice of his father, was glad to find an outlet for the 316 House of Lancaster 1415 warlike energy of his nobles, while, according to one account, the clergy were not sorry to see the attention of the nation diverted from the abuses of the church. Henry himself believed thoroughly in the propriety of his demand, though it is difficult to see how he reconciled his claims with law, for by inheritance the rights of Edward iii. had passed through Richard ii. to the earl of March. The moment, however, was favourable, for the Burgundians and Armagnacs were quarrelling as usual, and he hoped to gain the support of one or the other. Accordingly, in 1414 he sent a demand for the restoration of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and such parts of Gascony as were not already in English hands ; and as his demand was rejected, he took the advice of parliament and set about Parliament- ^^ invasion of France. Parliament granted two-tenths and ary Grants, two-fifteentlis, and also made over to Henry the lands held in England by foreign monasteries, technically called 'alien priories.' An army was hired in the usual way : a duke receiving 13s. 4d. a day for his services ; an earl 6s. 8d. ; a baron or a knight-banneret, i.e. rmy ay. ^ jj^^jgi^t with other knights in his train, 4s.; a knight 2s,; an esquire Is. ; an archer 6d. As the ordinary pay of a labourer was about 4d., Henry's liberal offer drew to his banners the pick of the country, and a further inducement of two-thirds of all booty for the rank and file was also offered. When all was ready, a ' Great Council,' i.e. a meeting of the magnates without the inferior clergy and the commons, determined that war should begin. Then in April 1415 a formal demand was made for the French crown, and this having been rejected, Henry led his forces to the coast, and, in the course of an inspection of the London contingents, remarked that his policy would ' redound to the manifest advantage of the whole realm.' The troops assembled at Southampton, and were on the point of start- ing when a plot in favour of the earl of March was unexpectedly brought Cambridge's ^o light. The principal in this was Richard, earl of Cam- ^^°*" bridge, younger brother of the duke of York, who had been permitted by Henry iv. to marry Anne Mortimer, sister of Edmund, earl of March, whose claim to the throne stood next after that of her brother. His coUeagTies were Henry, Lord le Scrope, a relative of the late archbishop of York and of the earl of Wiltshire, executed in 1399, and Sir Thomas Grey of Heton. Their plan was to take advantage of Henry's absence to carry oflf March to V\^ales and proclaim him king ; but the design is believed to have been imparted to Henry by March himself. The con- spirators were instantly arrested. Cambridge and Grey confessed their guilt ; Scrope was convicted by his peers ; and all three were beheaded. Henry showed his magnanimity by making no change in his friendship 1415 Henry V. 317 with March, or in his relations to the duke of York, The little son of Cambridge was brought up in his court, and lived to be the celebrated duke of York, the antagonist of Henry vi. From Southampton, Henry, with a force estimated at 21,000 archers and 6000 men-at-arms, and well suiDplied with siege cannon, sailed to the mouth of the Seine, and, landing at Havre, laid siege to invasion of the fortress of Harfleur. Henry placed his chief reliance on ^''ance, his cannons, ' the London,' ' the Messagere,' and ' the King's Daughter,' with NOHTH OF FRAISCE, TO ILLUSTRATE THE CAMPAIGNS OF CRECY AND AGINCOURT. which he kept up a continual bombardment— and on mines, in the use of which, however, the English seem to have been inferior to the French. The siege lasted thirty days ; and it was not till their outer works had been destroyed by fire that the besieged found the shot from ' the gunners intolerable,' and agreed to capitulate. Dysentery, capture of f ' ° . , • Harfleur. however, broke out in the camp, owing to exposure, eating unripe fruit, and the stench ; and when a garrison had been told off to guard the town, under the command of the earl of Dorset, only nmv 318 House of Lancaster 1416 hundred men-at-arms and five thousand archers remained for active service — a number, however, which is so small that it throws much doubt on the correctness of the original estimate. With these Henry detennined to march along the coast to Calais — a perilous undertaking — for the expedition was unaccompanied by ships, March to and a powerful French army lay at Eouen. On their road Calais. ^j^g little band suflfered terrible privations, having for some days only ' walnuts for bread,' Henry's design was to cross the Somme at Blanche Taque ; but he found the ford strongly guarded and staked, and, the bridges being held, had to march wp the river to Peronne before he found a place to cross. He then made straight to Calais. Meanwhile, the French army, under the dukes of Bourbon, Orleans, Alengon, the constable, and the Marshal Boucicault, had crossed the river at Abbe- ville, and had placed itself across his line of march at Agincourt, near Hesdin. As he had no provisions, Henry had no choice but to fight or surrender, so he and his little army faced the French, and prepared to make a brave resistance. Although the French had chosen the field of battle, it was not at all suited to their army ; which, although authorities difler as to the actual Field of numbers, certainly greatly outnumbered the English, pos- Agincourt. ^^^^y by as much as seven to one. It was a defile between two woods, and so narrow in proportion to their numbers, that the French had to be drawn up in three bodies, each some distance behind the other. Even as it was, the five thousand men of the front line were so packed together that they could hardly use their swords. Moreover, the field in which they stood was new-harrowed and very wet, so that the men-at-arms in their heavy armour sank knee-deep in the mud. The French had no archers, but relied chiefly on the dense masses of their men-at-arms, who, as at Poitiers, fought on foot ; partly in a body of picked horsemen on each wing, who were to charge the archers, not in front as at Poitiers, but in flank. Henry fully expected that the French would make the attack, and his arrangements were all made for defence. Early in the march, by the _ ^. advice of the duke of York, he had ordered the archers Preparations , ' of the to provide themselves with six-foot stakes, sharpened at each end, as a protection against cavalry ; and now these were ordered to be set up slantwise in the ground, so that the point was on a level with a horse's chest. To get a firmer grip of the ground, each archer bared his left foot ; and the men cut off or turned up the sleeves of their jackets so as to have free play for their arms. Thus arrayed, the archers took their places in open order in the front line ; behind them 1415 Henry V. 319 on foot were the men-at-arms ; and on the wings were mixed bodies of cavalry and archers, designed either to repel the attack of the French cavalry, or to make their way through the woods and take the French in flank. For some hours Henry awaited the French attack ; but finding them immovable he gave the word to advance, and the archers, taking their stakes with them, moved forward. Then from each wing Battle of five thousand French horsemen in full armour swooped Agincourt. down on the English bowmen, but the stakes did yeoman's service ; the arrows fell like rain, and the discomfited horsemen galloped back S> ^-'!f FIELD OF AGINCOURT, 25th OCTOBER lilo. (Adapted from Spruner.) into the second line. Thus free from attack, the archers were able to send their shafts without interruption on the crowded masses of French infantry ; and when the supplies of arrows were exhausted, the whole army bore down on the French line. Then the fighting became terrible ; the ranks swayed now this way, now that ; and the chaplams, who were watching the battle from the rear, expected every moment to see their countrymen overthrown; but at length the English, aided by a flank attack of their cavalry, carried the day, and the first division was routed. A suuilar manoeuvre destroyed the second; and then the English, con- fident of victory, marched to attack the third. At that moment a cry was 320 House of Lancaster 1415 raised that they were being attacked in the rear. Nothing could be more likely, and as only ten horsemen and twenty archers had been left to guard the sick and the baggage, the danger Avas most serious. The alarm, however, proved false ; but the mistake was not discovered till orders had been given to kill the prisoners, lest they should take advan- tage of the danger to turn upon their captors. Then the third line was attacked, and a charge in flank completed its destruction. The loss on both sides was heavy. The constable of France, four other dukes, and a vast number of officers and men lay dead. On our side, the duke of York had atoned by a soldier's death the many treacheries of his early life, and the earl of Sufi"olk had met the same fate. The number of French prisoners of note was immense, and the list was headed by two princes of the blood — the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon. Henry himself had fought in the thickest of the struggle ; and his declaration that, come what might, England should never be put to expense for his ransom, made him more than ever the idol of his soldiery. Meanwhile, the anxiety in England had been terrible. Since Henry set out from Harfleur on the 8th of October, no news whatever had been heard of his fortunes, and the reaction was proportionate when the tale of such a splendid victory was reported. Overjoyed at their success, but conscious of the insecurity of their position, the English lost no time in Henry's marching to Calais and returning to England. So eager was Return. Henry to get home, that he crossed in a storm so tenible that the French prisoners said they would rather fight another battle than make such another passage. Even before his arrival, parliament, in the first transports of enthusiasm, had granted the great customs on wool and the tonnage and poundage on other goods for life, and given him another tenth and fifteenth ; and, when he landed" in triumph with his prisoners, he was received by the whole nation with tumultuous rejoicings. Even outside his own country the victory of Agincourt made Henry the most renowned of European sovereigns, and in 1416 his assistance was personally invoked by the Emperor Sigismund, brother of European \ ^ i. , . . , . , , . ' Reputation Anne of Bohemia, with a view to the closing of the never- ending conflict between the rival popes, which had distracted Western Christendom since 1378. To this Henry agreed, and in the council of Constance, which terminated the schism by the election of Martin v., a distinguished part was taken by Henry Beaufort, and by Robert Hallam, bishop of Salisbury. Henry, however, was well aware that the victory of Agincourt, however brilliant, had done little to advance the conquest of France, and he 1419 Hennj V, 32 j immediately set about preparations for a second expedition. In the cam- paign of Agincourt, luck had undoubtedly played a very large part and nothing shows more clearly the real greatness of Henry than the care he was at to eliminate chance in his second cam- for^a^secomf paign. No subject was too trivial for his attention. Like ^^"^P^ig"- Eichard i., he took special pains with the fleet; and with his six great ships, eight barges, and ten ballingers, may be said to have created the nucleus of the royal navy. Surgeons were appointed both for the army and for the navy. A code of regulations for soldiers and sailors was drawn up. Piracy was forbidden ; duelling discouraged ; and every detail of victualling was carried on under Henry's personal supervision. Abroad, Henry had been working without intermission to secure the assistance of allies, negotiating, besides his league with Sigismund, an understandino' with the Hanse towns, and with Cologne, Holland, Bavaria. At home he carried further the work of conciliation ; drew closer his friendship with the earl of March and with Henry Hotspur's son ; restored the earldom of Huntingdon to young John Holland ; and rewarded Thomas Beaufort for his services at Harfleur by the title of duke of Exeter. At length in 1417 he again crossed to Harfleur, which had been bravely defended by Beaufort, and a naval attack had in 1416 been defeated by the duke of Bedford. The second campaign, though it con- 111 c T • Henry's tained no such striking mcident as the battle of Agmcourt, second reflected perhaps even higher credit upon him as a cautious, ^"^p^is"- painstaking, and determined commander. Eschewing all fighting in the open field, the French endeavoured to gain time by obstinately defending the Norman fortresses, and the seasons of 1417, 1418, and 1419 were consumed in sieges. Early in 1419, however, Henry brought to a successful conclusion the great siege of Eouen, where, exasperated by a joke of the garrison, who placed a braying ass on the walls by way of a bad pun on his name (i'fme rii : Henri), he sullied his fame by cruelly allowing the women and children of Eouen to perish between his trenches and the walls. In July Pontoise feU, and the road to Paris lay open. Danger now made the French factions unite. Hitherto, the queen, with her daughter Katharine, had been on the side of the Burgundians, and Charles the Dauphin on that of the Orleanists ; but hopes ^^^^^^ ^f were now entertained that a reconciliation might be efi'ected. the Duke of Accordingly, in August a meeting was arranged between the duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin at the bridge of Montereau-faut- Yonne. A strong barrier separated the two sides ; but the duke of Burgundy unsuspectingly crossed it, and the followers of the Dauphin, headed by Tanneguy du Chastel, put the duke to death. This horrid X 322 House of Lancaster 1419 crime destroyed all hopes of resisting Henry ; for the duke's son, Philip, and the French queen opened negotiations with the English. The pro- spect opened by this caused Henry to raise his demands, which would probably have at first been satisfied by the cession of Normandy ; and, eventually, it was agreed that Henry should marry Katharine, become king of France on Charles' death, and should act, meanwhile, as Regent Treaty of ^^ France. This arrangement was completed at Troyes on Troyes. May £4, 1420. On June 3, Henry and Katharine were married. Soon afterwards he entered Paris in triumph, and after spend- ing Christmas in royal state, returned with his bride to England in February 1421, leaving Clarence to act as his representative in France. Meanwhile, the Dauphin had gathered to his standard the forces of the south of France, where the Armagnacs had most adherents ; and called Battle of ^^ ^^^ ^i^ ^^^ Scots, who, as was usual during a war with Beaugd. France, had invaded the north of England. Their raid, long remembered as ' the burnt Candlemas,' did no great harm ; but the arrival of a body of Scots in France, under the command of the earl of Buchan, was a more serious matter. In March, Clarence marched against the allies, and, forgetful of the old adage, ' England were but a fling, but for the crooked stick and the grey goose wing,' foolishly attempted to surprise them by a forced march of his cavalry. The result was disastrous. At the battle of Beauge the English were completely routed, and Clarence paid with his death the penalty of his temerity. To repair the disaster, Henry returned to France in June 1421, and his arrival restored victory to his countrymen. The Dauphin was driven south of the Loire, and the strong fortress of Meaux was Henry's . . ' , ^ third Cam- besieged. During the winter a son, afterwards Henry vi., P^^S"* was born at Windsor, and in May Katharine rejoined her husband. The same month Meaux fell. Though unbroken success had hitherto followed Henry's standards, and he had fought no battle he had not won, and besieged no town that he had not taken, there was Henry's ^ne chance that he could not eliminate. Dysentery, then Death. \)^q scourge of camps, attacked him ; and he died at Vincennes on the 31st of August 1422, and in the 34th year of his age. Henry's character has been much and deservedly praised. There is no doubt that he was an able warrior and a great administrator, and also that, according to the ideas of the time, he was a really Henry's . . place in religious man. His persecution of the Lollards has been condemned by the judgment of subsequent times, but it is hard to blame a man because he was not in advance of his age, and his cruelty at the siege of Rouen is a more suitable subject for detestation. 1422 Henry V. 323 In his dealings with parliament, he was as true to constitutional prin- ciples as his father, though much less under the influence of compulsion ; and while aiding the clergy against the Lollards, he was by no means blind to the necessity of reform, which he showed by ordering a reduction of the clerical fees, and by ordering bishops to enforce the residence of the parochial clergy. He also stood well with learned men, and the impres- sion he created among his contemporaries was certainly most favourable. Even a French chronicler, Juvenal des Ursins, admits that 'he had been of high and great courage, valiant in arms, prudent, sage, great in justice, who, without respect of persons, did right for small and great. He was feared and revered of his relations, subjects, and neighbours.' CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Battle of Agincourt, . 1415 Siege of Rouen, .... 1419 Murder of the Duke of Burgundy, 1419 Treaty of Troyes, 1420 Battle of Beauge, 1421 CHAPTEE III HENRY VI. : 1422 — (DETHRONED) 1461 — (dIED) 1471 Born, 1421 ; married 1446, Margaret of Anjou. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS Scotland. France. Pope. James i., d, 1436. Charles VI., d. 1422. Eugenius iv James ii., d. 1460. Charles VII., d. 1461. French Wars— Siege of Orleans— Loss of France — Growth of Hostile Parties headed respectively by the Beauforts and the Duke of York— Outbreak of Civil War — Dethronement of Henry vi. The heir of Henry v. was liis son, a child of nine months old, and during his minority the government was carried on by a protector and a council. -Phe Some dificulty was experienced in defining the exact powers Minority, gf gjid^ . "b^t eventually, by the sanction of parliament, it was arranged that the duke of Bedford should be protector and defender of the realm and of the church of England, and principal counsellor to the king whenever Bedford was present in England ; and in his absence the same duties were assigned to the duke of Gloucester. The council con- sisted of Gloucester, as chairman, and of five prelates, one duke, five earls, and five barons, and was fully representative of the gTeat baronial families. All ]3atronage was reserved in its hands, and all business was carried on with its cognisance and advice. In practice, however, Bedford was almost invariably in France, so that Gloucester acted as protector ; and after him the most prominent ]3lace was held by Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, the uncle and friend of Henry v. The characters of these men, who may almost be called a triumvirate, were very difi'erent. Bedford was now thirty-three years of age, and had had plenty of experience both of government and war. He had been thoroughly trusted by his brother, and well deserved it, for he was really a noble character, distinguished by serious- 324 1424 Henry VI. 325 ness, honesty, and complete disinterestedness ; and, tliougli he was not so brilliant as his elder brother, he combined Henry's thoroughness and soundness with some of the nobility of character which distinguished the Black Prince. Gloucester, on the other hand, may be com- pared with his great uncle, Thomas, the popular rival of Eichard ii. His good qualities were all of the showy order. Brave, adventurous, amiable and cultivated, he gained popularity while his brother earned respect ; and his self-seeking ambition and complete thoughtlessness hurried him into actions most injurious to the fortunes both of his country and of his house. Fortunately, the evil genius of Gloucester was, to a great degree, balanced by the sterling qualities of the great bisliop of Winchester. With abilities, both for peace and war, as great as those of any of his family, Henry Beaufort was, Henry by his profession, debarred from exhibiting the latter on Beaufort. English fields, but the former he placed fully at the disposal of his nephews ; and for nearly forty years he was the guiding spirit in English domestic politics, always ready to sacrifice both time and money for the interests of his countrymen. The late king had wished that the regency of France should be undertaken by Philip, duke of Burgundy ; but as that prince declined it, the duty fell to the lot of Bedford. His first care was to French secure the territories occupied by the English from French Affairs, attacks. Eoughly speaking, the English district took the form of a wedge, wdiose base was the sea-coast from Calais to [the borders of Brittany, and whose apex was at Paris. The security of this obviously depended on the maintenance of friendly relations with Burgundy and Brittany ; and to gain their goodwill Bedford negotiated a double marriage, by which he himself married Anne, sister of the duke of Burgundy, and Arthur of Kichemont, brother of the duke of Brittany, married her sister. His next step was to drive the French from those lands wdiich divided the English territories from those guttle of of their allies. Two campaigns effected this. In 1423 the Crevant. victory of Crevant, won by Thomas Montague, earl of Salisbury, cleared the district between Paris and Burgundy ; and in 1424, Bedford's great victory of Verneuil did the same for the lands north of the Battle of Loire, between Paris and Brittany. By a politic act of Verneuii. generosity the council also detached Scotland from the French alliance by releasing king James, and in 1424, after a captivity of nineteen years, he returned home taking with him an English wife, Jane Beaufort, cousin of the English king. Unfortunately, the folly of the duke of Gloucester went a long way to 326 Rouse of Lancaster 1424 neutralise Bedford's policy. Exactly a month before his brother's marriage to Anne of Burgundy, Humphrey was unpatriotic enough to marry Jacqueline of Hainault, the half-divorced wife of the ness of duke of Brabant, an act which gave mortal offence to Philip oucester. ^^ Burgundy, who expected to succeed to her dominions ; and, as if this were not bad enough, in 1424 he proceeded to Hainault to push his wife's claims by arms. By this time the condition of France was much less favourable to the invaders than it had been. The imbecile Charles vi. died in 1422, not Charles VII. long after Henry v. ; but the succession was claimed by the of France. Dauphin as Charles vii., and he was, of course, supported by the French national party, who regarded him as the rightful champion of the French cause. The old difficulties which had proved too much for the Black Prince also began to tell against Bedford. The first enthusiasm of the English had spent its force, and men and money were both more difficult to get. Moreover, the feudal armies, against which all the great English victories had been won, were replaced, as the war went on, by professional soldiers of the type of the celebrated Dunois. The gTave disadvantages that always beset armies which have to oj)erate among a hostile poj)ulation also told their tale, and it only required that a striking success should restore the confidence of the French to bring about a turn of the tide. In this state of affairs, Bedford decided to lay siege to Orleans. As this turned out badly, he has been much blamed, but the causes of the Siege of failure could not well have been foreseen ; and the serious Orleans. danger to be apprehended from leaving Orleans in French hands was obvious. Commanding, as it did, the j)assage of the river Loire, the city acted as a gate by which the French troops from the south could cross over into English territory, and so long as it remained untaken it was a constant source of anxiety and disquiet. Accordingly, in 1428, Bedford ordered an English force under Salisbury, the victor of Crevant, to lay siege to Orleans. Unluckily, however, Salisbury was killed by an iron cannon-shot aimed at him by a French gunner while he was inspecting the works, and his place was taken by William de la Pole, earl of Suffolk. For some months the siege went steadily on ; and in February 1429, at Rouverai, a small detachment under Sir John Fastolf distinguished itself by beating off a French force which tried to capture a convoy of provisions which was being brought up for the besiegers. When the attack commenced, the Englishmen drew up the wagons in a circle — laager wise — and eventually repelled the attack with showers of arrows, though the French cannon-balls made so much havoc among the herring- 1435 Henry VI. 327 barrels, with which the wagons were loaded, that the fight was jocularly called the battle of the herrings. The failure of this attempt appeared to seal the fate of the garrison, when a completely new turn was given to events by the appearance on the scene of the Maid of Orleans. This wonderful personage was a girl of eighteen, named Jeanne Dare, daughter of a Domremy peasant, who believed that she had a divine mission to lead her countrymen to victory over the English, jeanne and to crown Charles vii. in the cathedral of Elieims. Her Dare. j)ertinacity and belief in the truth of her mission gained her admittance to the court. There her services were accepted ; and clad in armour, and girt with a sword, she led the enthusiastic soldiers against the English. In May the sieo;e of Orleans was raised. A few days later, the „ , ^ J 5 Battles of earl of Suffolk was defeated and captured at Jargeau, and Jargeau the heroic Sir John Talbot suffered the same fate at Patay ; and, within the year, Charles vii. was actually crowned at Rheims. The effort, however, died away. The English recovered their nerve ; jealousy again broke out among the French ; and the capture of the maid at Com- piegne, in May 1430, finally broke the spell. To the disgrace of all persons concerned, she was tried as a witch and condemned to die by a court of Norman and Burgundian prelates, presided over by the bishop of Beauvais. She was burned to death at Eouen in May 1431, and her ashes thrown into the Seine. The failure at Orleans put a stop to any further forward movement on the part of the English ; but for some time their defensive strength seemed unimpaired, and it was not till six years after this that the French made any considerable progress in ridding themselves of the invaders. Unfortunately, in 1433, Bedford himself made a most serious mistake, which had the effect of breaking the English alliance with Burgundy, on which, more than on anything else, their power of holding their conquests rested. His first wife, Anne of Burgundy, died in 1432 ; and very soon afterwards he married Jacquetta of Luxembourg, the sister ge^ford of the count of St. Pol. The lands of St. Pol lay along the j^^^''^^^^^ watershed which separated Flanders from Artois, and so ofLuxem- formed a barrier between the king of France and the duke of Burgundy, nmch as at a later date Savoy was the barrier land between France and Italy. Of this the counts of St. Pol had made their advan- tage, by siding sometimes with the duke of Burgundy, and sometimes with the king of France. Consequently, his alliance with Bedford was most distaseful to the duke of Burgundy, who from that moment sought an excuse to separate himself from the English. The opportunity came in 1435. For some time Bedford's health had been declining, and he 328 House of Lancaster 1435 had found it hard to cope Avith the accumulation of difficulties with which the English were threatened ; and, moreover, English affairs had compelled him to leave France for sixteen months. Meanwhile, negotia- tions between the French and the Burgundians resulted in a secret agreement that the French should formally offer terms of peace to the English, and that if these were refused, Burgundy, at the price of the cession of Amiens and certain other towns along the river Somme and of the county of Ponthieu, should come over to the French side. Accord- ingly, in 1435, and when a great congrress was summoned by pope Congress of Eugeuius IV. to meet at Arras in August, and try to con- Arras, elude the war, the French were ready with their terms, which were, that Normandy and Aquitaine should be given up in full sovereignty to the English king, and that in return he should repudiate all claim to the French crown. In an evil hour the offer was declined. On September 14, Bedford died at Rouen ; and on the 21st the duke of Bedford's Burgundy made a formal treaty with France, and openly Death. renounced his alliance with the English. The death of Bedford and the severance of the Burgundian alliance bring to a close the second period of the war, which lasted from the treaty with Burgundy in 1419 to 1435. During Bedford's thirteen years' struggle to uphold the English rule in France, he had been continually harrassed by having to attend to the p H perpetual bickerings and disputes, of which his brother, ings of Gloucester, was the originator. That infatuated man, after mortally offending the duke of Burgundy by his marriage with Jacquehne of Hainault, had actually, in October 1424, led an armed expedition into Hainault, drawn oflF the duke from France, challenged him to single combat, and assumed for himself the title of count of Holland and Zealand. He gained, however, little or nothing by his expedition ; and returned to England loaded with debt. His next action was to pick a quarrel with Henry Beaufort ; and in 1425 Bedford had to return home to restore peace. This was eventually accomplished, rather on the whole to Gloucester's advantage, at the instance of the Parliament parliament of 1425, long remembered as the parliament of of Bats. ^y-^^^ pj, bludgeons. In 1426, Bedford returned to France, accompanied by Henry Beaufort ; and Gloucester immediately renewed his desigTis against Burgundy. The same year, however, Beaufort made the great mistake of his life. Hampered in England by becomes a the intrigues and follies of his nephew, he seems to have turned his thoughts to playing a part in the larger field of European politics ; accepted from the pope the title of cardinal, and 1435 Henry VI. 329 spent some time in Germany, where a campaign was being carried on by the papacy against the Hussites of Bohemia. No sooner, however, had he returned to England in 1428 than he found that he had placed a most formidable weapon in the hands of his English oj)ponents ; for, in spite of all his protests to the contrary, it was easy to represent him as a traitor to his country, and to play upon the ancient hostility of the English people to all forms of papal interference in English affairs. A year later, therefore, Beaufort was glad to go to France in attendance on the little king, who was crowned king of France in 1429, and Beaufort remained with him the greater part of two years. On his return the old troubles broke out afresh ; and, in 1433, Bedford was again in England, doing what he could to restore peace. Next year, however, he was com- pelled to return to Normandy, and never saw England again. Throughout these quarrels Gloucester was usually supjDorted by the London mob, with whom Beaufort was unpopular ; but Beaufort had the confidence of the country at large, and parliament was therefore on his side. For some time the question of the right method of conducting parlia- mentary elections had been in agitation. The writs of summons of knights of the shire, issued to the sheriffs in the time of Edward i., seem to have left the actual method of election to mentary the discretion of that official, and the practice was therefore ^gui^^ted. subject to wide variations ; while the tendency was to leave the election pretty much in the hands of the sheriff. Under Edward in. and Eichard ii. complaints had been made of the partiality and over- bearing conduct of the sheriffs ; and, in 1406, an act of parliament was passed by which it was directed that the election should be made by the whole county at the next county court held after the writ had been received. Ordinarily, however, the monthly meeting of the county court was attended by few persons of importance ; and so it was open to the sheriff, by giving notice of the election only to his personal friends and adherents, to pack the court as he pleased ; or, in case of a riot, to return his own candidates after going through a mere farce of election. Accord- ingly, in 1430, an act was passed by which the right of election was secured to all freeholders, whose lands were worth forty shillings a year ; and, in 1432, it was further ordered that these freeholds were to be situated in the county itself. The force of this act was twofold. First, it checked the power of the sheriff by securing a right to vote to certam qualified people in each shire ; and, second, it checked mob violence by taking away from every casual attendant at the county court the right of interference. Another act passed in 1445 insisted on sheriffs duly send- ing the ' precept to elect ' due to each city or borough in the county 330 House of Lancaster 1435 which returned members. The election then took place in the city or borough, according to its own customs ; and a deputation from it attended the county court to hand in the return, and to see it attached by the sheriff to his return of the knights of the shire. Owing, however, to variations in practice, the whole subject of parha- mentary elections is very obscure ; but the object of the legislation of the reign of Henry vi. was to secure the free expression of the opinion of both town and country against the interference of the sheriff, whose action was doubtless often inspired by the party which was for the time in power. At the same time, it distinctly reduced the number of those who had been able to take a part in the conduct of elections, for in silencing the voices of the sheriffs' retainers and hangers-on, parlia- ment also disfranchised the copyholders and villeins, some of whom had certainly attended the court ; and the forty shillings freeholders con- tinued to be the only voters in counties till the Reform Act of 1832. The desertion of Burgundy in 1435 roused the English parliament to such anger that the death of Bedford passed almost unnoticed. The pff f regency was bestowed on the young Richard, duke of York, Burgundy's then about twenty-six years of age, and the captaincy of Calais, which from its situation was likely to bear the brunt of Burgundy's attack, was entrusted to the duke of Grloucester. Neither, however, was able to effect much. Paris was irretrievably lost, and Calais proved strong enough to defy the duke of Burgundy without Gloucester's personal assistance. A year later York was recalled by the council, and the command entrusted first to the earl of Warwick and then to John Beau- fort, earl, and afterwards duke, of Somerset ; and though York was again employed, the rivalry between him and the Beauforts began the feud which afterwards played such a conspicuous part among the causes of the Wars of the Roses. For the time, however, their rivalry resulted in efforts which, though unable to keep back the advancing tide of French success, served to maintain the English reputation for deeds of arms. Among these, the most conspicuous was the recapture of Harfleur, in 1440, by Somerset and his brother Edmund Beaufort. In spite, however, of the active continuation of the struggle, a peace party was forming itself, which based its convictions on the growing _ ^ ^ certainty that England was not strong enouoh to establish Growth of \ ® . . a Peace an English dominion in France in defiance of French national ^' feeling. Before his death this conviction had certainly been forming itself in Bedford's mind ; after his death it was taken up as the ground of a definite policy by the great cardinal and some of the most experienced of the statesmen and soldiers. On the other hand it was 1442 Benry FL 33 1 bitterly opposed by Humphrey of Gloucester, partly, no doubt, because it was the cardinal's, partly, too, because by temperament and inclination he was the natural mouthpiece of the warlike nobility and of that class of mind which regards the carryino- on of a hopeless or unjust war as less ignominious than coming to q honourable terms. His opposition, however, was most Gloucester. serious ; for he was very popular with the Londoners, and had contrived, by means not easily comprehended, to win himself the reputation for chivalry on which was based his title of 'the good,' which accords ill either with his exploits in war or the story of his private life. Whatever he could do to thwart the peace party, however, he did ; and in 1440, when the peace party persuaded the king to release the duke of Orleans, who had been a prisoner since Agincourt, on condition that he should use his good offices in favour of peace, Gloucester addressed to the king a letter, in which he reiterated all his charges against Cardinal Beaufort and the peace party, and endeavoured to make it appear that the writer and the duke of York were the leaders of the only patriotic party. Though not successful in preventing the release of Orleans, this protest was of importance as giving the nation a wholly false estimate of the real motives and policy of the Beaufort party. John Beaufort died in 1444, leaving a daughter, Margaret ; and his place at court was taken by his younger brother Edmund, who also became duke of Somerset. Meanwhile, the peace party received a valuable adherent in the person of the young king. Henry actually came of age in 1442 ; but for some years before he had acted as king, and the date is, therefore, '' o' ' ' Henry of little consequence. From the first he was a delicate boy ; becomes of 2,&r6. quite unfit to take his share in the business of war at an age when his father and uncles had led armies in the field. On the other hand, his mind seems to have been singularly precocious ; and ill-con- sidered efforts to force him forward make it probable that he was a victim of educational overpressure. Warwick instructed him in chivalry, Gloucester in the study of literature, Beaufort in the art of government ; and the docile lad seems to have well profited by their instruction, for he grew up a courteous gentleman, an accomplished man, with a real anxiety to do his duty to his subjects, but at the same time wholly unfitted by nature to be the successful king of a high-spirited people in such troublous times. For a long time, however, the real incompetence of the king for independent action was concealed from the eyes of the nation by his youth, and by the conspicuous parts played by such men as Gloucester and the cardinal ; but sooner or later it was inevitable that the real character of the king would come to be understood. 332 House of Lancaster 1442 In 1441, 1442, and 1443, the English held their own well in Normandy under the duke of York ; but the peace party held true to their policy, and in 1444 an embassy was sent to Paris, headed by Negotia- . . "^ ' .7 tions for William de la Pole, earl of Suffolk. This nobleman, who was the grandson of Michael de la Pole, the minister of Kichard 11., and son of the earl of Suffolk, who fell at Agincourt, had early distinguished himself in war and diplomacy, and had gained great influence over the king. He was a thoroughgoing member of the peace party, and his embassy resulted in a truce for two years, and an arrange- ment that Henry should, as a step towards a permanent peace, marry Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Eene, duke of Anjou and marries couut of Provence, and titular king of Naples and Jerusalem, of Xn^ou^ and niece of the queen of Charles vii. In April 1445 the bride reached England and was married to Henry, he being twenty-four years of age and she sixteen. At first this marriage and the hopes of peace that it brought with it were popular in the country. Both houses of parliament voted their thanks to Suffolk in 1445. The merchants were glad to renew commercial relations with France ; and it seemed as if the policy of Cardinal Beaufort, who heartily approved of the marriage, was going to be crowned with complete success. Of this state of affairs Suffolk, as the negotiator of the marriage, took every advantage to ingratiate himself with the new queen, and by so doing diverted to him- self the ill-will of Gloucester, who naturally disliked the marriage, not only as a triumph for the peace party, but also because the possible birth of an heir to Henry would bar his hopes of succession to the crown. Since Bedford\s death he had stood next in the succession, and so eager were some of his household, at any rate, for his interests, that his wife, Eleanor Cobham, whom he had married on his union with Jacqueline being pro- nounced null by the pope, practically confessed that she had been guilty of emjiloying sorcery to bring about the king's death. The cardinal's health was failing, and it was clear that his place as leader of the peace party was about to fall to Suffolk, who attempted to strengthen his position by arranging a marriage between his son John and the little Margaret Beaufort, who, after Henry and Humphrey, was the next repre- sentative of the line of John of Gaunt. In 1447 the struggle between Gloucester and Sufiblk came to a head. Suftblk was sufficiently influential to have the parliament of that year „ ,. summoned at Bury St. Edmunds, where Gloucester would Parliament , ,. of Bury St. be at a distance from his friends the Londoners, and where Suffolk's own influence would be at its greatest. The House met in February ; and on Gloucester's arrival he and some of his 1448 Henry VI, 333 followers were arrested by the earl of Salisbury and several other noble- men. This occurred on the 18th, and on the 23rd Gloucester died in his lodgings. How he met his end none can say. On ^ the one hand, he is known to have been in exceedingly Gloucester, delicate health, and anxiety and indignation may have hurried on the course of natural disease ; or he may have been slain by some officious underling ; or he may have been deliberately put to death by Suffolk him- self. The cardinal can hardly have had a hand in it, for the removal of Gloucester was a most serious blow to the house of Lancaster, whose fortunes it was his interest as a Beaufort to support. Henry was certainly innocent ; and it is hard to suspect Margaret, a girl of eighteen. At the time, as much uncertainty seems to have prevailed as since ; but as time went on, the darker rumour became the more popular, though unsup- ported by additional evidence. Six weeks after the death of his old antagonist. Cardinal Beaufort also passed away. Cardinal leaving behind him a great reputation as the mainstay of his house, and, next to Cardinal Wolsey, the most magnificent ecclesiastic produced by this country. The deaths of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort made Suffolk for a time supreme. With great adroitness he had made himself the confi- dant of Margaret, and there was no one at court to compare Suffolk in with him in influence. Edmund Beaufort, duke of Somer- P°^^''- set, was occupied with his French command ; and in 1447, Eichard, duke of York, was made lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and so kept at a distance. Among the officials, Bishop Moleyns and Lord Say and Sele were Suffolk's adherents ; while Cardinal Kemp, the archbishop of Canterbury, represented Beaufort's ideas. The general aim of Suffolk's policy was to secure peace, and it must be taken as a proof of his honesty that he pursued this unpopular object with such tenacity. Accordingly, in 1448, the remaining places held by the English in Anjou and Maine were given up to Eene, probably in accordance with a ^ .^^ ^j^d verbal promise made by Sufi'olk at the time of the marriage Maine ^ "^ ji . !• surrendered. negotiations. This was an attempt to secure the rest of the English dominions by the surrender of a part, but it was bitterly resented in England ; and, with Somerset's consent, some men of the Maine garrisons in their retreat sacked Fougeres, a town belonging to the duke of Brittany. This wicked and foolish action led ^^^^ ^^ to the renewal of open war. In May, Pont de I'Arche, Br^^tany which commanded the approach to Kouen, fell ; and, in October, Kouen itself was taken. For these accumulated disastei-s Suffolk and Somerset were held responsible. A cry of treachery was raised ; and 334 House of Lancaster 1448 the council seeing itself involved in their unpopularity, was at its wits' end for a defence. The position of the council was certainly a hard one. Constitutional government had been carried far enough to make the ministers respon- sible for failure, but not far enouoh to provide a ready and Unpopular- ' „ . » i j ity of the peaceful way of transferring the duties of government from the shoulders of unpopular ministers to those of their critics ; and, with the excej)tion of the discredited Suffolk, there was no man in the court party strong enough to take the lead at such a crisis. A strong king, who believed in himself, and could be his own prime minister and his own commander-in-chief, might have brought the nation through its troubles ; or under a constitutional sovereign, a strong minister like the elder Pitt might have weathered the storm ; but Henry vi. was completely wanting in the qualities of a successful despot, and no one of the politicians who surrounded him had a tithe of Pitt's capacity and spirit. The natural consequence was that, judged by every standard, the administration of Henry vi. was a failure. Suffolk's peace policy and Somerset's ill luck or want of capacity were alike condemned by the nation. The debt amounted to ^370,000 ; and the household expenses had increased from ^5000 to ^25,000 a year. The regular income was but £5000 ; and, though additional taxation was voted with- out much demur by parliament, the burden was wearily borne by the nation. Moreover, the elementary duty of government, that of preserving order, had been neglected. The bands of retainers, of whom little is Disorder in heard between the rebellion of the Percies and the loss England. ^^ Normandy, had again become a curse to the country, and the great nobles, each with his little standing army at his back, showed scant respect to the king's peace when their interests were at stake. For example, in Norfolk, a gentleman named John Paston, whose family letters have been preserved, and furnish a mine of information as to the events of the time, made good his legal right to the manor of Gresham, which was wrongfully claimed by Lord Moleyns. The baron collected a body of one thousand men, and choosing a time when Paston was away, stormed the house,. and took the beams from under the floor of Mrs. Paston's bedroom, to make her leave the place. So early as 1435, a quarrel between two branches of the Nevilles had led to fighting, and the lawlessness of the country was such as had _ ^ . not been tolerated in England for many centuries. More- Retainers. . => "^ over, in addition to their household retainers, the great nobles had begun the practice of making bonds with the freeholders and 1450 Hennj VI. 335 knights in their neighbourhood, by which the latter agreed— save their allegiance to the king— to serve their patron against all comers, so that each noble had a small standing army in readiness, and a laro-er force behind on which he could count in an emergency. In these circum- stances, nothing but a leader was wanted for a rebellion. York, however was in Ireland ; there was no other name likely to attract a following ; and in consequence a number of disconnected outbreaks took place, which make the year 1450 notable as a year of riot and disorder. In January, Bishop Moleyns of Chichester was sent to Portsmouth to pay the sailors, who were starting for France. Unluckily for him, his funds did not permit of his doing more than making a payment on account ; and the sailors, furious with disappoint- Bishop ment, seized and murdered him, the soldiers meanwhile look- ''*'^°*^y"^- ing on. On January 22 parliament met, and Suffolk, well aware that an attack would be made upon him, endeavoured, by a vigorous protest of innocence and an appeal to his past services, to stave it off. The attempt, however, was unsuccessful ; and the commons acting apparently under the direction of Lord Cromwell, himself one of the lords of the council, prepared a long series of charges, on which they impeached Suffolk before the lords. The accusations thus made dealt ment of some with incompetency and some with treason. The former practically arraigned the whole policy of the peace party, the latter accused Suffolk of a plot to marry his son, John de la Pole, to Margaret Beaufort, and to place them on the throne. The latter charge could only be met by a denial ; but the former, which really involved the council, was most embarrassing for the court ; and apparently it was arranged, as the best way out of the difficulty, that Suffolk should avoid a trial, which would be as awkward for his party as dangerous to hunself, by throwing himself on the king's mercy, without answering the charges at all. Accordingly this was done, and then Henry ordered Suffolk to leave the country for five years. On April 30 Suffolk set sail ; but his ship was intercepted off Calais by the Nicolas of the Tower ; and on May 2 he was taken into a small boat, decapitated, and his body cast Murder of on the shores of Kent. Evidence is wanting to decide Suffolk, whether his murder was due, like that of Bishop Moleyns, to the anger of mutinous sailors, or to a determination of Suffolk's political enemies not to be baulked of their prey. There is no doubt, however, that by depriving Henry of the one really able councillor he possessed, it struck a severe blow at the Lancastrian dynasty, and may be compared to the loss which Charles i. sustained by the death of Strafford on the eve of the civil war. 336 House of Lancaster 1450 A month later Cade's rebellion threw the south-eastern shires into confusion. Jack Cade was an Irish retainer of Sir Thomas Dacre, who Cade's ^'^^^ A^d the country as a murderer, but returned under Rebellion. ^^^ assumed name. It is, however, a moot point whether he was the real leader of the rebellion which bears his name, or whether, the original leader having perished or fled, Cade did not step into his place. The first beginnings of the movement are imperfectly under- stood ; but a rumour that the men of Kent would be held responsible for Suffolk's death, and indignation at the exactions of Crowmer the sheriff", seem to have been the sparks which set fire in Kent to the com- bustible matter with which all England was filled. Once on foot, the movement soon assumed formidable dimensions. No nobles and only one knight are said to have joined it ; but the lesser gentry and yeomen came out with as much unanimity as though the militia had been sum- moned, and marched in orderly array to Blackheath. There they heard that Henry was coming against them in person and retreated ; but when a detachment sent in pursuit by Henry, under Sir Humphrey Staff'ord Battle of ^^^ l'^i''3 brother William, overtook them at Sevenoaks, the Seven oaks. j.g]3gig turned, defeated the royal troops, killed both their leaders, and returned to Blackheath. From this moment Cade was certainly their leader. He dressed himself in the armour of the fallen Staff'ord ; declared himself to be Mortimer, a cousin of York, and did all he could to make it appear that he was acting in his cousin's interests. Meanwhile, Henry had found his troops disheartened by the defeat at Sevenoaks, and so far from being whole-hearted in defending the govern- ment, that an imperious demand was made for the imprison- retires to ment of Lord Say, the treasurer. This was granted ; and oventry. ^-^^^ Henry, feeling himself unequal to the task of rallying his mutinous followers, retreated to Coventry, leaving London to its fate, and giving a clear demonstration to the whole nation that he had neither the fighting power nor the self-reliance necessary for an English king. On the king's retreat. Cade advanced to Southwark, setting forth as the grievances of the rebels : the loss of France ; the heavy taxation ; the exclusion of the king's relatives from the Council ; interference with elec- tions ; and, generally, the ill government of the country. On July 3, Cade crossed the bridge into London. There he was well received by the citizens, and had no difficulty in getting possession of the persons of Lord Say and Crowmer, both of whom were beheaded. Every night his men slept in Southwark ; but Cade himself having set the example of plunder, the citizens, aided by Matthew Gough — a veteran of the 1450 Henry VI , 337 French wars — manned the bridge, and though Gough himself was killed the rebels were defeated in attempting to cross on July 6. Disheartened by this failure, and finding no nobleman willing to join them, the mass of rebels accepted pardons, which the London" government offered through Cardinal Kemp and Bishop ^^''^s^- Waynflete, and the most part returned home. Cade, however, kept some men together, and retired with his plunder to Rochester. Thence he fled alone, but was overtaken and slain by Alexander Death of Iden, the new sheriff of Kent. During the course of Cade. Cade's rebellion, other risings had taken place. In Wiltshire, Askew, bishop of Salisbury, had been slain at Edington by his Murder of own tenants ; outbreaks had occurred in Gloucestershire and Askew, the eastern counties ; and the fact that no less than twenty-four traitors' heads were placed on London Bridge within the year, shows into what anarchy the nation had drifted. The deaths of Sufiblk, Moleyns, and Say left Henry almost without responsible advisers. Somerset was in France, and in dire distress ; for the battle of Formigny, April 15, in which the English were Battle of defeated by the skilful use of the French artillery, had Formigny. shattered the reinforcements sent out under Sir Thomas Kyriel, with the loss of three thousand Englishmen ; and the surrender of the remaining garrisons of Normandy was merely a question of days. In these circum- stances the natural adviser of the king was undoubtedly the duke of York ; but that nobleman, whose abilities as a warrior and . ' ' Position 01 an administrator had been proved both in France and the Duke of Ireland, had long been an exile from court, and the way in which his name had been used by the Kentish rebels and by the discon- tented generally, as a contrast to the late incompetent advisers of the king, was not likely to have made him more welcome. Now, however, Duke Richard thought that the time had come to assert himself; and in September he crossed over from Ireland, collected a force of 4000 men from the Mortimer lands on the Welsh marches, advanced on London, and demanded a personal interview with the king. At this interview York presented a petition, in which he complained of the false charges made against himself, and of the hindrances that had been put in the way of his landing ; and demanded to be confronted with his accusers. In answer, Henry replied that the language used by the insurgents had naturally caused some suspicion, but that he was now satisfied of York's innocence, and ' reputed and admitted him as his true and faithful subject, and as his faithful cousin.' Thus relieved of the fear of a prosecution for treason, York's next object was to get the reins of government out of the hands of Y 338 House of Lancaster 1450 the survivors of the court party. He was, however, a cautious man, and would proceed no further than he could be sure of his ground, for his methods were always slow. The fall of Bayeux and Caen set Somerset free from his duties in France, and in September he too was in England, reorganising the shattered court party, and preparing to dispute York's clamis Somerset ^^ direct affairs. At this moment Edmund Beaufort, duke ^°"^ of Somerset, was probably the most un]30}Dular man in England.^ Now that Suffolk was gone, Somerset had to bear the full odium of the loss of Normandy ; and peculation, cowardice, treachery, and incompetence were everywhere laid to his charge. His one hope of maintaining himself lay in his intimate relations with the court ; and his first act on his return was to secure the title of constable of England, Avhich might be regarded as a virtual acknowledgment of his claim to direct affairs. Moreover, he had the confidence of Queen Margaret, who was now beginning to exercise a decisive influence over the king's mind, and who naturally disliked York as the probable successor of her husband in case her marriage proved childless. Henry himself, weak both in mind and body, was little better than a tool in their hands. For three years York and Somerset manoeuvred against one another. Somerset was actually in power, and York was excluded from all share in the government ; but politics were resolving themselves into a set struggle between the two. Unluckily for Somerset, affairs in France were going from bad to worse. No sooner had Normandy been cleared 1 THE BEAUFORTS. John of Gainit, = Katharine Swynford. d. 1399. Jolni, Earl of Somerset, d. 1410. Henry, Cardinal Beaufort, d. 1447. Katharine = Owen Tudor, of France. I John, Duke of Somerset, d. 1444. Edmund Tudor, = Margaret. Earl of Kichmond. Henry vii., 1485-1509. Edmund, Duke of Somerset, killed at St. Albans, 1455, Jane, m. James i. of Scotland. Henry, Duke of Somerset, executed after Hexham, 1463. Edmund, Duke of Somerset, executed after Tewkesbury, 1471. John, killed at Tewkesbiirv, 1471. 1453 Henry VI. 33^ of the English than the French attacked Guienne, a district which had been connected with the English crown for nigh three hundred years and which was the centre of a flourishing trade. Somerset, however proved unequal to its defence ; and in 1451 Bordeaux and Bayonne were both lost. To look on while the ancient Bordea^ dominions of the realm were being sacrificed by an incom- ^"'^ Bayonne. petent rival was more than York could bear. The lower his own fortunes grew^ the more assiduous was Somerset in plying the kino- with doubts of York's loyalty. Finally in 1452 York made a move, and, repeating his action of 1450, approached London, protected by a formid- able force. On Blackheath his troops were confronted by those of the king. Neither side, however, wished to fight ; and, after York's com- plaints had been heard, Henry agreed to arrest Somerset, with a view to a thorough sifting of York's charges. On between this, York dismissed his followers, and himself visited the Somerset ' _ ' and York. royal camp ; but on arrival found Somerset still in power, and was himself placed in virtual arrest. Somerset, however, knew too well the truth of the duke's charges of peculation, corruption, and incom- petence in his French administration to face an open investigation. His one wish was to stop York's mouth ; and this he efi'ected by compelling York to swear himself a loyal subject, and then treating the incident as at an end. For the moment York had been outmanoeuvred, and retired to his estates ; but Somerset's ill-luck was constantly providing fresh matter for complaint. In 1452, a chance of retaking Guienne had pre- sented itself through the dissatisfaction of the Gascons with French rule, and a force of five thousand men was despatched by Somerset to Bordeaux, under the command of John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury. For a time they carried all before them ; but on July 17, 1453, Talbot was enticed into attacking a strong French force at Castillon, Battle ot with inferior numbers. The French were strongly posted and Castillon. well supplied with artillery ; and after terrible slaughter, in which Talbot and his two sons perished, the English were utterly routed. Three months later, Bordeaux again fell into French hands, losTof^ ^ and it seemed only too likely that the whole force of France polse'ssions. would be concentrated for a decisive attack on Calais. Meanwhile, York had been sounding his friends and preparing for fresh action. His chief reliance was placed on his brother-in-law, Pvichard, earl of Salisbury, the head of the younger branch Richard of the Neville family. This powerful and numerous clan, Eid^r, Earl who for many generations had strengthened themselves by of Salisbury. SL series of fortunate marriages, at this time held among its members 340 House of Lancaster 145S and connections some dozen out of the thirty -six peerages that at that date existed in England. Its head was the earl of Westmor- land ; but a feud had existed for some time between the descendants of the two wives of the late earl ; and Richard Neville, the eldest son of the second, was a more powerful man than the head of his house. His mother left him the castles of Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, and other estates in Yorkshire ; from his wife, the daughter of that earl of Salisbury who was killed at Orleans, he derived his seat in the House of Lords, and „ . , , considerable estates in the south-western counties. Richard Richard Neville the Neville the younger, his eldest son, was an even more powerful Earl of ' man than his father, for his marriage with Anne Beauchamp, arwic . ^j^^ heiress of the earldom of Warwick, had made him the largest landholder in England ; for in his hands were accumulated the property of the Despensers and Beauchamps, amounting to some hundred and fifty manors, and some fifteen strong castles. Warwick came of age in 1449, and as he was as energetic and vigorous as his father was cautious and calculating, their alliance with the duke of York was of first-rate importance. One of Salisbury's sisters married John Mowbray, earl of Norfolk, and a brother William married the heiress of the barony of Falconbridge. Hardly had the news of Castillon been received when it became known that the king was seriously ill. Probably he inherited a taint of The King's madness from his gTandfather, Charles vi. ; possibly, as has illness. been suggested, the defeat of Castillon may have unnerved him ; but it was soon evident that his mind was completely unhinged, and in a couple of months he was practically an imbecile. The news of the king's misfortune was followed by the intelligence that Queen Birth of a Margaret had given birth to a son, which occurred on Prince. October 13 ; but by that time the king's mind was so far gone that he knew nothing of what had happened, and did not even notice the child when it was presented to him. These two events com- pletely changed the position of affairs. Since the death of Humphrey of Gloucester, the childless marriage of the king had fostered hopes in the mind of York that he would succeed to the throne in the natural course of events ; and in 1451 a proposal had even been made in the House of Commons to declare him heir to the throne. Now, however, it was probable that the succession would be continued in the direct line, and York's enemies would no longer be inspired by a cautious fear that in attacking him they might be making an enemy of their future sovereign. On the other hand, the mimediate effect of the king's malady was to destroy the foundation of Somerset's power, for even the lords of the 1455 Henry VL 341 council refused to identify themselves with so unpopular a statesman. In the diflSculty all eyes naturally turned to York ; and as a parliament had fortunately been summoned, York acted as the king's representative and virtually assumed the reins of government. The inevitable attack on Somerset was begun by York's brother-in- law, the earl of Norfolk, who reiterated the old charges of treason and peculation ; and in December the council, as a precau- Attack on tionary measure, committed him to the Tower. Next year Somerset, further changes were made. The death of the chancellor, Cardinal Kemp, made it absolutely necessary to appoint some provisional govern- ment ; and the lords, disregarding Margaret's claim to have the direction of affairs, named York protector, reserving, however, most york made carefully, the rights of the little Prince Edward, to whom Protector. York stood godfather. The new protector, who is described as ' a man of low stature, with a short square face, and somewhat stout of body,' at once took energetic measures to reform the administration, and began by filling the chief offices of state with men on whom he could rely. The earl of Salisbury became chancellor ; Warwick was made a member of tlie privy council ; Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, was lord treasurer. Under York's guidance the condition of the country rapidly improved, and his influence was strong enough to put a stop to a private war which had broken out in the north between Thomas Percy, earl of Egremont, assisted by the duke of Exeter and some of the elder Nevilles, against the younger branch of that family, headed by John Neville, afterwards Lord Montague. Meanwhile, Somerset was lying in the Tower, for in the king's state it was a dangerous and difficult task to bring him to trial ; and so long as he had no influence, he could do no further harm. Unfortunately for the country, in December the king began Henry to show symptoms of recovery, and in January 1455 he was again himself ; and the first use he made of his power was to release Somerset and restore him to his ascendancy in the royal councils. For York this turn of afiliirs was most serious. Not only had he to resign the protectorate, but he lost all his other posts ; and his friends Salisbury, Warwick, and Tiptoft were also cashiered. In fork's May a council was held, to which York and his friends were friends J ' 11 J ^. dismissed, not summoned, and by its advice a parliament was called at Leicester, ' for the purpose of providing for the safety of the king's person against his enemies.' Who were meant by the king's enemies, York had no doubt ; and seeing that the moment for action had come, he called out his retainers, summoned Salisbury and Warwick to his aid, and marched straight on London, announcing that they were coming to convmce 342 House of Lancaster 1455 the king of 'the sinister, malicious, and fraudulent reports of their enemies.' No sooner was it known that they were on their road than Somerset and the kino: marched to meet them with a small force of three thousand men, hastily collected by the court peers, of whom about twelve were j)resent, including the dukes of Somerset and Buckingham, the earls of Pembroke, Dorset, Wiltshire, Stafford, and Devon. The two armies Battle of ii^et at St. Albans ; and, after some parleying and the refusal St. Albans. q£ York's demand that the king would ' deliver up such persons as he might accuse to be dealt with like as they have deserved,' the town was stormed by the Yorkists. The slaughter among the soldiers was slight ; but the Lancastrian leaders suflFered severely, as their heavy armour made flight difficult. Henry himself was wounded by an arrow ; Somerset, the earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford were killed ; Buckingham, Stafford, Devon, and Dorset were wounded and taken ; Pembroke and Wiltshire escaped. The result of the fight at St. Albans was to sweep away Somerset and his friends much as Suffolk and his ministers had perished in 1450. It Results of Isft York practically supreme, and his first act was to restore the battle, j^jj. friends to power. Bourchier, archbishop of Canterbury, a clever but somewhat time - serving prelate, was left undisturbed as chancellor ; and his brother. Lord Bourchier, was made treasurer. Somerset was succeeded by the duke of York as constable, and by Warwick as captain of Calais ; and Salisbury was made steward of the duchy of Lancaster. These appointments were confirmed by parliament ; and an opportune recurrence of Henry's illness in October Henry's ^ ^ . „ second restored York to the position of protector. However, in January Henry again recovered, and the old game of intrigue was renewed ; for Margaret of Anjou had now definitely stepped forward as successor to Somerset's influence, and was bent on regaining power at all risks. So infatuated indeed was she, that, for takes the the purpose of discrediting York's administration, she sug- Yo?k^^^'"^* gested to the French an attack on Sandwich ; is believed to have had a hand in a Scottish raid ; and actually admitted to a friend, that ' if the great lords of her own party knew what she was doing, they would be the first to rise to put her to death.' On the whole York's government was successful. Warwick, too, particularly distinguished himself by his successful captaincy at Calais, Warwick at '^^^^^ ^^^ wou iiiuch reputation and popularity by the energy Calais. j-^Q threw into the defence of the narrow seas, in which he distinguished himself in several hand-to-hand fights with Spanish, French, 1459 Henry VI . 343 and Hanseatic sailors. These exploits, though not exactly in accord with modern ideas of international law, made him the darling of the sailors and of the merchants of London and of the southern ports ; and he became, next to York, the most conspicuous and popular fitmre in the country. Under York's rule the country seemed again to be settlino- down ; the popular songs of the time show that there was a widespread expectation of better times ; and so sanguine was Henry himself that in 1458, he planned a great function of reconciliation at St. Paul's, g in which the chiefs of both parties went in procession, two ^t. Paul's, and two, to pray for the souls of those who had been killed at St. Albans. Margaret, however, had far different thoughts, and was working steadily to oust York and his friends, and little by little she succeeded. The king's recovery terminated York's protectorate ; then the Bourchiers were both dismissed ; Salisbury lost his post attacks as steward ; and the government was reorganised, under the direction of the queen, in the hands of Wiltshire, Beaumont, Shrewsbury, and Exeter. At length, in 1459, Margaret felt herself strong enough to renew the attack on York, which had been defeated in 1455. York was at Ludlow, Salisbury at Middleham, Warwick at Calais, when in September the queen, acting in the king's name, assembled an army in the Midlands ; and, deciding to deal with Salisbury first, had a summons sent him to come u]3 to London. Salisbury, however, was too wary to fall into the snare, and, instead of obeying, collected a force of 3000 men and made his way towards Ludlow ; at the same time sending word to Warwick to come to his assistance. The queen's plan, however, w\as so far successful that a force of her adherents, headed by Lord Audley, intercepted Salisbury at Blore Heath, on the borders of Shropshire and Staifordshire ; Battle of but in the battle that followed, Audley was defeated and ^lore Heath, slain, and Salisbury efiected his junction with York without further molestation ; while Warwick, bringing with him six hundred tramed soldiers under Sir Andrew Trollope, also joined them. Both sides then called on their followers ; but whereas the queen, with all England at her back, was able to raise 50,000 men, the Yorkists, cooped up in the Severn valley, and cut off from many of their estates by the royal army, were only able to raise 20,000. The result was that their followers lost heart ; and when the two armies confronted each other at Ludford-on-the- Teme, a panic spread through the insurgent host, Sir panic at Andrew Trollope went over to the enemy, and the whole army broke up in confusion. York made the best of his way to Ireland ; while Salisbury, Warwick, and Edward, earl of March, York's eldest son, 344 House of Lancaster 1459 reached the coast of Devon, and there taking ship, were indebted to Warwick's practical skill as a sailor for a safe voyage to Calais. For the moment Margaret was completely successful ; but the use she made of her victory was not calculated to conciliate her opponents. A parliament was hurriedly summoned to Coventry ; so hurriedly indeed, Parliament *^^'^^ through want of time for the due formalities of election, of Coventry. ^\^q X/ancastrian sheriffs were able practically to nominate the members ; while the choice of Coventry as the meeting-place instead of London was also a check on Yorkist influence. The great object of the session was the punishment of the insurgent leaders. By a salutary act, passed in 1404, 'aj)peals in parliament,' such as had been common under Eichard 11., had been declared illegal ; but an even readier Yorkists weapon was now devised by the queen's friends in the shape attainted, ^f j^^ts of Attainder. A Bill of Attainder is a bill brought into parliament for attainting, condemning, and executing a person for high treason. The meaning of the word attaint is to ' corrupt ' the hloocl, so that an attainted person can neither possess property, nor transmit it to his heirs. His property, therefore, is forfeited to the crown. An attaint may follow upon either an Act of Attainder or upon a sentence of death in a court of law for treason or felony. The king had the power to remit part of the penalty ; and sometimes attainted j)ersons lost their lives, but were allowed to transmit their property. To reverse an Act of Attainder, a bill for its repeal had to be passed through parliament, just as much as for the repeal of any other law. This terrible miplement of punishment was used for the first time in the Coventry Parliament of 1459 against York, Salisbury, and Warwick. Their property and their lives were forfeited ; and the natural result was that the struggle, which had hitherto been for the power of directing the king's government, became one for life and death. Meanwhile, the attainted lords were collecting their forces to renew the contest, and a simultaneous landing of York in Wales and of the earls in _ . Kent was arranged for the following June. York, however. The Earls . ^. '^ ' ' land in was behind his time ; so the first step was taken by the earls. As Warwick's ships had command of the Channel, they were able to cross without molestation ; and the Lancastrians, who did not expect them in Kent, had no force to oppose them between Sandwich and London, which the earls entered without fighting, and were enthusi- astically received by the citizens. Everywhere they declared that the cause of their coming was the restoration of good government, and that they were personally loyal to the king. Once in London, the earls found themselves joined by numerous adherents. In the late struggle they had 1460 Henry VI. 34-5 stood almost alone ; but the queen's severity had decided the waverers and throughout the south-eastern shires their friends were in a decided preponderance. Leaving Salisbury to besiege the Tower, Warwick and March advanced to Northampton, where they found a Lan- castrian force under the command of Henry himself, assisted Northamp- by the duke of Buckingham. After vain efforts to obtain an *°"' interview with the king, Warwick ordered an attack, and the Yorkists aided by treachery, stormed the trenches and put their opponents to utter rout. Margaret and her son made good their escape ; but Henry was captured. As at St. Albans, the slaughter of leaders was dispropor- tionately great compared to the total loss, and included Buckingham. The result of the battle of Northampton was to make the Yorkists supreme in southern and middle England ; so, without troubling to pursue Margaret, Warwick and March, taking Henry with them, York claims returned at once to London. There, in Henry's name, a ^^^ Crown, change of government was effected like that which followed St. Albans. Salisbury was made lieutenant of the six northern counties ; George Neville, bishop of Exeter, chancellor ; John Neville, chamberlain ; and Lord Bourchier, treasurer. In October parliament met ; and, having been elected under Yorkist influence, repealed the Acts of Attainder passed at Coventry in 1459. On the third day of the session York arrived in London. On his journey up he had ventured to assume royal state, and on reaching Westminster forced his way into the palace, and compelled Henry to vacate the royal apartments. Next day he appeared before the lords and openly claimed the crown as the heir of Eichard 11. This action, however, proved to be going too far even for his most sturdy followers. The lords made no sign of assent, while Warwick openly avowed his disapproval of a step which violated all the oaths of fidelity they had taken to Henry, and was in complete defiance of every declaration of Yorkist policy. The result was a com- ciared heir promise, York was not crowned ; but was declared heir to ^hJong^ the throne, and given the titles of Protector and Prince of Wales, and this arrangement was accepted by Henry and confirmed by Act of Parliament. Whether, however, it would be of effect depended on the relative strength of the adherents of York and Margaret. The latter was in Wales, but her friends were rallying in the north under the earl of Northum- ^^^ north- berland and Lord Clifford, sons of those who had fallen at St. ern Lancas- Albans, and Lord Neville, brother of the earl of Westmor- land, and they were soon joined by Henry Beaufort, duke of Somerset, the duke of Exeter, and other noted Lancastrians. To watch them, York 3'46 House of Lancaster ueo and Salisbury advanced with six thousand men to Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, and were there awaiting reinforcements, when, on December „ , , 30, a clever ruse of Clifford drew York into a rash encounter Battle of ,' , Wakefield, with superior numbers, in which he himself was killed and De ths of Salisbury captured. Eutland, York's second son, a fine York and lad of seventeen, was slain in the pursuit. The unlucky Salisbury was promptly beheaded at Pontefract ; and his head with that of York, the latter adorned with a paper crown, was barbarously set upon the gates of York. The victory of Wakefield seemed to give Margaret such a superiority that the men of the north flocked to her standard by thousands, and she , was soon at the head of 40,000 men ; but her very success Margaret s ' . southern was her danger, for the rumours of the intentions of the msfch ruder northerners, who claimed to plunder at will south of the Trent, roused a feeling of desperation in all the southern shires, and made the campaign that followed a national war in a sense it had never been before. Hitherto the chief fighting had been borne by the retainers of the nobility, but now, for the first time, the towns came into the field, and the interference of the men of the northern moorlands was met by the appearance of peaceful citizens and agriculturists, who saw in the victory of the Yorkist cause the only guarantee for peace and good government. Four leaders were soon in the field. Margaret and her northerners advancing by the Ermine Street on London, and plundering on their way Grantham, Stamford, Peterborough, and Huntingdon ; War- Disposition ' ' * ' . of the wick, with 30,000 men, was at St. Albans, blocking the line of Margaret's advance on London. The earl of March, with a force of 10,000 men, raised from the Mortimer lands on the marches, was in the Severn valley ; and Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, who had gathered a body of Welshmen to reinforce the queen's army, was threatening March's rear. March was only nineteen, but with the instinct of a general he saw that it was little use to cross the Severn while Pembroke's force was intact ; so, turning upon his foe Battle of . > > » 1 Mortimer's he delivered a crushing attack at Mortimer's Cross, near Wigmore, on February 2, 1461. Pembroke was utterly routed, and his aged father, Owen Tudor, was put to death on the field. From Mortimer's Cross Edward hurried to join Warwick ; but he had barely reached Oxfordshire, when, on February 1 7, Warwick was defeated at the second battle of St. Albans. This was due partly to Second i i- battle of bad management, partly to treachery. Warwick's Ime was too extended for quick concentration. By some error of his scouts no warning was given of the Lancastrian attack ; and when 1461 Henry VI, 347 the fight began a body of Kentishmen deserted, and let the Lancastrians through the line. Inextricable confusion followed ; the Yorkists were driven from the field ; and Warwick, with difficulty keeping together a few thousand men, joined Edward at Chipping-Norton, leaving the road to London completely open. The cpieen now seemed to have the game in her own hands ; King Henry had been recaptured at St. Albans, and nothing remained but to march on London. At this crisis, however, Margaret failed. Time was lost, and when the Londoners heard that Warwick decla^^s and Edward were still in the field and marching to their ?f^^"^^ ^ * Margaret. assistance, they plucked up courage to stop the provision carts which were carrying stores to Margaret's army, and next day War- wick and Edward again entered London. Next morning a cowp d'etat was carried out. Four months before, York's proposal to seize the crown had met with universal disapproba- tion ; but so far as southern England was concerned, Wakefield and St. Albans, and above all the plundering by the northern men, had swept away all feelings of loyalty for Henry ; and it was felt that, blameless as was the king's personal character, his wife's conduct had made his further reign impossible. So long as he had stood aloof from party, men like Warwick would have been content to leave him the shadow while they retained the substance of power ; but his wife's folly had identified Henry with a faction, and by so doing had made him impossible. Accord- ingly, on Sunday, March 9, in Clerkenwell Fields, Bishop Edward, George Neville of Exeter addressed the soldiers and set forth Earl of ^ • 1 • 1 March, Edward's claim to the crown. His speech was received with chosen applause ; and Warwick, having secured the assent of Arch- '"^' bishop Bourchier, of John Mowbray, earl of Norfolk, his brother William Neville, Lord Falconbridge, and a few others, held a meeting of the notables of the Yorkist party, and went through the form of electing Edward king, and he was accordingly proclaimed as Edward iv. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Siege of Orleans, 1*29 Death of Bedford, 1*35 Deaths of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, 1447 Cade's Rebellion, 1*^^ Wars of the Roses hegin, .... 1*55 CHAPTER IV EDWARD IV.: 1461-1483 Born 1441 ; married 1464, Elizabeth Woodville. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS Scotland. France. James iii., d. 1488. Louis xi,, d. 1483. Battle of Towton and Suppression of the Lancastrians — Edward's Marriage — Warwick intrigues for Power — Restoration of Henry — Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury — Death of Henry — Expedition to France — Power of Edward. No regular coronation was attempted ; for no one could tell how soon Margaret's standards might be seen on Highgate Hill ; and great was , the ioy when it was rumoured that her army was in retreat. Retreat of -^ "^ i i i the Lan- Hope 01 j)hinder had drawn the northerners southward ; but the first use Henry made of his liberty was to issue a pro- clamation forbidding it altogether. The disgust of Margaret's men knew no bounds. Some set out to plunder on their own account, others hurried north to secure what they had already won ; and even those who remained with their standards were so discontented that the lords declared a retreat inevitable ; and, on the very day of Edward's election, Margaret and her husba.nd reluctantly turned their faces north. No time was lost in pursuing them. On the 10th the main body left London, and on March 26 Edward was at Pontefract. His army _ . amounted to 48,000 men, led by Warwick and his uncle, Pursuit . of the Lord Falconbridge, Norfolk, and himself. Every southern shire was represented in their ranks, for the northerners had been merciless, and every southerner who had anything to lose felt that plunder must be stopped once for all and at whatever cost. The men of Coventry were there under their ' Black Earn,' and those of Bristol under the standard of the ' Ship.' After passing the lines of the Trent and the Don, the northern army had turned to bay between the Aire and the Wharfe, and were encamped on a comparatively high plateau, known as Towton Field, about four miles south of Tadcaster, where the 348 1461 Edward IF. 349 roads from Castleford and Ferrybridge-on-Aire meet on their way to Tadcaster. By a rapid movement Edward seized the passage of the Aire • but tliough the crossing at Ferrybridge was retaken by\ord Clifford' Lord Falconbridge successfully crossed at Castleford, and had the o-ood luck to intercept and kill Lord Clifford when he attempted to retreat on Towton. Next day, March 29, which happened to be Palm Sunday, Edward, Warwick, and Falconbridge, with a large force, attempted to storm the plateau, relying on the aid of Norfolk, whom they left ill at Battle of Pontefract, but who promised to be up in time for the great towton. fight. At the beginning of the battle the Yorkists were nmch aided by a blinding snowstorm which Falconbridge cleverly used to deceive the Lancastrians into discharoing most of their arrows at a useless distance, but the real struggle was hand-to-hand. For some hours neither side gained any advantage ; but when Norfolk came up, his attack on their loft wing proved fatal to the Lancastrians, whose right rested on a steep ravine. Hennned in thus, but fighting furiously, the northern men were gradually borne backwards, and at length, after ten hours' fighting, were pushed down the steep bank, at whose foot flowed the Cock Beck, then in flood. 350 House of York 1461 This disaster completed their destruction. Thousands perished in the stream ; and it is said that no less than 37,000 corpses were buried in the field. During the battle Henry and Margaret were at York, and after it took refuge in Scotland. From Towton, Edward advanced by York to Durham ; and then, find- ing that the Lancastrian army had broken uj), he returned to London, Conquest of leaving to Warwick the business of capturing the great the North, pg^^y castles of Aluwick, Dunstanborough, and Bamborough, and of resisting any invasion of the Scots which Margaret might be able to organise. The reduction of these strongholds proved a formidable task, and the castles were taken and retaken several times before they finally remained in Yorkist hands. The bulk of the fighting fell on Warwick and his brother, John Neville, created earl of Montagu in reward for his services at Towton. Anger and thirst for revenge had destroyed the last vestige of Margaret's patriotism. The Scots were bribed by the surrender of Berwick, and even Calais was offered to the French as the price of their aid. At this terrible price both Scots and French gave some assistance to the Lancastrians. Several times the Scots crossed the border, and 2000 troops were landed by Louis ; but at length, in the winter of 1462, a successful raid in Scotland brought the Scottish regents to reason, and deprived Margaret of her footing in that country. The French were confined to the Percy castles ; and in 1463, a final attempt at fighting, made by the duke of Somerset, was defeated by Montagu at Hedgeley Moor in April 1464, and again near Hexham on May 13, after which fight Somerset and other leaders were summarily put to death. In the summer the three castles surrendered, and this brought the war in the north to a conclusion. In Wales a few isolated castles still held out : among others Harlech, in which was being educated and cared for the little Henry, son of Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort, who was afterwards destined to reign as Henry vii. In 1465 Edward's safety was assured further by the capture at Waddington Hall, near Clitheroe, of Hemy vi., who, since the flight of his queen and his own expulsion from Scotland, had wandered aimlessly about among the tenants of the duchy of Lancashire in Craven and Eibblesdale. King Edward took little personal share in the pacification of the north, but for the most part remained in southern England ready to deal with ^ ^ ^ , the even more serious danger of a French invasion. The Edward s . ... personal king's character is one which is not easy to define. In person he is described as the handsomest man of his time, — tall, strong, and stately in his bearing. His capacity for war was great, and in politics he showed himself from boyhood a master of the intrigue 1464 Edward IV. 351 which in that day passed current for statesmanship ; affable and pleasant in his address, he knew well how to gain both the ear of his friends and the applause of the multitude, while his personal fearlessness and oood humour ensured a w4de popularity. With these qualities, however, he united others, which recalled neither his father nor the Nevilles so much as his great-grandfather, Edmund of York. He was self-indulgent in no small degree, put no restraint upon the gratification of his passions, and, though capable at times of acting with conspicuous energy and vigour, allowed himself in general to sink into idleness. Of statesmanship in the higher sense of the word he appears to have had little conception, as was clearly shown by his treatment of foreign affairs. In this department of politics, the question of the day was that of our attitude towards France. On this matter a statesmanlike and clear view was held by Edward's great supporter, the earl of Warwick. Warwick, who had grown to manhood since the days of the towards struggle for Normandy, believed the prolongation of the war to be impolitic for two reasons : (1) because the conquest of France by England was impracticable, and the war only served to exhaust our resources without advantage ; and (2) because so long as we were at war with France its court was open for Lancastrian refugees, and French assistance was forthcoming to aid in keeping England divided by civil strife. He, therefore, advocated peace with France, and wished to see a treaty cemented by a marriage between Edward and a French princess. To this policy Edward offered no open resistance, and allowed Warwick first to negotiate a truce and then to make the preliminary arrange- ments for a formal embassy and proposal of marriage ; but at the very last moment, on September 28, 1464, within a week of the day fixed for the meeting between Louis and Warwick, he suddenly announced that the whole negotiations were a farce, for since May 1 of that year he had been married to Lady Elizabeth Grey. This lady was the daughter of Jacquetta of Luxembourg, duchess of Bedford and her second husband, Eichard Woodville or Wydville, Lord Rivers. As a girl she had married John Grey or Elizabeth Ferrers, of Groby, who had been killed on the Lancastrian Woodville. side at the second battle of St. Albans, and in 1464 was a widow of thirty-one, with two boys of thirteen and eleven respectively. As a, Lancastrian and a person who brought to the king no addition of political strength, Elizabeth was a most undesirable match; but Edward was perfectly infatuated about her, and married her secretly at Grafton on May 1, 1464. Once married, however, Edward saw his way to turn his action to account ; and determined, by raising up the relations of his 352; House of YorJc 1469 wife, to create a- counterpoise to the powerful Neville clan, and so reduce Warwick's influence. The history of the next seven years, there- fore, is little more than that of a duel between Warwick, the astute warrior of middle age, and the young but clever king whom he had designed to keep in leading strings. The game began by Edward's maiTying every marriageable member of his wife's family — to the number of some half-dozen — to various members of the peerage ; making his father-in-law first lord treasurer. Promotion ro> o ,„_,,^ ^ . ^. of Queen's then an earl, and finally constable of England; and, m direct defiance of Warwick's advice, giving his sister, Margaret of York, to Charles, count of Charolais, the eldest son of the duke of Burgundy, and the lifelong enemy of Louis xi. Meanwhile, Warwick Discontent bided Ms time, and prepared a counterblow by a marriage of Warwick, between his elder daughter Isabel — who would have half his lands — and George, duke of Clarence, the king-'s younger brother. This match, however, was peremptorily forbidden by Edward ; and Warwick then engaged in a series of plots, which, though by no means completely unravelled, are believed to have been at the bottom of the disturbances that broke out in 1469. In April of that year Warwick moved his wife and two daughters to Calais ; and in June a rebellion broke out in the neighbourhood of York, led by Robert Huldyard, otherwise known as Robin of Redes- Rebellionof , "^ \ . -, •,. . , „ . Robin of dale. This outbreak, which was directed m the first instance against a piece of local maladministration, was put down by Warwick's brother, John, earl of Montagu, and Huldyard was put to death ; but his place and name were immediately taken by Sir John Conyers, the husband of one of Warwick's nieces, and other members of the Neville family joined the insurgents. Thus led, the rebels made their way south. Battle of ^^^ ^* Edgecote, near Banbury, they encountered Edward's Edgecote. troops Under Herbert, who had just been made earl of Pem- broke for a victory over Jasper Tudor, and defeated him on July 26. Herbert was put to death" after the battle ; and a few days later. Rivers and his son were seized at Chepstow, and beheaded at Coventry. As Herbert and the Woodvilles were the personal enemies of Warwick, his hand is thought to appear in their deaths ; and it is certain that no sooner was Edward called north by the insurrection than Clarence slipped across to Calais, and, on July 11, was married to Isabel Neville. That done, ^ , J . Warwick and his son-in-law hurried to Kent, raised the Edward in _ _ _ ' Warwick's Neville faction, and, marching north, took advantage of the power . • discomfiture of Edward's forces at Edgecote and the desertion of many of his followers, to seize his person. Seeing that for the moment 1470 Henry VL 353 resistance was out of the question, Edward submitted with a smile aoreed to all Warwick's demands, and accompanied him in a sort of honorary confinement to Warwick, Coventry, and Middleham. Edward, however was too popular to be treated as a prisoner ; and in October, Warwick, after making the best terms for himself and Clarence, allowed the kino; to o-o free. Next year, however, disturbances broke out in Lincolnshire ao'ain probably by Warwick's contrivance. This time Edward acted with great promptitude, marched himself against the rebels, and defeated them on March 12, at Casterton, near Stamford, in a fight in Lincoln- popularly known as Losecoat Field, from the precipitation ^ ^^^' with which the fugitives flung away their coats and bado-es. Battle of This success turned the tables on Warwick, who had no Losecoat mind to encounter Edward at the head of a victorious army. He therefore fled the country, and, taking Clarence with him, made for Calais. There, however, his friend Sir John Wenlock, possibly by arrangement, refused to receive him, and he therefore landed plight of in France as the guest of Louis xi., who was still at war Warwick, with Edward. In Warwick's arrival Louis saw a great opportunity, and used all his immense fund of diplomatic skill to bring about an alliance between Warwick and Margaret of Anion, who, with her son .... ■^ J 7 7 Alliance Edward, now seventeen years of age, was also an exile in between 1 ^^ ■^^ Warwick his dominions. His success was greater than could possibly and Mar- have been expected, and an agreement was entered into by which Edward was betrothed to Warwick's second daughter Anne ; and an expedition was to be made for the purpose of dethroning Edward of York and replacing Henry vi. Of the two parties to this strange treaty, Margaret probably regarded the scheme as a last desperate chance of regaining the throne ; and Warwick may well have considered that as he had now utterly broken with Edward, the best method of securing the ascendancy of the house of Neville— his one permanent political aim— was to restore the Lancastrian dynasty. To Clarence, however, the whole arrangement must have been utterly distasteful ; and secret communica- tions were at once opened between him and his brother, by which Clarence agreed to desert Warwick as soon as they had landed in England. The treaty between Margaret and Warwick was completed in July, 1470. Proclamations announcing Warwick's return were scattered throughout England, and an arrangement was made for a Warwick's rising in the north to draw Edward out of the way. So long, however, as the ships of Edward's brother-in-law, the dnke of Burgundy, were guarding the Channel, the passage was impossible ; but z 354 House of York 1470 in September the Biirgundian fleet was driven into harbour by the equinoctial gales ; and on September 25, Warwick landed unopposed at Dartmouth, accompanied by Clarence, Jasper Tudor, the earl of Oxford, and other Lancastrians. Meanwhile, Edward, as designed, had been drawn north to Doncaster ; so Warwick was able to gather his friends unmolested. On October 6, however, Edward had returned to the neighbourhood of Nottingham, when he found that Warwick's brother, John Neville, marquess of Montagu, on whose fidelity he had placed absolute reliance, had declared against him, and that'his army was honey- combed with treachery. Aghast at his position, Edward flight to immediately fled, and taking with him his young brother an ers, j^j^hard, and his friend Lord Hastings, and his brother-in- law. Lord Scales, he made the best of his way to Lynn, and thence taking ship, landed almost destitute in the dominions of the brother-in- law of Burgundy. The very day of Edward's flight Warwick reached London, which opened its gates with alacrity ; and, immediately riding to the Tower, King Henry ^^ released King Henry, and took him in state to St. Paul's, reinstated. where the jDOor broken man was again placed on a throne and treated with royal honours. It was, however, made clear that the restoration was rather that of the Nevilles than of the Lancastrians, and til at Warwick meant to keep the reins of government in his own hands. In short, in the view of the great kingmaker, the king was to reign but not to govern. Warwick himself was to be the king's lieutenant, captain of Calais, and admiral ; his brother the bishop was to be chancellor ; and other offices were handed over to the members or adherents of the Neville clan ; an arrangement much facilitated by tlie fact that Margaret and her son had not yet left France. The duke of Clarence was relegated to the distant post of lord-lieutenant of Ireland. The revolution thus accom- plished was almost bloodless ; the only man put to death being Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, a stout adherent of Edward, who combined a cruelty to political opponents, which gained him the curses of his countrymen, with a taste for learning and literature, which won him the applause of Europ,e. Warwick's first use of power was to negotiate the long-needed peace with France ; and he prepared to act vigorously against Louis' enemy the duke of Burgundy. The rapid success of Warwick, and the absence of Edward in the north, had made it impossible for Clarence to carry out his scheme of deserting Discontent ^^ ^^^^ ^^ Edward ; but he was no better satisfied than of Clarence, before, and kept himself in constant communication with his brother with a view to a counter-revolution. The duke of Burgundy 1471 Henry VI. 355 was no less anxious to put a stop to a state of affairs so favourable to his French rival ; but his resources were far too much taxed by his own struggle with France to be able to give much aid. Accordingly, Edward found it needful to act for himself ; and, following the example of Henry of Bolingbroke, he landed at Ravenspur on March 15, 1471 with a band of 1500 English exiles and 300 German hand-gun men, Snd's^S lent him by the duke of Burgundy. For the defence of York- ^^^enspur. shire, Warwick relied on his brother Montagu, who lay at Pontefract Castle, and the young earl of Northumberland. Edward, however, acted with great subtlety. Giving out that he was come merely to claim the lands of his father, he mounted the Lancastrian badge, and actually swore at York ' that he would never again take upon himself to be king of England.' Still, however, he marched steadily on ; and— Montagu, having with quite unaccountable folly allowed him to pass Pontefract — made his way into the Midlands. In this way he turned Warwick's defensive position, and Edward's followers from the north and west were able to join him without opposition. On March 22, Edward reached Notting- ham, where, finding himself at the head of five or six thousand men, he threw off all pretence and had himself proclaimed king. His position, however, was most perilous. Oxford was marching against him from Norfolk, Montagu was in his rear, Archbishop Neville was guarding London and King Henry, the kingmaker was at Warwick, and Clarence in Gloucestershire. But Edward's energy was now fully roused. With a sudden rush he drove Oxford back, and then hurried south to Leicester. Warwick was at Coventry, and a battle seemed imminent ; but both sides were waiting for reinforcements, and Warwick knew that both Clarence and Montagu were not far off. Now was the moment for _, '^ . Clarence Clarence to carry out his long-arranged plan. On April 4 joins his he joined Edward ; Warwick, of course, was still more deter- mined to wait for his brother, so Edward and Clarence marched on London. There George Neville was doing all he could to organise resistance, but utterly failed to rouse the citizens ; and on -^^^^^^ April 10 Edward marched in unopposed. There he found enters the queen and his eldest son, who had been born during his absence, and was joined by Bourchier, earl of Essex, and by so many others of the south-country Yorkists as raised his force to about 20,000 men. His entry was made on the Thursday before Good Friday ; and on Saturday he marched out to fight the earl of Warwick, who was advanc- ing along the Watling Street with about an equal force. The Battle of • • Barnet two armies met on the farther side of Barnet, on the rising ground by Monkton Hadley church ; and after lying all night within 356 House of York 1471 cannon-shot, Edward's troops made their attack in the early morning of April 14, while the view was still obscured by the mist. In Edward's army Eichard, though only eighteen, led the right, Hastings the left ; while Edward placed Clarence's men in the centre, and took the com- mand of them himself. On the other side, Montagu and Oxford were on the right, Warwick and Exeter the left ; Somerset had the centre — an arrangement which placed Yorkists and Lancastrians alternately along the line. Owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a few yards, great confusion ensued. Oxford and Montagu were victorious on their wing ; Warwick was holding his own ; Edward and Clarence were gaining ground, when some of Oxford's victorious men were mistaken for Yorkists, and shot at by their own side. The accident arose from Oxford's badge, ' the star with rays,' being mistaken for the ' sun with rays ' of York ; but the result was completely disastrous for Warwick. The cry of treachery ran down his motley line. No man would trust another, and no leader could make himself obeyed. The result was a complete rout, in which Warwick and Montagu were both slain. Edward had been as fortunate as Warwick was unlucky. Margaret had been ready to sail for seventeen days, but had been kept back by a north wind, and it was only on the very day of Barnet that lands at she was able to land at Weymouth. Had the wind changed eymou , ^ ^^^ days earlier, Margaret could easily have reached Lon- don before Edward, the result of the campaign might have been whoUy different, or Edward's death in battle might have made the restoration permanent. As it was, the victory of Barnet left Edward free to deal with Margaret at his leisure. She had two courses open to her : one to fight her way to London and rescue Henry ; the other, to slip across the Severn into Wales and prolong the war by the aid of the Welsh and northerners. Edward, therefore, marched to Windsor, ready for either event. After some hesitation Margaret, having been joined by Edmund duke of Somerset, his brother John Beaufort, and other fugitives from Barnet, decided for Wales ; but before she reached the Severn, Edward was close on her track. During the whole war the towns had, as a rule, been Yorkist, and at the critical moment the citizens of Gloucester refused to allow Margaret to cross the river. Thus disappointed, she was obliged to make for Tewkesbury, and there, before the crossing could be effected, Edward appeared. The Battle of Lancastrians ready to cross were posted in enclosures ; and, Tewkesbury. -^}^gj^ Edward attacked them in the early morning of May 4, his troops had a difficult task before them. The van, however, was led wdth great spirit by young Richard of Gloucester ; and the Yorkists at 1475 Henry VL 35^ length fought their way through the hedges and gained a decisive victory. Young Edward, who was a year younger than Gloucester, had fought gallantly ; but was killed in the flight, either fairly or in cold blood- probably the latter. Margaret was soon afterwards captured. The victory was sullied by the treacherous slaughter of fifteen Lancastrians, including Somerset and his brother, who left sanctuary on Edward's express promise that their lives should be spared. From Tewkesbury, Edward returned to London ; and on the day of his entry Henry died, not, as Death of the official account gave out, 'of pure displeasure and ^^^^y- melancholy,' but by the hand of an assassin, and almost certainly under Gloucester's direction. So long as his son was living, Henry's life was of importance. Now that Edward was gone, the death of his father would destroy the last descendant of Henry iv. The line of the Beauforts, however, was not extinct ; for though Henry, Edmund, and John had left no children, the family was still represented by Margaret and her little son Henry, now aged fourteen, whom his uncle Jasper at Henry once hurried off to a safe asylum in Brittany. Warned by '^"'*°'^- experience, Edward made every exertion to destroy his dangerous enemies. Tewkesbury was followed by a wholesale and treacherous slaughter of prisoners. George Neville was imprisoned at Guisnes ; John Holland, duke of Exeter, who had taken sanctuary, was seized and privately put to death. To others less dangerous he displayed a con- ciliatory temper, especially to John Morton and John Fortescue, lord chief-justice, both of whom had so far been consistent Lancastrians, but who in 1472 and 1473 were allowed to return to England. So successful was Edward's policy, that in 1475 he found himself strong enough to leave England for a great expedition to France. On this the English placed great expectations. The Expedition duke of Burgundy, who was to act in alliance with *° France. Edward, seemed to be at the height of his power; and it did not seem likely that Louis would be able to offer much resistance in the field to a warrior so celebrated as the English king. Accordingly, money was readily voted, and a host of English nobles and gentry im- poverished themselves to provide a suitable outfit for the war. The event, however, was most disappointing. Before the English expedition could sail Charles had spent all his resources ; exhausted his army in a fruitless siege of Neuss on the Khine ; and he arrived almost unattended at Edward's camp, to the huge disgust of his allies. Louis, on the other hand, was determmed to leave no stone unturned to get rid of the English without fighting ; for, as Philip de Comines, his counsellor, tells us, ' he would do anything in the world to get the king of England out ot 358 House of York 1475 France, except putting any of his towns into his possession ; rather than do that he would hazard all.' Accordingly, well gauging the character of his opponent, he industriously plied him with flattering messages and ofiers of favourable terms ; and, when he at length won Edward to his will, he made a lavish distribution of money to the leading nobles, giving pensions to Dorset, Hastings, Howard, and others ; and provided a magnificent supper for the rank and file. In the end the two kings met Treaty of on the bridge at Picquigny, on the Somme, and there Picquigny. i^i^itually agreed on a seven years' truce ; and that in con- sideration of the payment of 75,000 crowns down, and a pension of 50,000 a year, Edward was to return to England and release Margaret of Anjou ; while Louis also promised that the dauf)hin, afterwards Charles viii., should marry Edward's eldest daughter Elizabeth, after- wards queen of Henry vii. Though a statesman might think that a pension of 50,000 crowns was a good exchange for a war which experi- ence had shown could never be permanently successful, the nation as a whole was indignant at the peace, and decidedly sympathised with young Richard of Gloucester, who had expressed his disapproval of it without reserve. To Edward, however, the discontent of his subjects, so long as it did not show itself in open rebellion, was tolerably indifi'erent ; and of this, now that the main line of the Lancastrians was destroyed, there was no great danger. He would, no doubt, have been glad to get young Henry Tudor into his hands, but his negotiations for this purpose proved _ , , abortive. Edward, indeed, was afraid of trouble within Troubles , ' ' with his own family. In 1471, sorely against Clarence's will, Richard had married Anne, the second daughter of War- wick, who had been betrothed to Edward of Lancaster, and, of course, claimed half the lands of Earl Richard as her dowry. The result was a succession of bitter disputes between the brothers ; and Edward, who liked and trusted Gloucester, while he held a deservedly poor opinion of Clarence's trustworthiness, had had much ado to prevent them from coming to open blows. At length, in 1478, he found an opportunity to rid himself of anxiety on this score. In a parliament which met in January of that year, Edward himself charged his brother Clarence with treason, chiefly on the ground of his action in 1471, but also in general terms with a series of actions calculated to discredit his brother's rule. A bill of attainder passed through both houses, Death of ^nd on it Clarence was put to death, but by what method arence. -^ uncertain. Some said he was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. Gloucester was present in parliament ; but it is certain 1483 Henry VI. 359 that Edward himself took the prominent part in the proceedinos anainst his brother, and that Gloucester openly, at any rate, opposed the kino-. After Clarence's death, English afiliirs during the remainder of the reign were unimportant. Gloucester distinguished himself by retaking Berwick after it had been held by the Scots for twenty-one years, in the course of an invasion of Scotland, in which he took part as the ally of the duke of Albany, who had been banished by James iii. In 1482, when Louis xi. violated the treaty of Picquigny by betrothing his son to Margaret of Austria, granddaughter of Charles the Bold, there was some Death of talk of another French war, when the scene was wholly Edward, changed by the death of Edward, after a few days' illness, in April 1483, at the age of forty-two. On the whole, the condition of England improved under Edward iv. What England wanted at that stage of her social and political develop- ment was a strong and resolute government, capable of ^ . , ® , , . , ' ^. , Need for a enforcmg law and order, and securmg the weak agamst the strong aggressions of the strong. Of this, so long as each great baron had at his call an army of household retainers, backed by a reserve of his neighbours, sworn to fight in his quarrel and to wear his badge, there could be no possibility ; and the correspondence of the Paston family, happily preserved throughout this period, shows us how, even in Norfolk, then one of the most flourishing districts in England, honest men had much ado to come by and keep their own. Fortunately the prolonged agony of the civil wars, the rebellion of Warwick, and the expenses thrown on the fighting classes by the French campaign of 1475, materially diminished the power even of the surviving nobility to maintain the military retinues of their predecessors, and this by itself made for peace. Moreover, the fact that, except during the Towton campaign, the fighting had almost entirely been done by retainers, and that sacking of towns had been unknown, had allowed the mercantile and industrial classes to pursue their ordinary avocations almost undisturbed, while the cessation of foreign war had as usual been followed by a period of revived prosperity. Of these circumstances Edward iv. reaped the benefit ; and though he personally showed little political insight, except so ^^^^^^,^ far as to cherish the goodwill of the middle classes as the best reliance on support for his crown, his reign may be taken as the starting- hisses, point of a new period, distinguished by the existence of a strong and popular monarchy, resting for its support on the nuddle classes, and bent on curbing by every means the overweening power ot the turbulent nobles. Edward, however, was well aware that such a rule as his could not afford to make itself unpopular by heavy taxation, and 360 House of York 1483 he therefore devised the ingenious expedient of asking his rich supporters Benevo- ^^ oblige him from time to time with gifts of money. These lences. gjf^g Avere called benevolences, and, if legal in form, were in spirit a violation of the principle of taxation by parliamentary consent only ; but those who paid them had neither the wish nor the power to invoke the strict letter of the law, so long as the government, on the whole, gave them the peace and security which they considered it to be its chief function to afford. On the other hand, a system of this kind brought with it many ill and dangerous practices. For the first time in the history of England torture was systemat- ically used as an engine for extorting confessions ; an odious spy system was set on foot, which undermined the very foundations of social trust and fidelity ; while the rare meetings of parliament tended to free the king from the salutary check of the organised public opinion of the community. Torture. Espionage. CHIEF DATES. Battle of Towton, Edward's Marriage, Battle of Barnet, Treaty of Picquigny, A.D. 1461 1464 1471 1475 GENEALOGY OF THE WOODVILLES. John, Duke of = Jacquetta of Bedford, Luxembourg. Richard Woodville, created Earl Rivers. Antony, Lord Rivers, Richard, Edward Elizabeth, executed 1483. executed 1469. Woodville. m. Edward iv. Edward v. Elizabeth, m. Henry vii. Katharine, m. Sir W. Courtenay. I Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter, executed 1529. Edward Courtenay, CHAPTER V EDWARD v.: 1483 (9th April to June 25th.) CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. James iii., d. 1488. Louis xi., d. 1483. Charles viii., d. 1494. Richard of Gloucester becomes Protector, and eventually Edward is dethroned. Edward iv. died on April 9, and the council at once recognised his son Edward as his successor. Tlie new king was only thirteen years of age, and, consequently, the government would have to be Dangers of carried on in his name as in the early days of Eichard ii. and ^ minority. Henry vi. In England, such minorities had uniformly been unfortunate, and the truth of the proverb, ' Woe to thee, land, when thy king is a child,' had been forcibly impressed on the English mind by bitter experience ; while the story of the evil that befell the mice, or the commonalty, when the cat, or king, was too young to keep down the rats, or nobility, which appears in Langland's Vision of Piers Ploughman, pointed out exactly the sort of evils which invariably followed the accession of a weak sovereign. It is little wonder, therefore, that the accession of so young a king excited more fear than hope in the nation, and prepared the way for his dethronement. During Edward's lifetime his determined character and ruthless punish- ments had kept in check the elements of discord which existed at court ; but no sooner was he dead than a struggle began for the state of possession of the reins of power, and the different sections at parties, once stood out in clear relief. First of all in prominence, but not m real power, were the WoodviUes, who had been raised to position and wealth by Edward as a counterpoise to the Nevilles, but who were The Wood- still regarded by old Lancastrians as renegades, and by the ancient nobility as upstarts. Their leaders were the queen, her brothers, ■^ ^ 361 362 House of York 1483 the accomplished Anthony, Earl Rivers, and Richard and Edward Wood- ville, and her sons by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, earl of Dorset, Official '^^^ Sir Richard Grey. Next to them stood the lords of the nobility. council, who had been the friends and advisers of the late king, chief among whom were William, Lord Hastings, a tried warrior and honourable man, who held the post of captain of Calais ; Thomas, Lord Stanley, third husband of Margaret Beaufort, who had great estates in Cheshire and Lancashire, steward of the household ; and John Howard, created Lord Howard in 1470 ; and two clergymen, Thomas Rotherham, archbishop of York, and John Morton, bishop of Ely. Outside the official circle stood Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, grandson of the duke killed at Northampton. This young nobleman, as great-grandson of The old Anne, daughter of Thomas duke of Gloucester, son of nobility, Edward iii., and also a Beaufort through his mother, was not only a prince of the blood royal, but also heir of half the lands of the Bohuns of Hereford, and wielded great influence in the Severn valley. Another representative of the ancient nobility was John de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, son of the old minister of Henry vi., and husband of Edward's sister Elizabeth, by whom he had a numerous family, of which John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, was the eldest. Lastly, Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, son of the earl who fell at Towton, who had been restored to his honours in 1469, and was now warden of the Scottish Richard of marches. While aloof from all these, but most important, Gloucester, ^^^g Richard of Gloucester, the ablest son of Richard, duke of York, whose reputation as a warrior was known far and wide, and who was also esteemed in the north as an excellent administrator of civil affairs. As to the ability of Richard of Gloucester there can be no two opinions ; and in matters where his own personal interest was not con- cerned, he was not without kindliness of heart ;. but where the interests either of his house or himself were at stake, he knew no scruples what- ever. It cannot, however, be proved that he was the actual murderer of Henry vi., and if he took part in the death of Prince Edward at Tewkes- bury, he was only one among others. His whole early training must have made him think lightly of the guilt of such crimes as these, which were so obviously for the advantage of his house. His personal courage was unquestioned, and though there is evidence that one of his shoulders was slightly higher than the other, it did not hinder his efficiency as a soldier. In private life his manner and address seem to have been exceptionally winning, and to have given no indication of the darker crimes with which he is credited. His successes in Scotland, and 1483 Edward V. 363 excellent rale on the border, coupled with his patriotic disgust with the French peace, had caused him to stand high in the opinion of his country- men. At the moment of Edward's death, the queen, with her brothers Edward and Richard, and her son the earl of Dorset, and the lords of the council, were in London ; Earl Rivers and Sir Richard Grey- were at Ludlow, in attendance on the Prince of Wales ; possession"'" Buckingham was on his estates ; and Gloucester in York- ° ^'"&- shire. The differences between the lords of the council and the Wood- villes at once showed themselves, for the queen claimed the guardianship of the young king, while Hastings, supported by Buckingham, and in accordance, it is believed, with Edward iv.'s own intentions, wished to fall back on the precedent of 1422, and to make Gloucester protector. At the same time the council positively forbade the Woodvilles to send an escort of more than 2000 men to conduct the king to London. Mean- while, Gloucester was marching south, and at Northampton, on April 29, found himself within ten miles of the king, who, under the escort of Rivers and Richard Grey, had left Ludlow on the 24th and had just passed through Northampton to Stony Stratford. The same evening Rivers and Grey were sent back by the young king to convey his greetings to Gloucester, and Buckingham also joined the party. The four passed the evening together, but next morning Rivers and Grey were seized, and sent under guard to the north ; and the two dukes, taking the little king with them, marched forward to London. They were preceded, however, by the news of the arrest of Rivers and Grey ; and on hearing it, the queen at once took sanctuary at Westminster, accompanied by her second son, Richard, a boy of eleven, and her hve daughters, the eldest of whom was Elizabeth, now aged about eighteen. Dorset and Edward Woodville, who had hitherto been engaged in raising an armed force, took to flight. In this way the Woodville party was shattered before the king reached London ; and on his arrival there, Hastings and the council declared Richard, duke of Gloucester, protector. So far, Richard's conduct seems to have met with general approval, and he was very well received by the citizens. Little sympathy was felt for the fallen Wood- villes. Richard assumed the protectorate on May 4. The coronation was fixed for June 22, and a parliament was summoned for June 25. The interval was used by Richard of Gloucester to advance j^j^^^^^ his plans a step further. Having gained the goodwill of ^"J^^^?;^j^^^^^^ Buckingham, and brought up a sufficient number of their retainers to put down any resistance, they proceeded to attack the lords 364 House of Yorh 1483 of the council. On June 13, at a council meeting in the Tower, Execution of Grloucester suddenly brought against Hastings an accusation Hastings. ^f plotting with the Woodvilles — which may very well have been true — and insisted on his immediate execution, while Eotherham and Morton were thrown into prison. At the same time, Eichard subjected to public disgrace Jane Shore, Hastings' mistress, formerly mistress of Edward iv., who, it is probable, had acted as intermediary between Hastings and the Woodvilles. On the 16th, Gloucester gained a further point by employing the blandishments of the aged time-server, Cardinal Bourchier, archbishop of Canterbury, to induce the queen to allow her son Richard to join his brother in the Tower. Everything being now ready, and all serious opponents dead or in prison, the corona- tion and parliament were put off, and a sermon was preached at St. Paul's Cross by Dr. Shaw, a brother of the lord mayor, in which the theory was advanced that Edward iv.'s marriage with Elizabeth Woodville was illegal in consequence of a pre-contract to Lady Eleanor Butler ; that the right of Clarence's children was barred by their father's attainder ; and, therefore, that the true right to the crown lay „. ^ J in the duke of Gloucester. This startling announcement Richard . *=> claims the — wliich may or may not be really true — failed to win the applause of the congregation ; but two days later the duke of Buckingham repeated the same arguments in a speech to the citizens at the Guildhall, some expressions of applause emanating from the followers of the two dukes were taken for consent, and next day Gloucester, no doubt by pre-arrangement, was waited on by Buckingham at the head of ' many and diverse lords, spiritual and temporal, and other nobles and notable persons of the commons.' They asked him to take the crown ; and, with some show of surprise and hesitation, he graciously consented. On or about the same day Rivers and Richard Grey were publicly put to death at Pontefract ; and on the 26th Richard went to ^ , . Westminster Hall, seated himself, as Edward had done End of , ' Edward's before Towton, in the marble chair, and declared his right to rule as an hereditary and elected king. The reign of Edward v. was reckoned as having closed on June 25. CHAPTER VI RICHARD III.: 1483-1485 Born 1452 ; married, 1473, Anne Neville. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Scotland. France. Arragon and Castile. James ill. Louis XL, d. 1483. Ferdinand and Isabella, diaries viii. Murder of the Princes— Morton's Conspiracy— Benevolences condemned- Conspiracy of Henry Tudor— Boswortli. Though the revolution which placed Eichard on the throne was the work of a small clique, it does not appear to have excited any great indignation among the people at large. Edward v. was too young and too little known to excite personal enthusiasm ; acceptance a.nd the advantages of avoiding a long minority, and substi- ° ^'^ ^'^ • tilting for it the rule of a distinguished soldier and administrator, were too obvious to be overlooked by practical men. Of the importance of laying stress on his claims to sujDport on this ground Eichard was perfectly aware ; and throughout his short reign did all in his power to exhibit him- self as a dispenser of justice, and the stern upholder of public morality. The first care of the new sovereign was to reward his followers. Buckingham ^ was made constable, and received shortly afterwards the 1 GENEALOGY OF THE STAFFORDS. Edmund, = Anne, daughter of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, and fifth Earl of granddaughter of Edv/ard ill. Stafford, Humphrey, created Duke of Buckingham, killed at Northampton, 1460. I Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, killed at St. Albans, 1455. I Henry, Duke of Buckingham, beheaded 1483. Edward, Duke of Buckingham beheaded 1521, Sir Henry Stafford, m. Margaret, Countess of Richmond, motherof Henry VII. by her first husband. 365 366 House of York 1483 chief part of that moiety of the lands of the Bohuns which had passed to the descendants of Henry iv. (see page 279). Stanley was retained in his office of lord steward. Lord Howard was advanced to first the rank of duke of Norfolk, and became earl marshal. measures, j^j^^j^r^p^j'g j^gxt step was to make a progress through that part of the country where he was less known, with a view to extending the favourable impression of himself which undoubtedly existed in the north. Setting out from London, he and his queen visited Oxford, Woodstock, Gloucester, Worcester, and Warwick ; and then turning north made their way by Leicester, Nottingham, and Pontefract to York, where he gratified his friends by again going through the ceremony of coronation on September 8. This journey produced a very favourable impression, especially the king's refusal of money gifts offered by the citizens. During this progress, however, a crime is believed to have been com- mitted, which in the end lost Eichard his crown. Ever since his deposi- Murder of tion, Edward and his brother Eichard had disappeared from the Princes, ^j^g public gaze within the walls of the Tower ; but a rumour now spread that they had been put to death, and though the truth of the report could not be proved, for many years the whole subject was involved in a mystery which has not yet been wholly dispelled. It is certain, however, that early in the autumn of 1483, a rumour asserted that they had been murdered, and that this report was taken as true ; but no details were known for nearly twenty years, when, in 1502, Sir James Tyrrel confessed that, during the king's progress, he had been employed with two of his servants. Forest and Dighton, to strangle the princes and bury them secretly in the Tower. This confession was made when Forest was dead and Tyrrel was under sentence of death for another crime ; but it was supported by the evidence of Dighton, and in 1674 received further confirmation by the finding of two skeletons corre- sponding to the size of the two princes. According to Tyrrel's story, the murder took place about the middle of August 1483 J but before that date a widespread conspiracy for dethroning Morton's Eichard was on foot. The originator of this was John Conspiracy. Morton, bishop of Ely. He had been thrown into the Tower by Gloucester, as a friend of Hastings, but had been subsequently entrusted to the care of Buckingham, by whom he had been taken to Brecknock Castle. Morton had been a Lancastrian as long as that dynasty seemed to have a chance of success, but made his peace with Edward iv. after Tewkesbury. He was, however, no friend to Eichard ; and the ingenious prelate so far won the confidence of his gaoler 1483 Richard III. 3^^ that he induced Buckingham to enter into a conspiracy for his overthrow- The first design of Morton and Buckingham was to restore Edward v. '; but the news of his death changed their plans, and Morton then induced the duke to enter into an entirely new political combination, based on a marriage between Henry Tudor, earl of Eichmond, and Elizabeth of York, who, if her brothers were dead, had become the representa- tive of the house of York. Accordingly, negotiations were opened between Margaret Beaufort, now Lady Stanley and the queen- dowager for the marriage of their children. Henry also gave his consent, and aided by Edward Woodville, set about organisino- an expedition in Brittany, which was to land on October 18, on which date Buckingham and Morton were to be ready to rise in Enoland. Eventually it was settled that simultaneous outbreaks were to occur on that day at Maidstone, Newbury, Salisbury, and Exeter, so that Richard would be distracted by the number of his enemies ; while Buckingham and his Welsh followers were to cross the Severn in force and give coherence to the movement. The scheme was well planned ; but sufficient allowance was not made for the uncertainty of the weather, and an inoiDportune storm of wind and rain wrecked the whole. So violent was the gale in the scheme Channel, that Richmond's fleet was dispersed, and when he ^^^^^• himself at length reached Poole with a single ship, he found the coast guarded, while a Severn flood, higher than had been known for years, and long remembered as 'Buckingham's great water,' rendered all the fords impassable ; and since, just as at Tewkesbury, the bridges were either destroyed, or held for the Yorkists, Buckingham ham's was quite unable to cross, and his soldiers, j^inched for '^ subsistence, rapidly deserted. The English rising, thus unsupported, came of course to nothing. Thus baffled, the leaders took refuge in disguise and flight. Morton had the good fortune to reach Flanders ; ^ . ^ * •11 Execution of but Buckingham was betrayed by a retainer he trusted, named Bucking- Ralph Banaster, and was 23romj)tly put to death at Salis- bury. His office of lord high constable was conferred on Lord Stanley. Encouraged by his good luck, Richard now thought himself secure, and after celebrating Christmas with great pomp, assembled a parliament in January 1484, of which Sir William Catesby, who had Meeting of betrayed Hastings to Richard, was chosen speaker. This ^^ ^^^ntn . body confirmed the petition by which Richard had been requested to assume the crown, and embodied it in an Act of Parliament. An act of attainder was passed against the late duke of Buckingham, Richmond, .368 House of York 1484 Pembroke, Dorset, Morton, and ninety-five others. On the other hand a variety of useful enactments were carried, the most important of which was a condemnation of benevolences as 'new and unlawful inventions.' Condemna- An oath was also taken by the members to secure the d""! °L succession of Richard's only child Edward, Prince of Wales, lences. "born in 1476. Unluckily for Eichard, the Prince of Wales died in April the same year, leaving him childless ; and he then recognised as his successors, first Clarence's son, Richard's Edward, Plantagenet, and afterwards John de la Pole, earl ^°"' of Lincoln, the son of his eldest sister.^ The greater part of the year 1484, however, was taken up by Richard's efforts to counteract the plans of Richmond. With great adroitness he made friends with the duke of Brittany by promising to against defend him against the king of France ; and he also threw T^dT ^^^^ ^^^ alliance with the duke of Albany, and became friendly with king James in. An embassy also was sent to the pope, promising ' that filial and catholic obedience which was of old due and accustomed to be paid by the kings of England to the Roman pontifi's,' a proceeding very much on the lines of those of King John. These measures had some success, and in particular Landois, the duke of Brittany's minister, was induced to consent to a plan for seizing Rich- mond and handing him over to Richard. Richmond, however, was warned, and escaping in disguise, received a good reception in France ; 1 THE DE LA POLES. William de la Pole of Kingston-upon-Hull. I Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, minister of Richard ir., d. 1388. Michael, second Earl, restored to his earldom in 1399, died at Harfleur, 1415. Michael, third Earl, William, first Duke of Suffolk, killed at Agincourt, 1415. ■ minister of Henry vi., impeached and murdered, 1450. ^1 John, second Dnke of Suffolk, = Elizabeth, sister of Edward iv. d. 1491. John, Earl of Lincoln, killed Edmund, third Duke of Richard de la Pole, at Stoke, 1487. Suffolk, surrendered title of killed at Pavia, Duke and that of Earl, 1525. 1493, executed 1573. 1485 Richard III. 369 while the duke of Brittany provided funds for the other English exiles to join him in his new retreat. Meanwhile, Richmond's position had been strengthened in other ways. No sooner had he got back from his first expedition to England, than he summoned a meeting in Brittany of Dorset, Sir Edward Woodville, Edward Poynings, and his other friends, at Tudofs which he swore to marry Elizabeth of York, and they to be ^°"^P>^acy. true to him and to each other, while a new expedition to England Avas unanimously resolved upon. For this purpose his expulsion from Brittany was no disadvantage, for France could give more effective assistance, and was not so likely to be coerced into deserting him as a small duchy might have been. Richard's apprehensions, therefore, in no way diminished, and he went steadily on with his preparations ; gave great attention to the fleet, and organised a system of horsemen, posted twenty miles apart, on all the chief roads, by which letters could be sent two prepara- hundred miles in two days. Moreover, in the course of 1484, *^°"^- Richard contrived to come to terms with the queen-dowager, and Avhen his wife Anne died in March 1485, he proposed to checkmate Richmond's scheme by marrying Elizabeth himself, and had probably made PI ^ . , ,. . .„ Proposal to some overtures lor the purpose durmg the Imgering illness marry of his late wife. More strange still, there is some evidence to show that Elizabeth herself was not averse to the plan, and her time- serving mother certainly made a show of considering it. When, however, the matter came to the ears of Richard's own counsellors, Sir Richard Ratcliffe and Sir William Catesby, they told him plainly that such a marriage would outrage the feelings of the country, and must not be thought of. Richard, therefore, gave it up ; and, summoning before him the lord mayor of London and a number of aldermen, solemnly assured them that such a step had never even been contemplated. By this time Richmond was nearly ready. With the assistance of the ministers of Charles vm. he had collected a small fleet at the mouth of the Seine, and was at the head of a small force including all Henry's his former friends, except Dorset, whom his mother's adherents, influence had withdrawn ; also Fox, an able priest, who was destined to play a great part in England ; and, above all, John de Vere, earl of Oxford, who had escaped from his prison at Hammes, and brought many soldiers with him. These preparations filled Richard with natural alarm ; and when he heard that Richmond was at Harfleur, and ready to sail, he issued a pro- clamation declaring him to be illegitimate, both on the side of his father 2a 370 House of York i485 and his mother, and, therefore, without claim to the crown, and accused him and his followers generally of every kind of vice and treachery, and especially of an intention to restore Calais to the French in Richard's , o ,^ • • m ^ ■ -, ^ • ir.-i proclama- payment lor their present assistance, i o lurnish himseli with ^°"' supplies he called on his richest supporters to lend him money, promising to repay all in a year and a half ; and, stationing himself at Nottingham, sent orders to the nobility and gentry to join him in force on the first news of the landing of Richmond. So numerous, however, were the defections which had recently taken place, that the king was filled with constant apprehensions of treachery ; and he particularly dis- The trusted Lord Stanley and his brother, Sir William Stanley, Stanleys, chamberlain of Wales. As husband of Margaret, Stanley might be expected to sympathise with Eichmond, but he was too acute a politician, and had too much at stake, to associate himself prematurely with what might be the losing side. He therefore made no sign, and he and his brother were entrusted with the general defence of North Wales, Cheshire and Lancashire. Meanwhile, Henry had sailed from Harfleur on August 1, and reached Milford Haven on August 7. Landing there, he found himself Henry lands in the midst of his own people ; and though he brought with in Wales. j^^j^^ ^^^ 2000 men, the accessions of Welshmen who were drawn to his standard by the presence of Jasper Tudor soon raised his numbers. Passing slowly through central Wales, he reached Shrewsbury, and there passed the line of the Severn ; while Sir William Stanley, so far from crushing him, maintained an attitude of neutrality. Alarmed at this, Richard summoned Stanley to Nottingham. Stanley, however, contented himself with sending his son George, Lord Strange, whom Richard retained as a hostage for the good conduct of his father. Consequently the Stanleys were compelled to pretend fidelity ; but though they marched on Nottingham, they kept at a respectful distance from Richmond's army. In this way Richmond's force, followed by the Stanleys, advanced through Lichfield and Atherstone, while Richard moved from Nottingham to Leicester. There the armies were within striking distance, and at a secret interview with the Stanleys, Henry was assured of their support in the coming battle. Thus encouraged, he determined with his inferior force of 5000 men to attack Richard. The night before the battle Henry's small army Position of was camped about four miles from that of Richard, which the armies, ^^g composed of about twice the number ; but besides the king's and Richmond's troops, there were also in the field 5000 men under Lord Stanley, posted near the king and ostensibly on his side, and 1485 Richard III. 3'7I 3000 under Sir William Stanley, who was somewhat nearer to Richmond but on his other flank. Richmond had with him the Duke of Norfolk and his son Lord Surrey, and the Earl of Northumberland, besides Ratcliffe, Catesby, Francis, Lord Lovel, Sir James Tyrrel, Sir Robert Brackenbury, and other faithful followers. In the morning the two main armies encountered one another on Redmoor Plain, about three miles south-east of Market Bosworth. Henry had at first the better position, being drawn up between a Battle f morass and a stream ; but he advanced to the attack, and as Bosworth. soon as he was clear of the morass Richard ordered his men to fall on. The advantage seemed all on his side, when Lord Stanley threw ofi" his disguise and advanced to aid Lord Oxford, while Sir William hurried up to save Richmond, who was being attacked by Richard in person with such violence that for a moment his followers despaired of his safety. At the same time the earl of Northumberland, as was likely in one of a Lancastrian house, held his followers aloof. Norfolk was killed ; Surrey taken prisoner ; and the whole brunt of the attack fell on the king. Scorning to fly, Richard turned fiercely Death of to bay ; but at length, pierced with many wounds, he fell ^''^hard. dead, and the crown which he had worn in the field was placed by Sir William Stanley on the head of his rival. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Murder of the Princes, .... 1483 Buckingham's Rebellion, .... 1483 Book VI. THE HOUSE OF TUDOR Arthur, d. 1502. XIV.— THE HOUSE OF TUDOR. Henry VII., 1485-1509, great - great - grandson of John of Gaunt, by his mother, Margaret Beaufort. Henry VIIL, 1509-1547. Margaret, m. James iv. of Scotland. Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward iv. Mary = (1) Louis xii. of France, d. 1515. (2) Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Mary, Elizabeth, Edward VI., 1553-1558. 1558-1603. 1547-1553. Frances, = Henry Grey (great-grandson of Elizabeth d. 1559. Woodviile by her first husband), Duke of Suffolk, executed 1554. Lady Jane Grey, m. Guildford Dudley (see p. 433). Katharine, m. executed 1554. executed 1554. (1) Lord Hastings. (2) Lord Herbert. XV.— THE KINGS OF SCOTLAND, 1460-1603. James III., 1460-1488. (1) James IV., = Margaret Tudor = Earl of Angus. 1488-1513. James V., 1513-1542. Margaret = Earl of Lenox. Mary, Queen of Scots, : 1542-1567. Lord Darnley, Charles, murdered 1567. Earl of Lenox. James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, 1567-1625. Arabella Stuart. 374 XVL— THE KINGS OF FRANCE, 1483-1603. Chaeles VIII., 1483-1498, great-grandson of Charles vi. Succeeded by Louis XII., 1498-1515, great-grandson of Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles vi. ' Claude = Francis I., 1515-1547, also great-grandson of Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles vi. Henry II., = Katharine de Medici. 1547-1559. Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III.. Francis, 1559-1560, 1560-1574.' 1574-1589,' Duke of m. Mary, suitor of Alencon, Queen of Queen suitor of Scots. Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth, d. 1584. Margaret, m. Henry IV., 1589-1610, de- scendant of Robert, the son of St. Louis, and heir to French throne, all the inter- mediate branches being extinct. 375 CHAPTEE I HENRY VII. : 1485-1509 Born 1456 ; married, 1486, Elizabeth of York. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Scotland. S2Min. Charles VIII. , d. 1498. James iii., d. 1488. Ferdinand (d. 1517) Louis XII., d. 1574. James iv., d. 1513. and Isabella. Policy of Henry vii. — Rebellion of Simnel and Perkin — Ireland — Strengthening of the Crown — Foreign Affairs. Henry Tudor assumed the position of king on the field of Bosworth ; and, after marching by easy stages to London, entered the capital in royal state on September 3, the second Saturday after the assumes the battle. Any formal statement of his claims would have been position of inconvenient and dangerous, so Henry merely apjDealed to the silent logic of accomplished facts, arranged for his coronation on October 30, and sent out writs as king for the election of His first a parliament. When this met on November 7, Henry Parliament, informed the members in vague terms that he held the crown by just right of inheritance, and by the judgment of God as shown on tlie field of battle. They in the same spirit declared, by act of parliament, ' that the inheritance of the crowns of England and France be, rest, remain, and abide in the person of our now sovereign lord, King Henry the Seventh, and in the heirs of his body.' At the same time Richard iii.was declared to have been an usurper, and those who fought for him at Bosworth traitors. No executions, however, followed, for it was Henry's policy to put a stop to the slaughters and executions which had been lately the rule, and a general pardon soon restored confidence. So far nothing had been publicly said about Henry's promise to marry the Lady Elizabeth, on which his Yorkist supporters had relied ; but at the close of the Marriage . ^ ^ . with session' both houses joined in a request that Henry would 'deign' to marry her, and to this he consented at once. The marriage took place in January 1486 ; and as a son, Arthur, the 376 1485 Henry VII. 377 first of many children, was born the same year, the union between the two houses, the crafty device of Bishop Morton, was secured. Henry however, was determined to rest his position on his own claims, and not on those of his wife ; so, though treated kindly in private, the queen was for some time kept in the background. The character of Henry has been abeady shown by his actions. He was cool, wary, and persevering, a fair soldier, and a born diplomatist. There was also something about him which distinguishes him p^ from former kings, and makes him well fitted to be the first character, modern sovereign of England. His portraits show him to have been eminently a thinker and reasoner, and his features have an expression which shows what was meant by saying that his face had in it somewhat of the ' ecclesiastic' His queen, on the other hand, was of the true Yorkist type, full-faced and rather voluptuous, as became the daughter of Edward iv. As befitted his character, Henry, throughout his reign, trusted to diplomacy rather than force ; and though, when it was necessary, he showed no want of ability for warfare, preferred to outwit his enemies rather than meet them in the open field. The two main objects of his policy were, first, to secure the throne to himself and his family by _. . ' ' 11 Objects of rooting out all rivals ; and, secondly, to strengthen the power Henry's of the crown itself by curtailing that of the nobility ; and ^° ^' to these he afterwards added a third, viz. that of taking an active part in European j)olitics:, and strengthening himself by matrimonial alliances. These three objects Henry handed down as of cardinal value to his successors, and the circumstances of the period were such that with some variations they form the basis of the policy of all the Tudors. Such a policy, however, could only be attempted by popular sovereigns, for in the absence of a standing army the king, in time of rebellion, could rely only upon the goodwill of law-abiding citizens. It, therefore, became the policy of Henry and his successors to court the favour of the gentry and middle classes, by rigidly enforcing the laws for the security of life and property. On the one hand, they put down the retainers of the great nobles, whose existence had made civil war possible ; and on the other, they dealt sternly with all forms of theft and violence. In this way a sense of security was created which had hitherto been unknown. Men ceased to wear arms as a matter of course, and the industrial classes, pro- fiting by the increased facilities for trade, gave a steady support to the government. In pursuance, therefore, of a consistent scheme, Henry's first care was to secure the persons of his rivals. Kichard iii. had, at diflerent tunes, 378 House of Tudor 1485 named as his heir Edward Plantagenet, eldest son of the duke of Clarence, who, on the death of his grandmother, would be earl of Warwick, and Imprison- John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, eldest son of his sister Edward Elizabeth and John de la Pole, earl of Suffolk. Of these Plantagenet. Edward Plantagenet was brought from Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire and placed in the Tower ; but Lincoln was permitted to make his peace with the king, and remained at court. These precautions, however, did not prevent rebellions. In 1486, during a tour which Henry made in the north, outbreaks occurred in Worcestershire and Level's Yorkshire, and Henry narrowly escaped capture by the Plot. Yorkshire insurgents under Lord Lovel. The same year Eichard Simon, a priest, trained a lad named Lambert Simnel to personate Edward Plantagenet. The impostor made his appearance in Simnel's L'eland, where the house of York had always been popular, Rebellion. ^^^ ^j^g crowned without opposition ; and his story gained additional credence when Lincoln suddenly left the court and fled to Flanders, spreading a report that he had himself aided Edward to escape, and had spoken with him on the way to Ireland. In Flanders he met Lovel, and received the best assistance of Margaret, the widow of Charles the Bold. With her aid, a band of 2000 trained Germans was hired under Martin Schwarz, and the expedition reached Ireland in May 1487. Picking up Simnel and an Irish contingent, Lincoln crossed into England, and landing at Bardsea-in-Furness, made his way into York- Battle of shire. There, however, they met with little favour ; and. Stoke. turning southward, they encountered Henry himself at Stoke- upon-Trent, near Newark, and were routed, after a battle far more bloody than that of Bosworth Field. Lincoln and Schwarz fell with many of their followers ; Lovel disappeared ; Simnel and Simon were taken prisoners. The latter was hanged, the former was made a scullion in the royal kitchen. Had the rebellion been successful, in all probability Lincoln would have made himself king. As it was, the overthrow Coronation « , ^ , , , of the of such a formidable force added to Henry's reputation ; but ' he recognised the advisability of gTatifying the Yorkists by carrying out the long-delayed coronation of the queen. For five years the Yorkists remained quiet ; but in 1492 there appeared in Ireland an impostor whose real name was soon ascertained to be Perkin's Pcrkin Osbeck or Warbeck, but who gave out that he was Conspiracy, really Eichard, duke of York, who had escaped from the Tower when his elder brother was murdered. The imposture took its rise in Ireland, and seems to have been almost forced on Perkin by the people of Cork, who, seeing a well-dressed and unknown stranger in their 1492 Henry VII. 379 streets, insisted that he must be a prince of some kind, and Perkin fell in with their whim. Though Perkin's origin was soon ascertained, his imposture gave Henry considerable trouble, because he was unable to prove the death of the princes, about whose fate nothing certain was known till after Perkin's conspiracy. From Ireland, Perkin went to France in September 1491, and was well received by Charles viii., with whom Henry was then at variance ; and when the conclusion of a peace compelled him to leave France, he passed into Flanders, where he was well received by Margaret of York, who pretended to recognise him as her nephew. For three years he remained with her; but Henry knowing that the real policy of Flanders was dictated by the burghers, whose trade depended on English wool, interdicted all commerce with Flemish ports, and the burghers were soon glad, through their young duke, Philip the Handsome, to enter into a commercial treaty with England, and as the price of the expulsion of Perkin obtained from Henry com- mercial advantages, which placed their trade on an excellent footing. This treaty is known as the magnus inter cur sus, or great . Magnus intercourse. From Flanders, after an abortive attempt to Intercursus.' land in Kent, Perkin returned to Ireland and thence on to Scotland, where he was kindly received by James iv,, who was glad of an oppor- tunity to make his power felt by Henry. Accordingly, Perkin in whether James really believed in Perkin or not, he kept Scotland, him in Scotland about two years, and even allowed him to marry Katharine Gordon, a relative of his own. Once, indeed, James and Perkin crossed the border, but the harrying of Northumberland peasants seems to have been distasteful to Perkin, and the expedition soon returned. At last James grew tired of his guest, so Perkin and his wife sailed for Cork under the escort of the celebrated seamen, Andrew and Eobert Barton. In Ireland he found small assistance, for the country was settling down under Henry's wise rule ; but while there he heard of events in Cornwall which led him to think that something might be effected there. Before Perkin left Flanders, however, Henry decided to show by a terrible example that he would brook no playing fast and loose with loyalty. Evidence was forthcoming that his chamberlain, sir William Sir William Stanley, who had placed the crown on his head ^*^" ^^• at Bosworth, had been repeating the double-dealing which had deceived Richard iii. Henry had him promptly arrested, tried, and put to death ; and this fearful proof that no nearness to the throne could secure im- munity for disaffection, put a stop to Perkin's hope of creating an English party in his favour. 380 House of Tudor 1497 In 1497, to defend the northern counties against another inroad of the Scots, parliament granted a subsidy of ^120,000, and a loan of ^40,000 Cornish "^^^ ^•'^^ collected. These imposts aroused the wrath of Rebellion, ^}jg Cornish men, who grumbled at having to pay so much for ' a little stir of the Scots soon blown over.' Their discontent took form under Thomas Flammock, a lawyer, and Michael Joseph, a Bodmin blacksmith, and under their lead a strong body of insurgents set out to march on London. At Wells they were joined by Lord Audley, under whom they marched to Kent. They reached Blackheath, but were Battle of there attacked by an overwhelming force of horse, foot, Blackheath. ^-^^ artillery under Henry in person. The leaders were put to death, but their followers were treated with such lenity that some thought Henry was too frightened to be severe, and sent over to Perkin to tell him that if he would land in Cornwall he would find plenty of supporters. Perkin accordingly landed at Whitsand Bay, and Perkin lands "^^^ joined by 3000 followers. With them he made an un- in Cornwall, successful attempt upon Exeter, and then passed on to Taunton ; but by that time all Henry's friends were in arms, and Perkin, seeing that all hope of raising a serious insurrection had vanished, left his army, and took sanctuary in the Abbey of Beaulieu. On promise of his life he soon surrendered, and Henry, who was glad to get a full confession of his imposture, ordered him to be paraded through the streets of London, and then placed in security. Katharine, his wife, was made an attendant on the queen. On the flight of their leader, Perkin's followers at once submitted. A few were hanged ; but Henry punished most of them by levying fines in proportion to their pro- imprison- perty, thus showing the western men that he was not afraid ment and ^f exacting their money. After his disgrace, Warbeck execution. ° -^ T was retained about the court, but a futile attempt to escape led to his being imprisoned in the Tower. There he was able to communicate with his unlucky fellow-prisoner, the earl of Warwick, and in 1499 the two formed a plan to escape. Detection followed. The afi'air, mainly to get rid of Warwick, was treated as treason, and that ill-fated nobleman was beheaded on Tower Hill at the age of twenty- four, fourteen years of which he had passed in confinement. Perkin was hanged at Tyburn. The death of Warwick destroyed the last Yorkist representative in the male line ; but Henry was still apprehensive of danger from the The De la younger brothers of the earl of Lincoln — Edmund de la Poles. Pole, earl of Suffolk, and his brother Eichard — and in 1501 they escaped to the continent. In connection with this, Sir James 1497 Henry FIT. 381 Tyrrel, governor of Guisnes, was accused and convicted of treason, and it was between his sentence and his death that he made the con- fession of his share in the murder of the little princes, on which all subsequent versions of that incident are based. Suffolk remained abroad till 1506, when he was surrendered to Henry by Philii3, duke of Burgundy, but on condition that his life was spared. Henry kept his promise to the letter ; but in 1513 Suffolk was put to death by Henry viii. His brother, Richard de la Pole, succeeded him as earl, and lived on the continent till his death at the battle of Pavia in 1525. Warwick's only sister Margaret, countess of Salisbury, married Sir Richard Pole, and became the mother of a family which played an important part in sub- sequent events. The support which both Simnel and Perkin had received in Ireland attracted Henry's attention to the condition of this country, where the people were so prone to revolt, that as Henry remarked condition of to some of them, ' My masters of Ireland, ye will crown Iceland. apes for kings.' The state of Ireland at his accession was not mate- rially different from what it had been at any time since the so-called conquest. The country was parcelled out among great chiefs, some of whom, like the O'Neals and O'Briens, were at the head of native clans ; others, like the Geral dines of Kildare, the Bourkes of Connaught, and the Butlers of Ormond, were representatives of great Norman families. The usual English machinery of government had been introduced, and Ireland had its parliament, council, courts of king's bench and common pleas, chancellor, justiciar, and treasurer; but these officials had no authority worth mentioning outside the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin andthe counties of Kildare, Dublin, Meath, and Louth, which were known as the Pale ; for the Norman lords were palatines in their own districts, and the Irish clans were ruled according to their own laws. In this way a state of society grew up much more analogous to the feudalism of France and Germany than anything that had ever existed in England. The chief efforts of the government were directed to prevent- ing the Norman settlers from relapsing into the barbarism of the native Irish, and becoming, as was said, ' more Irish than the Irish themselves.' Two typical statutes display the state of affairs. In 1367 was passed the statute of Kilkenny, which made it high treason for an English settler to adopt Irish customs, to speak the Irish tongue, or to marry an Irish woman. In 1465 parliament declared it lawful for any freeman to kill a thief, or suspected thief, and deliver his head to the government. In such a country as this the very rudiments of political and social well- being were wanting, and Henry vii. set himself seriously to deal with it. 382 House of Tudor 1497 For some years, however, he found it practically impossible to get rid of the earl of Kildare, who, in spite of manifold treasons, was so power- ful that it was impossible to oust him from his post of deputy. 'All Ireland,' it was said, ' could not rule him.' So perforce, as Henry him- self put it, 'he had to rule all Ireland.' At length, however, Henry felt himself strong enough to act, and in 1494 he gave the post of deputy Poynings *^ ^^^ trusted friend Sir Edward Poynings, who had been Acts. }iig companion in exile. Poynings arrested Kildare, and summoned a parliament at Drogheda, in which was passed a series of memorable statutes known as the Poynings Acts. These statutes dealt with many matters, but the chief enactments were three : first, that no parliament should be summoned in Ireland without the consent of the king of England and his council ; second, that no bill could be considered by an Irish parliament unless it had pre- viously been approved by the English council ; and third, that all laws recently passed by the English parliament should be of binding force in Ireland. These enactments were designed to make a fresh start in the government of Ireland. They were aimed at controlling the great English settlers, and hardly touched the native Irish at all. Moreover, although they indicate a state of parliamentary government very far removed from ideal, the actual state of the English parliament was not materially difierent from that which existed in Ireland, for under Henry vii. the real initiative of legislation lay with the king and his council. During all his dealings with the difficulties created by pretenders, Henry had steadily been pursuing his design to strengthen the power of the crown. In this, his right-hand man was John Morton, formerly master of the rolls and bishop of Ely, whom he had advanced, on the death of Archbishop Bourchier, to be archbishop of Canterbury. Morton was a man of great experience and ability, a representative of the official ecclesiastic of his time, who devoted himself heart and soul to the king's business ; and, till his death in 1500, he must be regarded as the king's leading minister and most trusted adviser in all constitutional matters. Henry saw clearly that the one real guarantee of order was the abolition of retainers ; and, having obtained from Parliament an enactment making it penal to grant liveries or enter into ' engagements of maintenance,' he set himself to devise a means to make this statute a reality instead of the dead letter which all its predecessors had been. With this end in view he devised a new court which should be independent of popular control, and which should not be liable to failures 1497 Henry VII. 333 of justice, either through the goodwill of jurymen to the offender, or their intimidation or corruption by some powerful or wealthy magn'ate. The new court was constituted by act of parliament, and New Court was composed of the lord chancellor, the lord treasurer the °f Justice, keeper of the privy seal, a bishop, a lord of the council, and the two chief justices. Their orders were to deal with such offences as livery and maintenance, jury packing, inciting to riot, and other offences difficult to deal with in the ordinary courts. Of these, livery and main- tenance were the chief. Livery is a word whose meaning is now restricted to the clothes which a nobleman or gentle- Mafnten" man gives his servants ; but in its original sense it in- ^"^^" eluded the allowances of food which in every mediaeval household were measured out to all its members. The political signification of the word implied the practice of the magnates of keeping in their household as large and ostentatious a retinue as their wealth permitted, and usino- it either to fight their quarrels in war or to support their interests in peace, not always by peaceful means. Maintenance was the practice of great men taking up the quarrels of poor ones, as was done by John of Gaunt in the case of Wyclif, and by appearing at their side, or filling the court with men wearing their livery, to intimidate judge and jury into giving a false decision. Such a system was liable to the grossest abuse, maintainer and maintained even going shares in dividing property so wrongfully obtained ; and as the two practices were at the very root of the power possessed by the fifteenth century barons, Henry was deter- mined to put them utterly down. The method of the court was astute ; for on conviction it fined the culprit so severely as to put it out of his power to offend again. Even Henry's most intimate friends were not spared. As he had beheaded Sir William Stanley to show that past services could not condone treason, so he made his old general, the earl of Oxford, an example that the keeping of retainers could no longer be permitted. One day when leaving the earl, after a visit, Henry passed Earl of through two rows of gentry and yeomen wearing the earl's ^^^°^^- badge. ' These are your servants,' said the king. ' No,' said Oxford, ' I am too poor for that. They are my retainers assembled to do you honour.' 'I thank you for your hospitality,' Henry replied; 'but I cannot have my laws broken in my sight.' Oxford was summoned before the new court and fined ^15,000, equivalent to at least £150,000 of our money. Such an example was effective ; and complaint began to be made that the retainers who were turned adrift became thieves and robbers. The court which dealt so effectively with these elements of disorder 384 House of Tudor 1497 was new, but in reality its constitution did not materially differ from a revival of the criminal jurisdiction of the privy council. Since the reign The Privy of Henry III., by which date the chief judicial func- Council. tions of the council had been exercised by special courts the council had been chiefly an advising body ; sometimes, under weak kings, like Henry iii., Edward 11., or Richard 11., specially constituted by parliament as a check on the royal authority ; sometimes, under such powerful sovereigns as Edward i. and Edward iii., dropping out of sight altogether. Under Henry iv., however, and the Lancastrian sovereigns, it began to have a more permanent character, and to be really an advising body, trusted and used by the king both for consultative and executive business. Its importance grew rapidly during the minority of Henry vi., and by degrees the phrase ' king and council ' showed that it had come to be considered as having a sort of co-ordinate authority with the king. Edward iv. tried to increase its representative character by introducing commoners as well as nobles ; and whether it was due to deliberate intention, or merely to the weakness of parliament, the Tudors made it a chief instrument of government. The weakness of parliament here alluded to is one of the most striking facts of the reigns of Edward iv., Henry vii,, and the first part of the reign of Henry viii. It was due to a variety of causes. of Pariia- Chief among these was the decline of the nobility, to whom ™^" ■ the commons had always looked for the armed support on which their power to attack a king's favourite or to resist an unpopular proposal necessarily depended. It was also due to the circumstance that, on the whole, the Tudors carried out the policy of those classes to whom members of parliament belonged. At any rate, under Edward iv. and Henry vii., parliament did little except pass without question acts which had been prepared by the king and his council, and vote supplies. Among other important statutes passed by direction of Henry vii. was one designed to give greater security to those who held office under a De Facto l^i^ig of doubtful title who might ultimately be dispossessed. statute. ipjjj^g ^^g passed in 1495, and enacted that 'no person attending upon the king and sovereign lord of this land for the time being, and doing him true and faithful service, shall be convicted of high treason, by act of parliament or other process of law, nor suffer any forfeiture or punishment ; but that every act made contrary to this statute shall be void and of none effect.' Thus a distinction was made between a king de facto and a king de jure, and the temptation to take part in Yorkist plots with a view to being safe in every eventuality was diminished. 1490 Henry VI I. 335 Another great enactment was the statute of fines, copied from an act of Richard iii. The immediate object of this act was to provide a ready way of settling the ownership of estates. Numbers of statute of disputes had arisen during the confusion of the late war, ^i"^^- and as a consequence of the extensive forfeitures which had taken place. For this purpose it was enacted that if a decision in a disputed case had been given, and a fine levied with proclamations in a public court of justice, then, after five years, except in a few special cases, no further claim to the lands could be raised. The indirect results of this act were wider than its immediate efi"ects, for the lawyers discovered in it an ingenious device for breaking the entails created under the statute de clonis conditionalibus. This device was extremely welcome to many of the ancient landowners who had become impoverished through ex- travagance or war, and in consequence many entailed estates came into the market and were bought by rich merchants of the towns. The direct taxes voted by parliament under Henry vii. were not numerous, and he had ample means to know their unpopularity. Besides the Cornish rebellion already referred to, taxation caused The Bene- an outbreak in Yorkshire at Topcliffe, one of the Percy ^° ^"'^^^• manors, where the earl of Northumberland was murdered by some of his own tenants who objected to pay towards an expedition to Brittany a subsidy of one-tenth of the annual value of lands, and about one-sixth of the value of goods and chattels. Henry therefore relied on indirect means to fill his treasury. Among these was the collection of bene- volences. The first of these was collected in 1491, and received the sanction of a great council or assembly of notables, a substitute for a parliament, of which Henry was somewhat fond. Cardinal Morton is said to have drawn up directions to the collectors to the effect that ' if they met any who were sparing, they must tell them they must needs have, because they laid up ; and if they were spenders they must needs have, because it was seen in their port and manner of living.' This ingenious method of approach gained the name of Morton's Fork. This benevolence was afterwards sanctioned by parliament, and all arrears were ordered to be paid. Even these exactions, however, did not make Henry so unpopular as those which are associated with the names of Sir Richard Enipson and Sir Edmund Dudley, barons of the exchequer. The method Empson of these men was to rake up all the ancient customs and ^"'^ Dudley, obligations of feudalism which, in the rise of a new civilisation, were either obsolete or rapidly becoming so, and to have before their court all who wittingly or unwittingly had infringed the rights of the crown. 2b 386 The Tuclm's 1492 The offenders were then mercilessly fined ; and so great was the anger aroused by such an oppressive perversion of law, that the names of the two barons still retain an evil notoriety as examples of such as strain the law for the benefit of a king. In spite, however, of the grumbling of his people, Henry contrived to grow rich. He spent little on himself, and, at the close of his reign, left property, chiefly in the shape of jewels, estimated in our money at no less than £18,000,000 sterling. We must now turn to foreign affairs. Eather from necessity than choice, Henry found it needful to mix more in the general politics of Foreign ^^® Continent than any of his predecessors, and in this Affairs. respect his reign forms a turning-point in English history. During its early years Henry was drawn into a war in Brittany. That duchy, the last of the great fiefs of France to be absorbed by the crown, was, in 1490, by the death of the duke, left in the hands of Anne, a girl of eleven years. The prospect of seeing Brittany become any. ^^ integral part of France, and her harbours and seamen at the disposal of the French king, was naturally distasteful to Englishmen ; and Henry, who himself was under much obligation to the late duke, had the sympathy of his subjects in trying to protect the dominions of the little duchess. In doing so he had some expectation of assistance from Ferdinand of Arragon and from Maximilian of Austria, the latter of whom was designed to be the husband of Anne ; but Ferdinand was too busy, and Maximilian too poor, to be of much assistance so far from home ; and, though Henry sent soldiers to help the duchess, it was impossible to defend Brittany permanently against France without sacri- fices much greater than either he or his subjects were willing to make. Eventually the matter was settled by the French invading Brittany, and Anne agreeing to marry Charles viii., the young king of France, since which marriage Brittany has become a part of the French monarchy. The way in which Henry had been thus outwitted led to war with France ; and in the autumn of 1491 Henry, having entered into an War with alliance with Ferdinand and Maximilian, led an English France. army to the siege of Boulogne. The expedition, however, proved to be the counterpart of that of 1475. Charles showed himself as anxious as his father had been to get rid of the English without fight- Treaty of i^g- He opened negotiations at once, and agreed by the Etaples. treaty of Etaples to repay the English the expenses they had been at in sending troops to Brittany, and also two years' arrears of the annual sum promised at Picquigny. The whole sum is calculated at from three and a half to four million pounds of our money, and was to be paid in instalments amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand 1494 Henry VII. 3g'r pounds a year. Such a peace, though doubtless a good thing for both countries, was most unpopular in England, where many nobles and gentlemen had half-ruined themselves to provide an outfit for the expected campaign. Henry's next alliance arose out of a wide European complication. The new unity which had been given to France by the policy of Louis xt. and to which the annexation of Brittany had given the kev- ^u , ,,, , . , , . ■^ unarles VIII. stone, marked an epoch in the history of Europe. Hitherto ^" Italy. as a rule, French kings had concerned themselves mainly with the affairs of France ; now an opportunity was given for engaginc^ in enterprises abroad, and the energy of the French people, which had hitherto spent itself either in civil broils or wars with the English was eagerly on the look-out for a new outlet. Such an opportunity was found by Charles viii. in the revival of claims which had come to him from the last count of Anjou to the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. To prosecute this claim, Charles allied himself with Ludovico Sforza, the uncle and guardian of the little duke of Milan, with the Genoese, the Florentines, and the pope, and in 1494 marched an army into Italy, and with little or no fighting occupied the kingdom of Naples. His presence, however, soon roused the national feeling of the Italians, and a great league was formed, with the Venetians at its head, to intercept his homeward march. The plan, however, failed ; for Charles' soldiers, who were much better fighters than the Italians, brushed away the army of the league at Fornovo, and regained France in safety. This expedition created the utmost consternation among the other European powers, especially at the court of Maximilian, the emperor, who regarded himself as sovereign of Italy, and at that of Ferdinand and Isabella, who, having completed the con- L^Igue^" quest of the Moors of Granada in 1492, were also prepared p^^j^jfj; to take a larger share than before in European affairs. The consequence was the projection of a great European alliance to keep France in check, and ' for the mutual preservation of states, so that the more powerful might not oppress the less powerful, and that each should keep what rightly belongs to him.' As a renewal of the English inva- sions would probably be the most effective check on the Italian designs of the French, it became a great point to secure the assistance of the king of England. Henry, however, was not prepared to give his assistance for nothing. Maximilian had lately been aiding Perkin Warbeck, and Henry would do nothing till this was withdrawn. Ferdinand and Isabella, however, were most anxious to secure Henry's aid, and were willing to put pressure on Maximilian ; so Warbeck was dismissed, and negotiations 388 The Tudms 1494 entered on for the marriage of Henry's son Arthur with Katharine of Arragon, third daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. On this, Henry- entered the league and sent a peremptory letter to Charles requiring him not to disturb the peace of Europe. By this means France was com- pletely isolated, Charles, however, died in 1498 ; but as his successor Louis XII. not only succeeded to his claims on Naples, but had claims of his own to the duchy of Milan, the need for a great anti-French alliance was no less than before. Accordingly, the league was placed on a more permanent basis by a series of marriages which had the most important results upon the history Matrimonial ^^ Europe.^ Already the marriage of Maximilian of Austria Alliances. ^ith Mary of Burgundy, the heiress of Charles the Bold, had brought the Netherlands under the rule of the House of Austria ; while that of Ferdinand of Arragon and Isabella of Castile had brought under one crown the whole of the Spanish peninsula with the exceptions of Portugal and Navarre. In 1496 Joanna, the second daughter of Fer- dinand and Isabella, married Maximilian's only son Philip the Handsome; and as her only brother died childless, Joanna became the heiress of the dominions of Ferdinand and Isabella, and passed her rights on to her eldest son Charles, afterwards the celebrated emperor, who was born in 1500. In 1501, Arthur, Prince of Wales, at the age of fifteen, was married to Katharine of Arragon, but died in April of the next year ; upon which negotiations were immediately opened for her marriage with Henry's younger son Henry, born in 1491 ; and in expectation of this the girl-widow still remained in England under the guardianship of her father-in-law. One European country, Scotland, still remained the ally of France ; but both Ferdinand and Henry exerted themselves to the utmost to detach the Scots from their hereditary alliance, and in 1502 this was thought to have been effected by the marriage of Henry's elder daughter Margaret to the Scottish king, James iv. Henry's queen died in 1503, and various negotiations were carried on Death of ^^^ ^ second marriage connected with the great alliance, Henry. \^^\^ ^11 Came to nothing ; and in 1509 he died, leaving his kingdom in peace and prosperity, and with a European position 1 GENEALOGY OF CHARLES V. Maximilian of = Mary of Ferdinand, = Isabella of Austria, Emperor, d. 1519. Burgundy, king of Arragon, 1 Castile, d. \m. d. 1516. d. 1504. Archduke Philip of = Joanna, Katharine, = (1) Arthur, d. 1502 Austria, lord of the d. 1552. (?) d. 1536. (2) Henry viii. Netherlands, king of Castile, d. 1506. Charles V. 1509 Henry VII. 359 and importance far beyond anything she had held since the days of Henry v. In many respects the reign of Henry vii. forms a turning-point in English history, either as the beginning of a new epoch or the end of an old one. This was due partly to the domestic causes which , ■^' The Rc- had enabled Henry to do so much for civilisation by ridding naissance the country of retainers, and by enforcing a higher standard ^" ^^ ^' of law and order, and partly to causes which affected, in a greater or less degree, the whole of the civilised world. This great movement, which is known sometimes as the Eenaissance — renascence, or new birth — sometimes as the revival of learning, according as it is regarded in its more general or special aspect, is so complicated and many-sided that it is impossible to do more than glance at its broader facts. Its birthplace was Italy, where a variety of causes had created the possibility of a higher standard of civilisation than had been possible elsewhere. Much attention had early been paid to the study of painting and sculpture ; and when in 1453 the taking of Constantinople by the Turks had dispersed Greek-speaking scholars into Europe, and made possible the acquisition of thousands of precious manuscripts of classical authors, which had long mouldered unread in the libraries of Byzantine monas- teries, an immense stimulus was given to classical study, and so enthusiastic did the Italian scholars become in the pursuit of the new learning that the ideas of Plato and Aristotle were almost worshipped by their new votaries. From Italy the movement spread to other lands. Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, was an enthusiastic Latin scholar ; in 1492 Groceyn taught Greek at Oxford, and a little later was aided by Linacre. ^^^ ^^^^^ John Colet, afterwards dean of St. Paul's, lectured on the ment in , -, 1 • • n England. Greek Testament at Oxford in 1496, and used his mfiaence in after life to promote education in the new modes of thought. Hardly of less influence in England was Erasmus, a Fleming, who came to Eng- land in 1498, became the friend of all English scholars, and by his ready wit and keen satire influenced the thoughts of Englishmen. Painting, too, gradually made its way north, and the new mode was made familiar to Englishmen by Holbein, who lived here some years after 1526. Learning and the fine arts, however, were only one side of the move- ment. Immense strides were made in geographical discovery. Early in the fifteenth century Henry the Navigator, nephew of our Geographical Henry iv., had directed the Portuguese to the advantage of Discoveries, seeking new outlets for trade by investigating the west coast of Africa. Later on, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, and the closing 390 The Tudors 1509 of the old trade-routes from the Levant to the east compelled merchants to seek a new road to India, and gave rise to the speculations and voyages which ultimately, in 1492, resulted in the discovery of the New World. This event naturally roused the Portuguese to further exertions, and in 1497 Vasco da Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope and reached Calicut. Nor was England much behind. In the very first year of his reign Henry had assured the Bristol merchants of his sympathy and assist- ance ; and in 1497 the merchant adventurers of that city manned a British ship with British sailors, and sent it on a voyage of discovery, under the command of John Cabot, a Venetian, and his son Sebastian. This ship was the first European vessel to reach the mainland of North America. These discoveries not only changed men's ideas in geography, but made a great alteration in the relative political importance of the nations Influence on ^^ ^^^ world. Hitherto, these which had had the most Politics. ready access to the Mediterranean Sea had taken the lead in civilisation and commercial activity ; now, however, men's thoughts turned to the ocean, and Cadiz, Lisbon, Bordeaux, Bristol, London, and Antwerp became the natural harbours for the traflac of the world. Side by side with these discoveries stand the two great inventions of printing and gunpowder. Printing, or, to speak more correctly, the art of printing with moveable types, is said to have been invented by Gutenberg in 1440. The improvement was due to the desire to copy books more rapidly than by hand in response to the greater demand created by the growing thirst for knowledge ; but when it had been made, the greater cheapness of the copies multiplied by the new method gave an immense stimulus to the spread of learning. Printing was introduced into England by William Caxton in 1471, and the first new book printed and published in England was The game and playe of J , the Chesse, which appeared in 1474. Gunpowder was first tion of employed for artillery about the time of the battle of unpow er. Q^ecj, but it was slow in coming into use ; for so efficient were the continental crossbows and the longbows of the English, and so destructive were the siege implements in use, that it was long before the new cannons and hand-guns could really compete with them. When, however, equality in efficiency was reached, the old weapons speedily became obsolete, for their use required a longer train- ing than the new, and cannons were less difficult to transport than the old catapults, rams, and mangonels. The effect of the new weapons on society was perhaps greater than that on the art of war, for with the disappearance of the armoured knight, whose mail was no defence 1509 Henry VI I , 391 against the new projectiles, passed away a class distinction which had made warfare a comparatively safe amusement for the rich. Hence- forward the same danger confronted the noble and the plebeian soldier. Moreover, the introduction of gunpowder was of enormous moment in the conquest of the New World. Without the advantage given by its possession it is difficult to see how the exploits of Cortez and Pizarro could have been performed, or the rapid conquest of vast territories in- habited by semi-civilised but brave people have been accomplished by such handfuls of Europeans as were then able to cross the ocean. The discovery of America and of the new route to India, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, the revival of learning, and Modern the inventions of printing and gunpowder, are the great Europe, events which mark the change from mediseval to modern Europe, and their influence began to make itself felt in the reign of Henry vn. CHIEF DA TES Battle of Stoke, First appearance of Parkin Warbeck, Discovery of the West Indies, . Charles VIII. 's Expedition to Italy, . Cabot discovers the American Mainland, Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut, Capture of Parkin Warbeck, Death of Prince Arthur, A.D. 1487 1492 1492 1494 1497 1497 1498 1502 CHAPTEE II HENRY VIII.: 1509-1547 Born 1491 ; married- ^1509, Katharine of Arragon, divorced 1533, d. 1536. 1532, Anne Boleyn, executed 1536. 1536, Jane Seymour, died 1537. 1540, Anne of Cleves, divorced 1540, died 1557. 1540, Katharine Howard, executed 1542. ^1543, Katharine Parr, survived her husband. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES. Scotland. France. Spain. James iv., d. 1513. Louis xii., d. 1515. Charles i., 1516-1556. James v., d. 1542. Francis i. , d. 1547. Mary, deposed 1567. Emperors. Popes. Maximilian, d. 1519. Julius ii., d. 1513. Charles V. , d. 1558. Leo x., 1513-1522. Clement VII., 1523-1534. Foreign politics — Flodden — Wolsey's career— The Divorce question leads to the fall of Wolsey and the separation from Rome — Changes in the Church — Dissolution of the Monasteries — Resistance to these changes — Henry's domestic life — Later foreign policy. The death of Henry vii. gave the crown to his son Henry, a young man of eighteen. In appearance there was little in Henry to recall his Character of father. His figure was cast in the Yorkist mould — tall, Henry. strong, and stoutly built, with round, fair-complexioned face and a profusion of reddish flaxen hair. His temperament was jovial, and delighted in all manner of games and sports in which his personal courage and agility enabled him to display himself to advantage. At the same time it must not be supposed that his addiction to such pursuits was allowed to interfere with his business as king. From his very accession Henry showed himself as determined as his father, not only to reign, but to govern. The reports of ambassadors were made directly to him. Each day he made time to despatch a vast quantity of business, and both his own letters and those written to him fully prove 392 1509 Henry VIII . 393 that he considered no detail of government as beneath his notice. Like his father lie was a good judge of character, and probably was a greater adept at reading the thoughts of the masses ; and his ready wit and easy manners gained him, from the very outset, a popularity so well established that no subsequent actions, however arbitrary or cruel, appear to have seriously diminished it. No change of importance was made in the composition of the council, of which the chief members continued to be Eichard Fox, bishop of Winchester, a painstaking and able ecclesiastic, who had The Mini- succeeded to much of Morton's influence ; Thomas Howard, ^^^^^• earl of Surrey, son of the duke of Norfolk who fell at Bosworth, a man of courage and determination, who represented the ideas of the nobility ; and Archbishop Warham, a man of no great force. Thomas Wolsey, a young and able ecclesiastic, was acting as secretary to Fox. Under these men the quiet and orderly domestic government of Henry vii. was continued, and was broken chiefly by the disgraceful treat- Empsonand ment of Empson and Dudley, who were sacrificed by the ^"^^^^y- young king to appease the popular outcry. It was no easy matter to find a legal charge, for their acts, though harsh, had come within the letter of the law, and had been fully provided for in their commissions ; so an absurd charge of treason was brought against them, accusing them of plotting to get the young king into their hands, and usurping the government. On this, Dudley was convicted in London, Empson at Northampton, and the whole iniquitous transaction was confirmed by an act of attainder. For some time their lives were spared, but at length Henry, exasperated by the constant complaints of their extortions, ordered them to be put to death. At the same time some attempt was made to compensate their victims. In foreign afi'airs the king showed his intention of following his father's policy by marrying Katharine, with whom he declared himself so well satisfied that if he had to choose again he would take Katharine her. Katharine was then twenty-four, and, though not beau- ° "^e°"- tiful, was a very attractive person, and is described as being ' of a lively and gracious disposition.' She danced well, was a good musician, wrote and spoke English excellently, and, above all, was perfectly devoted to her husband. Though Henry vii. had joined the anti-French alliance, he had taken no active part in foreign aflfairs, in which he had been little more than a dependant of Spain. Since the death of Charles viii. Italy had been the chief centre of aflfairs. In 1499, Louis xii., with the aid of the Venetians, had taken Milan ; and in 1501, contrary to the general policy ol the 394 The Tudors 1509 League, Ferdinand had entered into alliance with him and made an attack upon Naples, which, since the expulsion of the French, had again fallen into the hands of a branch of the house of Arragon. Next year, however, Louis and Ferdinand quarrelled about their plunder, and the French were again expelled from Naples. However, by 1508, the French and Spaniards had again patched up their quarrels, and, under the nominal leadership of Pope Julius ii., had formed the League of Cambray for the purpose of partitioning the territories of the Venetians, the only power in Italy which might possibly have rallied the smaller states to keep out both French and Spaniards. In the war that followed the French acted with such vigour that they secured most of the Venetian territory on the main land ; and so alarmed was Julius ii. at this exhibi- tion of French power that he immediately set on foot what was described as a Holy League for the defence of the pope and the expulsion of the French from Italy, and in 1511 requested Henry viii. to join it. As his father-in-law, Ferdinand, was one of the leading members, Henry had no objection, and planned a joint campaign in the south of France, by which it was hoped that England would reconquer Guienne and Ferdinand acquire Navarre. The temptation to attack Guienne was great ; for its trade was extremely valuable, and the possession of a piece of territory, driven like a wedge between France and Spain, would give the king of England a great advantage in dealing with their respective sovereigns. Expedition However, when the English troops, under the marquess of to Guienne. j^Qj-get, landed in Guienne, they found Ferdinand quite un- prepared. After six weeks of inaction, their commander, under the impression that Ferdinand meant to use his own troops against Navarre, brought his soldiers back to England. This expedition was a great dis- appointment to Henry. Accordingly, great preparations were made for the campaign of 1513, and it is in these that Wolsey first made a reputation with the king. Thomas Wolsey, who is perhaps the greatest of the long line of ecclesi- astical statesmen from Lanfranc to Laud, was born at Ipswich in 1471. His father was a burgher of wealth and position, and gave Wolsey. . . r J » his clever son the best education in his power. He entered Oxford as a boy and took his degree of bachelor of arts at fifteen, and became fellow and bursar of Magdalen College. While there, the beauti- ful tower of the college was being built, but it does not appear that Wolsey had any thing special to do with it. His next post was that of master of Magdalen College School, and while there he made the acquaint- ance of the marquis of Dorset whose sons he had taught. Dorset presented him to the rectory of Lymington. He next became chaplain 1513 Henry Fill. 395 to Deane, who succeeded Morton as archbishop of Canterbury, and he acquired a knowledge of administrative life as assistant to Sir Richard Nanfan, deputy-governor of Calais. By him he was recommended to Henry vii., and became a royal chaplain about 1506. At court Wolsey attached himself to Fox, possibly as his secretary, and was employed on several diplomatic missions for the king. The accession of Henry viii. was favourable to his advancement, for Wolsey was full of energy and had ideas that suited the young king much better than the wary maxims and cautious traditions of the statesmen of Henry vii. It was not, how- ever, till the preparations were begun for the French war that Wolsey was able to find an adequate field for his energies, but he then threw himself heart and soul into the task of providing an efficient force, and this brought him to the notice of Henry himself. The campaign which followed was on the whole successful ; Admiral Sir Edward Howard attacked the French fleet with such violence in open boats that, though he lost his own life, and his men were invasion beaten off*, the French did not venture to impede the passage °^ France, of the English fleet to Calais. From Calais Henry, with Wolsey in his train, advanced to the siege of Therouenne, and, while before it, was joined by Maximilian as a volunteer. During the siege an action was fought at Guinegaste with a French relieving force which attempted to throw supplies into the town. It was a mere cavalry Battle of affair, and the French fled so soon that the fight was Guinegaste. jocularly known as the Battle of the Spurs. Therouenne surrendered, and soon afterwards the important town of Tournai ; but Henry did not pursue his advantage further, for he found that both Ferdinand and Maximilian expected him to encounter the dangers while they reaped the profits of the war, and he made the excuse of being wanted at home to return to England. There, in his absence, great events had happened. Contrary to the expectations which had been founded on the marriage of Margaret and James iv., the hereditary friendship of the Scots for Scottish France had proved too much for the honour of James, and when Henry crossed to France he invaded Northumberland with a large army. Henry had left Katharine in charge at home, and she, perhaps remembering Philippa of Hainault and Neville's Cross, threw herself most energetically into the work of defence, attended council meetings, prepared banners with her own hand, and addressed the leaders who were setting out for the north. The chief command was entrusted to the earl of Surrey and his son. Sir Thomas Howard, who had succeeded his brother as admiral. They mustered their forces at 396 The Tudors 1513 Newcastle, and, marching north, learned that James had taken up a strong position on Flodden Edge, a spur of the Cheviots lying at right angles to the river Till, a tributary of the Tweed, which there forms the boundary between England and Scotland. On Sunday, September 4, Surrey, after the fashion of chivalry, sent a challenge to James to fight a pitched battle on the following Friday. This James accepted ; but when Surrey suggested that he should leave his strong post and fight on even ground, James politely but firmly declined. THE FLODDEN DISTRICT In these circumstances, Surrey adopted the advice of his son to turn James' position by blocking his retreat to Scotland ; and, accordingly, on Surrey's Thursday he crossed the Till at Wooler, and, marching Manoeuvres, parallel to the river but at such a distance from it as to be concealed by the rising ground, made his way to Twisel Mill close to the junction of the Till and Tweed. There he stayed till Thursday night, and at daybreak on Friday recrossed the Till and marched straight to Coldstream as though about to invade Scotland. The ruse was com- pletely successful. When James, from Flodden Edge, saw Surrey making for Scotland he broke up his camp, burnt his tents, and hurried off in hot pursuit. On this, Surrey returned to meet him ; and the two armies, concealed from each other by the smoke of the blazing tents, met one another on Brankston Moor, the Scots still having the advantage of being on higher ground. The Scottish forces, who are thought to have numbered 30,000, were drawn up in dense masses. On the right were the Highlanders, with target and claymore ; next the king, at the head of a mass of 7000 spearmen ; on the left, the Borderers under Huntly and Home. With the Scots were seventeen pieces of artillery. The 1513 Henry VIII. 39/^ English also arranged their forces in three divisions— Sir Edward Stanley led the left, Surrey the centre, and the admiral and Sir Edmund Howard the right. The chief reliance of the English soldiers, who were gathered from all parts of the northern counties, was placed in their long- bows ; but for close quarters they used a most formidable weapon, the bill, which consisted of a double-headed hatchet with a six-inch spike projecting between the blades and wielded with both arms at the end of a stout handle nearly six feet long, so that it could be used either for hacking or thrusting. Surrey, too, had artillery. When the fight began the English guns soon silenced those of the Scots, and did so much execution among the spearmen that James hurried to get to close quarters, and ordered a general charge. Battle of On his left the earls of Huntly and Home beat Sir Edmund Fiodden. Howard on the extreme right ; but the English right centre, under Sir Thomas Howard, though hard pressed, held its own ; Surrey presented a stout front to the king, and the Lancashire men, under Sir Edward Stanley, not only foiled every attempt of the fierce Highlanders to break their ranks, but even advanced in their turn and drove the clansmen off the field. By this time Sir Thomas Howard, to whose aid the reserve had been sent, had also routed the Scots opposed to him, and so he and Stanley, wheeling inwards, were able to charge the king's forces in flank and rear, while they were engaged with Surrey in front. This manoeuvre was decisive. James himself was transfixed by an arrow, and received a deadly blow on the head from an English bill ; but his countrymen fought furiously round his corpse, and only the fall of night separated the maddened combatants. James' body, found among a heap of slain, was fully identified ; and his blood-stained plaid was sent over by Katharine as a trophy to her husband. With James perished the flower of Scottish chivalry. No less than twelve Scottish earls lay dead on the field ; and there were few noble families in Scotland which had not to mourn the loss of some of their members. The political results of Flodden were as decisive as its circumstances were dramatic. It showed Europe that England could not be intimidated by an attack on her borders ; and so far as Results of Scotland was concerned it removed all danger of trouble for ^ ^ many years. James' successor was his posthumous son James v., and the government of the country fell into the hands of his widow Margaret. Within a few months, however, she made the mistake of marrying the earl of Angus, and this alliance, by introducing a new element of discord among the Scottish lords, served still further to weaken the country. In spite, however, of his successes at Therouenne and Flodden, Henry 398 The Tudors 1513 had no mind to carry on the war as the cat's-paw of Maximilian and Ferdinand ; and in this he was ably seconded by Wolsey, whose para- Peace with mount influence seems to date from Henry's return from France. France. Wolsey's great gift was for diplomacy, for which Fox had no liking, and was glad to leave it in his hands. He held also most patriotic ideas as to the real place which England ought to hold in continental affairs, and was as eager as Henry to see her secure an independent position. To effect this Henry and "Wolsey determined to make an alliance with France, a combination which would be most dangerous to the schemes of Maximilian and Ferdinand, and would show them that England must be treated at its proper value. Accordingly, with great secrecy negotiations were opened, and it was arranged that Henry's sister Mary, a beautiful girl of seventeen, should repudiate her engagement to Charles of Burgundy, and marry Louis xii., aged fifty-two, who had lately become a widower through the death of Anne of Brittany. For the moment this alliance effected all that Henry and Wolsey expected from it ; but unluckily, at the beginning of 1515, Louis died. His successor was Francis i. of Angouleme, who married Louis' daughter Claude, the heiress of Brittany. Mary of England immediately married Henry's favourite comrade, Charles Brandon, created duke of Suffolk. She was the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey. To Wolsey Henry's gratitude knew no bounds. For his services in France he made him bishop of Tournai, and in 1514 bishop of Lincoln. Wolsey's I^ 1515 he was further promoted to be archbishop of York, Promotion. ^^^ ^^ j^^j^j ^j^g secular office of chancellor. Henry would have been glad to see Wolsey a cardinal, but Pope Leo x. objected, and it was not till 1517 that Henry found himself sufficiently influential with the pope to secure his wish, and also to have Wolsey appointed papal legate in England. This plan of paying his secular officials by clerical preferments was cheap for the king, but was most injurious to the Church ; for by making its nominal leaders into mere statesmen the whole institution tended to be demoralised, and in few of the leading bishops of this time can any traces of religious feeling be discovered. Wolsey, however, himself was far from being a mere official. So keen- sighted and practical a man as he was could not fail to be struck with Wolsey's uiauy disorders in the Church, and to see that the stir Policy. which the Renaissance was creating; in men's minds necessitated reform either from within or without. Of these the most The Monas- crying was the condition of the monasteries. Since the ^^^^^^- coming of the friars at the beginning of the thirteenth century few monasteries had been founded in England. Their number. 1516 Henry Fill. 399 however, had not diminished, and they had been growing more and more out of accord with the spirit of the age. The cessation of civil wars had deprived them of their claim to be the sole places where men of peace could live secure. The printing of manuscripts had taken the place of copying by hand. The rise of the universities had taken from them their at one time well-founded boast that they were the guardians of learning. Above all, the new learning, which was attracting the attention of scholars and directing into new channels the thoughts of Europe, had found no welcome within monastic walls. In these circumstances it was difficult to see on what general grounds the monasteries could justify their existence. They had come to be merely bodies of wealthy landed ^proprietors, reaping the harvests which their predecessors had created, and no doubt doing charitable deeds among their poorer neighbours, but in few if any cases living up to the standard of life prescribed by their early founders. Scandal, too, declared that this was not by any means the whole case against the monks ; and the condition of the smaller monasteries, as proved by an inquiry held under Henry vii. and other episcopal visitations, left much to be desired. Wolsey, however, proposed to remove the evil by a method at once practical and judicious — namely, by dissolving such of the monasteries as were shown to be disorderly, and devoting their wealth to Foundation the creation of foundations like that of William of Wyke- of Colleges, ham, consisting of a school or college in the country which sent on its best scholars to a college at the university. He himself set the example by obtaining leave to dissolve certain small and unsatisfactory founda- tions and establish a school at Ipswich and a college at Oxford, which he called Cardinal College, and which still flourishes under the name of Christ Church. It is also certain that Wolsey had at one time an idea that he might have been made pope, in which case it is possible that he might have carried out his reforms on a more extended scale ; but his scheme was never realised, for his laborious life as a diplomatist left him little time for anything else. The new king of France was as ambitious as his predecessor, and being a young man of twenty-one, he was far more energetic in carrying out his plans. At his accession he found the French entirely driven Policy of from Italy, and his first exploit was to reconquer the duchy Francis of Milan. Ferdinand and Maximilian had trusted that the Swiss, who had been hired by the duke, would have been strong enough to repel the French ; but at Marignano, in September 1515, they were completely routed by the gallantry of the French horsemen in a battle which deserves to be remembered as the last triumph of medieval chivalry. This victory 400 The Tudors 1516 gave Francis a European reputation : and the diplomacy of Europe was at once called into action to neutralise the new danger, and in this Wolsey took his full share. However, in 1516 Ferdinand died, and this event, by uniting under Charles of Burgundy Spain, the Indies, Sicily, Naples, and the Netherlands, with reversion of the duchy of Austria and of Austrian influence in Germany, created an entirely new situation. Again Wolsey found the best solution of the European problem in an alliance between England and France ; and accordingly it was arranged that Henry's only daughter Mary should marry the baby Dauphin, and that Tournai should be restored for a sum of 600,000 crowns. Scotland also was included in the peace ; and great was Wolsey's triumph when the pope, the emperor, and the king of Spain also agreed to join, so that England appeared as the negotiator of a universal peace, in which the pope and the emperor, who had long been the heads of all European combinations, appeared in a secondary position. The scheme, however well planned, did not last long, for in January 1519 the situation was again changed by the death of Maximilian, and the necessity for electing a new emperor. Three not of the unlikely candidates presented themselves. First, the Elector inperor. ^£ Saxony, who represented the idea of Germany for the Germans, but who was too weak to give the military aid necessary in defending the empire against the Turks. Second, Charles of Spain, who was already lord of the Netherlands and king of Naples and Sicily, whose elevation would be disliked both by Francis and the pope, but who had strong claims as head of the house of Austria and as an efficient aid against the Turks. Third, Francis, who, though he had no real claim, put himself forward on the plea that Germany might as well be connected with France as with the Netherlands and Spain. Between these candi- dates Wolsey wished England to be neutral, and to affect to further the cause of everybody. But the vanity of Henry viii. prompted him to become a candidate, though his chance of election was of course Election of infinitesimal. Ultimately the matter was settled by the Charles. election of Charles, who became emperor as Charles v. The emperor was elected by seven persons — the archbishops of Mainz, Koln, and Trier ;i by the Electors of Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate. These chose a king of Germany who had a right to demand coronation at the hands of the pope ; and when he had received this he was looked on as the successor of the Roman emperor of the West. Wolsey had now to deal Avith two forces, viz. Charles and Francis, 1 The French spelling of these towns is Mayence, Cologne, and Treves. 1527 Henry VIII. 4Q2 instead of with three as heretofore ; and between the two he determined on a policy of neutrality, friendly to each, but committed to neither. With this view he negotiated interviews between Henry and Neutr r each of the others. In May, Charles visited Henry informally °^ England, at Canterbury. On his departure Henry crossed to Calais, and held a conference with Francis in such formal state that the site of their interview was known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At Calais however, on the road home, he had another interview with cloth of ^^^ Charles, so that England was flattered by seeing the two ^°^'^' greatest potentates on the continent vieing with each other for the friendship of Henry. It was impossible, however, even for Wolsey's ingenuity to maintain this position long. War between Charles and Francis was inevitable, and England was soon drawn to take a part. At first, Henry's relationship to Charles, and the commercial connection between the English and the Flemings, inclined him to the side of Charles, and Wolsey had perforce to carry out his wishes. Two abortive campaigns, however, served to disillusion the English, and Wolsey was again able to return to diplomatic methods. It was during this alliance with Charles that the possibility of Wolsey being made pope seemed for a short time real. Years before, both Francis and the and Charles had sought to win his friendship by promising ^P^'^y- their influence with the cardinals. Wolsey, however, was too great a man to swerve from his duty for any such personal considerations. His primary idea was to serve Henry and England, and if he could do so more eff'ectively as pope, he was willing to do so ; but he placed himself quite in the hands of Henry, and Charles had no serious intention of securing his election. After the expedition of 1523 England withdrew from active operations ; but it was not till 1525, when Francis had been defeated and taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia, that Wolsey was able to make much progress towards a third alliance with France, which he regarded as the best policy for the country. Independently, moreover, of English interest, Wolsey thoroughly appreciated the danger of allow- ing such a sovereign as Charles v. to acquire a dominant power in Europe, and with some difficulty he persuaded Henry to agree to his views, and enter into a treaty with Francis. In 1527 Charles allowed his troops, under the renegade duke of Bourbon, to storm Eonie and imprison the pope, an act of lawlessness that shocked Europe, and confirmed Henry, who was still a pious son of the Church, in the new alliance. Wolsey, however, was perfectly aware that his policy of peace with France was a very dangerous one for himself. From the very beginning of 2 c 402 The Tudors 1527 his career he had had to face the hatred with which the old nobility had from time immemorial regarded all upstart advisers of the king. His Unpopu- policy, too, was itself distasteful to the nobility, who were larity of the strongest exponents of the ancient feeling of hostility to Peace France, and who also saw in Wolsey a check on the warlike ° ^^^' activity of the king. The late expeditions, useless and expen- sive, also had made him unpopular with the commons, for though under- taken contrary to his policy, Wolsey had to bear all the odium of trying to raise money to pay the debts incurred, and in 1523 he had given mortal offence both to the House of Commons and the citizens of London by the haughtiness of his demands. His magnificence and display, though perhaps due in his opinion to his high office, had also tended to give offence. Altogether, he was well aware that a crowd of enemies were ready to fall on him the moment the king's favour was withdrawn. It was in this state of affairs that a new problem arose calculated to try Wolsey's skill to the uttermost. Henry and Katharine had been The Divorce married eighteen years, but all their sons and daughters had Question. ^^^^ \^ infancy except Mary, a delicate girl, who, by the last treaty with France, had been affianced to the duke of Orleans. The state of the succession, therefore, gave rise to very serious apprehen- sions. If Henry died without children, the crown would go, first, to Margaret's son, James of Scotland, then a lad of thirteen, and next, to her daughter by Angus, and it was doubtful if either of these would be accepted in England without dispute. The children of his other sister, Mary, were all daughters. On the question of the succession, Henry was as apprehensive as his father had been. In 1513 he had put to death the duke of Suffolk, and in 1521 he had had the duke of Bucking- ham beheaded. The duke was the only son of that earl of Buckingham who had perished under Kichard iii., and his direct descent from Edward III., through Thomas duke of Gloucester, made him a possible claimant for the throne. The duke seems to have talked incautiously of his royal descent, and Henry instantly had him tried for treason and put to death. In 1525, at the battle of Pavia, fell Eichard, the last male representative of the de la Poles ; so that as far as claimants outside the Tudor family were concerned Henry might feel secure ; but it was impossible to doubt that if the legality of his own marriage were disputed, very difficult times would follow. At the time of his marriage, every precaution had been taken to procure a Papal Bull providing for every eventuality ; but Henry now began to profess to have doubts in his own mind. Undoubtedly his apprehensions had been excited by the deaths of his sons : but the actual cause which moved him, in 1527, was a passion he had conceived for a 1528 Henry Fill 4Q3 young lady, named Anne Boleyn, a granddaughter on the mother's side of that earl of Surrey who had defeated the Scots at Flodden, whom, as she refused to be his mistress, he determined to make his wife. With this view he broached the matter to Wolsey, who saw no other course open but to further his master's views to the best of his ability. (See page 422.) In such matters the popes had long established their authority, and of late years had granted divorces to several sovereigns for purely dynastic reasons : as, for example, to Louis xii., in order that he might marry Anne of Brittany, the widow of Charles viii. Jndthe^^ Since the ill-omened precedent of the divorce of John ^^^°'''=^- from Avice of Gloucester, England had seen no case of the kind in the royal flimily, and it was not likely that such a divorce and re-marriage could be carried out without a decided shock to the moral sense of Englishmen. In ordinary circumstances, however, it is not likely that much difficulty would have been raised by the pope ; but at the moment the raising of the question placed the pope in a position of great embarrassment. The reigning pope, Clement vii., was Giulio de Medici, nephew of Leo x., and his interests were divided between those of the papacy and those of his own family. Ever since Wolsey had adopted the system of creating alliances, into which the pope entered not as a principal but as a subordinate, the papal power had seriously diminished, and it had also been subjected to a rude shock by the preaching of Luther in Germany, which had led to a virtual schism in some districts of that country, and was spreading also to Denmark and Scandinavia. In these circumstances the pope was bound to walk warily, especially as Katharine was the aunt of the emperor, who might easily take mortal offence at any slight put upon his relative. Henry, however, was determined to push on. His passion for Anne Boleyn grew by being thwarted. Moreover, his relations with Katharine had become more strained since the negotiation of the French alliance, for she had always been an ardent supporter of her nephew Charles. Various embassies were despatched to the pope to entreat him to let the case be tried in Wolsey's legatine court, and to confirm beforehand the decision there come to ; but Clement refused to let his campeggio's hand be forced, and in 1527 sent over Cardinal Campeggio, Mission, an Italian well known to the English court, and bishop of Salisbury, to act as Wolsey's colleague. Campeggio's movements, however, were slow ; and it was not till July 1528 that the court sat, and Englishmen beheld for the first time the extraordinary spectacle of their king and queen cited by name to appear before a pair of 404 The Tudors 1528 cardinals, nominated by a pope whom of late years they had been , , learning to despise. Katharine appealed directly to Rome ; appeal to but the court overruled her plea, and was beginning to °"^^' take evidence, when Campeggio announced that, following the practice of the Roman law courts, the court would adjourn till October. This delay was more than Henry could bear, for it meant, of course, indefinite delay ; and his wrath vented itself upon Wolsey, who was in no Fall of """^y responsible for what had happened. Accordingly, in Wolsey. October 1528 Henry directed his attorney to sue for a writ of Prcemunire (see 'p-Age 268) against Wolsey, on the ground that he had violated that statute by acting as papal legate. Such an act was most unfair, for Wolsey had obtained his legatine authority by Henry's special request ; but Henry was now determined to quarrel with the pope, and struck his first blow at the papacy through the person of its legate. Wolsey well knew that he was ruined, and determined as far as possible to propitiate his master by submission. He therefore signed a document confessing his guilt in acting as legate, and declaring all his goods forfeited to the king, and himself liable to perpetual imprisonment. By this obsequiousness Henry was somewhat mollified, and Wolsey soon received assurance of pardon. His two best servants, Stephen Gardiner, who had acted as his messenger to the pope, and Thomas Cromwell, who had given Wolsey valuable if not disinterested assistance since his fall, passed into the service of the king. After his fall, Wolsey's career was not prolonged. On February 12 1530 he received a full pardon from the king, but was compelled to resign the bishopric of Winchester and the abbey of St. Albans, and to live within the archbishopric of York, at a distance from the court. There for a few months he occupied himself with his ordinary episcopal duties and with dispensing hospitality. Nevertheless it is not easy for one who had so long played a great j)art in the world's aifairs to quit the stage, and he still continued a clandestine correspondence with Francis, which he conducted through his physician, a certain Doctor Augustine, who revealed all the letters to Wolsey's enemy, the duke of Norfolk, and ,,r , , Norfolk laid the matter before the king. The result was Wolsey's ° Arrest and Wolsey's arrest on November 4, 1530 ; and he was being conveyed to London under the charge of the earl of Northumberland, when he died at Leicester Abbey on November 30. Had he lived to reach London a trial for high treason awaited him. With the fall of Wolsey, the government of England by clerics comes practically to an end. Since the institution of the office, the chancellor- 1529 Henry FIJI. 4Q5 ship had been held, with but few exceptions, by a bishop. Since 1529 it has been held by five ecclesiastics only. This change marks one of the most striking results of the revolution carried out by Henry viii. and gives a key to the meaning of one side of the Eeformation movement, namely, that it was an uprising of the laity against the over-inter- ference of the clergy in civil affairs. The new chancellor was a layman, Sir Thomas More, one of the most typical men of his time. Son of one of the judges, and born in 1478, he made the acquaintance at Oxford of Colet and Erasmus, sir Thomas and drank deeply of the critical spirit of the English ^°^^- Renaissance. Refined, witty, and humorous, he had a keen eye for detecting the abuses of the time, and holding them up to censure in a literary form. In modern times his reputation rests chiefly upon his Utopia, a Latin work consisting of two parts — the first an exposition of the evils of the time, and the second a description of an ideal common- wealth. The book illustrates the strength and weakness of More's char- acter. In the first part he showed clearly that competition and extravag- ance were at the bottom of much of the evil of the time ; in the second his proposed reformation was based upon the extirpation of both, which meant a complete revolution in human nature. To his contemporaries he also became known as an excellent lawyer, who had shown great boldness by confronting Wolsey as Speaker of the House of Commons. As a practical politician More showed to much less advantage, and a speech which he delivered at the opening of parliament, in which he attacked Wolsey, is a lasting monument of the errors in taste into which a literary man may fall when he tries to adapt his language to the standard of politics. Henry was now committed to a contest with the papacy, not, how- ever, purposely sought by him. He had two objects in view : first, to be legally married to Anne Boleyn ; second, to get a decision ^j^^ Divorce from the pope which would enable him to be so ; and when P^'^^^^^^j.'^ to his surprise the two objects became incompatible, he pursued the first at the cost of a break with the papal power. To do so was a bold step ; and it is not likely that Henry would have ventured upon it had not Wolsey taught him to regard England as a first-rate power whose importance was at least as great as the antiquated pre- tensions of the empire and the papacy. Henry, however, was well aware that in order to successfully defy the pope, he must carry the nation with him. One of his first acts, therefore, after the dismissal of Wolsey, was to summon a great council of the nobility and citizens of London, and to explain to them the reasons of his conduct with regard 406 TheTudors 1529 to the divorce. Having thus appealed to public opinion, he summoned a parliament to meet on November 3, 1529. This parliament, which in some respects may be regarded as the first modern j)arliament of England, sat, not like most of its predecessors The Reform ^^^ ^ single session of a few weeks, but for repeated sessions Parliament, extending over seven years. This tended to give it a cor- porate feeling, and it carried out by legislative means what amounted to a religious revolution. The Houses were composed as follows : for the upper the lay peers numbered about forty, the spiritual peers forty- eight, so that the laity were always liable to be outvoted by the clergy, a circumstance which had hitherto been greatly to the advantage of the king. The lower house was composed of about three hundred members, of whom seventy-four sat for counties, and the remainder for cities and boroughs, most of which were situated in the south of England ; Wales, Chester, and Durham being as yet unrepresented. The mass of the members were gentry, citizens, and lawyers, and though the methods by which they were chosen were, doubtless, by no means regular, it is un- questionable that the two houses represented between them a very fair picture of the political life of England, and of the ideas of all those classes who presumed to have a voice in the affairs of the country. In appealing to such a body as this for support in his quarrel Avith the pope, Henry knew that he had nothing t6 fear. The average English layman cared little or nothing for papal authority, and, indeed, regarded it with aversion ; while he eagerly welcomed an opportunity of attacking the clerical abuses and cutting down ecclesiastical revenues, which he would have done any time since the days of Wyclif and Chaucer, had it not been for the circumstance that the alliance between the king and the upper clergy had formed a protection for the Church. In using the word Reformation it is extremely important to realise the many-sidedness of the movement, and not to use it in too narrow a sense. Roughly speaking, the English ecclesiastical reforma- the ternf ° ^^0^ of the sixteenth century proceeded along three lines. J^eforma- (i) The Separation of the Church of England from the Church of Rome. This was mainly Henry's affair, and arose out of the divorce, and involved a reconstitution of the church government to suit the new state of affiiirs. (2) The reform of abuses in the English Church, mainly as they affected the laity, and including the dissolution of the monasteries. (3) The changes in doctrine which ultimately distinguished the reformed Church of England from the Church of Rome. Of these, during the reign of Henry viii., the first and second engrossed the attention of the nation, the third was 1529 Henry VIII. 4O7 hardly dealt with at all ; but, on the other hand, it forms the principal object of interest during the reigns of Edward vi. and Elizabeth. The Church of southern England had been connected with the Church of Rome since the landing of St. Augustine in 597, and of northern England since the Synod of Whitby in 664 : and in course n ° _ " ' v^onnection of time this connection had taken an organised form, with Rome. First, the pope was universally acknowledged as the head of the Western Church, of which the English Church was a branch. Second, there had grown up a system of appeals from the ecclesiastical courts of England to the papal court at Rome. The monks were great litigants, and although of late years the system had been disliked because it took money out of the country for no return, and had been strictly prohibited by the parliaments of Edward in. and Richard 11. in the Acts of Praemunire, the practice had still gone on. Third, a system of taxa- tion had also grown up. A hearth tax of a penny, known as Peter's Pence, had been paid almost from time immemorial ; and, since the time of Henry in., the clergy had had to pay to the pope the first year's income of all ecclesiastical preferments, and an income tax of two shillings in the pound afterwards. The income, however, had been valued once for all in 1291, and so was often below the real value of the living. Fourth, the pope had acquired for himself since 1215 a most unpopular influence in the disposal of bishoprics and other preferments, in spite of the Act of Provisors. Fifth, almost the whole of the monastic orders were directly under the authority of the pope, and owed no obedience to the bishop of the diocese. Sixth, the authority of the pope was represented by a legate, sometimes sent over for a special purpose, but usually one of the English bishops like Morton or Wolsey. All these links Henry gradually swept away, but without in the least intending to deviate from the principles of the Catholic Church. In 1528 Wolsey had been compelled to confess that he had incurred the penalties of the Act of Proemunire by accepting and exercising the legatine authority. Directly after Wolsey's death Henry ^^^^^ determined to exact from the clergy who had acknowledged enforces "•^ TIT, Prsemunire. Wolsey's authority a similar confession. Accordingly lie compelled the convocations of Canterbury and York not only to admit that their goods were forfeited to the king but that they them- ^^^ ^^^^^ selves were liable to be imprisoned at the king's pleasure, cations He then exacted from them a fine of Jl 18,000— consider- j^^^^ Henry ably over a million of our money— and compelled them l^^l^J^^^ to address him as ' supreme head of the church and clergy so far as the law of Christ would allow.' After obtaining this concession 408 The Tudors 1529 from the clergy, Henry took no further steps for some time in the direction of separation, and, indeed, continued his negotiations with the pope for several years longer. Meanwhile, parliament was engaged in reforming the discipline of the Church, and removing those abuses which pressed most heavily on the r c laity. In a petition presented to the king at the meeting Church of parliament in 1529, these had been defined as the obligation of the laity to obey the canon law, the hardships caused by ecclesiastical summonses, especially to the poor, the cost of Ecclesias- obtaining probate of wills, and excessive fees, and the pre- tical courts, sentation of minors to livings. Accordingly in the first session the fines and fees connected with the probate of wills were regulated, the practice of seizing as a ' mortuary ' the best chattel of a dead Mortuaries. -, -, , ii,i.i ii-it man, and the upmost cloth ' which covered his body, was abolished ; and, by another act, no clergyman was allowed to buy and sell for profit, or to hold more than four benefices, and these of small value. In the session of 1532, benefit of clergy was abolished for all under the rank of deacons, and the fees of the archbishop's Benefit of court of arches were reduced. Lands could no longer be clergy. saddled with the obligation of paying for masses for the dead for more than twenty years ; and at the same time the clergy were com- pelled to submit the existing canon law to a mixed commission of laymen and ecclesiastics, and to make no new canons without the king's consent. In carrying these reforms the House of Commons had been practically unanimous, but they were only agreed to with reluctance by the clerical majority in the House of Lords. During these series of reforms, the chancellorship had been held by Sir Thomas More, whose tenure of office is chiefly notable for his per- secution of the reformers. It is one of the problems of The re- ligious Re- the Reformation period how far. any connection can be formation traced between the Lollards of the fifteenth century and the begun. *' Protestants of the sixteenth ; but it is generally considered that the connection, if any, was slight, and that the origin of the English movement must be looked for in Germany. Of its leaders the most notable was William Tyndal, born in 1484, who, after studying at Oxford and Cambridge, conceived the idea of translating the New Testament, and made a proposal to do so to the bishop of London, Tunstall, Meeting no en- couragement, however, he went to the continent and joined Luther, and under his direction translated the epistles and gospels, printed 3000 copies of his work, and sent them over to England. There they seem 1532 Henry VIII. 4qq to have been received by an ' association of Christian brothers,' formed in London the same year, who distributed them and other relifrious works about the country, sowing everywhere the seeds of the Eeforma- tion. The bishops were seriously alarmed ; they disapproved of Tyndal's translation, but so long as Wolsey continued in power, no personal ill usage was inflicted on the ' Christian brothers.' Wolsey himself was not inclined to severity, and under him the most serious punishment for heresy consisted in carrying a fagot in procession, and in aiding to burn heretical books. But after his fall. Sir Thomas More took up the business of extirpating heresy with vigour, perhaps with the idea of showing that the reform of church discipline was perfectly consistent with an unflinching persecution of heresy. More, before becoming chancellor, had taken part in a controversy with some of the new thinkers, and had answered a tract called ' The Supplication of Beggars,' in which the doctrine of purgatory was ridiculed, by another called ' The Supplica- tion of Souls,' and had also engaged in disputes with Tyndal More's and other Protestants. He now brought the full force of the Persecution, law to bear upon his old antagonists, and burnings of heretics at Smith- field became numerous. For some time, however. More had been dis- satisfied with the way in which events were tending, and particularly with the proposed divorce, and in May 1532 he resigned his post as chancellor. While parliament had been reforming the abuses of the Church, and More had been burning the heretics, Henry had never ceased to negotiate with the pope on the subject of his divorce, and had brought The Divorce every means to bear to influence the papal decision in his negotiations, favour. Among these was a plan devised by Thomas Cranmer, a Cam- bridge scholar. Cranmer was the son of a Nottinghamshire gentleman, born in 1484. He had been a fellow of Jesus College, and cranmer afterwards chaplain to Lord Rochfort and tutor to Anne |jegestsan Boleyn. Chancing to meet Gardiner, bishop of Win- the Univer- chester, he suggested that the king should take the opinion of the universities. ' This man has got the right sow by the ear,' said Henry when he heard of the plan ; and commissioners were immediately sent to all the universities of Europe to obtain their opinion on the question. Whether the pope was competent to allow a man to marry his deceased brother's widow ? The opinions might have been of some value if there had been any pretence of freedom ; but as each sovereign used all his influence to control the decision of the universities under his power, they were quite valueless, and merely added to the difficulties of the situation. In this way 'the king's matter' dragged on for three 410 The Tudors 1532 years without any sign of being nearer conclusion. It had now been in agitation at least six years, and neither Henry nor England was pre- pared to wait indefinitely. Accordingly in 1532, Henry, in order to show the pope the pecuniary effect of a breach with England, allowed parlia- Suspension ™^^* *^ P^^^ ^^ ^^^ suspending the payment of annates, of Annates, firstfruits, and Peter's Pence, but giving Henry the power Firstfruits, ' . • , , r. mi • and Peter's to put the act mto Operation when he saw fit. This was the first step taken by parliament towards the separation from Rome. The same year Henry, accompanied by Anne Boleyn, paid a visit to Francis, who probably advised him to cut the diplomatic knot by marrying Anne, and leaving the pope to do his worst. This advice Henry took ; and though the actual day of the marriage is not known, it is certain that some time between November 1532 and January 1533, the marriage was privately celebrated. Fortunately for Henry, Arch- bishop Warham had died during the year, and Henry replaced him by Thomas Cranmer, on whose goodwill he could rely. Accordingly, at the Appeal to beginning of 1533, parliament passed an act abolishing Rome appeals to Rome in all questions of marriage or other sub- abolished. . ^ ^ ° . jects that came before the ecclesiastical courts. This made the archbishop's court supreme, and Cranmer was immediately directed to try the question of the legality of the king's first marriage. This was f.^ „, done at a court held at Dunstable early in 1533. Katharine Cranmer -^ declares refused to plead, and Cranmer thereupon, basing his marriage decision on the opinion of the universities, declared ^^^ ■ the marriage illegal. Henry's marriage with Anne was immediately made public, and on Whitsunday she was crowned at Westminster with the utmost magnificence. When she became queen, Anne was twenty-six years of age. Her portraits diff'er very much, but leave the impression that she was of dark complexion, with eyes of wonderful meaning and vivacity, and she had long black hair of exquisite softness. In character Anne must have been greatly wanting in refine- ment. The position she had occupied for years with regard to the late queen was most ofi'ensive, and her bearing to others besides Katharine clearly shows an insolence of behaviour which ultimately raised up bitter enemies against her. The magnificent ceremony of the coronation was well designed to enlist the feelings of the people in favour of the new queen. In September the queen bore a child, afterwards the great Elizabeth, T-,. ^ ., a-iid an Act of Succession was then passed settling the Elizabeth. ^ ° crown on the children of Henry and Anne. The Succession Act was carefully worded, so as to off'end as little as possible the friends 1532 Henry VIII. ^\\ of Queen Katharine ; but Sir Thomas More and Fisher, bishop of Kochester, refused to take an oath to abide by it, and were both sent to the Tower. The coronation of the queen, the birth of jhe Succes- Elizabeth, and the Act of Succession naturally compelled ^^°" ^'^*- the pope to act. Henry was threatened with excommunication, and probably nothing but the distracted condition of his own affairs prevented the emperor from undertaking a crusade on behalf of his aunt. All hope of reconciliation rapidly vanished, and in 1534 Henry had The Act of the Act of Supremacy passed. This Act dropped the reser- Supremacy, vations made by convocation in 1530, but at the same time declared that the king and parliament did not intend by it ' to decline or vary from the congregation of Christ's Church in any thing concerning the very articles of the Catholic faith of Christendom, and in any other things declared by Scripture, and the word of God.' After this Act the king was spoken of as ' supreme head on earth, under God, of the Church of England.' The famous Act of Supremacy brought to a close the series of measures which separated the Church of England from the Church of Eome. By the rigid enforcement of the Act of Praemunire the pope ^ ^ . . ^ Separation had been deprived, since Wolsey's fall, of his power of inter- from Rome fering in the internal affairs of the English Church ; by the ^°^'^ Act of 1532 all payments to Kome had been stopped ; in 1533 appeals had been prohibited, and the Act of 1534 completed the series. Some regulations, however, were necessary for the new order of things. The authority of the pope was divided between the king and the arch- bishop of Canterbury, and in 1535 a proclamation was issued naming Cromwell vicar-general. Meanwhile, the annates and firstfruits of the clergy were collected as usual, but the king reserved them for his own use, possibly at first with the idea of the payment being resumed, but afterwards as a regular source of income. The pope was also excluded from all voice in the election of bishops (see page 268). The election Since the beginning of the fifteenth century the wishes of of Bishops, both king and pope had guided the election, sometimes one sometimes the other being the more influential ; but henceforward the king's will alone was law, and the penalties of Frmnunire were denounced against the whole chapter unless a majority of the members voted for the king's nominee. There has never yet been an instance of refusal. In 1535 all the bishops were suspended and restored by Henry, so that the real meaning of his supremacy might be clear to everybody. As the Act of Supremacy formed the central part of one side of the Eeformation, the reception it received formed a test by whicli Henry 412 The Tudors 1532 could judge of the loyalty of his subjects. While it was under considera- tion he had taken great pains to influence public opinion. Bishops Reception of ''^^^ friars were compelled to preach the view, ' that the the Act. bishop of Kome hath no more power in England than any other foreign bishop.' Mayors and others in authority were ordered to express the same sentiments at table, and on all public occasions. A circular was even sent to the justices of the peace ordering them to see that the clergy eradicated ' the memory of the pope,' 'not coldly or feignedly.' On the whole, the reception of the Act was favourable. Indeed, it seems to have met with remarkably little opposition ; to the average Englishman it mattered little w'hether the officials of the church looked to the king or to Rome for their head, and even the bishops and abbots accepted the change for the most part without opposition. Three notable exceptions, however, demanded the attention of the government. The monks of the London Charter House, Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More were known to be hostile to thusians. the supremacy, and as they represented respectively the Fisher most pious of the monastic orders, the most upright and God-fearing of the existing prelates, and the spirit of lay culture, it Avas impossible for the government to ignore an opposition that was certain to be contagious. Fisher had been confessor to Lady Margaret, the mother of Henry vii., and had incited her to found St. John's and Christ's Colleges at Cambridge, and the Lady Margaret professorships of divinity. He was in high favour at Rome, and when the news of his arrest reached the pope, a cardinal's hat was foolishly bestowed upon him to the great indignation of Henry. Osten- sibly Fisher's only fault was his reluctance to accept the supremacy, but it is certain that he had written to the pope advising an armed invasion of England — an act of undoubted treason. In the case of all these malcontents Henry would certainly have been glad to find a means of mercy, but their firmness was inexhaustible, and eventually ten of the Charter House monks were hanged. Fisher w^as beheaded on the 22nd June 1535, and More on July 6 of the same year. In all these proceedings Henry's right-hand man had been Wolsey's old servant, Cromwell. Thomas Cromwell, the first great English Thomas Secretary of state, is believed to have been born about Cromwell. 1485^ and was the son of a smaU ironmaster at Putney. He was brought up as an attorney and an accountant, but left England in 1504, and for some time took part in the wars in Italy. After engaging in business in Antwerp he returned to England and went 1535 Henry VIII. ^23 into business in London, combining attorney's work with money- lending and speculation in wool. There he attracted the attention of Wolsey, and was appointed by him to act as collector of revenues in the diocese of York, and was also employed in the dissohition of those monasteries whose property was transferred to Cardinal College. He also made his mark in the parliament of 1523. After Wolsey's fall he attached himself to Henry, who thoroughly appreciated his ability^ and for ten years he was the most influential layman in England in everything that concerned ecclesiastical matters. Side by side with Cromwell stood Hugh Latimer, the son of a yeoman farmer of Leicestershire who fought at Blackheath. At four- teen Latimer went to Cambridge, and at nineteen became „ fellow of Clare Hall, and began his controversial life by Latimer, writing against Melanchthon. In 1520, however, he began to attack the abuses of the Church as he saw them in England, and as he was an able and fearless preacher he soon began to attract attention. The bishop of Ely tried to silence him ; but Wolsey, liking Latimer's boldness, gave him full licence to preach. After Wolsey's fall, Latimer was fortunate in securing a patron in Henry who, appreciating the humour and bold- ness of his sermons, made him his chaplain, protected him in 1532 when the bishops tried to entrap him into a confession of heresy, and in 1535 made him bishop of Worcester. The king's second marriage did not turn out well. The birth of an heir was anxiously looked for, and, unfortunately, of Anne's three children the two boys were born dead. The last died on the 29th paUofAnne of January 1535, and Henry was bitterly disai^pointed. Boleyn. Meanwhile, a strong party against Anne had been growing up ; she was disliked by the old nobility because of her insolence, and by the Spanish party as representing the alliance with France. Her friendliness to the Protestants secured her the hatred of the orthodox ; and when Queen Katharine died in January 1535, it was seriously asserted that Anne had procured her removal by poison. Suddenly, however, in April 1535, it was rumoured that she had been accused of adultery, and she and five gentlemen were arrested. Anne was tried by her peers, the gentlemen by various juries, but all were found guilty and put to death. The whole affair remains a mystery, and it is impossible to say whether Anne was guilty of the most abominable conduct, or whether she was tlie victim of a conspiracy ; it is, however, certain that Henry believed the evidence against her. Anne's tragic death only made the succession question more complicated still ; but now that she and Katharine were both dead, Henry was free to contract a marriage of undoubted legality, 414 The Tudors 1535 and accordingly within a few days he married Jane Seymour, by Jane whom in 153G he had a son, Edward. Unluckily the Seymour, queen died within a few days of his birth, and Henry remained unmarried for four years. We saw that Wolsey had appreciated the necessity of reforming the monasteries. The abolition of the papal authority in England had The Mon- brought the monks under the direct jurisdiction of the asteries. king, and probably no class resented the change which had taken place more than the religious orders, or were more willing to engage in seditious resistance. Besides this, the necessity for monastic reform had been recognised for years. Morton, Warham, and Wolsey had each carried out visitations which revealed widespread corruption, but had been unable to cope with it effectively. Accordingly, in 1535, . . Henry through Cromwell issued a commission to Legh, Ley- Commission . « ) j of inspec- ton, and Ap Eice to inspect the monasteries. The commis- sioners were young and energetic men, with few scruples, and they did their work thoroughly ; and when parliament met in 1536, their report, known as the Black Book of the Monasteries, was laid on the table of the House of Commons. As all procurable copies of this were destroyed under Queen Mary, the report itself has not come down to us ; but the letters of the commissioners have been preserved, and these, coupled with the reports of previous visitations, leave no room for doubt as to the condition of the religious houses. The larger seem as a whole to have been fairly well conducted, though, usually, their financial condition was very bad ; but some of the smaller houses were in a terrible state, and, undoubtedly, were the abodes of abominable vices. The commissioners themselves had done a good deal by way of reform ; they had allowed all monks under twenty-four, and nuns under twenty-one, who wished to leave the abbeys to do so, and they had everywhere insisted that those who remained should confine themselves to their monasteries and should obey the strict rules of their order. However, when the full report was laid before parliament, and the widespread nature of the evil appeared, the members concluded that in the case of the smaller monasteries reform was hopeless, and with the exception of about thirty abbeys, which had been reported free from stain, all the religious houses having monasteries an income less than £200 a year — to the number of 376 — were dissolved, and theii" incomes given to the king. The inmates were allowed either to migrate to a larger monastery or to go free, with a pension about equivalent to the income of an ordinary parish priest. At that date there was no idea of touching the greater monas- teries, though Stokesley, bishop of London, remarked that 'the putrified 1536 Henry VIII . 415 old oaks must soon follow.' The houses affected by this change were chiefly Benedictine, Cluniac, and Cistercian. The Friaries also were included. It was not to be expected that Henry's proceedings would fail to rouse a strong opposition. The old Spanish party, attached to Katharine and the imperial alliance, were naturally aggrieved. The ecclesi- Rise of astical changes had aroused a very bitter feeling among the opposition, lower clergy, while the dissolution of the monasteries produced a fresh crop of malcontents. The first open attempt at spreading disaft'ection was connected with the celebrated Nun of Kent. Elizabeth The Nun of Barton was a servant girl, subject to fits, who on the strength ^^"*- of some religious ravings had been made a sort of oracle and admitted into a monastery. Her prophecies had been sent to Wolsey, and she had been seriously examined, at one time or another, by Fisher and Sir Thomas More. At length it became clear that she was being used as the tool of some priests, who taught her to denounce the divorce and the separation from Kome. On being examined by Cromwell she made a confession of imposture, and she and her confederates were put to death in 1534. Throughout 1535 a large amount of intrigue was going on, connected with a proposed invasion of England by the emperor, to which no less than fifteen noblemen were said to have given their consent. The death of Katharine, in January 1536, put a stop to this ; but the spirit of disaffection was still widespread, and wanted nothing but a spark to cause a considerable conflagration. Discontent was particularly strong in the northern counties of England. In those days the difference between the England north of the Trent and south of it was so marked as to constitute them almost Discontent two diff'erent countries. The northerners, hardened by the '" *^^ "°'"*^- savage experiences of the Scottish wars and closely attached to the great baronial families, regarded the southerners with aversion, and were as ready for invasion and pillage as they had been in the Wars of the Ptoses. They had, moreover, special causes of grievance. The monasteries were much more popular in the north, where they were less out of date than in the south. Much annoyance had lately been caused by the hearing in London of suits which used to be settled in their own country. The Statute of Uses had caused serious inconvenience by practically making it impossible for landowners to make charges upon their estates for the benefit of their younger sons and daughters. To the nobles it seemed disgraceful that an upstart like Cromwell should be called to sit among the ancient barons of the realm. Lastly, the substitution of sheep-farming for agriculture, due to the great rise in the price of wool, had caused much 416 The Tudors 1536 hardship among the poorer classes by diminishing the demand for labour and by stimulating the enclosure of commons. Nobles, gentry, and com- monalty, therefore, had each their special grievance, and it was a question whether they could be brought to act in common against the government. Besides these real grievances all sorts of rumours were afloat. Cromwell's excellent plan of parish registers was represented as the design for levy- ing taxation on weddings and christenings, and it was said that no man would be allowed to eat meat in his house without paying a duty to the king. The result of all these causes of sedition was a series of outbreaks which, beginning in Lincolnshire, spread thence through Yorkshire to Cumberland, and kept the north in commotion from the beginning of October 1536 till February 1537. In Lincolnshire the outbreak was almost confined to the clergy and commons. It had no organisation ; and though at one time many thousand o tbr k ™®^ ^^^^ ^^ arms, the rebel host melted away before the in Lincoln- advance of the duke of SuflTolk. In Yorkshire it was much shire more formidable, and took the name of the Pilgrimage of Grace. The leaders were men of good family. Eobert Aske, its chief organiser, was a cousin of the earl of Cumberland, and his chief sup- Th p-i porters were Lord Darcy, an excellent soldier, and Sir John grimage of Constable, and they were supported by most of the best families of the north. Their plans were well laid, and they advanced with a picked force to Doncaster, demanding that the religious houses should be restored, that villein blood should be removed from the privy council, and that heretic bishops should be deprived and punished. There they found the river Don guarded by the duke of Norfolk, with a much inferior force. Aske, however, wished, if possible, to avoid bloodshed ; and Henry, finding it necessary to temporise, authorised Norfolk to grant a full pardon to the rebels, and to promise a parliament at York. The armies then disbanded, and Henry used all his influence to regain the goodwill of the gentry, so as to divide his opponents. Meanwhile, a new insurrection had broken out in Cumberland and West- morland, where the rebels attacked Carlisle ; and in Yorkshire the spread of the belief that, after all, the king had deceived them, caused fresh trouble. Of this Henry took advantage to arrest Aske and the other leaders. At their trial it was shown that they still had in their hands artillery which belonged to the king, and accordingly they were convicted of treason. Aske, Darcy, Constable, four abbots — those of Fountains, Jervaulx, Barlings, and Sawley — and a few of the other leaders suffered death, but except in Cumberland and Westmorland the rebels were treated with lenity. The crisis was a most severe one, 1539 Henry VII I. 4] 7 and had the rebels been supported by the emperor, or had they been able to put at their head a plausible claimant to the crown, the result might have been very different. As it was, little or nothing was effected ; no parliament was held at York, and the chief permanent result was the establishment of the council of the north, which was a com- The council mittee of the privy council, and sat for four months of the °^ *^^ north, year at York, Hull, Newcastle, and Durham for the purpose of trying cases which would otherwise have been taken to London. The president of the court acted as the king's representative in the north, and had a general responsibility for its government. The Statute of statute Uses was still nominally enforced, but in practice the court of Uses, of chancery found means to recognise the duties of trustees, and so removed the grievance complained of. The Pilgrimage of Grace, as the rebels called their movement, served rather to accelerate than retard the dissolution of the monasteries. Consciousness of treason made many of the inmates anxious to con- ciliate the king ; the irksomeness of the stricter life which the commis- sioners had enforced made their condition distasteful, and ^ ^ r ' Surrender of probably with the superior monks the liberal provision made the greater f,,. - ^ 1 •, • n A. J.- monasteries, by the kmg may have had its influence. At any rate, in 1536 the larger abbeys began, one after another, to surrender their property to the king. The first large house to surrender was Furness. Other monasteries were cajoled into making what they believed to be merely a formal surrender of their property. In some cases the property of a monastery was most tyrannically forfeited on account of the treason of the abbot ; but in one way or another, before 1539, all had put them- selves at the king's disposal. The monks were treated with great liberality. At Tewkesbury the abbot received over ^250 a year, the prior ^16, and the monks variable amounts ranging from ^13 to £6, 13s. 4d., which may be reckoned at about fifteen times the amount in modern coinage The goods and chattels of the abbeys were sold, but, except the lead, produced very little ; the lands passed into the hands of the king. The acquisition of such an enormous amount of property— for the monastic revenues were worth in our money i'6,500,000— -gave an immense opportunity. Some wished to use it for the purpose of pj^p^gai of increasing the number of bishoprics and the foundation of the Abbey 1 • j?x i- 1 lands, colleges and schools; others, for the reduction ot taxation ana the fortification of the coast. Henry, however, saw that the most practical use to make of it was to use it as a fnnd for securing a party for the Eeformation ; and the main part of the land was sold at a low price either to the neighbouring proprietors or to Henry's friends at 2d 418 The Tudor s 1539 court. Six new bishoprics were created — those of Westminster, Oxford, Chester, Gloucester, Bristol, and Peterborough ; and six great Benedic- tine monasteries were refounded as secular chapters for these sees. The old cathedral monasteries, such as Christ Church, Canterbury, were turned into secular foundations with a dean and canons. Some money was spent on the fortification of the coast. The vast majority, however, of the land passed into the hands of individuals — some of it in huge estates with which Henry and his successors rewarded the services of the Eussells, Seymours, Dudleys, Cavendishes, and Cecils, but most of it in smaller portions — so that within twenty years it was stated that forty thousand families were interested in the retention of the abbey lands. The effect of this policy was to identify the Eeformation with the material interests of an important section of the community, and to erect a most formidable barrier against any return to the old ways. The results of the dissolution of the monas- teries were many and various ; the removal of the abbots of the Dis- from the House of Lords had the effect of placing the so u ion. spiritual peers in a permanent minority, and so of increasing the relative importance of that house. The distribution of the monastic property to laymen created a set of landlords more grasping if more active than their predecessors, and increased the evils of pasturage and enclosure. At the same time, the abolition of the monasteries deprived the poor and sick of the neighbourhood of a charity to which they had grown accustomed, so aggravating an evil which had already assumed serious proportions. To the reformers, however, the fall of the monasteries appeared an unmixed blessing ; as Spenser, the Puritan poet of the century, wrote : ' The thirsty land drank up his blood, his corse ay on the strand.' Though Charles had given no assistance to the Pilgrimage of Grace, the fear of an invasion from the Netherlands had been by no means Conspiracy removed, and in 1538 the government became aware of a of the Poles. ^Qst formidable conspiracy. The centre of this movement was Eeginald Pole, the. second son of Margaret, countess of Salisbury and daughter of the duke of Clarence, who had married Sir E. Pole. Eeginald Pole had been a great favourite of Henry viii., and had received a deanery and several canonries before he was nineteen. At first he favoured the divorce, but afterwards wrote a pamphlet against it, and a Latin treatise on ecclesiastical unity; for which the pope made him a cardinal and Henry had him attainted. In 1536 Pole was sent to the Netherlands with a commission from the pope calling on Charles to invade England. The natural result of Pole's conduct was to throw 1539 Henry Fill. 419 suspicion upon his relations. His elder brother, Henry, Lord Montague, had married a daughter of Lord Abergavenny, a member of the Neville family, and was on terms of close intimacy with Henry Courtqnay, marquis of Exeter, the son of Katharine, daughter of Edward iv. The power of the marquis of Exeter in the west was as great as that of the Howards in Norfolk, or the Percies in Northumberland, and this attempt to bring together the Nevilles, the Courtenays, and the line of Edward iv., pointed to a very real danger in case of invasion. Cromwell, however, was well prepared ; Geoffrey Pole, Keginald's younger brother, turned traitor, and on his evidence the marquis of Exeter and Lord Montague were found guilty of treason and beheaded in 1539. The countess of Salisbury also was implicated and sent to the Tower, but was not tried and put to death till 1541.^ Meanwhile, as might have been expected, the ecclesiastical changes which had been made, and the religious ferment on the continent, were rapidly dividing England into two sections — those who. Religious while gladly accepting the separation from Kome, were divisions, determined to preserve the orthodox belief, and those who were prepared to go further in the direction of reform. At the head of the former party were Norfolk, Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, and Bonner, bishop of London ; while the other was led by Cranmer and Latimer. Henry was in favour of the former so far as doctrine was concerned, but agreed with the latter in pushing forward a translation of the Bible, and Translation Cromwell took much the same line. All copies of Tyndal's °^^^^ ^'^^^^ Bible had been as far as possible destroyed ; but in 1534 Cranmer per- suaded convocation to authorise a revision of it. Little progress, how- ever, was made ; so Cromwell employed Miles Coverdale, who was then residing in Germany, to make a new translation, which he completed in 1535, with the advice and approval of Tyndal. In 1536 Tyndal fell into the hands of the Inquisition and was burnt, but in 1537 John Kogers 1 THE POLES. George, Duke of Clarence, = Isabel Neville, daughter of the brother of Edward iv. , Earl of Warwick, d. 1478. d. 1477. Margaret, = Sir Kichard Pole. Edward Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, executed 1541 Earl of Warwick, executed 1499. Henry Pole, Reginald, Geoffrey. Lord Montacute, Archbishop of Canterbury, executed 1539. and Cardinal, d. 1558. 420 The Tudors 1539 put together all Tyndal's work, "whicli included the whole of the New Testament, and the Old Testament from Genesis to the Second Book of Chronicles, giving the remainder in Coverdale's translation. This he published under the assumed name of Matthew, and Cromwell persuaded the king to give it his licence. Cranmer wrote a preface for it, and in 1539 it was placed in churches as ' The Great Bible.' In the same year Henry allowed private persons to have Bibles, and new editions were quickly sold. If the translation of the Bible was a success for the reforming party, the Act of the Six Articles was a triumph for their opponents. In 1539 Act of the a new parliament met, and at once took into consideration Six Articles, ^^le condition of religious belief. The laity at this date were extremely sensitive to any imputation of heresy, and, led by the duke of Norfolk, the lords, in spite of some opposition from Cranmer and Latimer, agreed upon an Act which imposed upon the nation the belief and practice of Six Articles of Catholic doctrine, and it passed the lower house by acclamation. The Act asserted (1) truth of Transubstantiation ; (2) that communion in both kinds was not necessary ; (3) that priests might not marry ; (4) that vows of chastity ought to be observed ; (5) that private masses ought to be continued ; (6) that auricular confession must be retained. The penalty for denying the first was death ; for the rest, forfeiture of property for the first ofi'ence, death for the second. Henry had suggested that in every case a written statement of his heresy should be given to the accused before trial, and that the trial should take place in open court, but these modifications were not accepted. The passing of this Act was a great blow to the advanced party, and Latimer, the most fearless among them, at once resigned his see. There is little doubt, however, that it exactly represented the position of the average English- man who wished to see the Church of England separated from Eome, but retaining the old faith unaltered. On July 30, 1540, a Prcftestants typical execution took place. Three priests, Abel, Feather- C^thoHcs^" stone, and Powel, attainted by parliament as traitors for denying the royal supremacy, and three Protestants, Barnes, Gerard, and Jerome, also attainted by parliament for heresies ' too long to be repeated,' were dragged in pairs on hurdles to Smithfield and there put to death. Ever since the Reformation became the question of the day a division had arisen in foreign politics similar to that which had existed on religious Foreign matters. While the advanced reformers wished to connect Politics. England with the general reforming movement on the con- tinent, their opponents were desirous of holding aloof. In 1530 the German 1540 Henry Fill, 42i reformers had formed the League of Schmalkalden for mutual defence- and in 1539 it was hoped that the confederates might form an alliance with Francis. If Henry joined this, all danger of invasion by the emperor would be removed, and Cromwell strongly urged Henry to do so. The king agreed, and it was arranged that the alliance should be Anne of cemented by a marriage with Anne of Cleves, the sister of Aleves, the duke of Cleves, whose territory occupied a most important position on the lower Rhine, linking the Protestant states of Germany with France and the Netherlands. Unfortunately the negotiations for the marriage had hardly been completed when the scheme for a general alliance broke down. Nevertheless Henry determined to fulfil his en- gagement ; and, as Anne had been represented to him as a beautiful girl, he looked forward to the marriage with pleasure. However, when Anne arrived she turned out to be extraordinarily plain ; and though Henry went through the marriage ceremony, he was soon determined on a divorce. This was arranged in a way most disgraceful to the clergy ; but Anne herself seems to have readily acquiesced in the loss of her husband in return for a pension, and lived happily afterwards in England for many years. The failure of the alliance and the king's disgust with his marriage were fatal to Cromwell. For some time his power had been growing more pre- carious. By the old nobility he was detested with a hatred paii of worse than that with which they had regarded Wolsey ; and Cromwell, at the very first symptom of the king's withdrawing his favour, he was attacked on all sides. A short time before, Cromwell had asked the judges whether an act of attainder passed without the accused being heard in his own defence would be good at law ; the judges answered in the affirmative, and this opinion was now used against himself. The attack was led by the duke of Norfolk and Gardiner. It was not easy to show that he had committed treason ; but a charge that he had ex- ceeded his powers in the execution of his office was stretched to mean that he had encroached on the royal authority, and he was attainted of treason and beheaded in July 1540. Cromwell was undoubtedly an extremely able man and the first of the line of English lay states- men. During the ten years of his power he had exercised very great influence over Henry, and was rightly regarded by the old nobility as their most formidable opponent. Cromwell's sister's son, Richard WiUiams, took the name of Cromwell, and was the great-great-grand- father of the Protector. Cromwell's fall may be regarded as part of the reaction which had produced in the passing of the Six Articles. Another symptom of 422 The Tudor s 1540 it was Henry's marriage to Katharine Howard, niece of the duke of Norfolk, and daughter of Sir Edmund Howard who was killed in Katharine 1513.^ Unluckily, after two years it was indisputably Howard. proved that she had behaved badly both before and after her marriage, and she was put to death, and the king soon afterwards Katharine married Katharine Parr, widow of Lord Latimer. She ^^"- was a good and discreet person, and made Henry an ex- cellent wife during his last years. The reign of Henry saw several important changes made in the relations between different portions of the king's dominions. Hitherto Wales and the county palatine of Chester had been unrepresented in the tion of English parliament. In 1536 this distinction was abolished. ^ ^^* Twenty-four members for Wales, four for Cheshire, and three for Monmouthshire, took their seats in parliament. The lands of the lords-marcher were abolished. The old Welsh shires were enlarged, and five new shires — Denbigh, Eadnor, Montgomery, Brecon, and Mon- mouth — were established. A council similar to the Council of the North began to sit at Ludlow, under a president ; it heard appeals from the Welsh courts, and was generally responsible for the good order of the principality. In Ireland more than one rebellion occurred during the reign, but in 1536 the power of the turbulent Fitz-Geralds was broken by wholesale executions ; and, in 1542, Henry brought Ireland a step nearer to the English crown by ex- changing the title of lord for that of king of Ireland. Between the battle of Flodden and 1542 there was no open war 1 THE HOWARDS. John Howard, created Duke of Norfolk, killed at Bosworth, 1485. I Thomas, Earl of Surrey, won battle of Flodden, 1513, restored to the dukedom, 1514, d. 1514. Thomas, Duke Edmund Howard. William Howard, Elizabeth = Thomas of Norfolk, • I created Lord Howard Howard. Boleyn. d. 1554. Katharine Howard, of Effingham. m. Henry viii. , | Anne Boleyn, executed 1542. Charles, m. Henry viii., second son of Lord Howard executed 1536. j of Effingham, defeated the | Henry, Earl of Surrey, Armada, 1588, created Queen Elizabeth, beheaded 1547 Earl of Nottingham, 1590, 1558-1003. I ■ d. 1624. Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, beheaded 1572 (great-grandfather of Lord Stafford, executed in 1680), 1544 Henry VIII. 423 between England and Scotland, but the border lords kept up a perpetual strife, and every effort was made to weaken the country by promotiDg internal dissension. It might have been hoped that the young king, James v., would have been friendly to his uncle ; ^'^°^'^"^- but when he grew up he threw himself into the French alliance, and married successively Magdalen, daughter of the French king, and after- wards Mary of Guise. The result was to accentuate the border quarrels ; and, in 1542, James led an army to the border. The occasion, however, was seized by some of the Scottish nobles to show their dislike of James' favourites ; and when the English army, composed of border farmers, made its appearance at Solway Moss, the Scots fled Soiway° in disgraceful rout. This broke James' heart ; and in a ^°^^- few days he died, leaving his crown to his daughter Mary, an infant of a week old. Henry at once took advantage of this turn of Mary Queen affairs to suggest a marriage between his son Edward and °^ Scots, the young queen. The proposal was of course viewed with favour by the English party in Scotland, but was disliked by the French, whose traditional policy of playing off Scotland against England would have been destroyed by it. However, in 1543, a treaty for the marriage was completed ; but Cardinal Beaton and the French party acting in concert with Mary of Guise, threw every obstacle in the way, and finally getting the upper hand, entered upon an alliance with France. Henry, however, who was now in alliance with the emperor, took the „, War with offensive. He invaded France in person, and took the long- France and coveted town of Boulogne ; while he sent an army by sea into Scotland under his brother-in-law Edward Seymour, earl of Hert- ford, and John Dudley, Lord Lisle, son of Henry vii.'s old minister. The invaders landed at Leith and burned it and Edinburgh, but effected nothing more. This lesson destroyed for a time the power of the French party, and in 1546 Cardinal Beaton was murdered. During the later years of Henry viii., the financial difficulties of the government drove the king into a great mistake. The possessions of the monasteries had for the most part been disposed of for . political purposes at a price much below their value, and the of the money been spent at once. The expenses of the long preparation for an invasion of the southern coast had been very con- siderable, and the invasions of Scotland and France had put a further strain upon the resources of the country. In these circumstances the government fell back upon the unfortunate expedient of debasing the coinage. For many years the English coinage had maintained a high reputation ; it had been renewed by Henry ii., Henry in., Edward i., 424 The Tudors 1544 and Edward iii., and the standard set by the last monarch had been steadily maintained. The rule of the mint was that |-oz. of alloy should be mixed with every 12-oz. of silver, in order to give sufficient durability to the coin ; but in 1543 coins were issued in which the proportion was 2-oz. of alloy ; and in 1546 the proportion was 8-oz. of alloy to 12-oz. of silver. The result of this was to relieve Henry by defrauding the government creditors, but its effect on the commercial prosperity of the country was disastrous. Transactions between distant customers became impossible, for no one knew the value of the money to be paid. The good coins were hoarded or sent out of the country, and nothing re- mained but the bad ones. The social evil which followed was as serious as the commercial. Prices went up, to the distress of the wage-earning classes, while wages, which never rise so rapidly as prices, were little altered. Distress in the towns, and beggary and robbery in the country naturally followed. In religion, the last few years of Henry viii. witnessed a constant struggle between the reformers and their opponents, sometimes the one „ and sometimes the other gaining the advantage. On the Progress i i /-i t o o o of the Refor- one hand, Gardmer's party were able to enforce the Act of the Six Articles against heretics ; and in 1546, Anne Askew, a well-known lady and friend of the queen, was burnt to death. They were also able, in 1543, to have the reading of the Bible forbidden to husbandmen, artificers, and journeymen, and to all women except gentle- women. On the other hand, the reformers gained a great step in the direction of an English liturgy. Down to the Eeformation there had been no service-book in use throughout the whole country. Various forms were in use in different parts of the country, and the Uses of Sarum, Lincoln, Bangor, and Hereford were most largely employed. As early as 1536, however, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Com- mandments had been published in England along with some Articles of Belief. There, for some time, progress stopped ; but in 1544, Henry him- self prepared, and possibly translated, our present Litany for processional use, and in 1545 there was issued a service for morning and evening prayer and the burial of the dead, to be used instead of the breviary. After 1545 Henry's health rapidly deteriorated, and all parties began to intrigue for the chief power under the expected minority of Edward. Henry himself Fall of the '^^^ anxious that power should not fall into the hands of the Howards. Howards, who, as the leaders of the old nobility and of the reactionary movement against the Eeformation, might be expected to undo much of his work. The duke of Norfolk himself, though an old and faithful servant of the crown, was not likely to commit himself ; 1547 Henry Fill. 425 but his son, Henry, earl of Surrey, the accomplished poet, was a man of rash and violent temper, and was certainly plotting to secure the ascendancy of his family. Suspicion was first aroused by his moving the arms of Edward the Confessor, which he had a right to bear, to a place on his shield, which meant that he was in direct descent from the throne. Upon this, he and his father were both arrested, and sufficient evidence was found to secure their attainder. Surrey was at once Henry's beheaded, but it is uncertain what would have been Nor- Death, folk's fate, had not Henry's death occurred in 1547. The character of Henry viii. has always had a strong fascination for historians. By some he has been represented as a monster of wickedness, and the slave of his own passions ; by others as the able <. 1 . 11 i-rn 1 . r.,1 Reflections guide of his country through a most dimcult time. The on his strong point of Henry viii., like that of all men who ^^^'^ ^^' have successfully led the English nation, was that at any given time his ideas represented the exact length to which the average Englishman was prepared to go. In the reform of church discipline, in the separation from Eome, and in the dissolution of the monasteries, he was certainly not in advance of the wishes of his time. In securing a translation of the Bible, he was supplying a demand which persecution had hardly been able to keep in check ; on the other hand, when in fear of the spread of heresy he agreed to the Six Articles and the restriction of the use of the Bible, he accurately represented English fear of recklessly leaving the old paths. In the strength as well as in the weakness of his character, he was a thorough Englishman, and the middle course taken by the English Keformation as compared to its history in Germany, France, or Scotland, must be ascribed to the fact that we had in Henry viii. a king who was able to guide the move- ment in accordance with the wishes of the more sober part of the lay population. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Battle of Flodden 1513 Divorce question raised, .... Act of Supremacy passed, . . . Dissolution of the smaller Monasteries, . Incorporation of Wales Pilgrimage of Grace, Surrender of the larger Monasteries confirmed, Act of the Six Articles, . . . • Fall of Cromwell, Debasement of the Coinage, 1527 1533 1536 1536 1536 1539 1539 1540 1543 CHAPTER III EDWARD VI. : 1547-1553 Born 1537 CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES Emperor. Scotland. France. Charles v., resigned. Mary, deposed 1567. Henry ii., d. 1559. The Arrangements for the Minority — Somerset— Battle of Pinkie, and Rebellions in Devonshire and Norfolk — Ascendancy of John Dudley — The Reformation —Unpopularity of the Government— Plot to alter the Succession. Henry viii. left the crown by will to Edward, his son by Jane Seymour, and in event of Edward's death without children, to his daughters Mary and Henry Elizabeth successively. Failing their issue it was to go to VIII. 's Will. ^\^Q descendants of his sister Mary, duchess of Suffolk ; the children of Margaret of Scotland being thus omitted from the succession. Edward was only nine years old. He was to come of age at sixteen, and until then the government was to be carried on by a council of executors named in the will. Henry had chosen these with great care, excluding, as he thought, all persons of rash and violent character, and so managing that both the old faith and the new should be represented. By this means he hoped to secure the continuation of his own moderate policy Chief Coun- until his son came of age. The chief members of the council ciiiors. were Hertford, Lisle, Cranmer, and Paget, who represented the new ideas ; and Wriothesley the chancellor. Sir Anthony Browne, and Tunstall, bishop of Durham, who inclined to the old order of things. No member of the council was to have precedence over the rest, so that responsibility for its actions might rest upon the whole council. Henry's chief reliance, however, was placed upon Hertford and Paget, and he spent the last two days of his life in earnestly explaining to them his ideas for the future government of the country. 426 1547 Edward VL 427 Hardly, however, was Henry dead when Hertford and Paget set to work to upset his scheme. In spite of the chancellor, they persuaded the other executors that the good of the kingdom required a single head, and Hertford accordingly was appointed Pro- becomes tector of the realm, and governor of the king's person. The ^^°^^^*°^- executors then declared that Henry had intended to raise many of them to higher ranks in the peerage, and to give them grants of church lands. Accordingly, Hertford became duke of Somerset, and his brother, Thomas Seymour, Lord Seymour of Sudeley ; Lord Lisle, earl of Warwick ; and Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. Two months later a mistake of Wriothesley's led to his removal from the chancellorship, and then Hertford induced the king to give him a new commission as Pro- tector, not as an executor under Henry viii.'s will, but as the nominee of Edward himself. The Protector was one of the most remarkable characters of his time. He was a man of undaunted courage and some military ability, of generous disposition, aiming at the accomplishment of great things, and sympathetic towards the grievances of the poor, of the But his abilities as a statesman were by no means equal ^° ^'^ °^' to the position to which he had raised himself. He was wanting in caution, and belonged to that class of politician whom Frederick the Great described as ' always taking the second step before they took the first.' The weakness of Somerset's character was at once shown in his treat- ment of religious matters. Henry viii. had always aimed at holding the mean between the two opposing religious parties, and had „ ,. . hoped that his executors would follow out his policy when his son came of age. Somerset, on the other hand, over-estimating the ripeness of the country for change, and not understanding that what was popular in London and the seaport towns would probably not com- mend itself to the slower minds of the country districts, almost immedi- ately sent out a commission to pull down all images in churches, and to whitewash the frescoes on the walls. They also abolished the mass, and ordered the service to be said in English. In London the commissioners were well received, but it was very different in the country ; and things were made worse by the gross irreverence with which the commissioners' servants carried out the orders of their masters. They might be seen parading the country, dressed out in religious vestments ; and images and pictures, which had received the reverent worship of many generations of parishioners, were dragged down and burnt amidst unseemly revel. Nothing could have been more unwise. Hitherto, so far as the country people had been concerned, the Reformation had been merely a question 428 The Tudors 1547 of nominal changes ; but the destruction of the images and ornaments, the substitution of English for the chanted Latin services, for which this country was celebrated, brought home to the country people the reality of the change, and caused much excitement. At the same time, the government foolishly attacked the interests of the artisans of the towns. In the towns the most important institution was that of the guilds, which dated back from before the Disendow- ° ' . -, ^ r- -n t i mentofthe Conquest, and seem to have been mseparabie from Hinglish "^ ^' life. They were of many kinds : some, like the guilds merchant, were associations of leading merchants ; others, like the craft-guilds of the weavers or dyers, were more like trades unions, except that they included both the masters and the journeymen ; others were associations for common purposes, as for the cultivation of music. These guilds, besides regulating trade, performed a variety of useful functions. They acted as insurance or benefit societies, which aided members when they were sick, educated the young, helped work- men who had sufi'ered from accident, provided for the burial of the dead, pensioned widows, and paid for masses for the repose of the souls of their members. Besides this they played a large part in the social life of the people. The feast days of the guilds were festive gatherings for their members, and in many places, as at York, miracle plays and pro- cessions formed part of the day's entertainment. In Norfolk there were no less than nine hundred and nine guilds, and in the little town of Bodmin there were forty-eight. In course of time these guilds had accumulated a considerable property, on which was charged the payment for masses for the dead ; and the Protector persuaded the members of parliament, who must have been themselves unconnected with the guilds, to pass an Act confiscating their property. The London trade companies, being too powerful to be touched with impunity, were spared. In regard to Scotland Somerset pursued an equally reckless policy. Henry viii. had been well aware that the all-important marriage which had been arranged between Edward and Mary could only be Scotland. ^ * i i , • carried out at the price of much tact, and also that it was necessary at all hazards to support the English faction in Scotland. Somerset neglected both these principles. He allowed the clerical party, with the aid of the French, to capture the castle of St. Andrews, where the murderers of Cardinal Beaton were holding out, and then exasperated the whole country by an invasion. He crossed the border in August, declaring that he came to enforce the treaty of 1543, and took with him 14,000 foot, 4000 horse, and 15 guns, marching along the coast towards Edinburgh supported by his fleet. 1549 Edward VI. 429 He found the Scots, 25,000 strong, posted near Musselburgh, on the Edinburgh side of the river Esk, which here flows into the Forth almost at a right angle. The river was shallow, but the banks Battle of were so steep and rugged that it could only be crossed by ^i^^l^ie- cavalry and guns at one bridge a quarter of a mile from the mouth. Somerset encamped his men about two miles short of the bridge, and was expecting a doubtful and difficult passage of the river in face of the Scots, when the enemy, mistaking his halt for fear, determined to advance next morning and themselves attack the English camp. Accordingly at daybreak they crossed the river by the bridge, and, turning to theii right to avoid the guns of the English fleet, made their way over some marshy and arable land in the direction of Fawside Brae, a piece of rising ground about two miles from the sea. The English, however, divining their intention, were the first to seize the brae, where they planted artillery, and then charged the Scottish right wing with the English horse under Lord Grey. The impenetrable barrier of Scottish spears, however, threw the English horsemen into disorder, and Grey himself was wounded ; but the Scots, in the excitement of victory, fell into confusion. In this condition they were charged by the English foot, and so complete a rout followed that it is said that no less than 13,000 Scots were slain. The victory of Pinkie destroyed for a time the Scottish military power, but from a political point of view it was worse than useless. Even Scotsmen who were not unfavourable to the English alliance were repelled by the barbarity of the invasion. The marquis of Huntly's remark that he 'misliked not the match but he hated the manner of wooing,' spoke the general sentiment. The Scots were thrown into the arms of France, and the little queen was at once sent across the water to be brought up at Paris as the future wife of the Dauphin. Next year the Protector sent a force to occupy Haddington, which was held for some years by the English. The chief event of the session of 1549 was the issue of a new prayer- book, called the First Prayer-book of Edward vi. This was prepared by a committee of divines sitting at Windsor, of whom the best known were Cranmer and Nicolas Eidley, bishop of Prayer- Rochester. It was approved by convocation, and was then E°dwa°rd vi. laid before parliament. It received the sanction of both houses, and an Act of Uniformity was passed substituting it for the Uses and other services hitherto employed. This prayer-book was founded upon the old missal and breviary, and the work of translation was mainly done by Archbishop Cranmer. The question of the exact position of the Sacraments was long debated, and in the end was settled 430 The Tudors 1549 by a compromise which left room for some latitude of opinion, neither strictly following the views either of the old Catholics or of those who took their views from the teaching of Calvin at Geneva. This service- book was revised in 1552, 1559, 1603, and 1662 At its introduction, when it had to contend against the popularity of old-established uses, it was little liked, but the beauty of its language and its devotional tone have long endeared it to members of the Church of England. The same session of parliament had to deal with the treason of Lord Seymour of Sudeley. This man, who was a notorious evil liver, was far Lord Sey- inferior to his brother in every way. He was extremely mour's ambitious and intriguing. He first aspired to marry the Treason. 11,1-, i Princess Elizabeth, then clandestinely married Henrj^'s widow, Katharine Parr. On her death in 1548 he reverted to his former scheme, and bribed Elizabeth's attendants to influence her in his favour. Besides this, he used his influence as admiral to make friends with the pirates of the Channel ; had money coined for him at Bristol ; set on foot two cannon foundries; forged twenty-four cannons and thirteen tons of shots ; and fortified and provisioned Holt Castle. These things having come to light, their treasonable character was manifest, and Seymour was put to death by an act of attainder, ' He was a wicked man,' said Latimer, ' and the realm was well rid of him.' Trouble next arose in the West ; the new service-book was read for the first time on Whit Sunday, 1549. It created a storm of indignation ; Rising in and in one village, at any rate, the congregation compelled t e West. ^Yie priest to sing mass as usual. The malcontents soon appeared in arms, and an abortive attempt of Sir Peter Carew to put down the insurrection only added fuel to the flame. The rebels marched on Exeter, 10,000 strong, under Sir T. Pomeroy and Sir Humphrey Arundel, demanding the religious laws of Henry viii,, especially the Six Articles, the restoration of the mass and the elevation of the host, the suppression of the English version of the Bible, and the recall of Cardinal Pole. Had they marched on London at once, the situation would have been extremely serious, for insurrections had also broken out in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and other counties ; but time was wasted in an unsuccessful siege of Exeter, and in August, Lord Kussell and Lord Grey de Wilton, aided by a body of German troops whom the govern- ment had hired as a standing army, attacked them at St. Mary's Clyst, o .., r a village about four miles from Exeter. The rebels fought Battle of . ° => St. Mary's with the utmost determination, and Grey, who had led the cavalry at Pinkie, said he had never seen such steadi- ness ; but in the end the German bullets proved too much for the valour 1549 Edward VL 43 1 of the brave English peasantry, and, after a second battle at Sampford Courtenay, and the loss altogether of about 4000 men, the rebellion in Devonshire was put down. Arundel and three others were hanged at Tyburn. For his services in the west, Russell was made earl of Bedford. While this struggle had been going on in the west, another insurrec- tion had broken out in the eastern counties. Devonshire and Norfolk in those days represented almost the two extremes of Rising in English life. Norfolk was probably the richest county in Norfolk. England, with the largest number of manufactures, and a population more in sympathy with the Reformation than that of any other rural district in England. Devonshire, on the other hand, was far removed from the life and stir of the times, and clung to the old-world tradition. In Norfolk, however, the commons had grievances of their own. No county in England had been more affected by the rise of sheep-farming and the consequent evictions of yeomen tenants, enclosure of commons, and diminution in the demand for agricultural labour. The base coinage, too, had made the small wages even less remunerative than formerly, while the recent disendowment of the guilds had added a further cause of discontent. Accordingly, on July 6, at Wymondham near Norwich, a casual gathering of people resulted in an organised attack upon the enclosures, led by Robert and William Ket. The Kets were tanners of some means, and, under their guidance, the peasantry formed a camp on Household Hill, which overlooks Norwich from the north. There they built log huts, supplied themselves with provisions from the manor-houses of the neighbouring gentry, and called the gentlemen themselves before them to answer for their conduct. Their proceedings were perfectly orderly ; no blood was shed ; the new morning and evening prayers were read daily ; and sermons were preached from a solitary tree, called the Oak of Reformation, among others by Matthew Parker. Somerset was placed in a great difficulty ; he had already ex- pressed dissatisfaction with the enclosures, and appointed a commission to inquire into the subject ; he therefore hesitated to use force, and tried to persuade the rebels to go home quietly. His well-meant intentions, however, failed ; fighting began, and the council, taking the matter mto their own hands, ordered the earl of Warwick, who was on his way to Scotland, to turn his forces against the rebels. This he did ; ^^^^j^ ^^ and the peasantry, foolishly leaving the high ground, were Mousehold attacked at great disadvantage in the valley of Duffindale, and routed with the loss of 3000 men on August 27. It was said that a silly prophecy, ' The country gruffs, Hob, Dick, and Hick, with clubs 432 The Tudors 1549 and clouted shoon, shall fill up Duffindale with blood of slaughtered bodies soon,' lured them to their destruction. The two Kets were hanged, the rest were not treated with severity. Other smaller move- ments took place in the other eastern counties, and the widespread cry of ' Kill the gentlemen ! ' showed what an exceedingly dangerous spirit of class hatred had been aroused by the new landowners. For this state of things the gentry and nobility threw the blame on Somerset ; and there could be no doubt that his rule had been a failure. The French kings had been allowed, little by little, to make Unpopu- ^ 11 larity of thcmselvcs mastcrs of the environs of Boulogne, so that the port was only held with exceeding difficulty and expense. The alliance with the emperor, so important in any war with France, had been endangered, and war with France was now imminent. The finances of the country were in complete disorder ; from the highest to the lowest, the officials were tainted with the vice of peculation. There had been more rioting and rebellion in the last six months than in the whole reign of Henry viii. ; nothing seemed to succeed under the Pro- tector's rule. The other councillors therefore determined to take their stand upon the literal meaning of Henry viii.'s will, and to oust Somerset from his office of Protector. The process was by no means easy. The councillors, led by Warwick, assembled in London, and drew up a remonstrance ; but Somerset had Fall of the king with him at Hampton Court, and when he heard Somerset. q£ their design he issued a proclamation, calling upon the commons to come to his defence, and sent for Kussell from the west to defend the person of the king. The councillors, however, held to their course, and sent letters over the country explaining their position. Their steadiness seems to have unnerved Somerset. He hurried the king, in a wild midnight ride, to Windsor, and there made a complete submission. He was conveyed to the Tower, and signed a series of charges against himself, based upon the failure of his policy. He was then treated with clemency, and in April next year was restored to his position in the council. After Somerset's fall, no new Protector was appointed, but the chief influence in the council fell into the hands of Warwick. John Dudley, Rise of earl of Warwick, was the son of the old minister of Warwick, jje^j-y yjj^ jjg j^g^fj i^een largely employed under Henry VIII., had distinguished himself both as a soldier and as a diplomatist, and had been raised to the peerage in 1542 as Viscount Lisle. In 1544, and again in 1547, he had acted as second in command to Somerset in Scotland, and had maintained his previous character for efficiency. His 1551 Edward VL 433 recent victory over the Norfolk insurgents, and the adroitness with which he had carried out the change of government, had made him the most conspicuous man in the state. Warwick was one of those men of the Napoleonic type who always come to the front in revolutionary times ; ambitious, able, unscrupulous, indifferent to religious beliefs, singularly cool and calculating, he devoted his entire attention to the advancement of himself and his family, ^ The immediate concern of the council was to remove the ill effects of Somerset's government. Careless, however, of everything but their own selfish interests, they attempted to provide for the debt poiicy of by borrowing more money, and by coining large sums of *^^ Council, debased metal. They also attempted to check a sudden rise in prices, owing to a deficient harvest, by fixing a maximum price at which corn should be sold — a measure which created so much exasperation among the farming classes that it had to be withdrawn immediately, for fear of an insurrection. A more reasonable action was to make peace with France, which was done at the price of giving up Boulogne. In religious matters the fall of the Protector made a new starting- point in the Eeformation. Warwick was probably aware that a reaction towards the policy of Henry viii. would have „ ,. . ^ *^ '' . , Religion. been popular, but he could hardly attempt this without releasing the duke of Norfolk and Gardiner ; and he saw clearly that a restoration of the old nobility to power would be fatal to his own pretentions ; he therefore supported the Eeformation. Accordingly, Bonner, Gardiner, and other bishops of the old faith were deprived, and their places taken by such men as Eidley, bishop of London, and Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, and Miles Coverdale, bishop of Exeter. All three were strong Protestants, and Hooper was with difficulty GENEALOGY OF THE DUDLEYS AND THE SIDNEYS. Edmund Dudley (minister of Henry vii.) executed 1509. John Dudley (Viscount Lisle, 1542 ; Earl of Warwick, 1547), created Duke of Northumberland, 1551, executed 1553. Earl of Warwick, Eobert Dudley, Guildford Dudley Mary, m.bir executed 1553. younger son, (m. Lady Jane Henry bidney, created Earl of Grey), executed Lord- Deputy of Leicester, 1563. 1554. Ireland, d. 158b. Sir Philip Sidney, d. 1586, Robert Sidney, created Earl of m. Frances, daughter of Leicester, 1618.^ (Grandfather of ■non Sianey, who executed 1683). m. Frances, daughter of , r. . - i Sir F. Walsingham. Algernon Sianey who was 2 E 434 The Tudors 1552 induced to wear the Episcopal robes. At the same time, there was no cessation in the prosecution of heretics whose views were more advanced than those of the men in authority. In 1550 Joan Boucher was burnt for heretical views as to the Incarnation ; and in 1551 George van Paris, a Dutch Anabaptist, suffered the same fate. The responsibility for these executions lies mainly with Cranmer, who with great difficulty persuaded Edward to give his consent. Meanwhile, the council were much puzzled as to what should be done about the Princess Mary, who still adhered to the use of the mass. She was ordered to desist but stood firm ; and, the emperor Charles having interested himself in her favour, the council, fearful that he might ally himself with France against England, with- drew their prohibition of its use in her household. Meanwhile, Somerset had been regaining a good deal of his influence. His personal character gave him an immense advantage over his rival, Death of and his genuine attachment to Protestantism gained him omerset. ^j^g affectionate support of the earnest believers in the new faith. In the autumn of 1551 it seemed quite possible that a reaction in his favour might again drive Warwick from power, and both states- men were undoubtedly plotting against one another. Warwick, how- ever, was the more astute, and, taking advantage of information he possessed as to Somerset's schemes, he had him suddenly arrested on a charge of treason. Eventually, however, the charge of treason was dropped, but Somerset was found guilty of a murderous conspiracy against his rival, and was beheaded in January 1552. The scene at his execution proved his extraordinary popularity, and those near the scaffold dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood to keep them as relics ; but Edward coolly noted in his journal, ' the duke of Somerset had his head cut off, upon Tower Hill, between eight and nine o'clock in the morning.' From that day forward Warwick, who shortly before had been made duke of Northumberland, became thoroughly detested. In 1552 there was an important session of parliament ; in which was sanctioned a revised version of the Prayer-book, commonly called the Second prayer-book of Edward vi. The new work was Prayer- a drastic revision of the old ; and the changes made, especi- Edward VI ^^^^ ^^ regard to the Sacrament, being in the Protestant direction, made it less easy for those who believed in Transubstantiation to accept it. With the new prayer-book were pub- lished an ordinal abolishing some ceremonies and vestments hitherto Treason allowed, forty-two articles of religion, a set of homilies, Trials. ^nd a catecliism for the instruction of the young. An act was also passed regulating trials for treason, by which it was enacted 1552 Edward VI. 435 that in future no one should be convicted except on the evidence of two witnesses at least. Another series of acts dealt with the economic difficulties of the time. The abolition of villeinage and the virtual separation of the labourer from the soil had created a class of labourers who n^-u r-, 1 ne Unem- were wholly dependent for their livelihood upon the sale of ployed. their labour. If they could not sell it they had nothing to fall back upon, and although it had been assumed that there was work for everybody who wanted it, experience showed that this was not true, c-- . r^ r irst Poor Statesmen, in fact, were confronted in the sixteenth century, Law. for the first time, with the problem of the ' unemployed.' They met it by a Poor Law enacting that in each parish a systematic collection was to be made for the poor, and by appointing a commission to see what could be done for the revival of agriculture. On the other hand, us they neglected a practical scheme which was offered to them forbidden. for making dyeing a great English industry, and renewed the old laws against usury, which was declared to be ' odious and detestable.' Nothing could be better calculated to bring about a reaction against the Reformation than the conduct of Northumberland and his friends. Under the new order o€ things everything seemed to be going from bad to worse. In old time the immorality of against the the clergy had been a grave cause of complaint ; but the ^ ormation. Reformation, by concentrating men's religious thoughts on points of belief only, had as usual led to neglect of conduct, and now there was complaint of a general relaxation of manners. In the old days, before the disendowment of the guilds, some means had been taken to ensure the quality of goods ; now, there was complaint on all hands of adultera- tion and bad work, and, to the disgrace of the country, English merchan- dise had been exposed at Antwerp and Venice as of fraudulent manufacture. Before the fall of the monasteries there had been less talk of the rapacity of the landowners, and of the new proprietors who regarded the life of a man less than that of a sheep. In the old days government had contrived to live on its own ; now the country was deeply in debt, and that in spite of the confiscation of vast quantities of church property, the sale of the church bells, of the lead from their roofs, even of the copes and surplices of the clergy. For all these things, the Reformation tended to get the blame ; and men looked back with regret to the time of Henry viii., who, though stern and harsh to his opponents, had always been in sympathy with the general body of his subjects. Much was hoped from Edward's rule. Though delicate, he was a pre- cocious lad, and some of his written papers show a marvellous insight 436 The Tudors 1552 into the real state of affairs. He was now fifteen years old ; he was to come of age at sixteen, and it was hoped that when he could take the Edward's I'^ins into his own hands an immense improvement would Character, -^e made. Already he had done something to cut down the expenses of the royal household, and had formed a scheme for gradually paying off his debts. Unluckily, in the spring of 1552, Edward began to ' show unmistakable signs of failing health. As early as the night ride to Windsor in 1551, he had been troubled with a cough which he seemed unable to shake off, and he now grew rapidly worse. His condition filled Northumberland with alarm ; according to Henry viii.'s will, made with the full sanction of parliament, he was to be succeeded by the Princess Mary — and the duke could have no doubt that in Northum- . . . , beriand's that event his own rum was certam. He thereiore devised °^' an ingenious plan to set aside the succession. After Mary and Elizabeth the crown was to go to the duchess of Suffolk, and then to her daughters Jane and Katharine Grey. Northumberland, therefore, arranged a marriage between Lady Jane and his son Lord Guildford Dudley, and between Katharine Grey and Lord Herbert, the eldest son of his friend the earl of Pembroke. Edward throughout his life had shown himself an ardent Protestant, and the celebrated John Knox and Grindal, afterwards the Puritan archbishop of Canterbury, were among his chaplains. On this Northumberland worked, and persuaded him that, in the interests of Protestantism, Mary must be set aside, nominally on the plea of her illegitimate birth. The same rule applied to Eliza- beth. He then induced Edward, without parliamentary authority, to make an illegal will, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane and her heirs, afterwards to her sister, and then to the heirs of Margaret, daughter of Margaret Tudor, who had married the earl of Lennox. The judges plainly pointed out to Edward the illegality of what he was doing, but the boy persisted, and the will was accepted under compulsion by most of the leading men. After this Edward rapidly grew worse, and on July 6, 1553 he died in his sixteenth year. CHAPTER IV MARY: 1553-1558 Born 1516 ; married 1554, Philip of Spain. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. Scotland. France. Spain. Mary, deposed 1567. Henry ii. , d. 1559. Charles i,, resigned 1556. Philip II., d. 1598. Emperor. Charles v., d. 1558. The Accession — The Spanish Match — Gradual Repeal of the Ecclesiastical Legis- lation passed since 1529 — Persecution of the Protestants — War with France and Loss of Calais — Unpopularity of the Government. Northumberland had made every preparation to keep Edward's death concealed until Mary had been arrested, but a friend conveyed instant intelligence of it to Hunsdon in Hertfordshire whore she Mary eludes was residing. Edward died between eight and nine o'clock Northum- ® , ^ berland. on July 7, and before the next morning Mary was on her way to Kenninghall in Norfolk, a castle belonging to the Howards. Norfolk himself, the head of the family, was in the Tower, but the others were keenly in her favour ; and Norfolk was a good place, either for a long resistance or for flight to the continent in case it became neces- sary. Everywhere on her road Mary declared herself queen, and called upon all loyal Englishmen to come to her assistance. Meanwhile, Lord Eobert Dudley, afterwards the famous earl of Leicester, had been despatched by his father to Hunsdon to arrest her. He found the bird flown, and it then appeared what a fatal mistake Northumber- land had made in not effecting Mary's arrest sooner. Concealment being no longer possible, Northumberland gathered the council, announced Edward's death, and made preparations for the accession of Lady Jane. On the 9th she was accepted as Lady jfane queen by the lords of his party, and on the 10th took up proclaimed, her residence in the Tower. The same day she was formally proclaimed 437 438 The Tudors 1553 in the city. The people listened respectfully, but made no demonstra- tion in her favour ; and one lad, Gilbert Potter, boldly exclaimed, 'the Lady Mary has the better title ! ' Jane herself, who from the accounts retained of her and from her own letters, must have been of a most beauti- ful character, combining sincere piety with a learning and wisdom far beyond her years, took little pleasure in her new dignity, but showed Northumberland that she was likely to be no puppet in his hands by declining to have her husband Lord Guildford Dudlej^ crowned with her. ' That,' she said, ' could not be done without an act of parliament.' From the country the most serious reports were hourly reaching Northumberland ; his sons, Lord Warwick and Lord Robert, had caught up Mary's escort, but their own followers had refused to ness of ^^ fight. Noblemen and gentlemen were flocking into Norfolk "J^!!L^ from all sides, and the earl of Derby was said to have raised 20,000 Cheshire men to fight for the rightful queen. The fact was, that, as the case presented itself to all but a small clique, Mary's claim was unanswerable. She was the rightful heir, according to a will made by the authority of an act of parliament, and never set aside. Nothing was known of her character but good ; she had won respect by the determined stand she had made on behalf of her own religion, and pity by the long course of ill usage to which she had been subjected. Her accession might be expected to restore the good times of Henry viii., and to produce such a religious settlement, based upon his j)olicy of separation from Rome but adherence to Catholic doctrine, as the majority of Englishmen undoubtedly desired. Jane's success, on the other hand, meant the continuance in power of Northumberland and his creatures, who were identified in the popular mind with all the mistakes and corruption of the last reign. In these circumstances, there- fore, Jane had no chance. To defeat the forces who were gathering round Mary and to seize her person was Northumberland's one chance, and he therefore hired troops by lavish promises of pay, and set out for Norfolk ; while Northimi° ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ sent round to Yarmouth. But the ranks of bedand's Northumberland's army had been deliberately filled by the servants and dependents of his bitterest enemies, who were prepared to turn upon him at the first favourable moment, while, im- mediately on their arrival at Yarmouth, the sailors declared for Queen Mary, No sooner had Northumberland left London than the lords of his own party headed by Lord Pembroke, the father-in-law of Katharine Grey, declared for Mary, and the news reached Northumberland when a few miles beyond Cambridge. Seeing that the game was up, he 1553 Mary 439 retraced his steps, and on July 20 himself proclaimed Mary at Cambridge. Next day he was arrested by Mary's orders, and with his son the earl of Warwick, and a few others, sent to the Tower. On the 3rd August Mary entered London, riding side by side with the Princess Elizabeth, and her first act was to release from the Tower Norfolk, Gardiner, and Edward Courtenay, son of the marquis of Exeter, who had been executed in 1539. Northumberland could expect no mercy. He was executed at once, and did infinite harm to the cause of the Eeformation by a declaration that his Protestantism had been all along a sham. Trial of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were also sent Lady jane, the Tower, and in November were tried and convicted of treason, but Mary had no intention at this date of jDutting their sentences into execution. At her accession Mary was thirty-six years of age, with a face which, though stern, was not without beauty when animated ; and from her picture she must have been extremely like her great-grandmother Margaret Beaufort, from whom perhaps she inherited the strength of her religious convictions. Now that people could show their minds freely, it was clear that Mary's accession was cordially ac- Mary's cepted by all but a small group of reformers, but her very position, success was in itself a danger. The English people had accepted Mary as offering the best chance of securing a certain kind of government, rather than from any real knowledge of her character, of which they knew only the best side. She would certainly endanger her j)opularity either by a foreign marriage, or by any attempt to bring back the country into communion with Eome. Unluckily for her, these were precisely the points on which her mind was already made up ; and when she thought any course to be dictated by the interests of religion she had no hesitation in carrying it through, irrespective of policy. The ablest adviser in her council was Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, Wolsey's old pupil, who became lord chancellor. He was thoroughly English in his sympathies, and, though he wished Stephen to go back to the religious policy of Henry viii., had no Gardiner, desire to re-establish the authority of the pope. Instead, however, of listening to his advice, Mary put herself completely in the hands of Kenard, the imperial ambassador, whose one wish was to ^^^^^^ promote the interests of his master. She also opened a secret negotiation with the pope and with her enthusiastic cousin, Cardinal Pole, who was appointed papal legate, and who wished to come to Eng- land at once. Neither Eenard, Pole, nor Mary really understood the English people, and consequently from the very first Mary's popularity began to diminish. 440 The Tudors 1553 The first question raised was that of the queen's marriage. Gardiner, and practically the whole English nation, wished that she should marry Edward Courtenay, who had been created earl of Devon, and Marriage who was the last representative of the Yorkist line ; and an Question, alliance with him would therefore have strengthened the dynasty, while it would have produced no complication with foreign powers. Mary, on the other hand, had made up her mind to marry Philip, the eldest son of the emperor, and received every encouragement from Renard. He also did all in his power to set her against her sister Elizabeth, and to incite her to the execution of Lady Jane Grey and her husband. Mary herself was quite infatuated upon the subject, and imagined herself deeply enamoured of Philip, whom she had never seen. Nothing could exceed the unpopularity of the match in England, The only thing to be said in its favour was that as the Queen of Scots was married to the Dauphin, England ought to strengthen herself by a connection with Spain ; but this seemed nothing compared to the danger of becoming a mere dependency of the Spanish monarchy, like Naples or the Netherlands, which most Englishmen fully expected. However, the Protestants and the Catholics could not agree to make common cause against it, and the result was that Mary carried the consent of the council by surprise. Nevertheless in drawing up the marriage articles, Charles v. was careful to allow fully for English susceptibilities. He re- served to Mary the sole administration of English afi'airs and Marriage of English revenues, and as Spain would go to Don Carlos, Contract. phUip's child by his first wife, he promised Burgundy and the Low Countries to the children of the English marriage. The council also stipulated that no foreigner should have any command in the army or the fleet, and that England should not be involved, directly or in- directly, in the war between France and the empire. The arrangements were concluded before the close of the year, and it was intended that the marriage should take place before Lent 1554, when an outburst of insurrection in England caused it to be postponed. The leaders of the insurrection were the duke of Suffolk, Courtenay, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Peter Carew, and other persons who had been Wyatt's friends of the duke of Northumberland. Nominally their Rebellion, insurrection was directed against the Spanish marriage ; but had they succeeded, Mary would in all probability have been dethroned and Elizabeth set in her place. The insurrection proved a failure. Cour- tenay was questioned before the council and confined ; Carew was arrested in Devonshire ; and Suffolk found that his connection with Northumber- land prevented the midland counties from rising in his favour. Sir 1554 Mary 44 1 Thomas Wyatt, however, got together a considerable following in Kent, and being joined at Eochester by a body of Londoners whom the earl of Norfolk had led against him, made his way to Suffolk. Had he been able to cross London Bridge, matters would have been very serious, for Mary's rule was more unpopular in the city than anywhere else. She herself, however, with masculine courage, rode to the Guildhall, and promising that she would not marry till the project had been considered by parliament, succeeded in enlisting the goodwill of the citizens. London Bridge, therefore, was held against Wyatt, and there was nothing for it but to march up the river to the next bridge at Kingston, and cross there. This he did ; but his followers melted away, and though Wyatt himself, whom the citizen-soldiers seemed unwilling to slay, made his way to the city, he was there arrested. This foolish and ill-managed insurrection was not only ruinous to the cause of those who wished to prevent the marriage, but fatal to the friends of those who were concerned in it. Eenard seized upon the oppor- tunity to win Mary's consent to the execution of the Death of innocent Lady Jane, and she was put to death with her Lady Jane, husband on February 12 ; while Gardiner, flying at higher game still, spared no effort to implicate Elizabeth, who was sent to the Tower. To get evidence against her of complicity in the rebellion. Danger of threats and promises were used to the condemned insurgents. Elizabeth. Fortunately, however, these failed ; and Wyatt on the scaffold declared that she had had nothing whatever to do with the movement. Suffolk was beheaded. Courtenay was imprisoned for some time, but ultimately was released. He died unmarried at Venice in 1566. The other in- surgents were hanged in scores. After Elizabeth had been kept in the Tower till May 19, she was sent to Woodstock. The marriage arrange- ments now went on without opposition. In April parliament met and confirmed the marriage treaty ; and in July Philip arrived, and the marriage took place on July 25. At his marriage marries with Mary, Philip was twenty-seven years of age ; he was ^ ^^" short, but well proportioned, with a broad forehead, grey eyes, and a flaxen pointed beard, which added length to a face already long by nature. His disposition was cold, and his capacity was of a very moderate phiiip's order. In religion he was a bigoted Catholic, but was not Character, prepared to allow his religious convictions to interfere either with his poli- tical schemes or his private life. He regarded his marriage as one of purely political expediency, designed as a set-off to that between the Dauphm and Mary Queen of Scots. If he could acquire real power in England, he was prepared to stay ; if not, he would go home as soon as possible. 442 The Tudois 1554 It is now time to turn to ecclesiastical matters. On Mary's accession a reaction was so certain that most of the foreign clergy, and a great Ecclesiasti- many of the English divines who had taken a prominent cai Affairs, -^.^xt during the last reign — among others, Peter Martyr and John Knox — immediately left the country. Others like Cranmer, Latimer, and Eidley, remained at their posts, and Cranmer issued a bold letter in which he declared his adherence to the new views. It was soon seen how far the measures of Edward vi.'s councillors had been in The Mass advance of popular opinion. Without any orders at all, the restored. mass was practically restored, each congregation acting for itself in this matter. When parliament met in October it repealed the Ecciesias- religious acts of the parliaments of Edward vi., and restored ticai legisla- ' Such divine service and administration of the sacraments tion of ,,._,-.-- Edward VI. as were most commonly used m England in the last year of repealed. j^-^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ , Meanwhile, the reforming bishops had been deprived of their sees, and their places taken either by their old occupants, such as Gardiner at Winchester, and Bonner at London, or by new men whom the govern- ment could trust. Thus strengthened in the House of Lords, Gardiner, in April 1554, introduced bills to restore the Six Articles, the statutes against Lollardy, and the episcopal jurisdiction permitted in the reign of Henry viii. ; but Lord Paget, the old and trusted minister of Henry VIII., successfully opposed their passing. In October a new parliament met. Great pains had been taken to influence the elections, and the result was shown in a House of Commons more friendly to Mary than any of her parliaments. By this time Mary ventured to bring back Cardinal Pole as papal legate, and in November he landed in England. In spite, however, of the members' goodwill to the govern- ment, they made the most stringent bargain with Pole, and insisted upon having the whole of it recorded in an act of parliament. On the one hand, they confessed the sin of which they had been guilty Ecciesias- ^^ separating from Rome, and begged to be again received ticai legisla- into favour, and repealed most of the ecclesiastical legislation Henry VIII. of Henry VIII. On the other hand, they insisted that the repea e . pope should in the fullest manner guarantee the possession of the abbey and other church lands to their present possessors. Similarly they bargained that the restoration of the church courts and of the Lollard statutes of Henry iv, and Henry v. should be bought at the price of the clergy declaring that they had no right to the Statutes lands they had lost ; and they retained in full force the old Statute of Praemunire, and the other anti-papal legislation 1555 Mary 443 which dated earlier than 1529. Also in repealing Henry viii.'s leo-isla- tion they were careful to say, in respect of the acts of succes- sion on which Elizabeth's title depended, that they repealed title^^^^^ ^ so much only as affected the see of Rome. In this way a P^^^^^^^^- formal reconciliation was effected, and Pole withdrew the interdict. By the end of the year it was announced that Mary was about to have a child. Provision was therefore made for a regency in case of her death ; but parliament, in assigning the post to Philip, An heir enacted that the marriage articles should in that case ^^P^cted. remain in full force during his term of office. The birth of Mary's child was looked forward to by the English and Spanish courts with the utmost enthusiasm : a boy was confidently predicted, and every prepara- tion was made for the celebration of so auspicious an event. Parliament was dissolved on January 16, and within a fortnight the work of burning the Protestants began. The actual initiative was taken by Gardiner, who, it is not improbable, expected that the Persecution terror of the flames would produce recantations similar to ^^S""- that made by Northumberland, and do great discredit to the Protestant cause. But there is little doubt that the real inspirer of the persecution was Mary herself, and after her, Pole. The first victims were selected with care. Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, had been conspicuous for his devotion as a prelate ; and Rogers, canon of St. Paul's, was well known as a translator of the Bible ; both were burnt early in February, and before the end of March Ferrar, the well-meaning bishop of St. David's, and thirteen other persons of less note, also suffered. Of seventeen who had been brought to trial, only one recanted ; the constancy of the others was received by the spectators with admiring reverence ; and it was soon evident to unprejudiced spectators like Renardthat the govern- ment was defeating its own ends. Mary's child was expected at the beginning of May, but it did not come ; and Mary in a passion of disappointment, hoping to propitiate heaven, sent a letter to the bishops to enjoin greater activity in persecution, and in three months fifty more victims were jng from an sent to the stake. Before the end of summer it was evident ^^sease. ^ to everybody that the unfortunate queen had been deceived by the symptoms of an incurable disease, and that not only would she never have a child, but that her own life could not be much prolonged. In August a further blow fell upon her. Charles v. had long been contemplating resignation, and wanted his son at home. Philip, therefore, gladly made this an excuse to leave England. In leaving he strongly urged upon the queen the policy of keeping on good terms with 444 The Tudors 1555 Elizabeth, whose future accession might now be regarded as certain. In November Mary lost her best English adviser, Gardiner, the last of the statesmen whom Wolsey had trained, and after his death she seems to have acted almost entirely by the advice of Pole. Hitherto the only bishops who had been put to death were Hooper and Ferrar ; Coverdale had been released at the intercession of the Further king of Denmark ; and most of the other deposed bishops, Persecution, though married men, had not been remarkable for strong heretical views. Cranmer, Eidley, and Latimer, however, were left ; and in September 1555 they were brought up for trial at Oxford. The point upon which stress was laid was their belief with regard to tran- substantiation ; and upon this all three were condemned as heretical. Cranmer's case, as an archbishop, was reserved for the consideration of , the pope. Latimer and Ridley were burnt together at Latimer and - , /^ , t-. i • t i i ^ Ridley Oxford on October 16. Both perished at the same stake ; and Latimer's last words to his companion were : ' Play the man, brother Ridley ; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.' In February authority arrived from Rome for dealing with Cranmer, and on February 14, 1556 he was formally divested of his archiepiscopal robes. On this occasion Cranmer put forward an appeal to a general council. Those wishful to spare him, founded upon this act a hope of recantation. Every effort was, therefore, made to play upon his natural clinging to life. To this he yielded, and signed a series of submissions, finally describing himself as the real cause of all the ills that had taken place. Nevertheless Mary and Pole were determined that he should die ; but hoping for a public recantation, which would have been an even greater scandal to Protestantism than that of Northumberland, arranged that he should profess his views publicly in St. Mary's Church at Oxford. But when the time came to speak the archbishop recovered his nerve, with- drew all his recantations, and boldly declared that he would die a Pro- testant. ' As for the pope I utterly refuse him, as the church's enemy and anti-Christ, with all his false doctrine : and as for the sacraments, I believe, as I have taught in my book against the bishop of Winchester.' Furious with disappointment, his persecutors at once hurried him to the stake, where he showed his constancy to the last by Cranmer ' -^ '' burnt, thrusting into the flame the right hand — 'that unworthy IVIsrch '^i. hand' — with which he had signed his recantations. He was immediately succeeded as archbishop by Pole. After Cranmer's death the persecution of meaner victims went on as before ; but it is very remark- able that among all the laity put to death there was no one of distinction. 1557 Mary 445 Indeed, of the whole total of two hundred and seventy-seven, not more than a dozen could be described as in any way notable. For the most part, indeed, the persecutors shut their eyes to the heresy of the powerful, and laid their hands only on the defenceless. Equally noteworthy is the small area in which persecution was carried out. In the diocese of London, Bonner burnt one hundred and twenty-eight ; in that of Canterbury, Pole was responsible for fifty-five ; in Norwich, Hopton for forty-six ; and all the other dioceses together only contributed about fifty. Gardiner seems to have taken no part after he found that persecution would not produce recantation. As a statesman he probably recognised that persecution was defeating its own ends, and that by showing that Pro- testantism was a faith for which martyrs would die, Mary and her advisers were doing it the best of services. It must not be supposed that Mary's proceedings were not viewed with profound disgust by the mass of the nation. To move, how- ever, was extremely difficult. Had English politics been Popular isolated from those of the continent, a national rising would '^^^'"S- certainly have dethroned Mary and placed Elizabeth on the throne. But it was well known that Philip was watching for any excuse to throw Spanish troops into England. In that case it would have been almost necessary to have recourse to France ; and no prudent Englishman could wish to see a French army on English soil supporting Elizabeth, con- fronted by a Spanish force fighting for Mary. In these circumstances the wisest Englishmen decided to bide their time. Mary's life could not be prolonged, and they determined to wait till Elizabeth succeeded in natural course. This prudent resolve, however, was not respected by a number of young Englishmen, some of whom in 1556 Abortive < formed a plan to land French troops in the Isle of Wight ; "^^s^^s^- and Thomas Stafi'ord, grandson of the last duke of Buckingham, sailed from France and seized Scarborough Castle in April 1557, but was immediately taken prisoner and put to death. These ill-judged schemes were only serious because they supplied Philip with an excuse for urging Mary to declare war against France ; and accordinglv in the summer of 1557 he paid a short visit war against France to England, during which he induced her to declare war. For such an undertaking the country was wholly unprepared. Mary had been spending the income of the crown on the restoration of abbeys and churches, while the ships and fortifications had been falling to ruin. The government was extremely unpopular ; money could only be collected by forced loans and by levying illegal customs duties ; the few councillors who still attended were for the most part as incompetent and 446 The Tudors 1557 as fanatical as Mary herself, and nothing but disaster could be expected. The war, however, opened with a slight gleam of success. An English contingent was sent to the Netherlands, and though it did not arrive in time to take part in Philip's great victory at St, Quentin, it took its share in the storm and sack of the town itself. Philip's hesitation, however, prevented him from following up his victory ; and the French were able to recall the duke of Guise from Italy, and to make pre- parations for a counter-stroke, at the English expense, by attacking Calais. At that date the English held within the Pale of Calais two towns, Calais and Guisnes, and the connecting fortress of Hanimes. Of these, Calais Calais and Guisnes were both strongly defended. The attacked, governor of Calais was Lord Wentworth, and of Guisnes Lord Grey, the hero of Pinkie, both excellent soldiers. They had long been aware that Calais was likely to be attacked, and had in vain warned the government that the garrison was inadequate to its defence ; but the government heeded not. The provisions were allowed to dwindle down to a supply for only three or four weeks ; the sluices upon which the water defences of Calais de^Dended were unrepaired. All through the month of December Wentworth wrote again and again urging the neces- sity of reinforcements. On the 29th he announced that the French might be expected immediately. No effect, however, was produced ; and on the 31st Mary wrote that 'she had intelligence* that no enterprise was intended against Calais and the Pale, and that the reinforcements had been countermanded.' The very next morning the French formed their lines. Wentworth had only five hundred men against some 25,000, but he contrived to hold out till the 6th, when he was forced to surrender. In England the four days thus gained were wasted. Though the sea was calm, no reinforcements were sent over ; and when at length on January 10 some ships and men were ready, a south-westerly gale dispersed the transports ; and on January 20, Grey too was forced to Calais surrender. The loss of Calais came upon the country like a surrendered, thunder-clap, and completed the unpopularity of a govern- ment who were so entirely responsible for the disaster. A French invasion even seemed imminent, and though before summer, the nation plucked up heart, and a fleet was again manned and at sea, and even took an honourable part in a fight between the Spaniards and the French on the sea-coast near Gravelines, the self-respect of the nation suffered a terrible blow. By no one in the country, however, was the disaster more felt than by the queen. She now knew that she was stricken with a mortal disease, 1558 Mary 447 and that in a few months her sister Elizabeth, whose very beauty was an offence to her, would take her place and reverse her policy. Her husband had again left her, with no probability of return. Mary's Her best friend, Cardinal Pole, had been deprived of his ^^^^ '^^y^- legatine authority by the pope, and was labouring under a charge of heresy. She knew that she was hated by her subjects, who were wait- ing with eagerness the hour of Elizabeth's accession. Still she adhered to her old course ; the burnings went on ; the rebuilding of monasteries was continued. When the end came, she faced it boldly, recognised Elizabeth as her successor, and died on the 17th November 1558. The same day died Cardinal Pole. Of Mary's character the most charitable explanation is that her mind was unhinged by the strain which followed upon her accession to the throne. Her relations with Philip show every sign of hysterical mania, and the extraordinary harshness with which she persecuted the Protestants points also to the same conclusion. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Execution of Lady Jane Grey, . 1554 Marriage of Mary and Philip, . 1554 Latimer and Ridley burnt, 1555 Cranmer burnt, ..... 1556 Loss of Calais, 1558 CHAPTEE V ELIZABETH: 1558-1603 Born 1533. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES. Scotland. France. Spain. Mary, deposed 1567. Henry ii., d. 1559. Philip ii., 1598. James VI. Francis ii., d, 1560. Philip iii., d. 1621. Charles ix., d. 1574. Henry III., d. 1589. Henry IV., d. 1610. Elizabeth's Keligious Settlement — Foreign Affairs — The Keformation in Scotland — History of Mary Queen of Scots to her Flight into England — The Civil Wars in France — The Eevolt of the Netherlands — Improvement in Eliza- beth's position — The Rivalry of the English and Spaniards in the South Seas — Danger from Mary Queen of Scots — Her Execution — The Spanish Armada — English Command of the Seas — Irish Affairs — Essex's Career and Execution — The Monopolies. Elizabeth was in her twenty-sixth year when she was called to the throne by the acclamation of all Englishmen — Catholic as well as Protestant. Her „, only serious rival was Mary Queen of Scots, who, on the sup- The Queen's "^ . . . . Position and position that Elizabeth was illegitimate, might be regarded arac er. ^^ having a better claim. On the other hand, Elizabeth's right rested upon an act of parliament ; and she had the further advantage that Mary's position, as a Scot and as wife of the Dauphin, made her cause unpopular. During the last years of her sister's life Elizabeth had lived in retirement at Hatfield. She had carefully made herself acquainted with the problems she would have to encounter ; and when she came to the throne was quite determined on the general line of policy, both foreign and domestic, which she meant to pursue. For details she cared com- paratively little — perhaps because being a woman she had no experience of practical work — and left these to her ministers. Her character presents remarkable contrasts, and shows the impress both of her father and 448 1558 Elizabeth 449 mother. From her father she inherited her masculine will, sound political instincts, and sharp, rude way of expressing herself ; from her mother a more than usual thirst for admiration, and a certain freedom in her relations to her admirers which was often little short of scandalous. According to Henry viii.'s will, the next occupant of the throne would be Katharine, the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey. Elizabeth immediately gave her confidence to William Cecil, whom she reappointed secretary of state. Cecil was born in 1520 at Bourn, in Lincolnshire, and was educated at Cambridge. His father vviiiiam being an officer about the court, young Cecil was taken into Cecil, the service of Henry viii. On the king's death he became private secre- tary to Somerset ; and under Warwick filled the post of secretary of state. Though he had agreed to the accession of Lady Jane, he contrived to make his peace with Mary, and, during her reign, kept in the back- ground, conforming outwardly to the old religion, though in reality a Protestant ; and it is probable that Elizabeth's judicious conduct during her sister's lifetime was regulated by his advice. Fortunately Pole's death had rendered the archbishopric of Canterbury vacant, and Eliza- beth named to it Matthew Parker. Parker, son of a Matthew Norwich tradesman, was born in 1504, and was educated at Parker. Cambridge ; he became chaplain to Anne Boleyn, and since her death had spent his time at the University, where he was master of Corpus Christi College. He was well known to Cecil, who recommended him for the post. As keeper of the great seal, Elizabeth named Nicholas Bacon, Cecil's brother-in-law, and father of the more celebrated Francis. Cecil and Parker were both members of the moderate Pro- testant party. England had now had experience of two extremes : under Edward vi. she had seen the methods of the extreme Protestants, and under Mary those of the extreme Catholics, and the persecutions by ^^^ the latter had left the more vivid impression upon the Religious 1 111 i» 1 Question, popular mind. What most people would have preferred, therefore, was to have returned to the policy of Henry viii., but without persecution. A position of absolute neutrality, however, was no longer possible. Elizabeth and her advisers were perfectly aware that she must rest either upon the Eoman Catholics or the Protestants. The latter were the less numerous, but, at the same time, the more energetic, and they were also the growing party, and the party most interested in maintaining Elizabeth on the throne. In ecclesiastical matters Elizabeth was no bigot. She had little personal religion, and she was more anxious to find the settlement which would meet with the least resistance, than to force 450 The Tudors 1558 her own particular views on the nation. Accordingly she at once pro- claimed that the epistle and gospel and the ten commandments, with the Lord's Prayer and the Creed, might be said in English, and forbade con- troversial preaching till a settlement had been made by parliament. Meanwhile, Parker, Grindal, and others were appointed to revise th,e prayer-book. Early in 1559 parliament met, and by ISIay had placed the religious settlement on a permanent basis. In the first place, the great Act of 1554 was repealed, so that the authority of the pope was again abolished, and the ecclesiastical legisla- its Settle- *i<^^ of Henry viii. was again brought into force. Secondly, ment. .^^ j^q^ ^f Supremacy was passed, by which the queen, instead of being styled the supreme head of the church, was spoken of as being ' over all persons and causes, as well ecclesiastical as civil, within these dominions supreme,' and allowing her to exercise her authority through commissioners. Thirdly, an Act of Uniformity was passed, which imposed the second prayer-book of Edward vi., but with some important alterations likely to make it more acceptable to Roman Catholics, and to those Protestants who, like Elizabeth herself, believed in some form of a real presence. For example, a passage in the Litany which spoke of ' the tyranny of the bishop of Rome and all his de- testable enormities ' was omitted, and in the words in which the bread and wine are given to communicants at the Sacrament, the phrases from the first and second prayer-books of Edward vi., one of which could be regarded as implying the doctrine of the real presence and the other not, were joined together. As for vestments of the clergy and the orna- ments of churches, it was ordered ' that such ornaments of the church and ministers, at all times of their ministration, were to be retained and used, as were in the Church of England, by the authority of parliament in the second year of King Edward vi.' By this means, Elizabeth and her advisers hoped to devise a liturgy which should meet the views of moderate men of all parties. From the ordinary layman no pledge or declaration of faith was exacted ; he was merely required to show his conformity by attendance at church. Office-holders, however, were re- quired to take the Oath of Supremacy, on penalty of losing their places. The fine for non-attendance at church was one shilling, afterwards altered to twenty shillings a month for a man and his household, and those who declined to attend church for conscience' sake were known as Recusants. The forty-two articles of Edward vi.'s reign were reduced to thirty-nine. This arrangement was accepted by the laity without enthusiasm, but without resistance. Probably a majority would have preferred to keep the mass with as many of the old 1559 Elizabeth 45 1 ceremonies as possible; and as late as 15V1, Parker wrote: -The most part of the subjects of the queen's highness, dislike the common bread for the sacrament.' But as no persecution was attempted, there was little glory to be gained by resistance ; and though the mass was undoubtedly celebrated in country-houses over a large part of Eucdand — particularly in the north — and most men of the old faith sought the services of a Koman Catholic priest on their death-bed, the bulk of the people attended their parish churches, and by degrees the new service gained a hold on their affections. Among the clergy, how- ever, there was more resistance, especially among the church dignitaries. With one exception, the whole of the existing bishops, most of whom had been appointed by Mary, resigned, and about two hundred ecclesi- astics, out of a total of nine thousand, threw up their posts. This, how- ever, was rather an advantage to Elizabeth. Their places were taken partly by men like Bishops Coverdale or Barlow, who had been in exile, and partly by new men of Protestant views, who were elected under the revived conge cVelire. In this way the upper ranks of the Church of England have always been filled by men who were in sympathy with the government of the time ; and as most of the private patronage of the church is also in lay hands, the influence of the laity on the views of the official clergy has always been much greater in England than in other countries. From the queen's right to delegate her authority to commissioners there came into being the Court of High Commission. At ^ . ? . , . Court of first, commissions were issued from time to time, but in High Com- 1583 the court became permanent. It consisted of forty persons, twelve of whom were bishops, and was empowered to inquire into all offences against the existing ecclesiastical system ; to punish persons absenting themselves from church ; to reform all errors, heresies, and schisms which might be reformed according to the laws of the realm ; to deprive all beneficed clergy who held opinions contrary to the doctrinal articles ; to punish all immoralities and disorders in mar- riage, and all grievous offences punishable by the ecclesiastical laws. Elizabeth's settlement, being a compromise, was liable to be opposed both by those who thought it went too far, and by those who did not think it went far enough ; and as time went on the nation opposition divided itself into three distinct bodies. First, the bulk of beth's^^' the nation, who accepted the settlement more and more Plan, cordially year by year ; second, the Koman Catholics, who clung to the mass, acknowledged the authority of the pope, and whose most extreme members believed that he had a right to depose Elizabeth ; and third. 452 The Tudors 1559 Puritans who refused to accept the English Reformation as adequate, 1 and wished to go much further. Most of these men had been absent from England during the reign of Mary, and had imbibed their ideas from Calvin, the Genevan reformer. Though discontented, they remained members of the English Church ; but the unwillingness of some of them to conform to the ceremonies gave them the name of Nonconformists. A few of the extreme men went further. Disregarding Calvin's advice not to secede, they formed congregations of their own, and were there- fore called Sectaries or Separatists. While Elizabeth had been engaged in religious matters, she had been compelled to devote not less attention to foreign affairs. At her Foreign accession England was a much weaker power than either Affairs. France or Spain. She had no standing army, and no fortresses, and her people, though brave to a fault, and sufficiently disciplined to meet the Scots on equal terms, had neither the training nor experience to match themselves with the well-drilled and well-armed ' regulars ' of France and Spain, led by experienced officers, and armed with the newest weapons. On the other hand, Wolsey had shown that in consequence of the rivalry between France and Spain, England was capable of playing a part far beyond her strength ; and, fortunately for Elizabeth, the same conditions which made Wolsey successful were still in existence. France and Spain were still at war, and each had a great scheme in which England was included. On the one side, Henry 11. of France hoped to unite on the heads of his son and daughter the crowds of England, Scotland, and France, and, as it were, to cut the Spanish dominions in two ; while Philip who since his father's resignation had been ruler of Spain, the Netherlands, and a great part of Italy, wished to defeat this plan, and saw that to do so it would be necessary, at all hazards, to support Elizabeth on the English throne. So confident did Elizabeth therefore feel of his support, tbat she ventured upon a religious settlement which she knew would be most displeasing to him. At first Philip's idea was that he should himself marry Elizabeth ; and he wrote her a letter to that efi'ect, in which he frankly confessed that he w^ould not be able to spend much time in England, but Offer^of Avould comc over and see her as often as he could. EHza- Marnage. y^^^i^^ however, knew that whether she would willingly have married Philip or not, there was an insuperable obstacle to her doing so. Philip could not have married her without a dispensation from the pope ; and if the pope could grant a dispensation to a man to marry his deceased wife's sister, it followed that he could also grant one to a woman to marry her deceased husband's brother. This Elizabeth 1559 Elizabeth 453 could not acknowledge without giving up the whole case for Henry viii.'s divorce, and making herself illegitimate. Elizabeth, therefore, while keeping on good terms with Philip, left his proposal unanswered. Her marriage in fact with anybody was surrounded with the greatest difficulties. If she married a foreigner, she would offend her English subjects. If she took an English nobleman, she would rouse the jealousy of the rest. If she married a Catholic, the Protestant settlement would seem to be endangered ; if a Protestant, she would throw her Catholic subjects into the arms of Mary Queen of Scots. These considerations, in the end, proved fatal to her marrying at all ; but, for many years, no one either in England or out of it doubted that she would ultimately marry. Accordingly, her hand was looked upon as a prize to be won, and of this Elizabeth took full advantage for political purposes. It was long thought that she would personally have wished to marry Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards earl of Leicester ; but this is extremely doubtful. She liked Leicester, and believed that his admiration foi' her would make him a faithful servant ; but she probably, throughout all her life, was never in love with anybody in the ordinary sense of the word. In March 1559, the long war between France and Spain was con- cluded by the Treaty of Cateau Cambresis. By this important treaty the wars of mere ambition, inaugurated by Charles viii.'s expedition to Italy, came to a close, and Europe entered Cateau^ upon a new period, lasting till the peace of Westphalia in 1648, in which religion became the dominant factor in deciding the relations between states. During the festivities to celebrate its con- clusion Henry it. was accidentally wounded in a tournament. He died in July, and Mary Queen of Scots and her husband, Francis 11., ascended the throne. Francis 11., however, died in 1561. As Francis and Mary had no issue, this dissolved the union between the crowns of France and Scotland, and shortly afterwards Mary returned home. The condition of Scotland, as she found it, was very different from what it had been when she left it in 1549, for since that time the Reformation iia.l swept over it, and effected a complete revolution. The Scottish Church was very rich and very corrupt. On the other hand, the Scottish nobles retained all their old feudal rights, and such families as the ^^^ g^^^_ Hamiltons, the Huntlys, and the Argylls could bring into tish Refor- ' "^ ' '="^ ^ , . mation. the field a small army of devoted tenants. In these cir- cumstances the kings had for years relied upon the bishops against the nobles, and, consequently, when the Reformation began, it was taken up by the nobles as being the best method of breaking the power both of the kins and of the church. For a long time the clergy fought hard 454 The Tudors 1559 to stop the spread of Protestant doctrines, and among their victims was the celebrated George Wishart. But on the accession of Queen Eliza- beth the Protestants were encouraged to declare themselves ; and a body of the nobility, calling themselves the Lords of the Congregation, signed a covenant, and demanded the introduction of the English Book of Common Prayer. Little progress, however, was made till 1559, when John Knox returned to Scotland. Knox was now fifty-four years of age. Taken prisoner after the capture of St. Andrews Castle (see page 423), he had been sent to the French galleys. He had, however, escaped, and after being chaplain to Edward vi., had taken refuge with Calvin at Geneva. There he adopted Calvin's views, and also made himself notorious by the publication of a book called The Monstrous Eegiment of Women, directed against Mary of England. Immediately on his arrival in Scotland Knox began to preach against idolatry, and his unrivalled power of exciting enthusiasm roused the people to frenzy. After one of his sermons at Perth, the congregation rose and destroyed all the pictures, coloured glass, and statuary which had adorned the cathedral, and their example was soon followed all over Scotland. This violence resulted in open war between the Lords of the Congregation and the Kegent. She appealed to France, and they to England. To Elizabeth they proposed that she should marry the earl of Arran, the eldest son of the duke of Chatelherault, the head of the Hamilton family. Arran stood next in succession to Mary in the Stuart line, and if Elizabeth would have married him an attempt would have been made to depose Mary and crown Arran king. Elizabeth, how- ever, thought the scheme too risky ; and, on seeing Arran himself, who was weak both in mind and body, she rejected it entirely. She agreed, however, to aid the Lords to expel the French troops from Leith on con- dition that they remained loyal to the queen. This accordingly was done. The upshot of the religious changes was that the Scots became ahnost entirely devoted to Protestantism of an extremely strict type, Catholicism only maintaining its hold in a few noble families and among the High- landers. The monasteries were entirely abolished, and their lands appropriated by the Lords of the Congregation. Even the cathedrals and parish churches were, for the most part, dismantled. On Mary's arrival in Scotland she was a widow of nineteen years of age. Though her pictures differ very much, her contemporaries are unanimous Mary Queen ^s to her beauty. She had abilities of a very high order, and of Scots. showed herself a match in political address for most of those with whom she had to deal. For some years it was a question what 1566 Elizabeth 455 would be the relations between Elizabeth and Mary. There seemed no overmastering reason why they should not be friendly. Though unmar- ried herself, Elizabeth strongly urged marriage upon her cousin, and suggested to her that she should marry Leicester. Mary, however, while pretending to consider the proposal, made up her mind to marry Henry Darnley, the son of her father's half-sister, Margaret Douglas and the earl of Lennox, and did so in 1565. Darnley had been born in England during his father's exile, and was well known to Elizabeth. The marriage had the effect of uniting the two lines of succession from Margaret Tudor (see page 374), and therefore strengthened Mary's posi- tion. Unfortunately for Mary, Darnley's personal qualifications were of a very low order. He was tall and fairly handsome, but his character was weak and vicious, and he had no capacity for politics. She found, therefore, that she had to rely upon herself as before, and employed the services as secretary of David Rizzio, an Italian singer and musician who had originally come over with the ambassador of Savoy. His knowledge of foreign languages made him useful to her, and he soon became her confidential adviser. To Darnley, on the other hand, she refused even the crown matrimonial, and the foolish youth immediately threw himself into the arms of the Protestant malcontents. With them he entered into a plot to murder Rizzio, and to get the government into his own hands. The first part succeeded. Rizzio was dragged from the room where he was at supper with the queen, and slain in the ante- chamber. In the second, however, he completely failed. Darnley was as supple as wax in his wife's hands, and, with the assistance of James Hepburn, earl of Bothwell, she completely out-generalled the con- spirators, and forced them to fly for their lives. On June 19, 1566 was born Mary's son, James. This event added very much to her strength, for the claims of Katharine Grey had been discredited of late. In 1553 she had been married to Birth of Lord Herbert, but the marriage had been annulled ; and in James. 1561 she had clandestinely married Lord Hertford, son of the Protector, Somerset. By him she had a son ; but the facts of her marriage having been examined. Archbishop Parker declared the union invalid, and the result was to discredit both Katharine's claims and those of her child. In these circumstances. Englishmen began to look more favourably upon the claims of Mary, who had not shown herself unreasonable with regard to Scottish Protestantism. Mary had thus again secured a good position and a strong party when she threw away all her chances Mary and by an affair of the heart. Craving for a husband on whom Bothwell. she could lean for support, and completely disillusioned about Darnley 456 The Tudors 1566 she thought she saw everything she wanted in the rude Border swords- man, Bothwell, and she fell passionately in love with him. Bothwell does not appear to have returned her affection, for he had a wife living, to whom he was attached ; but he was prepared to take full advantage of his good fortune, encouraged Mary, and entered into a plot for the murder of Darnley. That unfortunate man, after the birth of his son, had fallen completely into the background. In December 1566 he was attacked with small-pox at Glasgow. From this he recovered, and had been brought by Mary herself to a lonely house, the Kirk o' Field, situated to the south of the old town of Edinburgh, not far from Holyrood Palace — a place selected for the freshness of the air — and was there from time to time visited by Mary. On the night of Murder of February 10 a loud explosion was heard, and it was Darnley. found that the house had been blown up ; but the bodies of Darnley and his servant were found untouched by fire, and apparently strangled, lying together in the garden. In a few days Bothwell was universally accused of the murder, and Lennox, Darnley's father, de- manded a trial. However, on April 12, the day fixed for the trial, the streets of Edinburgh were crowded with Bothwell's retainers. Lennox asserted that he went in fear of his life, declined to prosecute, and upon this Bothwell was declared to be acquitted. A few days later Bothwell seized Mary as she was returning from a visit to her son, and carried her off to the castle of Dunbar ; and on May 15, as soon as Bothwell had secured a divorce from his own wife, they were married. This marriage was Mary's ruin. Few now doubted that she had been privy to Darnley's murder ; and Bothwell himself was so hated for his Disposition Overbearing insolence, that by marrying him she set against of Mary. herself the whole of the Scottish nobility. In face of such a unanimous outbreak of hostility, Bothwell in vain tried to make head. Summoning round him his vassals, Mary and he attempted to reach Edinburgh ; but on June 15 they encountered the forces of the nobility at Carberry Hill, five miles east of Edinburgh. Bothwell's troops began to desert, and, recognising his cause as hopeless, he fled ; and Mary gave herself up to secure his escape, exactly a month after her marriage. From Carberry, Bothwell made his way to Dunbar, and thence to Orkney, and after a wandering life was seized by the Danes as a pirate, and died in prison in 1577. From Carberry Mary was hurried in a disgraceful procession to Edinburgh, where she was received with yells of execration, and banners were displayed on which her infant son was depicted calling for vengeance on the murderers of his father. There she met with no mercy. The Lords, headed by James Douglas, earl of 1568 Elizabeth 457 Morton, placed her in confinement in Lochleven Castle, and compelled her by threats to resign her crown in favour of her infant son, with her half-brother, the earl of Murray, as regent. In prison, however, Mary continued her intrigues, and succeeded in effecting her escape to the Hamiltons, to whom she trusted to raise the Catholics in her favour. She was joined by a considerable force, with whom marched a multitude of deposed bishops, abbots, and priests. Mary hoped to secure the strong fortress of Dumbarton ; but on May 14, 1568, near Glasgow, she was met at Langside by the regent at the head of a small Battle of force. In the battle that followed, Mary's motley soldiers Langside. were completely routed, and she herself rode sixty miles from the field of battle before she considered herself in safety near the Solway Firth. There, encouraged by some verbal support which Elizabeth had given her in her previous contests with her nobility, she decided to appeal for English assistance, and on May 16 landed at Workington, in Cumberland, with a few followers, and made her way thence to Carlisle. The arrival of Mary in England was a source of much embarrassment to Elizabeth. She did not come in the least as a dejected fugitive, but as one queen calling on another to aid her against her re- Mary in bellious subjects, and she fully expected that Elizabeth England, would take up her cause at once. It was no easy task for Elizabeth to decide what to do. Probably the best course would have been to hand Mary over to the regent, who would have placed her in a more secure prison. On the other hand, Elizabeth did not wish to appear in league with rebels, and she therefore attempted to gain time by insisting on holding an investigation into Mary's connection with the murder of Darnley. Till this could be held, she removed Mary to Bolton Castle, in Yorkshire, where there would be less danger of escape or rescue than at Carlisle. Accordingly in October, Murray, Morton, and others, on behalf of the Scots, met Elizal^eth's representatives, headed by Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, at York. The most important evidence pro- duced by the Scots were some letters, said to be written by Mary to Bothwell, which, it was declared, had been found in a ^he Casket silver casket accidentally left behind by Bothwell at Edin- Letters, burgh Castle. Whether these were forgeries it is now impossible to say ; but at the time of their production they produced a great sensation. It was, however, no part of Elizabeth's plan to have Mary either found guilty of murder or distinctly acquitted ; and as she found that Norfolk was already scheming to marry the fugitive, she found means to break up the conference, and in January 1569 Murray returned home, while Mary was placed in confinement at Tutbury. 458 The Tudors 1568 During the ten years which had elapsed since Elizabeth ascended the throne, her position both at home and abroad had steadily improved. At home, her peaceful and economical government had menUn^" given time for the country to recover itself from the dis- Ehzabeth's Qp,;|epg of the previous reigns. The coinage had been position. . renewed, and her financial credit was good. The navy had been refitted and the fortresses properly manned. Moreover, Elizabeth's conciliatory policy towards the Catholic nobility, and the pains she had taken to drive no party to despair, had resulted in the creation of a national party who were prepared to put the interest of the country above that of any section of it. Abroad, it had become increasingly evident that her reliance on the rivalry of France and Spain to prevent either from attacking her was perfectly justified by results ; and in addition to this, causes were at work which materially impaired the actual strength both of France and Spain, and, therefore, contributed to make England relatively stronger. The first of these was the outbreak of the religious wars in France. lu that country Protestantism never gained a hold over the mass of „. p. ., the people. It was taken up by the nobility and by the Wars in middle classes of the districts south of the Loire, of which FrsricG Eochelle is a chief town, and still more in Gascony, Beam, and Languedoc. There the Protestants w^ere probably in a majority, but in other parts of France they were quite exceptional. In dying, Henry it. left four sons, Francis, Charles, Henry, and a second Francis, of whom the eldest was only sixteen. The first three reigned successively as Francis ii., Charles ix., and Henry iii., but for many years the real power was in the hands of their mother, Katharine de Medici. As her jDower w^as disputed by the powerful family of Guise, headed by Duke Francis, conqueror of Calais, Katharine, though a Catholic, was frequently obliged to ally herself with the Huguenots, as the French Protestants were called, the leaders of whom were Coligny, the admiral, and the Prince of Conde, brother of the King of Navarre. In 1562 an attempt of Katharine to give legal toleration to the Huguenots resulted in open ^var. Conde was defeated and taken prisoner ; Guise was assassinated, and the contest so begun was carried on with great bitterness. For Elizabeth the serious danger was that the Guises, if victorious, might use Mary Queen of Scots against her. She, therefore, cautiously gave some assistance to the Huguenots, and accepted from them, as security, the town of Havre. Katharine, how- ever, soon patched up a peace, and the English were compelled to evacuate Havre and make peace. Henceforward Elizabeth made the 1568 Elizabeth 459 preservation of peace with the French government a cardinal point in her policy. At the same time Spain was weakened by Philip's difficulties with the Netherlands. This district consisted of seventeen provinces, each of which had been held on a separate title by the House of Burgundy, and had now descended to Philip 11. Generally ^^'"' speaking, they were divided into two parts, between which a line draAvn eastward from the estuary of the Scheldt gives a rough boundary. The northern states were Dutch by blood, Protestant in religion, and poor. The southern were Flemish by blood, less Protestant in religion, but richer than the northerners. The north had then no town of importance : the towns of the south, Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, were reputed the most opulent in Europe. For many years the Netherlanders had been accustomed to be treated with great deference by their rulers, in recognition of their liberal grants, and to this feeling Charles had always paid due regard. Philip, however, who, unlike his father, stayed in Spain instead of travelling about, and trusted to the reports of his officers instead of seeing with his own eyes, failed [to recognise the strength of the Netherlandish independence, and involved himself in a series of disputes which ultimately brought on an armed rebellion. ^ ^ . . . Revolt of This conferred a double advantage on Elizabeth. First, it the Nether- weakened Philip in the very part of his dominions from which an attack could most easily be made upon England. Second, the cruelties of Philip's lieutenant Alva drove no less than thirty thousand Protestant weavers from their homes ; and these, settling in the south- eastern counties of England, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk, brought with them their skill in manufactures. Henceforward the English, in- stead of despatching their raw wool to the Netherlands, began to manu- facture it themselves, and the growth of the new industry did much to restore the balance between agriculture, pasturage, and manufacture, which had been endangered by the wholesale enclosures of the preced- ing years. Nevertheless, the presence of Mary Queen of Scots could not fail to give Elizabeth much anxiety. Even during the proceedings at York it had been suggested that she should marry Norfolk. As RebeUion the duke was the leader of the party of the old religion, °^'569- such a marriage would have given widespread satisfaction in England. On the other hand, the Protestants would have been driven to despair, so Elizabeth sternly forbade it to be thought of. The result was to cause such dissatisfaction among the great nobles of Norfolk's party that plots were entered into for a rising, assisted by a Spanish force which Alva was 460 The Tudors 1568 to despatch from the Netherlands. Nothing, however, was to be done by Alva till the English Koman Catholics had shown their power by- arresting Cecil. This Norfolk failed to do ; and Elizabeth, rightly regarding him as of little danger, left him alone, while she ordered the arrest of Thomas Percy, earl of Northumberland, and Charles Neville, earl of Westmorland, who, being each at the head of an army of rude Border tenantry, accustomed to fighting, were far more formidable than the southern nobility. At the order for their arrest Northumberland and Neville flew to arms, seized Durham, had the mass sung for the last time in its glorious cathedral, and then marched south to secure the person of Mary, who was then living in Tutbury Castle. Elizabeth, however, was too quick for them. Thomas Katclifle, earl of Sussex, a Catholic noble- man on whose loyalty she could rely, was hurried to the front, and Mary was transferred to Coventry, where she would have Sussex's army between her and her friends. Finding themselves thus out- manoeuvred, the earls retreated north, and eventually broke up their forces without a battle. Their advance had shown distinctly the line of demarcation between the new faith and the old, for in Yorkshire while the countrymen were almost to a man for the earls, the towns in which a clothing trade was beginning to spring up were for the queen. Leeds Bridge was held against the rebels, and Halifax sent a contingent to join the army of Sussex. This serious rebellion, the first and last in Elizabeth's reign, seemed to the queen to require measures of exceptional severity. Orders were there- fore sent north that the captured rebels were to be hanged in batches at every market town and considerable village between the Wharfe and the Tyne, and many a gallows-green marks to this day the memory of this stern severity. Altogether, it is computed that three hundred and fourteen persons thus perished. Northumberland and Westmorland both escaped into Scotland, but Northumberland was captured by the regent, and being handed over to Elizabeth was executed in 1572, while Westmorland, after spending some time in hiding on the Scottish side of the l3order, escaped to the Netherlands and there died. Hardly was this formidable rising disjjosed of, when it was known that a new plot was on foot. Hitherto various reasons had prevented the popes from excommunicating Elizabeth ; but in 1570 Ridoifi Pius V. published a bull in which Elizabeth was declared to be excommunicate, and all her subjects released from her allegiance. The natural result was to give a further imj^etus to plotting, and Norfolk and the southern lords continued their treasonable corre- spondence with Spain. Their agent was a certain Bidolfi, an Italian banker resident in London, who in the way of his business could easily 1572 Elizabeth 461 visit the Netherlands, Spain, or Italy. Cecil, however, was well informed of what was going on, and eventually full proof was obtained of the existence of a conspiracy to bring over a Spanish army, in which, araono- others, Norfolk, Arundel, and Mary herself were fully implicated*^ Again Elizabeth felt that severity was needed, and in 1572 Norfolk was beheaded. Though Elizabeth was troubled by disaffection and indifference among her nobility, she was amply compensated by the growing devotion of the House of Commons. Here, indeed, her chief difficulty Loyalty of arose from excess of zeal on the part of the members. Parliament. Since the Oath of Supremacy had been enforced on all office-holders, no honest Eoman Catholic could sit in the house, and consequently the members, the vast majority of whom represented south of England boroughs, where Protestantism was strongest, were as a body decidedly Protestant and even Puritan in feeling. This was a great source of strength to the queen ; and whenever she wished to show either her own nobles or foreign powers that she had the nation at her back, the simplest plan was to call a meeting of parliament. Thus the parliament of 1572 not only petitioned for the execution of Norfolk, but also passed a Bill of Attainder against the Queen of Scots, which, had the members had their way, would have been carried into instant execution. Elizabeth, however, was cjuite satisfied with the moral eflect of their action, and declined to give her consent to the bill. The only point, indeed, on which Elizabeth and her parliament were at variance was that of her marriage, Eeflecting the wishes of the advanced Protestants, the members again and again petitioned Elizabeth to marry, as they looked to the birth of an heir as needful to secure them against the accession of Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth, however, had good reasons for her own conduct, and roundly bade them mind their oAvn business. Indeed, at tliis very time she was making use of the bait of her hand to secure a great diplomatic triumph. As it became clearer that Spain was the real enemy against whom open war might be prench anticipated, it became essential to come to terms with ^^^^^^^^^ France, not only for its own sake, but also to avoid difficulty with Scotland. Accordingly, she expressed herself willing to consider the possibility of a match between herself and Henry of France, duke of Anjou. Probably she never meant anything serious, but the effect was to re-establish cordial relations with the French court ; and presently a treaty was made, by which each country bound itself in case other was attacked for any cause to aid the other with 6000 men. 462 The Tudor s 1572 Scotland was included ; and it was specially stipulated that, while neither France nor England should interfere in Scottish affairs, no other country should be permitted to do so. Difficulties had been raised about the Anjou marriage as soon as a decision became necessary, but it was suggested that they might be overcome in the case of his younger brother, Francis, duke of Alen^on, a lad of seventeen, and for eleven years the possibility of such a match, absurd as it was, was more or less seriously considered. From time to time Alencon visited England, and though he was an ugly little man, with a big head and a repulsive nose, whom Elizabeth jocularly termed ' her frog,' she pretended to fall in love with him. The French alliance formed the keystone of Elizabeth's foreign policy. She maintained it against several rude shocks, chief of which was the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572. To keep on friendly^terms with a government which had been guilty of such cruelty was a sore trial to English feeling, but Elizabeth was well aware that to take up the opposite policy would drive the French court into alliance with Spain, and persistently held to her course till the danger passed away. The necessity for thus securing the French alliance at all costs was to be found in the danger to be apprehended from Spain. To crush J. , the Dutch, Philip poured thousands of Spanish troops a Spanish into the Netherlands under his best generals, and their presence constituted a standing menace of invasion to England. Elizabeth was unwilling openly to recognise rebellious subjects ; but, for the sake of adding to Philip's difficulties, she allowed Englishmen to enlist in the Dutch service, and from time to time gave assistance in money. However, in 1577, the skill of Don John of Austria, who had gained a world-wide reputation by defeating the Turks at Lepanto, succeeded in bringing about a temjDorary cessation of hostilities, and he immediately set himself to arrange an invasion of England, which he hoped would result in the deposition of Elizabeth, and a marriage between himself and Mary Queen of Scots. Philip, however, was too jealous of his half-brother to allow such a scheme to succeed. Escovedo, Don John's agent in Spain, was murdered, and in 1578 Don John also died, not without suspicion of poison. He was succeeded in the Netherlands by Alexander Farnese, duke of Parma, probably the best general of his time, who rapidly reduced the southern Netherlands to their allegiance, and seemed likely also to bring the Dutch into submission. Meanwhile, the condition of home affairs was also undergoing a change. During the first ten years of Elizabeth's reign, she had strengthened herself by her judicious attitude on religious matters ; but during the 1581 Elizabeth 403 second ten this policy became increasingly difficult to maintain. The change was due mainly to a change in the character of Eoman Catho- licism. The Protestant movement for a more spiritual re- ligion and separation from Eome had been followed by a Roman similar movement within the Eoman Church which had ^^*^°^^'^^' resulted in what is known as the Counter-Eeformation. The effect of this was to purge away most of the scandals for which the Eoman Church had been notorious at the beginning of the century, and to replace such popes as Alexander vi. and Leo x. by men like Pius v. and Gregory xiii., whose zeal for their religion was undoubted, and whose purity of life quite unquestioned. These popes made use of the new religious order of Jesuits, formed expressly to push forward the Counter- Eeformation, for the purpose of attacking Protestantism in Protestant countries. In England the chief advocate of the new propaganda was William Allen, an old Oxford man, who founded for that purpose a college for secular clergy at Douai, in the Netherlands, from which secular priests were ^ent across the Channel. A college for English Jesuits was set up at St. Omer, also within Philip's dominions. By law the celebration of the mass and speaking against the supremacy were treason ; but the government had hitherto been careful that, while the law was preserved in terrorem, it should not be carried into effect. However, in 1581, Campion, one of the purest-minded and Execution of enthusiastic of the English Jesuits, was arrested after a Campion, protracted visit to England. The government determined to make an example ; and he was condemned and executed for treason on the ground that he refused to deny the pope's right to depose princes. From this time forward Eoman Catholic priests exercised their functions at the peril of their lives, and frequent executions are recorded down to the outbreak of the Civil War under Charles i. At the same time the fines of the recusants were raised to £20 a month for non-attendance at church. This persecution had the effect of embittering the feeling between the two religions, and did much to check the gradual extinction of Eoman Catholicism which Elizabeth's previous policy had been bringing about. Though Elizabeth's settlement had been nominally accepted by the great body of the clergy, Parker found it extremely difficult to establish uniformity of practice. This was due partly to the unwill- jhe Extreme ingness of many of the bishops to enforce practices of which Protestants, they did not wholly approve themselves, and partly to the difficulty of finding clergy sufficiently well educated to preach. However, Elizabeth insisted that uniformity should be enforced, and in 1566 Parker called 464 The Tudors I58i the London clergy before him, and demanded that they should carry out the Act of Uniformity. Over thirty refused to wear the surplice, and were deprived of their livings. On the other hand, in the diocese of Norwich, Bishop Parkhurst made no attempt to enforce uniformity, while Pilkington of Durham reduced even the cathedral service to the Puritan ideal. Beset by these difficulties, Parker was only able very imperfectly to enforce the prescribed ceremonial, while the number of those who, while remaining in the church, refused to conform, steadily increased. Parker died in 1575, and was succeeded by Edward Grindal, archbishop of York, who immediately fell into disagreement with the court on the question of prophesyings. These were meetings of the clergy and laity, held for the purpose of debating some doctrinal point, and had been encouraged by the bishops as tending to make the clergy thoughtful and well informed. Elizabeth, however, apparently under the impression that they w^ere conducted by unlearned persons, ordered Grindal to put a stop to them. Grindal would gladly have stopped the laity, but w^ished to preserve the right for the dergy ; and when he refused he w^as suspended from his office and the prophesyings forbidden by royal proclamation. Grindal died in 1583, and was succeeded hy John Whitgift, bishop of Worcester. Whitgift w^as just the man for Elizabeth's purpose : he loved order for its owm sake, and was deter- mined to enforce it with a high hand. The task, however, had now become very difficult. Originally the quarrel between the bishops and the nonconforming clergy had turned upon ceremonial : it had now^ come to include church government Difficulty of ' -.1 I n T . 1 1 enforcing- as w^ell. The Nonconformists also had come to be divided ni ormity. .^^^ ^^^ bodies — first the sectarians, sectaries or sej)ara- tists, wdio had openly left the church ; and secondly, those who, while they remained in the church, did their best to get its practices altered. Of the former the most important body were the Brownists, named after Eobert Brown, a relation of Cecil. Brown held that each congregation of Christians ought to be self-governing, from which his followers came to be called Independents. In doctrine he was Calvinistic. Another body were Anabaptists or Baptists. Of those who remained in the church the most distinguished was Thomas Cartwright, who had been deprived of the post of Lady ISIargaret Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. His views were enunci- ' ated in the Book of Discipline, which advised the clergy to form themselves into groups for the purpose of self-government, ignoring as far as possible the authority of the bishops. Cartwright's views were widely accepted, and from that time forward there existed wdthin the 1583 Elizabeth 4.(55 Church of England a large body, who were in principle Presbyterians. The hope of the Puritans lay in the support of the House of Com- mons, and they were strongest in the south-eastern counties. Their weak point was the extreme violence of some of their members, some of whom published a series of libellous attacks upon the bishops known as the Mar -Prelate tracts. The result was to alienate some of their strongest supporters, and in 1593 parliament passed a severe act against seditious Avritings, which had the effect of keeping controversy within bounds On the church side the most remarkable writer was Eichard Hooker whose Ecclesiastical Polity was written for the purpose of showing that Episcopalian government could l^e defended not only as an apostolical institution but on grounds of general utility. In the course of the cjuarter of a century during which Elizabeth had now reigned, she had also strengthened herself by using her charms as a woman to attach to her cause the rising generation of Eng- Loyalty to lishinen. Such men as Sir Philip Sidney, Spenser the poet, Elizabeth, and Sir Walter Raleigh talked about her as of a mistress to whose service their lives were devoted, and they were merely typical of the young Englishmen of the day, with whom devotion to their virgin queen had come to be almost a principle of life. Throughout her reign Elizabeth had always been surrounded by two classes of courtiers. Men like Cecil, Walsingham, and Bacon, who served her in the cabinet, and with whom she discussed political affairs on a footing of statesmanlike equality. On the other hand there was her old friend, Leicester, who had loved her for her own sake when she was a girl, and in whom, though not a man of first-rate ability, she could always trust for devoted service. With him were Sir Christopher Hatton, her lively lord chancellor, who was said to have won his position by his skill as a dancer, and a crowd of younger men, some of whom, like Raleigh, were at court ; others, like Spenser, merely caught the reflection of court life at a distance, but all of them helped in their several ways to spread the feeling of personal loyalty to the sovereign. Curiously enough, the policies of Elizabeth and Philip towards each other were for many years practically the same. Neither wished for open war, though both probably regarded it as ultimately philip and inevitable ; but each wished to do the other as much harm Elizabeth. as possible without an actual declaration of hostilities. Elizabeth encouraged her subjects to aid the Netherlanders ; Philip sent Spaniards to assist the rebellious Irish, while each kept an ambassador at the court of the other, and their diplomatic intercourse was conducted w ith every expression of regard. 2g 466 The Tudors 1583 In the work of covert hostility EUzabeth had* no more useful agents than the mariners of the Devonshire jDorts. The true descendants of Chaucer's shipman, they had always been equally ready for shire Sea- commerce or piracy, and in seamanship they had no rivals. Nothing could have suited such men better than the clisr covery of the New World, which came just at the moment when the rise of strong governments made piracy a dangerous trade in European waters. Until the Reformation, however, the English do not seem to have meddled much with the New World, which was regarded as having been lawfully divided by Pope Alexander vi. betweeen the Spaniards and the Portuguese. The renunciation, however, of the papal authority untied their hands, and a series of bold mariners issued forth, some to attempt the discovery of new lands, some to open up legitimate trade, and others for purposes little different from piratical. Such adventurers cared little for the political relations between England and the Spanish and in order to put themselves, as it were, in order, invented the con- venient formula — 'No Peace beyond the Line.' Of those who sought ,„ new countries, the most notable were Sir Hugh Willoughby, Willoughby. ' o o jy who perished in 1554 in an attempt to reach China by fol- lowing the northern coast of Asia ; Martin Frobisher, who, in 1576 and 1577, investigated the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland with a view to a settlement ; and John Davis, the first Englishman ^^^^' to attempt the north-west j)assage. Better known than these is the brave Sir John Hawkins, who fii'st exported negro slaves from Africa to the Spanish settlements in America — a traffic then considered honourable and even j)raise worthy, as it brought the negroes under the influence of Christianity ; but above all stands in popular estimation the name of the greatest of Elizabethan seamen, Sir Francis Drake. This great man was born of undistinguished parents in 1539, and spent almost his whole life at sea. First in the coasting trade, and after- Sir Francis wards in more distant voyages, he became an admirable Drake. seaman. In 1567 he was chosen by Hawkins, who is said to have been a relation, to join him in a slave-trading expedition in the West Indies. The adventure, however, proved a failure, as Hawkins rashly involved himself in a fight against a superior force of Spaniards. In 1572 and 1573 Drake was again in the West Indies attacking Spanish vessels, and plundering settlements on the coast. Having landed on the Isthmus of Panama, he saw the Pacific Ocean, and conceived the idea of rounding South America and attacking the Spaniards in their fancied security. Accordingly in November 1577, with five vessels, the largest 1584 Elizabeth 467 of which was only one hundred tons, and with one hundred and sixty- three men, he sailed from Plymouth, made his way to South America and passing through the straits of Magelhaen, appeared unexpectedly in the Pacific. Beginning with Valparaiso, the capital of Chili, he called at every important Spanish port on his way north, everywhere helping himself almost without resistance to the silver and gold which had come down from the mines and was waiting to be sent to Europe. Then sailing north, he reached the latitude of California, and after some thoughts of attempting a passage round the north, made his way to Java, and thence by the Cape of Good Hope to Plymouth, arriving there in September 1581, bringing back with him treasure valued at ^'800,000, and the immortal reputation of being the first Englishman to circum- navigate the globe. In 1585 he and Frobisher were together in the West Indies attacking the Spaniards, and on their way home they picked up the survivors of a colony which had been planted in 1585 on the coast of North America. The year 1584 forms a turning-point in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Hitherto she had been able on the whole to maintain peace, and to avoid committing herself definitely against any foreign power, „.. , but a series of events in that year made this policy no Position longer possible. The first of these events was the death, in June, of Francis, duke of Anjou, formerly duke of Alengon — Elizabeth's absurd suitor — the only surviving brother of Henry iii. As Henry iii. had no sons, the crown of France would go by inheritance, after his death, to Henry, king of Navarre, a representative of the Bourbon line, and head of the rising party of French Huguenots. This prospect filled the French Catholics, and especially the Parisians, with alarm ; and a Catholic league was formed, under the patronage of the Guises, to prevent Henry's accession to the throne. At first Henry in. acknowledged the king of Navarre as his heir, but was afterwards obliged to throw in his lot with the Guises. Civil war immediately broke out, and Elizabeth found she could no longer rely upon the French alliance, or the 6000 troops which were to be sent to her in case of invasion. A month after the death of Alencon, William of Orange was murdered by Balthazar Gerard ; and the Dutch, after in vain asking the assistance of Henry iii., were advised by him to apply to England, ^he Accordingly they asked Elizabeth to become their pro- Netherlands, tector. This position, however, it was impossible for her to accept, for, in the first place, she would have given her sanction to the lawful subjects of one sovereign transferring their allegiance to another : and, secondly, because she had never wished to set herself 468 The Tudors 1584 up in any way as the head of a Protestant league. Nevertheless, the loss of her French alliance compelled her to make terms informally with the Dutch ; and in 1585 she despatched an English force to the States. At the head of this she placed the earl of Leicester, but he betrayed her confidence by accepting the powers and title of governor-general, by which the States tried to compel Elizabeth to become their over-lord. Elizabeth was extremely angry, and ordered Leicester to resign the post — by which, at the cost of offending the Netherlanders, she maintained her position as friend only. In military matters Leicester proved no match for the duke of Parma. The chief event of the war was the battle of Zutphen, where perished Sir Philip Sidney, author of the Arcadia, who, though only thirty-two years of age, had been recognised by his contemj)oraries as tyj)ical of the best English character of the time — a man who already had distinguished himself as a diplomatist, a courtier, a soldier, and an author. After the battle of Zutphen the war languished. Leicester came home in 1586, and Parma's energies were soon turned in another direction. The year 1584 was also a turning-point in the history of Mary Queen of Scots ; up to this time she had been treated more as a guest than as Mary Queen a prisoner, and had been allowed considerable freedom of of Scots. action. Such treatment had long been thought too lenient by the Commons, who, as early as 1572, had j)etitioned for her attainder ; and when, in 1584, a plot was discovered for the assassination of Elizabeth, contrived between Francis Throgmorton, a Cheshire gentle- man, and Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador, parliament again took up the question. There was no doubt that, so long as Mary lived, the temptation to assassinate Elizabeth would be very great ; and also that, in such an event, it would be extremely difficult for the Protestants to prevent Mary's accession, as they had no candidate immediately available, and no organisation. Accordingly an Act of Parliament was passed, enacting, first, that if the country were invaded, or the queen murdered, or a plot formed for that purpose, with the 'privity' of any one that pretended a title to the realm, such a person could be tried by royal commission ; and, secondly, that, if the queen were murdered, the lords of the privy council, with the other magnates, should prosecute such a pretender to the death. At the same time an association was formed, binding the members, in case of the queen's murder, to ' prosecute to death ' any person by whom or for whom the deed had been done. Before long there was ample evidence that Mary had brought herself within the scope of this Act. A plot against Elizabeth's life was formed 1587 Elizabeth 469 by Anthony Babington and a number of young Catholic gentlemen, some of whom were about the court— for Elizabeth made no dis- tinction of religion in her service. Meanwhile, Sir Francis Babington's Walsiugham had arranged a plan by which all Mary's ^1°*- correspondence passed through his hands, and before long he had intercepted two letters from Mary to Babington, encouraging bis scheme. The conspirators were then arrested, convicted, and put to death ; and in October, 1586, a special commission, as provided by the Act, sat to try Mary, and found her guilty of complicity. A few days afterwards parliament assembled, and demanded that the sentence should be put into execution, and there can be no question that they spoke the voice of the nation as a whole. On the other hand, Elizabeth was exceedingly averse to act. As in 1568, she probably hoped that the disgrace of exposure would be sufficient ; but at length, urged by her ministers, she signed the warrant, and handed it to Davison, Walsingham's co-secretary of state. Probably she hoped that they would put it into execution, but in such a way that they might be disavowed and punished. The secretaries, however, called a meeting of those of the privy council within reach, and ten of them, including Burleigh, Leicester, Lord Howard of Effingham, Walsingham and Davison, signed an order to the earls of Kent and Shrewsbury, directing them to carry out the Mary Stuart execution. This was done at Fotheringay Castle on beheaded. February 8. When the news reached London, Elizabeth found it impossible to punish an act which had been carried out perfectly legally by her leading ministers ; but a scapegoat was made of Davison, who was deprived of his secretaryship and fined. By the nation at large the news was accepted as a relief ; bonfires were lighted and bells were rung, as for a victory ; for men felt that, let the Spaniard come when he would, there was now no chance of a Roman Catholic rebellion to aid the foreign invader. In dying, Mary left her claims to the throne, not to her son, who had turned out a strong Protestant, but to a daughter of Philip by his third wife, a princess of Portugal, who was a descendant of war with John of Gaunt. Philip accepted the legacy, and immedi- Spam, ately began to prepare for a great invasion of England. From that time, though no open declaration of war took place, England and Spain may be regarded as hostile powers. Drake was at once despatched to the Spanish coast ; and in April, with an audacity that astonished Europe, he sailed, with twenty-four ships only, into the harbour of Cadiz, and, in spite of all the Spanish forts and war-galleys could do, destroyed no less than a hundred sail of shipping and vast quantities of 470 The Tudors 1587 stores, which were being collected for Philip's expedition. Then sailing back, he endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to penetrate into the mouth of the Tagus, where other preparations were going forward. The result of his exploits was to delay the expedition for a year. This, however, was a very serious matter for Philip, because the duke of Parma had collected in the Netherlands an army of thirty thousand men, which, being kept together through the winter, was reduced to seventeen thousand by the time the Armada actually sailed. These exjDloits Drake called ' singeing the king of Spain's beard.' At last, in the summer of 1588, everything was in readiness, and the Armada, numbering one hundred and thirty-two ships, left the Spanish The Armada poi'ts under the command of the duke of Medina Sidonia. sails. itg orders were, on reaching the English Channel, to keep along the French coast to Dunkirk, and thence to escort the duke of Parma, in a fleet of flat-bottomed transjDorts which had been prepared, to the mouth of the Thames. Meanwhile, the English had been by no means idle. Thirty -four ships of the royal navy, almost all of which had l)een built by Elizabeth's orders, and one hundred and sixty-four armed merchant vessels, had been divided into two squadrons : one, under Lord Howard of Effingham, Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and Martin Frobisher, was at Plymouth ; the other, under Lord Henry Seymour, was blockading the Netherland ports. An army of seventy-three thousand men had been collected at London, most of whom seem to have had firearms, and were led by officers who had had experience in fighting in France and elsewhere, at the head of whom was the earl of Leicester. It was also arranged that, when the beacon-fires showed the arrival of the Armada, every county should call out its militia, and confront the Spaniards with what was practically a levee en masse. Contrary to his orders, Sidonia sailed close to Plymouth, which he passed on the 20th July, and was immediately followed by the English i^u •c'- u^ fleet. The English commanders, who had the utmost The Fight » _ ' in the confidence, in the seamanship of their men, and regarded the tonnage of the Spanish fleet, which was twice as large as that of the English, and their superiority in cannon, which was four- fold, as quite compensated by the greater handiness of their own shij^s, and the much larger proportion of sailors which each contained, had decided to follow close behind. By this means, as the wind was south- west, they had the weather-gauge of the Armada, and were able to approach it or stop at will, while the Spaniards were unable to turn upon their pursuers. In this way the two fleets moved slowly up the 1588 Elizabeth 471 Channel, and, a week after they passed Plymouth, the Spaniards anchored off Calais. Both sides had expended a great amount of ammunition, of which the English were beginning to run short. The loss, however, was almost entirely on the side of the Spanish ; for the Spanish guns, fired from their huge castles, could not touch the small English craft, while the English Avere able to do terrible execution among the crowded soldiery on the Spanish decks. On arriving at Calais, Sidonia expected to find Parma at Dunkirk with his men all ready to embark ; instead of which Parma was still at Bruges, and nothing whatever was ready. The English, The Armada however, were determined to bring matters to extremities, defeated. as a change in the wind might alter the whole aspect of affairs ; so, on the 29th, they sent fire-ships, full of combustibles, driving among the Spanish ships. Panic-stricken, the crews cut their anchors and fell into confusion, and when morning broke were again attacked by the English fleet. In this day's fighting, victory distinctly declared for the English ; and, when night fell, a strong north-east wind was driving the Spanish vessels on the shoals of Flanders. Had it continued, hardly a ship could have escaped ; but, luckily for them, the wind again shifted to the south-west, and enabled them to make their way north into the open sea. Keturn, however, to the Channel was impossible, and there was nothing left for them but to make the best of their way round the north of Scotland. From that moment, however, ill-luck pursued them ; a series of gales drove some on the coast of Norway, others on the rock- bound coasts of Scotland and Ireland. No less than two thousand corpses were counted on the beach of Sligo Bay ; and, eventually, only fifty-three vessels made their way back to Spain. Philip met his misfortune with a magnanimity that would have done credit to a better man : ' I sent you out,' he said, ' to war with men, and not with the elements.' Philip, however, was wrong. Up to the fight at Dunkirk, the elements had been all the Spaniards could wish ; the north-east gale which blew on the night of that fight was their first piece of misfortune due to the elements. The real causes of the disaster were to be found, partly in the superior seamanship of the English, partly in the fact that, at the critical moment, Parma and his men were not ready. Had Parma effected a landing, it is probable that he might have won a battle : that he would have conquered the country, or even effected a lengthy settlement, is most improbable ; and he himself never underrated for a moment the difficulty of the undertaking. In other respects the defeat of the Armada formed the turning-pomt 472 The Tudor s 1588 in the reign. Before the close of 1588 Leicester died. In 1590 he was followed by Walsingham ; and in 1591 by Christopher Hatton. Sir Nicholas Bacon had died in 1579, so that of the great Personal ° changes men who stood round the throne at the accession, Bur- leigh alone was left, and he was now an old man verging, on seventy. New men, therefore, began to come into prominence, of whom the most noticeable were Eobert Cecil, Walter Ealeigh, and the earl of Essex. Eobert Cecil was Burleigh's second son, and had been born in 1563. From his earliest youth he had been trained by his father Robert ''^^ ^^^^ successor ; he inherited many of his father's qualities, Cecil. ]3^^ ^yg^g jjqIj gQ distinguished a statesman. Nevertheless, his knowledge of business and of his father's secrets made him a most useful minister. Walter Ealeigh stood in a very different position. Walter Born in Devonshire in 1553, he soon made his way to court. Raleigh. Being a man of fine presence and good wit, he had early attracted the attention of Queen Elizabeth, who rewarded her favourite with large grants of land and money. She even made him captain of the guard ; but he had no place in the privy council, and no influence in political matters. Ealeigh was essentially a man of action, but he was extremely deficient in the capacity for dealing either with his equals or his superiors. He had had great experience of affairs, had fought in France, the West Indies, and in Ireland, and had about him a certain genius which has gained for him a much larger recognition in later times than he received in his own. Eobert Devereux, earl of Essex, was born in 1568, and was conse- quently twenty at the time of the Armada. He was, therefore, fifteen Robert years younger than Ealeigh, who regarded him as a younger Devereux. rival in the good graces of the queen. Essex's character seems to have been essentially showy, and, unlike Ealeigh, he seems to have acquired a reputation among his contemporaries quite out of pro- portion to his real capacity. He courted popularity ; and Lord Burleigh on one occasion, in advising a young man against either neglecting or over-courting popularity, told him to be 'neither an Essex nor a Ealeigh.' For the next ten years after the Armada, the contest between Eliza- beth and Philip was continued in full activity. In 1589 Henry iii. of ^ France was assassinated by Jacques Clement ; and conse- France. j i ? quently, Henry of Navarre became legitimate king of France. He was, however, opposed by the Guises, with the support of Spain ; so Elizabeth, now no longer troubled by the thought that she was aiding rebels, was able to throw her whole force into Henry's scale ; and a contingent of some six thousand troo]3s, usually under the 1596 Elizabeth 473 command of the earl of Essex, fought regularly under Henry's banner till the conclusion of the war. Besides thus indirectly aiding to check Philip, a series of expeditions were sent out from England against Spain. In 1589, Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris commanded an expedition to Portugal, ^,_ „, => ' The War. under the pretext of aiding Don Antonio, one of the Portu- guese royal family, to recover the crown of Portugal, which P°^t"g^^- had been worn by Philip, in right of his wife, since 1580. They were, liowever, able to effect little ; for after taking Corunna, and marching from Peniche to Lisbon, they found that the Portuguese would do nothing to aid them. In 1590, Lord Thomas Howard and Sir Richard Grenville, with seven ships, were sent to intercept the Plate fleet off the Azores. There, however, they were attacked by a fleet of fifty Spaniards. Lord Thomas and six ships retreated ; but Sir Richard Grenville in the Revenge, having waited to bring off some sick men, was The attacked by the whole Spanish fleet ; and after a desperate ' Revenge.' combat was forced to surrender. In 1592 another expedition was sent to the Azores under Sir Martin Frobisher. In 1594, Drake and Hawkins sailed to the West Indies ; but the expedition was unfortunate. The Spaniards were found prepared, and both commanders perished of sick- ness at sea. By this time it was rumoured that another Armada was being prepared in Cadiz harbour ; so in 1596, Lord Howard of Efiingham, the earl of Essex, and Raleigh, repeated Drake's exploit of 1587. Entering the harbour, the fleet destroyed the Spanish ships at their moorings, while the soldiers, under Essex, stormed the town and destroyed the fortiflcations, bringing away with them much booty. The action excited the admiration of all Europe. War with Spain naturally led to English schemes of colonisation. As early as 1579 a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who ought to be regarded as the real foun'der Colonisation. of our Colonial Empire, obtained a grant from the queen authorising him to make settlements in unoccupied territory. Accordingly in 1583 he attempted to make a colony in qju^^j.^ Newfoundland ; and after landing the settlers, jDroceeded south to make a further voyage of discovery. Unfortunately on his homeward passage, the crazy vessel of ten tons in which he was crossing the Atlantic foundered near the Azores, and all on board perished. After Gilbert's death, his patent was regranted to Raleigh; and, his brother's colonists having perished, Raleigh decided j^^i^jgh. to make a fresh attempt in a more genial clime. In 1584, an expedition sent out by him explored the coast north of 474 The Tudors 1596 Florida, and reported so well of the climate that Kaleigh decided to choose it for his settlement ; while the queen honoured his intention by- permitting the country to be called Virginia. Accordingly, in 1585, a body of colonists were sent out under the escort of Sir Richard Grenville. Next year Grenville took out another body, but found that the first batch had just returned home with Drake (see page 467), after a sojourn of ten months. For some unexplained reason, Grenville's new colonists perished — probably from being led away into the interior by the thirst for gold, or through giving insufficient attention to crops. Another body sent out in 1587 shared the same fate. Ealeigh's eff'orts, therefore, were unsuccessful ; and after spending about £40,000 on the enterprise, he handed over his rights to a Raleigh in company of merchants ; and nothing more was eff'ected in Guiana. Virginia until the next reign. Raleigh, however, devoted his attention to a new sphere of action. Having heard of the wealth of Guiana, he sent out an expedition in 1594 to explore the coast ; and in 1595 followed himself. Having made his way to the mouth of the Orinoco, he ascended the river in small boats for a considerable distance. He was well received by the natives, between whose chief and the queen of England he established a somewhat shadowy treaty, and returned home satisfied as to the wealth of the country, and thoroughly believing in the existence of a gold mine a little farther inland than he had been able to penetrate. Circumstances, however, prevented him from returning ; but he sent out two subsequent expeditions under his friend Captain Laurence Keymis. Besides these attempts at colonisation, the latter years of Queen Elizabeth saw a great extension in our commerce. The practice of fitting out exi3editions such as those of Drake and Raleigh Commerce. ,^ „ . . ^^ ■ -, ^ i i • at the expense of private individuals, though sometimes with government assistance, had trained Englishmen in one of our most important national characteristics — viz. that of doing by individual eff'ort what elsewhere is done by government alone. Trade Avith distant countries was then a dangerous and expensive undertaking ; and for the purpose of carrying it on, companies were formed exactly analogous to our great railway companies or South African companies of the present day. Such companies received a charter from the govern- ment and special privileges, and many such were granted by Queen _, „ Elizabeth. Of these, the most famous was the East India The East ' India Company, incorporated in 1600. For a long time the trade omp y. ^^ ^^^ East had been carried on by the Portuguese with such secrecy, that it was not till 1587, when Drake on his return from 1599 Elizabeth 475 Cadiz captured a Portup^uese East Indiaman, that the English realised its value. From that time forward, however, efforts were made Ijoth by the English and Dutch to break down the Portuguese monopoly. The first voyage of an English East Indiaman was made in 1601, and in that year an English trading station or factory was established at Calicut. Other companies traded with Eussia and the Levant ; and the impetus thus given to English commercial enterprise was never lost. After 1596 the war against Spain gradually died out. In France, Philip had completely failed to prevent Henry of Navarre from becoming king. In 1590 Henry defeated the league and their Spanish allies at the battle of Ivry. In 1592 Parma, Philip's best general, died during an attempt to raise the siege of Eouen. Next year Henry made success secure by formally joining the Catholic Church. This step, which he justified on the ground that ' France is worth a mass,' made him king not merely of a faction but of the French nation, and from that time forward resistance gradually died away. In 1598 he put the religious affairs of France on a firm footing by the Edict Edict of of Nantes, which granted toleration to the Huguenots. And Nantes, the same year the Peace of Vervins brought his long struggle with Spain to a close. Within a month or two Philip himself died, and was succeeded by his peaceful son Philip iii. We must now return to events in Ireland. The Tudors had never lost sight of the policy, initiated by Henry vii., of bringing the island completely under English rule ; and though the progress made had been fitful, a considerable amount had been accomplished. During the reign of Henry viii., as in that of his pre- decessor, the great difficulty had been caused by the over- ^^^ ^ Henry VIII. weening power of the earls of Kildare ; and when Henry's quarrel with Rome began, this turbulent family, of course, took the opportunity to declare for the pope, and added religious warfare to the horrors of the country. The danger, however, was so serious that the government took most energetic measures to restore peace : every leader who fell into Henry's hands was hanged, and only a single boy remained to represent the Geraldines of Kildare. The Reformation in Ireland was quite diflerent from that in England. The pre-reformation church of Ireland was in an extremely lax condi- tion : authority was divided among no less than eight arch- The Refor- bishops, no one of whom was supreme ; and the bishops, "^ instead of having regular spheres of work, were attached to monastic houses. Accordingly, when the religious houses were swept away, the church fell into complete confusion. The Act of Supremacy was passed 476 The Tudors 1599 by the Irish parliament in 1538 and generally accepted by the chiefs ; and orders were given, though not apparently carried out, for the trans- lation of the English service-book into Irish. The Eeformation, how- ever, on its spiritual side was wholly foreign to the Irish character ; the people still clung to the old faith, and to the ministrations of the itinerant friars ; and it is from the friars and their preaching that the 1599 Elizabeth 477 Irish Catholic Church has received the national and popular character which distinguishes it at the present day. At the same time, it nuist not be supposed that the conduct of the Irish chiefs towards the English government was dictated by religious motives. Mary restored the Roman Catholic religion, but the chiefs rebelled against her just the same ; and the names of Queen's County and Maryborough, King's County and Philipstown still remain to show how far English rule was advanced in her time. The system, however, of annexing the territories of the chiefs and organising them as English shires, brought the government face to face with a new and most serious difficulty. In the history of „ , , , , . •^ ^ The. Irish land-tenure, ownership 01 land by the nation, the tribe, the Land family or community, and the individual, mark four sue- ^^ ^"^" cessive stages of civilisation. The English had reached the stage of individual ownership before they arrived in Britain ; but the Celts were between the tribal and family stages, and their customs appeared, to the English of the sixteenth century, perfectly barbarous. The whole nation was divided into groups, each of whom acknowledged the authority of a chief, who held certain demesne lands in his own hands, and whose household was provided for by contributions due from all the inhabitants. Under him were secondary groups, called Septs, all the members of whom had one surname and had a particular chieftain or Tanist, who had likewise his demesnes and dues. At the death of a chief or chieftain, his land went as a whole to the next heir ; but all other lands, held by the inferior inhabitants, were divided by gavelkind, in which all the children, legitimate or illegitimate, shared alike. The consequence was to make agriculture and progress almost impossible, for 'almost every acre of land hath a several owner, which termeth himself a lord, and his portion of land his country.' Moreover, the Irish regarded the lands of the chief or chieftain not as belonging to him, but as belonging to his followers collectively, and therefore looked upon the confiscation of the property of the chief as robbery of themselves. Confronted with this land-system, the English attempted to introduce the English system. They created the chiefs earls, and regarded the dues paid as rents. From this it followed that, when an Irish chief committed treason, his property was confiscated as in England, and probably redivided among English adventurers, without regard to the rights of the chieftains. Thus one rebellion led the way to another. Early in Elizabeth's reign, her authority was defied by Shan O'Neal, •earl of Tyrone. Like the other Irish chieftains, Shan had made 478 The Tudors 1599 an excellent impression at the English court, but immediately on his return he began disturbances ; and he maintained his independence, more Shan <^^ l^S'^5 ^i^l ^^ 1586 he was assassinated in a fray. Troubles O'Neal, then broke out in the south-west, owing to a quarrel of the queen with the Ormonds and the Desmonds ; but nothing very The serious happened till 1579, when the Desmonds of Munster Desmonds, j^poke into rebellion, assisted by a Spanish force. The Irish, however, again proved too weak to resist the English when fairly roused : the Desmonds were routed, and the Spanish and Italian soldiers, sent by the pope, were forced to surrender and then brutally massacred at Smerwick. The most formidable insurrection of all, however, broke out after the Armada. The defeat of the Desmonds was followed by a whole- sale confiscation of their lands, which were divided out among the English colonists. Among others, the poet Spenser, who had acted as secretary to the lord-lieutenant, and whose View of the Present State of Ireland is a most valuable contribution to our knowledge of the time, received Kilcolman Castle ; and another large share was given to Sir Walter Ealeigh. Spenser went and resided on his estate, and Sir Walter Raleigh made a genuine efibrt to people his lands with English settlers ; but, in most cases, the adventurers did little or nothing to make good their hold on their grants. The result was to drive the Irish chieftains to despair. Accordingly, a most formidable insurrection broke out, in which Spenser barely escaped with his life ; and the English colonists in Munster were practically swept away. This insurrection, however, though terrible in its immediate consequences, would have been short- Hugh lived had not Hugh O'Neal, earl of Tyrone, who was a O'Neal. relative of Shan O'Neal, put himself at the head of the movement. Tyrone was probably the best general the Irish had yet had. He was a master of the art of irregular warfare, and knew exactly how to train his soldiers enough to stand up against regular troops without destroying their aptitude for the irregular forays to which they had been accustomed. He proved himself, therefore, a most formidable antago- Norris. nist. Sir John Norris, one of the best English soldiers of the day, was worn out in pursuing him. His successor. Sir Bagnal. Henry Bagnal, was led into an ambush, by the Blackwater, and vslain with most of his soldiers. In these circumstances, the council determined to enlist the services of the earl of Essex. Essex was, on the whole, the best man to send. He had had much experience in fighting, and was believed to be capable of gi'eat deeds. At the same time, the courtiers saw him depart with mixed feelings. He was hated by the Cecils, and by his personal rivals, Raleigh and 1599 Elizaheth 479 Cobliam, to whom his failure, even at the expense of the state, could not fail to be grateful. On the other hand, he received a letter of sound advice from Francis Bacon. Arrived in Ireland, Essex entirelv for- t^ got, or was unable to carry out, the policy he had advocated Expedition, in England. Instead of attacking Tyrone in his Ulster headquarters, he allowed himself to be beguiled into a ruinous campaign in the desolated regions of the south. Here, without any commensurate result, he lost half his forces, and, when he finally confronted Tyrone, found himself too weak to engage him with any prospect of success. In these circumstances, he entered into a treaty by which he agreed ^^ ^' "^^' that some great lord should be sent as viceroy, and that only Irishmen should be appointed to offices. To such an arrangement Essex must have been perfectly aware that Elizabeth would never agree. For some time he was at a loss what to do. At one time he thought of bringing his army over to England and dictating his own terms ; eventually he left it under the command of Lord Mountjoy, Return to and, without any leave of absence, returned to London. England. On his arrival, without even waiting to change his travel-stained clothes, he rushed into the queen's apartments, and claimed an audience. Eliza- beth indignantly ordered him out ; and, though she granted him a private interview, ordered his case to be investigated by the council. The members, however, being unaware of Essex's treasonable designs, merely ordered him to be confined to his house ; and, after a short time, even this restriction was removed. Nevertheless, the earl was not permitted to appear at court ; and, chafing at the triumph which his own folly had given to his enemies, he entered into a treasonable corre- ^^. ^ ° ^ . His treason. spondence with the king of Scots ; collected round him soldiers, and desperate men such as Catesby and others, who afterwards took part in the Gunpowder Plot. He had also behind hmi a number of noblemen, such as Lords Southampton and Monteagie ; and, by an expression he had let fall, that, if he were in power, no one should sufier for his religious opinions, had secured some support from both Eoman Catholics and Puritans. Such a combination was, obviously, most dangerous to the government, and Elizabeth and her ministers, though they did not know the full extent of Essex's schemes, were aware of their general import. Orders were, therefore, given for his arrest. Essex, however, cleverly evaded the officers, and, after an unsuccessful attempt to raise the Londoners, defended Essex House against the Essex's queen's troops. Such conduct was, obviously, intolerable. Death. His conviction for treason followed as a matter of course, and he was beheaded in 1601. His death left Cecil in secure possession of power. 480 The Tudars leoi The last parliamentary event of Elizabeth's reign was the question of monopolies. During the first thirty years of her reign only eight subsidies had been voted. This remarkable economy, which Parliament. „ , ^ , . ., , was of the greatest advantage to the country, was impossible after the Spanish war ; and, during the last fifteen years, Elizabeth had had to raise fifteen subsidies and to sell crown lands to the value of more than two more. In spite of this she was in great difficulties for money. During her earlier years she had paid ofl" the debts of her father and her brother and sister, but during the years of war she had great difficulty in providing both for the ordinary expenses of the country, and the extra charges entailed by the war and by her alliances with the Dutch and French. As a means of raising money, therefore, she had used largely her right of granting monopolies, for which an annual charge was made to the state. These created a good deal of dis- content ; and the parliament of 1601 having raised the question, the queen consented to a revision. On the whole, the relations between Elizabeth and her parliaments were extremely friendly, the only difficulty arising from the fact that the Commons wished to go farther than the queen ; and though on several occasions Elizabeth arrested members for their conduct in the house, no serious exceiDtion seems to have been taken at the time. The reign of Elizabeth saw a most marked change in the economical condition of the country. The rise of sheep-farming, the disendowment Social of the guilds, and the dissolution of the monasteries had Changes, proved fatal to the old system of life, both in town and country. That system, which depended upon the organisation of the individual in some recognised community such as the manor or the guild, had been almost replaced by the new system, in which the relation between employer and employed is simply a matter of wages. The introduction of the new system was inevitable, but it brought with it its drawbacks. First, because it substituted for a fixed relation and a fixed remuneration a temporary connection and a fluctuating income ; and secondly, because it- brought with it the problem of the unemployed. These difficulties were met by statesmen by an attempt to fix wages by law, and by the provision of a regular system of Poor Law relief. The rate of wages was regulated by the Aijprenticeshijp Act of 1564, generally known as the Fifth of Queen Elizabeth, Chapter 4. Its scope was twofold. First, it attempted to limit the number of skilled labourers by enacting that each artisan must have served a seven years' apprenticeship in the trade which he followed. Secondly, it empowered the magistrates at quarter sessions to fix the wages payable in their 1603 Elizabeth 48 1 district. It also placed restrictions ou the practice of labourers removiuf from one district to another in search of higher wages. In the time of Edward vi. the clergy were ordered to exhort their parishioners to provide by their liberality for the maintenance of their own poor. This not proving efficient, officers were appointed to assess the in- The Poor habitants of the parish, and to demand the payment on ^^^• pain of being censured by the magistrates ; and finally, compulsion being found necessary, the law was consolidated into the great Poor Law of 1601, which provided that in every parish the churchwarden, and from two to four householders should be nominated by the justices of the peace as overseers of the poor. These persons might levy a rate on land and use it : first, to set to work indigent children, and able-bodied men out of work ; second, to relieve people who could not work and had no near relatives to support them ; and third, to erect houses of correction for vagabonds, and to put out pauper children as apprentices. This Act formed the basis of the Poor Law till 1834. The last two years of Elizabeth's life were marked by no political event of first-rate importance. The war with Spain still dragged on, but took mainly the form of privateering. In Ireland Essex's Conclusion successor, Mountjoy, distinguished himself by defeating °^^^^ reign. Tyrone, who was pardoned. At court the chief attention of statesmen was given to securing their own fortunes under Elizabeth's successor. That successor, it was now quite understood, would be James of Scotland, for the claim of the Suffolk family was forgotten, and the advantage of uniting England and Scotland under one crown was obvious to every- body. Until 1602 Elizabeth had preserved her regular health ; but during the autumn of that year she failed fast, and in March 1603 her long and successful reign came to a close. In estimating the merits of a sovereign it is always difficult to apportion praise and blame between the crown and its ministers ; but in Elizabeth's case it may fairly be said that where she differed from her ministers, events almost invariably showed that she was right, and, what is still more remarkable, she con- trived that even the very weaknesses of her character should play their part in the attainment of what she considered the national good. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Treaty of Cateaux Cambresis, ... - 1559 Many London Clergy leave the Church, . . 1564 Mary Queen of Scots comes to England, . . 1568 2 H 482 The Tudors permanent CHIEF DA TES {continued). Rising of the North, Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day Execution of Campion the Jesuit, High Commission Court put on a basis, Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Tyrone's Rebellion in Ireland, . Execution of Essex, . The Great Poor Law, A.T>. 1569 1572 1581 1583 1587 1588 1599 1601 1601 Book VII THE STUARTS XYII.— THE STUARTS. James I, = 1603-1625 = Anne of Deni d. 1619 nark. Henry, Charles I. d. 1612. 1625-1649. 1 ) 1 Elizabeth = d. 1662. 3: Frederick of the Palatinate. Charles II., 1660-1685. James II., 1685-1688, d. 1701. 1 Mary = d. 1660. ^ William of Orange, d. 1650, lM III., 1702. 1 James (the Old Pretender), b. 1688, d. 1765. 1 1 Anne, Mary=^Willlj 1702-1714. 1688-1694. 1688- 1 Prince Kupert, d. 1682. 1 1 Prince Maiirice, Sophia = d. 1652. d. 1714. Georg 1714- Georc = Elector ^e L, 1727. je II. of Hanover. XVIII.— BOURBON KINGS OF FRANCE, 1589-1715. Henry IV., 1589-1610. Louis XIII., 1610-1643. I Louis XIV.,:tl64;3-1715. 481 CHAPTER I JAMES I. : 1603-1625 Born 1566 ; married 1589, Anne of Denmark. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS France. Spain. Emperors. Denmark. Henry iv., d. 1610. Philip in., d. 1621. Ruclolpli, d. 1612. Cliristiau iv,, Louis XIII., d. 1613. Philip iv., 1665. Matthias, d. 1619. 1588 to 1608. Ferdinand, d. 1637. The Main and Bye Plots — The religious question — Parliament — The Gunpowder Plot — Financial and constitutional difficulties of James — Death of lluleigh — The Thirty Years' War — Buckingham — the Spanish Match. On the death of Elizabeth, James vi. of Scotland became king of England and Ireland by right of descent from his great-grandmother, Margaret, daughter of Henry vii. According to the will of The Acces- Henry viii. (see p. 426), Elizabeth should have been sue- ^^°"" ceeded by William Seymour, the son of the earl of Hertford, and of Katharine Grey, younger sister of Lady Jane ; but the legitimacy of their marriage was in dispute, and he had no party behind him. Indeed, had Elizabeth been willing, parliament would gladly have named James heir-apparent, but Elizabeth resented the mention of the subject, and only on her deathbed had indicated ' her cousin of Scotland' as her heir. At his accession James was thirty-seven years of age. He had been king from babyhood, and had most exaggerated ideas of the rights of sovereigns. Great as had been the personal respect exacted The King's by the Tudors, and high-handed as had been their conduct, Character, the Tudor sovereigns had never troubled themselves much about the theory of government. Absolute monarchs, indeed, they claimed to be- that is, free from the control of pope or emperor, or of any external 485 486 The Stuarts 1603 power — but they had never advanced the theory that their prerogative was above the law. James, on the contrary, was wanting in the Tudor art of winning personal respect. His slovenly and gluttonous habits contrasted ill with the dignity of his predecessors, and in consequence he received less credit than was due to him for the many good qualities which he undeniably possessed. He was both good-humoured and good- natured, gifted with the power of vigorous and decisive speech, and, thanks to the good education given to him by his tutor, the learned George Buchanan, he was better versed in history and in religious con- troversy, and knew more of foreign countries, than the majority of contemporary statesmen. Unfortunately, however, his learning was greater than his practical wisdom, while his conscious intellectual superiority led him to make errors which a more stupid man would probably have avoided. Indeed, the contrast between his great learning and his real ineffectiveness caused Henry iv. to describe him as 'the wisest fool in Christendom.' It is but just, however, to say that the conditions under which he lived were calculated to bring his faults to the front, and prevent his abilities from being noticed. James' initial error was a failure to remark the essential diflFerence be- tween English and Scottish politics. He regarded the bishops as having the same influence in England as the Scottish ministers had across the border, and as forming a power which could be played off against that of the nobility. This was a double mistake ; for in England the nobles, as such, had little power, and the strength of the Puritan feeling in the middle classes caused the opinion of the bishops to be regarded with the strongest suspicion. Moreover, the Scottish parliament contained nothing so independent and powerful as the English House of Commons, which had already begun to show itself restive under the popular and judicious rule of Elizabeth. On the other hand, it could not be expected that the new sovereign would readily surrender rights which had been exercised by his predecessors, so that a struggle between king and parliament was inevitable. On his w^ay from Scotland James hanged, without form of trial, a man Avho was caught pocket-picking ; and this action, which violated a cardinal maxim of the constitution, may be taken as typical of the manner in which he regarded his prerogative as overriding the law and customs of his new kingdom. After a leisurely journey, spent in visiting the houses of the leading nobility, James reached London in May. He found the leading men divided into two parties, according as they preferred war with Spain or peace, the latter headed by the secretary of state, Sir Eobert Cecil ; the other by the captain of the late queen's guard. Sir- Walter Ealeigh. 1603 James I. 487 Of these, Sir Walter Ealeigh, who was then fifty-one years of acre, was the greatest surviving representative of the active spirits of the late reign ; and succeeding ages have recognised him as a man of genius, great as well in thought as in action, and as ^^^^*^•^• one of the founders of our Colonial Empire. His contemporaries however, thought very differently. Though a few, such as Spenser the poet, estimated his powers highly, the mass of his countrymen regarded him as at once insolent and intriguing, and Queen Elizabeth would never admit him into her privy council. During Elizabeth's reign, Raleigh, as a supporter of the war policy, had been kept in the background, but he hoped to find employment and influence under the new king. Cecil, on the other hand, had not a spark of genius ; but he was diligent, methodical, and safe. He represented the peaceful policy of Elizabeth's later years, had behind him the reputation of his father, was perfectly disinterested, and had the invaluable quality of a conciliatory manner. James, however, had learned while in Scotland to appreciate Cecil's good qualities, while his repugnance to war alienated him from Raleigh ; so Cecil was continued in his post of secretary, while Raleigh was dismissed, and his office given to Sir Thomas Erskine, a Scotsman. Though it would be a mistake to regard Raleigh's chance of displacing Cecil as having ever been serious, there is no doubt that this rebuff was a sore disappointment to him and to his friend. Lord Cobham. Their anger led them to discuss a plan for getting rid of Cecil by force. Cobham also certainly thought of dethroning James, and of placing Arabella Stuart, a daughter of Darnley's younger brother. The Main on the throne. It was said, too, that there was wild talk of °*' getting assistance from Spain ; but that is most unlikely. These plans of Raleigh and Cobham were consequently spoken of as the Main Plot. At the same time there was a movement among the Roman Catho- lics, who were disappointed at finding that James did not at once put a stop to their grievances. These were undoubtedly The Bye great. The celebration of mass was not only forbidden by ^'°^' law, but both the priest who said it and the congregation who heard him were alike subject to the terrible penalties of treason ; and although so far as laymen were concerned, the strict letter of the law was rarely enforced, the fines for non-attendance at church were vigorously col- lected. Language had been used by James, while in Scotland, which created a belief among the Roman Catholics that these would be remitted ; but the council dared not face the financial difiiculty that would be caused by the loss of such a source of revenue, and it was soon found that the 488 The Stuarts 1603 fines -would be collected as before. Accordingly, William Watson, a priest, who had visited James in Edinburgh ; George Brooke, a brother of Sir Walter Raleigh's friend Lord Cobham ; and Lord Grey de Wilton, a Puritan who had been associated with Roman Catholics in Essex's plot, talked over a plan for seizing the king and forcing him by threats to grant toleration. This scheme became known as the Bye. Cecil heard of both schemes; and, arresting all concerned, tried the prisoners as though Ijoth plots were the same, as indeed was suggested by Brooke's connec- tion with both. The evidence against all the prisoners, especially against Raleigh, was very slight ; but the dread of revolution was great. Treason, as Shakespeare defined it, was ' to labour in one's country's wrack,' and of that the population was perfectly prepared to hear that Raleigh was guilty. Accordingly, Brooke and Watson were hanged ; Raleigh, Cobham, and Grey were found guilty, but respited and consigned to the Tower. Throughout the whole transaction popular feeling was altogether on the side of Cecil, and Raleigh passed through the streets on his way to the Tower amid the execrations of the mob. Had it not been for James, he and the rest would certainly have suftered death. Both Puritans and Roman Catholics hoped to find favour with James. The former relied on his Presbyterian education, the latter The Re- ^^ ^^^ descent from Mary Queen of Scots ; but it was the ligious lot of both to be disappointed, for partly from preference, partly from stress of circumstances, James decided to maintain the religious settlement of Queen Elizabeth. The views of the Puritans were stated in a document called the The Punts. tis " Millenary Petition, because it was intended to be signed by one thousand ministers. The position taken up was decidedly more moderate than that held by the Puritan leaders under Elizabeth, Instead of asking for the abolition of Episcopacy, as had been advo- cated by Cartwright and by the authors of the Mar-prelate tracts, the question of church government was waived, and changes in doctrine and ceremonial were jilone demanded. The petitioners, however, showed little idea of toleration : they asked for the most part that the changes desired by themselves should be not only allowed but enforced on others. Their chief requests were that the cross should not be allowed in baptism ; that the bestowal of the ring should not form part of the marriage ceremony ; and that the terms ' priest ' and ' absolution ' should be ' corrected.' They were also desirous that pains should be taken to secure better preachers ; and that Sunday should be more strictly observed. The petition was loudly condemned 1604 James I. 489 by the universities ; but James consented to receive it, and in the spring of 1604 a conference between the bishops and four of tlio leading peti- tioners was held at Hampton Court. The most active representative of the church was Bancroft, bishop of London ; and of the Puritans, Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi ton Court^" College, Oxford, and Chadertou, master of Emmanuel Controversy. College, Cambridge. Reynolds' first demands were that the Lambeth Articles, a strongly Calvinistic formula, should be incorporated with the Thirty-nine Articles. This James refused ; but he agreed to Reynolds' next suggestion that a new translation of the Bible should be made. The third subject raised was that of ' Prophesy ings,' or meetings of clergy for debate, to which Elizabeth had entertained so strong an objection, and this led to the introduction of the word ' Presbytery.' On hearing it, James fired up, and assuming that the real aim of the petitioners was the establishment of the Scottish Presbyterian system, he abused them roundly, took up the position enunciated in his favourite maxim, ' No Bishop, no King,' and broke up the meeting. ' If this be all they have to say,' said the king, ' I will harry them out of the land, or else do worse.' His declaration amounted to open war between the bishops and the Puritans. Within the year Bancroft succeeded Whitgift as archbishop of Canterbury, and some new canons, conceived in a high church sense, having been drawn up by convocation under his direction, about three hundred clergy who refused to accept them were driven from their livings, and were thus forced to become Nonconformists. Happily these differences did not impede the joint action of both parties in the transla- tion of the Bible. Forty-seven revisers, selected impartially from the most learned men of both parties, participated in the work, of Avhom the most notable were Andrewes, bishop of Winchester, Sir Henry Savile, warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Chaderton. The new transla- tion, which is still known as the Authorised Version, was completed and published in 1611. Founded as it was upon the best wording of earlier translations, and carefully corrected according to the best scholarship of the time, it represents both in style and accuracy not only the best that the age could produce, but probably the best of which the English language is capable. With the Roman Catholics James had more sympathy ; but it was not easy for him to carry his good wishes into action. The importance of the fines paid by the recusants as a source of revenue made The Roman it hard to dispense with them, and the Puritan feeling of ^ ° ^^^' the House of Commons was fatal to any changes in the law. James' great hope, however, was to devise some oath of allegiance which the Roman 490 The Stuarts 1604 Catholics would be willing to take, and so give a guarantee of loyalty to the existing government ; but though he worked hard and dis- played great ingenuity, he failed, and before long the recklessness of some of the more violent Roman Catholics made their position worse than ever. James' first parliament met in March 1604. In calling it, he took the unusual course of advising the electors as to their choice of repre- sentatives, and warned them against the election of outlaws Parliament. , , „ -, „ . . , ,. i or bankrupts, of men noted for superstitious blindness one way,' or for their 'turbulent humours' on the other. This advice, though unconstitutional, was sound ; but the sting of the proclama- tion lay in its tail. All returns of elections were to be made into the Court of Chancery, and if any 'should be found to be made contrary to the proclamation,' they were ' to be rejected as unlawful and insufficient.' When the returns came in, it was found that Sir Francis Goodwin, one of the members for Buckinghamshire, was an outlaw. The Court of Goodwin's Chancery cancelled the return, and ordered a new election. Case. Yyi this Sir John Fortescue was chosen. However, when parliament met, Goodwin claimed the seat, and his right was allowed by the House. A dispute followed, and in it James made the astounding statement that ' all matters of privilege were derived from his grant.' The Commons, however, held their ground ; and while they brought in a bill to disable outlaws from sitting in the future, firmly asserted that all questions touching election disputes ought to be decided by the Commons' House. Eventually, James gave way. Both candidates were withdrawn, and a third chosen ; but the fruits of victory lay with parliament. Had James carried his point, he would, in reality, have secured the right to nominate members, and make election a sham. In this matter the Commons were guided by the advice of Sir Francis Bacon. Immediately afterwards, the Commons won another victory by Shirley's asserting, in the case of Sir Thomas Shirley who had been Case. arrested for debt since the election, the right of their members to immunity from arrest during the sitting of the House except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. Though victorious in both cases, the members were seriously alarmed by James' remark about their privileges ; and before they separated they placed on record their opinion ' that the privileges of their House, and therein the liberties and stability of the whole kingdom, had been more universally and dangerously impugned than ever, as they supposed, since the beginning of parlia- ments.' The prerogatives of the princes, they declared, were ever 1604 James I. 491 nrrowing, but the privileges of subjects, if once lost, were 'not to be recovered but with much disquiet.' On matters of general politics the Commons agreed with the king no better than on matters of privilege. James, who in this respect was ahead of his subjects, pressed hard for a union of England and i t • -.u Scotland, and so far prevailed that commissioners met to Scotland, discuss the matter, and their report was presented in 1606. Considering the times, its proposals were most reasonable. The hostile border laws were to be abolished, and each kingdom was to cease from beino- an asylum for the criminals of the other. English farmers were not to send wool to Scotland, nor Scottish "farmers cattle to England ; but in other respects trade was to be free, and natives of either country were to be allowed to trade in the other. A more difficult question was that of the naturalisation of Scotchmen in England. The commissioners proposed that the Ante-nati — i.e. Scots born during the reign The Ante- of Elizabeth — should be naturalised by an Act of Parliament, "^^'' and that the Post-nati, born under the reign of James, should be declared naturalised from birth. But difficulties arose about the king's prerogative ; merchants feared for their trade ; officials dreaded to see Scotsmen in all the best posts ; and as few except James appreciated the inestimable advantage to both countries of complete amalgamation, the design was frustrated, and parliament did nothing but abolish the hostile border laws, and the Post-nati were declared naturalised by the judges. Incidentally the Commons, when asked to punish a member who had described the Scots as ' rebels, beggars, and traitors,' recorded their view that, being a member of the House, he was not liable to be called in question elsewhere. They then expelled him from the House, and sent him to the Tower. On religious matters the king and the parliament were also of different minds. The majority of the Connnons were desirous of carrying into effect some of the recommendations of the Puritan divines. Puritanism. Bills were passed to make subscription to some of the articles optional, to forbid all pluralities and non-residence, to require guarantees of ability to preach from candidates for ordination, and to forbid any one to be deprived of a living for objecting to the use of the surplice or cross. The bills fell through in the House of Lords ; but, nevertheless, they serve to show how thoroughly antagonistic was the attitude of the laity to that taken up by Bancroft and James. To any relaxation of the disabilities of the Koman Catholics, parliament, in its first session, showed itself distinctly hostile. The manifest hostility of parliament spread consternation among the 402 The Stuarts 1604 Roman Catholics, and the laure desperate men were ready to take up any rash plan. Of these the leader was Robert Catesb}^, who has been _, described as ' a born leader of men.' By birth a country The Gun- . . . . . "^ . . "^ powder gentleman of Warwickshire, his religious convictions had engaged him deep in politics, and he had already shared in Essex's conspiracy. He was over head and ears in debt, and no resource seemed too desperate to his mind. Accordingly, he conceived a plan for sweej)ing away the established government by blowing up the House of Lords at a time when both the king and the Commons would be assembled there for the formal ojDening of parliament ; and he associated with himself Thomas Percy, a connection of the earl of Northumber- land ; Thomas Winter, who had already been urging a Spanish inva- sion ; Guy Fawkes, a Yorkshireman who had fought on the Spanish side in the Netherlands, and others. The plan was well laid, and the conspirators hired some cellars under the House of Lords, where they stored their gunpowder. However, the date of the meeting of parliament was again and again put off, their funds ran short, and they had to let some rich men into the secret, among others Francis Tresham. This gentleman, who had already done much for the cause, had many friends and connections among the peers, and it is believed that his anxiety to save these led to the discovery of the plot. The exact method of its betrayal — an anonymous letter to his brother-in-law. Lord Monteagle — was well calculated both to warn the conspirators that their secret was out and to conceal the betrayer ; but Catesby and his friends were taken in by the determina- tion of the ministers not to act till the last minute. Parliament was to assemble on November 6, 1605, and everything was in readiness, when on the evening of the 4th the cellars were searched, and Fawkes and his gunpowder were discovered. MeanAvhile, the other conspirators were assembling at Dunchurch, in Warwickshire, intending, as soon as they heard of the catastrophe, to raise the country, and to seize the person of James' eldest daughter, Elizabeth, i However, when they were warned by their friends of Fawkes' fate, they fled into Worcestershire, and fought desperately for their lives at Holbeach House. By accident, however, their gunpowder exploded, and ruined all hopes of resistance. Catesby and Percy Avere killed by a single shot. Winter and other wounded men were taken to London, and having been tried with Fawkes, were put to death with all the , ^„ barbarity of the time. For the Roman Catholics, the Its Effects. „ ., „ 1 . . failure of these enthusiastic but misguided men was far better than their success could have been. Even as it was, the 1605 James I. 493 exasperation of the country, which drew little distinction between the action of a handful of fanatics and the feelings of their peaceable co-religionists, demanded severe measures. Accordingly, penal laws were passed, by which, in addition to their old disabilities, Eoman Catholics were forbidden to appear at court, to live in London unless engaged in trade, or to travel more than five miles from home. No Roman Catholic was to practise at the bar, or become an attorney or physician ; all Roman Catholic books were to be destroyed, and the houses of all Roman Catholics were to be always open for inspection. The severity of these enactments is a proof of the terror that prevailed ; but it is characteristic of the coolness of the English race that parliament met at the time appointed, and went on with its ordinary business in the most formal manner, as though nothing out of the common had happened. How far these restrictions, over and above the fines, were enforced sufficiently to be really a burden, it is difficult to say ; the law did not act unless it was set in motion by a private prosecutor, and against quiet and well-disposed persons their neighbours were not ready to inform. It was more serious that, for years after the Gunpowder Plot, the mass of Englishmen regarded the Roman Catholics as capable of any crime, however atrocious or silly, and that to propose any ameliora- tion in their condition was a certain road to unpopularity. From the very beginning of the reign, the disproportion between the revenue and the expenditure of the crown had been a source of grave anxiety. The non-parliamentary sources of revenue _. o J f J Finances. — the crown lands, feudal dues, fines from the law-courts and from the recusants — with the parliamentary grant of tonnage and poundage for life, had given Elizabeth an income of about ^300,000 a year ; but, economical as she was, she had been obliged, during her last years, to sell land to the value of ^372,000 to pay off liabilities, and, even then, left behind £400,000 of debts. The journey from Scotland, the funeral of Elizabeth and his own coronation, cost the new king £100,000 ; so, had James been the beau-ideal of a careful financier, he would have had hard work to make both ends meet. As it was, James made the initial mistake of thinking that because he was leaving a poor country for a rich one, he would, therefore, be a wealthy king. He gave presents with a lavish hand, allowed his household expenditure to grow unchecked, and omitted to keep a careful eye upon the ever-increasing expenditure of the various government departments. In his second year he spent £426,000, and incurred debts to the amount of £735,000, and gave presents to the value of £40,000, and this ' needless and unreason- able ' expenditure, as he himself described it, soon brought the finances 494 The Stuarts 1605 into hopeless confusion. At lengtli in 1608 Cecil himself undertook their management. Two metliods of increasing the revenue occurred to the new treasurer: one to increase the duties levied as tonnage and poundage, the other to Increased exchange the fluctuating and irregular income from feudal Taxation, (j^^gg ^^(j purveyance for a fixed tax. His right to raise the duties dejDended upon a decision of the judges made in 1606 in the case Bate's ^^ ^ merchant named Bate. The trial arose out of the Case. refusal of Bate to pay a duty on currants, levied in lieu of a payment of £4000 a year, formerly paid by the Levant Company. The Commons supported the merchants, and also objected to a duty of 6s. 8d. a pound on tobacco, which James had imposed to check the practice of smoking. However, when the case was tried in the Exchequer Court, the judges, relying on precedents in the reigns of both Mary and Eliza- beth, decided that it was the king's prerogative to levy duties on exports and imports. Fortified by this decision, Cecil issued a new book of rates, by which, though some duties were lowered and others raised, he expected in the aggregate to produce an additional £70,000. Against this action the Commons, relying on the Confirmatio Chartarum, and on Edward iii.'s concession in 1340, loudly protested, but the right declared lawful in Bate's case was acted upon till 1641. Purveyance and the feudal dues had also been under discussion in parliament. Purveyance, or the right of the king to requisition The Great carts for his baggage and provisions for his followers, Contract, j^^^ been a source of complaint at least since the Norman Conquest. Nominally, everything had to be paid for at the market price ; in reality, it was hard to get payment at all, and the purveyors were stigmatised as 'Harpies.' The cart-takers were mentioned as specially exorbitant ; and the purveyors would cut trees in a man's garden to supply themselves with firewood. However, it was not easy to remove the grievance, as the Lords were in favour of compensation, which the Commons refused to pay ; and no settlement was arrived at. With regard to the feudal dues and the court wards, Cecil was not more successful. Wardship had always been a grievance ; and, with the disappearance of the military obligations of land ownership, all excuse for it had ceased. The three regular aids of Magna Charta (see page 177) had not been levied since the days of Henry vii., but the collec- tion of an aid on the knighting of James' eldest son Henry recalled them to mind. Accordingly, the Commons were willing to treat for a commutation, and the sum of £200,000 a year had actually been agreed on, when a dispute on details caused the failure of 1612 James I, 495 the plan ; and the Great Contract, as it was called, was finally aban- doned in 1611. On foreign politics James was no more in accord with his subjects than in other matters. At his accession, Barneveldt the Dutchman, and Rosny, afterwards duke of Sully, the illustrious minister p^^. • of Henry iv,, had come over with a view to persuading him Politics, to follow the policy of Elizabeth ; but James, who had never felt his pulse beat higher with the joy of victory over the Armada, was bent on making peace as soon as possible ; and, unluckily, his idea of peace was not the maintenance of English independence, after the manner of Wolsey and of Elizabeth, but a complete alliance with Spain. This policy was most unpopular, for many Englishmen ^^'"* regarded war with the Spaniards almost as a Christian duty, and seamen habitually made money by sacking Spanish towns and plundering Spanish treasure-ships. James, however, was bent on having his own way, and peace was made in 1604. 'God preserve our good neighbours in Holland and Zealand ! ' was the cry with which it was received in London. On the whole, however, the treaty itself was favourable to England, and the Dutch were strong enough to hold their own, till they, too, made peace in 1608. So long as Cecil, who had been created earl of Salisbury, lived, a fairly independent policy was followed, and friendly relations were maintained with France and the Protestant powers. After the war between the Spaniards and the Dutch was concluded, the attention of Europe began to be directed to Germany. There, in accordance with the treaty of Augsburg, concluded in 1555, each district followed the religion of its ruler ; and, consequently, Germany was checkered with Lutheran, Catholic, and Calvinist states. Moreover, of late years, Catholicism, aided by the Jesuits, and supported by Austria and Spain, had been steadily gaining ground ; and it was believed that war between the Catholics and Protestants was merely a question of time. In 1609, difficulty arose about the succession to the duchies of Juliers and Cleves, and war was on the point of breaking out, when the assassination of Henry iv. of France postponed the conflict for a season. James, on the whole, inclined to the Protestants. His eldest son Henry was eager on their side ; and, in 1612, a marriage was arranged between the English Princess Elizabeth and Frederick, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, the head of the German Protestants. However, before the marriage was performed, in 1613, both Cecil and Prince Henry were dead. Cecil died in 1612, worn out by his official 496 The Stuarts I612 work. He was the last of Elizabeth's ministers, and though his con- nection with the impositions had lately made him unpopular, his loss Death of was deeply felt. The death of Prince Henry the same Prince^"*^ °^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ great blow to the Court. Though only nine- Henry, teen, he had already made himself beloved by his genial talk and active habits. His saying about Raleigh : ' My father is the only sovereign in Europe who would keep such a bird in a cage,' had passed from mouth to mouth ; and his friendliness to the Puritans had provoked the doggerel rhyme : ' Henry viii. put down the monks and their cells, But Henry ix. shall put down bishops and bells.' Unfortunately, the liberties he took during an attack of typhoid fever aggravated the malady, and in the autumn of 1612 he died. After the deaths of Cecil and Prince Henry, James felt himself free to direct his policy as he chose. Accordingly, he made further advances to Spain, and for many years looked forward to a marriage between his surviving son Charles and a Spanish princess as the thing of all others to be desired. He believed that such an alliance would enable him to arbitrate between Spain and the Protestant princes of Germany, and also that he would be able to pay his debts out of the large dowry which he anticipated from the Spanish king. Meanwhile, the energy of the country was finding new outlets. After the failure of Essex, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, had become deputy Ireland. of Ireland. He belonged to a family of soldiers, and was a Mountjoy. thoughtful and persevering man. Accordingly, instead of following Essex's mistake, he adopted a plan suggested by the poet Spenser in his View of the Present State of Ireland, and erected a series of forts in aU the strategical points from Carrickfergus, on Belfast Lough, to Ballyshannon, on Sligo Bay. These forts were small, but strong, well garrisoned, and provisioned to stand a siege. They completely fulfilled their purpose of preventing the Ulstermen from gathering together for war ; and presently Tyrone submitted, and O'Donnell died. Mountjoy was succeeded by Arthur Chichester, an experienced officer, who had fought against the Armada and at Cadiz, and had been one of Mountjoy 's best men. Chichester was a man of high character and broad views. His great object was to present the English government to the Irish in the light of a strong and impartial power, capable of securing justice for the poor and the weak, and of curbing the lawlessness and avarice of the chiefs and of their high-handed followers ; and in this he, to a great extent, succeeded. 1606 James I. 497 Hitherto, no serious attempt had been made to convert the Irish to Protestantism, the doctrines of which had nominally been adopted by the church. The Protestant bishops were, as a rule, absolutely unfitted for their posts ; the archbishop of ^^^'S^°"- Cashel held three bishoprics and seventy-seven benefices ; the Bible and prayer-book had not been translated into Irish ; only the devotion of the dispossessed priests had prevented the country population from relapsing into heathenism. Chichester, however, had the Bible and prayer-book translated, did something to reform the church, and allowed practical toleration to the Catholics. Unhappily, Chichester's policy was disliked by the chiefs, who preferred their old method of collecting irregular contributions to the English system of regular rents ; but when Tyrone demanded tribute as of old, the clansmen at once appealed to the government. Tyrone also refused to permit the presence in his country of a sheriff, and began to prepare for war. However, Chichester was too strong for him ; and, in 1609, he left the country. This offered a great opportunity for a permanent settlement ; and Chichester proposed that, after the followers of the earls and their dependants had received ample grants of good land, the re. The Ulster " mainder of the forfeited estates should be given to a Settlement, carefully selected body of Englishmen and Scotchmen, who had deserved well by their services to the state. Unfortunately for both countries, the very reverse was done. The best lands were given to the new settlers, and the refuse to the ancient Irish. As every man in an Irish sept held himself to be joint owner with his chief, this was regarded by them as the grossest injustice. The new settlers showed themselves men of energy, and in their hands Ulster, which had been the wildest, became the most prosperous district in Ireland : but the wrongs of the dispossessed Irish have never been forgotten. After the imprisonment of Sir Walter Kaleigh, the project of colonising Virginia was taken up by a corporation of merchants and others, styled the Virginia Company, and in 1607 a body of colonists was ^.^ .^.^ despatched to America. Among these was John Smith, a man distinguished, even in that age of adventure, by the variety of his experiences. Son of a Lincolnshire farmer, he early made his way to sea. He fought against the Spaniards in the Netherlands, and against the Turks in Hungary ; had been tossed overboard in the Mediterranean by his French fellow-sailors ; had been a prisoner among the Turks, and a slave among the Cossacks of the Don. Smith, though not in command, was in reality the life and soul of the enterprise, and the credit of its success was almost entirely due to him. Landing near the mouth of the 2i 498 The Stuarts I6O6 Chesapeake, the settlers complimented the royal family by naming the headlands at its mouth Cape Henry and Cape Charles, and the site of their settlement Jamestown. Their difficulties were enormous, and were aggravated by the incompetence of their nominal leaders. Meanwhile, Smith's talent for adventure had not deserted him. Captured by the Indians, he first gained time by displaying to them the wonders of a compass, and afterwards was rescued from imminent execution by the entreaties of Pocahontas, the daughter of the savage chief. At length Smith was made governor, and things were going well, when the Com- pany, ignorant of the improvement, sent Lord de la Warr to act as president. However, before he reached Virginia, Smith had met with an accident and returned home. Deprived of his guidance, the colony fell into complete disorder ; provisions failed ; the barbarity of the settlers provoked the Indians to hostilities, and within six months sixty colonists alone were left alive. These were on the point of abandoning the place when Lord de la Warr arrived with provisions, and the settlement was re-established. From that date the prosperity of the colony was secure. While Smith and his followers were struggling on the „ , ^ mainland, another body of Englishmen were establishing Barbados. , , . , "^ ^ ^ * themselves m the Barbados, so that the year 1607 may be taken as the real commencement of our Colonial Empire. For some time an attempt was made to rule the colonies from London, but by degrees the necessity for local government made itself felt, and in 1619 the first regular Virginian parliament assembled. (See map for the year 1756.) The next settlers on the mainland were a very difterent set of men from the gentlemen whose descendants long described themselves as the New 'first families of Virginia.' The attempts of successive arch- England, "bishops of Canterbury to enforce uniformity created widespread discontent among the Separatists, and so early as 1606 a congregation of Independents from Gainsborough had removed in a body to Holland. In 1608 their example was followed by another congrega- tion at Scrooby in Nottinghamshire ; but these, dissatisfied with the town life of Leyden, their first refuge, made terms with the Virginia Company, and in 1620 sailed for America in the Mayflower. Accident led them to disembark near Cape Cod, and they called their settlement New Plymouth. Fortunately the Indians, who had been alarmed by an outbreak of small-pox, which followed close upon some outrages on previous settlers, were friendly, and by their aid the Englishmen were enabled to pass through the trials of the first winter. From the outset the New England Colony, as it was called, was in marked contrast to Virginia. The southerners were gentlemen, desirous 1612 James I. 499 of reproducing in America the easy country life to which they had been accustomed at ho]ue. They carved the country into large estates, and to supply labour for these, negroes were imported from Northerners. Africa. Tobacco was their chief article of commerce, and Southerners. a thriving trade soon secured the prosperity of the colony. The northerners, on the other hand, were men of middling estate, farmers, shopkeepers, and craftsmen, accustomed to work with their own hands. They reproduced in New England not the life of the hall but that of the village. The lands held by each were small, their houses clustered round the chapel, their manners were plain and manly, but their Puritanism caused refinement and culture to be somewhat despised. For slaves they had little need, though as yet they had no conscientious scruples against holding them ; but from the first the seeds of antagonism betAveen north and south were deeply laid. As yet, however, there lay between the two settlements not only much unoccupied territory, but also a Dutch settlement at New Amsterdam on the Hudson River. The flourishing trade which had grown up under Queen Elizabeth with India, Africa, and the ports of the Mediterranean, increased rajDidly under her successor. In those days few private persons ^ •^ ^ '■ Commerce. had wealth enough to fit out a shijD and to provide her with the armament necessary to hold her own against such hostile men-of-war or pirates as she was likely to meet, so companies were formed to carry on special branches of trade. Of these the most notable were the East India Company, the Smyrna Company, the Turkey Company, the Levant Company, the Muscovy Company for Eussia, and the Eastland for the Baltic, and the Merchant Adventurers for Holland and Flanders and Germany. The rights of these companies were regarded with jealousy as monopolies, and also as concentrating too much of the national trade in London. In 1604, for example, the customs of the port of London were worth ^110,000, while those of the rest of the country only produced £17,000. The consequent increase in the size of London was looked on with apprehension by the court ; but, the merchants being as a rule in opposition, it was a source of strength to the parliament. Never- theless, the Commons, in the interests of their constituents, would gladly have thrown trade open by abolishing the monopoly of the London companies, but the hostility of the Lords prevented them from carrying out their design. Throughout his life James had been prone to prefer the society of ill-educated, if amusing, favourites to that of wise statesmen. Royal and one result of the death of Salisbury was that such ''''°"" ^^' men, whose influence the treasurer had restrained, gained almost complete 600 The Stuarts I612 possession of the king's ear. In 1612 the leading favourite was Kobert Carr, a young Scotchman of handsome figure, to whom James had been attracted by his having the good fortune to break his Carr. « , ^ leg at one of the court tiltmg matches. Though Carr knew nothing of politics James gave him his confidence and made him earl of Rochester, and as it became known that nothing was to be got from James except on Carr's recommendation, the favourite was soon loaded with presents. By-and-by Rochester fell in love with the countess of Essex, the girl-bride of the heir of Elizabeth's favourite. Essex was a young man of good character and severe manners, and the countess, eager to marry Carr, brought a petition of a very disgraceful character for the dissolution of her marriage. James was foolish enough to aid his favourite, and, under the court's influence, the countess's jDrayer was granted. After her divorce she married Carr, who at the same time was made earl of Somerset. In politics Carr had few ideas, but his influence was fatal to economy, and within a year of Salisbury's death James' finances were more involved than ever. At length the advisability of calling another parliament began to be discussed. In regard to the functions of parliament there was at this time „ ,. much difi'erence of opinion. Some regarded it as an assembly Parliament. i i • useful only for granting money, and never to be called except in extreme necessity. Others, like Bacon, held parliament to be a necessary part of the machinery of government, from which alone the sovereign could learn authoritatively the wants of his subjects and so fit himself for exercising with success the duties of chief executive ofiicer. Few, if any, looked to parliament for the initiation of policy, still less as an assembly capable of exercising a dominant influence in the nomination of the king's ministers, as had been somewhat vaguely understood under the Lancastrian kings. However, as the king's necessities brooked no delay, and as certain of his friends ' undertook ' to secure the ^, election of members favourable to the court, James was The . ' • Under- encouraged to issue the writs. When parliament met in 1614 it was found that the attempts of the 'undertakers' had done more harm than good, and that the Conmions, though three hundred new members had been chosen, were as sturdy defenders of privilege as their predecessors. The chief point on which debate turned was the question of the impositions, and here the Commons were positive that ' redress of grievances ' must precede the voting of supply. Their persistence in this matter irritated James ; their outspoken language alarmed the court ; the Spanish party feared that any recon" ciliation between the king and the Commons would necessarily strengthen 1615 James I. 501 the Protestant party ; and James, losing patience, dismissed the Houses before a single Act had been passed. This parliament was The Addled called in derision the Addled Parliament. Parliament. The same year James took a fancy to a young English gentleman George Villiers, a well-disposed young fellow of two-and-twenty, whom his mother had trained in all graceful accomplishments with a view to his success at court. The education of his mind she had neglected as unimportant. Villiers was befriended by those who disliked Somerset and the Scots, and was pushed on to be Somerset's rival. Bacon thought well of him, and hoped to see him raise the executive government to be as efficient as he wished it to be. Before long the new favourite had a party at his back ; but before the rivalry had become intense, Somerset was overthrown by a blow from an altogether unexpected quarter. At the time of the Essex pali of divorce Somerset had been the friend of Sir Thomas Somerset. Overbury, a gentleman still famous as the author of a book in which various typical characters are wittily described. He had aided Carr in writing letters to the countess of Essex, but was opposed to the divorce, and as he probably knew so much of the countess's secrets as to have her in his power, she became his bitter enemy. At the same time James, annoyed by hearing that it was said that 'if Rochester ruled the king, Overbury ruled Rochester,' offered Overbury a post abroad, and on his refusal sent him to the Tower. While there he was poisoned by an emissary of the countess. For two years no suspicions were raised, but at length the story leaked out. The earl and countess of Somerset and her agents were all tried and convicted ; and though he was probably innocent, there is no doubt of her guilt. The disgraceful circumstances connected with the whole affair inflicted a great blow on the reputation of the court, and did much to alienate from the crown the goodwill of the Puritan party. After the dissolution of the Addled Parliament, James remodelled the government according to his own ideas. One of his first steps was to dismiss Edward Coke from the post of chief justice Bacon and of the king's bench. Coke, who had no rival in knowledge ^°'^^* of the details of the common law, for which he had an intense respect, was neither a statesman nor a man of broad views on any subject ; but at this moment, when James' notions of high prerogative made any barrier valuable, his sturdy insistance on the sanctity of the law was of the highest importance. His views on the impositions had already brought him into opposition to the king ; and in 1615 he was dismissed from his post in order to prove to the judges that they held their posts 502 The Stuarts 1615 at the king's pleasure, not in name merely but in reality. Throughout his life the rival of Coke had been Francis Bacon, author of the Essays and of the Advancement of Learning ; and the one man was the antithesis of the other. While Coke was a stickler for technicalities. Bacon cared nothing for forms ; while Coke was always resting on the letter. Bacon searched for the spirit ; and while in general questions Coke was quite incompetent, Bacon was the most statesmanlike man of his time. Like most of the chancery lawyers who had been trained in the maxims of the Koman law, Bacon had a very high idea of the king's power ; and he believed that the executive officers of the king were much better judges of what should be done than an ill-informed House of Commons. James, however, was too self-satisfied to yield to Bacon's advice ; Bacon was too courtly to press his views on unwilling ears, and, in consequence, his advice was set aside for that of ignorant youths like Villiers, or mere time-servers without a tithe of Bacon's ability. The differences between Coke and Bacon were accentuated by a very ancient contest as to the jurisdiction of the courts of king's bench and chancery, each of which aimed at getting as many cases as possible for itself, and resented the interference of the other. For example, the common law courts refused to enforce the duties of trustees, which were recognised in the court of chancery ; so that little love was lost between the two branches of the law. Coke's fall was taken as success for Bacon ; and when, in 1618, Bacon became lord-chancellor, his triumph was complete. His new position, however, did not add much to his political influence ; he was rarely consulted by the king, while he was expected to use his legal position for the advancement of the royal prerogative. Meanwhile, Sir Walter Kaleigh, the last of the Elizabethan heroes, was a prisoner in the Tower, writing a history of the world, and amusing himself with chemical experiments. However, in 1G16, he was released in order that he might take command of an expedition to Guiana. This country had been visited by him in 1595 (see p. 474), and he had then learned from the Indians, whose favour he won by kindly treatment, the existence, on the banks of the Orinoco, of a mountain said to contain rich stores of gold. The need of joining the expedition against Cadiz, and other employments, prevented Kaleigh from returning, but the present miserable state of the royal finances had suggested to him the idea of using the prospects of obtaining gold as a means of securing his release. The plan succeeded ; but James, though he longed for the gold, dreaded war with Spain, nnd Ealeigh was carefully instructed to avoid hostilities with the Spaniards. This he had some hope of doing, because, when he was in Guiana, no Spanish settlement 1617 James I. 503 lay between the gold mountain and the sea. However, ill-luck attended the expedition from the first ; and on its arrival in America, the crews refused to ascend the river unless Raleigh himself promised to await their return. Accordingly, the exploring party was placed under Captain Keymis, the old comrade of Sir Walter, and young Walter Ealeigh went with him. On their way, they learned that the Spaniards had moved their settlement, and that the route up the river was now blocked by the town of S. Thome. Instead of making a circuit in order to avoid the town, Keymis stormed it, and in the assault young Walter was killed. Keymis then became aware that an advance throuo-h the forest in face of the enemy was impracticable, and returned to the ships, where, overwhelmed by Raleigh's reproaches, he put an end to his life. Anxious not to return empty-handed, Raleigh then proposed to attack the Spanish treasure-ship ; but his captains refused to follow him, and Raleigh was compelled to return straight to England. Immediately on landing, he was arrested by the king's order. His action had, in fact, put James in a very awkward position. How James had ever hoped to avoid hostilities with the Spaniards, it is diificult to see ; but, apparently, he had hoped to keep what profit there was for himself, and to throw the blame, if any, on Raleigh. As it was, he had to choose between a declaration of war and the punishment of Raleigh, and his anxiety for peace at any price with Spain made him choose the latter. At first he offered to hand Raleigh over to the Spaniards, but, eventually, the case was investigated in England ; and as Raleigh, being technically a dead man (for he was still under sentence of death), could not be tried on a second charge, the sentence pronounced on him fifteen years before was carried into eff'ect. There was no doubt that Raleigh's attack on the Spaniards was a violation of modern international law ; but the theory of Elizabeth's sea-captains was, that 'there was no peace beyond the line.' His action was merely a repetition of conduct for which Drake and Hawkins had been rewarded ; but times had changed, and he had to pay with his life for errors committed in a course of action upon which he ought never to have been allowed to enter, and for which the real blame lay with the king. Though a man of genius, great both in thought and in action, Raleigh's character was by no means perfect. In regard to truth he was perfectly reckless : but his faults were forgotten in the ' tragedy of his death.' The disgraceful sacrifice of Raleigh, the extravagance of the court, the Overbury scandal, and the persecution of Puritans, had jhe Thirty made James' government both hated and despised, when, Y^^^^' "^^'■• in 1621, an opportunity ottered itself to the king to set himself right 504 The Stuarts I617 with his subjects by espousing the cause of the German Protestants. Since the marriage of Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine, the Catholics and Protestants of Germany had become more and more clearly divided into two hostile camps ; and a small spark only was needed to set the accumulated fuel in a blaze. The spark came from Bohemia. In that country — in which, so far back as the days of Huss, the party of reform had found a stronghold — Protestantism was very strong. It had for years been the practice of the Bohemians to elect the head of the house of Austria their king, in spite of his being a Catholic ; but the Emperor Matthias compelled the Bohemian assembly to declare the throne hereditary in the Austrian family, and, in spite of his being celebrated as a persecutor of the Protestants, to take Ferdinand of Styria as his successor. However, on Matthias' death, the Bohemians altered their own minds, and offered the crown to the Elector Palatine, by whom it was accepted. Ferdinand, who had been chosen emperor, fought for his rights in Bohemia, and called on the Catholics to aid him, while Frederick appealed to the Protestant powers. The illegality, however, of his position in Bohemia made many hang back, and, in consequence, the Catholic troops were able, not only to turn him out of Bohemia, but even out of the Palatinate itself. As James was Frederick's ftither-in-law, he was naturally expected to have English support, and also that of the Danes and Swedes, while Spain came to the assistance of the emperor. These events revived in England all the old hatred against Spain ; and those who believed that the best way to aid Frederick was to fight Spain, were eager for a declaration of war ; while hundreds of Englishmen hurried off to Germany to fight for their popular princess — 'the queen of hearts.' James, however, still believed in negotiation, and was desirous, by the Spanish marriage, to connect himself with both parties. Nevertheless, in order that he might show himself ca]Dable of armed interference, he called a parliament in 1621. When parliament met, James did his best to conciliate the members by denouncing the 'Undertakers' of 1614 ; and he declared plainly his intention, if negotiations failed, of spending his blood for Parliament. ,, , p ^ ?. . i , / .. -, , -^^ the defence of his son-m-law s territory and the Protestant religion. In consequence, a considerable supply was voted ; but, as there was no immediate prospect of action, the members soon turned aside to the consideration of domestic grievances. In this they were led by Coke, who, since his dismissal from the bench, had resumed jDractice as a barrister, and had been returned to parliament as an opponent of the court. Their chief complaint was directed against the abuses connected 1621 James L 505 with monopolies. Under Elizal)eth these had been checked, but under her successor their number had increased to about forty of various kinds. Some, like our patents, were for the protection of inven- tions ; others, to encourage the introduction of new forms of ^°"°P°''^^- manufacture ; others were designed for the benefit of the state. Ac- cording to the notions of the time, monopolies were defensible enough ; but, in a court like that of James i., every institution was tainted with corruption, and both oppression and peculation were rife. The mono- polies specially singled out for attack were those of licensing inns, and of manufacturing gold and silver thread — which, in reality, was carried on by the king himself. Evidence of abuses was plentiful ; and as the country magistrates were aggrieved by the licences, and the wealthy goldsmiths by the prohibition to make thread, the country members of parliament and the London merchants made common cause against the court. The evidence pointed specially to Sir Giles Mom- pesson and to Sir Francis Michell, and the cases of both were referred by the Commons to the House of Lords after the manner of an impeachment. An even more serious case was that of Lord-Chancellor Bacon. The monopoly question had brought his name into notice ; and, presently, various suitors in the chancery court accused him of „ ,...,, Bacon. receiving bribes. It did not appear that his justice had ever been perverted, l^ut it was shown that he had received sums of ,£100, ,£300, and even ^700, from suitors, both before and after their cases had been decided. In those days of small salaries and high fees, public opinion was by no means clear as to what a judge might or might not receive with propriety ; and Bacon himself, ever careless of money matters, and inattentive to detail, had been guilty of great laxity : but the integrity of his judgments was unchallenged. The accusations, preferred by the Commons, were carefully investigated by the Lords ; and Bacon himself admitted the truth of the facts. The sentence of the Lords ordered Bacon to be confined in the Tower during the king's pleasure, to be incapable of holding office or of coming to court, and to pay a fine of ^40,000. The actual punishment was soon remitted by the king ; but the twofold value of the sentence was unaffected by this. In the first place, a good stout blow had been struck at the system of corruption, which had lately flourished^ un- checked ; in the second, the doctrine of the responsibility of the king's ministers to parliament had been placed above question. Durmg the reigns of the Yorkists and the Tudors, this theory had practically been in abeyance. Never since the impeachment of Suffolk, in 1450, had it 506 The Stuarts I62i been enforced. But now that the practice had been revived, there was little chance of its falling into desuetude ; and, for one hundred years, there was hardly a parliament in which a bill of impeachment was not introduced. After the prosecution of Bacon and Michell parliament separated for a short adjournment, and when it met again the whole attention of the Foreign House was given to foreign affairs. The great object of the Affairs. members was to hold James to his declaration, that if negotiations failed he would risk blood and treasure for the Protestant cause, and many members were in favour of an open declaration of war. Such were not the views of James. His desire was for a marriage _, between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain ; his mind The AT- f ' Spanish was powerfully influenced by the Spanish ambassador Gondomar, and he knew that unless he could secure tolera- tion for the Roman Catholics such a match was impossible. The temper of the Commons, on the other hand, was shown by their decision that towards the war subsidy recusants should pay a double share, by a petition for putting the laws against recusants into full force, and by another for the marriage of the prince to a Protestant. What the Commons feared was that toleration for recusants would prove to be merely the thin end of the wedge towards a re-establishment of Roman Catholicism. As a young member, John Pym, put it : 'If the Papists once obtain a connivance, they will press for a toleration ; from thence to an equality ; from an equality to a superiority ; from a superiority to an extirpation of all contrary religions.' Under the influence of Gondomar and Buckingham James roundly bade the members not to interfere in ' mysteries of state,' and attacked their privilege of free speech by declaring his ability, whether in or out of session, to punish members for their conduct in the House. This brought matters to a crisis ; and the House, led by Coke and Thomas Wentworth, member for Yorkshire (afterwards the famous earl of Straiford), enrolled on their journals their opinion, ' That the liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdictions of parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England,' and that ' in the handling and proceeding of these businesses every member of the House hath, and of right ought to have, freedom of speech.' When the Commons sent their first petition James showed his apprecia- tion of the position by ordering seats to be set for ' the ambassadors,' as though the House of Commons were a sovereign power. After ten days' reflection he sent for the journals of the House, and tore out the obnoxious protest with his own hand. Parliament was then dissolved, without even passing a subsidy bill ; Coke, Phelips, and Mallory were 1624 James I. ^m sent to the Tower, and Pym was ordered to confine himself to his lionse. Gondomar took James' action as ' a resohition to leave all and to attach himself to Spain.' All hope of England Ji!^n"of"' giving effective aid to the German Protestants was now ^^"^*^^"- at an end. James, however, by no means despaired of effecting something by negotiations, and his idea of bringing about a general reconciliation between the Catholic and Protestant powers, for which the keynote was to be given by the marriage of the Prince of Spanish Wales to the Infanta, was not without a certain nobility. ^^*'^^- Unfortunately, however, the hostility of parliament to the Catholics, the determination of the emperor to punish Frederick for taking Bohemia, and the fixed principle of the Spaniards not to make war upon the House of Austria, were facts which could not be overcome. Nevertheless, so sanguine was the prince, and so overweening was the belief of Buckingham in his own powers, that the two young men set off on a romantic journey to Madrid, where they hoped to The Madrid conclude the marriage treaty and bring back the Infanta in Jo^r^^y- triumph. This was quite a false step. No sooner was Charles at Madrid than he found himself compelled by fear of failure to make one concession after another, and finally swore, on behalf of his father and himself, to give full immunity to the English Catholics, and to get parliament to confirm his action w'thin three years. Finding, however, that the Infanta would not be allowed to return with him, even if he married her, Charles left a form of process to authorise someone else to represent him at the marriage ceremony, and then hurried home. When he reached England without his bride the joy of the nation knew no bounds ; but cautious men saw that by going as far as he had there was no choice between concluding the marriage and open war. Charles' honour seemed to be bound up in the completion of the match, for which elaborate preparations were going forward at Madrid ; but three days before the ceremony Bristol, the English ambassador, was ordered to make fresh demands, and the marriage was indefinitely postponed. Subsequent knowledge places the conduct of Charles in a very bad light, but at the time his popularity was great ; and James, having seen the ftiilure of his negotiations, practically withdrew from public aflfairs, and allowed Buckingham and Charles to take charge of the preparations for an attempt to recover the Palatinate by arms. Accordingly, a parlia- ment elected when the hostility to Spain was at its height assembled in 1624. Hardly a voice was raised for peace ; the one question was whether it was better to attack the Palatinate directly, or to bring our 508 The Stuarts 1624 main force to bear upon Spain. Finally it was decided to begin by an attack on the Palatinate, and twelve thousand Englishmen were placed for the purpose under Count Mansfeld, a clever but unscrupulous soldier of fortune, who was acting for Frederick. The affair was terribly mismanaged ; the English, who would have fought readily The German against Spain, showed little inclination to enter upon a Expedition, -wild-goose cliase in Germany ; the soldiers, when they arrived in Holland, were sent up the Khine in open boats, half-starved and wretchedly clad. Numbers died, and the chief result was to fill the country with the conviction that Charles and Buckingham had no skill in administration. Meanwhile, the earl of Middlesex, better known as Lionel Cranfield, the clever and economical lord-treasurer, was impeached and punished — nominally for malversation, really because he opposed the Impeach- . ^ • ^ r^i 1 • ^ • • 1 ^ n l^ ment of war — a proceedmg m which Charles, with inconceivable folly, took a leading part. Monopolies, except for new inventions, were abolished, and a request made by parliament for the enforcement of the laws against recusants, at the very time when a secret agreement was being made by James and Charles to suspend these laws as a condition of a marriage between Charles and Henrietta Maria, sister of the French king, Louis xiir. The death of James i. followed soon on his retirement from active political life. Worn out by repeated attacks of gout and ague, his mind and body had long been giving way ; but at times the old wit flashed forth, and not long before his death he is said to have told Chnrles, a jiropos of the impeachment of Middlesex, that ' he would live to have his bellyful of impeachments.' He died in March 1625. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Hampton Court Conference 1604 Gunpowder Plot, . ..... Death of Robert Cecil, .... The Addled Parliament Commencement of the Thirty Years' War, Impeachment of Bacon, .... Charles and Buckingham visit Spain, Monopolies declared Illegal, 1605 1612 1614 1618 1621 1623 1624 CHAPTEE II PART I CHARLES I.: 1625-1649 Born 1600; married, 1625, Henrietta Maria ; beheaded 1649. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Spain. Emperors. Louis XIII., d. 1643. Philip iii., d. 1631. Ferdinand ii., d. 1637. Louis XIV., d. 1715. Philip iv., d. 1665. Ferdinand in., d. 1657. Quarrels with his first Parliament — The Petition of Right — The Rise of Laud and Wentworth — Imprisonment of Eliot — Arbitrary Rule— Wentworth in Ireland —Religious Difficulties in Scotland— First Bishops' War— The Short Parlia- ment — Second Bishops' War. At his accession Charles was twenty-five years old, and his character was fully formed. In all that concerned the externals of royalty he was admirable. Unlike his father, his look and deportment charies' were regal; but he had little of James' good-nature, Character, and his reserve, which was largely the effect of shyness, prevented him from mixing with his subjects on such terms as to learn their true opinions, as Elizabeth and Henry viii. had always been able to do. Unfortunately, the delicacy of his constitution as a child had caused his lessons to be excused, and consequently he had none of the solid fund of information in history, politics, and religion for which his fiitlier had been distinguished. James, in fact, had been learned but inetfective ; Charles was ill-informed and obstinate through being able to see only one side of a question. Charles, too, had been brought up as a spoilt chdd, always expecting to have his own way ; and Sir Ferdinand Fairfax said of him, ' The king in his own nature is very stiff.' WoiJ.se thim all these faults, which in many ways were rather to be counted misfortunes, Charles was wanting in ingenuousness. This arose largely from his lack 510 ' The Stuarts 1625 of imagination, which prevented him from seeing what his promises really- meant, or what they would seem to mean in the eyes of those to whom they were made. Almost the only thing Charles derived from his father was his overweening belief in the power and prerogatives of a king. He held himself entitled to exercise all the powers of the Tudors, without regard either to the changes in the times which he might have observed, or to differences in character of which he could hardly be expected to be a fair judge. At the date of Buckingham's arrival at court Charles had been fifteen, and as by the folly of James the two young men had been thrown together, Charles had learned to look on the ignorant and self-confident Buckingham as a model of all that was excellent, and nothing had since been able to dissipate the illusion. „ , . , Nor was Buckingham by any means a mere darlino; of the Buckingham. , . . . court. There was in him a certain magnificence which differentiates him altogether from favourites of the Gaveston type, and places him more on a level with Elizabeth's Leicester. He was eager after great things, and dreamed of renewing in his own time the glories of Elizabeth ; but had no idea of taking efficient means to turn his dreams into realities. Charles began his reign by a fatal mistake. In the negotiations for a marriage with Henrietta Maria it had been found that the French The Roman would not accept less favourable terms for the Koman Catholics. Catholics than had been granted at the demand of Spain, so it had been agreed that the Roman Catholic disabilities should be suspended. As he had distinctly promised the parliament of 1624 that favour to the Roman Catholics should form no j)art of the marriage contract with France, this act put him in an utterly false position, and compelled him either to break his word to parliament or to the king of France. This double-dealing, however, was charac- teristic of Charles' method, and goes a long way to explain his sub- sequent disasters. Charles, blind to his mistake, and hoping to win advantages from France, completed his marriage, declared war on Spain, and summoned a parliament to vote the necessary supplies. When First parliament met, the lead in the Commons was taken by Parhament. pi^^eiipg^ -^yho had already played a large part in the later parliaments of James i., and he was supported by Edward Coke, Sir John Eliot, Sir Thomas Wentworth, and John Pym. It was soon j^er- ceived that between king and parliament the seeds of disagreement were many. While Charles was bound by his promise to France to suspend the Roman Catholic disabilities, the Commons petitioned that the laws against recusants might be strictly enforced. While Charles eagerly 1625 Charles I. 511 demanded a liberal war grant, the Commons held back till they knew on what it was going to be spent and who would direct the expenditure. While Charles was promoting Montague, a clergyman wh(J had written against Calvinism, the Commons were preparing to impeach him. An- other trouble was added by the action of the Commons, who, anxious to have the question of impositions settled, voted tonnage and poundage for one year only, instead of for life as had been usual since the days of Henry vi. Even this vote was not completed, for a hasty prorogation caused it to fall through in the Lords. The prorogation was due to the plague, and in a few weeks the Houses reassembled at Oxford ; but the interval had brought fresh troubles. As part of the plan for joint operations against The Oxford Sjjain, England had lent one man-of-war and seven merchant ^^^^mg. ships to France. It was, however, shrewdly suspected that the vessels would be used not against Spain, but against the Huguenots of La Eochelle ; for Kichelieu, the French minister, was keenly alive to the danger to France caused by the semi-indej^endence enjoyed by the fortified Huguenot towns, and it Avas believed that he would not enter actively on a foreign war till he had made all secure at home. In reality Kichelieu had no intention of interfering with the rights of ivor- shij) granted by treaty to the French Protestants. In England, however, he was generally thought to be a bigoted persecutor. The sailors abso- lutely refused to serve in their vessels, and, with one exception, they all came home. At the same time rumours about the marriage treaty leaked out, and when it was found that Henrietta Maria was enjoying full liberty of worship, and that convicted Catholic priests were being par- doned and released, the indignation of the country knew no bounds. Accordingly, the meeting of parliament witnessed a fresh attack on the policy of the government ; and though Buckingham wished to quarrel with France by repudiating Charles' promise of indulgence to the Koman Catholics, the Commons were going on to an impeachment of the all-powerful minister when Charles stopped the proceedings by a dissolution. The dissolution of parliament, without making any further grant, placed Charles in a very awkward position, as he was unable to fultil his promises of subsidies to Mansfeld or to Christian of Den- Expedition mark, his uncle, who was now leading the North German Pro- testants, or even to properly equip his own fleet. However, Buckingham— always hopeful and confident— inspired him with the belief that if, before the next meeting of parliament, a successfid expedition could rival the great exploit of 1596 by sacking Cadiz and capturing the Spanish 512 The Stuarts 1625 treasure fleet, the nation would recognise that he had been right, and that parliament had been wrong. Accordingly, all the resources of the court were devoted to fitting out a fleet, the command of which was entrusted to Sir Edward Cecil, a grandson of the great Lord Burleigh. Cecil had seen much service in the Dutch army, and, in anticipation of his triumphs, he was created Viscount Wimbledon. The second in command was the earl of Essex. Wimbledon, however, had had no experience of independent command ; and if he had, little difierence would have been made, for his ships were ill-found and i^ill-victualled, and his pressed soldiers were unwilling to fight. Only a commander of the greatest genius could have efiected much with such materials, and Wimbledon failed utterly. A delay in the attack enabled the Spaniards to secure their ships in the inner harbour ; the soldiers, being landed without pro- visions, drank themselves drunk ; the treasure fleet eluded their grasp ; and the expedition returned stricken with disease, as complete a failure by sea as that of Mansfeld had been by land. This disaster destroyed the castle in the air on which Charles and Buckingham had so long been gazing, and when parliament was called Failure of they had nothing whatever to show to excuse the illegalities the Court. q£ whicli they had been guilty. Moreover, the trick which had been played on the French king in the matter of the Catholics had estranged the two courts ; Henrietta Maria was not happy in her relations with the king ; Richelieu Avas pushing on his measures against the Huguenots ; and as his attempts to efi'ect a compromise had come to nought, he was preparing for a regular siege of La Rochelle. This Charles regarded as a slight upon himself, for he had attempted to mediate between Louis and his Protestant subjects, so the two allies against Spain were rapidly drifting into open war. Conscious of his difficulties, but believing that the disagreement with his first parliament had been due to the wrongheadedness of a few indi- The Second viduals, Charles resorted to trickery. Before issuing the Parliament. yfYiis,, he made Phelips, Coke, Wentworth and others sherifts of their respective counties, so that they were ineligible for election ; but their place was taken by others who, if less able, were equally indignant with Buckingham's management of afiairs. Besides, even in selecting sherifi's, the name of one man had been omitted who, „,. more than all the rest, was to be a thorn in the side of Eliot. ' . Charles. That man was Sir John Eliot. Eliot was a Cornish squire, who owed his exemption to the fact that in old days he had been a friend of Buckingham, and had been his vice-admiral in Devonshire ; but he had seen enough to convince him that Buckingham 1626 Charles I. 513 was ruining the coimtiy, and there was now no stouter opponent of the government than he. Moreover, Eliot was a born leader of men, and his recorded speeches prove that he was one of the greatest of parliamentary orators. When parliament met, Eliot took the lead, and was supported by Pym, Sir Dudley Digges, and others. They directed their attacks on Buckingham as the 'grievance of grievances,' and finally articles of impeachment were drawn up against him. These ment^of " articles, as was likely enough, contained much that was ^"^^'"S^^"^- false and exaggerated. Buckingham had made mistakes, but he had not robbed the state to serve his own ends, or sacrificed Enolish in- terests for his own profit. Charles at once sent Eliot and Dio-o-es to the Tower ; but the Commons were determined to have them out again or 'proceed to no business,' and the king, anxious for his subsidies, was compelled to give way. Similarly the House of Lords insisted on the release of the earl of Arundel, so that Charles met with no more encour- agement in one House than in the other. So ignorant was Charles of the feeling of the nation that he took the opportunity to press the election of Buckingham as chancellor of Cambridge University. The Commons retaliated by drawing up a general remonstrance in which the whole policy of the government was attacked, and by pressing on the pro- secution of Buckingham. Their action marks a decisive period in English history. If their claim to have Buckingham dismissed were granted, it would mean that henceforth ministers would be respon- sible to parliament and not to the king. It had not been so under Elizabeth, and Charles was determined that it should not be so under him. In his eyes the function of parliament was ' to counsel, not to control ' ; and to put a stop to the proceedings he again dissolved parliament. If the reverse were granted, it would follow that the king reigned, but did not govern ; and Charles was the last man to admit this. As no grant had been made to him by parliament, Charles now attempted to raise a revenue by demanding from each county a ' free gift.' This was to be collected in each shire by the justices The Free of the peace, and to secure their co-operation he dismissed from office Eliot, Phelips, Digges, Wentworth, and all others from whom resistance might be feared. At first the measure was fairly successful ; but by degrees the spirit of resistance awoke, and from county after county news of refusals came in. Indignant with this, Charles attempted a forced loan ; but this the judges at once refused to accept as legal, and Chief Justice Crew was dismissed for his independence just as Coke had been before him. The objections of the judges, however, were a signal 2 K 514 The Stuarts i626 for general resistance, and Charles, furious at his discomfiture, sum- moned the leaders before the council, and committed them to the Tower. His action soon produced a fresh crisis, for it was Arbitrary Imprison- naturally asked whether the king had a right to imprison a man Avithout trial before his peers, and Magna Carta was quoted against him. To test the case, five knights, who had been uu- prisoned for refusing to contribute to the loan, joined in appealing to the court of king's bench for a writ of Habeas Corpus with a view of obtaining their release, on the ground that they had committed no offence which would justify their imprisonment. The gaoler returned answer that they were imprisoned by the king's special command. On the ground of precedent, there was no doubt whatever that the council had frequently sent dangerous persons to prison, and kept them there without trial ; but the lawyers who aj^peared for the knights appealed against the precedents of later years to the ancient principles of the constitution. On the main question the judges gave no decision, but they re-committed the prisoners to wait till the king's charges were Billeting ready. With poorer men Charles dealt even more harshty. Soldiers. gome were threatened with impressment for the war ; others were eaten out of house and home by having the hungry and unpaid soldiers billeted in their houses. There was no class which had not taken part in the resistance, and no class escaped the attacks of the court. Meanwhile, as had been long foreseen, the relations between England and France had developed into open war, partly from the causes men- War with tioned above and partly because the English had seized France. French vessels on the plea that they were carrying ' con- traband of war ' to the Spanish Netherlands ; for which the French had retaliated by seizing the English wine fleet as it was clearing out of Bordeaux harbour after paying the ordinary dues. Obviously the easiest way to injure France was to aid the Rochellese, whom Richeheu The Isle of ^^^ besieging ; and for this purpose an expedition was sent ^h^- to the Isle of Rhe, which commanded the entrance to the harbour of La Eochelle. Buckingham took the command in person ; but though he showed many of the qualities of a great commander, the expedition had been so badly organised, and the pressed men were so unwilling to fight, that the aftair was a failure, and the troojDs came back to England in complete disgrace, ' Since England was England,' men said, ' it received not so dishonourable a blow.' This, of course, was an exaggeration, as each generation is prone to magnify both its successes and its defeats ; but the bitter feeling aroused was very great. 1628 Charles I. 515 Still, unless Charles was to abandon all attempt to be a power on the continent, money and troops must be had somehow ; and every sugges- tion of the council having failed, nothing remained but to ^he Third summon a parliament. As a measure of conciliation, the Parliament, political prisoners were released, and this time no attempt was made to interfere with the election. Consequently all the old opposition members regained their seats, and the array of talent which the courtiers had against them was stronger than ever. Before parliament met, the leaders decided not to renew the impeachment of Buckingham, but to give their whole attention to the illegalities Avhich had been perpetrated since the last dissolution. Accordingly, Coke attacked the arbitrary imprison- ments, Eliot the forced loan, Wentworth the general lawlessness of the agents of the court. The gist of the matter clearly lay in the question of arbitrary imprisonment ; and Coke formulated the inquiry, ' Whether a freeman could be imprisoned by the king without setting down the cause.' Under the lead of Sir Thomas Wentworth, who cared little about the past provided suitable arrangements could be made for the future, a bill was drawn up by a committee consisting of himself, Eliot, Coke, Pym, and Phelips, to lay down the law afresh ; but Charles, hear- ing of their intention, sent to inquire whether it would not be sufficient for them to rely on his 'royal word and promise.' In reply, the Com- mons, giving up their bill, drew up a Petition of Eight, to petition of which, unlike a bill which would receive the royal consent Right, at the end of the session, they would get an immediate answer, so that they might know how to act with regard to a grant of five subsidies which they had under consideration. On the other hand, the petition simply stated the law as it was, and made no allowance for the case of exceptionally dangerous times, when special powers might be needful. The petition was accepted by the House of Lords, and formally pre- sented to Charles. After appealing to the de Tallagio non Concedendo (see page 223) and Magna Carta, it proceeded to ask : ' That no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without common consent by act of parlia- ment . . . and that no freeman be imprisoned or detained ; and that your majesty would be pleased to remove the said soldiers and mariners ; and that the aforesaid commissions for proceeding by martial law may be revoked, and that no commissions of like nature may issue forth, lest by colour of them any of your majesty's subjects be destroyed or put to death, contrary to the laws and franchise of the land.' It was only after long hesitation that Charles was brought to give his consent ; but at length he yielded, and the five subsidies were granted him as the price 516 The Stuarts 1628 of his consent. The Commons fondly hoped that their victory was decisive. However, they did not aljandon their policy of placing on record their opinion of the proceedings of the government ; and for this purpose „ ,. . drew up a 'remonstrance' in which the evils in the church Religion. . ' were laid to the charge of Laud, and those in the state to Buckingham, whom the king was plainly asked to dismiss from his service. Buckingham would gladly have met his accusers, for he com- pletely believed in his own infallibility, but Charles gave a simple refusal. Checked in this direction, the Commons gave their attention to the old question of tonnage and poundage ; but as they designed a thorough examination of the customs, which would take much time, it was proposed to pass a temporary measure, allowing them to be collected till next session. To this Charles refused to agree ; and the Commons, accordingly, taking up new ground, declared that the collection of ton- nage and poundage without grant of parliament was contrary to the Petition of Right. Charles' reply was an instant prorogation. During the recess several events of importance happened. The first was the translation of Bishop Laud from the remote diocese of Bath William and Wells to the important see of London. William Laud Laud, ^^g hoT^Ti in 1573. He was the son of a Reading clothier, and was educated at St. John's College, Oxford. When he reached Oxford he found that the theological views of the university were strongly Calvinist. His own were Arminian — that is to say, he belonged to the party who, while as Protestants they denounced the errors of Rome, refused to accept the doctrines of Calvin as the only alternative, and laid stress upon Freewill as opposed to the Calvinist doctrine of Predestination. In ceremonies Laud tried to adhere to the old practices of the Church of England, testing their authority by what was known of the habits and ideas of the primitive fathers of the church, who lived in the days which followed the death of the apostles. As was natural, such men were disliked and distrusted both by the Roman Catholics and by the Puritans ; by the former because they rejected the authority of the pope, by the latter because they still retained much of the ceremonial of the ancient church. Laud, however, succeeded in winning over Oxford to his way of thinking, and as his views were approved at court, he was made dean of Gloucester, bishop of St. David's, and bishop of Bath and Wells in rapid succession. Under James, who appreciated his abilities but feared trouble from his activity, his preferments were all at a distance from court ; but Charles, with less caution, made him bishop of London, ^nd accepted him as his 1628 Charles I. 517 ecclesiastical adviser. Laud was a pious and earnest man, thoroughly convinced that he was right and that the Puritans were wrong. M^ore- over, he was out of touch with the earnest men of that party, and failed to give them due credit for their zeal after godliness and morality. On the other hand, his virtues were equally unappreciated by them ; so that the breach between the Puritans and the court clergy rapidly grew wider. London being a Puritan stronghold, the new bishop soon found him- self at variance with many of his clergy, and came to be regarded by the mass of the nation as a bigoted persecutor. Charles, on the other hand, had complete faith in him, and was foolish enough to allow his name to be identified with Laud's most unpopular measures. The points around which strife was most bitter were the position of the communion table or altar, and the rights of itinerant preachers. In regard to the former, the name itself was a matter of dispute ; and while Laud thought it should be placed at the east end of churches and treated with great reverence, the Puritans liked to have it in the nave near the pulpit, and did not treat it with any special respect. Of late years the Puritan arrangement had been generally adopted, even in cathedrals. So Laud's attempt to compel the clergy to adopt his views caused bitter strife in many places. In regard to the question of itinerant preachers and lecturers, the Puritans laid great stress on their value, and many of their best ministers travelled from place to place. Laud, on the other hand, wished to compel the clergy to preach only in their own churches, or where they were specially licensed by their bishop. Not only did Charles favour Laud, but he gave all the crown patronage to men of Laud's school. Cosin was made bishop of Durham ; Neile, bishop of Winchester ; Juxon, bishop of Lon- don ; Montague, bishop of Chichester ; Mainwaring received a good living ; while their opponents were left unpromoted. In return. Laud and his friends were indefatigable in preaching and writing in favour of the royal prerogative ; while the persecuted Calvinists made common cause with the opposition. In this way the parties of political and religious discontent became identified. About the same time that Laud became bishop of London, Went- worth separated himself from the leaders of the Commons. Wentworth belonged to an ancient Yorkshire family, and was born in ^g^tworth. 1593. He was educated at C'ambridge, and after foreign travel settled down at Wentworth Woodhouse, his country seat near Ptotherham, where he devoted himself to county business, and to tlic chase and other field sports, in all of which he was an adept. He sat in several parliaments of James', but did little till Buckingham's inefficiency 518 The Stuarts 1628 roused him. All along his main idea had been to secure good and efficient government ; he cared nothing ahout Puritanism, and, like Bacon, he expected more good to come from the intelligent government of well-informed ministers than from the interference in business of an ill-informed House of Commons. Apparently he thought that the Petition of Eight would put a stop to illegality in the future, and was now willing to give Charles a fresh trial. Accordingly he retired to the north, accepted a peerage as Baron Wentworth, and presently took office as president of the council of the north, where his great administrative powers had scope to display themselves. Wentworth could never have worked with Buckingham, whose abilities he de- Murder of spised, and whose foreign policy he detested ; but in Buckingham. 1(329 Buckingham was assassinated at Portsmouth by John Felton. Meanwhile the king, who strongly believed that the Petition of Bight had never been meant to forbid the collection of tonnage and poundage. Tonnage and which amounted to a fourth of his revenue, had been Poundage. taking the duties as before. Eesistance, however, was made ; and Alderman Chambers, when brought before the Exchequer Court, asserted that ' in no part of the world were merchants so screwed and wrung as in England, and that in Turkey they have more encourage- ment than in England.' For these words he was brought before the court of Star Chamber, which fined him ^2000, and sent him to prison till he should acknowledge his fault. To his honour. Chambers refused to do anything of the kind. When parliament met for the session of 1629, the attention of the members was at once given to the question of tonnage and poundage. What stood in the way of their making the usual grant was the vexed question of the impositions, which had been in dispute for twenty years. Had the tonnage and poundage question stood alone, the obvious compromise was to accept the duties as they stood ; but, hoping for better terms, the members would not give way, and soon left it for the even more pressing question of e igion. j.gj— Qjj^ jj^ ^]^-g^ jg^j ]gy j;iiot, the house adopted an extreme position, and acted as though an attack was being organised against the Keformation. Their main assault was directed against a declaration put forth by Charles, which proclaimed silence on dis- puted points, and enjoined all men to accept without question the interpretation of the Articles which was set forth by the bishops. It had really, however, under a show of fairness, played into the hands of the Arminians. Against this Eliot loudly protested, and thundered 1629 Charles I. 519 against the proposal to take as final the opinion of such partisans as Montague and Laud. Unfortunately, the House of Commons was equally unfitted to be a final authority on matters of faith ; and tolera- tion of opponents was equally foreign to the thoughts both of the bishops and of the Puritans. Actuated by exactly the same feeling which made Laud hale the Calvinist preachers before the court of high commission, the Commons demanded that ' the authors and abettors of Popish and Arminian innovations ' should be punished, and preferment given to their opponents. Every day the completeness of the gulf which divided Charles from the mass of the nation was becoming more apparent. When the Commons returned to tonnage and poundage, avoiding direct attack, they summoned to the bar the custom-house officers. The plan failed ; for Charles assumed complete responsibility for Tonnage and the acts of his officers. He ordered the Commons to adjourn Pou^idage. for a week, and when the House re-assembled, another adjournment was ordered. This Eliot refused to accept, and was followed by other mem- bers. Holies and Valentine held the Speaker by force in his chair, and insisted on Eliot's right to speak. Then, amidst a scene of tremendous excitement, while the king's messenger was knocking, three resolutions were carried, which coupled together the views of the House on the two great questions of the day. They ran thus : — 1. ' Whosoever shall bring in innovation in religion, or by favour seek to extend or introduce Popery or Arminianism, or other opinions dis- agreeing from the true and orthodox church, shall be reputed a capital enemy to the kingdom and this commonwealth.' 2. ' Whosoever shall counsel or advise the taking and levying of the subsidies of tonnage and poundage, not being granted by parliament, or shall be an actor or an instrument therein, shall be likewise reputed an innovator in the government, and a capital enemy to this kingdom and commonwealth.' 3. 'If any merchant or other person whatsoever shall voluntarily yield or pay the said subsidies of tonnage and poundage, not being granted by parliament, he shall likewise be reputed a betrayer of the liberty of England, and an enemy to the same.' The House then adjourned. The resolutions show the Commons at their best and their worst. If their first resolution had been carried out religious freedom would have been as impossible under their rule as it was under that of Laud ; the second and third closed the loophole for arbitrary taxation which had been left open by the Petition of Right. It was not, however, to be expected that Charles would accept either. 520 The Stuarts 1629 He would not throw over Laud ; he could not give up without a struffo-le a source of income which had been orranted as a matter of course to his predecessors. He therefore dissolved parliament, and set himself to the task of moulding the nation to his own view. His first action was to arrest Eliot, Holies, Valentine, Strode, Selden, and five other members of the lower house. When questioned by the council, some prevaricated and some gave way : but Eliot, Arrest of ' ^ ^ . Eliot and supported by Strode and Valentine, took the bold course of replying, ' I refuse to answer, because I hold that it is against the privilege of the House of Parliament to speak of anything which was done in the house.' Charles was furious, and spoke of him as ' an outlawed man, desperate in mind and fortune.' In due course the prisoners applied for bail ; but the decision was put oif till after the long vacation, and meanwhile they remained in the Tower. Eventually the court of king's bench fined Eliot £2000, Holies 1000 marks, and Valentine £500. Some gave way, but Eliot, Valentine, and Strode persisted. Charles would show no mercy. His chief displeasure fell on Eliot as leader. One by one the indulgences of a state prisoner were cut ofi^. His health sank ; but a request for country air was refused, and when he died it was b}^ the express orders of Charles that his remains were laid, not in his family burying-place, but in the graveyard of the Tower. Strode and Valentine persisted in their refusal, and were not released till 1640, on the eve of the meeting of the Short Parliament. Few among their contemporaries saw the significance of the stand they made ; but by after ages Eliot has been recognised as pre-eminently a martyr, and Strode and Valentine as confessors for freedom of speech and freedom of action in the House of Parliament. Charles had now for the time given up the idea of working with a parliament ; it remained to be seen whether his abilities were equal to the task of reconciling his subjects to arbitrary power by the efficiency of his administration, and whether the force of circumstances would not inevitably drive him to acts of tyrannj^, of which, when he set out, he had no conception. Eleven years of arbitrary government followed the dissolution of parliament in 1629. During the early part of this period Charles' chief Peace adviser was Kichard, Lord Weston, afterwards earl of Policy. Portland, who was lord-treasurer tiU his death in 1635. Weston had been raised to power by Buckingham ; but had no sympathy with his ambitious schemes. Like Middlesex, he preferred peace, and was desirous of bringing the finances into order by a rigid economy. His manners were rough and overbearing, and he had fcAv friends. Laud directed the king's conscience, but so long as Abbot lived 1633 Charles I. 521 had no ofScial authority except in his own diocese of London ; Went- worth was chiefly occupied by the afiairs of the north. By the advice of Weston and Wentworth peace was made with France in April 1630 and with Spain in November of the same year. After this, Charles still clung to the idea of a restoration of the Palatinate to Frederick, and hoped to effect it sometimes by allying with Spain, and sometimes by common action with France, but as he took no active part in the hostilities of the continent, his approaches were regarded by both sides with equal contempt. In spite, however, of all Weston's economies, the treasury was still unfilled. It is true that tonnage and poundage began again to be paid, for the merchants feared bankruptcy and saw no hope of Financial assistance from parliament. The conclusion of peace was difficulties. also a great relief to the expenditure ; but Charles himself was far from economical, and Henrietta Maria, as her husband said, 'was a bad housekeeper,' so in everything that was done the need of bringing money into the exchequer was constantly kept in view. It is well to divide Charles' attempts to raise money under three heads : (1) those under- taken solely to get money ; (2) those in which public advantage was the ostensible object ; and (3) those primarily designed for the benefit of trade. In the first class, the collection of tonnage and poundage stands first. At the beginning of his reign Charles might defend himself on the ground that he was only doing what James i. had done between the death of Elizabeth and the formal grant of tonnage and poundage by parliament ; but the resolution passed before the last dissolution had deprived him of this excuse. Distraint of knighthood stands next. There was no question that, according to the letter of the law as it stood, the king had a perfect right to compel every land- owner to the value of £40 a year to be knighted, or to pay a fine. Nevertheless, as the right had not been enforced for one hundred years, the gentry were naturally irritated when Charles insisted on his powers. Next stands the inquisition on the boundaries of the forests. These had been fixed by Edward i. just after the confirmation of the charters ; but Charles' lawyers insisted that large tracts which had been forest under Henry ii. had then been omitted, and insisted on their resump- tion, and those landowners in whose hands these were had to pay fines to secure their titles. This touched the landowners on all the great forests, and Rockingham forest, for example, was extended from six miles to sixty. It is true that the fines were small, and that no one was stripped of his property ; but the irritation was excessive, and as in the case of distraint of knighthood, it affected a class who had been untouched 522 The Stuarts 1633 by tonnage and poundage, and who had little connection with the Puritanism of the towns. The second class of measures might have been defended according to the ideas of the age, on the ground that their object was good, and that the making of money was only a secondary object. The depopulation of the country, and the rush of population to the towns, was as much a subject of solicitude then as it is now ; and on the one hand, Sir Antony Eoper and others were fined for pulling down houses on their estates and letting arable land go out of cultivation ; and on the other, London builders were mulcted by the court of Star Chamber for building houses in town, and householders for overcrowd- ing their houses with lodgers. In those days no one doubted that one of the functions of government was the regulation of trade. Monopolies to individual courtiers were so Regulation unpopular that they had been forbidden in 1624, but the of Trade, practice of handing over a special trade to an incor- porated company does not appear to have been reckoned the same thing. The view was, that goods would be better supplied by an autho- rised body than by private competition ; but as such corporations were ready to pay for their privileges, a ready way of raising money was also presented. Accordingly, the right of supplying London with coal was reserved to a corporation of shipowners, who were to pay Charles one shilling a chaldron, and to charge the public seventeen shillings a chaldron in summer and nineteen shillings in winter. The manufacture of soap was restricted to another company, who paid a royalty of ^8 per ton ; starch to another ; and the trade in bricks, beer, wine, and other articles was similarly regulated. Generally speaking, more harm than good was done by the regulation, and it caused great irritation among the trading classes. In the winter of 1631 Wentworth was appointed lord-deputy of Ireland. Since Chichester's retirement in 1615, Ireland had been ruled by Sir Oliver St. John and by Henry Cary, Lord Falkland. These men had adopted the system of Chichester, and had followed up the plantation of Ulster by settling Englishmen in the counties of Wexford, Longford, Westmeath, and Leitrim. Their great difficulties had arisen from the insufficiency of the revenue for the expenses of the army, and Falkland had been obliged to bargain for some concessions from Charles in return for a grant of £4000 a year for three years. These concessions were known in Ireland as ' the graces,' and the chief points were : (1) The substitution of an oath of allegiance for the oath of supremacy ; (2) the abolition of the one shilling fine for non-attendance at church ; and (3) the recognition of a sixty years' 1633 Charles I. 523 title to the possession of land as good even against the claims of the king. It was understood that these were to be confirmed by act of parliament, but when Wentworth took office no parliament had met. In accepting the post, Wentworth desired to show what an excellent thing absolute power was in the hands of an able man. He believed that all private interests ought to give way to the good of the state ; that all men should work with a single eye to ^°^ the attainment of efficiency, and that neither rank nor wealth should secure offenders from punishment. This system he called ' Thorough.' Went- worth could hardly have gone to any country where such a system would be more out of harmony with the habits of the officials with whom he had to deal. Since Falkland's departure the government had been General carried on by a committee of officials, men, as he said, ' intent Corruption, upon their own ends,' typical of whom was Eobert Boyle, who, having landed in 1588 with .£27 in his pocket, had contrived in the service of the state to become the largest landowner in Ireland, and to secure the dignity of earl of Cork. Under them disorder reigned supreme. The finances were in a complete confusion, the army existed ' rather in name than in deed,' and the civil service had become a byword for peculation and jobbery. Wentworth set himself at once to the work of reforming the instruments with which he was to carry out his policy. That policy, as in the case of all Englishmen of the time, was based on a belief that the one salvation for Ireland lay in forcing the Catholic and Celtic population of the country to adopt the religion and habits of Protestant Englishmen. The only difterence between Wentworth and his fellows was that while they entered upon the work with selfish motives and with their eyes fixed on their own interests, he devoted himself heart and soul to what he believed to be the interests of the state. His general aims were to raise the material condition of the mass of the Irish by showing them the road to material prosperity ; and to improve their moral and political condition by the diffusion of education and the propagation of the Protestant religion. He hoped that a few years of his rule would make such a change in the condition of Ireland that no one would wish to go back to the old state of things. Wentworth's first care was to reorganise the army. He saw every soldier himself, arranged for their regular pay, and enforced discipline on both officers and men. He found the seas infested with ^^^^^ pirates, so he fitted out two warships of his own and soon ^°j:^[?j^g_ made navigation safe. He introduced flax from Holland, and Dutch flax-spinners and weavers to teach its use ; and he advanced money of his own to start a cannon foundry. His great hope was to 524 The Stuarts 1633 make England and Ireland interdependent, so that each might feel itself more prosperous for its connection with the other. Ireland was to huy England's cloth ; England, Ireland's linen ; the English traders were to victual their ships with meat grown on Irish pastures, and pickled with Cheshire salt ; while the king was to benefit by a salt duty paid by the Irish farmers. For moral improvement Wentworth trusted to a reform of the church. On his arrival he had found the condition of the Irish Reforming Protestant Church as bad as it could be. Churches were the Church, jq ruins ; while the land which should have supported them was in the hands of men like the earl of Cork, who was getting J 1000 a year from lands belonging to the cathedral of Lismore, the right over which he had contrived to acquire for the sum of £20. Numbers of livings had to be thrown together to make up a miserable pittance for a single clergyman ; while tithes had been filched right and left by the laity and the crown. Few of the clergy could speak Irish, and fewer still had the slightest sympathy with the feelings of their nominal parishioners. One church in Dublin wag used as a stable, another as a dwelling-house, and the earl of Cork had just placed a huge monument to his wife on the site of the high altar of Dublin Cathedral. Bedell alone among the Irish bishops could talk Irish ; and the conditions of his cathedral, where the prayers were read in the native tongue, and of his diocese, where alone Protestantism was spreading, only served to throw into darker shadow the rest of the island. To clean such an Augean stable as this was too much for one man's lifetime ; but what he could do Wentworth did. He restored the Dublin churches to their proper uses, drove out the tobacconists whose shops occupied the vaults of the cathedral, and compelled the earl to remove his wife's tomb to another part of the building. He gave up the tithes belonging to the crown, encouraged Bedell in his work of completing the translation of the Bible which Chichester had initiated, and even compelled con- vocation to make the articles and canons of the church a little less obtrusively Protestant. His dealings with parliament were less satisfactory. In those days the Irish parliament made no pretence of representing the nation. Its The Irish members were the representatives of the dominant caste Parliament, only, and, moreover, were sharply divided into Catholics and Protestants, corresponding, roughly speaking, to the old and the new settlers. When it met, Wentworth used the Protestant majority to vote a large subsidy to the crown, and then informed them that the ' graces ' would not be conformed till next session. When that came, it 1636 Charles I. 525 was annoimced that the ' graces ' would only be passed in a mutilated form, and in particular that that which referred to titles would be omitted. The discontent was great, but Wentworth would take no 'nay,' and, with the aid of the Protestant majority, passed through a series of laws of his own devising, which were well calculated to improve the condition of the country. Unfortunately for Wentworth, his proceedings had deeply angered the old officials, such as Cork, while his next step prevented him gaining any credit. His more than brutal conduct to Lord Mountmorris —who had been condemned to death by court- Connaught martial in order to drive him from office — raised powerful P^^"t^t'°"- enemies to his remedial measures among the Irish population. It was now seen that the real object of omitting the title 'grace' was to enable Wentworth to carry out a plantation in Connaught, over which the crown had an ancient claim. Without doubt, Wentworth believed that to take away a portion of the land and give it to English settlers, and to apportion the rest among individual owners, would be more conducive to progress than the existing system of common ownership ; but he did not take account of the fact that common ownership was dear to the Celts, and that the Irish preferred the casual though often exorbitant demands of their chiefs to the regularly recurring rent- day of an English landlord. Moreover, the attack on the Connaught titles was in direct violation of Charles' own word, in face of which no land- owner could feel secure. Wentworth, however, was pushing forward his scheme, when, in 1639, his attention was called off by other events. While Wentworth had been carrying out his system of ' thorough ' in Ireland, Charles and Laud had held on their English policy, undeterred by any doubt about its ultimate success. The public expres- Domestic sion of opinion, both on politics and religion, was sternly Pohcy. repressed. The means of doing this was placed in the (,Qm.tof hands of the crown by the constitution of the courts of Star ■^ Chamber. Star Chamber and High Commission. So long as the Star Chamber was dealing either with the ill deeds of turbulent subjects or with suits between private individuals, its members, who were made up of privy councillors and of the two chief justices of king's bench and common pleas, did their work both quickly and well. The legal knowledge of the judges, combined with the common sense of the privy councillors, was a security for substantial justice, and many preferred to have their cases tried before it rather than before the ordinary courts ; but so soon as it had to deal with cases in which the defendants were charged with attacking the policy of the king's ministers, its members 526 The Stuarts 1633 ceased to be judges and became partisans. Similarly, the court of High Commission did very weU so long as it was dealing with the moral High Com- errors of clergymen, or with the matrimonial delinquencies mission. Qf i\^Q laitj'', but changed its character as soon as it had before it a Puritan clergyman or writer whose views were antagonistic to those of the bench of bishops. Then, too, the sjDCcial powers of these courts — their right to put questions to the accused, and the practice of trying cases without a jury — became simply engines of tyranny. In justice to the members, however, it must be borne in mind that such cases formed a very small proportion among those brought before them, though, naturally, they are those which are best remembered. Of this type, that of Alderman Chambers was one, and another was that of Dr. Leighton. Leighton was a Scottish Presby- Chambers . * ,.. ,. ,, and terian, settled in London as a physician, who, m 1628, had got uj) a petition to the parliament in favour of the abolition of Episcopacy. This he had elaborated into a book called Zion's Plea against Prelacy. This attacked the bishops in no measm^ed terms, spoke of Buckingham as Goliath, and of Henrietta Maria as ' a daughter of Heth,' a ' Canaanite,' and an ' idolatress.' The only defence capable of being pleaded for him is, that in the long run even the abuse of free expression of opinion is better than its repression — a doctrine far in advance of the time — and Leighton was ordered to be flogged, pilloried, and deprived of his ears. In 1634 the court had before it Prynne. William Prynne, a barrister of great learning but little humour, who had published a book called Histriomastix^ or the Player^s Scourge. For many years a controversy had been raging about the morality of stage plays, which had undoubtedly deteriorated since the days of Shakespeare ; and Prynne was merely representing the views of his party when he denounced the drama as utterly pernicious. The king and queen, however, were constant playgoers ; and Henrietta's taking part in a masque made Prynne's strictures on the characters of female actors particularly galling. Prynne was sentenced to be imprisoned for life, expelled from Lincoln's Inn and from the bar, deprived of his university degree, to be set in the pillory, and to have both his ears cut off. The sentence, however, does not seem to have caused much excitement. Prynne's language had been outrageous ; and even John INIilton, Puritan as he was, wrote Comus, and introduced into it a female part, to show that the drama was as capable of giving instruction in good morality as in bad. In 1633 Laud became archbishoi^ of Canterbury. His elevation to power gave him a larger sphere for activity ; and as see after see fell vacant 1637 Charles I. 527 his friends were raised to the bench of bishops. Neile was made arch- bishop of York ; Wren became bishop of Norwich, and a few years hiter of Ely ; Juxon succeeded Laud at London. Soon, Williams Laud's of Lincoln, the old friend of James i., was the only bishop of Policy. Puritan leanings. Laud's activity was endless. With the High Com- mission court at his back, he rigidly enforced his own system on Puritan rectors and vicars. To the horror of the Puritan party, he took up the cause of those who saw no harm in giving up Sunday afternoon to recreation, and republished James' book of sports — which permitted archery, dancing, and other athletic exercises on Sunday afternoons — and ordered it to be read by the clergy, whether they approved of it or not. Of Laud's personal character, and of the integrity of his motives, it is impossible to speak too highly ; but his zeal was wholly untempered either by sympathy or by discretion. It was right that he should be no respecter of persons, and that immorality should be as severely censured in the noble as in the peasant ; and few can object to the archbishop's efforts to restore order and decency in the churches ; but Laud forgot that such severity can only be maintained if it falls in with public opinion, and that, by setting against him the Puritan clergy — who, though they disagreed with him on external ceremonial, were as eager as himself for reformation in morality — he was not only estranging valuable allies, but paving the way for his own overthrow by an alliance of the discontented parties. If he had struck at irregularity of conduct and left doctrine alone, or if he had struck at doctrine but been blind to irregularity, he might have succeeded. To do both was fatal to his hopes, for it made Laud's system unpopular with so many that any attack upon it was sure to find numerous sympathisers. Among other means of repression, Laud's hand had been heavy on the press, and no book opposed to his view had a chance of obtaining a licence to be printed. In consequence, secret presses were ^^^ y>t&ss set up, and books were sent to be printed in Holland. Among the leaders in this paper-war were Prynne, Henry Burton, a London clergyman, who had been a court chaplain, and Bast- p ^^^ wick, a Colchester physician — all university men. In 1637 Burton, and all of them appeared before the Star Chamber. Prynne's offence was the writing of two books— one, A Divine Tragedy LateJy Acted, in which he had collected all the examples he could find of sudden death or accident overtaking Sabbath-breakers, which he connected with the king's 'declaration of sports' ; and another. News from fysivich, in which the bishops were charged with deliberately paving the way for a reintroduction of Popery. Burton had published two sermons entitled 528 The Stuarts 1637 For God and the King, in which he had fiercely attacked Laud's most cherished ceremonies ; and John Bastwick's Litany of John Bastivick contained the prayer, ' From "bishops, priests, and deacons, good Lord, deliver us.' No wonder the court was angry, and its sentence savage. The three were ordered to lose their ears (some relics of Prynne's yet re- mained to him), to stand in the pillory, to be fined, and to be imprisoned far from their friends at Carnarvon, Lancaster, and Launceston. When Prynne had been sentenced before, he had met with little sympathy, but now the three were regarded as popular martyrs ; 100,000 men went out to escort Burton to Highgate. Even in these distant prisons friends were found, and eventually Charles had to transfer his prisoners to the Channel Islands, to be still further out of reach of their supporters. It was not only the views of the men which excited sympathy. The fact that the degradation of the pillory was inflicted on men of position and learning roused indignation in quarters where Puritan feeling was practically unknown. Meanwhile, the financial measures of the government were irritating a class of persons more numerous even than those who were alienated by Laud's relioious policy. From ancient times it had been the Ship-money. ^'^ ^ , . . „ , i • ■, ■, custom of the country that m tmie oi war the ships needed to supplement the royal fleet should be supplied by the seaport towns. Inland towns had as a rule been exempted, but Elizabeth had required Leeds, Halifax, and Wakefield to join with the port of Hull in con- tributing a ship. No requisition had ever been made except in the time of actual war. However, in 1634, Charles and his advisers decided that, though the country was at peace, there were good grounds for increasing the strength of the navy. In this they were probably perfectly right, for the growth of the Dutch navy was be- coming a menace to our trade, and piracy was also common ; but if so, it was in accordance with the principles of the constitution that the state of the case should be explained to parliament. The adviser of the measure was Noy, the attorney-general, a man said by Clarendon to have prided himself 'on making that law which all other men believed not to be so.' At the moment, Charles was seriously thinking of allying himself with the Spaniards in a war against the Dutch ; but as he dared not disclose his design even to the privy council, he put forward the excuse that the money was wanted to provide defence against pirates, who undoubtedly infested the coast, and had just plundered the vessel in which Wentworth's luggage was First ^^rits. being taken from Chester to Dublin. The writs were addressed only to seaport towns. The London inprdiants grumbled, 1637 Charles I. 529 and other places followed their example. Meanwhile, Noy had died and early in 1635 he was followed by Weston, earl of Portland. The treasury was then placed under a board, of which Laud was the leadino- spirit, and presently Juxon became treasurer. The readiness with which ship-money had been paid suggested the idea of a second im- position ; and in 1635 a second set of writs was sent gee out, this time addressed to inland as well as seaport towns Writs, and suggesting no special reason for the call, except the general need of preparations in which it was obviously the duty of every one to take his share. The sum asked for was not large ; but men now began to see that if it were paid, a precedent would be created, by which the king might free himself from the necessity of callino- a parliament, and might thus become as free from control, and as much the master of the property of his subjects, as a king of France. Thouoh the money was paid, the grumbling increased, and men began to talk of the king's conduct as a violation of the ' fundamental laws of Endand.' Meanwhile, the issue of a new book of rates, in which a new Book the duties were raised to produce an additional ^10,000, o^^-^^es. showed that Charles was rapidly getting complete control over the purses of his subjects; and when next year a third set of ^, . , ship-money writs came out, the tide of indignation swelled Ship-money apace. Nobility, gentry, and commonalty were united against the tax, and Robert Rich, earl of Warwick, wrote that the men of Essex would not consent to ' so notable a prejudice to the liberties of the people.' Lord Saye and Sele and John Hampden, a young Bucking- hamshire squire, determined to test the legality of the levy in a court of law. The king, however, was blind to the danger, and — relying on an opinion given by the judges that when the kingdom was in danger the king might levy ship-money — went on with the collection, and prepared to recover the Palatinate by attacking Spain at sea, while the French forces acted by land. Up to this time Wentworth, though he had been in constant correspondence with Laud, had not been consulted by Charles. His opinion was now sought. His reply adopted the ship- money policy, and, indeed, expressed a desire that Charles would extend the system so as to provide an army. His answer, therefore, thoroughly identified him with the system of Charles and Laud. Though his letter was a secret, popular instinct, therefore, was right when it coupled the names of Wentworth and Laud as the representatives of the new policy, both in church and state. In December 1637 Hampden's case was argued before the court of exchequer. His lawyers, St. John and Holborne, argued that though 2 L 530 • The Stuarts 1637 in an emero-ency the king could judge of the amount of the danger which justified the collection of ship-money, yet that the proper mode of pro- Hampden's cseding was through parliament ; and that in the present Trial. case no emergency existed to justify any other method. Of the twelve judges, seven decided for the king ; Croke, Hutton, and Denhani gave their voices for Hampden on the merits of the case ; and two voted for Hampden on technical grounds. Charles, therefore, won by a bare majority ; but though victory rested with the court, men felt that Hampden's advocates had had the best of the argument. Finch's judgment, that ' all Acts of Parliament binding the king not to command the subjects, their persons and goods, and I say their money, too, are void,' is said by Lord Clarendon to have made ship-money more 'abhorred and formidable than all the commandments by the council table, and all the distresses taken by the sheriffs ' ; while Berkeley's phrase, ' The law knows no such king-yoking policy,' was passed from mouth to mouth. Charles, however, was delighted. The danger of meeting parliament was now removed ; Laud's policy was safe ; there was no fear of a deficit in the revenue, and he insisted that all arrears must be paid up at once. For a moment it looked as if parliamentary government were really at an end. During the trying times which followed the dissolution of 1629, the settlement in America had made rapid strides. The New Plymouth /pj^g colonists had been men of low estate ; but in 1629 a number Colonies, of Independents of good position, headed by John Win- throp, a Suffolk squire, and Eaton, who had been English ambassador at the Danish court, determined to found a new settlement where they could enjoy greater freedom, both in religion and politics, than seemed possible in England. They settled on the shores of Massachusetts Bay, and made New Salem their capital. Winthrop was a man of the highest character, and the influence of his name led to a large emigration from the eastern counties. But though the exiles had fled from persecution in England, they had no thought of establishing toleration in their new home. Two brothers, who showed a preference for the Book of Common Prayer, were shipped home at once ; and it was resolved that no one who was not a member of an Independent church should have any voice in the affairs of the colony. One who ventured to criticise the proceedings of the rulers was whipped, had his ears cropped, and was fined .£40 — exactly as though a Puritan branch of the Star Chamber had been established Question of ^^ New England. When news of these proceedings came to Toleration. ^}^q p^^pg qj- x^aud, he at once obtained authority from the king to inquire into the matter, with the result that an order of council 1637 Charles I. 53-1 was issued forbidding any nobleman or gentleman to leave the country without the royal licence, and any of lower rank without a certificate of conformity. Yet in spite of these precautions three thousand new settlers went out in 1635 alone, and the colonists prepared to offer armed resistance to any attempt on Laud's part to compel conformity by force. Still, even in the colony, voices were raised for freedom of worship and thought. In 1631, Eoger Williams joined the emigrants, and eventually became pastor of a church at Salem. His ^'^^'^"^^• view was that matters of religion were almost wholly outside the sphere of the civil government, and his preaching of this doctrine brought him into collision with the authorities. His banishment was ordered ; and in 1636 Williams and five others made their way in a canoe to Rhode Island, and there founded a new colony of their own. In 1635 another friend of liberty arrived in Sir Harry Vane, son of Sir Harry Vane a member of the English privy council. Vane was then twenty-three, and had already made a reputation for great ability and for unflinching attachment to principle. Accordincrly, in 1636, the colonists elected him governor ; but his views on religious liberty did not square with those of Winthrop, and, having carefully con- sidered his position. Vane enunciated the famous sentiment that religious intolerance, wherever it might be found, ' was fatal both to religious vitality and to political life.' Finding, however, that his views met with little acceptance, and that he was not re-elected, he returned home. Meanwhile, the practical question of toleration had been solved by the little colony of Maryland. The founders of this colony were the Calverts, the head of whose family was Lord Baltimore. Toleration They were more or less declared recusants, and by favour ^ Maryland, of Charles their charter was so drawn as to admit of the introduction of religious liberty. They called their settlement after Queen Henrietta Maria. From the first, the settlers in Maryland included both Pro- testants and Roman Catholics ; and, each finding the necessity of the aid of the other, questions of religious difference were carefully ignored, and in the first free assembly complete freedom of worship and perfect political equality were secured to members of all religions by law. To Maryland, therefore, belongs the honour of being the first of modern states to solve the thorny question of the true attitude of the state towards the religious difi'erences of the community, which was equally an enigma to Eliot and to Laud. In face of the resistance of the New England colonists, Laud drcM- back from his designed interference ; but in Scotland he was not so easily 532 Tlie Stuarts 1637 diverted from his purpose. Since the accession of James, the govern- ment of the Scottish Presbyterian Church, as established by Knox, had Laud in been considerably modified. According to the original de- Scotland, gjgjj^ j^g government was to be strictly republican, and was to be carried on by kirk sessions, presbyteries, and provincial synods, the affairs of the whole being regulated by a general assembly of elected clergy and laymen. Over this, James had succeeded in establishing bishops, but they had no jurisdiction and were not even episcopally consecrated. He had also secured the nominal acceptance by a General Assembly of the Articles of Perth, the chief of which enjoined kneeling to receive the communion, and the observance of Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Day, and Whitsunday. These changes, however, were disliked by the mass of the people, and the Scottish ministers still used extempore prayers, and denounced Catholics and Arminians as much as they liked. This state of aftairs did not commend itself to Charles or to Laud, who had accompanied him to Scotland in 1633. Accordingly A new the Scottish bishops were ordered to prepare a liturgy based Liturgy. Qjj ^Yint of England, and when it had been revised by Laud and Wren, each parish in Scotland was ordered to provide itself with two copies. Such a proceeding was certain to rouse the bitterest hostility in Scotland, The Scots fully believed that the whole scheme was designed as a step towards the re-introduction of popery ; and they hated the prayer-book, partly because it was the work of the bishops, much more because it was an importation from England. Charles had, in fact, contrived to wound in their tenderest points both the religious and national susceptibilities of his Scottish subjects. Of this, however, he had no idea. The new state of things would be more orderly than the old, and that seemed to him sufficient argument. Accordingly, in the summer of 1636, at the time when Hampden and Saye were preparing their case against ship-money, the Riot in iiew liturgy was for the first time read in St. Giles' Church, Edinburgh. Edinburgh, and the result was such a riot that the reader was thankful to have escaped with his life. In this resistance all classes were engaged ; and nobles, like the earl of Montrose, ministers, like Alex- ander Henderson, and lawyers, like Johnstone of Warriston, stood side by side with the people in resisting the innovations. During 1637 petitions and replies went backwards and forwards between Scotland and London ; but no conclusion was arrived at, though the resistance grew stronger The through the creation of a body of ten commissioners, ' Tables.' known as ' the tables,' who were appointed by the malcon- tents to look after their interests, and who formed the germ of a 1638 Charles I. 533 popular and national government independent of Charles. At length, in 1638, it became clear that nothing but the united efforts of all classes could secure the Scots against Charles' obstinacy ; and, by the advice of Johnstone, a covenant was drawn up by himself and Henderson which bound all who signed it to 'defend the aforesaid The (true reformed) religion, and to labour by all means lawful National to recover the purity and liberty of the gospel, as it was ^°^^"^"*- established and professed before the aforesaid innovations . . which have no warrant in the Word of God, and do sensibly tend to the re-establishing of the popish religion and tyranny.' This document was signed by all classes amidst the utmost enthusiasm ; and, indeed, it required a bold man to refuse his assent : ' for such as refused to subscribe were accounted by the rest who subscribed as no better than papists.' Charles, therefore, saw that he must either fight or yield ; but the former was difficult, for the Scottish nobility, unlike the English peers, were at the head of a tenantry bound to fight in their ■^A/'eakness defence, and Scotland was full of able officers like Alexander °^ Charles. Leslie, who had learned their business fighting in the Protestant cause in Germany and Flanders. Against them Charles had no military force whatever ; and his commissioner in Scotland, the marquess of Hamilton, pointed out that for a time, at any rate, concession was absolutely neces- sary. Accordingly, an assembly of the Scottish church was permitted to meet at Glasgow in November, 1639. Contrary to Charles' intention, the assembly was composed largely of lay members, and its temper was shown by the election of Alexander Henderson as its moderator or president, and of Johnstone of Warriston as its clerk or secretary. To this body the presbytery of Edinburgh referred the cases of the bishops. In vain the bishops protested against the claim of the assembly to act as their judges. The assembly was so clearly against them, that Hamilton used his authority as royal commissioner and declared that body dissolved. The assembly, however, encouraged V)y the earl of Argyll, continued its sittings, and without _ •^ oJ 3 o Episcopacy further ado episcopacy and the service-book were alike and the abolished. That Charles would consent to these changes ^boSd. without resistance was incredible, and both parties pre- pared for war. In Scotland, however, Charles' friends, except in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, were completely outnumbered, and it was plain that if the Scots were to be subdued English soldiers must be raised to do it. By the summer of 1639 Charles had collected on the Scottish border a force of some 20,000 men, partly impressed from the 534 The Stuarts 1638 northern counties, partly composed of noblemen called to do service under their feudal tenure; but it was a mere shadow of an army — ill-led, ill-drilled, ill-paid, and utterly without heart for its work ; Prepara- ... tions for while on the Scottish side of the Tweed there lay, under Leslie, 16,000 Scots of good fighting quality, well armed, and officered by men who had learnt their work in Germany and Flanders. However, after the two armies had faced one another for a few weeks, Charles saw that whatever he might effect ultimately he had no course now but to yield ; and though he refused to recognise the legality of the late assembly, he assented to the holding of a new one, the acts of which were to be confirmed by the Scottish parliament. The new assembly sim23ly re-enacted the acts of its predecessor, and the parliament, in which the exclusion of the bishops had destroyed the king's influence, was on the point of confirming the acts of the assembly, when Charles, who perhaps had hardly realised that he was expected to give his consent to a foregone conclusion, attempted to stop its proceed- ings by a forced adjournment till the summer of 1640. The Scots took ^, ^ his action as a new declaration of war, and spent the The first , . mi V i Bishops' interval m perfectmg their preparations. The short and bloodless campaign on the Tweed became known as the first bishops' war. Meanwhile Charles, urged by Laud, had summoned to his side by far the ablest councillor at his disposal ; for in September, 1639, Wentworth Wentworth caiiie over from Ireland, and at once took his place as in England, leading minister. Hitherto he had had little or no share in English affairs. Wentworth was as clear as Charles that Scotland must be coerced, but for that he saw that extraordinary exertions would be necessary. He, therefore, persuaded Charles to summon a parlia- ment. If that body supported the king, well and good ; if not, the king must take his own way, and the blame would rest, not on him, but on his undutiful subjects. To show how heartily the privy councillors were with Charles, Wentworth advanced <£20,000 to the king, others did the like, and in this way ^150,000 was raised. On the other hand, a proposal that London should do the like met with no response. To show Wentwor til's new influence and the king's approval of his work in Ireland, Wentworth was made earl of Strafford. About the same time Finch, the speaker of 1629, and the most violent supporter of ship- money, was made lord keeper of the great seal. On the other hand, as a conciliatory measure. Strode and Valentine were released from the Tower. Charles' fourth parliament, known as the Short Parliament, met in 1640 Charles I. 535 April, 1640. The king's hope was to play off the English against the Scots. Great stress was laid by his friends on the danger likely to arise to England from a Scottish invasion ; attention The Short was also drawn to a letter addressed by the Cove- Parliament, nanters to the king of France, and it was asserted that when a tonnage and poundage bill had been passed, and a subsidy voted, there would be plenty of time for the members to consider their special grievances. Had the discontent of England been as slight as Charles and Strafford believed, their plan might have succeeded ; but the attitude of parlia- ment soon undeceived those who were sanguine of an easy session. When parliament was not sitting the men of each county knew little of what was going on in another ; the clergy of each diocese had little to do with their neighbours ; and consequently there was no widespread public opinion ; but when parliament met a public opinion soon sprang into existence, leaders and spokesmen were found, and the nation became once more articulate. The task of putting into words the grievances of the nation fell to John Pym, who stepped into the place left vacant by the deaths of Eliot, Coke, and Phelips, and by the defection of Wentworth. Pym , j^ p ^^ was now fifty-six years of age, and had sat in all the par- liaments summoned since 1621. Pym was a Somerset squire who had studied the law, and had also held a post in the exchequer. Conse- quently he had more acquaintance with the business of state than most of the Puritan party. He owed his seat in the House to the influence of the earl of Bedford, and so had the ear both of the House of Commons and of the small group of Puritan peers, of whom Bedford, Essex, Saye and Sele, and Brooke were the chief. Pym's speech, while moderate in tone, placed in clear relief the real facts of the political situation. Parliament, he said, was to 'the body politic as the rational faculties of the soul are to a man,' and he traced the whole of the grievances, both in church and state, to ' the intromission of parliaments.' He proposed that the two Houses should join in petitioning the king for a redress of grievances. This raised the old question whether"^ votes of supply should or should not precede the redress of grievances, and in it Charles and his parliament were completely at variance. By Strafford's advice the king appealed to the Lords ; but though that House voted that supply ought to come first, the Commons maintained their ground. Stratibrd then persuaded Charles to give up ship-money, to ask only for a moderate supply. Charles, however, insisted on asking for twelve subsidies, and this the Commons would not vote until they learned whether Charles would also abandon the practice 536 The Stuarts 1640 of calling on the counties to provide ' coat and conduct money ' for the men levied from each county. As it happened, ship-money had fallen most heavily on the southern shires ; but the new demand had pressed most on the northern counties ; and Yorkshire, whose contribution to the last levy of ship-money had only been ^12,000, had had to pay £40,000 in provisions and equipments for its levies in the newly-raised army. Charles, however, pressed for twelve subsidies, and the Commons pro- _ . , . posed to meet his demand by a petition that he would come Dissolution ^ . ^ i of Pariia- to terms with the Scots. This, doubtless, seemed to Charles little less than a demand that parliament, and not he, should direct the policy of the country, and before the petition could be voted parliament was dissolved. Convocation, however, sat a few days longer, and, besides voting a liberal grant out of their own pockets, drew up a body of canons for the regulation of the church. It was now Strafford's turn to try whether he could be more successful than Charles. In the council he declared his view that parliament Strafford's having failed, the king must assume a practical dictator- Views, ship. Half measures would never do. Charles' one hope lay in success against the Scots. ' Go on vigorously,' said Strafford, ' or let them alone. . . . Go on with a vigorous war as you first designed, loose and absolved from all rules of government. . . . You have an army in Ireland you may employ here to reduce the kingdom.' In these views he was fully supported by Laud. Strafford, however, soon found that it was easier to speak than to act. Neither the characters of Charles or his ministers fitted them to carry out his ideas of 'thorough.' The Londoners refused to pay a loan, and though Strafford declared that no good would be done with the Londoners till some of them were hanged, Foreign Aid ^^e rest of the privy council held back. Charles' idea was solicited. ^Q apply to foreign courts for aid. Solicitations were made to Denmark, Holland, Spain, and even to the pope, but he had no idea of vigorous action for himself. Worst of all, Strafford himself fell ill, and while he was incapacitated, confusion grew worse confounded. In August the Scots, led by Alexander Leslie, took the decisive measure of crossing the Tweed. Before their well-drilled troops Charles' _, „ , mutinous levies retreated in confusion at Newburn on the The Second Bishops' Tyne. An attempt was made to dispute the passage, but the military measures were badly taken, and the Scots poured into Yorkshire. The whole plan of defence seemed to have given way, and Strafford confided to his friend, Eadcliffe, that 'never man saw so lost a business ... a universal affright of all ; a general disaffection to the king's service : none sensible of his dishonour. In one word 1640 Charles I. 537 (I am) here alone to fight with all these evils, without any one to help. Charles' great hope had been that the advance of the Scots would rouse the national spirit ; but for the first time Englishmen regarded a victory- won by foreign troops on English soil as a triumph for themselves and took advantage of Charles' misfortune to press for a new parliament. In reply Charles fell back on a precedent of Edward i., and called a meeting of the Magnum Concilium, or council of peers. This assembly met at York, but while the members pledged their credit to raise money, they reiterated the demand for a parliament. The ment sum-' king, seeing no other course open to him, made a truce with "^°"^"' the Scots, agreed to pay them J25,000 a month, and summoned a parliament to meet on November 3, 1640. Between the issue of the writs and the meeting of parliament, meet- ings were held at Kij)on between English and Scottish commissioners, and it was agreed that till a full treaty were signed, the Treaty of Scots should occupy Northumberland and Durham, and ^^pon- that ,£25,000 a month should be paid for their maintenance. One month's instalment was arranged for ; the second would come due after parliament met ; so that unless Charles could persuade parliament to find the money, an immediate advance of the Scots might be looked for. The existence of the Scottish army was, therefore, a complete guarantee against an immediate dissolution. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Petition of Right, 1628 Murder of Buckingham, 1629 Laud becomes Arclibisliop of Canterbury, . 1633 Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1633 Scottish troubles begin, 1637 Hampden's Trial, 1637 First Bishops' War, 1639 Short Parliament l^*^ Second Bishops' War, 16*0 CHAPTEE III CHAKLES I. PART II The Com position of the Long Parliament — The Trial and Death of StrafTord — Reforming Measures^ — The Religious Question and Division of Parties — Impeachment of the five Members— Opening of the War — First Civil War — Imprisonment of the King — Second Civil War — Trial of Charles. On November 3 the members of the celebrated Long Parliament met at Westminster. Among the Lords the most noticeable figures were Archbishop Laud, with his friends Juxon, Mainwaring, The Long Wren, and Montague, and his old opponent, Williams, Parliament, bishop of Lincoln. Strafford was not present at the opening of parlia- ment, so the most conspicuous personages among the lay Leading peers were the earl of Bristol, anxious to find some means of preserving an efficient monarchy ; Lord Finch, former speaker and sup- porter of ship-money ; the earl of Bedford, titular leader of the Puritans and patron of Pym, with his friends the earls of Essex and Warwick ; Viscount Saye and Sele, whose talent of intrigue had gained him the title of ' old subtlety ' ; Edward Montagu, Lord Kimbolton (afterwards earl of Manchester) ; and Kobert Greville, Lord Brooke. Leading Among the Commons the leaders were John Pym, John o"^"^° Hampden, and John Selden, already well known ; Denzil Hollis, and William Strode, who had held Finch in his chair in 1629 ; Oliver St. John, Hampden's counsel in the ship-money trial ; Sir Arthur Hazelrig, Oliver Cromwell, and Sir Harry Vane, all stout Puritans; Bristol's eldest son, Lord Digby, clever but ostentatious ; Edward Hyde, formal, painstaking, and church-loving ; Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland, most thoughtful of those who admired neither Laudism nor Puritanism; Edmund Waller, the poet— all of whom were one day to be royalists ; William Waller, Kalph Hopton, and Ferdinand, Lord Fairfax, who, with Essex, Cromwell, and Manchester, were to be the leaders m the war ; and Sir Simon d'Ewes, from whose painstaking not^e-books 540 The Stuarts 1640 we learn most of what is known of the daily life of the great assembly. The mass of the members were country gentlemen and lawyers. The merchants were few ; and most members were university men, in no way disposed to violent reforms, and by no means sympathetic with persons whose rank and habits differed from their own. In those days there were no regular parties, and men sat as they liked in different parts of the house, and consequently it was some time before the members found their level. From the first, how- Appearance . of the ever, the most conspicuous man was John Pym. Pym's strong point was his excellent debating power, and consum- mate prudence, with which he united an instinctive knowledge of what the bulk of his party reaUy desired. He shared all their weaknesses and prejudices ; and consequently he was always in touch with his fol- lowers, and never lived in a region apart. For instance, Pym was quite of opinion that Laud and Strafford had been engaged in a systematic plot — the one to overthrow Protestantism, the other parliamentary government ; and he also believed that self-seeking ambition was the mainspring of Strafford's conduct. This is now known to be a caricature of Strafford's real position ; but it was then the universally accepted explanation of his conduct, and Pym merely shared the belief of others. This added to his influence, and he soon became so powerful in the House that his enemies called him King Pym. So universal was the above-mentioned belief, that the policy of Strafford and Laud was without supporters ; and the house, with e fT H pi'^ctical unanimity, agreed to impeach Strafford and Laud, and those of the judges and bishops who had been their chief allies. A committee was named to inquire into the results of their government. By this time Pym had in his possession a copy of the notes of Strafford's speech to the privy council (see page 536), which had been taken by the elder Vane. The younger Vane had found them among his father's papers, and had given a copy to Pym and kept one himself ; and on this Pym was preparing to charge Strafford with high treason. Meanwhile, Strafford himself had reached London, His safest place was at the head either of the English or Irish army ; but Charles had implored him to come, and had given his kingly word that he ' should not suffer in his person, honour, or fortune,' On his arrival, Strafford at once gave his voice for a policy of counter-attack, and argued that Charles should carry the war into the enemy's country by himself impeaching the Puritan leaders of treasonable corre- spondence with the Scots. Warned of what was in store, Pym struck first; and, on November 11, the earl was accused, on behalf of the 1640 Charles I. 541 commons of England, of the crime of high treason, and sent to the Tower. In December he was followed by Laud, on a charge which amounted to ' endeavouring to subvert the laws, and the religion by those laws established.' In the eyes of his contemporaries, Laud was almost, if not quite, as important as Straftbrd. Since ^" * Buckingham's death he had been the king's chief confidential adviser, and all Charles' measures had received his hearty approval. He had been an energetic member of the courts of Star Chamber and Hio-h Commission ; the power he wielded in the church was immense, not only through his personal influence, but because he had filled the bench of bishops with his own friends ; and, the reversal of his policy was, therefore, considered by the Puritan members as of the first importance. On the other hand, there were many members who drew a distinction between the existing bishops and the principle of Episcopal government. These were wishful for church reform, but wished also to ^ church preserve the existing church system, partly because they Party, liked the order and regularity of the church, partly because they feared that a church governed by presbytery would be, at least, as in- tolerant as one ruled by bishops. Among these defenders of Episcopacy were Hyde, Falkland, Digby, and Selden ; and it began to be plain that, though there was, so far, unanimity in politics, the house would, in eccle- siastical matters, be divided into Episcopalians and anti-Episcopalians. With Laud and Straff'ord, the Commons also proceeded against Chief Justice Finch, who, at the ship-money trial, had declared that ' acts of parliament made no difi'erence ' ; Berkeley, who had said ^^^^^ ' that the law knows no such king-yoking policy ' ; Secre- Ministers tary Windebank and others. Finch and Windebank made their escape to the continent, and the proceedings against the rest came to nothing. While punishing Charles' ministers, parlia- ment was not altogether oblivious of their victims. Prynne, Bastwick, Burton, Chambers, and Lilburne, who had been imprisoned by the unpopular Star Chamber, were released. An immense throng of sympa- thisers welcomed their return to London, and some reparation was made for their suff'erings. It is certain that nothing had done so much to encourage Charles and his friends as the uncertainty whether a parliament would ever sit to inquire into their acts. To remove this doubt for the ^^^ future, a Triennial Act was passed, by which it was ordered Tnenniai that more than three years should never elapse without a parliament being summoned; and, to ensure its meeting, provision 542 The Stuarts 1640 was made for the holding of the elections even if no summons was issued by the king. It was also provided that, when parliament had met, it should sit at least fifty days before it was dissolved. The second read- ing of this Act was moved by Oliver Cromwell. These measures occupied the autumn and winter of 1640 and 1641 ;. and in March the trial of Strafford began in Westminster Hall, Trial of ^J^^ himself acting as chief of the managers for the Strafford. Commons. Their real difficulty was to prove that Strafford had been guilty of treason. It was easy to show that Strafford had been guilty of some violations of the law and of numerous high-handed acts, but, against this line of argument, Strafford's defence that no number of misdemeanours amounted to one treason was conclusive. Strafford, in fact, was being tried not for treason against the king, but for treason ao-ainst the state — two ideas which, when treason had been defined in the reign of Edward iii., had admitted of no distinction. All along, Pym felt that his best course was to rely on Strafford's speech in the council chamber, that ' you have an army in Ireland you may employ here to reduce this kingdom,' because if ' this kingdom ' were England the words might be twisted to mean 'levying war against the king.' Vane, however, refused to admit that ' this kingdom ' meant England, and other privy councillors declared that they did not remember the words at all. Then Strafford's threat to hang the London aldermen was inquired into, but that clearly was not treason. Strafford's commission as general was shown to empower him to put down rebellion ; but it was replied that the same words occurred as a matter of course in such a com- mission. The case of the Commons was, therefore, breaking down, and they asked to be allowed to put in additional evidence. Strafford, of course, asked leave to do the same. The trial was, therefore, adjourned. Pym now felt that the time had come to reinforce the elder Vane's evidence by his son's notes, and the same day they were produced in the Strafford's House of Conimons. Questioned as to what had become of Attainder, ^.j^^ original, the elder Vane explained that it had been burnt by the king's orders. Upon this the more violent section of the Puritans, among whom Sir Arthur Hazebig was j)rominent, brought in a Bill of Attainder, and it was at once read a first time. Next day the Lords called on Stratford to make his defence at once. Strafford's arguments, as before, were that that could not be treason as a whole which was not treason in any separate part, and that it was unjust to punish a man for a crime not provided for in lawc Pym replied that arbitrary rule invariably degraded the subject, and asked whether it were not greater treason to ' embase the s]3irits of the king's subjects, than to embase the 1641 Charles I. 543 king's coin.' Meanwhile, the extreme men were pressing on the Attainder Bill, on the ground that Strafford had 'endeavoured to subvert the fundamental laws of England.' In spite of this, Pym and Hampden still wished to carry through the impeachment, but eventually both houses decided that Strafford's fate should be determined by the Attainder Bill, That bill passed the Commons by 204 votes to 59 ; Digby and Selden, both of whom had been managers for the Commons in the impeachment, voting in the minority. On this Charles wrote to Strafford, again assuring him that, ' upon the word of a king, he should not suffer in life, honour, or fortune.' In the House of Lords parties were more evenly divided, the real question being whether anything short of Strafford's death would prevent Charles from again employing him. Many agreed with Essex that ' stone dead hath no fellow ' ; others, like Bristol and Bedford, would have been satisfied with his perpetual imprisonment. Pym, however, had an argument, which he believed would convince the Lords. He had known for some time that both Charles and Henrietta Maria had been in correspondence with members of the English army in the north, with a view to a march The Army on London and the rescue of Strafford from the Tower, and ^^°^" he determined to use this information to frighten the reluctant Lords. Accordingly, on May 5, Pym made a statement to the House of Commons in which he not only showed that an army plot was in existence, but also hinted that a French force was on its way to attack Portsmouth, where it was to be met by the queen. The excitement was intense. The members were ordered to find out what arms were possessed by their constituents ; the city trained bands turned out ; Charles was requested to detain his courtiers, and to prevent the queen from going to Portsmouth. In London a petition for Strafford's death was signed by 20,000 persons, and the names of those who had voted for Strafford were printed and circulated as ' Straffordians.' Amidst this excitement the bill passed the House of Lords. Even Bristol withdrew his resistance, and Bedford, had he wished to be present, was dying of small pox. Strafford's fate now rested with Charles, strafford For more than two days he hesitated. On one side was beheaded, honour, on the other the fear that refusal would be visited on his queen and children. Strafford himself, true even now to his own policy of ' thorough,' wrote that ' he would willingly forgive Charles for his death if it would lead to better times, and that his consent would more acquit him therein to God than all the world could do beside.' At length, worn out with anxiety, and comforted by a distinction made by Bishop Williams between his public and private conscience, Charles 544 The Stuarts I64i gave his consent, and on May 12, in the presence of 200,000 persons, Strafford's head was struck off on Tower Hill. Strafford died, not so much for what he had done, but for what he might do. His own maxim, that 'the safety of tlie state is the highest law,' was turned against himself, and when he died, the popular leaders felt that their greatest and most dangerous opponent was gone. On the same day when the royal consent was given to Strafford's death, Charles also agreed to a bill by which it was provided that the _. ,. ^ existing parliament should not be dissolved without its own Parliament . not to be assent. This measure, the gravity of which was hardly against noticed at the time, and which was chiefly intended to Its will. induce men of money to lend with greater confidence on the credit of parliament, was in reality of the highest constitutional importance, for on it rested the legal position of the parliament during the civil war. By it the king was debarred, not only from dissolving parliament with a view to another lease of arbitrary power, as in 1629, but also from testing the feeling of the country by a general election. It, therefore, elevated the existing parliament into an oligarchy, indepen- dent not only of the caprices of the king but also of the opinions of the electors ; and it further entailed the consequence that, as neither parliament nor king had any legal power of ridding itself of the other, in event of a quarrel between them nothing would remain but to resort to arms. Shortly afterwards a grant of tonnage and poundage was made, followed by a poll-tax graduated from ^100 to 6d. ; and terms were arranged with the Scottish army in August, and both it and the English forces in the north were disbanded. During the spring and summer of 1641, both Episcopalians and anti- Episcopalians vied with each other in their eagerness to rid the country of all the abuses and weapons of arbitrary power. The courts of Star Chamber and High Commission, and with them the councils of Wales and the north, were abolished. Under Falk- land's lead the House condemned the ship-money judgment as unconsti- tutional, and an Act, introduced by Selden, declared ship-money illegal. Selden, too, had been the introducer of Acts, by which distraint of knight- hood had been abolished, and the forests restored to the limits which existed before Holland's commission. Those who had collected tonnage and poundage duties, which had not been voted by parliament, were de- clared delinquents. These measures were passed with virtual unanimity, for as yet Charles had no party in the House ; but the least attempt to deal with ecclesiastical affairs brought the hostility of the two parties into clear relief. 1641 Charles I. 545 This divergence showed itself first in a debate held in February on a petition signed by 15,000 Londoners, and asking for the abolition of Episcopacy 'root and branch.' This contrasted with a petition of 700 clergymen, who asked for its reform. In andBfan°ch' this debate Falkland, Hyde, Digby, and Selden separated P^*^t^°"- themselves from their usual friends ; on the other hand, a bill to exclude the bishops from the House of Lords, and from the fulfilment of secular duties, passed the Commons readily, for the existing bishops had few friends, and were regarded as the authors of the Scottish war. It was, however, rejected by the Lords, who disliked the interference of the Commons in the constitution of the upper house. After Straflford's death, Oliver Cromwell, the younger Vane and Sir Arthur Hazelrig procured the introduction of a bill based on the London petition and called the Root and Branch Bill, for the total abolition of Episcopacy and for appointing a mixed commission of laity and clergy to exer- cise ecclesiastical jurisdiction in each diocese, but it was vigorouslv opposed by the Episcopalians. The Lords, on the other hand, had appointed a strong committee, with Williams at its head, to consider ' all innovations in the church concerning religion,' and had endeavoured to secure temporary peace by ordering the bishops to see that the Lord's table should ' stand decently in the ancient place . . . where it hath done for the greater part of these three score years last past.' It was expected that Williams' commission would report against Laud's innova - tions, and in favour of an Episcopacy of limited powers. The controversy was by no means confined to parliament. Both sides appealed for popular support. Bishop Hall, of Exeter, pub- lished a Humble Remonstrance to the High Court of Farlia- Popular ment by a Dutiful Son of the Church. On the other side '^''^'^^s. appeared An Answer to a Humble Remonstrance, by Smectymnuus, a name composed out of the initials of five Puritan divines— Stephen Marshall, Edward Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, and William Spurstow. Usher, archbishop of Armagh, too, was in the field with a plan for making the bishops into chairmen of councils of pres- byters, without whose advice they were not to act. Last, but not least, John Milton contributed a tract entitled Of Reformation touching Church Discipline in England, and the Causes that have hitherto hindered it, in which he denounced the bishops without mercy, and held up Episcopacy as the real cause why the Reformation had not accomplished all that zealous Protestants desired, and he followed it up with other pamphlets in the same strain. The consequence of all this violent recrimination was to make the ecclesiastical question assume larger pro- 2 M 546 The Stuarts I64i portions in the popular mind than that of constitutional reform, and to make religion and not politics the dominant factor in deciding to which party men should ally themselves. In August Charles somewhat hurriedly decided that his presence was required in Scotland ; and on August 10 he set out for Edinburgh, Charles in followed by a committee appointed by parliament, of which Scotland. Hampden and Fiennes were the chief, ostensibly to attend the king, in reality to watch his proceedings, and report to the houses at Westminster. In Scotland Charles' great desire was to secure such a pacification as to leave him free to deal with England, possibly even to make Scotland a basis of operations against the English parliament. Accordingly he agreed to all the Scottish demands, laid himself out to secure popularity, and was studiously polite to Argyll, Henderson and the other popular leaders. In Scotland, however, as in England, Charles' court was a centre of intrigue, and some of the violent nobles, headed by the earl of Crawford, irritated by the new-found power of the gentry and commonalty, formed a wild scheme for arresting Argyll, Hamilton, and Lanark, who were now making common cause, and possibly of putting them to death. This affair is called the ' Incident,' and though Charles' share in it, if any, is obscure, the effect was to ruin his popu- larity, and to add to the power of Argyll, who became little less than an uncrowned king of Scotland. To the last, however, Charles clung to the hope of finding aid in Scotland, and before he left made Argyll a marquess ; Leslie a peer, under the title of earl of Leven ; and Johnstone of Warriston a knight. During Charles' visit to Edinburgh, he had never ceased to busy him- self in collecting evidence of collusion between the leaders of parliament Hopefulness ^^itl the Scottish invaders. By this means he hoped to of Charles. strike a fatal blow at Pym and his friends. His spirits also were raised by the obvious growth of the Episcopalian party, at the head of which he decided to place himself, and despatched home a manifesto to the Lords, stating that ' he Avas constant to the discipline and doctrine of the Church of England, established by Queen Elizabeth and his father, and that he was resolved — by the grace of God — to die in the maintenance of it.' After Charles' departure, the Koot and Branch Bill was dropped, and parliament occupied itself chiefly about the practical business of carrying Practical ^^n the government, which Charles had of late wholly Government, neglected. By an ' ordinance,' agreed to between the two Houses, the weapons of the northern army were stored in Hull, and the Tower of London was carefully guarded. There was less unanimity in 1641 Charles I. 547 deciding on the steps to be taken to secure order in public worship until ii final settlement should be made. Some wished to sanction alterations in the Book of Common Prayer ; others opposed them. Eventually an appeal was issued to worshippers ' to quietly attend (await) the reforma- tion intended, without any tumultuous disturbance of the worship of God and the peace of the kingdom.' On September 9 both Houses adjourned till October 20, leaving Pym as head of a committee which was to sit in London and watch events. During the recess it is probable that a party took shape which believed Charles had granted enough, and that a free hand should now be given to him to show, if he chose, that he had separated himself from the days of Strafford. The great obstacle to the growth of such a party lay in the difficulty of trusting Charles ; for those who knew him best were most sure that, if he had the means, he w^ould take the first opportunity to go back to his old ways. Still, if Charles could contrive to effect a junction between this party and the Episcopalians, he might again hope to have a majority ; and his chances of doing so were increased by the fact that many who cared little about religion were disgusted by the claims of ignorant and uncultivated men to dictate the religion of their superiors in rank and education. Meanwhile, that solution of the religious question which was ultimately to be accepted had been proposed. Henry Burton, the old victim of the Star Chamber, had published his Protestation Protested, in _. , . , , The Re- which he put forward the scheme of a national church ligious recognised by the state, with perfect toleration for Non- * conformists ; and Lord Brooke, in A Discourse ope7iing the nature of that Ejnscojyacy luhicJi is exercised in England, had pleaded for complete freedom of speech and thought. Unluckily, the views of Burton and Brooke were held by a mere fraction of their contemporaries. Hardly had Parliament resumed business when terrible news came from Ireland. For years nothing had stood between Ireland and rebellion but the knowledge of England's strength ; and The Irish now that Strafford was gone, and it was known in Ireland Rebeihon. that there was no goodwill between king and parliament in England, Ireland's opportunity seemed to have come. Circumstances had for a moment combined together two parties long opposed— the old Anglo- Norman settlers, who were mostly Roman Catholics, and who wanted toleration for their religion, and the dispossessed Celtic landowners, who wanted the restoration of their lands. Accordingly, preparations were made for a widespread revolt, which was to take place on October 23. Its leaders were Roger More, a man of good character and high motives ; Sir Phelim O'Neal, Avho claimed to be the representative of the O'Neals 548 The Stuarts I64i of Ulster, and Lord Magiiire. Of this plot the authorities at Dublin were in ignorance till the night of October 22, when they learned from an informer the plans of the rebels, and had barely time to arrest Lord Maguire and to throw a garrison into the castle. The next day all the north of Ireland was in a blaze. The idea of a deliberate massacre had been rejected by the rebels, but there is no doubt that there was a great deal of promiscuous slaughter, and that much barbarous ill-usage was suffered by the English settlers, who, without warning and in bitter weather, were turned out 'of house and home by the triumphant Irish. For a moment it seemed as if England's hold over the country was irretrievably lost, and it was certain that, if it were to be maintained at all, instantaneous action must be taken. The first result of the reception of the news at Westminster was to compel Pym and his friends to decide whether they would prefer to The Army iii^ke sure of Ireland — at the risk of providing Charles question. with an army which might be used against themselves — or whether they would risk the loss of Ireland till they had made sure of the rights of England. Eventually it was decided to ask for a large contingent from Scotland, which might balance any force ultimately entrusted to Charles. The army for Ireland was to consist of ten thousand English and ten thousand Scots. The growth of the Episcopalian party, the appearance of another party which looked with suspicion on further encroachments on the royal prerogative, coupled with the fresh difficulty caused by The Grand Remon- the Irish rebellion, and the apprehension of further court s ranee. intrigues, determined Pym and Hampden to appeal to the nation to support parliament against the king. This they did in the Grand Remonstrance. This famous document consisted of two hundred and six clauses. It began by accusing the Papists, the king's evil counsellors, and the bishops, of a set design to subvert the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and to bring in Popery : and as proof of this, it recounted all the arbitrary acts and mistakes of the king since the beginning of his reign, both in politics and religion. Against these were set in contrast a list of the good deeds of the parliament, and a statement of the future policy of the parliament in politics and in religion, the chief points of which were proposals that the king's counsellors should for the future be named in accordance with the wishes of parliament ; and in religion, the assembly of a synod, consisting of English and foreign divines of the Protestant faith, ' to consider all things necessary for the peace and good government of the church.' The scheme drawn up by this synod was to be confirmed by parliament, and then enforced on the nation at large. 1641 Charles I. 549 To the political part of this manifesto even Hyde and Falkland did not demur ; but the religious clauses met with the fiercest opposition, for they foreshadowed a state of things in which those who did not happen to agree with the views of the parliamentary majority would be subjected to a persecution exactly analogous to that carried on by Laud in England and by Winthrop in America. The whole of the Episcopalian and royalist parties allied against them, and, eventually, they were carried by only one hundred and fifty -nine votes to one hundred and forty-eight. The majority at once clinched their victory by ordering the Eemonstrance to be printed. Thus they appealed to the nation against the king ; but, in doing so, they published a declaration of policy which all supporters of the Episcopal Church, and lovers of the liturgy, would certainly take as a threat of persecution. The Grand Eemonstrance passed the Commons at four o'clock on the morning of November 23 ; and on the 25th, Charles re-entered London. He was well received, and in high spiiits. Never since the assembly of parliament had his afiairs looked so again in hopeful ; and when he assured the citizens that he would ^'O^'^o"* govern according to the laws, and repeated his message that he would maintain the Protestant religion as it had been established in the time of Queen Elizabeth and his father, to the hazard of his life and all that was dear to him, there seemed a fair prospect that he would not be left unsupported. Even in the city there had been a reaction in his favour among the richer citizens, stimulated partly by the heavy taxation levied by parliament for the payment of the Scots, partly by a feeling of annoyance at the violence of the sectarians. On the other hand, a feeling of apprehension exhibited itself at Westminster, which was increased when Charles removed the guard which Essex had placed round the Houses, and substituted one commanded by the earl of Dorset, a zealous opponent of Puritanism. Dorset and his men soon came into collision with the crowds of Puritan symjjathisers who swarmed in Palace Yard, and it was with difficulty that bloodshed was prevented. Dorset's men were then withdrawn, and the Westminster magistrates provided a guard. It was not without reason that the Commons were apprehensive, for the wildest schemes were being discussed at court, and projects for seizing the Puritan leaders were already in agitation. As usual, the queen's household was the centre of intrigue. On December 21, Balfour, the trusty lieutenant of the Tower, who had refused to connive at the escape of Strafford, was removed, and Lunsford, a debauched and desperate man, appointed in his stead. Again, as in the case of Dorset, Charles drew back before 550 The Stuarts I64i the storm this appointment had raised, and Lunsford was soon dismissed. The removal of Dorset and Lunsford, however, was not enough to restore the confidence of the Houses. Day after day saw scuflles between the officers who crowded round Whitehall and the apprentices whom curio- sity attracted to Westminster ; and it was in these that the famous names of Cavalier and Roundhead were first heard. Meanwhile, the best chance for Charles to regain power in a constitu- tional manner lay in a disagreement between the two Houses. Of this Secession of there had lately been some symptoms ; for the majority of the Bishops, h^q peers were Episcopalians, and, even in politics, many members were not prepared to follow Pym in any further curtailments of the royal authority. But any hopes of this were frustrated by an ill-judged act of the bishops. The Puritan apprentices had been speci- ally outspoken in their attacks on the bishops. On December 27, Williams, who had lately been made archbishop of York, tried to arrest with his own hands one of the noisy lads. They then proceeded from words to blows. Terrified by this violence, only two bishops ventured to the House ; and on the 28th, twelve of them, with Williams at their head, drew up a protest against the legality of all proceedings entered upon in their absence. The Lords took this protest as an insult, and readily joined the Commons in an attack on the bishops. Pym pressed for their impeachment, and before night Williams and his fellows were in custody, and the two Houses were once more united. Meanwhile, Charles was the victim of his old tendency to vacillation. On January 1 he thought of making terms with the popular leaders, and sent for Pym to ofier him the chancellorship of the ex- Impeach- '' 7v» t i mentofPym chequer. Two hours later, the post was onered to and accepted by Culpepper, while Falkland became secretary of state. Hyde also might have had office, but he believed that he could serve the king better as an independent man. Hardly had Charle!> taken this step, when he heard that the Commons were considering the desirability of impeaching the queen of treason. If the truth about the queen's intrigues with the pope and the Irish rebels, or even about her share in the army plots, were once known, there could be no possible doubt of her guilt ; and to save her, if possible, Charles, urged by her and Digby, fell back on Strafford's advice— to carry the war into the enemy's country by impeaching the leaders of the opposition. It was decided, therefore, to impeach for treason Pym, Hampden, Holies, Hazelrig, and Strode, and eventually the name of Lord Kimbolton, a peer and eldest son of the earl of IManchester, was added to the list. Accordingly, on January 3, 1642, the attorney -general. Sir Edward 1642 Charles I. 551 Herbert, came clown to the House of Lords, and in the king's name accused the six leaders (1) of endeavouring to subvert the fundamental laws and government ; (2) of inviting a foreign power charges of to invade England ; (3) of having raised and counten- treason, anced tumults against king and parliament ; (4) of levying war upon the king. There was no doubt that each of these charges might be con- strued as treason; and in the strict legal sense (1) was true, for if Strafford had conspired to alter the Elizabethan constitution by diminish- ing the power of the parliament, Pym had equally conspired to alter it by diminishing the power of the king. When his charge had been made, Herbert asked for the arrest of the accused ; but abeady Charles' action had produced the opposite of what he intended. The Lords parried his attack by appointing a committee to examine Herbert's procedure ; and so clear did the mistake seem to Digby that he at once left the House. Meanwhile, the Commons had learned that the studies of the accused had been sealed up by Charles' order, and while this was under debate, the sergeant-at-arms arrived to demand the accused members in the king's name. As the arrest of impeached persons was a matter for the Lords, the Commons claimed privilege of parliament, so Charles' scheme was completely baffled. Had Charles had the courage needful for a revolutionist, he would have seized the members in their beds, but his desire to keep within the letter of the law prevented his doing this ; and next day, after a morning of hesitation, he decided to make the arrest himself at the House. It is said that Attempt to he was stung to do this by the reproaches of his queen, ^^^1 Mem- who urged him ' to pull out the rogues by the ears.' How- bars. ever this may be, about three o'clock Charles set out from Whitehall, accompanied by at least three hundred cavaliers. His resolution, how- ever, was well known and his march was slow ; the Commons had not only heard of his intention but were warned when he left Whitehall, so that the accused were taking boat for the city at Westminster stairs as Charles was arriving in Palace Yard. Leaving the greater part of his men draw^n up in Westminster Hall, Charles and a number of the officers made their way to the members' lobby, where the officers stayed, while Charles himself entered the House. Finding the accused absent, he en- quired from the Speaker ' where they were' ; but Lenthall, falling on his knees, assured him that ' he had neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak, but as the House was pleased to direct him'; and Charles, again baffled, retired from the House, with loud shouts of ' Privilege of parliament ' rmg- ing in his ears. Meanwhile, the officers in the lobby had been divestmg themselves of their cloaks and cocking their pistols, evidently bent on a 552 The Stuarts 1642 resort to force, from the odium of which Charles had only been saved by the timely flight of Pym and his comrades. ' They are gone ! ' was the cry of the soldiers ; ' and now we are never the better for our coming.' Next day, Charles was in the city, demanding from the common council of London the arrest of the traitors ; but the councillors were as firm as the Commons ; and inside and outside the Guildhall, the shout of the citizens was for jjrivilege of parliament. Meanwhile, parliament had formally adjourned till the eleventh, but daily held an informal sitting in the city, in which they declared that it „ , ^ was the law of the land that ' the king cannot arrest for Result of 1 1 . • f 1 . Charles' treason,' and also accepted the principle that a member cannot be ari:ested unless parliament was satisfied of the truth of the charge.' Charles, on his side, was resolute, and had the five members of the Commons publicly proclaimed traitors in front of White- hall. In response, the London trained bands were called out and placed under the command of Philip Skippon, a strong Puritan and a practical soldier. The sailors on the Thames volunteered to defend the Houses on the river-side. The result, therefore, of Charles' attempt on the members was not only to unite both Houses against him, but to make the five members into the heroes of the day. There could be no doubt that the eleventh would witness their triumphal return to Westminster, and that in all probability an attempt would be made to arrest the queen. To save his wife, and to avoid being a witness of his own humiliation, Charles left Whitehall on January 10, never to return to it till he came back to die. On leaving London, the king and queen betook themselves to Hampton Court, and thence in turn to Windsor, Canterbury, and Dover. On The Queen February 23, the queen sailed to Holland, taking with goes abroad, j^^j. j^g^. gj^^^gg^ daughter Mary, who had been formally married to William of Orange in the preceding May. She took also with her the magnificent crown jewels which were intended to be pawned in Holland for money which was to pay a foreign army to land on English soil. Digby.also crossed the seas, and the queen's hopes were high that she might soon return with an overwhelming force at her back. From Dover Charles made his way to Greenwich, where he secured the person of the Prince of Wales, and at the beginning of March he was at Newmarket. Meanwhile, constant mes- between ^°" sengers had passed to and fro between the king and the ParHa^ent parliament. Both houses were now in accord, as was shown when a new bill for excluding the bishops from the House of Lords was passed without difticulty, and to it Charles, willing to 1642 Charles I. 553 sacrifice the prelates, consented. Parliament then took in hand the Irish war, and despatched 3400 troops to that country. To raise money, parliament, which was as entirely out of sympathy with the Irish Celts as ever Strafford had been, devised the ingenious plan of apportioning 2,500,000 acres, which were to be forfeited by the rebels, among a body of adventurers who should contribute among them £1,000,000. To this also Charles consented, though he seems to have been aware that such a proceeding would only make the reconquest of the rebels more arduous, by giving them the courage of despair. In ordinary circumstances, the king would himself have taken com- mand of the troops for Ireland ; but so little did parUament trust Charles, that it not only kept the Irish war in its own r The hands, but also took into consideration a plan for depriving Militia Charles of any hold over the armed forces of England. ^'"* Since the reign of Edward vi. the county militia had been in the hands of lords-lieutenant named by the king, and from time immemorial the governors of all the fortresses of the kingdom had been appointed by the sovereign ; but now parliament passed a militia bill, by which it transferred both these appointments to itself, naming Lord Saye and Sele, for example, lord-lieutenant of Oxfordshire, and Sir John Hotham governor of Hull. On March 9, the consent of the king was asked to this bill. Charles flatly declined, saying, ' you have asked that of me in this, which was never asked of a king, and with which I will not trust my wife and children.' Parliament then decided to make the militia bill an ' ordinance of parliament,' and to enforce it without the king's consent, and the parliamentary lords -lieutenant were directed to enter upon the duties of their office. This action of the Houses was distinctly both illegal and unconstitutional, and gave the king the advantage of stand- ing up as the champion of legality ; but at first he got little advantage from it, for on political grounds he had as yet no party, and when he reached York, on March 19, he met with but a cold reception. About this time, however, a change occurred. Ever since the attempt to seize the five members the religious question had been in the back- ground. It now came to the front, and with it Charles' ^j.^^^}, ^f hopes of support. The chief cause of this was the pre- a Royalist sentation to parliament of a petition from the gentlemen of Kent, which embodied the ideas of the Episcopalian party. The petitioners asked (1) that 'the solemn liturgy of the church might have freedom from interruptions, scorns, profanations, threats, and force ot such men as do daily deprave it ; and (2) that Episcopal government be preserved.' With these desires Charles was in full sympathy, and if he 554 The Stuarts 1642 could only convince those who held them that he had really broken with his political past, and would for the future keep strictly within the lines of the constitution, he might still lead a party. This service was done for him by Hyde. Edward Hyde represented in his own person exactly the idea which Charles wished to present to the country. He had voted for the death of Strafibrd, but against the abolition of Episcopacy. He had taken an active part in removing all the old abuses, but he had opposed the new-fangled militia bill. He now stood forth as the champion of legality, and Charles accepted him as his constitutional adviser. As if to play into the king's hands, parliament emphasised its hostility to the old religious settlement by taking proceedings against the Kentish petitioners. From that moment men were forced to side definitely either with king or parliament, even though they did not fully agree with either. Lovers of Episcopacy and of the prayer-book saw their only chance of keeping these in the success of the king ; men who preferred any other form of religious worship or of church government were equally forced to side with the parliament. The idea of toleration for all religions had not as yet any supporters. Still the formation of these parties, bringing the nation face to face with civil war, made both sides pause, and for a moment a compromise seemed possible, when an ill-considered act of Charles refused revived and intensified the suspicions of the parliament, to Hun°" "^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ attempt on Hull. Immediately on the de- parture of the king from London attention had been attracted by the importance of Portsmouth and Hull, in which, with the Tower, the chief stores of arms were kejDt. Hull was especially valuable, because in it were accoutrements for 16,000 men which had lain there since the disbanding of the northern army, and also because it was the most convenient port for the landing of Dutch or Danish troops. Accordingl}', Charles ordered the earl of Newcastle to secure it ; but parliament was beforehand with him, and sent Sir John Hotham to hold the place. After the passing of the militia ordinance, his position was confirmed, and he was ordered not to deliver it up except by ' the king-'s authority, signified unto him by the Lords and Commons now assembled in parliament.' This order was obviously illegal, and Charles, urged by the queen, determined himself to demand admission into Hull. Accord- ingly, on Aj)ril 23, he appeared before the gates ; but Hotham was true to his trust, and Charles, having had the parliamentary governor proclaimed a traitor, returned discomfited to York. This clear attempt to secure arms destroyed all chance of accommodation ; and parliament had the stores removed to London. So inevitable had war become, that 1642 Charles I. 555 both sides devoted their main attention to making the other appear the aggressor. On June 2, parliament despatched to the king nineteen propositions, in which he was asked to allow parliament to name his council, officers of state, governors of fortresses, and judges ; to confirm the militia ordinance ; and to permit a reformation of the Nineteen church to be carried out in accordance with the views ^'■°P°sitions. of parliament. Of course he refused ; and on June 15, a cleverly worded counter-manifesto was issued at York, in which his chief adherents declared their belief that the king had no intention of making war on the parliament, and that all his efi'orts were directed to the firm and constant settlement of the true Protestant religion ; the just privileges of parliament ; the liberty of the subject ; the law, peace, and prosperity of this kingdom. Hitherto the great obstacle to Cliarles' gaining a party had been his unceasing efi'orts to secure foreign aid against his own subjects. Fortunately, however, for him, they had all failed, and the protestation of York was the firstfruits of a determination to appeal to the loyalty of Englishmen. Encouraged by his success, Charles next day issued ' commissions of array,' giving authority to his friends in each county to call out the trained bands, and _ '' _ Commis- though in the south-eastern shires the population stood by sions of the parliamentary lords-lieutenant, in the north and west the orders of the commissioners were accepted. Hitherto, also, want of money had put him at a decided disadvantage, but at this crisis the Catholic marquess of Worcester and his son Lord Herbert came to his assistance, and furnished him with no less than i'95,000, raised on their own security. The queen, too, had succeeded in raising a further sum by pledging the crown jewels. The process of drifting into war then went on apace. On July 4 a committee of safety was appointed, of which the leading meml)ers were Essex, Saye and Sele, Pym, Hampden, Fiennes, Holies, and Drifting Sir William Waller, and a few days later it was decided to '"*° ^^'■• levy 10,000 men for active service. On July 11 the Houses declared that Charles had begun the war. On July 12 Essex was named commander- in-chief. On July 15 the first blood was shed at Manchester in a conflict between Lord Strange (afterwards earl of Derby) and some townsmen who were trying to carry out the militia ordinance. On July 17 there was fighting in Charles' presence before the walls of Hull. In August parliament borrowed i'100,000 from the sum voted for the Irish war. On August 18 the adherents of the king were declared by parlia- ment to be traitors, and on August 22 Charles unfurled the royal 556 The Stuarts 1642 standard at Nottingliam. Such were the steps by which Englishmen found themselves divided into two bodies, each ready for war, but each declaring that they entered on it with reluctance,and that the responsibility for bloodshed lay with the other side. Even after his standard had been raised, Charles made two more efforts for peace, and finally, on September 6, Falkland was authorised to notify personally to the parliamentary leaders that the king was still ready to listen to any reasonable proposals, and in particular that he would ' consent to a thorough reformation of religion.' Unfortunately this message was secret, and to Charles' open offer that he would take down his standard if both sides withdrew the accusation of treason against the other, parliament replied by demanding that the expenses incurred in prepara- tions should be defrayed out of the estates of those whom parliament should declare to be 'delinquents.' This reply, obviously suggested by the policy which both king and parliament had adopted towards the Irish rebels, was worth 10,000 men to the king. Hitherto men had hesitated to commit themselves to a war for the maintenance of bishops or for the sake of a sentimental loyalty, but now that their estates were in danger there was no more hesitation, and Charles soon found himself at the head of an army of enthusiastic soldiers. The cleavage between the two parties did not follow any accurately marked geographical line. In every county there were some for the The Two king and some for the parliament. High churchmen almost Parties. invariably followed the king. Eoman Catholics invariably did so, for they well knew that no mercy for them would follow a Puritan victory. Anti-Episcopalians and Separatists, of course, supported the parliament, for earnest Puritans believed that Puritanism contained all that was best in the religion of the Reformation, and felt certain that in fighting Charles they were engaged in a holy war. Men who had no strong religious views were diversely arranged. Those who laid stress upon the necessity of curbing the prerogative supported Pym ; others, actuated by traditional loyalty, followed Charles. Most men of pleasure felt instinctively that the adoption of Puritanism would be so disastrous to their way of life that they were bound to resist it, and they, too, followed the king. Roystering swordsmen like Lunsford took the same side, much to the confusion of idealists like Falkland. If the arrangement of classes be examined, it will be found that the bulk of the parliamen- tarians were recruited from the townspeople, especially from the Londoners, and from the yeomen classes in the country ; but that their leaders were taken either from the nobility or the gentry. Generally speaking, however, the gentry supported the king, and, where they did 1642 Charles I. 557 so, carried their tenants with them. Men of equal nobility and purity of motive were to be found on either side, and there were plenty of men of accomplishment and culture who supported the parliament, though, as a rule, the cultivated classes felt themselves repulsed by the harsh and rigid ideal of the Puritans. As an example of the former, we may take Colonel Hutchinson, of whom his wife writes that 'he could dance admirably well, but neither in youth nor in riper years made any practice of it ; he had skill in fencing, such as became a gentleman ; he had a great love of music, and often diverted himself with a viol, which he played masterly ; he had great judgment in paintings, gravings, sculpture, and all liberal arts, and had many curiosities of value of all kinds.' For practical purposes, however, a line drawn from Hull to Gloucester and thence to Lyme, will serve for a dividing line, for east and south of this the majority of the population, or at any rate Geographical the most active spirits, supported the parliament ; north divisions, and west the majority was for the king. (See map of civil wars on page 538.) Some exceptions, however, there were. The university of Oxford was for the king. So, too, was Cambridge ; but its power of aiding him was at once destroyed by Cromwell. The clothing towns both of the West Kiding of Yorkshire and of Somerset were for the parliament. The seaports, as a rule, Avere more parliamentarian than the country. These divisions were not unlike those noticed in the Wars of the Eoses. The towns and richer districts were with the parliament, as they had been with the Yorkists ; the poorer and more backward followed the king. It was a matter of the greatest importance to the jiarliament that the fleet under the earl of Warwick was wholly on its side. In conse- quence, the king had the utmost difficulty in getting supplies from abroad, while the parliamentarians were not only able easily to move their troops by sea, but to enable the seaport towns to make a most valuable resistance to Charles' land forces. Parliament threw itself vigorously into the prosecution of the war. Saye went down to Oxford to overawe the university. Sir William Waller took charge of the operations against Portsmouth, and forced Goring to sur- opening of render it on September 7. Kimbolton (now earl of Man- ^^^ ^^'■• Chester), Hampden, Fiennes, Holies, and others raised regiments at their own expense. London sent 8000 men, and soon 20,000 nien were wearing the orange scarf which denoted a parliamentary soldier. The mustering was marked by the plundering of the houses of royalists and Roman Catholics, and the destruction of the ornaments and communion 558 The Stuarts 1642 rails in anti-Puritan churches. On September 9 Essex took formal leave of the Houses, and, carrying with him a coffin and a winding- sheet, to show his resokition, set off for Northampton, whence he designed an immediate march upon Nottingham. However, when he reached Northampton he heard that Nottingham had already been evacuated by the king. Charles, who had been hin- Charies at dered in his preparations by the difficulty of procuring arms, Shrewsbury, j^^d wiscly changed his ground to Shrewsbury, the natural trysting-place for the forces assembling from Wales and the north. On the way he had reassured his soldiers by a declaration that he would maintain all the acts of the present parliament to which he had assented, and had appealed to the religious feelings of his men by declaring that on the field of battle they would find arranged against them ' Brownists, anabaptists, and atheists.' Decidedly the most vigorous soldier in his army was his nephew, Prince Rupert of the Palatinate, a young man of twenty-three, who had in him the making of a good soldier. He was bent on securing success by every means in his power, and his high- handed method of collecting supplies soon gained him among the parliamentarians the sobriquet of 'Prince Robber.' Him Charles named commander of the horse. Several officers were named generals of the royal army, but in practice Charles kept the chief direction in his own hand. The first serious fighting took place near Wor- Worcester. o & r- cester, where Rupert, covering the retreat of Sir John Byron, wlio was conveying to the king some of the treasures of the Oxford colleges, scattered one of Fiennes' cavalry regiments, and saved the much-needed supplies. The chief result of the action, however, was to inspire the royalists with the belief that the Puritan cavalry were a con- temptible force. In this, one parliamentarian officer was quite prepared to agree with them. Speaking to his cousin Hampden, Oliver Cromwell freely criticised the cavalry of his own side. ' Your troops,' he said, ' are most of them old decayed serving-men and tapsters, and such kind of fellows, and their troops are gentlemen's sons and persons of quality. Do you think that the spirits of such base and mean fellows will ever be able to encounter gentlemen that have honour, courage, and resolu- tion in them ? ' Hampden agreed with the criticism, but was doubtful whether anything could be done ; and in his practical way, Cromwell at once set about getting together a troop of his own which he designed to be of a very different quality. To meet Charles' move to Shrewsbury, Essex placed garrisons in Warwick, Coventry, Northampton, and other towns, and himself occupied Worcester. On October 12 Charles broke up from Shrewsbury, and, cleverly 1642 Charles I. 559 avoiding the garrisoned towns, marched straight for London. Essex started in pursuit, and on October 22 the two armies were within a few miles of each other, Charles at Edgecote, near Banbury ; Essex at Kineton. The roads along which the armies were Mi^rc"on advancing met at Banbury, but Charles was somewhat in ^""'^o"- advance. On hearing, however, of the proximity of Essex, Charles turned out of his road and took up a strong position on Edgehill, a line of high ground overlooking the flat valley of the Avon. Over this ridge Essex's route lay. The king had with him 14,000 men. Essex had with him not more than 10,000 ; but Hampden, with two more regiments, was only one day's march behind. For defence Charles' wBm Parliament I I Royalists BATTLE OF EDGEHILL, OCTOBER 23, 1642 position was very strong, but he could not wait to be attacked. His provisions were running short ; he was in a hostile country where the blacksmiths refused to shoe his horses ; and he had in his rear Banbury, one of the most parliamentarian towns in England. Moreover, few royalists had the least doubt that an easy victory awaited them ; and, accordingly, in the afternoon of Sunday, October 23, the king's army marched down the hill and attacked Essex. As was usual in those days, both armies were drawn up with their cavalry on the wings and the infantry in the centre. The weapons of both were the same. Each foot regiment was composed of Battle of pikemen in the centre and musketeers on the flanks. The E ge i . lines were usually ten deep, for each musketeer, as he fired, retired to 560 The Stuarts 1642 the rear to load ; and nine men had to do this before the first was ready ao-ain. In this way a continuous fire was kept up. When charged by cavalry, the musketeers took refuge among the pikemen, who presented to their assailants a solid front of glittering spear-points. The usual plan of attack was for the whole line, infantry and cavalry, to advance simultaneously till they came to close quarters, when the cavalry charged and the infantry fired at each other, till one side or other gave way, or an attempt was made to get to closer quarters still, and fight hand to hand. The battle began about tlu'ee o'clock, when little more than two hours' light remained. Of late years cavalry had almost always contented themselves with firing pistols at each other, and had rarely charged home, but Eupert led his men right into the ranks of the enemy, and the new device carried all before it. On the right wing Rupert's men pursued their opponents into Kineton, and then setting upon the baggage, got completely out of hand. On the left Wilmot was almost as successful. Only two regiments of horse stood their ground under Balfour, the late commander of the Tower of London and Staple- ton. Oliver Cromwell also contrived to keep his own troop together. With the foot, however, it was difierent. Unlike the ' decayed tapsters and serving-men,' out of whom the cavalry were composed, the stout Puritans who filled the ranks of the infantry held their ground well, and when the first confusion was over the royalist regiments of foot found that they had met their match. Gradually the tide of battle turned, and when in the shades of evening Rupert at length returned, he found his uncle's men withdrawing to the hill, while Hampden's fresh troops were hurrying up to support the tired soldiers of the parlia- mentarian army. When darkness settled upon the field, both armies occupied their morning position, and next day neither was desirous of renewing the fight. During the course of the day Essex, whose great object was to reach London before Charles, broke up his camp, and made a flank march to Northampton, while Charles moved on to Oxford. From Oxford Charles continued his advance on London, but the slowness of his movements gave Essex time to make his roundabout Turnham march, and when the royalists reached Kingston they found Green. their old antagonists of Edgehill again barring the road. Nor was Essex left without reinforcements. The imminent danger of London, and especially the tidings brought to the city of the j^lundering of Rupert's foragers, instead of cowing the citizens roused them to resistance. Men, women, and children toiled at the earthworks, which were hastily thrown up to defend the capital, and the trained bands, 1643 Charles I. 561 with Skippon at their head, mustered with alacrity in defence of their families and their faith. From Kingston, Charles' troops advanced to Brentford, which they occupied after a fierce encounter ; but the masses of citizen soldiers drawn up on Turnham Green caused the cavaliers to pause, and, after an ineffective cannonade, Charles marched his army back to Oxford. The indecisive character of the fighting naturally caused negotiations to be opened ; but these and subsequent attempts failed, partly because Charles was unwilling to make terms with opponents whom he expected very soon to subdue by force ; partly because on the religious question compromise was impossible between two parties, each of which was fight- ing not for liberty but for domination ; and partly because Charles' attempts to get aid either from foreign princes, or from Ireland, or from the fomenting of treachery among the parliamentarians, were constantly coming to light, so that earnest men became more and more convinced that the only road to permanent peace lay through a complete victory over the king. The next year, 1643, saw fighting going on all over England. Essex and the king faced one another on the road between Oxford and London. In the west, Sir Ralph Hopton led the Cornish- campaign men against the parliamentarians of the Somersetshire °f^^43- clothing towns under the earl of Stamford ; in the Severn valley. Sir William Waller, with Bristol and Gloucester at his back, was barring the road to Oxford against Charles' Welsh allies ; Meldrum and Crom- well, having secured the eastern counties, were directing their operations against Newark in order to secure command over the Great North Road ; in the north Ferdinand, Lord Fairftix, and his son Sir Thomas, led their tenants and the clothiers of the West Riding against Newcastle, who at the head of an army gathered from the northern shires, and largely recruited with Roman Catholics, was trying to secure Yorkshire for the king. During the spring the parliamentarians did well, especially Sir William Waller, who earned himself the title of William the Conqueror ; Sir Thomas Fairfax, who stormed Leeds, and Cromwell, chaigrove who for the first time routed a body of royalist cavalry near ^^ Grantham. In the summer, however, fortune favoured the king. On June 18, at Chaigrove Field, the noble-minded Hampden was mortally wounded in an attempt to cut off a party of Oxford raiders led by Prince Rupert ; the earl of Straftbrd was routed at Stratton in Cornwall by Hopton and Grenville ; and when Sir William Waller attempted to check their forward march he was worsted in an indecisive battle at Lansdown, near Bath, where Sir Bevil Grenville fell, and utterly routed 2 N 562 The Stuarts 1643 at Roundway Down near Devizes on July 10. This disaster was soon followed by the loss of Bristol, which Fiennes surrendered to Prince Rupert on July 26. Rupert's success, however, was dearly purchased by the loss of five hundred ' incomparable foot,' while the pillage to which the parliamentarians of the place were subjected made resistance elsewhere more desperate. In the north, the arrival of Henrietta Maria, who, in spite of the parliamentarian fleet, made good her landing at Bridlington, spurred Newcastle on to more strenuous exertions, and on Adwalton July 30 the Fairfaxes were beaten at Adwalton Moor (pro- ^°°^- nounced Atherton) near Bradford, and compelled to take refuge in Hull, which the vigilance of the inhabitants had saved from a contemplated surrender by the treacherous Hothams. Only in the eastern counties had the parliamentarians met with uniform success, and there a victory at Gainsborough, won on July 28, had given additional proof of the efficiency of Cromwell's troojiers. Had Charles been engaged in an ordinary war, these successes in the north and west would at once have been followed by a general advance on London ; but in both armies local feeling was so strong that the men were with difficulty induced to fight at all out of their own counties, and had as yet no idea of subordinating the defence of their own homes to the general success of their side. Charles also was hampered by the fiict that so many important fortified towns were in the hands of the parliamentarian garrisons, whose presence was a constant dauger to the estates of all royalists in their neighbourhood. Hence, when Charles desired a general advance, the Yorkshiremen would not move till Hull was in their hands ; the men of Cornwall and Devon were equally desirous to secure Exeter and Plymouth ; while the Welshmen would not cross the Severn while Gloucester still remained unconquered. In these circumstances, Charles had no choice but to engage in a series of sieges. He himself besieged Gloucester ; New- The Siege of castle besieged Hull, and Rupert's younger brother. Prince Gloucester. Maurice, whom Charles had made commander in the west, marched against Exeter and Plymouth. Meanwhile the parlia- mentarians, who were confronted with a similar difficulty, had met it by a plan of associated counties. Warwickshire and Stafibrdshire had been the first to combine under Lord Brooke, whose unlucky death at the siege of Lichfield not only deprived the parliamentarians of an able commander, but England of one of its most tolerant and high-minded men. The example of Warwickshire and Stafibrdshire was followed by the fen districts, who soon had on foot an admirable force, of which the commander was the earl of Manchester, but of which Oliver Cromwell 1643 Charles I. 563 was the heart and soul. Fortunately, too, for the parliament, the men of the London trained bands were willing to march anywhere that their services were required. Accordingly, it was on the Londoners that Pym called for a force to relieve Gloucester ; and now that definite work was to be done, the slackness which Essex had found so hard to contend with disappeared, and at the head of 15,000 citizen soldiers, well clothed, well armed, and convinced that ' God had called them to do the work,' he was soon on the way to Gloucester. He arrived just in time, for only three barrels of gunpowder were left, Avhen Rupert's cavalry, having failed to check the advance of Essex, Charles, not choosing to fight with an untaken town in his rear, raised the siege, and allowed Essex to march in unopposed. His arrival was regarded as a special interposition, and the pious citizens inscribed over a gate the words, ' A city assailed by man but saved by God.' It now became Charles' object to cut ofi" Essex's return to London, and, repeating the strategy of Edgehill, he barred his march at Newbury ; but this time he compelled Essex to make the First Battle attack. A furious battle followed, in which the parlia- <^f Newbury, mentarians, fighting among enclosures, had a decided advantage ; and the loss among the cavaliers, especially the leaders, was so severe that Charles did not venture to renew the fight, but fell back on Oxford, and left Essex to march home unoj)posed. At Newbury perished Lord Falkland, perhaps the most really tolerant and fair-minded man then living. His loyalty and attachment to the church led him to ofi'er his services to the king : but a ^ ,, , ^ . Falkland, short experience of the royal camp convinced him that he had little or nothing in common with the roystering soldiers and selfish pleasure-seekers who surrounded him. He would have been equally out of harmony with the violent and narrow-minded Puritanism which filled the hearts of the most earnest supporters of the opposing side. Feeling this, and hailing death as a relief, he rode at a gap where the bullets were raining thickest, and so perished. Falkland's life might have been happy and free under Elizabeth ; among the statesmen of the Revolu- tion his character would have been invaluable ; but in the times in which his lot was cast he found himself ineffective, unappreciated, out of harmony with his surroundings, and a speedy relief was all he had to ask. The battle of Newbury was fought on September 20, and formed a turning-point in the war. Exeter had fallen on Sep- o ^ Parliamen- tember 4, but Plymouth, aided by the parliamentarian fleet, tarian proved impregnable — alike to force and to treason. Crom- well again routed the cavaliers at Winceby on October 11, and as they 564 The Stuarts 1643 chased the royalists over the Lincolnshire wolds they heard from Hull the booming of the cannon which covered a successful sally of the garrison, which forced Newcastle to raise the siege on the following day. The year, therefore, though checkered, closed well for the parliament. The events of the campaign of 1643 afforded clear evidence that neither party had a decided advantage, and, before it was Reinforce- , . . „ . ' , r^y ^ ments over, both were negotiatmg tor reintorcements — Charles °° ^ ° ■ with the Irish ; parliament with the Scots. During the civil war, the Irish rebellion of 1641 had developed into a national movement, in which the Celtic population, with whom it had The Irish Originated, were joined, for the first time in Irish history, Rebellion, i^y the descendants of the ancient Anglo-Norman settlers. The united parties called themselves ' confederates,' and were opposed by the English army under Ormond, and by a Scottish contingent under Munro. On the whole, the fighting was favourable to the insurgents ; and by 1643 the confederates were in possession of the whole of Ireland, with the exception of the coast-line near Dublin and another small strip along the shores of Belfast Lough. Since the begin- ning of the rebellion, Charles had been engaged in secret negotiations The Cessa- '^^^^^ the confederates, and he now ordered Ormond to bring tion. the fighting to a close by an agreement called the Cessation. This would set free Ormond's troops for service in England. Charles had also in view the arrival of a contingent of 10,000 confederates. Accordingly Ormond's men were landed in Devonshire and Wales, and attached themselves either to Hopton's force, or to a new army which was raised on the Welsh borders under Lord Byron (formerly Sir John). The parliamentary negotiations with the Scots were conducted by a committee, of whom the leading spirit was Sir Harry Vane. The Scots were willing enough to aid the parliament, but were anxious to make it part of the bargain that the English should accept the Scottish form. of Presbyterianism. To this, however. Vane, who feared the intolerance of the Presbyterians, objected ; and, eventu- ally, it was agreed that the English Church should be modelled ' accord- incr to the example of the best reformed churches, and according to the Word of God,' a phrase which gave ample latitude of interpretation. On their part, the Scots agreed to cross the border with 20,000 men, whose expenses were to be borne by the parliament. The treaty thus drawn up was known as the Solemn League and Covenant, and must be care- fully distinguished from the Scottish covenant mentioned before (see 1644 Charles I. 555 page 533). It was signed on September 25, 1643, and was sworn to by all members of parliament. The alliance between the parliament and the Scots was the last triumph of Pym's policy, and he died on December 8, 1643. Pym's great achievements had been to concentrate the attention of r> , ^ fym s his countrymen on the importance of religion, not only for Death. its own sake, but as an element in the political hfe of the nation. As he once said, ' the greatest of our liberties is religion.' His conception of the constitution was the harmonious working of king and parliament ; and the phrase ' the orders of the king signified by both houses of parlia- ment ' exactly explains his position. After his death, no member of the House succeeded to his supreme authority. The two most prominent civilian members were probably Holies and Sir Harry Vane, and the chief soldiers Waller and Cromwell. Holies led those who wished to close the war by negotiation ; Vane those who believed that peace could be secured only by decisive victory in the field. In this absence of any accepted leader, and in view of the need of working harmoniously with the Scots, the executive power was placed in the hands of a committee of both nations, of which the chief English members were Essex, Man- chester, Holies, Vane, Waller, and Cromwell ; and the leading Scots, Maitland, afterwards notorious as the earl of Lauderdale, and Johnstone of Warriston. During the winter Charles, by the advice of Hyde, summoned those lords and commons who supported him to meet in session at Oxford. The Oxford parliament met in January, and comprised a ^he Oxford large majority of the peers of the kingdom, and about a Parliament, third of the members of the House of Commons. It had, however, no Speaker or any of the insignia of the House, and its claim to be a parliament at all was hardly recognised even by royahsts. Its chief im- portance lay in a resolution passed by it complaining of the iniquity of calling in the Scots, and the evidence shown of the objections enter- tained by the gentry who sat in it to Charles' employment of Roman Catholics. The year 1644 opened well for the parliament. In January Sir Thomas Fairfax, hurrying from Lincolnshire, utterly routed Byron at Nantwich, and compelled most of his troops to surrender. Battle of Nor was this all, for the mass of the troops from Ireland took Nantwich. service under their conqueror. In April a similar disaster overtook Hopton's force, which was routed at Cheriton by Sir Battle of William Waller, who had come to be reckoned ' the best Cheriton. chooser of ground ' among the officers of the parliament. Nantwich and 566 The Stuarts 1644 Cheriton, therefore, destroyed Charles' hopes from Ormond's aid, and he fell back on his negotiations with the ' Confederates' of Kilkenny. Parliament was more fortunate. On January 19 the Scots crossed the Tweed, under Leven, Baillie, and David Leslie ; and Newcastle The Scots in ^oved northwards to meet them, leaving an outpost at England. Selby to defend York. However, in April, Sir Thomas Fairfax stormed Selby and compelled Newcastle to return to York, closely followed by the Scots. The army of the association, under Manchester and Cromwell, then marched into Yorkshire. Before the Siege of ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ month York was formally besieged by the three York. allied armies. Feeling the importance of saving it, Charles ordered Eupert to collect an army for its relief. While Newcastle was besieged at York, Charles seemed likely to be hemmed in at Oxford ; for Essex, with his own army, and Waller, with a force raised in London and the home counties, were advancing against the town. Charles, how- ever, cleverly slipped between the two and marched into Worcestershire. When his escape was known, it was decided that Waller should besiege Oxford, and that Essex should march into the western counties, relieve Lyme, secure Plymouth, and, if possible, defeat Prince Maurice. The separation of the parliamentary forces gave Charles a decided superiority over either of them. Turning on Waller, he beat him in an action at Cropredy Bridge, which so dispirited Waller's Cropredy amateur citizen soldiers that they one and all made off ^ ■ home ; and this disaster, and the superior mobility of the cavaliers, convinced Waller that nothing but the organisation of a regularly paid and disciplined force could enable the parliamentarians to win. Waller being thus disposed of, Charles hurried after Essex, who had been carrying all before him in the west, and had compelled Henrietta Surrender at Maria to fly to France. Deceived, however, by delusive Lostwithiei. hopes of Cornisli assistance, Essex advanced so far that retreat was impossible; and, at Lostwithiei in September, Charles hemmed him in with a force so overwhelming that the parliamentary foot were compelled to capitulate, the horse with difficulty cut their way through to Plymouth, and Essex himself escaped by sea to London. For the moment the parliamentary cause in the west seemed to be rained, but Plymouth and Taunton, the latter under Robert Blake, still held out, and, so long as they did so, there was still work to detain the western royalists in their own counties. The king's great success in the south was, however, balanced by a still greater disaster in the north. After leaving Oxford, Charles gave definite orders to Rupert to relieve York, and also sent him a letter 1644 Charles I, 567 which, though ambiguously worded, was interpreted by Rupert as a positive order to fight the Scots. After throwing reinforcements into Newark, Eupert made his way into Lancashire, where he raised the siege of Lathom House, which the countess of marches Derby was holding for the king ; and then he crossed the ^*'''*^' hills into Yorkshire, passed the Aire at Skipton and the Wharfe about Otley, and reached Knaresborough on the Nidd on June 30. When news of Rupert's arrival reached the allies, they abandoned the siege of York and drew up to meet him on Marston Moor, opposite the place where the usual road from Knaresborough to York gjg ^ ^f crosses the Nidd at Skip Bridge. Rupert, however, eluded ^^^"^ raised, them by marching north, and crossing the Ure at Boroughbridge, and the Englisli Miles > 4 6 8 lo 12 MARSTON MOOR, JULY 2, 1644. Swale at Thornton Bridge, some miles above the junction of the two rivers, came down the left bank of the Ouse, and so relieved York. Upon this the allies retreated south, in order to hold the line of the Wharfe against Rupert's return. Newcastle washed to avoid a battle until further re- inforcements had come up ; but Rupert, armed with Charles' letter, insisted on fighting, and, accordingly, Newcastle's men were marched out of York, and Rupert's soldiers, crossing the Ouse by a bridge of boats, joined them on Marston Moor. When this movement of the royalists was perceived, the allies retraced their steps, and drew up their forces between the villages of Longmarston and Tockwith, on some rising ground which bounds the moor on the south. Cromwell and Leslie, with 568 The Stuarts 1644 the Scottish and association horse, were on the left ; Leven, Manchester, and Lord Fairfax in the centre with the foot ; Sir Thomas Fairfax, with more cavalry, on the right. Meanwhile Eupert, hoping to charge the allies before they had formed their ranks, had drawn up his men close to a ditch which drained the moor, just where the rising ground began, and close to the allied position. The allies, however, were too quick for him ; and his, men were so long in coming up, that by the time they were marshalled, with Eupert on the right, Newcastle in the Battle of Marston Moor. «_* itarians. KM. The Ditch probably ran along- the Soitth side of the present road from Tockivith to Marston. centre and Goring on the left, it was seven o'clock in the evening. The attack, therefore, was postponed till next day, and refreshments were served out. This gave the allies their chance, and, with all the advantage of the slope in their favour, the whole allied army moved down to the ditch and flung itself upon the inattentive cavaliers. On the allied left, after a stubborn contest, Cromwell and Leslie drove Eupert and his horsemen from the field. On the right. Sir Thomas Fairfax, hampered by difficult ground, was beaten by Goring. In the centre the royalist 1644 Charles I. 559 troops had the best of it, and some of the Scots were soon in flio-ht. However, Sir Thomas Fairfax had had the luck to make his way, un- attended, through his opponents, and finding Cromwell with his men well in hand, had brought him across the rear of the royalist position to attack Goring as he returned from the pursuit. Goring's overthrow followed ; and then the allied horse joined its infantry in a systematic attack on the royalist centre. Unsupported as they were, Newcastle's foot-soldiers fought like heroes, and some regiments perished almost to a man ; but no efforts could save the day, and, when darkness closed in, the allies were completely victorious. The fall of York at p , f once followed. Newcastle fled to the continent ; and *^^ battle. Rupert, with his cavalry, made his way back by a circuitous route to the Severn valley. Had Marston Moor gone the other way, as Rupert had a fair right to expect it would, the parliamentary forces both in the north and south would have received a shock so severe that it is hard to see how they could have recovered. As it turned out, the king's power in the north received a fatal blow, and the royalist districts were practically reduced to the counties of the south-west, the Severn valley, Wales, and the Midland counties west of Oxford. After their decisive victory, Manchester and Cromwell, leaving Fairfax and the Scots to besiege Pontefract and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, marched south ; and, Essex being ill, Manchester, Waller, and Crom- ... Second well were associated together in an attempt to cut off the Battle of king's return from Cornwall. The two armies met at New- ^^ ^^^' bury, on the north side of the Kennet. The whole affair was grossly mismanaged, partly owing to there being too many generals, partly to the inertness of Manchester, which prevented him from supporting Waller and Cromwell by the delivery of an effective charge. The manoeuvres of the royalists, on the other hand, were well carried out, and Charles, with an inferior force, was able to secure his retreat to Oxford. This failure brought to a head the discontent of the more energetic members of the parliamentary party, whose leader was Oliver Cromwell. This great man had been rapidly coining to the front. He Oliver had been the first to see that the feelings of loyalty and Cromwell, honour, which inspired the cavaliers, could only be met by religious enthusiasm. At that date the cavalry were relatively the most im- portant part of the army ; and though the parliamentarians had been able to put into the field infantry at least as good as that of their opponents, their cavalry was far inferior to that of the royalists. This defect Cromwell had set himself to remedy ; and he found among the farmers and yeomen of the eastern counties as good riders as the gentry. 570 The Stuarts ' 1644 and men inspired with the utmost zeal for the cause of their religion. From them he organised the association horse, and drilled them into one of the finest bodies of cavalry the world had then seen. Cromwell him- self was an excellent cavalry officer, and his prowess at Marston extorted from Prince Rupert the complimentary nickname of Ironside, which was afterwards applied to his men. Cromwell's troopers had scattered the royalist cavalry wherever they had met them, and they believed that, with Cromwell to lead them, they could soon bring the war to a victorious conclusion. Good, however, as the foot-soldiers had shown themselves, acute observers had long perceived that the king could never be really beaten till parliament had at its disposal a regular force of soldiers engaged for general service, neither averse to serving out of their own counties nor yearning to get back to their shops after a single battle. Waller had been the first to point this out ; and Cromwell, who was eager to make private ends and local aims subordinate to the common good, was heartily in agreement with this view. On the other hand, Essex, though he was clear for carrying on the war with vigour, had not the genius to make it a success ; while Manchester, Essex and constitutionally inert and easy-going, appears not only to Manchester, h^ve been desirous of negotiating with Charles, but also was irritated by the way in which the war was bringing men of moderate birth to the front, to the exclusion of the ancient nobility. Manchester was closely allied to Holies and the peace party, whose consent to a con- tinuance of the war could only be secured by a demonstration of the futility of negotiation. Accordingly, after the battle of Newbury, two undertakings were set on foot — one for remodelling the army, the other for negotiating with the king. The motive power for the remodelling of the army was supplied by the fact that Vane and Oliver Cromwell were convinced that, unless the war were quickly successful, parliament would be compelled by denying popular pressure to conclude a dishonourable peace. They were also aware that there was a widespread belief that the parliamentary generals -and officers were prolonging the war to retain their own posts ; and Cromwell, to whom such an idea was abhorrent, spoke plainly of ' denying themselves for the public good.' In this sense a ' self-denying ordinance was brought in,' forbidding members of either House to hold any office, ' civil or military,' during the war. This roused the jealousy of the Lords, and was thrown out ; but eventually the Houses agreed to a second ordinance, by which, though all members were to resign their military or naval commands within forty days, there was no bar to their reappointment. Accordingly Manchester, Warwick, Essex, 1645 Charles I. 57 1 and Waller resigned at once, and were thanked for their services. Mean- while, by another ordinance, parliament engaged the services of 14,000 foot, 6000 horse, and 1000 dragoons or mounted infantry, ^he ' New Of these, 12,500 were chosen from the armies of Essex, Man- Model.' Chester, and Waller, and the remainder were pressed for service. At first, therefore, there was some unsteadiness in the ranks ; but before long, the efficiency of the old soldiers spread to their comrades, and the New Model army, as the force was commonly styled, became an admir- able force, both as to conduct and efficiency. Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had shown himself as alert and enterprising in attack as he was patient and persevering in defence, was made commander-in-chief, and Skippon became major-general. The post of lieutenant-general, which carried with it the command of the cavalry, was kept vacant. When his forty d.ays were up, Cromwell retired to the Isle of Ely, the defence of which he was asked to organise. At the same time the command of the navy was given to Batten, who had been vice-admiral under the earl of Warwick since 1642. From a religious point of view the New Model included men of all views, and no signature of the Covenant was de- manded from the rank and file. The officers were, for the most part, advanced and tolerant Puritans, for the stress of actual war had taught them to rate military efficiency at a higher value than either orthodox views or social rank. As Cromwell said : ' I had rather have a plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a gentleman, and is nothing else. I honour a gentleman that is so indeed.' By the time the New Model was ready, it had been amply demonstrated that nothing was to be done by negotiation. Indeed, it is probable that Vane and Cromwell had only agreed to negotiate in order to ^ ., •^ o o _ Failure of make this clear to the Scots. The commissioners of the the Negotia- king and the parliament met at Uxbridge on January 30, and the chief part was taken by the Scottish representatives, Henderson and Lauderdale. Three weeks were given to the discussion of the three chief points— Religion, the Militia, and Ireland. Hyde took charge of the king's case ; but as he was clear for Episcopacy, and the Scots for Presbyterianism, agreement was, from the first, hopeless. The strongest point of the king's case was the ofi'er of a scheme of toleration for other bodies, along with the establishment of Episcopacy. As this did not meet the views of the Presbyterians, and as grave doubts were enter- tained of the sincerity of the king, it made no impression at the time ; but as the first authoritative proposal for toleration, it marks an epoch in the history of religion in England. 572 The Stuarts 1645 When the three weeks' negotiations were over, parliament directed Fairfax to divide his forces. Part was to besiege Oxford, part was to po to the west to relieve Taunton. To meet this, Charles The War. sent Goring to the west, and leaving Oxford, marched north, with some idea of attacking the Scots ; but changing his mind, he moved across England with a view to an attack upon the eastern counties, and stormed Leicester. Fairfax was then ordered to march north and bring on a battle. When fighting was imminent, officers and men alike felt that it was madness not to have Cromwell to lead the cavalry, and a petition for his appointment was sent by the officers to parliament. The House of Commons consented ; and without waiting for the Lords, Crom- well at once hurried to headquarters, and joined Fairfax near Daven- try. Subsequently his commission was confirmed from time to time, and other officers were either elected members of parliament, or being members, received commands, so that the connection between the army and the Houses was never wholly broken. Cromwell joined Fairfax on June 13, and on the next day the decisive battle was fought at Naseby, in Northamptonshire. Fairfax's forces num- The Battle bered 14,000 men ; Charles and Eupert had only 7500 ; but of Naseby. unequal as the armies were, it was Rupert who made the attack. He himself was successful in beating the parliament's left wing under Ireton ; but on the right Cromwell carried all before him against Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and he and Fairfax had then little difficulty in dealing with Charles' outnumbered infantry in the centre. Even worse than the military disaster was the blow struck at the king's moral reputation by the capture of a cabinet containing drafts and copies of letters addressed by him to the queen. From these it was clearly demonstrated that Charles had no real intention of making peace, except on his own terms ; and that, while pretending to negotiate, he had been casting about for help from abroad, or from the Irish Catholics. Indeed, it was apparent that he was ready to use against his English subjects any aid, however unpopular ; and all this received additional con- firmation when, a few months later, Digby's correspondence was captured, and a copy of Charles' treaty with the Irish confederates also fell into the hands of parliament. So serious was the double blow thus struck, that quarters in which the king had hitherto been all-powerful, such as South Wales, became lukewarm or hostile, and even such stout soldiers as Rupert were convinced that peace was absolutely necessary. After Naseby, the defeat of the scattered royalist forces and the reduction of the royal fortresses was merely a question of time ; but in 1645 Charles I. 573 Scotland it seemed as if a general had arisen who might restore the king's ascendancy in the north. This was the marquess of Montrose, who, after many entreaties, had received from Charles the title of lieutenant-general of Scotland, with a free hand to do his best against the Covenanters, and compel the return of Leven and his troops. Montrose, whose disinterested loyalty marks him as one of the noblest characters of his time, was then thirty-two years of age, full of energy, and devoted heart and soul to the cause he had taken up. In politics he was a visionary ; but in military matters he was clear-sighted enough, and possessed in a high degree the genius for varying his methods with his means that marks a real soldier. His hopes lay in the hostility which existed between the Gordons of the district round Aberdeen and the Covenanters of the towns ; and between the Campbells and the rest of the Highland clans, particularly the Macdonalds. Montrose set out from York two days Montrose's after Marston Moor, and, disguised as a groom, made his Battles, way across the lowlands. At Blair- Athole he put himself at the head of a body of Irish Macdonalds, who had come over under Alister Mac- donald to help their clansmen, and were eager to fight the Campbells. Three armies sprang up against him under Elcho, Argyll, and Balfour of Burley ; but Montrose's quick marches outwitted his slower oppon- ents, and his brilliant tactics in battle gave them little chance in the field. On September 1 he crushed Elcho at TijDper- xippermuir. muir, and on the 13th he overthrew Balfour at Aberdeen. Aberdeen, This cleared the eastern lowlands and secured the aid of the Gordon clan ; and with a larger force he marched in the early days of February against Argyll, and utterly routed the Campbells at Inver- lochy, while Argyll, whose personal courage was more than doubtful, watched the slaughter of his clansmen from the security of a boat. The overthrow of Argyll compelled the Scots to detach Baillie and Hurry, two of their best officers, from their army in England ; but after a long series of manoeuvres Montrose routed ^ ., *= , , Auldearn. Hurry at Auldearn (Aldern) on May 9, and Baillie at Alford on July 4 ; and on August 15 he completed the destruction of Baillie's regular forces in the disastrous battle of Kilsyth, j^-jg ^^ These victories opened the way into the lowlands, where Montrose earnestly desired that Charles should join him ; but as was usual in Highland warfare, his followers insisted on returning home with their spoils, and in September Montrose, victorious as he was, found his forces reduced to a mere handful of men. In this condition he was attacked on the 13th at Philiphaugh by David Leslie, who had hurried 574 The Stuarts 1645 from England with an overwhelming force, and the rout of Philiphaugh, Defeat at ^^^^ Selkirk, brought to an end the power of the most Phihphaugh. pomantic of the cavaliers. Some months later Montrose escaj^ed in disguise to the continent. SCOTLAND. After 1603. Equally unlucky had been Charles' attempts to get assistance from other quarters. After the rout of Ormond's detachments at Nantwich and Cheriton, Charles still continued to negotiate with the ' Confederates, 1645 Charles I. 575 — sometimes through Ormond, the accredited lord-lieutenant, some- times through a Eoman Catholic, Edward Somerset, earl of Glamorgan, afterwards marquess of Worcester. Glamorgan received in- . . Charles' structions from Charles to negotiate with the ' Confederates ' Irish Nego- without Ormond's knowledge, and to take command of *^^^*°"^- the 10,000 Irish Celts who were expected to arrive in England. The negotiations, however, were slow. Ormond was inert, and too prejudiced in favour of Protestantism and the English connection to throw himself heartily into a plan which would have established Catholicism in Ireland, and practically made it an independent country. Glamorgan was rash as well as enthusiastic, but his wreck on the Lancashire coast had put a stop for a time to his share in the scheme. Charles was equally unsuccessful on the continent, where Henrietta Maria was scheming to hire the services of the duke of Lorraine with 10,000 men, trained in all the barbarity of German warfare. Lorraine heartily agreed to a project which opened up hopes of unlimited plunder ; but, fortunately for England, to transport him and his troops across the sea was no easy matter. Henrietta hoped that the Prince of Orange would provide ships as the price of the betrothal of the Prince of Wales to his daughter, and, failing this, that Mazarin would allow them to sail from Dieppe. The Dutch, however, refused the use of their ships, and Mazarin had no wish to offend the English parliament, so the whole plan came to nothing. Disappointed, therefore, in his hopes of aid from Scotland, Ireland, and the continent, Charles had nothing for it but to continue the struggle as best he might with the aid of the English Close of the && fc> , i. First Civil royalists. It did not last long. Within a month ot war. Naseby, Goring, with the army of the west, was utterly routed by Fairfax at Langport. On September 10 Bristol was stormed ; battle of and on September 24, Charles, from the walls of Chester, Langport. watched the operations which led to the discomfiture of his remaining army on Kowton Heath. In the spring the work was ^^^^^^ ^^ completed by the defeat of Hopton at Torrington and the Ronton surrender of Astley at Stow-on-the-Wold. Oxford capitu- lated on June 24. A few fortresses and castles still held out ; but they were gradually captured, and Harlech Castle alone prolonged its resis- tance until March 1647. Utterly beaten in the field, Charles, though he still hoped for aid from . France and Ireland, turned his attention to fomenting the p^riiamen- dissensions which had arisen among his opponents, whom he gr^^^^j^^^^^ now hoped to play off one against another. His chances of doing so lay in the circumstance that while his opponents were at one 576 The Stuarts 1645 in their desire to abolish Episcopacy, they disagreed as to what to put in its place. The Scots wished to see established in England a Presbyterian system of the Scottish type, in which the chief power lay in the hands of the clergy. The English Presbyterians wished to make Presbyterianism the established religion, as they were pledged to do l)y the Solemn League and Covenant, but to so far modify it as to keep the chief power in the hands of the laity. The Independents desired to have no national form of church government, but to allow each congregation to manage its own affairs. All were agreed that there was to be no toleration for the Roman Catholics and Episcopalians either in England or Ireland, and both sections of the Presbyterians wished to persecute the Inde- pendents ; while the Independents, believing, as Milton put it, that ' New presbyter was but old priest writ large,' were inclining to the view that if they could not get their own way, life would be more toler- able for them under a modified form of Episcopacy than under any form of Presbyterianism. On one point alone both parties were wholly at one, and that was the need of breaking once and for all from the system of Laud ; and it was Laud probably due more to this feeling than to any real fear of beheaded. ^^^ danger from his life that, in the winter of 1645, incited by Prynne, and with the consent of both religious parties, parliament voted the attainder of Archbishop Laud. No legal charge of treason could be made against him, and to put him to death was neither more nor less than a judicial murder. Nevertheless, the aged prelate was beheaded in January 1645. His death was designed to be taken as a visible proof that with Episcopacy, as Charles understood it, no terms were admissible. Ever since July 1643, the new constitution of the church replacing it had been under discussion by an assembly, which had been summoned at Westminster for the settlement of the national religion. This body consisted of one hundred and twenty clerics and of thirty members of parliament, and was so distinctly Presbyterian in tone ^, „, that for a long; time the Independent view was advocated The West- ^ ^ minster by five members only, of whom Philip Nye and John ssem y. q.qq^j^jj^ were chief. These men, who were known as the ' dissenting brethren,' put forward a plan for completely getting rid of the Laudian tradition by appointing a new bench of bishops, and then granting toleration to conscientious Protestant dissenters. Their plan, however, carried no weight. Presbyterianism of the English type was adopted in principle, and partially carried into practice, while the use of the Book of Common Prayer was forbidden in favour of the Directory, which was in efl'ect the book of directions for church worship compiled 1646 Charles I. 577 in Elizabeth's reign by Cartwright and Travers. These changes were confirmed by parliament, where, in religious matters, the Presbyterians had a steady majority. Outside parliament, however, there was much grumbling, and in the ranks of the New Model army, where toleration had always been the rule, there was bitter and deep-seated discontent. Of these differences Charles designed to take full advantage, hopino- that the dissentient parties would bid against each other for the aid of him and the royalists ; and with this view he entered into sejDarate and secret negotiations with the Presbyterians, the joins tihe Independents, the army leaders, and the Scots. It was so ^'^°^^- clear, however, that unless the king agreed to the most precise conditions there would be no security that he would not repudiate his engagements ; and Charles was so determined that, come what might, he would never abandon the hope of restoring Episcopacy, that all his negotiations came to nothing. Eventually believing that his best chance lay in workino- on the national jealousy of the English and Scots, he betook himself, in May 1646, to the Scottish army, in the full hope that before long he would find himself the leader of a combined Scottish and royalist army, fighting against the English parliament. Charles, however, soon found that, unless he would definitely agree to establish Presbyterianism in England, he would get no help from the Scots, and that he was to all practical purposes a prisoner, and not, as he had anticipated, a guest. The Scots, how- tions at ever, were willing to give Charles one more chance of coming to terms with his parliament before they handed him over to the English ; and accordingly they took him with them to Newcastle, where negotiations were again opened with some parliamentary com- missioners. The chief points asked of Charles were (1) the abolition of Episcopacy and the reformation of the church in a Presbyterian sense ; (2) the enforcement of fresh penal laws against the Roman Catholics ; (3) the control of parliament over the militia and fleet for the next twenty years. On the other hand, the Scots declared that they would fight for his restoration on condition that he would promise them to accept the terms offered at Uxbridge. In spite of the advice of his queen and of all his friends, Charles would neither come to terms with the parliament nor give up some of his convictions to purchase the assistance of the Scots ; for he regarded it as a point of honour to hand down the prerogatives of monarchy unimpaired to his successors, and as a point of religion to preserve Episcopacy. But, though clear himself, he certainly gave the impression to others that he was a mere shuffler ; and the Scots, irritated by liis apparent perversity, decided to have no more to do with the 2o 578 The Stuarts 1646 matter, and to hand him over to the English commissioners and go home at once. To this proposal parliament gladly agreed. It did all it Charles could to make the retreat of the Scots easy, and readily surrendered ^^^^^ £200,000 as the first instalment of the £400,000 at to the Parliament, which the expenses of the Scots were computed. By his new custodians Charles was treated with all respect, and parliament ordered him to be lodged for the present at Holmby House, in Nor- thamptonshire. The departure of the Scots naturally raised the question of the future of the army. The parliament wished to disband it, partly because the Presbyterians disliked its Independent sentiments, partly because the taxes needed to pay it were so unpopular as even to dispose many districts to royalism. The soldiers, on the other hand, were afraid that, if the army were broken up, the Presbyterian majority in parliament would have its own way, and would settle the religious question in such a manner that there should be no toleration for the Sectaries and Independents, to which classes most of the soldiers be- longed. So long as the conduct of the war had occupied the attention of parliament, the Independents, as the forward party, had been sure of a majority ; but as soon as the fighting was over, the Presbyterians regained their power, and proceeded to take into consideration the disbanding of the army. The plan proposed was to retain for service in England 6600 cavalry, but no permanent infantry ; and to employ in Ireland 4200 horse and 8400 foot. All Fairfax's soldiers who cared to serve, and for whom places could be found, were to be employed either in England or Ireland ; so that there would remain for disbandment only about 6000 foot. Besides the question of disbandment there was also the question of pay. That of the foot was eight weeks in arrears, that of the cavalry forty-three ; and as the total amounted to some £300,000, the difficulty of raising it would be great. Unfortunately for themselves, the Presbyterian majority in parliament was so unwise as to irritate the soldiers by proposing |that they should be paid only one-sixth of what was lawfully due to them. This foolish action had the effect of uniting as one man those who cared about the religious settlement and those who cared only about their pay. Consequently the soldiers determined to stick together, and elected representatives from each regiment, called adjutators, agitators, or agents, who were to act with a council of officers for the interests of the army — the chief of these being the payment of arrears, and the passing of an ordinance of indemnity for illegal actions committed as acts of war. Fairfax and Cromwell were heartily in sympathy with the legitimate demands of 1647 Charles I. 579 their men ; but Cromwell realised so keenly the evil that would ensue if the army once got the upper hand of parliament, that he did all in his power, both as an officer and a member, to bring about an accommo- dation between them. His efforts, however, failed, and he threw him- self vigorously on the side of the men. At such a crisis the soldiers were naturally afraid that Charles might either be placed at the head of a new Presbyterian army, or that he might be allowed to escape ; and Cromwell ordered Cornet Joyce to proceed to Holmby and secure Charles' person. This Joyce did ; and, fearing a rescue, removed the king to Newmarket, near which the army was encamped. Having secured the king, the army held a rendezvous on Triploe Heath and proceeded to formulate its demands in a Declaration, in which in addition to the old demands for pay and indemnity, they The requested that the present parliament should be purged of declaration, obnoxious members, and that, for the future, parliamentary elections should be held every two years. To enforce their request, the whole army then moved forward by slow stages towards London, taking the king with it, and eventually placed him at Hampton Court. Intimidated by such a display of force, and unable to raise an army of its own, parliament gave way, and eleven Presbyterian members, of whom the most notable were Holies and Sir William Waller, withdrew to the continent. From this moment, the real control of affairs passed into the hands of the army. Meanwhile the army, which claimed to be in reality a better repre- sentative of the wishes of the country than the existing parliament, negotiated with the king. Its proposals were more liberal ^^ , =• & f r .... The Army than those of parliament ; for Cromwell and his son-m-law and the Ireton, who, more than Fairf^ix, represented the political ^* ideas of the soldiers, were willing to permit the restoration of Episcopacy provided that there was full toleration for other sects ; and, as an earnest of their sincerity, Charles was allowed to hear the Church of England service read by his chaplains, an indulgence which had never been granted to him either by the Scots or by the parliament. The demands of the army were drawn up by Ireton ; and the political reforms demanded were biennial parliaments, parliamentary reform, and the creation of a council of state able to declare war and make peace, and to superintend the militia. They demanded also that five leading royalists should be punished. The whole scheme of the Heads of the army, therefore, as set forth in Ireton's Heads of the Pro- P^°P°s^ls. :posals, anticipated the religious settlement of 1689, and also much of the modern method of parliamentary government. To secure Charles' con- sent, however, was impossible, for he was now convinced that war 580 Tlie Stuarts 1647 between the Presbyterians and the Independents was inevitable, and that one side or the other would have to purchase assistance from the royalists. He, therefore, determined to escape to the Isle of Wight, whence, if necessary, he could remove to the continent. Unluckily for Charles, Hammond, the parliamentary governor of the island, was true to his employers, and though he agreed to receive Charles, he took care that his royal guest or prisoner should be carefully guarded in Caris- brooke Castle. From Carisbrooke Charles continued his intrigues with all parties. To him the failure of the negotiations with the army leaders was matter for congratulation : in reality, it had created an opinion in the army that negotiation with him was useless, and that he was a man whom it was impossible ever to trust as a king. As Charles expected, civil war broke out again in 1648. For a long time discontent had been increasing in the south-eastern counties and The Second i^. London, due partly to the burden of paying the soldiers' Civil War, wages, partly to the annoyance of the Presbyterians at the importance of the Sectaries, and this naturally developed into a royalist reaction. Charles hoped to combine a royalist insurrection in the south with an invasion carried out by the marquess of Hamilton. In Scotland, Hamilton had for the moment overborne the influence of The 'En- -^-rgyU, and had joined Lauderdale in making with Charles gagement.' ^^ Engageme7it, by which he agreed to establish Presby- terianism for three years, and to suppress absolutely Anabaptists, Separatists, Independents, and heretics of all kinds. On their part, the Scots were to invade England with an army, with a view to co- operate in putting an end to the existing parliament, and to settling a lasting peace with the aid of a ' full and free parliament.' Some time, however, was required by Hamilton and his friends to carry out their plans, and, meanwhile, the English royalists rose in Kent and South Wales. In face of a royalist rising, the parliament and the army waived their differences ; and while parliament did all it could to con- ciliate the discontented Londoners, Fairfax and Cromwell dealt with the royalists in the field. Cleverly putting himself between the Kentish royalists and their friends in the capital, Fairfax routed the main body of the insurgents in Battle of a battle at Maidstone, on June 14, and forced the survivors Maidstone. ^^ cross the Thames. They then threw themselves into Colchester and stood a siege, in hopes of being rescued either by the Scots or by a continental force. Fairfax, however, pushed forward his operations with the utmost vigour. In vain Lord Holland attempted another rising, assisted by the young duke of Buckingham. Their men 1648 Charles I. 581 were dispersed, Holland was captured; and,^ before the end of August, Colchester, after an heroic defence, was forced to capitulate. By a harsh use of the laws of war, two of the royalist leaders, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, were condemned by a council of war, and shot ; two others. Lord Capel and the earl of Norwich, father of Goring, the royalist officer, were reserved for future judgment. Meanwhile, the Welshmen had been routed by Horton at St. Pagan's, and Cromwell had taken Pembroke and Tenby Castles, and by the middle of July was free to act against the Scots. He was r^,^„=.,-o-„ barely in time, for Hamilton and his army of moderate °^ Preston. Presbyterians had already crossed the border, and Lambert, who was in command in the north, was too weak to impede his movements. Hamilton marched south by way of Kendal and Hornby to Preston. His army consisted of some 3600 English royalists under Sir Marma- duke Langdale, and of at least 2000 Scots ; but the latter were poorly drilled and equipped, and Hamilton himself, though personally brave, had no military skill. Cromwell's plans seems to have been formed on the supposition that Hamilton would make for Pontefract, which had lately fallen into royalist hands. With 8500 troops he marched down the Ribble valley determined to fight, and on August 17 he Avas fortunate enough to come on the invaders at Preston. Just then the Scottish army, horse and foot, had crossed the river, and Langdale, alone with his Englishmen, was on the northern bank. Langdale and his men fought like heroes, but were ultimately overpowered. Then Cromwell turned on the Scots, and before night he had stormed the bridges over the Kibble and the Darwen, and so cut off all hopes of retreat. The next day he pursued his advantage. The weather was wretched, and the Scots, short of ammunition and inefficiently led, became completely disorganised, and were utterly routed at Wigan and Winwick. Baillie alone showed any skill and tenacity ; but nothing could be done against the discipline and valour of the New Model soldiers. The foot surrendered at Warrington, the cavalry at Uttoxeter. As soon as success was assured, Cromwell left Lambert to deal with Hamilton, and himself marched off to Scotland, where he remained till October. Even- tually Hamilton and Langdale were both captured, and Lambert re- joined Cromwell in Scotland. This crisis, which was terminated by the successes at Preston and Colchester, was probably more serious for the parliament than any since Charles had retreated seriousness from Turnham Green; for it cannot be doubted that, of t^e Crisis. had Fairfax failed at Maidstone or Cromwell been beaten at Preston, a royalist reaction would have immediately followed. Even more 582 The Stuarts 1648 serious than the risings in Kent and Essex was the disaffection of part of the fleet, which had hitherto done admirable service to the parlia- ment by holding the sea against foreign aid of any kind. Now, however, no less than nine ships sailed to Holland, and placed themselves under the command of the Prince of Wales, and on August 30 nothing but a change of wind prevented a battle off Chatham between them and the parliamentarian vessels ; the crews of which, being more Presbyterian than the soldiers, could hardly be trusted to do their best. Eventually the prince's vessels retired to Holland, and were placed under the command of Prince Kupert. It was the severity of this crisis, brought about, as the army believed, solely by the obstinacy of Charles, that had caused the soldiers before they started for the campaign to declare that ' it was their duty, if ever the Lord brought them back again in peace, to call Charles Stuart, that man of blood, to an account for the blood he had shed, and the mischief he had done to his utmost against the Lord's cause and people in these poor nations.' The same spirit hardened Fairfax to carry out the executions at Colchester. While the soldiers had been fighting, the Presbyterians had had their own way in the House. This they had used to pass an ordinance denouncino; death against all who denied certain Christian Parhamen- , '^ , . . . ^, . tary pro- doctrines, such as the divinity of Christ, or the resurrec- ings. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ body ; and imprisonment against all who, among other things, denied that infant baptism was lawful, asserted the exist- ence of purgatory, or questioned the obligation of the Puritanical observation of Sunday. Such an ordinance was utterly distasteful to large bodies of the soldiers, and hardly less so were the negotiations which parliament had opened with the king. A negotiation, or ' treaty ' as it was then called, was carried on at Newport between the king Treaty of ill person and a number of commissioners, of whom Saye, Newport, jjolles, and Vane were the chief. Charles, however, was not in earnest. His hopes were still high of aid either from the continent, where the Thirty Years' War was just being concluded, or from Ireland, where Orniond was again trying to form a royalist party, or, at the worst, of making good his own escape. He was, therefore, prepared for the moment to yield almost anything, but held out for some form of Episco- pacy, and to this the Commons would not consent. Accordingly the aifair came to nothing. Meanwhile, the chief power in Scotland had passed into the hands of Argyll, supported by the stout Presbyterians of the western lowlands, known as the Whiggamores, and by the Campbells ; and though Crom- well, by order of the parliament, visited Edinburgh, he had little 1648 Charles I. 583 more to do than to consult with Argyll, and to leave Lambert and a few soldiers to secure the new government against the 'Engagers.' On his return to England he spent some time in superin- cromweii's tending the siege of Scarborough and Pontefract, and did Movements, not return to London till December 6. In Cromwell's absence the most influential among his officers was his son-in-law, Henry Ireton, who had become Cromwell's 'other self ; for Fairfax, though he always took the chair at the meetings of the council of officers, had no initiative in political monstrance matters. The feeling of the soldiers was expressed by ° ^ ^^^' Ireton in a document called the Remonstrance of tJi e Army. This paper denounced Charles as responsible for the renewal of the war ; deprecated further association with him on the ground that he would not consider his promises binding ; and asked that he should be brought to trial. However, Fairfax and others were not prepared to go as far as this without another attempt at accommodation ; and the king was asked in the name of the council of officers whether he would agree (1) to an early dissolution of parliament and biennial elections afterwards ; (2) to hand over the management of the militia to a council of state which was to be appointed for the first ten years directly by parliament, and afterwards indirectly ; (3) to allow the great officers of state to be similarly nominated. The real meaning of this demand was, that for the future Charles would take his policy from parliament, practically as the sovereign does to-day, and give up the old idea to which he held so closely, that the last word should always be with the king. This proposal was made to Charles on November 17, and was of course rejected. Next day the officers unani- mously adopted the Remonstrance ; and on the 20th it was presented to the House of Commons. Disliking the interference of the army, par- liament postponed its consideration for a week, and meanwhile continued its own negotiations with the king. Irritated at this, the council of officers at once took steps to secure the king's person, and proceeded further to consider whether it would be better to dissolve parliament by force or simply to ' purge ' out those members who did not agree with it. Accordingly, on December 1, by order of Fairfax, Charles was removed to Hurst Castle, a gloomy and easily-guarded fortress on the Hampshire coast. On the 2nd the army entered London, and on the 6th Ireton and other officers, finding that parliament still persisted in negotiations, and having the approval of Vane, Marten, and Lord Grey of Groby, directed Colonel Pride, who commanded a guard which had been Pride's placed in Westminster Hall, to exclude the chief Presby- ^"'■^^• terian members. One hundred and forty-three members were thus 584 The Stuarts 1648 excluded, including Holies and Fiennes. After Pride's Purge, the remnant of members, or as they were contemptuously called, the ' Eump,' had no pretence to represent the country, and became the mere creatures of the army in whose hands all real authority lay. The same evening Oliver Cromwell rode into London. Even at this date it is probable that Cromwell had not given up all hope of coming to terms with the king, thinking possibly that Charles Cromwell's would be made more amenable by the knowledge that he Views. would soon be brought to trial. In this, however, he was entirely mistaken, for Charles was quite willing to lay down his life for a cause which he regarded as being that not only of good government against anarchy, but also that of God's true religion. Accordingly, Charles would not even hear of a proposal that he should give up the prerogative of refusing his consent to acts of parliament, and after this last failure Cromwell made up his mind that nothing more was to be done ; and, as his manner was, threw himself heart and soul into the ranks of those who demanded not only that Charles should be deposed, but that he should be put to death. Reinforced by Cromwell's influence, the Independent members of par- liament pushed boldly forward. On January 4, 1649, in spite of the The King's opposition of the Lords, a high court of justice, consisting of ^^^ ■ one hundred and thirty-five commissioners, was created by a vote of the House of Commons only. The most notable members of the new court were Fairfax, Cromwell, Henry Marten, Ireton, Harrison, Lord Grey of Groby, and Colonel Hutchinson. John Bradshaw, a lawyer, was elected president. Its meetings began on January 8, but they were poorly attended. Fairfax was only present at the first; Vane had retired into the country. On the 20th the king was brought into Westminster Hall, and the trial began before sixty-eight commissioners. Being asked to plead, Charles retorted by asking ' by Mdiat authority' he had been brought to the bar.' ' By the authority of the people of England,' Bradshaw replied. Charles, however, stuck to his point ; and, though produced over and over again before the court, refused to say more, conceiving that in refusing to acknowledge the authority of an unconstitutional tribunal he was simply doing his duty. ' It is not,' he said, ' my case alone ; it is the freedom and liberty of the people of England ... for if power without law may make laws, may alter the fundamental laws of the kingdom, I do not know what subject he is in England that can be sure of his own life, or anything he calls his own.' The utmost concession Charles would make was an offer to state his case before the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber. Some members of the court would have at once 1649 Charles I. 585 condemned Charles as contumacious ; but it was eventually decided to hear evidence, and when it had been shown that Charles had raised troops against the parliament, and personally taken part in the civil war, the court found Charles guilty of being ' a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy to the good people of this nation,' ordered him to be put to death by the severing of his head from his body. The death warrant was signed by fifty-nine commissioners. The signatories, there- fore, represented a minority of the court, the court a minority of the parliament, and throughout the trial the strongest evidence was shown that the proceedings were not approved by the general mass even of Londoners, to say nothing of the rest of the country. It is, however, ill arguing with the master of many legions. The army was strong, compact, disciplined ; the royalists were weak, scattered, unorganised. More than all, they wanted leaders, for Fairfax and Vane, though they disapproved of the king's execution, showed no signs of putting them- selves forward in opposition to the army. The sentence was passed on Saturday, January 27 ; and on Tuesday, the 30th, Charles was beheaded on a scaffold erected in the open street before Whitehall. He met his death with quiet dignity and religious resignation ; and his appearance and demeanour, both in Westminster Hall and on the scaffold, went far to remove the unfavourable impression which had been created by his former intrigues. The reaction was aided by the appearance, within a few days, of a book called Eikon Basilike, or the Eoyal Likeness ; professedly written by Charles himself, which gave a most favourable impression of Charles' views and of his piety and resignation in prison. So important was it that Milton was specially engaged by the Independents to write the rejoinder. This he called Eikonohlastes, or the Image-breaker ; but though he showed all his usual skiU and eloquence, and spared no pains to vilify the dead monarch, it is doubtful whether his efi'orts did much to destroy the favourable impression caused by the original publication. Three peers, Hamilton, Holland, and Capel, as responsible for the second civil war, followed their master to the scaffold. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Execution of Strafford, . 1641 Attempt to seize the Five Members, 1642 First Civil War, . . 1642-1646 Second Civil War, • 1648 Pride's Purge, . 1648 Charles beheaded, . . Jan. 30, 1649 CHAPTEE IV THE COMMONWEALTH AND PKOTECTORATE CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Simin. Loi;is XIV., d. 1715. Philip iv., d. 1662. The Commonwealth — Wars in Scotland, Ireland, and with the Dutch — Expulsion of the 'Rump' — Barebone's Parliament — The Instrument of Government — The Petition and Advice — Death of Cromwell — Events which led to the Restoration. Whatever may be thought of the moral right of the 'high court of justice ' to condemn Charles and put him to death, there is little doubt pfP t f that in doing so the leaders of the Independent party made Charles' a great political mistake. Both as a sovereign and as a prisoner, Charles had completely discredited himself; but his violent death, and the almost universal sympathy caused by his bearing at his trial and execution, removed the chief obstacle to the rallying of all moderate men, whether churchmen or Presbyterians, round the principle of hereditary monarchy. Ever since the reign of Edward i., each hereditary king had dated his reign from the death of his pre- decessor, and as an act of parliament lately passed, which forbade the proclamation of a new king, had no constitutional claim to validity, the Prince of Wales at once stepped into the position of king de, jure. Since the expulsion of the Presbyterians in 1648 had thrown them also into opposition, the party in power had consisted only of Independents and Sectaries, and made no pretence of being a majority of the nation. So long, however, as the army remained united, no open opposition seemed possible. Immediately after the execution of the king, the Commons carried out the logical consequence of their claim that ' the people are under God, the original of all just power,' by voting that the House of House of _ I'll' Lords Lords 'is useless, dangerous, and ought to be abolished. Henry Marten moved to omit the word ' dangerous,' but it was thought that insult without satire would suffice, and the resolution 686 1649 The Commonwealth 587 passed as it stood. They then resolved that government by a king or single person 'is unnecessary, burdensome, dangerous, and ought to be abolished'; and an act was passed declaring the people of England to be a commonwealth or free state. Having thus completed the work of destroying the old order of things, of which the House of Commons itself, remnant though it was, remained the only legal representative, parliament proceeded to arrange for the government of the country by creating Govern- a council of state, practically identical with a body known ^^^ ' as the Derby House committee, which, since the rupture with the Scots, had replaced the committee of the two kingdoms. It consisted of forty members, with Bradshaw as president, and included all the Independent peers, Fairfax, Cromwell, Vane, Whitelock, St. John, Marten, Hazelrig, Skippon and Scot, but not Ireton. Its ordinary secretary was Thurloe ; and for foreign tongues, John Milton. The great seal was entrusted to White- lock and two others ; Vane was chairman of the board of admiralty ; Blake, Deane, and Popham were made admirals of the fleet ; Fairfax was con- tinued lord-general, and Cromwell lieutenant-general, of the army. Of these, Whitelock, Vane, Blake, and Fairfax had all disapproved of the king's death, but were quite willing to take part in the new government which was to rejDlace monarchy. Six of the judges agreed to act under the new regime, and the other places were then filled up. Hardly were the new officials in their places when difficulties beset them on every side. A dangerous mutiny in the army claimed their first attention. This was the outcome of a movement of old date. Ever since the rendezvous on Triploe Heath, John Lilburne had been spreading opinions ^^^j^^ in the army which tended to the overthrow of all social and of the . 1 J. £ j.r, LeveUers. military order. He had written, for instance, that the officers were below the soldiers,' and his doctrines were eagerly adopted by hot-headed and enthusiastic men, who were called by their opponents Levellers, and were looking for an immediate realisation of the millennium and of the rule of the saints. The political views of the Levellers were embodied in a document styled The Agreement of the People, which was presented to the House of Commons in January, 1649. It demanded a redistribution of seats, followed immediately by a general election, and the creation of a government directly responsible to the new House of Commons. For some time Lilburne himself had been in the Tower ; but the dissatisfaction of some of the soldiers, who were ordered to Ireland, was seized on by his friends as offering a favourable opportunity for a general mutiny. Accordingly outbreaks occurred in London, at Banbury, and at Salisbury. The last was the most serious ; but Fairfax 588 The Commonwealth 1649 and Cromwell marched fifty miles one day to come up with the mutineers, surprised them at dead of night at Burford, in Oxfordshire, and com- pletely crushed them. Of the leaders, a cornet and two corporals were shot, the rest were pardoned and persuaded to return to their duty. Lilburne, however, still continued to agitate against the government, declaring that the Petition of Eight, Magna Carta, and other funda- mental laws were subverted, and 'the military power thrust into the very office and seat of civil authority.' In October he was prosecuted for stirring up treason in the army, but acquitted ; and there is no doubt that he represented a widespread feeling of discontent. Meanwhile, afiairs in Ireland were looking very serious. Ormond had secured the co-operation of Lord Inchiquin by promising the complete removal of the political and religious disabilities of the Irish Roman Catholics, security of tenure for the Connaught landholders, and the repeal of the law which forbade ' ploughing with horses by the tail.' The Presbyterians of Ulster had been alienated by the king's death. Numbers of English royalists, such as Sir Arthur Aston, had come over to lead Ormond's men. Prince Rupert, with the revolted fleet, was hovering ofi" the coast, and Prince Charles Avas on his way to the Channel Islands to put himself at the head of the allied forces. Dublin, under Michael Jones, and Dundalk, under George Monk, were almost alone in holding out ; and Dublin was besieged by Ormond with a force of 19,000 men. Accordingly Cromwell was Battle of asked to take the command, but before he reached Ireland Rathmines. )^q crisis was over. Though Dundalk had fallen, Dublin had been saved by the address of Jones, who, with but 5000 men, sallied forth on August 2, and utterly routed Ormond's forces in the battle of Rathmines. Defeated in the field, the allies decided to protract the war by compelling Cromwell to undertake a series of sieges. Against these tactics Cromwell took decisive measures. On September 10 he was at Sieee ot Drogheda, which was garrisoned by the flower of Ormond's Drogheda. English tr.oops, and some regiments of Irish Roman Catholics under the brave Sir Arthur Aston. On the next morning a practicable breach had been made. The first assaults were repulsed; but Cromwell, placing himself at the head of another storming party, carried the breach. Then, 'being in the heat of action,' and according to the harsh laws of war then in use, he commanded all armed men to be put to the sword. Hardly a man escaped ; and, besides the garrison, all the ' friars were knocked on the head pro- miscuously but two.' Cromwell himself seems to have felt compunction 1650 The Commonwealth 589 for his hasty act, and, writing to the parliament, expresses a hope that at any rate ' it may tend to prevent the effusion of blood in the future.' Probably it did ; for when a breach had been made, if not before. other garrisons surrendered; and only at Wexford, Kilkenny, and Clonmel was there any more serious fighting. Unhappily at Wexford the resistance of some soldiers in the market-place, after the breach had been carried, led to another massacre. The work of dealing with so 590 The Commonwealth 1650 many towns was, however, protracted, and it was not till March, 1650, that Cromwell, who had been hastily summoned home by the parliament, was able to hand over the completion of the work to Ireton. In the towns which surrendered at discretion, quarter was given to the privates ; but English officers who had ever before fought for the parliament were hanged or shot. The Irish ofl&cers were allowed to go free. Most of them took service abroad, and carried off with them 45,000 Irish soldiers. Most of the English soldiers took service under the parliament. At sea, Rupert's Blake ably seconded Cromwell's efforts ; and Prince Rupert, Fleet. finding Ormond's cause ruined, fled to Portugal, closely pur- sued by Blake. Ormond and Inchiqain escaped to the continent ; Owen Roe O'Neil died. The English forces suffered severely from exposure and from a fever, of which died Jones, the victor of Rathmines, and Horton, the victor of St. Fagans. Ireton held ofiice till 1651, when the fever claimed him as its victim. The command was temporarily taken by Ludlow, author of the Memoirs, who had succeeded Jones as lieutenant- general. He held this office till Fleetwood, who married Ireton's widow, came over as deputy. The cause of Cromwell's hasty recall was the threatening attitude of Scotland. Since the overthrow of the Engagers, Argyll's party had been in the ascendant ; but the execution of the king had met with no approval in Scotland, and the government had taken the decided step of offering the crown to the Prince of Wales as Charles ii. That prince, however, was by no means sure that his best course was to close with the offer, coupled as it was with the condition of taking the Covenant, so he granted a commission to Montrose to see what could be done towards reviving the old royalist party in the High- Montrose's lands. If Montrose failed, he could then fall back on Argyll. Death. Montrose's expedition ended in complete disaster. Landing in Caithness, he was set on by a force of Covenanters before he had time to gather supporters round him, and was utterly routed at Carbisdale, on the borders of Ross and Sutherland, and only escaped from the field to be captured in peasant disguise. Thus clad, he was taken to Edin- burgh, and hanged in the Grassmarket with every circumstance of disgrace. At the last, his noble and fearless bearing extorted the admiration even of his foes ; but the atrocities of his Irish and Highland followers were too fresh in the memory of Lowlanders for mercy to be found for their leader. Charles, therefore, fell back on his negotiations with the government, falsely denied that he had given Montrose a commission, signified his willingness to accept Argyll's conditions, and himself took ship for 1650 The Commonwealth 591 Scotland. In these circumstances the English council of state felt that war would inevitably follow, as it was not likely that Charles would rest satisfied as king of Scotland alone, and therefore they sent for Cromwell, meaning that Fairfax and he should and the carry the war into the enemy's country by an immediate ^°'^^"^"*- invasion of Scotland. Fairfax, however, did not agree with this policy, and asserted that 'human probabilities were not sufficient grounds to make war upon a neighbour nation, especially their brethren in Scotland, to whom they were engaged in a Solemn League and Covenant.' To this opinion he adhered, in spite of all that tion of Whitelock, Harrison, and Lambert could say to the con- ^*'''^^- trary ; so his resignation was accepted, and the post of lord-general was conferred on Cromwell, with Fleetwood, Lambert, and Monk as his principal officers. In July the English crossed the border, supported by a fleet on which it relied for provisions, as the Scots had cleared the Lowlands much as Wellington cleared Portugal in 1810. ^he Scottish Cromwell found the Scots drawn up behind a line of earth- Campaign. works stretching south from Leith, and resting on the extremity of the city near Holyrood House. There they lay under the command of David Leslie, with Leven acting as a volunteer ; and during the whole month of August Cromwell tried in vain to bring them to action, not neglecting, meanwhile, to endeavour by argument to prove the righteousness of his cause. Leslie, however, got the better of Cromwell in all the manoeuvres, and at length, baffled by Leslie's skill, and with an army worn out by constant exposure to the weather, Cromwell fell back on Dunbar. Thither he was followed by Leslie, who himself occupied the Hill of Doon, an outlying piece of the Lammermuir range which overlooked the town, and also sent a detachment to seize the pass of Cockburnspath, where the Lammermuirs themselves touch the coast, and where the Berwick road was so narrow that it could be held by a handful against a host. In these circumstances it seemed that Cromwell's only choice lay between surrender, the re-embarkation of his troops, and a hazardous attempt to storm the Scottish position, when the rashness of the Scots relieved him from his dilemma. The Hill of Doon, where the Scots lay, was divided from the plain on which Cromwell's men were drawn up by the channel of the Broxburn, a little stream which had worn out its channel to the depth Battle of of some forty feet below the level of the plain, and could ^""i'^''- only be crossed easily at a point between the hill and the sea near Broxmouth House, where the Dunbar and Berwick road crossed by a ford. Fearing that the English would escape, and probably urged on 592 The CommomveaUh 1650 by the committee of estates, Leslie foolishly moved a large part of his army down the hill in the direction of the sea. This movement was made on the afternoon of September 2, with a view to an attack on the English the next day. Cromwell, however, saw his advantage, and before daybreak half the English army, under Lambert and Monk, was hurrying across the burn near Broxburn House ; while a picked force of horse and foot crossed the burn nearer the sea, and, urged on by Cromwell himself, worked its way to the rear of the Scots, and cut off Crovnvcll's Attack at 6 a.m. Battle of DUNBAR. scon.^.. September 3rd. 1650. F,i" power, and efficiency, and with those of the Little Parliament by their moderation. Foremost among the questions which called for the attention of Crom- well was the state of the church. There anarchy reigned supreme. In 1645 the Presbyterian majority in parliament, actintr under ,^ n 11 1 -r. 1 • • Religion, pressure irom the bcots, had accepted Presbyteriamsm as the national form of church government, and had replaced the Book of Common Prayer by the Directory, an authoritative book of directions for the conduct of public worship and preaching, but containing no set form of prayers. The new rules, however, met with slight acceptance. Only in London, Hull, Coventry, and some of the larger towns, and in Lancashire and the eastern counties, were the parishes organised on the Presbyterian model; and the compulsory subscription of the Solemn League and Covenant by the clergy was used in practice merely as a convenient way of getting rid of the king's supporters. After the fall of the Presbyterians in 1648, no attempt was made to enforce their system, to which the Independents were bitterly opposed ; and under their rule each congregation did, in practice, what it liked, and numbers of the Church of England clergy retained their livings and used part, at any rate, of the Book of Common Prayer. Other livings were held by Pres- byterians, others by Independents proper, and some by ministers of other varieties of Protestant views. Parliament had abolished the obligation of subscribing the Covenant, and replaced it by The En- . The En- gagement, which merely bound men to ' be true and faithful gagement. to the government established without king and house of lords.' Many clergymen were willing to take this, and others who were not willing were left undisturbed by the goodwill of their parishioners. By one clause in the Instrument of Government it was provided 'that such as profess faith in God by Jesus Christ (though diff'ering in judgment from the doctrine, worship, or discipline publicly held forth) shall not be restrained from, but shall be protected in, the profession of the faith and exercise of 602 The Protectorate 1653 their religion, so as they abuse not this liberty to the civil injury of others, and to the actual disturbance of the public peace on their parts ; pro- vided this liberty be not extended to popery or prelacy, nor to such as, under the profession of Christ, hold forth and practise licentiousness.' By another, the revenues of the clergy were secured to them until other arrangements were made. Liberty of thought, and, to some extent, freedom of action, were thus secured ; but it was no part of Cromwell's policy to permit unworthy men to occupy the parish pulpits, and to guard against this evil he adopted a twofold machinery. By an ordinance, issued on March 20, 1654, he created a body of The Triers thirty-five Triers, whose business was to inquire into the personal character and sufficiency of all such persons as were named by patrons to hold vacant livings. The Triers included Presbyterians, Independents, and Anabaptists, and, as was natural enough. Episco- palians who weye nominated met with harsh treatment at their hands. Still, in the main, they seem to have performed their difficult and delicate duties with success ; and Baxter, who was no flatterer, records, ' that many thousands of souls blessed God for the faithful ministers they let in.' By a second ordinance, issued on August 30, 1654, commis- sioners were appointed in each county for ejecting scandalous ministers. These commissioners were chosen from those of the local gentry who supported the parliament, and, though no sufficiently clear distinction was drawn between addiction to frivolous amusements and immoral- ity, devotion to the Prayer-book and to the cause of the Stuarts, they seem to have performed their delicate and difficult duties with fair success. The state of the law-courts next engaged Cromwell's atten- ^^' tion. Colonel Pride had ' wished to see the lawyers' gowns hanging up in Westminster Hall by the side of the trophies and colours taken at Dunbar,' and others had talked of the volume of the law being reduced to such a bulk that it might be contained in a pocket-book ; while the disgraceful state of chancery business was a matter of general complaint. Cromwell, therefore, appointed a mixed committee to take the matter in hand ; and, to relieve the Court of Chancery, ordered that equity suits should be tried in other law-courts until the whole of the arrears had been wiped off. In Ireland Cromwell's general policy was to uphold the English con- nection at all hazards, and to compel the native Irish to conform to English ideas. He appointed first his son-in-law, Fleet- wood, and then his own son, Henry Cromwell, to act as deputy. They ruled with a stern hand. In accordance with the scheme of the Long Parliament all who had been engaged in the 1654 The Protectorate 603 massacres of 1641 were hanged or banished, and their property confis- cated ; unfriendly Catholics lost two-thirds of their estates ; open fighters against the parliament were to lose the whole, but to receive compensation in Connaught to one-third of their value. These measures afi'ected only the landowning gentry, for ' all husbandmen, ploughmen, labourers, artificers, and others of tlie meaner sort were left undisturbed and exempted from either question or punishment.' The forfeited lands were divided among the Adventurers who had lent money T^g Adven- for the war and the Cromwellian soldiery. The new turers. settlers, like the Ulstermen, were, for the most part, vigorous improvers of the country, but the confiscation of much of the land was as unjust as it had been in 1608. Cromwell was as determined as Chichester or Strafford to enforce the impartial administration of the law, and to main- tain security for life and property. In this he succeeded, but the animosity of all English parties to the Eoman Catholics resulted in the proscription of the Catholic religion and the persecution of the priests. As he wrote to the governor of New Ross in 1649 : ' I meddle not with any man's conscience, but if by liberty of conscience you mean liberty to exercise the mass, I judge it best to use plain dealing and to let you know where the parliament of England have power that will not be allowed.' In the existence of a separate Irish parliament Cromwell recognised a constant danger to unity. The separate Irish parliament was abolished, and it was arranged that Ireland should send thirty members to the united parliament of the three kingdoms. After the Dutch war was over, George Monk returned to the com- mand of the army of Scotland, and carried out the union of England and Scotland which had been designed by the Long Parliament. ^ ^, , 1 TT- 1 1 1 Scotland. His chief military difficulty lay in subduing the Highlands, where General Middleton was still fighting for the king. However, with the aid of Colonel Morgan, he carried out a brilliant piece of mountain warfiire and completely reduced the clansmen to subjection. Presby- terianism ceased to be the established religion, and there was complete freedom of toleration for all Protestant faiths. The union with England was most advantageous to Scottish trade, which shared thereby the l)enefit of the Navigation Acts, and especially of free trade with the English colonies ; and Cromwell's rule was long looked back on as a period of great peace and prosperity for that country. Nevertheless the union was bitterly hated in Scotland, and toleration was regarded as a wicked paltering with error and sin. In foreign aftairs Cromwell showed his moderation by making peace with the Dutch, in spite of those who wished to make a complete 604 The Protedm^ate 1654 conquest of that country, and his firmness by insisting on the terms offered to the Portuguese, who had incurred his displeasure by aiding Foreign Prince Eupert. These were finally signed on the very day Affairs. when Dom Pantaleone Sa, the ambassador's brother, was beheaded in London for the murder of an Englishman. Thus, both at home and abroad, Cromwell proved himself to be a vigorous and successful administrator. On September 3, 1654, the first Protectorate parliament met. Ac- cording to the plan devised by the Long Parliament, and embodied in the Instrument of Government a comi)lete redistribution of First Protectorate seats had been carried out ; and the four hundred members for England had been allotted according to population : Yorkshire and Essex returning respectively fourteen and thirteen members, as against their former two, and other counties and boroughs in proportion ; while the thirty members for Scotland and thirty for Ireland represented the unity of the three kingdoms. The elder republicans, however, such as Sir Harry Vane and Henry Marten, refused to take part in it ; Lord Grey of Groby, Ludlow, and Wildman the Leveller, were debarred from election ; but Sir Arthur HazeMg, Bradshaw, and Scot were members, and insisted on debating the advisability of ' government by a single person,' taking as their principle that the powers of the Protector ought to emanate from parliament. This was to strike at the very root of the settlement embodied in the Instrument of Govermnent, which made the powers of the parliament and the Protector co-ordinate ; and Cromwell found it necessary, after addressing the members in the Painted Chamber, to exact a pledge from each of them that he would not attempt to alter the existing form of government. About two hundred and thirty members accepted the pledge, but even they continued to debate the Instrument clause by clause, to the exclusion of other business, even that of voting supplies for the army and navy. Indeed, the only other business for which they found leisure was that of persecuting two unfortunate men — Biddle, a Unitarian, and Naylor a Quaker, whose views gave umbrage to the mem- bers. So unsatisfactory was their attitude that, on the very day they had sat five lunar months, Cromwell dismissed them — on January 22, 1655. The evidence which the sittings of the first Protectorate parliament had given of the want of agreement between the republicans and the Royalist Crouiwellians encouraged the royalists and the levellers, ^^°*^" and a series of plots followed. In March, at Salisbury, Penruddock and Wagstaffe attempted to seize the judges on circuit ; Sir Henry Slingsby, a Yorkshire knight, was involved in another plot ; 1655 The Protectorate 605 and Wildman was arrested in the act of dictating an address desio-ned for an army of insurgent levellers. Difficulties also were raised by lawyers, such as Whitelock, nervously apprehensive of an unconstitu- tional position ; while practical men, like Cony and Sir Peter Went- worth, refused to pay taxes which had not received parliamentary sanction. In these circumstances, Cromwell practically assumed the powers of a dictator. He crushed the rising by force ; Penruddock, Wagstafte, and Slingsby were executed for treason ; the objections of Cony and Wentworth were overridden by courts of law selected by the Protector, To provide against future disorder, England was divided into eleven military districts, over each of which a friend of his own was placed with the title of major-general ; and, in defiance of the Act of Indemnity, a ten per cent, tax for the maintenance of them and their soldiers was exacted from the royalist gentry. By these measures peace at home was again secured. But Cromwell's arbitrary acts were con- demned as well by the royalists as by the parliamentary republicans; and it was made clearer than ever that the real basis of his power was the devotion and efficiency of the army, and that his rule was nothing more or less than military despotism. Besides these severe measures against the royalists, Cromwell also increased the stringency of the regulations affecting the dispossessed Episcopalian clergy, whom he naturally suspected of organising opposition to his rule. It was now made penal for any dispossessed minister to hold the office of private chaplain, to preach, to administer the sacraments, to use the Prayer- book, or to teach in a public or private school. Meanwhile, war had begun with Spain. Actuated partly by religious bigotry, partly by the desire of expanding English trade, Cromwell had demanded of the king of Spain the right of free trade with war with the West Indies, and exemption of Englishmen from the Spam, laws of the Inquisition — a demand which elicited from the Spanish ambassador the reply : ' That his master had but two eyes, and that Cromwell had asked him to put out both at once.' Though war was not formally declared against England by Spain till February 1656, hostilities began at once ; and in the autumn of 1654 two expeditions were sent out— one, under Penn and Venables, for the West Indies, and a second, under Blake, for the Mediterranean Sea. San Domingo, against which Penn and Venables sailed, beat off the English ; but the rich sugar island of Jamaica was captured, and has remained in our hands ever since. Blake first gave his attention to the Barbary Blake at _ Tunis pirates of Algiers and Tunis. After bringing the Dey of Algiers to terms, he sailed into Tunis harbour, dismantled the forts, and 606 The Protectorate 1655 burnt every one of the Dey's nine cruisers, thus showing the whole world what an efficient thing naval artillery was in enforcing attention to the commands of a maritime power. No sooner was war formally declared, than Blake made it his business to intercept the Plate fleet, which annually sailed across the Atlantic The Plate with the spoils of the Spanish mines, and formed as Fleet. important an event in Spanish commerce as the safe arrival of the spice fleet was for that of the Dutch. The fleet sailed from Panama to Teneriff'e, and there waited in the harbour of Santa Cruz till word was brought that the road was clear to Cadiz. In 1628 Peter Hein, the Dutchman, had been lucky enough to capture this treasure fleet, and to repeat his exploit was the dream of successive generations of Dutch and English sailors. After a long and fruitless wait, how- ever, Blake returned to England ; but in March 1656 he was again at sea, having as his colleague Edward Montague, afterwards earl of Sandwich. After insisting on the king of Portugal's paying the indemnity due for his aid to Eupert, they took up their station off Cadiz, and waited events. At last, in September, nine galleons appeared, and were furiously attacked by Captain Stayner's ship and two frigates, who sunk or burnt or took at least six of them, with no less than £600,000 worth of gold and silver. After this Montague returned home ; but Blake remained, and, in April 1657, he heard that sixteen Spanish galleons were anchored in the harbour of Santa Cruz, Blake at under the Peak of Teneriffe. Thither he sailed, and on Santa Cruz, ^p^.^ 20, in defiance of the forts which commanded its entrance, he took his ships into the harbour, and in a few hours captured the galleons. As it was impossible to take them out for want of men, he burnt the whole of them, and sailed out of the harbour without the loss of a single ship. Such a splendid exploit roused the enthusiasm of Englishmen of all parties. Clarendon, the royalist historian, described it as miraculous, and quoted it as an example of what could be done by the 'strong resolution of bold and courageous men.' It was Blake's crowning victory, and on his way home he died, leaving behind him a noble reputation for bravery, ability, and devotion to his country, unsullied by any taint. In 1656 Cromwell again called a parliament, as he did not wish to be thought an arbitrary ruler, and was desirous of securing for the Protectorate something of a parliamentary sanction. He also required Protectorate money for the Spanish war. To avoid the difficulties of the last parliament, Vane, Bradshaw, and Ludlow were cautioned not to interfere, and after the elections Sir Arthur 1658 The Protectorate 607 Hazelrig and Scot, with about ninety other elected members, were debarred from taking their seats. On the other hand, to conciliate public opinion, the military districts were abolished. Parliament met in September 1656. For some months business proceeded quietly, and in January Cromwell's supporters brought forward the idea of making him king. The suggestion was adopted by the House, as it would have the advantage of restoring the old framework of govern- ment and law, of which a king was assumed to be the head, and also because it would have secured Cromwell's officials from prosecution for high treason in event of a restoration, since they would have been pro- tected by the de facto statute of Henry vii. (see page 384), according to which no one could be prosecuted for treason for holding office under a king who was actually reigning. The resolution for kingsJiip was carried by 123 to 62, and the new constitution was embodied in a _ . . . . The document called the Humble Petition and Advice. By it Petition and the old political constitution of England, with the changes introduced by the Long Parliament before the war, was practically restored. In addition to the House of Commons, Cromwell was also authorised to create a second chamber. From the first, however, it is probable that Cromwell was aware that it would never do for him to accept the petition as it stood. The idea of reviving monarchy pleased the lawyers and the civilians, but it was most offensive to the soldiers, who felt that they would indeed have shed their blood in vain to pull down King Charles to set up ' King Noll ' ; and without the support of the army, he well knew that he could not reign a day. Accordingly, while he accepted the proposed constitution, he declined the title of king ; and the new form of government was solemnly inaugurated on June 26. According to the Petition and Advice, Cromwell was allowed to name his successor. This annoyed Lambert, the chief author of the Instrument of Government, and as he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Cromwell, he was de- prived of his command. Vane, on the other hand, was released from custody. In January 1658 parliament, which had been adjourned, reassembled in a reorganised form, including not only those members who had been pre- vented from taking their seats in 1656, but also a new House ^^^y^^^^^^ of Lords, nominated by the protector. The new Lords had among them the earl of Manchester, Viscount Lisle, Whitelock, Nathanit'l Fiennes, Fleetwood, Desborough, Pride, Skippon, Monk, and Oliver St. John ; but it never secured recognition from the other House ; and Hazelrig, who had himself declined to sit in it, led an attack on its position. 608 The Protectorate 1658 Finding, therefore, that there was no prospect of a peaceful session, Cromwell dissolved the house on February 4. He was now at liberty to return to foreign affairs. Under the mistaken idea that Spain was the power whose predominance was to be feared, Cromwell joined France in its struggle against Spain. So with desirous however were Louis xiv. and Mazarin to secure his aid, that every honour was shown to Lockhart, the English ambassador ; and when Cromwell declared that he would have no dealings with the duke of Savoy until he desisted from the persecution of his Protestant subjects, whose cause had been pleaded by Milton in a stirring sonnet, Mazarin took care that Cromwell's demands received com- plete satisfaction. Accordingly in March 1657 an offensive and defensive alliance was made with France. The object of the alliance was to capture from the Spaniards the frontier towns of Mardyke and Dunkirk ; and to aid in the attack, 6000 English soldiers, ' in new red coats,' commanded by Morgan, Monk's right-hand man in the Highland wars, and directed by Lockhart, were sent over to join the French. The New Model soldiers Battle of ^^^^ ^ proof of their capacity at the storming of Mardyke ; the Dunes, r^^^^ jj^ ^\^q "battle of the Dunes, fought near Dunkirk in June 1658, the chief share both of fighting and glory fell to their share. As a fruit of this victory, Dunkirk was taken and placed in the hands of the English, giving England thereby not only a foothold on the con- tinent, but an excellent place from which to strike a blow at the flank of any French force which designed to march through the Netherlands against Holland. This achievement was the last in Cromwell's career. Ever since he had suffered from ague, in the Scottish campaign, his health had been Cromwell's OH the decline ; and, though only between fifty and sixty, Death. j^^ j^^^ ^^^ some years looked an old man. In the summer of 1658 his favourite daughter, Elizabeth Claypole, died. His unre- mitting attention to her during her illness still further undermined his strength, so that when his ague returned in September he was unable to rally, and, on September 3, the anniversary of his victories of Dunbar and Worcester, and in the midst of a fearful tempest of rain and wind, the great Protector passed away. Oliver Cromwell, though not gifted with one of those rare intellects which grasp the whole signifi- cance of political events, showed himself pre-eminently capable of grasping the situation at any given moment, and seeing what, under the circumstances, ought to and could be done. His military genius was shown rather in his organisation of a fighting force, and in a pre-eminent ability for tactics, than in far-sighted strategy. He never saw far ahead 1659 The Protectorate 609 either in politics or war, but belonged to the class of statesmen to whom the word ' opportunist ' is most properly applied. When he had become the leader of the country he showed his sagacity and practical wisdom by the moderation of his acts ; but he failed to make his rule permanent, because an attempt to govern the majority of a nation by a minority, supported by an armed force, can, in the nature of things, only be transitory ; and there is little doubt that a freely elected parliament, any time after the beginning of the war, would have given a majority— possibly to the royalists— certainly to the royalists and Presbyterians combined. It is not certain whether Cromwell omitted to nominate a successor, or whether during a ' drowsy fit ' he named his eldest son Richard ; but the council acted on the supposition that Eichard had Richard been legally nominated, and, accordingly, he was in- Cromwell, augurated Protector, It was unfortunate for the Cromwell family that the second son Henry, who was a capable soldier and an experienced statesman, could not have succeeded ; for Richard, though he was a kindly and agreeable man, was neither a soldier, a statesman, nor a zealot, and so failed to win the support of any of the classes to whom his father's character had appealed. He was not, however, without friends. Whitelock thought his accession favourable to constitutional government ; the Presbyterian Baxter considered it a point in his favour that he had no share in the civil war ; and had he been a stronger man the chances were not altogether unfavourable to his success. His accession, therefore, passed off without disturbance ; but when his first parliament met, in January 1659, his difficulties began. With a view to securing the utmost show of legality, the English _,.,_, o o -" _ o Third Pro- members were elected, not by the newly organised con- tectorate stituencies, but by the old ones ; the Irish and Scottish members, however, were chosen by the new. No one was excluded, so Vane, Hazelrig, Bradshaw, Scot, and Ludlow were all in it, and pro- ceeded at once to attack the new House of Lords, and to criticise the prerogatives of the Protector. The army itself was divided ; Fleetwood and Desborough, often spoken of, from Fleetwood's house, as the Walling- ford House party, wished to divide the civil and military powers of the Protector, and to make Fleetwood commander-in-chief. Lambert, who, to please the army, had been restored to his post, would have liked to be Protector himself. Vane acted with the Wallingford House party. Between these contending parties Richard's position was no sinecure, and when Fleetwood and Desborough came to him and gave him his choice whether he would trust the army or the parliament, and said that 2 Q 610 The Protectorate 1659 if he did the former they would take care that he was provided for, he decided to trust to them, and dissolved parliament on April 22 before it had even voted supplies. The dissolution of parliament resulted in want of money to pay the soldiers ; and as Kichard was not strong enough to levy taxes as Oliver had done, a parliament of some kind was necessary. Accord- restores the ingly in May, the army, acting on Lambert's advice, restored the members of the Long Parliament who had been dismissed by Cromwell in 1653, an arrangement in which Richard Cromwell acquisced. In the restored Rump the old Commonwealth men — Vane, Bradshaw, Scot, and Hazelrig — were supreme. They were bent on restoring a republic, and, after making provision for the pay- ment of Richard Cromwell's debts, they insisted on his leaving Whitehall. He retired into private life ' not a sixpence the better or richer for being the son of his father.' These dissensions encouraged the royalists and Presbyterians, and a general rising was planned for August, in which it was hoped that Booth's a rising in England would be supported by Montague with Rising. |.j^g ^eet, and Monk with the army of Scotland. How- ever, it was only serious in Cheshire, where Sir George Booth, a great Cheshire squire and a Presbyterian, took the field with a considerable force ; but at Winnington Bridge he was utterly routed by Lambert, and neither Montague nor Monk declared for the cause. On his return to London, Fleetwood moved in the House to make Lambert major-general. The House refused, and when the army demanded that Fleetwood should be general, Desborough lieutenant-general, and Monk and Lambert major-generals, parliament dismissed Lambert and Des- borough from their posts, and made Fleetwood a merely nominal chief associated with a committee of six members of parliament. Next day Lambert marched down to Westminster, expelled the Rump, and created a committee of safety to manage the affairs of the kingdom till a com- mittee, of which Vane was the chief, should have devised a new constitution. All this time the proceedings of the army had been disapproved, both by Ludlow, whom the Rump had made commander in Ireland in place Monk ^^ Henry Cromwell, and by Monk, whom it had continued enters in command in Scotland. LudloAV came over to remonstrate, but without his troops. Monk, on the other hand, after declaring for the parliament, organised his army for an invasion of England and marched to the border. To meet him Lambert was despatched to Newcastle, but he weakly allowed Monk to gain time 1660 The Commomvealth 611 by negotiation; while Fairfax, who detested the rule of the army, raised the Yorkshire militia in his rear, and persuaded his soldiers to desert. Accordingly Lambert, finding his position hopeless, fell back, and Monk marched on towards London. On his way he saw plenty of evidence that the country was tired of the dissentions of the Rump and the army, and wished for a free parliament. However, he kept his own counsel, declaring that ' if his shirt knew what was in his head, he would burn his shirt ' ; and quietly took up his quarters in London, whence the old regiments had been removed by order of the parliament. Meanwhile, by request of Fleetwood, the Rump had resumed its sittings, and Monk, declaring himself the humble servant of the members announced his readiness to do their bidding. Encouraged by his attitude Hazelrig and the other Commonwealth men endeavoured to embroil him with the city, where the chief strength of the Presbyterians lay, by ordering him to pull down the gates of London in punishment for a declaration of the common council that as London had no representatives in the Rump, no more taxes should be paid till the vacancies had been filled up. Monk obeyed ; but the folly of the action convinced him that the cause of the Rump was hopeless, and immediately afterwards he joined the citizens in a demand for a free parliament. Monk's declara- The Long tion for a free parliament was decisive. What had long Parliament. been denied to mere popular clamour could not be refused to a man with an army at his back. The survivors of the members expelled by Pride in 1648 were restored, and they immediately voted a dissolution. Monk was made captain-general, Montague admiral of the fleet, Lam- bert was imprisoned in the Tower, and Vane in Carisbrook Castle. Thus ended the Long Parliament, which had existed since 1640 ; and for the first time for close on twenty years the voters had an opportunity of expressing their views at a free general election. As the writs ordering the elections were not issued by a king the assembly was called a Con- vention. The members were chosen by the old parliamentary consti- tuencies, and not by those arranged by Cromwell. On April 25 the Convention met. Its leading members were either Presbyterians or the sons of old cavaliers, while the Independent members were hardly proportionate to their numbers in the country. The Con- Against such an overwhelming majority Ludlow and mention. Hazelrig could do nothing. Bradshaw was dead ; an insurrection, led by Lambert, who escaped from the Tower, came absolutely to nothing ; and without the least hesitation, without even waiting, as Fairfax and Manchester would have preferred, to make terms, Charles was requested by the Convention to return. For a short time Monk had 612 The Commonwealth 1660 been in correspondence with him ; but it will always be a problem how long Monk had regarded a restoration as inevitable. As a soldier, his principle was that of Blake, to fight without question for his legitimate employers ; but the inefficiency first of Richard, then of the Long Parlia- ment, had convinced him that nothing was to be hoped from the continu- ance either of a Commonwealth or a Protectorate, and, his own feelings being monarchical, he had readily lent himself to forward a restoration. More important, perhaps, than all the political causes of the fall of the Commonwealth was the attempt of the puritanical party to compel men of all other opinions to conform to their standard of life and morality. The abolition of stage-plays in the towns, the removal of the Maypoles from the village-greens, the stern enforcement of a puritanical strictness in the observance of Sunday, made thousands wishful for a restoration who cared little about forms of government, and were no more admirers of Charles and Laud than was Oliver Cromwell himself. Practical men of all parties saw that the one hope of settled and orderly government lay in a restoration of the Stuarts, and the cries of a dreamer like Milton, who poured forth tract after tract urging the theoretical advantages of republicanism, were utterly disregarded. CHIEF DA TES. Storming of Drogheda, A.D. 1649 Battle of Dunbar, 1650 Battle of Worcester, . 1651 Dutch War, .... 1652-1654 Expulsion of tlie Rump, 1653 Barebone's Parliament, 1653 Instrument of Government, 1653 Blake at Santa Cruz, . 1657 Humble Petition and Advice, 1657 Battle of the Dunes, . 1658 Death of Cromwell, 1658 GHAPTEK V CHARLES II. : 1660-1685 Born 1630; married, 1662, Katharine of Braganza; died 1685. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Holland. Sjmin. Louis XIV., d. 1715. William of Orange, 1671. Charles ii., 1662-1700. The Acts of the Convention Parliaments — Clarendon's Ministry— The First Dutch War — Fall of Clarendon — The Cabal — The Treaties of Dover — Second Dutch War — Fall of the Cabal— Danby's_Ministry — Rise of the ' Country' Party— The Exclusion Bill— Fall of the Whigs. Charles ii. landed at Dover on May 25, and entered London on May 29, his thirtieth birthday. Since his escape from Worcester in 1651 he had lived abroad — sometimes in France, sometimes character in Germany — dependent for his subsistence on the charity of °^^^^ Kmg. his French or Dutch kinsfolk, and on the scanty contributions of the English royalists. Charles was a man of great natural sagacity, and his checkered career had given him considerable experience of men and things. More able than his father, he had more knowledge of the world than his grandfather, and he brought back with him a fixed determination ' never to set out on his travels again.' At the same time, though he would never ' stake either his head or his crown,' he was determined to secure as much power as circumstances would permit. Charles, however, was well aware how much his father had lost by allowing himself to be not only the dii-ector of aftairs, but also the most obvious agent in carrying out his own policy. He determined, therefore, while keeping the reins in his own hands, to hold himself in the background, and to throw responsibility upon his ministers ; and his easy-going manner, which blinded observers to his real character, enabled him to gain a very large measure of success. 613 614 The Stuarts 1660 At his accession Charles gave his chief confidence to Clarendon, the Edward Hyde of the Long Parliament, now aged fifty-one, who, The after a steady adherence to the royal family in its mis- Ministers. fortunes, now returned as lord-chancellor. Hyde's chief characteristics were a servile adherence to old forms, and a want of capacity to understand the new order of things in which he found himself. His domestic policy was mainly directed towards re-establishing the church, his foreign to securing the friendship of France and Portugal. Monk was made duke of Albemarle, and captain-general of the army. Charles' brother, James duke of York, afterwards James ir., became lord high admiral, being assisted by Montague, who for his services was made earl of Sandwich. Prince Eupert also returned, prepared to serve by land or sea as occasion required. Of the old Commonwealth men, besides Monk and Montague, the chief to find employment was Antony Ashley Cooper, who became chancellor of the exchequer, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashley. The old Presbyterians, Manchester and Holies, received fair words but little power ; Fairfax remained in the background ; but Booth was ennobled as Lord Delamere. Before leaving Breda Charles had given a general promise on the following points : (1) -An Act of Amnesty for life, liberty and property for all those not excepted by parliament ; (2) liberty of tion of conscience for all those whose views did not disturb the peace of the realm ; (3) the settlement in parliament of all claims to landed property ; (4) the payment of all arrears to Monk's army. Besides these, a proclamation had been issued conmianding the late king's judges to surrender within fourteen days, on pain of certain exclusion from the Act of Amnesty. Accordingly the Convention, which sat on without re-election as a parliament, gave immediate attention to these points. Its first step was to pass an Act of Indemnity and Oblivion for all offences committed during the civil war and the Commonwealth. From its provisions, however, the regicides and a few others were demnity and excepted ; of the leading regicides, Cromwell, Ireton, Brad- shaw, and Pride were dead ; Ludlow had escaped, and Henry Marten had surrendered under the recent proclamation. On the dead, royalist vengeance could find no means of wreaking itself except by dragging their corpses from the tomb and hanging them on the gibbet at Tyburn ; Marten escaped with his life under the proclamation, remarking that ' it was the first he had ever obeyed, and he hoped he would not be punished for that,' and died a prisoner in Chepstow Castle 1660 Charles 11. 615 in 1681 ; but a commission, composed of royalists and of the Presby- terians Manchester and Holies, with Monk, Montague, and Ashley, was created to try the others. Harrison and nine others, including Cook, solicitor to the court, Axtel and Hacker, who commanded the guards, and Hugh Peters, Cromwell's chaplain were found guilty, and put to death with every circumstance of barbarity. Hazelrig and Lenthal were made incapable of office for life ; Milton escaped a prosecution with diffi- culty, and Whitelock, the time-serving lawyer of the Commonwealth, was quietly relegated to obscurity. A year later, Lambert and Vane were tried for treason. Neither of them was a regicide, and they pleaded that what they had done was protected by the de facto statute of Henry vii., which, under the actual title of king, might be held to include a settled government. The judges, however, decided against them ; one of them remarking, ' though we do not know what to say to Vane, we know what to do with him.' Lambert was imprisoned for life, and Vane executed. Lambert, though an able man, and the author of the epigram, ' the best of men are but men at their best ,' was a somewhat shallow and self- asserting character. Vane, though a somewhat impracticable politician, was in personal character one of the noblest Englishmen of his day, true both in life and death to the highest principles of toleration in religion and republican virtue in the state, and it was well said when he died that 'the king lost more by that man's death than he would get again for a good w^hile.' Compared, however, with similar events, the English Restoration, thanks mainly to Charles, was remarkably free from bloodshed. The question of the forfeited lands was a very difficult one. Some royalist lands had been sold ; other royalists had been forced to sell their estates for fear of losing them ; but the usual fate of ^^^ the royalist gentry was to have retained their lands subject ^°^f^'^'^^^ to the heavy burden of special demands made on them as ' malignants.' No rule applicable to all cases could be discovered, and eventually the claimants were left to do the best they could for them- selves in the courts of law, which frequently was not very much. Indeed, so little reward for their services was reaped by the cavaliers that it was jocularly said that parliament had passed an Act of Indemnity for the king's enemies, and of Oblivion for his friends. The Long Parliament had abolished feudal tenure by an ordinance. This was now confirmed by the Convention. At that date ^^^^^^ land was held under at least five tenures— feudal tenure. Dues rru ^ f commuted, free socage, common, copyhold, and mortmam. ine nrst involved the payment of feudal dues and the rights of wardship and 616 The Stuarts I66O marriage, and in 1610 it had been proposed to commute these for a tax on the same lands of the value of ,£200,000 a year. This had been in principle fair enough. Now the Convention Parliament passed an Act by which such lands were for the future to be held in free socage, but the provision of an equivalent for the dues was not to fall only on the holders of such lands, but on the general body of the nation, who were saddled with an excise on liquors, then estimated at £300,000 a year. At the same time the right of purveyance was abandoned ; but the abolition of this merely local and casual liability was a poor compensation for the perpetual burden of the excise. While lifting the burden from their own shoulders, the feudal owners were careful to maintain in full the duties and payments of the copyhold tenants who stood to the lords of the manors much as the feudal tenants stood to the king. The question of defence was next considered by parliament. As a precaution against rebellion, the dismantling of walls and fortresses,. which had been begun by the Long; Parliament, was carried The Army. g J ^ ' further, and of the inland towns only the loyal cities of Oxford, York, and Chester were permitted to retain their walls. The command of the militia and of the fortresses, about which the civil war had originally broken out, was, without question, vested in the king. It was also determined to keep up a force of two regiments, Avith certain garrisons, amounting in all to five thousand men. The regiments retained were the liing^s horse-guards, created at the Eestoration, and Monk's regiment of Coldstream Guards. These, with the royal artillery, formed the nucleus of the British regular army. The officers received their commissions direct from the king ; the privates were enrolled by volun- tary enlistment ; and the uniform of the force, following the pattern of the victors at Mardyke and the Dunes, was scarlet. To Monk was entrusted the duties of disbanding the old Cromwellian army, and organising 'the new force. He performed it with great tact ; provided for the material well-being of the disbanded soldiers as the best provision against discontent, and infused into the regiments retained his own aversion to military interference in jDolitical affairs. There is a certain point in the development of a country where a standing army of professional soldiers becomes necessary, because on _, , the one hand a highly civilised nation will not endure to be The danger *= "^ • • r. of a stand- called upon to leave its business and take service m the g army. ^^^^ _ ^_^^ ^^ ^^^ Other, the progress in the art of war makes it needful for the soldier to have a more regular training than he can acquire at a time when he is following any other pursuit. If this point is reached before the constitutional liberties of a country are 1661 Charles 11. 617 secured, the placing of a standing army in the hands of the sovereign is ahnost certain to be for a long time fatal to liberty. It was so in France ; it was so under the Commonwealth ; it was so in Spain. England's insular position, however, enabled her to do without a standing army for almost tAvo centuries after they had been usual on the continent. Hence our liberties were secure when the change was made ; but the history of the standing army under Charles ii. and James ii. shows how great the risk was even then. Against a professional navy there was . The Fleet, no such objection, while the recent victories of Blake had made it a matter of pride to Englishmen of every party. Its management was placed in the hands of the duke of York and the earl of Sandwich, who had as their assistants Pett, the great shipwright, and Samuel Pepys, better known for his humorous diary than for his laborious exertions at the accounts of the admiralty office. Here there was no necessity for disbandment, and the sailors of the Commonwealth became the royal navy of the Kestoration as easily as the gallant Nasehy changed her name to the Royal Charles. With regard to the church, the Convention Parliament settled nothing, probably because the Presbyterians were so joowerful in it that a more favourable opportunity was waited for by the strong church- The new men. In December 1660 the Convention Parliament was P^rHament. dissolved. The new parliament met in 1661 ; and so violent had been the royalist reaction that very few Presbyterians kept their seats — so few, indeed, that the parliament was generally known as the Cavalier Parlia- ment. So eager were the members for revenge that the government had great difficulty in inducing them to confirm those Acts of the Con- vention which secured the indemnity of the parliamentarian party. All the acts of the Long Parliament which had not been passed by King, Lords and Commons were ignored, so that the Church of England stepped back into the position she occupied in 1642. The The Church bishops, to whose exclusion from the House of Lords Charles had given his consent, were restored to their seats in that House by act of parliament. The church was also replaced in possession of all her property, including the lands of the Dean and Chapter of Durham with which Cromwell had endowed a new university for the north. It remained, however, to be settled whether more Protestants than formerly should be admitted within her ranks, and what should be the position of those Catholics and Protestants who refused to conform to her rules. It might have been expected that Charles would have done something to improve the position of the Presbyterians, to whose alliance with the royalists he owed so much. Charles, however, who was 618 The Stuarts ' leei at heart a Roman Catholic, and had been heard to say that ' Presby- terianism was no religion for a gentleman,' was indiJfferent ; the Episco- palians were hostile ; and the Protestant Nonconformists themselves had no wish to see a comprehension scheme carried that, by taking away many of their members, would weaken the position of the rest. A con- ference, indeed, was held at the Savoy Palace between twelve bishops and twelve Presbyterian ministers, the most conspicuous of whom were Calaniy and Baxter, but neither party being anxious for union the meeting came to nothing. The next question was. Which of the clergy who now held church livings were to be allowed to retain them ? The occupants of livings fell The Bene- Under several heads : (1) Those appointed before 1642 ; ficed Clergy. ^2) those named in the place of Episcopalian clergy still living who had been ejected by the parliamentarian party ; (3) Presby- terians appointed to vacancies during the Presbyterian ascendancy ; (4) Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and others who had been appointed under the ascendency of the Indepenednts. Many of these men, though of excellent character, had neither been ordained by bishops nor were willing to use the prayer-l)ook, and it could not be expected that the church should allow them to hold its livings on these terms. Accord- ingly, an Act of Uniformity was passed which enacted that the occupant of a benefice must have been ordained by a bishop ; must use only the Book of Common Prayer, a revised version of which was published the same year ; and must take the oath of canonical obedience, which bound the taker to obey the canons or ecclesiastical law. He was als orequired to renounce the Solemn League and Covenant, and to make a declaration that it was unlawful to bear arms against the sovereign on any pretence whatever. Those who refused to conform were forced to vacate their livings on St. Bartholomew's Day, 1662, a date calculated with a refine- ment of ingenuity to prevent them from collecting their annual tithes, which became due shortly afterwards. As to the number and qual- fications of the expelled clergy, churchmen and Nonconformists are hopelessly at variance ; but it is probable that the number did not fall much short of two thousand ; and it is certain that it included many men of piety and learning. Though the church seemed to have been victorious, the system restored was not altogether the system of Laud. After the Restoration the church courts, on which he had laid so nmcli stress, remained in abeyance, and, with hardly an exception, from that date bishops ceased to interfere in matters of state ; while as parliament gradually acquired control over the ministers of the king, the bishops themselves came to be appointed by men who represenred 1661 Charles It. 619 the feelings of the majority of the country ; while the almost universal practice of lay patronage has kept the beneficed clergy more or less in touch with their lay brethren ; only in outward devotion and orderli- ness of religious ceremonial did the church of the Restoration recall the ideas of that earnest but ill-advised archbishop. The date 1662 is generally taken as marking the final division between the Church and Dissent. The restoration of the church livings to members of the church was defensible ; but the only defence for the next action of the parlia- ment is that it was produced by fear. From the point of The Cor- view of the royalists, the great fact of the time was that potations. Oliver's old soldiers were Nonconformists to a man, and that, so long as their efficiency and vigour remained, every congregation of Noncon- formists was a possible nucleus for an armed revolt, and every corporation in which Nonconformists were predominant a possible centre for local resistance, to say nothing of the fact that Nonconformist corporations sent Nonconformist members to parliament. Many of the expelled ministers, just as the royalists had done under the Commonwealth, continued to call their followers together in some barn or large room ; so in 1664 parliament imitated the example of Cromwell by passing the Conventicle Act, which forbade all assemblies for worship other than those of the church; and in 1665 it revived another of Cromwell's intolerant Acts (see p. 605), by passing the Five Mile Act, which forbade expelled ministers, unless they had subscribed to the Act of Uniformity, and taken an oath that resistance to the king was unlawful, to settle within five miles of any corporate town, or to get their living by teaching in any public or private school. The political strength of the Nonconformists, of whom the chief bodies were the Presbyterians, the Independents, the Baptists, and the Quakers, lay in the corporations of small towns ; and to deprive them of this the Corporation Act was passed in 1661, which ordered all holders of municipal office to renounce the Covenant, and to take the sacrament according to the forms of the Church of England. The Uniformity, Conventicle, Five Mile, and Corporation Acts are sometimes spoken of as the Clarendon Code. The feelings w-hich actuatedt hem were precisely those* which had caused Cromwell's severity to the ejected royalists, and had excluded cavaliers from the voting list under the Commonwealth. A comparison, however, of the religious legislation of the parliamentarians and royalists shows that, though there was little to choose in the matter of religious intoler- ance between the Presbyterians of the Long Parliament and the supporters of Laud, persecution for religion's sake was gradually dying out, and that 620 The Stuarts 1661 political rather than religious considerations were at the bottom of the intolerance both of the Independents and of the restored Episco- palians. The Peace of the Pyrenees, concluded in 1659 between France and Spain, left Lonis xiv. by far the most powerful monarch in Europe, and Foreign his ambitious schemes of further aggrandisement constituted Affairs. ^ serious danger to the liberties of the smaller powers. Nevertheless, in foreign politics Clarendon continued Cromwell's short- sighted policy of hostility to Spain, and friendship to France. In accordance with it Charles, in 1662, married Katharine of Braganza, sister of the king of Portugal, which country had, in 1640, revolted from Spain, to which it had been united since 1580. With her Charles received £350,000 in money and merchandise, the island of Bombay, and Tangiers on the north-west coast of Africa. The value of Tangiers lay in providing a convenient base of operations for a fleet watching the entrance to the Mediterranean, or to the harbour of Cadiz. Bombay gave a settlement to the East India Company on the west coast of Hindostan, and formed the basis of a large extension of trade, which Charles, like all his family, had much at heart. At the close of 1662 Clarendon sold Dunkirk to the French. This was contrary to the inten- tions of Cromwell, who had well known its value as a check upon French aggression, and if it were to be given up at all it would have been better policy to restore it to the Spaniards. The price paid for it by Louis xiv. was about £250,000, and so unpopular was the sale that a new residence which Clarendon was building was nicknamed Dunkirk House. Katharine of Braganza proved to be a pleasant and well-meaning woman, fitted to make Charles an excellent wife, had not his shameful _. „. , immorality made him dead to her merits. His chief The King's . "^ private mistress was Barbara Palmer, whom he afterwards created life. duchess of Cleveland, by whom he had a numerous family of sons and daughters. During his exile he had been under the spell of Lucy Walters, by whom he was said to have been the father of the duke of Monmouth ; and at a later date he was fascinated by Nell Gwynne and Louise de Keroualle. For these, his queen was neglected, and, as she had no children, and no interest in English affairs, she passed almost out of the recollection of the public. Her treatment was a gross scandal to all sober j)eople, who were horrified at seeing the king himself taking the lead in the race for pleasure and dissipation which followed as a natural reaction on the austerity of Cromwellian times. In 1660 the duke of York married Anne Hyde, daughter of Clarendon, and by her had two daughters, Mary and Anne. Henry, duke of Gloucester, 1665 Charles II. 621 the other surviving son of Charles i., died unmarried soon after the Restoration. In 1664 war broke out with the Dutch. Its chief cause was the same commercial and colonial jealousy which had brought about the former war ; but to this was added the annoyance which was felt by Charles because the Dutch Burghers were keeping out with of power the House of Orange, the head of which, Prince ^^°^'^"'^- William, was Charles' nephew. The internal politics of Holland were at this date very important, for the friends of the House of Orange relied on England, while the Burgher party was friendly to France. So bitter was the hostility between them that Van Tromp had been seriously hampered by the fact that some of his captains would not give him a hearty support because he was a supporter of the House of Orange ; and, on the other hand, sailors who were friendly to Tromp looked coldly on De Witt and Ruyter, the admirals favoured by the Burgher party. The war was carried on both on the English coasts and in the colonies. At first the English were successful, and Sir Robert Holmes seized the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which divided Virginia from the New England States. It was now colonised by Englishmen, and its capital. New Amsterdam, received the name of New York, in honour of the king's brother, who was lord admiral of the fleet. In 1665 the duke of York, Prince Rupert, and the earl of Sandwich won a great victory over the Dutch off Lowestoft, on the Suffolk coast. The great object of the Dutch was to fight as near the The First English coasts as possible, so as to take advantage of the ^^^^ ^^' numerous sandbanks, where their vessels, being of lighter draught than the English, could be used to greater advantage. This advantage they gained, but the English seamen, by skilfully manceuvring, contrived to get the wind in their favour, and bearing down in line won a complete victory. Opdam, the Dutch commander, was blown up with all his crew but the English lost Lawson, one of their best sailors— a Yorkshireman, who had fought his way from the forecastle of a Hull collier to be an admiral of the fleet. Next year Sandwich followed up the success by seizing part of the Dutch spice fleet in the harbour of Bergen. The disaster of the Dutch was so complete that the French came to their assistance ; but though Louis was ])ound in honour to help his allies, he had no objection to seeing the two chief naval powers engaged in destroy- ing each other, and his fleet took little or no part in the figliting. i\fter the afi'air of Bergen, the command of the fleet was changed ; the duke of York was kept at home, on the pretence that his life was too valuable to be risked, and Sandwich, who had been accused of appropriating 622 The Stuarts 1665 money, was sent out as ambassador to Spain. Eupert and Monk took their places, and in June Monk, who ' hated a coward as ill as a toad,' was rash enough to attack the Dutch with a wholly inadequate force. In consequence he was severely handled, and only escaped a serious disaster by the opportune arrival of Eupert, However, in July, they were again at sea, and this time a complete victory rewarded their eflforts, and no less than one hundred and fifty merhcantmen were burnt on the Dutch coast. Louis now used his influence to persuade the Dutch to negotiate, and Charles, being at his wits' end for money, took advantage of the apparent ^. ^ , cessation of hostilities to lay up his fleet at Chatham. For The Dutch . . -^ '■ in the its sccunty he ordered earthworks to be prepared, and the way. entrance of the Medway to be blocked by a boom. Hardly anything, however, had been done when De Euyter appeared in the Thames with a strong fleet, and in all haste Monk was sent down to defend Chatham. He found everything in confusion ; workmen unwilling to work for want of pay ; dock officials more intent on securing their private eff'ects than on saving the honour of England. In spite of all his eff'orts the boom was broken, and he had the mortification of seeing the Dutch fleet sail up the Medway, burn the ships at their stations, and carry off the Royal Charles as a prize. Fortunately the Dutch dropped back with the tide, and Monk was able to complete the batteries in time to prevent another ascent of the river. Great was the humiliation of the country, and in spite of the fact that an honourable peace was concluded, parliament turned fiercely on Clarendon as the most eligible object for attack. Besides the disgraceful affair at Chatham, Clarendon had been unlucky in other respects. In 1665 occurred the Great Plague, the last of those terrible pestilences which from time to time devastated the filthy alleys and narrow streets which formed the towns of mediaeval Europe. The outbreak began in the winter of 1664-5, reached its height in June 1665, and continued in full violence till October, when it gradually declined ; but the next year it continued its ravages in the country, and it was some time before it completely disappeared. During its continuance, the utmost confusion prevailed ; trade was at a standstill, and nothing but the firmness of Monk, who was placed in command of the city, and the charity of the lord mayor and richer citizens, prevented an outbreak of violence. In London alone no less than 120,000 persons perished. A year later, the greater part of the city of London was destroyed by the Great Fire, which broke out at two o'clock on the morning of September 2, 1666 Charles II. 623 Fanned by a violent gale, the flames spread rapidly, and continued at their height for three days, dnring which time they consumed 13,200 houses, 89 churches— including the noble Gothic building The Fire of of St. Paul's Cathedral — and rendered 200,000 persons ^o"don. homeless. The fire originated in a bakehouse, and was due to accident ; but so violent was the national prejudice against the Roman Catholics that it was falsely imputed to them, and the Monument erected in memory of the fire long bore an inscription charging it upon them. The conflagration cleared away the last relics of the plague ; but unfor- tunately, no adequate care was taken, in rebuilding the houses, to arranoe the streets on a better plan, and the new buildings followed the lines of the old. A great opportunity, however, was given to Sir Christopher Wren, the architect, and his designs for the new St. Paul's, and for the new city churches, are admirable examples of the kind of architecture then in fashion. Though Clarendon was not directly responsible for the disaster at Chatham, and had of course nothing whatever to do either with the plague or the fire, these events added to the unpopularity paU of of his administration. He was also disliked by the king, Clarendon, of whose dissipated life he disapproved ; and when an outcry was raised against him, he was dismissed from his post and impeached. Without awaiting his trial, he withdrew to the continent, where he spent the remainder of his life in completing a History of the Great Rebellion^ which he had begun during his former exile, and died in 1674. In 1670 died Monk, duke of Albemarle. Since Charles' return, he had been his most able servant wherever tact, courage, and devotion to duty had been required, during both war and peace : and with the departure of these two faithful servants, a new generation of public men conies to the front. During Clarendon's ministry important events occurred in Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland Charles assumed the illegality of all that had been done since the battle of Worcester. The union „^^^. ^ , ocotland. between England and Scotland was held void, and Scotland was placed under the rule of the earl of Middleton, as commissioner for the king, and of the earl of Lauderdale, as secretary of state. Under their influence a parliament was elected that was royalist in the extreme. Charles was declared to be 'over all persons and over all cases supreme ' ; and by the Reccission Act all acts of parliament passed since 1632 were repealed, so that the ecclesiastical laws of James i. and the old feudal rights and privileges were restored. To appease the royalists, Argyll was tried and executed, nominally for treasons com- 624 The Stuarts 1666 mitted since 1651, in reality in revenge for the death of Montrose ; and to strike terror into the Presbyterian clergy, Guthrie, the most energetic and outspoken of them, suffered the same fate, from which Johnstone of Warriston, the deviser of the National Covenant, only saved himself by a timely flight. To the consternation of the Presbyterians, who had protested against the declaration of favour to tender consciences con- tained in the Declaration of Breda, Charles, whom parliament permitted to settle the church government ' as might be consistent with Scripture, monarchy, and peace,' declared for Episcopacy, ordered the Covenant to be burnt by the common hangman, and named Sharpe, a renegade Pres- byterian minister, to be archbishop of St. Andrews. The Presbyterian clergy, therefore, found themselves compelled to choose between accept- ing a form of church government which they abhorred, or abandoning their livelihood ; but rather than submit to the change, three or four hundred of them gave up their livings, and began the work of preaching to their congregations on the open hillsides, which kept alive the faith and devotion of the Covenanters during the persecution which followed, At the same time, however, that the Scots lost their favourite form of church government, they regained their independence, and saw with satisfaction the departure of the English garrisons, the restoration of their parliament, and the dismantling of Monk's fortifications. On the other hand, they lost the advantages conferred on them by the Naviga- tion Acts, and for trade purposes became again a foreign and alien country. In Ireland, as in Scotland, the union, as having no force in law^, was held void. The ancient Irish parliament was, as a matter of course, restored : and the Protestant Episcopal Church was re- Ireland. established as the state church. Orniond was sent over as lord-lieutenant, and undertook the settlement of the land question. Before 1641, about half the arable land of Ireland was in the hands of Protestants, and the rest in those of Koman Catholics and Irish. After the rebellion, this half had been divided among the Adventurers and the Cromwellian soldiery. Their claims, however, were disputed by the dispossessed Irish, and by royalists who had suffered for their devotion to royalty. It was, however, a serious matter to offend the soldiers, and the claims of the Adventurers had been guaranteed by Charles i. Con- sequently, after hearing all sides, Charles determined that the titles of the Adventurers should be confirmed, and that the claims of the loyal Roman Catholics and of Protestant royalists should be met out of those forfeited lands which had not as yet been appropriated. Eventually, however, it was found that so much of this amount had been promised to 1670 . Charles 11. 625 the duke of York, Monk, and others, that there was not sufficient remain- ing to satisfy even the claims of those royalists and Eoman Catholics whose innocence was unimpeachable. Accordingly, by the Act of Ex- planation, the Adventurers and Cromwellians were required The Act of to give up one-third of their lands as a compensation fund ; Settlement, and on this basis the land question seemed for a time to be settled. The dissolution of the union deprived Ireland of the benefits of the Naviga- tion Acts ; and, as if that were not enough, the English parliament began that deliberate policy of impoverishing Ireland, in order to protect the English farmers and manufacturers, that continued in force, with slio-ht modifications, down to the date of the legislative union of 1800. In 1665 the Irish were forbidden to export to England either cattle, meat, or butter, so that a country which nature had designed for pasturage was perforce thrown back on the business of agriculture. After Clarendon's fall, the king gave his confidence to a group of five statesmen — Cliftbrd, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale, whose initials are erroneously thought to have originated the _. •^ . . . The Cabal. word Cabal, a much older word of Hebrew origin, equiva- lent to the modern terms Junto, or Cabinet. The Cabal is interesting in the history of our constitution because it forms a link between the condition which obtained under Elizabeth and Charles i., when each minister was responsible to the king and to him only, and the modern practice which grew up under William in., when the members of the cabinet are responsible, 'jointly and severally,' for the policy of the government as a whole. From a religious point of view, it represented a combination of most of the views not comprehended in the English Church. Sir- Thomas Clifford, afterwards Baron Clifi'ord of Chudleigh, was an avowed Roman Catholic, and Henry Bennet, afterwards earl of Arlington, a Roman Catholic at heart ; Shaftesbury had cheerfully con- formed to the Church systems of the Long Parliament and Cromwell ; Buckingham, so far as he was anything, was a churchman ; and Lauder- dale had taken a leading part in negotiating the Solemn League and Covenant, and had been one of the Engagers in 1648. Of them all, Buckingham was the most versatile, Ashley the most able, Lauderdale the most pliant, Clifford and Arlington the most bigoted. As in consti- tutional history, the Cabal was the germ of the modern cabinet, so in religion it marks a step in the direction of toleration. The first result of the fall of Clarendon was the reversal of his foreign policy by the negotiation of the triple alliance between Holland, The Triple ^ , t If d' "iir-iT^,., Alliance. Sweden, and England. This was the work of Sir William Temple, the English ambassador at the Hague, who was not only one of 2 R 626 The Stuarts 1670 the most cultivated, but also one of the most far-sighted men of his time. He early realised the dangerous tendencies of the power of Louis xiv., and was the life-long friend and confidential adviser of William of Orange. In 1670 William was a lad of seventeen. As yet he had no constitutional position in Holland, but he had inherited in its full measure the ability of his family. For the Triple Alliance, little credit attaches to the Cabal ; and the first real result of the change of govern- ment was a Comprehension Bill, which was introduced into parliament for comprehending some of the Presbyterians in the church, and for tolerating to nonconformists. Ashley had steadily opposed both the Act of Uniformity and the Corporation Act ; but in the existing temper of parliament, toleration — either of Protestant or Catholic nonconformists — was out of the question ; and, in 1670, the Conventicle Act of 1664 was renewed and made more stringent. Probably the real object of Charles in allowing this attempt to be made was to pave the way for the toleration of the Catholics. Before The Roman ' ^^^^ Restoration he had secretly become a member of that Catholics. church ; and, in 1662, he had sent Sir Richard BiUings as agent to the pope to treat about the restoration of the papal authority in England. In January 1669 the king, the duke of York, Lord Arundel of Wardour, Clifford, and Arlington, held a secret meeting to consider what could be done in the matter, and it was there decided to apply to The Treaties Louis XIV. for military aid. This was the origin of the of Dover. secret treaty of Dover, which was negotiated through Charles' sister Henrietta, duchess of Orleans, and was signed by Arlington, Arundel of Wardour, Cliflbrd, and Billings, for England, and by Colbert for France. Its chief provisions were (1) that Charles should declare himself a Catholic, and receive from Louis £80,000 in money and the aid of 6000 troops in the pay of France ; (2) that Charles and Louis should make a joint war on Holland, and that Charles should receive the islands of Walcheren and Cadsand and the port of L'Ecluse (Sluys), out of the spoils of that as yet unconquered country. To complete the ascendency of the French interest, it was arranged that a beautiful Breton lady, Louise de Keroualle, should meet Charles at Arlington's house. She soon acquired such an influence over him that she was created duchess of Portsmouth, and became the chief agent in his transactions with the French court. The first treaty of Dover was secret ; but Buckingham, who had thrown himself into the idea of an alliance against the Dutch, was permitted to negotiate a second and open treaty, in which only that part of the former which applied to the Dutch was allowed to appear ; and this was signed by 1672 Charles II. (527 Colbert and by Buckingham, Arlington, Lauderdale, Ashley, and Clifford. Of the former treaty, Buckingham, Asliley, and Lauderdale knew nothing, and most of their contemporaries were equally ignorant • but the desertion of the policy of the Triple Alliance was in irself bad enough, and gained for the treaty of Dover and the members of the Cabal the infamous reputation under which they have ever since laboured as the men who broke the triple league, and ' fitted England for a foreign yoke.' Charles was well aware that parliament would disapprove of his new policy, so as soon as he had induced it to make a liberal grant of ,£800,000 for the navy, under the impression that war was to be declared against France, it was prorogued, and did not meet again for nearly two years. Meanwhile, to add to his resources, the kiog carried out the device known at the time as ' The Stop of the Exchequer.' At that date it was usual for the government to anticipate the revenue by bor- rowing money from the goldsmiths, who then acted as of the Ex- bankers and advanced the money entrusted to them by '^^^i"^^- their depositors. The rate of interest paid by the government was twelve per cent., of which the depositors received five per cent., and the goldsmiths retained seven per cent. The debt at that moment was ^1,300,000. On January 2, 1672, contrary to the advice of his chancellor of the exchequer, Ashley, who had recently been made earl of Shaftesbury, Charles issued a royal order forbidding the exchequer to pay any warrants, orders, and securities for twelve months. Panic followed, and so great was the outcry that four days later he modified the order to the extent of letting the goldsmiths have six per cent., of which all but one per cent, was due to their depositors. The consequence of this absurd action, for which Clifford and Lauderdale seem to have been chiefly responsible, was that so severe a blow was struck at the credit of the government, as completely to outbalance the paltry profit made by this disgraceful act of national bankruptcy. Charles' next step was to feel the way for his open declaration of Eoman Catholicism by the public reception of his brother James into the Roman Catholic Church. This was followed up in March ^^ ^ 1 he De- by the issue of a Declaration of Indulgence, by which all the ciaration of ^. .-..■..■... -, Indulgence. acts which imposed political or religious disabilities on the Catholic or Protestant Nonconformists were suspended. This illegal and unconstitutional action was most unpopular. So far as the Roman Catholics were concerned, it revived all the hatred and suspicion which had characterised the days of James i. ; wliile the Protestant Noncon- formists looked with suspicion on the use of the royal prerogative, the principle of which might be stretched to sanction the suspension, at the 628 The Stuarts 1672 will of the king, of any act of parliament whatsoever. Nevertheless, till parliament met, nothing could be done to give voice to the national displeasure. Within a few days of the issue of the Declaration of Indulgence, a favourable opportunity occurred for beginning the war against the Dutch. A fleet of Dutch merchantmen from the Levant were sailing; [Second ° Dutch up the Channel, convoyed by seven men-of-war, and cast anchor off the Isle of Wight. There, without any declara- tion of war, they were attacked by an English squadron under Sir Kobert Holmes. The Dutch, however, were not unprepared for an emer- gency, which their government had suspected ; and, fighting with great skill and determination, they succeeded in beating oflf their assailants with the loss of only one man-of-war and four merchantmen. A few days after this disgraceful affair, war against Holland was openly declared both by England and France. The first naval action was fought in Southwold Bay, where the duke of York, the earl of Sandwich, and the French admiral d'Estrees encountered the Dutch under De Ruyter. The ])runt of the fighting was borne by the English contingent. So severe was the struggle that the duke was forced to abandon two ships in a sinking condition, and to transfer his flag to a third, while the gallant Sandwich, refusing to abandon the Royal James, was burnt with most of his crew. However, after the fight had lasted from early morning to seven at night, De Ruyter drew oft' his ships, leaving the scene of slaughter in the hands of the allies, and next day he sought refuge among the banks and shoals of the Dutch coast. On land, the French troops, under Louis in person, advised by Turenne and Conde, and aided by 6000 English under the duke of Monmouth, among whom served John Churchill, carried all before them, occupied three out of the seven pro- vinces of Holland, and encamped almost within sight of Amsterdam. These disasters, however, only roused the courage of the Dutch. The French faction, under the brothers De Witt, was driven from power ; and shortly afterwards John de Witt was murdered by the mob. William iii., the young prince of Orange, Charles ii.'s nephew, now aged twenty-two, was requested to undertake the task of saving his country. This he willingly accepted. Under his guidance the Dutch opened their dykes and restored to the sea the lands occupied by their enemies. The French fled for their lives ; and with this auspicious beginning William entered upon a contest with Louis xiv. which was to end only with his life. In January 1673 parliament met. The members were in high dudgeon, and in the elections which had taken place to fill up vacancies the 1673 Charles II, 629 Presbyterian party had gained largely. By a vote of 168 to 116 it was resolved that ' penal statutes in matters ecclesiastical cannot be suspended but by act of parliament,' and a request for the withdrawal views of of the Declaration was made to the king. All the Parliament, ministers but Arlington advised him to stand his ground, but by the advice of Louis, who promised the aid of men and money as soon as the Dutch war was over, Charles yielded, cancelled ciaratio'n the Declaration, and declared that it should never be used ^^^^'^'"a^"- as a precedent. Then, thinking that the employment of Roman Catholics was the cause of all these unpopular measures, parliament passed the Test Act, by which it was ordered that no j^erson should hold office under the The Test crown unless he had taken the sacrament according to the ^^^' rites of the Church of England, and made a declaration against Transub- stantiation. This Act made it impossible for a Roman Catholic to hold office ; but Louis advised Charles to submit in order to carry on the war, and to this counsel Charles agreed. The passage of the Test Act broke ujj the ministry. Before the day for taking the sacrament arrived, Cliftbrd resigned his post of lord treasurer, and James that of high admiral, Clifford died in June 1673 ; Arlington took little more part in public affairs ; Shaftesbury was dismissed from the chancellorship in November, and immediately went into opposition ; and Buckingham, though for a time he clung to the court, followed his example in the next year. Lauderdale alone retained his influence, but he was almost exclusively busied with Scottish affairs. Clifford was succeeded at the Treasury by Sir Thomas Osborne, a Yorkshire gentleman, who subsequently held in turn the titles of Lord Latimer, earl of Danby, marquess of Carmarthen, and duke sir Thomas of Leeds. Osborne was a clever time-server, ready to do Osborne, almost anything to keep his place. His domestic policy consisted in conciliating the old cavaliers by supporting the Church of England and strengthening the royal prerogative. In foreign affairs he was at heart friendly to the Dutch and opposed to France ; but nevertheless his sub- sequent conduct showed that he was willing to retain office at the price of acting as Charles' agent in negotiating with Louis xiv. Unprincipled himself, he counted on finding others the same, and was said to set aside from the excise an annual sum of £20,000 for the purpose of bribing members of parliament. Since 1661 there had been no general election ; but the temper of the house had changed in response to the altered feeling of the country. No parliament of Englishmen, whether Cavalier or Roundhead, was likely to 630 The Stuarts 1673 apj)rove either of Charles' way of life, or of the actions of such ministers as Clifford and Arlington ; and it did not need Charles i.'s dictum that ' parliaments, like cats, grow cursed with age ' to explain ' Country the change of feeling. The fight over, the Declaration of In- ^^*^' dulgence and the Test Act had resulted in the consolidation of something like a regular opposition. Its leaders in the Commons were William Eussell, second son of the earl of Bedford, and after the death of his elder brother in 1678, spoken of as Lord Kussell ; Lord Cavendish, the eldest son of the earl of Devonshire ; Colonel Birch, an old Common- wealth man, who had formerly been a carrier ; John Hampden, grand- son of the great John Hampden, and others. In the Lords, Shaftes- bury, and afterwards Buckingham, were the most prominent ; but they had the assistance of Lord Holies, formerly the Denzil Holies of the Long Parliament ; Philip, Lord Wharton, and the earl of Salisbury. The oppo- sition came to be known as the 'country party' to distinguish them from the courtiers. The policy of the 'country party,' was dictated by fear of Roman Catholicism, and consequently by distrust of France. The necessity of finding allies inclined them to favour the Protestant Nonconformists. They, therefore, desired peace with Holland, and, if possible, war with France ; but their desu-e for this Avas modified by their apprehensions that if Charles got a standing army it would be used against the liberties of England and the Protestant religion. Hence, it was almost impossible that their policy could be consistent. On the other hand, the existence of the ' country party ' kept Louis XIV. in continual fear, for he dreaded lest Charles should be forced to go to war with him ; and, therefore, played a double game. When he thought the opposition likely to get their way, he paid Charles to prorogue or dissolve parliament ; if he thought Charles was too independent, he would help the 'country party' to attack him. In consequence the action of Charles, Louis, and the opposition leaders is extremely difiicult to follow. The meeting of parliament in 1674, therefore, witnessed the ajDpearance of a regular opposition under Shaftesbury and Russell. The characters William of the two leaders were well fitted to supplement each other. Russell. j^,^^gsell was thirty-five years of age, and was married to Rachel Wriothesley, daughter of the marquess of AVinchester. Hitherto he had taken little part in parliamentary business, for he was slow of speech ; but he was a man of great honesty, of sound judgment, universally beloved and trusted, and his position as prospective head of the house of Bedford carried great weight in the country. The accession of Shaftesbury to the ' country party' was a matter of the first consequence. 1675 Charles II. 631 In character he was ahiiost an antithesis of Russell. Aged fifty-three he had taken an active part in politics since he had contrived to sit in the Short Parliament of 1640 as a young man of nineteen. During the civil war he had served first as a cavalier, and ^ ^^^ ^^^' then as a parliamentarian. He was a member both of the Rump and of Barebone's parliament, and had taken a leading part in the councils and parliaments of Cromwell. After Cromwell's death he had sided with parliament against the army, and had been active in forwarding the restoration of the king. Under Clarendon he had acted as chancellor of the exchequer ; in the Cabal he had risen to be lord chancellor. Through all his experiences, however, he had never been either a blind supporter of prerogative nor an ecclesiastical bigot. Under Clarendon he had opposed the Uniformity and Corporation Acts, in the Cabal he had favoured the Comprehension Bill and the Declaration of Indulgence. His voice had also opposed the 'stop of the exchequer,' and he brought with him into the councils of the ' country j)arty ' not only an unrivalled experience of business, but a ready tongue, a facile comprehension of the needs of the moment, undaunted courage, and a complete mastery of the art of political agitation. The first action of the new party was to attack Buckingham, Arling- ton, and Lauderdale ; and so strong did it appear that Buckingham, whose fickleness was proverbial, immediately joined its ranks, while the other two sought safety, one in retirement, of Non- the other in Scotland. Danby was thus left supreme, and in 1675 he attempted to secure the favour of the old cavaliers by intro- ducing a bill to compel every officer in church and state, and every member of either House of Parliament, to declare on oath that ' it was unlawful, on any pretence whatever, to take up arms against the king,' and that ' he would not endeavour at any time the alteration of the government in church and state.' Through the ingenuity, however, of Shaftesbury, the bill never got beyond the House of Lords ; and the opposition having, in their turn, brought forward a bill for giving better security against arbitrary imprisonment, which afterwards developed into the Habeas Corpus Act, the king had recourse to prorogation. This he was enabled to do by the aid of Louis xiv. To carry on the Dutch war in teeth of public opinion was impossible, and in 1674 terms were made at the price of the cession to England of the peace with island of St. Helena, a convenient place of call for ships ^^^ ^"*'=*^- sailing to and from the East Indies. Louis was afraid that the opposition would press Charles to join the Dutch in war against him. Such an event would obviously be fatal not only to Louis' plans of conquest, but 632 The Stuarts 1675 to Charles' Roman Catholic intrigues, so it was arranged between them that on the one hand Charles was to prorogue parliament, on the other Louis was to furnish Charles with an annual sum of ^120,000. Parliament was accordingly dismissed for fifteen months ; and to put a stop to political criticism, the coffee-houses, which were beginning to take the place of modern clubs, were peremptorily closed, rogation of During the recess the opposition was powerless ; but when ar lamen . pr^pi^r^j^j^gj^^ reassembled in 1677, an attempt was made to force on a general election by contending that parliament, having not sat for twelve months, was ipso facto dissolved. The plea, however, was not admitted. Shaftesbury, Buckingham, Salisbury, and Wharton were sent to the Tower by the Lords for insulting parliament by advanciug it ; and though the three others were soon released, Shaftesbury was kept in confinement for more than a year, when, on apologising for his conduct, he too was suffered to go free. Incited by Louis, the ' country party ' now demanded the dismissal of the army, which would have effectually jDrevented England from inter- ., . , fering on the continent. Danby, on the other hand, revived Marriage of '^ "" . . William the policy of the Triple Alliance by arranging a marriage between Mary, eldest daughter of the duke of York, and heir to the crown after her father, and her cousin, William iii. of Orange, stadtholder of Holland. This marriage was thoroughly popular. William was now twenty-seven years of age ; he had early shown himself jjossessed of the highest order of talent, and had made himself a sort of ' Protestant hero ' by his magnificent defence of Holland against the apparently over- whelming strength of the Catholic Louis xiv. His possible accession to the English throne was regarded with hope by all who suspected the religious intrigues of Charles and James, or who feared the danger to liberty involved in the success of the French arms. Louis never forgave Danby for the match, and its importance was seen not only in fresh dealings with the opposition, but in the opening of negotiations with the Dutch. All England hoped for a French war, and ^300,000 was voted to strengthen the fleet ; but during the progress of the negotiations Charles made a secret treaty with France, by which he agreed, at Treaty with the price of .£300,000 a year for three years, to dissolve parliament, to disband the army, and not to assist the Dutch if they continued the war. In obedience to Charles' order, this arrangement was entered into by Danby, through Sir R. Montagu, the English ambassador at Paris. For his services Montagu expected to be made secretary of state, but being 1678 Charles II. 633 disappointed, he disclosed what he knew to the members of the opposition; and though Danby contrived to get an order of the council for seizing Montagu's papers, two letters in Danby's handwriting, and pall of endorsed by Charles himself, fell into the hands of Shaftes- ^anby. bury and Eussell. From these it appeared that the negotiation was to be kept as 'private as possible, for fear of giving offence at home,' and that the ^300,000 was designed to provide for Charles during the period of resentment which parliament was expected to feel when it learnt how it had been cozened. Upon this the Commons impeached Danby of high treason ; and to save him Charles at last dissolved parliament. This was exactly what the opposition wanted, as they beUeved themselves to have the country at their back ; and the ' country party ' was so much stronger in the new House, that before it met, James found it convenient to retire to Brussels. Danby's impeachment was at once renewed. His general defence was that he had acted by the direct orders of the king, and, in bar of further proceedings, he produced a pardon under the great seal. As such a defence was obviously fatal to the princij^le of ministerial responsibility, it was stoutly contested ; and, in defiance of it, Danby was committed to the Tower, where he remained till the close of the reign. His place at the Treasury was taken by Arthur Capel, earl of Essex, son of the Capel beheaded in 1649. He was an honest and economical adminis- trator, and had gained a high reputation as lord-lieutenant of Ireland, but had little political influence. Three administrations — those of Clarendon, the Cabal, and Danby — had now been overthrown by the votes of parliament. Such struggles were fatal to efficient administration ; but it was difficult to see _ ' . . Constitu- how they were to be avoided unless Charles was willing tionaidead- to give up to parliament the real business of government, and that he was not prepared to do. Some thought that the solution of the difficulty was to be found in strengthening the Privy Council and making the members directly responsible for its decisions, so that on the one hand it might act as a buffer between the king and the Temple's parliament, and on the other check the growing practice of Scheme, putting the real conduct of affairs into the hands of a small cabal. In accordance with this idea. Sir William Temple brought forward a scheme for making the Privy Council consist of thirty members, fifteen of whom were to be royal officials, and fifteen nominated by the crown from the independent members of parliament. It was also arrauged that the members should be wealthy, so that the large stake they had in the country might give confidence in their caution, and the income of the first members was calculated at ^300,000 a year, as against an estimated 634 The Stuarts 1678 ,£400,000 of the House of Commons. The new council, therefore, was a sort of microcosm of the ruling classes. It included such leading ministers as Kobert Sj)encer, earl of Sunderland, a man who had lately- acquired great influence ; Sir William Temple, the earl of Essex, George Savile, marquess of Halifax, and also Shaftesbury, who acted as president. Lord Eussell, Lord Cavendish, and other members of the opposition. The l^lan, however, did not work well. Power soon fell into the hands of Sunderland, Essex, Halifax, and Temple, who practically arranged the business of the whole council ; while Charles, when it suited him, set its decisions at defiance. Meanwhile, all England had been agitated by the story of a popish plot. Ever since the gunpowder conspiracy the country had been ready The Popish enough to believe any stories against the Koman Catholics. ^^°*- Though the facts, which have since come to light, were then only a matter of inference, it was strongly suspected that both Charles and James were Eoman Catholics, and that they had a perfect understanding with Louis XIV. in view of a forcible restoration of Roman Catholicism. Indeed, by this date, the fear of civil war which, so long as Oliver Cromwell's soldiers were efficient, had manifested itself in Clarendon's endeavour to break up the nonconforming congregations, and to exclude Nonconformists from municipal office, had changed into an af)prehension of a French invasion in fjivour of the Roman Catholics. This state of affiiirs was admirably fitted to render easy a belief in a Roman Catholic plot ; and in September 1678, a month after parliament ^. ^ met, a rank impostor, Titus Gates, who had at one time been Titus Oates. l^ a clergyman of the Church of England, and a chaplain in the navy, who afterwards became a sham convert to Roman Catholi- cism, and was expelled from every post he had held in either church for disgraceful conduct and character, came forward with an absurd story of a Jesuit plot to murder Charles and James, and to establish Roman Catholicism by force. The story was in itself ludicrous, for Charles and James were the best friends of the Roman Catholics, and their deaths would have raised to the throne the Protestant Mary and her husband William of Grange ; but the excitement of the time deprived men of their critical faculties, and his tale was widely believed, even by so reasonable a man as Lord RusseU. Gates' depositions were made before Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, a London magistrate ; and a fortnight later the dead body of Godfrey, impaled on a short sword, was found in a dry ditch on Primrose Hill. Whether the case was one of murder or suicide, it was impossible to say. Those who believed Gates declared that he had been murdered by the Papists, those who disbelieved were for suicide, 1679 Charles 11. 635 while a few declared that Godfrey had been murdered by Gates' friends in order to throw the blame on the Jesuits. On the whole, however suicide is probably the right explanation ; and the fact that Godfrey's friend, Coleman, was one of Gates' first victims, lends colour to this. Coleman was a Koman Catholic convert, who acted as secretary to the duchess of York. He was a silly and extravagant fellow, and his corre- spondence showed that he had asked Pere Lachaise, the confessor of Louis XIV., to find him ^20,000 for certain purposes profitable to France and to Catholicism. This Gates declared to be the plot. Meanwhile Gates' fame had inspired an imitator in William Bedloe, a rascal who, while acting as a courier on the continent, had gathered some acquaintance with the habits of the Catholics. He came forward with a circumstantial account of the murder of Godfrey by the Papists. The evidence of these two scoundrels drove England mad with terror. Five Koman Catholic peers, and some two thousand clergy and connnoners were arrested, and small measure of justice or mercy was the lot of those who stood first for trial. No one knew better the falseness of the whole story than Charles ; but feeling his weakness as an unacknow- ledged Koman Catholic, he did not venture to interfere in their behalf, and before common sense resumed its sway, many innocent men perished on the scaff'old. Gf these, the first victims were Coleman, whose foolish cor- respondence had so unluckily played into Gates' hands, three Jesuits, Ireland, Grove, and Pickering, and three poor fellows who were convicted of murdering Godfrey. In 1679 five Jesuits were convicted and hanged, but another of the accused. Sir George Wakeman, the queen's physician, was acquitted. At this moment another impostor. Danger- field, came forward with the story that the Roman Catholics had suborned him to give information of a sham Presbyterian plot, and also to murder the earl of Shaftesbury. This story, known as the Mealtub Plot, revived popular apprehension. Fresh trials and executions followed ; and finally, two years after Gates' original disclosures, the aged and respected Viscount Stafi'ord was impeached before the Lords, convicted of compassing the king's death, and beheaded. Two things in particular were fatal to the accused— first, the incredulity with which the evidence of Koman Catholics was received in favour of their co-religionists ; and secondly, the political excitement of the time, which almost made hatred of the Koman Catholics an essential part of the creed of one political party. Immediately on the assembling of parliament, after Gates' depositions, the question had been raised whether the safety of the Protestant fiiith could be secured under a Roman Catholic sovereign ; and after several 636 The Stuarts 1679 offers of Charles to consent to any special limitations on the prerogative which parliament should think needful while a Eoman Catholic was on The Exciu- the throne, a bill was brought into the House of Commons in sion Bill. jyf.^y jgH.9 f^j, ^^le exclusion of the duke of York from the throne, and his banishment from the country for life. If James were excluded it was proposed to put the Protestant Mary and her husband William on the throne. This made the bill popular, and secured it the goodwill of William of Orange, who wished nothing more than to secure the co-operation of England and Holland in the work of resisting the ambition of Louis xiv. Charles, however, though willing to agree to a ^. , regency, was not willing to sacrifice the interests of his Dissolu- 111 .., tion of brother, and, to gam tmie, he dissolved parliament. Before doing so, however, the royal consent was given to the Habeas Corpus Act, long honourably known as Shaftesbury's Act. The Habeas The object of this bill was to give additional fticility Corpus Act. £qj, securing to an Englishman the right of being punished or imprisoned only after a trial by his peers, which had formed the thirty- ninth clause of the Great Charter. Its chief provisions were two : first, any unconvicted prisoner, committed for any crime except treason or felony, may require a judge to issue a writ of Habeas Corpus, ordering the jailor to produce him in court in order that he may be released on bail ; second, a prisoner accused of treason or felony must be tried at the first assizes held after his committal, or released on bail, unless the witnesses are unavoidably detained ; in that case he is either to be tried at the second assizes or discharged. These enactments, says Hallam, ' cut off the abuses by which the government's lust of power and the servile subtlety of crown lawyers had impaired so fundamental a privi- lege.' By a third clause no Englishman could be imprisoned in Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or any other of the foreign dominions of the king — a rule afterwards modified to admit of triansportation to a penal settlement. In its next session parliament struck a stout blow for the purification of justice by the impeachment of Chief- Justice Scroggs, an able man of bad character, who had rendered himself notorious by his subserviency to the Court, and the brutality of his conduct on the bench. He was accused of illegally dismissing the grand jurymen of Middlesex when they were on the point of presenting the duke of York as a 'popish recusant ' ; of illegally forbidding the sale of a pamphlet entitled The Weekly Packet of Advice from Rome, and for acting illegally in the imposition of fines, the refusing of bail, and the issuing of general warrants. A dissolution prevented the trial of Scroggs, but his conduct was so notorious, that even Charles felt it unwise to keep him on the 1680 Charles II. 637 bench, and he was soon afterwards removed. His place, however was taken by Saunders, who was little better than his predecessor. During the discussion of the Exclusion Bill James had withdrawn to Brussels. After the dissolution he returned, but was sent on to Scotland. That country had lately been the scene of a rebellion. When at the Restoration Charles, by the advice of Middleton and '^°* ^" * Clarendon, and against the astute council of Lauderdale, had restored the bishops, the natural consequence was a wholesale secession of Presby- terian ministers, and the pastors were followed by their congretJ'ations. In vain the clergy were forbidden to come within twenty miles of their former parishes ; in vain it was declared to be seditious to preach in the open air ; in vain the seceding laity were fined, imprisoned, and tortured ; all that was most earnest in the religious life of Scotland gathered on the hill-sides to listen to the words of their beloved ministers. A regular dragonnade followed, directed by the subservient Lauderdale and the renegade Archbishop Sharpe. Reprisals soon followed, but only served Charles as an excuse for raising the Scottish army to 20,000 H, r,. 1 / ,r Archbishop men. However, in 1679, bharpe was murdered on Magus Sharpe Moor by a body of fanatics, and a regular insurrection broke out in the western lowlands. A small force under John Graham of Claverhouse, afterwards Viscount Dundee, was routed at Drumclog ; but the ill-armed, and ill-led rebels were utterly routed at Bothwell Brigg by a formidable force commanded by the duke of Monmouth, the reputed son of Charles 11. The result of this abortive rebellion was to strengthen Charles' hands by giving excuse for raising a formidable army, which was placed under Claverhouse ; and James, on his arrival, found himself able to coerce the Covenanters with impunity — a task into which he threw himself with cruel energy. The election for a new parliament had occurred in 1679, immediately after the dissolution, but Charles, knowing that the majority was hostile, and having money provided by Louis, put off its meeting again ^^^^j ^^^ ^f and again, and it did not assemble for business till October Parliament „,.-.., delayed. 1680. This delay revived all the party feelmg of the previous reign. On the one side petitions were sent to the king, urging him to assemble parliament ; on the other, counter-petitions .petitioners' from those who ' al)horred the action of promoting peti- and . , , ' Abhorrers.' tions.' From these came the names of 'Petitioners and ' Abhorrers,' which were afterwards replaced by those of ' Whigs ' and ' Tories.' These names were given to the parties by their ^j^.^ opponents. Whig was supposed to denote the Nonconfor- mists of Scotland. There had been a ' Vfhiggamore raid' in 1650, and 638 The Stuarts 1680 the name ' Whig' was used by the royalists of the Scotch rebels in 1666. Its application to the country party was designed as a slur on their loyalty. Tory was, properly speaking, an Irish brigand ; the rebels of 1641 were spoken of by the English as ' cut- throat tories ' ; and the term might be supposed to suggest the Eoman Catholic tendencies of the court party. However, the convenience of having short and more or less meaningless terms to distinguish political parties rapidly brought them into favour, and before long they were adopted as honourable distinctions by the two parties. Both Whigs and Tories accepted government by king and parlia- ment as the settled constitution of the country ; but the Tories laid great Party stress ou the hereditary right of the king, and the duty of Principles, non-resistance, while the Whigs were inclined to look upon him as an official, amenable, like others, to the rules of law, and bound to act through ministers responsible to parliament. As, however, was the case in the civil war, religious opinion played a larger part in determining the attitude of individuals than theoretical differences on constitutional points. The Tories were stout supporters of the church, while the Whigs, even when churchmen themselves, leaned to alliance with the Protestant Nonconformists, and would gladly have seen them tolerated. With the Koman Catholics neither showed any sympathy ; because both honestly believed that they were engaged in a battle with popery, in which either 'they would destroy it or it would destroy them.' Members of both parties were to be found in all ranks of society — for in England Whig and Tory have never been class dis- tinctions ; but, as had been the case in the civil war with the cavaliers and roundheads, the Tories were strongest in the agricultural districts — particularly among the squires and country clergy — the Whigs in the towns. In 1680 the Whigs were in favour of the Exclusion Bill, while the Tories, on their theory of hereditary transmission and divine right, were The Exciu- opposed to altering the order of succession. However, in sion Bill. ^jjg Commons, the Whigs had an overwhelming majority, and passed the bill almost without opposition. In the Lords, however, in spite of all the efforts of Shaftesbury, it was vigorously opposed, particularly by George Savile, marquess of Halifax — a man who was by temperament a most ingenious critic of the policy of other men, and prided himself on being a 'Trimmer' — that is, one who held himself aloof from party. The Trimmer's elocjuence carried the day against the Whigs, and the bill was rejected by 63 votes to 30. The success of the Court in the Lords was largely due to a mistake of Shaftesbury, whicli 1681 Charles II. 539 had alienated the Prince of Orange. So long as Mary was to succeed Charles, the prince had been favourable to the bill, but some of the extreme Whigs v/ere now pressing the claims of the duke of Monmouth, who was a strong Protestant, and now greatly under Shaftesbury's influence, and this turned the prince against it. So violent was Shaftes- bury that, on the rejection of the Exclusion Bill, he pressed Charles to declare Monmouth legitimate, but to this Charles refused to ao-ree However, the fears excited by the Popish Plot showed no sio-n of abating. During the summer of 1680, Shaftesbury had presented James as a recusant; immediately after the rejection of the Exclusion Bill, the peers, by 55 to 31, found Stafibrd guilty of treason ; and so long as these actions represented the general feeling James' accession could only be regarded with apprehension. The only question was whether this apprehension was sufficiently strong to impel the mass of the nation to take the serious step of altering the line of succession in order to guard against an evil which, as yet, was entirely prospec- tive. At present, however, the Whig leaders did not despair. A message of Charles, in which he announced plainly his determination never to agree to the Exclusion Bill, was met by a resolution declaring ' that till the Exclusion Bill was passed they could not grant the king any manner of supply ' ; and government having thus reached an absolute deadlock, Charles dissolved parliament, and again appealed to the country. The elections were conducted amidst greg-t excitement ; but for the most part the old members were returned, and it seemed certain that the renewal of the struggle must very soon lead to a crisis. In The Oxford these circumstances Charles acted with a skill and resolution Parliament. which completely took aback those who had formed their opinion of his character from a careless observation of his ordinary habits. Shaftesbury, Sunderland, Essex, and Temple were expelled from the council in order to secure unanimity at court. The meeting-place of parliament Avas changed from Westminster to Oxford, in order to separate the Whigs from the city of London, where their most thoroughgoing supporters were to be found ; and he placed his regular troops between Oxford and London, so as to completely isolate the Whig members. To Oxford the members came with troops of servants ; those of the London members wearing blue ribbons, with the motto, ' No popery ! No slavery ! ' Eight days before the assembly of parliament Charles himself went to Oxford, and on the day appointed all his preparations were complete. His first care was to make such a moderate offer that its rejection would place his opponents in the wrong. Accordingly, he proposed that in case of the 640 The Stuarts lesa accession of a Roman Catholic king, ' the administration of the government should remain in Protestant hands ' ; which was understood to mean the regency of the Princess Mary. To this the Whigs refused to consent ; and then Charles, without giving the members a moment for reflection, made his way to the Schools {i.e. the University Buildings) where the parliament was sitting, and as soon as he had assumed the royal robes, called the members before him and dissolved the parliament. The discomfiture of the Whigs was complete. From Westminster the bolder spirits might have retired into the city and attempted to continue their sittings ; at Oxford they could only obey, and even ture of Shaftesbury felt that parliamentary opposition was hope- *^^' less. What had enabled Charles to gain his great victory was the intervention of Louis xiv., who had been so alarmed at the prospects of such a practical union of England and Holland, as would have been implied by the accession of Mary either as sovereign or regent, that he had agreed to give Charles ^£250,000, on condition that no parliament should be called for three years. At this price Charles had been willing, as before, to sell his independence. Hence the dissolution. The next step of the government was to follow up their success by prosecuting their opponents. Their first victim was a foolish talker of the name of Stephen College, who, as the ' Protestant of the joiner,' had been made much of by some of the Whigs. In '^^' London there would have been little chance of convicting him ; but, by a monstrous perversion of justice, he was tried in Oxford, and there, by a Tory j ury, he was convicted of treason and subsequently hanged. With Shaftesbury, however, it was not so easy to deal, as no London grand jury would find a true bill on which he might have been tried by his peers. An attempt, however, was made, and backed up by the publication on the day of the trial of Dryden's Absalom and A chitojyhel. It tailed, however ; and the government proceeded, by a flagrant violation of the rights of the citizens, to force on London two Tory sheriffs — North, a Turkey merchant, brother of Chief- Justice North and of Roger North, the well-known Tory diarist ; and Colonel Rich, a turncoat, who had formerly voted for the Exclusion Bill. With such sheriffs, Shaftesbury well knew that a packed jury was inevitable ; and, despairing of raising an insurrection, he slipped away to the continent in November 1682, and within two months died in Holland. Meanwhile, violent schemes had undoubtedly been discussed by the Whig leaders. Shaftesbury had talked of the ' brave boys ' he would bring from Wapping. Monmouth had, during 1682, been making a pro- gress through England, assuming royal state, pretending to., t^^ve t^e 1683 Charles II. 641 power of touching effectively for ' the king's evil,' and doing all he could to make himself a party. Meetings had been held in London ; but it is certain that no organised plan had been formed, and, indeed, most of the real leaders were quite convinced of the futility of an armed rebellion. It appears, however, that some of the more violent men, among whom was Colonel Kumbold, an old Cromwellian, had at least talked over a a plan for arresting and possibly murdering Charles and ^he r e James as they passed by the Rye House, an isolated resi- House Plot, dence near Hoddesdon, on the road from Newmarket to London. The whole affair is wrapped in mystery ; but, acting on the information of informers, the chief of whom were Lord Howard and Colonel Rumsey, the government arrested not only Rumbold's friends, Walcot, Hone, and Rouse, but also the earl of Essex, Lord Russell, John Hampden, and Colonel Algernon Sidney. These, with the duke of Monmouth and Lord Howard, were accused of forming a council of six for the organising of an insurrection. Of the prisoners, Walcot, Hone, and Rouse were hanged. Lord Russell, who had certainly been present at a meeting of the malcontents, but denied having taken any share in a conspiracy, was convicted on the evidence of Howard and Rumsey, and beheaded ; and Algernon Sidney suffered the of RusseU same fate. Russell was a man of great prudence and cir- ^" ' "^^' cumspection, not at all likely to engage in such a rash undertaking as that for which he was condemned, and a man beloved and respected in every relation of life. Algernon Sidney was a rash republican, who had been an active member of the expelled parliament of 1653, and had spent much of his time abroad. He had done his best to get aid from both France and Holland towards raising a rebellion in 1665 and 1666, and was quite capable of further plotting. His trial, however, as conducted by the brutal Jeffreys, was a parody of justice. The evidence against him was scandalously insufficient, and the want of a second witness was supplied by an unpublished manuscript found in his desk, from which it was argued that, as he had approved of insurrections against Nero and Caligula, he therefore approved of an insurrection against Charles ii. He met his fate with firmness, and was regarded as the noblest victim of the despotism of Charles. Against Hampden even the evidence which had convicted the others was wanting, but he was sentenced to pay a ruinous fine of ^40,000 for a misdemeanour ; Essex committed suicide ; and Monmouth, having made a confession in general terms, was par- doned and permitted to retire to Holland. Rumbold also made his escape. In Scotland the earl of Argyll was arrested and condemned, but lie too contrived to make his way to Holland. 2s 642 The Stuarts 1683 While thus attemptmg to strike terror into his opponents, Charles was taking advantage of the breathing-time secured him by Louis to make sure of a permanent majority in the House of Commons. ling of the The strength of the Whigs, as we have seen, lay in the Corpora- borouglis ; that of the Tories in the counties. The election tions. o ' of borough members was usually in the hands of the cor- poration, which was a close body, filling up its own vacancies as they occurred. It was suggested by Saunders — a judge who, with Scroggs and Jefi'reys, earned an infamous reputation at this period — that Charles might, by a writ of quo warranto, recall the charters of such corporations and restore them after nominating a new corporation of Tories to take the place of the old members. Accordingly this was done, not only in all towns which had sent Whigs to parliament, but even in places like Leeds which had no parliamentary reiDresentation. In restoring the charters, the king reserved to himself the right of confirming all elections to municipal offices, and, in case he were dissatisfied, of naming the officers himself. The remodelling of the corporations completed the series of measures by which Charles ii. attempted to annul the efifect of the resistance Charles' ^^ *^^ Long Parliament to Charles i. His eflForts had success. been attended with surprising success, and he was now little less than an absolute king. He possessed a small standing army, which gave Mm a security against the first violence of 2D02Dular insurrec- tion which the Tudors and Plantagenets had never possessed. He named the officers of the militia, and the governors of such fortresses as had not been dismantled. He dismissed the judges as he thought fit, and had shown that among the bar could be found men as ready to do his will as Scroggs, Saunders, and Jeffreys. Through the offices of the sheriffs, he could command the services of compliant jurymen. The aiDiDointment of magistrates was practically in his hands. Through the goodwill of Louis he was in possession of a permanent revenue so long as he did not call a parliament ; and if Louis failed him, the remodelling of the corporations had given him the means of seating his own creatures on the benches of the House of Commons. Such was the position of this clever but unprincipled sovereign when, on February 6, 1685, at the height of his power, and apparently in the Death of ^^^^ vigour of health, Charles died of apoplexy. He was a the King, j^y^;^^ ^f consummate ability, who concealed under the appear- ance of frivolity a talent for intrigue and a calculating hardness of heart which baffled the ablest statesmen of his day, and surj^rised even those who knew him best. On his deathbed he admitted that he was a 1683 Charles 11. 643 Koman Catholic, and received absolution from a Koman Catholic priest, Huddleston, who had formerly aided him in his escape from Worcester! By his wife, Katharine of Braganza, he had no family ; l)ut he left a large number of natural children by different mothers, most of whom were raised to the peerage. CHIEF DATES. A.D. The Corporation Act, 1661 The Act of Uniformity, 1662 The Conventicle Act, 1664 The Five-Mile Act, . 1665 The Plague, 1665 The Fire of London, . 1666 The First Dutch War, 1665-1667 The Cabal, 1667 The Triple Alliance, 1668 The Treaties of Dover, 1670 The Declaration of Indulgence, 1672 The Second Dutch War, . 1672-1674 The Test Act, . 1673 The Popish Plot, 1678 The Exclusion Bill, 1680 The Oxford Parliament, 1681 The ' Quo Warranto ' Writs, 1682 Executions of Russell and Sidn ey, 1683 CHAPTEE VI JAMES II. : 1685-1689 Born 1633 ; married | '^^^' ^^^^ Hyde (d. 1671). 1 1673, Mary of Modena (d. ] 1718). CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Spain. Holland. Louis XIV., d. 1715. Charles ii., d. 1700. William iii., d. 1702. Character of James — Monmouth's Keloelliou — The Disiiensing Power— Hales' Case — The Ecclesiastical Commission — Attacks upon the Universities— The Declaration of Indulgence— Adverse Feeling in the Country — Birth of James' Son— Trial of the Seven Bishops— Expedition of William of Orange— Flight of James — The Interregnum — The Declaration of Eight. When an event has been long anticipated with apprehension, it frequently happens that its actual accomplishment surprises by its apparent simpli- Quietness of ^^^7- So it was in the accession of James ii., which occurred the accession. ..q quietly and so much as a matter of course, that for a time it seemed that the apprehensions of the exclusionists had been com- pletely groundless. The new king had some excellent qualities, marred not only by con- stitutional defects, but by some curious inconsistencies. Sir John Character of Evelyn describes him as a man of ' infinite industry, James. sedulity, gravity, and great understanding, and of a most sincere and honest nature. He makes a conscience of what he promises, and i^erforms it.' The great Marshal Turenne had formed a high opinion of the talent for war which James had shown as a young man ; and he had seen much service with the fleet. At the Admiralty Office he had been most diligent, and Bishop Burnet seems to express the general opinion when he speaks of a future ' reign of action and business, not of sloth and luxury.' These qualities, however, had all been sho^vn in subordinate offices. As sovereign, James possessed in a full measure the 644 1685 James II. 645 defects which had been so fatal to his fother. He was very narrow- minded, and incapable of seeing both sides of a question, or being affected by argument. From a similar cause, his imagination was deficient, so that he failed to sympathise with the views of others, and in his own opinions he was, like his fiither, extremely obstinate. Though more care- ful of the forms of his religion than the late king, he was little less immoral. These bad qualities marred all the rest, and, in less than four years, James had contrived to array against himself ' not only those classes who had fought against his father, but those who had fought for him.' Immediately after the death of Charles, the council assembled, and James, on taking his brother's place, declared that ' he would make it his endeavour to preserve this government, both in church and state, as it is now by law established,' and that ' as he would never depart from the just rights and prerogatives of the crown, so he would never invade any man's property.' The actual words of the spoken speech are not quite ascertained, but the published version of it gave great satisfec- tion ; and the cry went round, ' We have the word of a king, and a word never yet broken.' The new king gave his chief confidence to his brother-in-law, Lawrence Hyde, earl of Rochester, the second son of the great earl of Clarendon, who became lord-treasurer ; to Halifax, whose speech in the House of Lords had brought about the defeat of the Exclusion Bill; to Lord Godolphin and to Lord Sunderland. It soon appeared, however, that Halifax was to have little power. From being lord privy seal he was promoted to the more dignified but less important post of president of the council, a process described by himself as ' being kicked upstairs.' The seal was then given to Rochester's brother, Clarendon. The brothers Hyde, though they had been stout partisans of James while duke of York, were chiefly distinguished by their devotion to the interests of the church, and their employment was a sort of ^ ,' . ' ^ '' Godolphin. guarantee of its welfare. Lord Godolphm was an adnnr- able financier, and had so nmch reconuuended himself to Charles by liis tact and efficiency as to earn the compliment that ' Sidney Godolphin is never in the way and never out of it.' Sunderland, who ^ . , . J . Sunderland. was now secretary of state, had voted for the Exclusion Bill, ' not by his own inclination for the preservation of the Protestant reli- gion, but by mistaking the ability of the party to carry it.' He was now prepared to wipe out the memory of his error by a thick- and-thm support of the new sovereign. He, Godolphin, and Lawrence Hyde were often spoken of jocularly as the ' Chits.' 646 The Stuarts 1685 James' first act was to order that the customs duties, which had been voted to Charles for life, should be collected as usual, though they could not be renewed till parliament met. There was much to The Customs be said for avoiding a break. An intermission in the Duties. collection would cause great confusion in trade ; and it was so obviously unfair that a merchant, whose goods had by mere accident entered port a day after the king's death, should be able to undersell another who had paid duty the day before ; to say nothing of the loss to the revenue through goods being largely imported during the cessation, that it has now been arranged that the taxes should be voted for a definite period without regard to the demise of the crown. At that time, however, the act was certainly unconstitutional ; but it seems, on the whole, to have been approved by the mercantile world, judging by the ready compliance expressed by the East India and other great trading companies. James had made great professions of patriotism, but he was not proof against an olfer of a sum of =£67,000 from Louis xiv., which Louis placed in the hands of Barillon, the French ambassador, remarking Louis XIV. , , ^ -,,11.,,. . . , . that, 'alter all the high things given out in his name, James is willing to take my money as his brother has done.' Some of this money, however, was arrears due to Charles ; and in reality the amount actually received by James during his whole reign was insignificant. At James' accession, the prison doors were opened to numerous political and religious prisoners. Danby and four Eoman Catholic lords were re- Release of leased from the Tower, and several thousand Eoman Catholics Prisoners. ^.^^^ twelve hundred Quakers were discharged from other prisons. Soon after the accession, also, a terrible retribution was meted Punishment o^^t to Oates and Dangerfield, the leading witnesses in the of Gates. Popish Plot, who were answerable for the lives of many innocent men. Before Charles' death, Gates had been indicted for perjury, and his trial came on shortly after the accession of James. Being convicted on two counts, he was sentenced to pay a fine of £666 on each, to be twice publicly flogged — once from Aldgate to Newgate, and, two days later, from Newgate to Tyburn — to stand every year five times in the pillory, and to be imprisoned for life. The sentence was probably designed to be fatal ; but Gates, ' being an^ original in all things,' survived it, and lived to receive a pension from William in. A little later, Dangerfield, his fellow-perjurer, suffered a similar fate, but had the ill-luck to die, either tlirough the effects of the flogging, or of a wound from a cane thrust into his eye by a law-student named Francis, who was hanged for the offence. About the same time, a much worthier 1685 James 11. 647 man, Eichard Baxter, also suffered from the ill-will of the court. He was prosecuted for libelling the church in a book called a Paraphrase of the New Testament, and tried before Jeffreys. On conviction, he was fined i'333, 6s. 8d., and ordered to be imprisoned till it was paid, which he was unable to do. In May, parliament met. Full use had been made of the king's new power in the boroughs. Particularly was this the case in the west, where the conduct of the elections had been handed over Meeting of ' to the 'prince elector,' Lord Bath, who had freely intro- Parliament, duced officers of the guards into the Cornish municipalities. The result, however, was so satisflictory to James, that he declared 'that there were not above forty members but such as he himself wished for.' In the House of Commons, however, Edward Seymour had the courage to make a vigorous protest against the new charters, but he received no serious support, and a liberal revenue was giiinted without difficulty. Of Charles' gross income of ^1,400,000, about £500,000 was permanent, and £900,000 parliamentary. This was entirely renewed, and besides, a new tax on sugar and tobacco, wines and vinegar, was voted to James for eight years, and on foreign linen for five. , Though James had been allowed to succeed so quietly, the Whig exiles had no intention of giving up their hojoes without a struggle. Immediately on the accession of James, the Prince of ArgyH's Orange had required Monmouth to leave Holland. He Rising- retired to Brussels, and there he, the earl of Argyll, Lord Grey, Fletcher of Salton, Ferguson and Kumbold, devised a scheme for a simultaneous rising in favour of Monmouth in England and Scotland. Monmouth had faint hopes of success, as he well knew the difficulty of leading untrained rebels against drilled troops ; but Argyll was eager ; and, against his better judgment, Monmouth yielded. Argyll sailed first, taking with him Rumbold, and made his way to his own country. The government, however, being warned of his approach, took the precaution of arresting all the leading Campbells, and of barring with troops the outlets from the Highlands. Argyll, therefore, found himself powerless in his own country, where his chief strength lay, and an abortive attempt to raise the western Covenanters only led to the capture of himself and Rumbold. Argyll, who had already been condenmed to death in the last reign, was executed on his old sentence ; Rumbold was tried and convicted, after boldly declaring that ' he did not believe that God had made the greater part of mankind with saddles on their backs and bridles in their mouths, and some few booted and spurred to ride the rest.' Six days after Argyll's capture, Monmouth, with Grey, Fletcher, and 648 The Stuarts 1685 Ferguson, landed at Lyme in Dorsetshire, and issued a cleverly worded manifesto, in which he demanded toleration for all Protestants, annual Monmouth's parliaments, upright judges, elected sheriffs to command Rising. ^Yie militia, the repeal of the Corporation Act, and the restoration of the forfeited charters. He was soon joined by some two thousand followers, and might have had more had his stock of weapons been larger. After wasting some time in drilling his men, Monmouth made his way to Taunton, the centre of the manufacturing district of Somersetshire, where he was popular with the clothiers and with the miners of the Mendip hills. By the lower and middle classes he was received with enthusiasm, but he obtained no support from the gentry or nobility. Unhappily for Monmouth, Fletcher cpiarrelled with and shot Dare of Taunton, one of his most influential supporters, and had to be sent away by sea, while Lord Grey, who commanded the cavalry, showed himself hopelessly incompetent. In spite, however, of these mishaps, Monmouth assumed the title of king, and pressed on towards Bristol in hopes of making his way to his Cheshire friends ; but, his troops being repulsed in a trifling skirmish at Philip's Norton, he retreated to Bridgewater. Thither he was pursued by the royalist troops, commanded by the earl of Feversham, a nephew of Turenne, and by John Churchill, Battle of afterwards duke of Marlborough. As a last resource, Sedgemoor. Monuiouth attempted a night attack on their camp, which had been pitched near the village of Weston Zoyland, among the half- reclaimed flats of Sedgemoor. Had the surprise been effectual, the dark- ness of the night would have neutralised the want of discipline in the rebel army ; but accident or ignorance led to the discovery of the attack- ing party while a broad ditch still separated it from the royalist camp. Though attacked instead of attacking, Monmouth's foot-soldiers fought well, but his cavalry under Grey disgraced themselves by flight ; and when daylight came, Monmouth recognising that all was lost fled from the field. Making for the coast, he contrived to reach the New Forest, but was there ignominiously captured in disguise, and with his fellow-rebel. Lord Grey, was taken to London. There he had been already attainted by parliament ; but he begged desperately for life, throwing the blame on the ' false and horrid ' companions by whom he had been led on, and eventually was put to death, after such an exhibition of pusillanimity as makes it difficult to believe his earlier reputation for courage and conduct. Grey completed his disgrace by turning king's evidence, and procuring the conviction of some of his former friends. 1685 James IT. g49 Meanwhile, the victors of Sedgemoor had been preparing a bloody revenge. Under the direction of Colonel Kirke, a man who had learned his brutality among the Moors of Tangiers, a considerable The Bloody number of the rebels were hanged without even the form ^^size, of trial, and the gaols were crowded with others and with their harbourers and friends. To try them, a commission of five judges, headed by Jeffreys, was sent to the west. At Winchester they stopped to try Alicia Lisle, an aged lady, widow of one of Cromwell's lords, who was accused of harbouring rebels. There was no evidence that she knew what her guests were, but Jeffreys forced a conviction, and she was beheaded, as much in posthumous punishment for the sins of her husband as for her own crime. Another poor woman named Gaunt, con- victed in London of a similar oftence, was burnt alive. From Winchester, Jeffreys and his colleagues passed on to Salisbury, Exeter, Wells, Bristol, and other western towns, and their eftbrts resulted in over three hundred persons being hanged, eight hundred transported to the West Indies, and an indefinite number flogged, fined, and imprisoned. An account of each day's proceedings was carefully drawn iip for the personal perusal of the king. Compared with the wholesale hangings of Henry viii. after the Pilgrimage of Grace, or of Elizabeth after the rebellion of 1569, the vengeance of Jeffreys and Kirke was not specially bloody ; but as it happened at a moment when the age was turning in the direction of a milder code of punishment, public opinion was utterly horrified, and the proceedings of Jeffreys will always be pilloried as ' The Bloody Assize.' As a reward for his exertions, Jefi'reys was made lord-chancellor. The fiiilure of Monmouth's rebellion showed clearly what a change had been made by the introduction of a standing army ; formerly insurgents could bring into the field as good troops as the king, and often better, but now no insurrection had any chance that was not backed by a trained force. As Machiavelli had pointed out, government is never so strong as after it has just put down a rebellion, and James was encouraged to develop his scheme of securing ascendency for the Emancipa- Roman Catholics. From the beginning of the reign, the Roman interests of the Roman Catholics had been specially in Catholics, charge of a group of four persons : Richard Talbot — known as 'lying Dick Talbot '—Henry Jermyn, Edward Petre a Jesuit, and Sunderland ; and they asked James to take advantage of his present strength to carry out his policy. As its objects, James had in view (1) liberty of conscience, by which he understood the abolition of religious tests as a qualification for office ; (2) freedom of worship. 650 The Stuarts 1685 In desiring to secure these, James was actuated not by any love for toleration in the abstract, but by an instinct of self-preservation, which compelled him to l)elieve that so long as his special form of worship was proscribed by law, and his co-religionists were excluded from office, his own throne could never be safe. Were the tests removed, therefore, he designed to support his rule by surrounding himself with a ring of Roman Catholic officials. After an adjournment of some months, parliament re-assembled in November 1685. By this time James had quite decided not only on carrying the points above mentioned, but also on se- Parhament. . i ,. , . . , ' ^ . ^ curing from parliament the repeal of the Habeas Corpus Act, and a sanction for a considerable increase in the standing army. He was not, however, without warning of the reception his proposals would meet with. Halifax had opposed them in the council, and been dismissed in consequence ; the Protestant officials, headed by Rochester himself, had shown distinct scruples at doing anything which might give official sanction even to the king's public attendance at mass ; while, in the last session, the members of the House of Commons had declared that the established church was ' dearer to them than their lives.' Further evidence of the suspicion in which Roman Huguenot Catholicism was held was afforded by the reception given to Refugees. ^j^Qse French Huguenots who took refuge in England when Louis, during this very summer, annulled the Edict of Nantes by which Henry iv. had secured the position of the Protestants of France. This action of Louis was in itself a great mistake, as the Protestants, who for the most part belonged to the middle classes, were the most industrious part of the French nation. 'France,' Evelyn relates, 'was almost dispeopled ; the bankers so broken that the tyrant's revenue was exceedingly diminished ; manufactures ceased ; and everybody there, save the Jesuits, abhorred what was done, nor did the Papists them- selves approve it.' In England the refugees were received with enthusiasm ; subscriptions were raised to provide for the poorer of them ; while the Protestant feeling of the country, and the suspicion with which anything Roman Catholic was regarded, were largely increased. When parliament assembled, James' speech to the members drew, from the ill-conduct of the militia in Monmouth's rebellion, an argument for _. _ increasing the standins; army, and he mentioned favourably the The Roman ^ o J? J Catholic case of Roman Catholic officers to whom, in the emergency, commissions had been granted. Opposition immediately showed itself; led in the Commons by Seymour and old Sir John 1685 James II. 651 Maynard (who had been a manager of the impeachment of Strafford), and in the Lords by Devonshire, Halifax, Nottingham, Mordannt (after- wards earl of Peterborough), and Compton, bishop of London ; and so firm was their attitude that James hurriedly prorogued parliament and fell back on another method of gaining his ends. James' new device was the free use of the Dispensing Power. Durincr the reigns of Charles and James much had been said of the suspending and dispensing power of the sovereign. From time imme- morial the crown had possessed the prerogative of pardon ; penshig" but these claims carried their right two steps further for ^°^^'"- while by the dispensing power it was claimed that the sovereign could in advance permit an individual to infringe the law, by the suspending power it was held that he could suspend the operation of any law he chose in the case of all and sundry. So long as all laws were either to restrain the sovereign power or to secure the punishment of criminals, such claims could hardly be put forward ; but so soon as a part of the nation imposed disabilities and restrictions on the rest based on religious differences, they became of the highest importance. James' first step was to take the opinion of the judges, and, some of these being doubtful, to weed the bench until a unanimous decision in his favour could be obtained ; his second, to arrange that an information for violating the Test Act should be brought against his master by a coachman of Sir Edward Hales' Case. Hales, a Koman Catholic to whom James had given a com- mission as colonel in the army. The case was tried before Chief-Justice Herbert, who indeed had suggested the method. He decided that ' it was part of the king's prerogative to dispense with penal laws in particular cases,' and accordingly the case was decided for the defendant. Fortified with this decision, James freely gave posts to Roman Catholics, and as he was as economical as Charles ii. had been extravagant, he was able to support even an army of 14,000 men without further resource to parlia- ment. In July 1686, Dr. Fell, dean of Christ Church and bishop of Oxford, died, and James divided his posts between Massey, a Koman Catholic fellow of Merton College, and Dr. Parker, who, though not a declared Roman Catholic, w^as a thoroughgoing courtier and chiefly distinguished for his wittiness in his cups. At the same time Obadiah Walker, a con- vert, was permitted by dispensation to retain his post of master of Uni- versity College. These appointments were obviously violations of James' promise to maintain the church as by law established ; but in thinking he could act so with impunity, he was merely taking the church and the universities at their word, for the sinfulness of rebellion had been for years a standing theme of pulpit eloquence, and on the very day of Lord 652 The Stuarts 1686 Eussell's execution the Convocation of Oxford had declared its behef that ' resistance to a king was, under any circumstances, unlawful.' He therefore believed that whether the church and the universities approved or not, he had nothing to fear from them. However, to secure his hold over the church, James set up a new court of ecclesiastical commission. It was designed to be, under another name, the old Court of High Commission, abolished in 1641 : Thp Ecclesi- o / astical Com- but advantage was taken of an Act passed in 1662, by which mission. ^j^^ power of exercising its supremacy was reserved to the crown. The members of the new court were all Protestants, and were the bishops of Chester, Durham, Kochester ; the earls of Rochester and Sunderland ; Chief- Justice Herbert, and, chief of all, Jeffreys, who was always to be present when business was done. To overawe London, James concentrated on Hounslow Heath an army of 13,000 men, and this done, he thought himself secure. He now The Camp at began to put Eomau Catholics into all the chief posts. His Hounslow. brother-in-law, Clarendon, was recalled from Ireland, and the office of the lord-lieutenant bestowed on Eichard Talbot, who was created earl of Tyrconnel. As a lad, Talbot had been present at the storming of Drogheda. His great aim was to secure the independence of Ireland, while James wished to repeat Strafford's policy of making Ireland a basis of operations against England. For the time, however, there was no divergence between their views, and Tyrconnel had full powers to remodel the Irish army and transfer the civil service to Eoman Catholics. At the same time advances were made to Eochester, with a view to making him a convert, and on his refusal he was deprived of his post of lord-treasurer. Sunderland, however, was more compliant, and, in hopes of succeeding Eochester, declared himself ready to accept the creed of his king ; and many others were ready to do the same. In 1686 the Ecclesiastical Commission suspended Compton, bishop of London — who had given offence by his opposition in the Lords — as a punishment for refusing to silence Dr. Sharpie, rector of St. Compton. Giles', Avho had reflected in the pulpit on the honesty of some new converts. James then attacked the universities of Oxford and The Uni- Cambridge. As the law stood, no Eoman Catholic could take versities. ^ degree at either of these universities, or hold office in any college. This law James determined to override by means of the dispens- ing power. Accordingly, a request was sent to the university of Cambridge to admit to the degree of Master of Arts Alban Francis, a Benedictine monk, who was working as a Eoman Catholic missionary in the neighbour- hood. Dr. Peachell, the vice-chancellor, and master of Magdalene 1686 James II. 553 College, acting with the informal concurrence of the Senate, declined to admit Francis until he had taken the usual oaths ; upon which he was deprived of the vice-chancellorship and suspended from his mastership. Victory, however, rested with the university, for though a new vice- chancellor was elected, Francis never received his degree. Oxford's turn came next. James was exceedingly desirous on many grounds of seeing Roman Catholics freely admitted to the universities, as they have been since 1870 ; but his method of proceeding was perhaps more reprehen- sible at Oxford than it had been at Cambridge. On the death of the president of Magdalen College, one of the richest foundations in the university, James sent a letter to the fellows ordering them to elect Antony Farmer, a Roman Catholic, distinguished neither for learning nor conduct, and, according to the statutes of the college, ineligible for the post. The fellows, therefore, proceeded to elect John Hough, one of their own number, in every way a suitable candidate, and ' a worthy, firm man, not apt to be threatened out of his rights.' The case was then referred to the Court of Ecclesiastical Commission, which advised James to drop Farmer, but declared Hough's election illegal. Accordingly James put forward Parker, bishop of Oxford, who was indeed caj)able of election had the post been vacant, though he was shrewdly suspected of being a Roman Catholic in disguise. The fellows, however, persisted that Hough's election was legal, and that no vacancy existed. Resistance appearing from such an unexpected quarter, increased, doubtless, by a suspicion that a mistake had been made, drove James to fury. In person he went down to Oxford and administered to the contumacious fellows a scolding which did nothing to raise the respect of the university for the dignity of his office. The election of Hough was then annulled by the Ecclesiastical Commission, and Parker's rej^resentative was installed in the president's lodgings. Hough himself, with twenty-five of the fellows and fourteen demies, was expelled from the college and declared incapable of holding ecclesiastical appointments. In the course of the troubles Parker died, and in his place James nominated a Roman Catholic bishop, Bonaventura Gifiard, and the places of the expelled fellows and demies were filled with Roman Catholics and courtiers. The result of his quarrel with Magdalen College was to array against James the whole force of university feeling, which existed not only in Oxford and Cam- bridge, but in every parsonage in the country, where the inmate, who cared little about the appointment of Roman Catholic guardsmen, was perfectly alive to the meaning of the least incident which affected an ancient and loyal college. For some time James, relying on the ' non-resistance ' professions of the 654 The Stuarts 1687 Church of England, had hoped to affect his ends by an alliance between the church and the Eoman Catholics. He was, however, convinced of the futility of this expectation, and fell back on the policy James and o^/-^^^•• the Non- of the Cabal ministry, who had hoped to secure tolera- ' tion by an alliance between the Catholic and Protestant Nonconformists. Accordingly, he affected great kindness for the Non- conformists. He released Baxter and others who were suffering under The First the penal laws, and in April 1687 issued a Declaration of ofYndifiV°" Indulgence, ' suspending the execution of all penal laws for gence. religious offences, and forbidding the imposition of religious oaths or tests as qualifications for office,' The princij)les of toleration thus announced were excellent in themselves, and have gradually been adopted by the legislature ; but at this date they were subject to two serious objections — first, the form of the Declaration was such that if accepted as a precedent, no law could be regarded as safe from being at any moment suspended by the royal prerogative ; and secondly, toleration itself was not in accord with the then sentiments of the English people. These two facts were fatal to the success of James' measure. The Church of England looked on in amazement, while even among the Protestant Nonconformists who benefited by the Declaration, Baxter refused to render any acknowledgment, while others, in giving James thanks, laid stress on their hopes that the new policy would soon receive the consent of both Houses of parliament. A few received the grace with acclamation, and set about repairing their meeting-houses, to fit them for places of public worship. Among these is to be reckoned William Penn, the 'courtly Quaker,' son of Admiral Penn, who had allowed himself to be completely won over by James' professions of tolerance, and was now giving him a hearty support. The very lukewarm reception which the Declaration had met with might have warned James of the folly of the cau-se on Avhich he was bent ; Confidence hut he persisted in his belief that though the church might of James. grumble it would never resist, took Penn's voice as that of the whole Nonconformist community, and even rejected with scorn the remonstrances of the more moderate section of the English Roman Catholics, who were perfectly alive to the risks both to hiin and them- selves which were being run by their infatuated champion. So sure, indeed, did he feel of success that he introduced the Jesuit Petre and four Eoman Catholic peers into the privy council, made Lord Arundel of Wardour privy seal, gave seats on the treasury board to two other Roman Catholics, and made Sir Edward Hales constable of the Tower of London. These acts were taken by the nation to mean that when 1687 James II. 555 James talked of toleration he really implied Eoman Catholic ascend- ency, and that he meant to give to the Roman Catholics, who probably numbered one in thirty of the population, an altogether disiDroportionate share of political power. It was also believed that all James' acts were merely designed to pave the way for a reconciliation of England with Rome, and the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism as the state church, and this view received confirmation when James' Chapel in Whitehall was thrown open for the public celebration of Roman Catholic rites, when members of Roman Catholic orders appeared openly in uniform, and especially when, on July 3, 1687, a nuncio from the pope was ceremoniously received at court. Parliament had not sat for business since December 1685. On July 2, 1687, it was dissolved ; and James then set himself to secure the election of a parliament which should give legal recognition to the Declaration of Indulgence. With this end he formed a board of ' regulators,' designed to carry out a further remodelling of the corpora- tions, and requested the lords-lieutenant to furnish him with a list of Roman Catholics and Nonconformists suitable to sit in parliament. He also directed the lords-lieutenant to call together the magistrates and principal freeholders of their resjjective counties, and to inquire from them (1) whether, if elected members of parliament, they would vote for a repeal of the tests ; (2) whether they would vote for candidates who would ; and (3) whether they would themselves live peaceably with men of all denominations. The lords-lieutenant were Tories to a man, and many of them were old cavaliers, with scars from Edgehill and Naseby, but the requests met with a general refusal. The earl of Northampton told the men of Warwickshire that it was his duty to put the questions, but that for himself he agreed with none of them ; and most of the answers followed a cleverly devised form of words believed to have been drawn up by Halifax, which committed to nothing. Even James was convinced that it was hopeless to get a parliament favourable to the Declaration, and he wreaked his vengeance on the recalcitrant nobles and gentlemen by depriving them of their posts. Among others, the duke of Somerset was dismissed from the post of first lord of the bed- chamber for refusing to present the papal nuncio ; the earl of Devonshire resigned to avoid expulsion, and the places of all were handed over either to courtiers or to Roman Catholics. Towns which seemed likely to be refractory had their corporations remodelled. James had now managed to ofi'end the old adherents of his father —the nobility, the country gentry, the universities and the church- but it was yet doubtful what line would ultimately be taken by the 656 The Stuarts 1687 Nonconformists. Their treatment by the church since the Restoration had been most exasperating, and it could hardly have been wondered at if at this crisis they had made common cause with the king. The attitude ^ i , n i i , -r,- i • . i ,. of the Non- Two causes held them back. Jbirst, having separated irom con ormists, ^|^^ church because its government and rites were held to be too nearly akin to those of Rome, they could hardly look with favour upon a policy which seemed likely, in the long run, to place the Roman Church in the position held by the Church of England, and of which the appointment of four Roman Catholic bishops for England appeared to be a foretaste. Second, they judged the temper of the nation much better than James was doing ; they saw that the mass of the nation was attached to the church, and that the king's jDolicy was certain to be reversed by a free parliament. They also believed that James' pro- ceedings, however favourable to themselves at the moment, were only part of a general plan to destroy the liberties of the country. The majority, therefore, determined to ally themselves with the church, and to trust to the gratitude of parliament for reward. Accordingly, James' attempt to win them over to his side was a failure. Hitherto the country had borne James' proceedings with tolerable patience, because it was expected that in the course of nature he would An Heir ^^^^ ^^ Succeeded by Mary and William ; and in 1687 expected. William sent over Dyckveldt to England with orders to bring together the prince's friends, and induce them to act in concert and with the prince. Dyckveldt played his part with address and tact, and soon Halifax, Shrewsbury, Danby, Nottingham, Russell's old colleague, Cavendish, now earl of Devonshire, and the bishop of London, were in close alliance with the prince and princess. Now, however, an event happened which threatened to frustrate all their hopes. Hitherto Mary of Modena had never borne a living child, but in December 1687 it was formally announced that she was expecting to become a mother. If the child were a girl, no difference would be made ; but if it were a boy, and lived, James would be succeeded, not by the Protestant Mary, but by a Roman Catholic prince, and all hope of reversing his policy, except by a revolution, would be at an end. Naturally the Protestants were dismayed, while the Roman Catholics showed every symptom of hope, and rapturously anticipated the birth of a son and heir. It was in these circumstances that James was reckless enough to put Second the endurance of the church to further test. In April 1688 ofTndul-*°" ^^® issued a second Declaration of Indulgence, and ordered it gence. to be read by the clergy at divine service on two succes- sive Sundays. It is true that similar royal notices had already been 1688 James II. 557 published by the clergy — for example, Charles' manifesto against the Whigs in 1681, and his declaration respecting the Rye House Plot in 1683, but the declaration was regarded by the clergy as being in itself illegal. Accordingly, a distinction was drawn between passive and active diso- bedience, and they, headed by Archbishop Bancroft and six bishops, drew up a respectful and temperate remonstrance, in which they plainly declared that ' this declaration was founded on such a dispensing power as hath been often declared illegal in parliament, and particularly in the years 1662 and 1672, and in the beginning of your majesty's reign,' so that they could not in ' prudence, honour, or conscience, so far make themselves parties to it, as the distribution of it all over the nation, and the solemn publication of it once and again, even in God's house, must amount to in common and reasonable construction,' and therefore they requested to be excused. This petition was signed by Bancroft of Canterbury, Lloyd of St. Asaph, Turner of Ely, Lake of Chichester, Ken of Bath xhe Bishops' and Wells, White of Peterborough, and Trelawney of Bristol. Petition. The petition was conveyed to the j)alace by the six bishojDs, Bancroft staying behind, as he was not in favour at court, and, after being shown to but not read by Sunderland, was presented to James in person. He was very angry. ' Here are strange words,' said he. ' This is a standard of rebellion. This is a sounding of Sheba's trumpet, and all the seditious preaching of the Puritans in the year '40 were not of so ill consequence as this.' Within a few hours the petition had been printed. Six other bishops signified their approval, and James' rash words about ' a standard of rebellion,' brought about their own fulfilment. Next day the declara- tion should have been read in London, and a fortnight later in the provinces ; but few clergymen ventured to read it, and where they did, the congregations, as a rule, marched out of church. James became perfectly furious, and decided on prosecuting the bishops for the publica- tion of a seditious libel. On June 8 they appeared before the council and acknowledged the petition as their own, and having refused to give security for their appearance in a court of law, there was no alternative but to arrest them and send them to the Tower. The result was to make their journey thither an opportunity for a great demonstration. Crowds knelt to receive the blessing of the bishops, even the soldiers on guard at the Tower asked it as they passed. Every vessel on the river cheered their barge, and the contrast between the popularity of the bishops now and the unpopularity of their predecessors in 1640 could hardly have been more marked. Even the persecuted Nonconformists joined in the enthusiasm for the Episcopal martyrs, and a deputation of ten of their ministers waited on the bishops in the Tower. 2 T 658 The Stuarts 1688 Two days after this memorable scene, the queen bore James a son. That the birth was genuine is not now contested, but for months rumours Birth of ^^^ been in circulation that the whole affair was a carefully an Heir. concocted sliam, and James, even with the knowledge of this, was so infatuated that he neglected the most obvious precautions to secure that the genuineness of his son and heir was placed beyond a doubt. At the birth itself, the chief persons present were Roman Catholics and courtiers, on whom no one relied ; neither the Princess Anne nor any of the Clarendon family were there, and it was easy to suggest that their absence was due to design. Accordingly, when the rumour went round that the baby was not the queen's child at all but had been introduced into the palace in a warming-pan, it found ready credence among all classes ; and the event to which the court had looked forward as the completion of the Roman Catholic triumph was taken to be the cuhninating iniquity in a long roll of treasons against the liberties and religion of the nation. The astute Sunderland, who saw clearly the probable result of James' conduct, wished him to take advantage of the birth of the prince to The Bishops' declare a general amnesty, which would have provided an Trial. escape from the unpopular course of prosecuting the bishops. The nuncio, too, was well aware of the king's error, and even Jeffreys would have drawn back, but James persisted that ' indulgence had ruined his father,' and declared that the trial should go on. Accordingly, three weeks later, the seven bishops appeared before the Court of King's Bench in Westminster Hall. The judges were Wright, AUibone (a Roman Catho- lic), HoUoway, and Powell. The jurymen were a carefully chosen body of citizens, and among them sat the court brewer, on whose interested obstinacy the crown relied, at any rate, for a disagreement of the jury. In opening the case, attorney-general Powis said that ' the bishops were accused of censuring the government, and giving their opinion about affairs of state ' ; and ' no man,' said he, ' may say of the great officers of the kingdom that they act unreasonably, for that may beget a desire of reformation, and the last age will abundantly show whither such a desire doth tend.' Against such an astonishing doctrine the counsel for the bishops — among whom, a young lawyer, John Somers, was distinguished — took their stand on the illegality of the king's dispensing power, and the lawful right of subjects to petition. In doing so, they received the support of Powell, who, to his honour, declared that 'if such a dispensing power were allowed, they would need no parliament ; all the legislature will be in the king.' The jury retired at seven in the evening, and were locked up all night. The brewer was obstinate ; but the arguments of a stout 1688 James II. 559 juryman, who declared that ' he would starve till he was as thin as a tobacco-pijDe before he would find such a petition a libel/ finally carried the day ; and when the court reassembled at nine o'clock on the 30th of June, a verdict of ' not guilty ' was returned, amidst shouts of applause which were taken up far and wide, till the whole city was in an uproar of enthusiasm. In the evening the sky was bright with bonfires, fireworks, and illuminations, and the pope was burned in effigy before the windows of Whitehall. Still the king would have been comparatively safe had he had the army with him ; but his folly in bringing it so near London had lost him its support. He had brought his men to Hounslow to overawe the Londoners, but the citizens had won over the army. The camp had been made a pic-nic ground, and the men were filled with popular sentiments. The morning of the verdict had been devoted by James to his favourite amusement of reviewing his troops, and while resting in Lord Feversham's tent the sounds of a mighty shouting came to his ears. ' What is that 1 ' said he. ' Nothing,' replied Feversham ; ' except that the soldiers are glad that the bishops are acquitted.' ' Do you call that " nothing ! " ' said James ; ' but so much the worse for them.' He then rode gloomily away. Still, after the experience of Monmouth's failure, the popular leaders felt that they could do nothing unless they could secure a regular army which would keep James' men in check till a free ijarlia- . ^ . Appeal to ment could declare the will of the nation ; so that very William of night Admiral Herbert left London, disguised as a common sailor, carrying Avith him a letter to William of Orange asking him to come over with an army strong enough to secure the safety of his adherents, and to declare for a free parliament. The chief agents in this conspiracy were Henry Sidney, brother of Algernon, Admiral Russell, cousin of William Lord Russell, Danby, Shrewsbury, Lumley (who had effected the capture of Monmouth), and Compton, bishop of London; and they had the tacit support of Halifax, the connivance of Nottingham, and the promised assistance of Churchill, Kirke, and Trelawney, the most influential officers in the army. Russell, Sidney, and Devonshire were Whigs, but Danby, Lumley, and Compton were Tories; and among them they were prepared to answer for a general movement in William's favour, if only his plans could be kept secret till the moment for action arrived. William was now thirty-eight years of age. The anticipation of acquiring a dominant authority in England presented an alluring pro- spect to a man of his ambition, especially since, through the position of good offices of Burnet, her chaplain, Mary had lately WiUiam. signified her intention of placing in the hands of her husband all the 660 The Stuarts 1688 authority she might come to exercise as queen of England ; and it was clear that if he did not act at once the birth of the prince would for ever shut out from hun all hopes of enjoying it. At the same time, it was by no means easy for him to respond to the invitation. He had three things to fear : (1) that Louis xiv. would do all he could, not only to warn and help James, but also to stir up William's enemies in Holland to prevent his sailing ; (2) that, if he went to England, it would be thought that he had gone to head a religious war, which would alienate those Catholics who were his allies against France ; (3) that if he went over and won a battle with his Dutch troops over the English, he would rouse the patriotism of the English, and so incline them to support James. Louis did indeed warn James, and offered a contingent of troops, which by Sunderland's advice were declined ; but he played into William's hands in alienating the Dutch burgher party by prohibiting the use in France of all linen or woollen goods of Dutch manufacture, and even of Dutch herrings unless cured with French salt. At the same time, Louis quarrelled with the pope about the right, claimed by his ambassador at Kome, to offer sanctuary to criminals, so that the Catholic powers were divided among themselves ; and finally, though he had declared that any movement against England should be made a casus belli, he foolishly directed his arms against the Ehine provinces, and so left William's hands free. Such luck, however, was hardly to be expected ; and still less was it to be hoped for that James, whose experience at Hounslow ought to have shoAvn him sufficiently the feelings of his soldiers, should proceed to still further exasperate his English regiments by a wholesale introduction of Irishmen. He began with the regiment of the duke of Berwick, his illegitimate son by Arabella Churchill, Lord Churchill's sister. Here he might hope for success ; but lieutenant-colonel Beaumont and five officers refused to serve with the new-comers, and, though they were imme- diately cashiered, others followed their example. Before long, the ' murders and insults ' committed by the Irish soldiery had comj)letely alienated any feeling of sympathy with the royal troops which might have lingered in the breast of the English nation. Thus relieved from his chief difficulties by the folly of his principal oiDponents, William made his arrangements, and issued a declaration, edited by Burnet, in which he enumerated James' bad acts, and declared that, as the husband of Mary, he was coming with an army to secure a free and legal parliament, by whose decision he would abide. In September James received positive information from Louis that 1688 James II. G61 William's preparations were for an invasion of Eni^land, accompanied by an offer of troops, which being refused, were immediately diverted to the Ehine. However, though James declined Louis' assis- james tries tance, wisely thinking that the arrival of a French refnment conciliation, would give the signal for instant revolution, he was at length alive to the extent of his danger, and attempted to avert it by a series of hasty concessions. He consulted the bishops whom he had lately prosecuted ; he ordered the dismissed lords-lieutenant and magistrates to be im- mediately restored ; announced that for defence against invasion he rehed solely on the loyalty of his subjects ; removed the suspension of the bishop of London ; restored the ancient charters of London and other cities and boroughs ; dissolved the Ecclesiastical Commission ; restored Dr. Hough and the expelled fellows of Magdalen ; made an attempt to give satisfactory evidence of the genuineness of the new-born prince ; and jjublished a general pardon, from which were excepted only a few persons who were serving with the Prince of Orange. William, however, had gone too far to retreat. The great lords who had sent the invitation were ready to raise an insurrection in the north. Lord Churchill — whose wife was the bosom friend of the Preparations Princess Anne — carrying out a declaration made in 1685, to aid that ' if ever the king was prevailed on to alter our religion he would serve him no longer, but withdraw from him,' had planned a secession in the army, and the flight of Anne to the rebels. Men who had gone so fiir knew that safety could only be purchased by success, and they urged William to persevere. Accordingly, on October 16th, the prince set sail, but his fleet had not reached the English shore when the wind veered, and a terrible storm scattered the ships along the Dutch coast. However, by dint of a fortnight's hard work, the expedition was again ready to sail. During the interval, feeling in England had been curiously confused. The bishops prepared a form of prayer against invasions. Evelyn recorded his fears that the king would not have the vigour to repel the invaders ' either by land or sea.' Others were praying for an east wind, which would keep the English fleet in the Thames. James did what he could to strengthen the army and navy, and conciliated opinion by the dismissal of Sunderland and Petre. It had been William's intention to land in Yorkshire, where he was expected by Danby, and whence he was informed that the ' roads were good to within fifty miles of London'; but an east wind William's detaining the English fleet in the Thames, he altered his landing, mind, passed the Straits of Dover, and, on November 5, landed in Torbay. Thence William marched to Exeter, where Burnet preached before him 662 The Stuarts 1688 in the cathedral, and where Ferguson, having thrust his way into the meeting-house of the Nonconformists, addressed his friends on the text, ' Who will rise up for me against the evildoers ? ' The west had been cowed by the Bloody Assize. At Exeter William was joined by Sir Edward Seymour and Admiral Eussell ; but he waited over a fortnight without being joined by any nobleman of greater distinction than Lord Wharton. For a moment everything turned on the ability of Churchill to carry out his scheme of desertion. That ofl&cer contrived to arrange the army so that every facility was given to those regiments on whose disaffection to James he could rely ; but though Lord Cornbury, eldest son of Lord Clarendon, endeavoured to lead over his men, they refused to follow him, and he had to escape almost alone. The incident, however, was fatal to the morale of James' troops. No man dare trust another, and each was hopeful that when the critical moment arrived he might not be the last to range himself on the side of victory. Report even exaggerated the desertion, and Lords Danby and Lumley in Yorkshire, Lord Dela- mere in Cheshire, and the earl of Devonshire in Derbyshire immediately Rising in raised the standard of rebellion. At first James had pro- Yorkshire. pQge(j iq fight a battle in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, and had joined his troops with that object ; but disaffection met him at every turn. Churchill deserted to the enemy after being prevented, by mere accident, from handing over James as a prisoner. Prince George of Denmark, accompanied by the duke of Ormond, also joined the prince ; and, not knowing wdiom he could trust, James withdrew his army across the Thames and returned to London. There he learned that Anne had followed the example of her husband, and had fled, escorted by bishop Compton, to the canij) of the northern insurgents. 'God help me,' cried James, ' my very children have forsaken me.' Meanwhile William was steadily advancing, almost unresisted. Danby had raised York with cries of 'A free parliament, the Pro- testant religion, and no popery.' Newcastle, Hull, Bristol, I a 1 11 Co first Plymouth, Derby, and Nottingham were also in the hands of William's friends ; and a general cry for a free parliament had been raised, not only by the rebels, but by many of James' best friends. Accordingly James yielded, and after making arrangements for the escape of the queen and her child to France, he sent Halifax, Nottingham, and Godolphin to treat with the Prince of Orange, and ordered WTits to be issued for the election of a new parliament. Suddenly, however, he altered his mind ; burnt the writs with his own hand, and crossed the river to Vauxhall, taking with him Sir Edward Hales, and, with a childish idea of leaving everything in as much 1688 James II. 663 confusion as possible, threw the great seal into the water. From Vauxhall, disguised as a country gentleman, he made his way to a ship and dropped down the river, but near the isle of Sheppey was arrested by some fishermen, who, according to some accounts, took him for a smuggler ; to others, as a runaway priest. By them he was taken to Faversham, where, his disguise being penetrated, he was escorted to Rochester, and thence, December 12, returned to Whitehall, where and on the road he was received with considerable enthusiasm. On the news of the king's flight London was thrown for some hours into a state of simple anarchy, aggi-avated by a rumour that a Protestant massacre had already been begun by the Irish soldiers. London Roman Catholic chapels were gutted and burnt ; ambassa- Riots, dors' houses pillaged ; and Roman Catholics and courtiers were in peril of their lives. Among others, none were sought for with greater energy than Petre and Jeffreys. The former had made good his escape, but Jeffreys was seized at Wapping, in the disguise of a common sailor, and with difficulty carried alive to the Tower, where he was lodged with Obadiah Walker and other unpopular characters. At length the exertions of the nobility and of the mayor and corporation restored some kind of order, and William was earnestly invited to come up to town. The reappearance of the king added a new element of difficulty to the situation ; but William insisted on his again quitting Whitehall, and James, escorted by some of his own guards, but carefully ■ , ,. . James' guarded by Dutch soldiers, was again taken to Rochester. second ; There he spent four days in uncertainty ; but at length, '^ having made up his mind that William meant to be king, and every facility being offered him, he again made his escape. Behind him he left a paper in which he stated that he acted in fear of his life, and that he would be ready to return as soon as the nation had recovered from its delusion. This time he was uninterrupted ; and leaving England on December 23 he joined his wife and child in France, where a courteous and honourable reception was accorded them by Louis xiv., and a pension of ^40,000 allotted by him for their support. On December 19 William came to London, and took up his quarters in St. James' Palace. Some of his advisers wished him to assume the title of king, but as this would have been contrary to his The Con- declaration, he contented himself with calling together a meeting of the spiritual and temporal peers, of all those who had sat in any of the parliaments of Charles ii., and of the lord mayor, the alder- men, and fifty citizens of London, and asking their advice. They recommended a Convention (see page 611), which was accordingly 664 The Stuarts 1688 summoned for January 22. When it met, the House of Commons passed two resohitions : (1) That James ii., having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by breaking the original compact between king and people, and having by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had abdicated the government, and that the crown was thereby vacant ; and (2) that experience has sho^vn it to be inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to be governed by a popish prince. The reference to experience in the second resolution marks exactly the difference between the strength of the Whig position in 1688 and its weakness in 1681. Of these resolutions, the latter was unani- mously adopted by the peers ; about the first there was more debate, occa- sioned by the dubious sense of the words ' original compact,' and by the question whether the throne could really be ' vacant.' ITltimately two parties appeared, one of which would immediately have offered the crown to William, the other would have retained the nominal sovereignty of James under a regency. The former was headed by Shrewsbury, Danby, and Halifax, and had a majority in the Commons ; the latter, led by Nottingham, Clarendon, Rochester, and Bancroft, commanded a majority among the peers. As a compromise, it was suggested to make Mary queen ; but this plan was unacceptable to William, who gave it to be plainly understood that he had not come to England ' to be his wife's gentleman usher.' After further debate, therefore, it was arranged that William and Mary should be asked to rule jointly, the actual work of government being, with Mary's full consent, reserved to her husband. That settled, the question arose whether an attempt should not be made to lay down the fundamental principles on which the English constitution w^as based, in order to create something of a ' compact.' To this many objections were urged, but eventually it was decided to embody in the offer of the crown a statement of James' unconstitutional actions, and of the rights of Englishmen under the constitution. This was the origin of the memorable Declaration of Right. This was The Declaration accepted by William and Mary, who were declared king ^^ ■ and queen on February 18, 1689 ; and thus the great crisis in our history, known as the Revolution, w^as brought to a successful conclusion. The Declaration of Right, which afterwards was turned into an act of parliament under the title of the Bill of Rights, is one of the most important documents in Enoiish history. It brought to a close the great struggle between the king and the parliament, which had lasted 1688 James II. 665 nearly one hundred years, by defining the law on a number of disputed points, all of which had, during this period, been matters of protest on the side of the parliament. After taking, one by one, the chief un- constitutional acts of James ir., it proceeded to make the folio wino- declarations : — 1. The pretended power of suspending or dispensing with the laws, as assumed of late, is illegal. 2. The late Court of Ecclesiastical Commission, and all other such courts, are illegal. 3. Levying money by pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, is illegal. 4. Keeping a standing army in time of peace, unless with consent of parliament, is illegal. 5. Subjects have a right to petition the king. 6. The election of members of parliament ought to be free. 7. Freedom of speech and debate in parliament ought not to be questioned in any court or place out of parliament. 8. Excessive fines must not be imposed ; and jurors, in cases for high treason, must be freeholders. 9. For redress of all grievances, and for the strengthening of the laws, parliament ought to be held frequently. 10, William and Mary were declared king and queen of England, and all who are papists, or who shall marry a papist, are declared incapable of possessing the crown. After the deaths of both William and Mary, the crown was to go to their children, if they had any ; if not, to the Princess Anne and her children ; and in case of their failure, to the children of William by any other wife. The effect of the Kevolution was threefold. In the first place, it destroyed the Stuart theory of the divine right of kings, enunciated in its crudest form by Filmer in his de Patriarchd, by setting up a king and queen who owed their position to the choice of parliament. In the second, it gave an opportunity for reasserting the principles of the English constitution which it had been the aim of the Stuarts to set aside. In the third, it began what may be called the reign of parliament. Up to the Revolution there is no doubt that the guiding force in directing the policy of the nation had been the will of the king. Since the Revolu- tion the guiding force has been the will of the parliament. CHAPTER VII WILLIAM AND MARY: 1689-1702 William, born 1650 ; married 1677. Mary, born 1662 ; died 1694. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. France. Emperor. Spain. Louis XIV., d. 1715. Leopold i., d. 1705. Charles ii., d. 1700. The Revolution in Scotland and Ireland — War with France— Rise of Party Government — Financial Measures — Treaty of Ryswick— The Partition Treaties — The Grand Alliance. In character, the new sovereigns were the complement of each other. William, though beloved by his intimate friends, and admired far and wide for his abilities as a statesman and a soldier, was not likely to character make a popular sovereign. Society he hated ; talking, and all °^^^^^^^^- indoor games he abhorred ; and he found his chief recreation in the solitary sports of the chase, where, in spite of his frail constitution and asthmatic lungs, he always contrived to excel. Dauntless courage and resolute will made themselves visible in the fiery eyes, which shone out in striking contrast to his cadaverous face ; but his thin figure and rickety frame had nothino; about them to attract the admiration of the multitude. Nor were his habits more popular than his appearance. Brought up, as he had been, among those who were ready to put the most sinister interpretation upon his every word, a cold reserve had become part of his nature ; but among his intimate friends, or when, in the excitement of battle, the mask was removed, he could be genial and witty enough. Even to his wife he maintained the same reserve of manner ; and his paroxysm of agony when he was borne fainting from her deathbed was a surprise to ahnost all. In religion he cared Httle for outward forms, and showed to the full the Dutch genius for toleration ; in theology his views were Calvinistic. In foreign policy he was chiefly animated by hostility to Louis XIV., whose ambition he rightly regarded as dangerous to both civil and religious liberty, to the welfare of England and Holland, and to C07 668 The Stuarts 1689 the balance of power. At home he detested party struggles, was simply- desirous of finding expedients for securing a stable and consistent policy, and for bringing the force of a united England to bear upon foreign affairs. Being, therefore, neither a genial king, a good Englishman, a good churchman, a stout Whig or a hearty Tory, he failed to secure the popularity that would have been readily given to many an inferior man. Mary, on the other hand, with not a tithe of William's ability, was as genial and affable in society as her husband was the reverse, and her Character simple piety, purity of life, and munificent charities, gained of Mary. ^^^, Yier a love and admiration to which he could make no pretence. Like William, however, she hated idleness, and the court of the Eevolution, under the guidance of a queen ' who made the ladies about her ashamed to be idle,' soon presented a marked contrast to the Whitehall of Charles and James. In person she was 'majestic,' her expression noble, her courage serene ; and if her intelligence was not of the highest order, she showed herself in no way wanting in capacity when, in the absence of her husband, she was called on at several important crises to act alone. In the early years that followed 1688, the new sovereigns, as a pair, were probably stronger than either would have been without the other ; and the popularity of Mary, as the direct representative of the house of Stuart, w^as a matter of the first political importance. Though the ultimate result of the Eevolution was to place the real choice of ministers in the hands of parliament, neither William nor Choice of his subjects doubted that the duty of choosing the minis- Ministers. ^^^.g rested solely with him. With neither Whigs nor Tories was William in complete sympathy. While his views on foreign affairs inclined him to the Whigs, who agreed with him that it was better to fight Louis abroad than to give him peace to arrange an invasion of England, his wish for a strong executive inclined him to the Tories, whose principles were favourable to prerogative. Moreover, he was well aware that he owed his place to a temporary alliance between the Whigs and the Tories, so that he could not afford to alienate either ; and his common sense showed him that no ministry would be eftective which did not command the goodwill and respect of the House of Commons. Accordingly he tried to conciliate all parties. He chose his first ministry from the leaders of both political camps ; and by putting the treasury, the admiralty, and the chancery into commission, he endeavoured to satisfy as many as possible of the greedy claimants for office by whom he was surrounded. William himself acted as secretary for foreign affairs and as commander-in-chief ; Danby became 1689 William and Mary 669 president of the council ; Halifax, privy seal ; Daniel Finch earl of Nottingham, the stoutest of high churchmen, was one secretary of state the Whig Shrewsbury was the other, Godolphin and Charles Mordaunt, afterwards earl of Peterborough, were the leading members of the treasury board ; Herbert and Russell, of the admiralty. The great seal was handed to commissioners, of whom the most notable was the veteran Sir John Maynard. Besides these ministers, William placed his reliance on the advice of two men in whom he had especial confidence. These were William Bentinck, created earl of Portland, a Dutch nobleman who had risked his own life to nurse the prince through the small-pox, and Henry Sidney, the brother of Algernon Sidney, who was created first Lord Sidney and then earl of Romney. The obsequious judges of James ii. were dismissed, and new and better men appointed in their room. In February 1689 the convention was, without re-election, declared to be a parliament, and all its acts were declared to be good at law ; and in April William and Mary were crowned king and queen. To secure the means of nipping conspiracy in the bud, the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended ; and the necessity for distinguishing the friends and foes of the new sovereigns caused parliament to The Non- devise measures for weeding out all persons disaftected to the J"*"°^^- government. With this view, a new oath of allegiance and supremacy was imposed on all members of parliament, on all officers in the army and navy, and on all place-holders both in church and state — such as beneficed clergy, judges, and magistrates — under pain first of suspension and then of deprivation. Of the policy of enforcing the oath on the laity there were no two opinions ; the case of the clergy was more open to exception ; and William himself, while enforcing the oath on the bishops, would have preferred to excuse the beneficed clergy. Parlia- ment, however, was inexorable. Some members of the House of Lords, two Commoners, and a few of the laity, refused to swear ; but about four hundred clergy and university men — among whom the chief were Sancroft, Ken of Bath and Wells, and six other bishops, Dodwell, Camden professor at Oxford— declined to take the oath, and were deprived of their places. Holding together in hopes of better days, they formed the sect of the Nonjurors ; and the bishops having consecrated successors, and fresh clergy being ordained from tmie to time, the body did not become wholly extinct till the year 1805. From government they met with no persecution, William remarkmg of one of them, 'that Dodwell wants me to put him in prison, but I will disappoint him.' In the room of the Nonjurors Tillotson was made archbishop of Canterbury, Stillingfleet bishop of Worcester, Hough l)ishop 670 The Stuarts 1689 of Oxford, and Burnet bishop of Salisbury. On the whole, these men were superior in ability to their predecessors, and Burnet set an example of what a bishop could be to his clergy, which, if more widely imitated, might have had a great influence on the future of the church. The next business of parliament was to settle the revenue. The income of James ii. was found to have fallen little short of X'2,000,000 a The year. This was thought too much to settle once for Revenue, .^jj ^^ .^^^ sovereign, and accordingly the king's ordinary revenue was fixed at ^1,200,000, of which about £700,000, under the name of the civil list, was given to the king for the suj)port of the crown, and the rest was voted from time to time according to estimates prepared by the ministers. Special grants were also made for sj)ecial purposes. The sum of £700,000 was voted for the improvement of the navy ; £600,000 was handed over to the Dutch for the expenses of William's expedition ; and as soon as war broke out with France provision was also made for it. As a j)opular measure, the hated hearth-tax was abolished, and the additional sums required were provided chiefly by adding to the excise on wine and beer. These arrangements inaugurated the modern system of finance. Further steps were taken when William announced that for the future the national accounts would be laid before parliament whenever they were asked for ; and when, in 1697, an appropriation clause was passed, by which all the supplies of the session were definitely apportioned to the services for which they had been allotted. These changes supplied the machinery for enforcing the ninth section of the Bill of Eights ; and Burnet points out that it now began to be a maxim that 'a revenue fixed for a short and certain term was the best security the nation could have for frequent parliaments.' A similar principle was ai)plied in the arrangements for a standing army. Since the Restoration, the standing army had been looked upon with great dislike by the Whigs, and it was hardly more popular with The Mutiny the Tories ; but the necessities of the time clearly showed ^^*' that England could no longer afi"ord to be without one. A device, however, was found by which, while the advantages of a standing army were secured, its danger to liberty was decreased. For the securing of discipline and the prevention of desertion, a Mutiny Act was enacted, by which military officers were empowered to deal with such cases according to martial law. The first Mutiny Act, however, was passed for six months only, and was then renewed for a year, and no longer ; so that, though the j)assing of the Mutiny Act has become one of the annual duties of parliament, its omission 1689 William and Mary 671 would at any time terminate the legal authority of government over all soldiers and sailors. This plan, coupled with the additional security that the means of paying them would cease at the same time, gave parliament such a complete control over the armed forces of the crown that, by a mere act of omission, it could deprive the crown of their support. The remodelling of the army was entrusted to John, Lord Churchill, now created earl of Marlborousfh. The Protestant Nonconformists had played such an indispensable part in the Revolution that they were rewarded by the passing of the Toleration Act. Some movement was also made for a TheToiera- comprehension bill ; but it came to nothing, partly because **°" ^'=*- the rank and file of the clergy were opposed to making the concessions which commended themselves to Tillotson and Burnet ; partly because the Presbyterians were the only Nonconformists who were favourable to comprehension, to which the Independents, Baptists, and Quakers were decidedly hostile. The comprehension scheme, therefore, fell through ; but it was provided by the Toleration Act that all Protestant Nonconformists who accepted the belief in the Trinity, and were willing to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy if offered them, and who held their services with open doors, should be fully j^rotected in the exercise of their religious rites. The act, therefore, became the Magna Carta of Nonconformity. It is remarkable that the solution of the religious question thus arrived at was in substance the same that had been set forth by Henry Burton in 1641 (see j)age 547). What made that possible now, which had seemed imiDossible in 1660, were the facts that there was now no fear of the military strength of Nonconformity, and also that the church, having tested its strength in defeating the Declaration of Indulgence, felt that toleration could be granted without fear of domination. William himself would have liked to go further, and to make room in his service for the admission of ' all Protestants who were willing and able to serve.' Parliament, however, showed no desire to make the admission of Nonconformists easier, and accordingly the Test and Corporation Acts were retained without alteration. Even the Roman Catholics, though a harsh law forbade them to live within ten miles of London, experienced little more interference in their worship, and the Unitarians, though excluded from the act, enjoyed in an irregular foshion the advantages of its provisions. As a satisfaction to their families and a vindication of justice, the attainders of Russell, Algernon Sidney, Alice Lisle, and Attainders several others were reversed. The sentence on Gates was cancelled, and that rascal received a pension of i'300 a year. So many 672 The Stuarts 1689 persons were liable to prosecution for the share they had officially taken in James' proceedings, and in the various consj)iracies and disturbances of the two last reigns, that a bill of indemnity was brought forward ; but the Whigs tried to introduce so many exceptions that it had to be dropped. Similarly, an act for restoring the forfeited charters was with difficulty saved from being turned by the Whigs into an instrument for excluding hundreds of Tories from office ; and the struggle between the two parties iDecame so violent that William, appalled at the prospect of governing with such a distracted assembly, was with difficulty restrained from returning to Holland. As a last resource, parliament was dissolved in January 1690, and William appealed to the country. In the new parliament the Tories The Act of found themselves in a majority, and the indemnity question Grace. ^^.^^ readily settled by the passing of an Act of Grace, pre- sented to parliament by the king. By its provisions a general indemnity was granted for all offences committed prior to the accession of the new sovereigns. A few exceptions, however, were made, including Ludlow and a few other surviving regicides, Sunderland, Sir Edward Hales, Obadiah Walker, Petre, Chief- Justice Herbert, Judge Jeffreys, and some others. Of these Jeffreys had died in the Tower ; and in practice no punishment was inflicted, even on men like Hales and Walker, who were already in the Tower. The others were either abroad or were allowed to pass unmolested, and Sunderland was soon afterwards admitted to a share of William's confidence. The increased strength of Toryism encouraged William to make several changes in the ministry. Halifax, whose character was always that of a dispassionate critic rather than of an active politician, left the government, and the Tory Danby, who had been created marquess of Carmarthen, took the lead. The violent Whigs, Mordaunt and Delamere, vacated their posts at the treasury, and Herbert ceased to be first lord of the admiralty. What added to William's ministerial difficulties was the fact that few people thought he would be able to hold his own against James and Louis, so there was hardly a statesman who did not wish Correspond- ^ ■ ^ • <. -n • ^ ence with to make limiself safe m case of a Restoration by stand- james. .^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ possible with both sides. Many, therefore, corresponded with James and the English exiles, not so much with an idea of doing anything themselves to bring James back, as in order to escape punishment if he happened to be successful. Almost all the great statesmen of the day did this, even Marlborough and Shrewsbury and Eussell. William usually knew of their doing so, but was not strong enough to take much notice of it. Marlborough, however, was 1689 William and Mary 673 his great difficulty, for that nobleman's well-recognised military talents and his influence over the Princess Anne, gave him enormous capacity for mischief; and in 1692, special attention having been drawn to his correspondence, he was deprived of his offices, and for a short time lodged in the Tower. We must now turn to the events in Scotland and Ireland. In Scot- land the policy of the last two kings had been in complete opposition to the wishes of the people. Episcopacy had been established The Scottish by law, and no one but an Episcopalian had been allowed to Convention. sit in parliament or to vote at elections. The Presbyterians had been subjected to severe persecution, and during the last reign Roman Catholics had been placed in the chief offices. As was natural, the news of events in England produced a violent reaction in Scotland. Everywhere the people rose against their persecutors, attacked the houses of the Roman Catholics, ' rabbled ' the Episcopalian ministers, and drove them from their churches and manses. A Convention, elected according to the letter of the law would have been a farce. The law, therefore, was tacitly set aside, and a Convention assembled whose members were chosen by a majority of Presbyterian votes. This met on March 14, 1689, and it was unani- mously declared that James had 'forefaulted his right to the crown.' A 'claim of right' was then drawn up, in which it was asserted that ' prelacy and the superiority of any office in the church over Presbytery is a great and insupportable grievance, contrary to the inclination of the generality of the people, and ought to be abolished.' William and Mary v/ere then accepted as king and queen. Meanwhile, John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, holding a commission from King James, had retired into the Highlands, and was doing all he could to repeat the exploits of Montrose. His Rising of hopes rested on the deadly hatred which existed between ^""dee. the Campbells and the M 'Donalds, Camerons and Stewarts, who dwelt on their borders ; and he believed that the fact that the Revolution was accepted by Archibald Campbell, earl of Argyll, would be enough to array all the enemies of the Campbells under the banner of King James. In this he proved at any rate to be partially right, and by June a formid- able host of Highland warriors was gathered near Blair- Athole. The duty of opposing Dundee was entrusted by William to General Mackay, a Highland gentleman who had long served in the Dutch army, and who was well known for his bravery, efficiency, and— what was rarer still in a professional soldier of that day— his earnest piety. Mackay indeed embodied in his own person the virtues of Cromwell's Ironsides. Towards Blair- Athole Mackay marched, and had just passed through the pre- 2u 674 The Stuarts 1689 cipitoiis ravine of Killiecrankie, and was resting his men on a small plain patch of even ground between the river Garry and the hills, when he was charged in front and on both flanks by Dundee's High- Kiliie- landers. In a charge the Highland practice was to fling the cran le. musket away after a single volley, and then to lay on with dirk and broadsword. Such tactics, which were practically identical with those of the Soudanese in our own day, were most formidable to disciplined troops, and Mackay's men were not only without the swift- firing weapons of modern civilisation, but were handicapped by a difficulty peculiar to the time. The bayonet was just superseding the pike, on which the infantry of Monk had relied in Highland warfare ; but as yet it was a clumsy weapon, which was fixed in the muzzle of the musket, so that when fixed firing was impossible. Firing, too, was a long business ; and while Mackay's men were fumbling with their weapons the High- landers were among them. A couple of minutes decided the day. One regiment alone held together ; the rest fled pell-mell, pursuers and pur- sued, down the gorge of the Garry, With difficulty Mackay rallied his broken troops, but the pursuit was ill maintained, for the victory of the clansmen had been rendered useless by the fall of Dundee, who hud been mortally wounded by a bullet which struck him as he stood erect in his stirrups adjuring his handful of horsemen to follow him to the charge. Dundee was succeeded by Cannon, a trained officer with not a spark of the genius of Dundee or the skill of Mackay. Still the Highland forces Failure of augmented ; but an attempt to storm the open town of Dun- the Rising. -^qI^ ^jjg magnificently repulsed by the Cameronian regi- ment, raised from among the fiercest followers of the preacher Cameron, and this check proved fatal. For some months Cannon kept a few men together, but was finally routed in June 1690, and William and Mary became undisputed sovereigns. In 1690 the first General Assembly of the Scottish Church held since 1653 set up Presbyterianism, which has since been the established religion of Scotland. In his dealings Math Scotland, William was mainly advised by William Carstares, a Presbyterian divine of gT?eat foresight and modera- tion. His settlement was of the nature of a compromise, for Fletcher of Salton wished to set up an aristocratic republic, and the Cameroniana regarded even the Presbyterian leaders as little better than episcopalians; but William's determination to settle Scottish afiairs according to Scottish ideas has well borne the test of time. In 1691 the management of Scotland fell into the hands of Sir John Dalrymple, master of Stair (who, as secretary of state for Scotland, held in his hands the threads of all business), the earl of Argyll, and another 1689 William and Mary 675 Campbell, John, earl of Breadalbane. Dalrymple gave his chief atten- tion to the pacification of the Highlands, and he is chiefly responsible for a deed which has attracted more notice in modern times than many a crime of greater magnitude— the massacre of sacre of^* Glencoe. This cruel act was due to the ill-will between ^^^"'^o^- the Highlanders and the Lowlanders, coupled with the hereditary feud between the M'Donalds and the Campbells. A proclamation was issued ordering the Highland chiefs to swear allegiance to King William before January 1, 1692. The rude warriors made it a point of honour to delay submission as long as possible, and one, Maclan head of the M'Donalds of Glencoe, only reached Fort William on December 31, 1691. Unluckily, at Fort William there was no ofiScer qualified to take his oath, and he had to make the best of his way to Inverary. There he arrived on January 6, and was duly sworn ; but it is very doubtful whether the fact that he had made this tardy submission was ever reported to London. On the contrary, an example was wanted ; the M'Donalds of Glencoe were few in number ; they bore a bad character, and Sir John Dal- rymple, who is described by a contemporary as ' cunning as a fox, wise as a serpent, and slippery as an eel,' reported their case to the government as giving the opportunity desired. Accordingly, directly the news of M'lan's default reached London, an order was hurried off', signed by William himself, in the words : ' If the tribe of Glencoe can be weU separated from the rest, it will be a proper vindication of public justice to extirpate that sect of thieves.' To this DalrymjDle, on his own responsibility, added instructions that the 'affair should be secret and sudden,' and that the ' soldiers were not to trouble the government with prisoners.' These cruel orders were carried out with unspeakable treachery. The aff'air was entrusted to the Campbells. Captain Camp- bell of Glenlyon, with one hundred and twenty Campbells from Argyll's own regiment, were sent into the glen on February 1 with orders to keep on friendly terms with the M'Donalds till February 13, by which time all the outlets were to be secured. On that day they were to fall on their hosts and slay them all,— man, woman, and child. These orders were literally carried into effect ; and nothing but the folly of the soldiers, who used their noisy muskets instead of trusting to the silent thrust of the bayonet, prevented the complete success of the plan. As it was, only thirty-eight M'Donalds were killed, and three-fourths of the clan made their escape, but of these many perished in the bitterness of a Highland winter. Two years afterwards the tale had become sufficiently known in England to attract the attention of parliament. Dalrymple was dis- missed ; but so many were implicated in the deed that William found 676 The Stuarts 1689 punishment impossible, even if the feeling of the age had regarded the atrocity in a much more serious light than that in which the massacre of a horde of cattle-stealing natives would nowadays be regarded by European colonists. The cruelty naturally embittered the feelings of the Highlanders towards the government ; but the discouragement of the rebel clans, the opening up of better roads through the passes, and the building of forts in such strategical points as Inverness, Fort Augustus, and Fort William had the eflfect of keeping the Highlanders in awe for almost a generation. In Scotland it was a question between King James and King William ; in Ireland the point at issue was whether the English connection should be maintained or abolished. In that country the Catholic proclivities of James made him popular ; while the policy of Tyrconnel had roused all over the country the hope that the time had arrived for the declaration of Irish independence and for driving the English and Scottish colonists from the lands on which they had settled. Accordingly during the closing months of 1688, Tyrconnel had been doing all in his power to prepare for the coming conflict. He raised an army of 40,000 men, and attempted to secure with Koman Catholic garrisons all the towns in which the colonists could take refuge. Of these by far the most important were Londonderry and Enniskillen, — one the capital of the Scottish, the other of the Cromwellian district. The turn of London- derry came first ; but on the approach of Tyrconnel's soldiers a group of apprentice lads shut the gates in their faces ; and, encouraged by the example of Derry, the Enniskilleners also held out. James left England on December 23, 1688, and on February 1, 1689 he set out from Versailles to take command in Ireland. For his safe James in convoy Louis provided fifteen sail of the line, and also Ireland. furnished 2500 troops. James landed at Kinsale, and made his way to Dublin. There he issued brass money, worth about the hundredth part of its nominal value, and summoned a parliament to meet on the 7th of May. His next act was to hand over to the French ambassador an unhappy Huguenot named Roussel, who had been sentenced to be broken on the wheel for the crime of preaching to his fellow-Protestants amidst the ruins of his church. Only fourteen peers, ten The Dublin of whom were Eoman Catholics, answered James' summons to Parliament, parliament ; and in the Commons' House, which numbered 250, the Protestants were represented by six members. The first act of the parliament was to declare the legislative independence of Ireland, and having done this, they proceeded to carry through a series of remarkable enactments. The Act of Settlement was repealed by acclamation. The 1689 William and Mary 677 estates of all absentees were vested in King James. Liberty of conscience was secured to all Christians ; but Protestants were forbidden to assemble in churches or elsewhere under pain of death. All schools and colleges were restored to the Eoman Catholics ; all Protestant churches were handed over to the priests, to whom also all tithes were to be paid ; and the stipends of all Protestant ministers in cities and corporate towns were stopped. The sum of ^20,000 a year was voted to Tyrconnel to be paid out of forfeited Protestant estates ; and lastly, an Act of Attainder condemned to death on capture, not less than two thousand persons, most of whose names were inserted without the pretence of investigation, unless they made their surrender before certain dates. Even James was horrified at the length to which his Irish friends were prepared to go. He was, however, powerless to stay the tide ; and throughout the length and breadth of the land the repeal of the Act of Settlement was followed by the forcible expulsion of the English and Scottish colonists, the slaying of their cattle, and the burning of their eff'ects. Into Londonderry and Enniskillen, as to cities of refuge, crowded the Scottish and English settlers ; and their capture alone was necessary to complete the work of extermination. At Londonderry Colonel Lundy, whom William had sent as governor, had of London - proved a traitor, and had prepared the way for the surrender ^ ^" of the town by sending away two English regiments, under Colonel Cunningham, which had been sent to aid in the defence. However, when James was known to be advancing, the refugees took the law into their own hands, deprived Lundy of his command, and under the lead of Major Baker and Captain Murray, and encouraged by the eloquent preaching of Walker, rector of the parish of Donaghmore, prepared to stand a siege. When James arrived he found that the wretched walls were already manned, prepared to stand a siege, and that every available man was under arms. The siege began on April 30, 1689. Assaults were delivered but repelled ; and as it was known that the stock of provisions was scanty, the sharp violence of a siege and bombardment was abandoned in favour of the slow but certain horrors of a blockade. To carry out the new plan James selected Rosen, a ruffian from the east of Europe, then in the service of Louis xiv. Eosen's idea of conducting the blockade was to collect all the old men, women, and chUdren who yet remained in the adjoining districts, and to drive them to perish of hunger or wounds between the lines of the besieged and besiegers. For forty-eight hours Rosen kept these unhappy wretches in torture, and then, alarmed by a threat that every Roman Catholic prisoner in the town would be hanged 678 The Stuarts 1690 in retaliation, sullenly i)ermitted the survivors to withdraw. Even James was horrified. Kosen was superseded, and his place taken by Hamilton. In June a relieving fleet under Kirke entered Loch Foyle, but a strong boom which had been thrown across the river prevented it from reaching the town. Week after week passed away, and the heroic garrison were reduced to stave off hunger with cats, rats, dogs and salted skins, and yet Kirke remained inactive. At length, when only two days' provisions were left, Kirke received j)Ositive orders to assault the boom. Two merchantmen, commanded respectively by a Derry man, Micaiah Browning, and Andrew Douglas, a Scot, suj)ported by an English officer. Captain Leake, broke their way through, and on the 28th of July anchored at the quay. Two days afterwards the siege, which had lasted no less than a hundred and five days, was raised. That very day the Ennis- g J - killeners, too, were victorious. Led by Colonel Wolseley, Newtown their force of irregular soldiers attacked James' general Macarthy, who had advanced with 6000 regular troops as far as Newtown Butler. At the last moment Wolseley gave his men the choice whether they would ' advance ' or ' retreat.' The descendants of the victors of Naseby and Eathmines voted unanimously for an advance. With shouts of ' No popery ! ' they carried all before them, slew Macarthy and 1500 of his followers, and drove 500 others into the waters of Loch Erne. These successes secured the safety of the colonists of the north, aiid in August Marshal Schomberg, a veteran of eighty, who had been turned ^, ^ , o^it of the French service for the crime of being a Protestant, The Battle . . & J of the came over with a mixed force, and henceforth the efforts of James' troops were devoted to checking his advance. Schomberg's troops were poor, and wretchedly provisioned by Commissary Shales, an infamous peculator who had learned his business at Hounslow ; and it was all Schomberg's skill could do to hold his own till the summer of 1690, when William came over at the head of an excellent force and took the command in person. Before William, who declared that 'he had not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet,' James' forces retreated, and took up a strong position on the south bank of the river Boyne, two miles above Drogheda. During the whole of June 30 the armies faced one another, and James' officers took advan- tage of a fair opportunity to fire two cannon-balls at William himself, one of which grazed his shoulder. At daybreak on July 1 the whole allied force advanced to the river, and crossed it in the face of the foe. The French soldiers and the Irish horse fought well ; but the Irish foot made a miserable exhibition, and in spite of the death of old 1690 William and Mary 679 Schomberg James' army was soon put to the rout. The disaster might have been more complete had WilHam followed Schoinberg's advice imd taken advantage of night to seize in advance the pass of Duleek through which James' retreat lay— a manrouvre from which he was probably deterred from fear of the embarrassing capture of James himself. He had really little cause for apprehension. Of the flying host, James himself was the first to reach Dublin, where he politely informed Lady Tyrconnel that ' her countrymen had ran away,' and was answered with the neat repartee : ' If they have, sire, your majesty seems to have won the race.' From Dublin he hurried on to Waterford. On the third day after the battle he had sailed for France, and left his supporters to their fate. The battle of the Boyne secured Dublin and all the centre of Ireland without a further blow ; but an Irish army under Sarsfield, a noble Irishman, and Lauzun, the French general, still held the line First Siege of the Shannon, the towns of Athlone and Limerick, and °^ Limerick, the ports of Cork and Kinsale. William himself marched against Limerick, but the siege was from the beginning a failure. The Irish who had run away from the Boyne fought valiantly behind the walls of Limerick. Sarsfield, who was in command, showed himself an admirable general, and distinguished himself by adroitly capturing William's siege train. Without heavy artillery William could make no impression on the fortifications of the town. Three assaults failed ; and, winter coming on, William raised the siege and himself retired to England, leaving the command to Ginkel, Mackay, and Talmash. Meanwhile a force of 5000 men had been entrusted to Marlborough for the reduction of Cork and Kinsale. Marlborough performed the task without a Capture hitch, and earned from William the hearty praise that ' No °^ ^°^^- officer now living who has seen so little service is so fit for great com- mands.' In the spring of 1691, St. Ruth, a distinguished French officer, was sent over to take the command of the Irish army. In June Ginkel advanced to the siege of Athlone, a town which commanded capture of the passage of the Shannon, and was probably the most ^* important strategical point in the island. The English town on the east bank was easily taken, but between it and the Irish quarter ruslied the deep and rapid stream of the Shannon, and the only bridge was stoutly held. At length Ginkel determined to make an attempt to cross by a ford a few yards below the bridge. Mackay was to lead the assault, and though he did not approve of the plan he executed it as though it were his own, while he was bravely aided by the duke of Wiirtemberg and Talmash. Up to their necks in water, and carrying their officers 680 TJie Stuarts 1690 on their shoulders, the men forded the river. The Irish were taken by surprise, and in a few minutes the whole town was in Ginkel's hands. Meanwhile St. Euth, who had felt so sure of the town that he had declared that ' Ginkel's master ought to hang him for trying to take Battle of Athlone, and mine to hang me if I lose it,' had encamped Aughnm. ^.^^^ ^^ three miles from the place, and spent his time in quarrelling with Tyrconnel and snubbing the brave Sarsfield. On hearing of the disaster he broke up his camp and retreated to the hill of Aughrim, on the road to Galway. There, with a bog in front of his lines, he awaited Ginkel's assault. The Irish, whom St. Kuth had roused to a frenzy of patriotism and religion, fought splendidly, and Talmash with the foot was driven back again and again. At length Mackay's horse with difficulty struggled round the bog, and prej)ared to charge the Irish in flank. At that moment St. Euth was killed by a cannon-ball, and his foolish attendants concealed the fact even from Sarsfield. In conse- quence, at the critical moment there was no one to give orders, and Sarsfield with the reserve waited in vain for directions which never came. MeanwhUe Mackay pressed on ; Talmash redoubled his efibrts ; and the Irish, who had shown a bravery of which their conduct at the Boyne had given little indication, were scattered in hopeless rout. Galway then fell, and Tyrconnel and Sarsfield retired to make a last stand behind the walls of Limerick ; but before the siege began Tyrconnel died. Ginkel, being properly provided with artillery, made Siege of better progress than William, and when he had defeated the Irish cavalry without the walls, and had made himself master of the Thomond Bridge over the Shannon, Sarsfield declared his willingness to treat. The terms agreed on were two-fold : a military capitulation signed by the generals ; and a civil treaty signed on behalf of William by the lords-justices of Ireland. By the first, the Irish soldiers were allowed to march out of Limerick and to disband, enlist under William, or follow Sarsfield to France, at their pleasure. By the second, it was conceded that the Irish Eoman Catholics ' should enjoy such privileges in the exercise of their religion as were consistent with the law, The Treaty of ^^ ^^ ^^^1 ^^^ enjoyed in the days of Charles ii.' In accord- Limenck. ^^ncQ with the military treaty, about 11,000 men declared for service in France. Many deserted before they reached the ships ; enough, however, remained to fonn the celebrated Irish Brigade. Sarsfield bitterly remarked that 'if the English would change kings, the Irish would gladly fight them again'; and under a sterner discipline than that of Tyrconnel, and led by generals superior to James, the conquered at the 1691 William and Mary 681 Boyne and at Aughrim lived to vindicate on many a hard-fought field the innate valour of the Irish race. Had William and the statesmen of England had their way, the civil treaty of Limerick might have formed the basis for an equitable settlement of the long-standing feud between the Roman Catholic Celts and the Protestant settlers. Unhappily the in- dependent parliament of Ireland was more bigoted than they ; the repeal of the Act of Settlement, the Attainder, and the horrors of 1641 and 1689 had eaten deeply into the heart of the Protestant Irish, and rendered them incapable of taking a fair view of the possibilities of the situation. To men who had with difficulty thrust off the yoke of an intolerant and vindictive majority, coercion seemed the only possible safe- guard against a recurrence of similar evils, and the treaty of Limerick, instead of being made a starting-point for gradual concession, was itself never carried out. James arrived in France just too late to take part in a French attempt to invade England. As soon as it was known that Louis xiv. had given active assistance to James, war against France was declared Tourviile in at the request of the English parliament, which assured the Channel. William ' that when he should think fit to enter into a war against the French king, they would give him such assistance in a parliamentary way as to enable him to support and go through with the same.' Accordingly William was enabled to j)lace himself at the head of a great European coalition, in which the forces of Great Britain, Holland, Spain, and the Empire were united against France ; and which for eight years waged war against Louis xiv. along the whole extent of his frontier, both by land and sea. For her share, Great Britain undertook to furnish 20,000 men for the land war, and in conjunction with the Dutch to undertake the naval war. In 1689 Marlborough and Talmash led a British contingent, under the prince of Waldeck, and distinguished themselves at the aftair of Walcourt ; while Herbert fought a slight and indecisive action against the French fleet ofi* Kinsale. However, in 1690, while William was in Ireland, Tourviile, the French admiral, came into the Channel with eighty-two ships, prepared to sweep the English fleet from the sea, inter- cept William's return from Ireland, and cover an invasion of England by James. On June 30, the very day William was wounded on the Boyne, Herbert, now Lord Torrington, and Evertsen, the Dutch admiral, with a combined fleet of sixty vessels, encountered Tourviile off" Beachy Head. Torrington was personally loyal and brave, and he was an experienced if somewhat luxurious seaman. He held strongly the view that the best defence against an invasion was an unconquered fleet ' in being,' and that to risk its destruction at such a crisis was sheer folly. 682 The Stuarts 1691 Nottingham, however, insisted on his fighting ; but Torrington, while obeying orders, took care not to risk the entire destruction of liis inferior fleet ; and, after a partial engagement, in which the Dutch bore the brunt of the attack, Torrington took their vessels in tow and fled into the Thames, pulling up the buoys as he passed to conceal the channel. By this means, however, he checkmated Tourville, who could not venture to divide his fleet while Torrington's squadron was intact ; and Torrington's conduct, though ill understood and condemned by landsmen, was fully apjDreciated by sailors. The crisis was terrible ; but the words, ' the French are coming,' acted like a spell. The national feeling rose, the Jacobites hung back. Burning of ^^^ Dryden, whose views on any occasion are a pretty fair Teignmouth. ^gg^ gf popular sentiment, gave voice to the feeling of the hour in his Gallic Invasion. Fortunately, instead of acting at once, the French, being short of transports, hesitated ; and in lieu of landing an army of 20,000 veterans, contented themselves with giving up to fire and sword the insignificant village of Teignmouth. In the Netherlands, or on the Rhine, such an event would have passed unnoticed, but English- men were not accustomed to experience in their own country the horrors of French warfare. The action roused the nation as one man. It was soon clear that to burn English villages was not the way to help James. All hopes of a Jacobite rebellion faded away ; and by the time the news of James' defeat and flight reached London, the crisis was passed. Loyal ofi'ers of assistance reached Mary from all sides ; and when William returned from Ireland he found himself more firmly seated on the throne than before. Between 1691 and 1697 William — taking advantage of the fact that while parliament sat during the winter months, military operations were conducted only during the summer — spent half the year at the on the head of his armies in Flanders, and half with his parliament at Westminster, and it is not easy to say which was the more arduous work of the two. On the continent he was the head of a coali- tion, large in numbers but divided in interests, operating against the French in Catalonia, in Lombardy, on the Rhine, and in Flanders, and confronted by the forces of a single nation, directed by a despotic sovereign, having everywhere the advantage of the central position, and directed by generals of first-rate ability. For many years William's actual antagonist was the celebrated Luxembourg, a foeman worthy of his steel, assisted by the celebrated engineer Vauban, a master of the art of fortification ; against whom William had enlisted the services of the great Coehorn. In the Netherlands, where William was personally engaged, the natural defences 1692 William and Mary 683 of the country are few, but have been improved ]iy fortification, and in general the war was one of sieges, varied by pitched battles between the covering army of the besiegers and the relieving force of the besieged. Of these fortresses the chief were Lille, Tournay, Mons, and Namur, which barred the road along the French frontier. Besides the war on land, there was constant fighting by sea, and a number of more or less successful expeditions were sent to harass the towns and villages on the French coast, which, if they eff'ected nothing striking, diminished the main French armies by compelling them to keep a number of men in garrison along the coast. In 1691, under the eyes of Louis, the French gained a decided advantage by capturing Mons before William could get his army in motion ; and during the remainder of the campaign Luxembourg successfully baflied all William's efi'orts to bring on a decisive engagement. In 1692, though William was again in Flanders, the interest shifted to the English Channel ; for Louis had collected a large army on the coast of Normandy, three hundred transports were ready, and ^^^ Naval James himself was only waiting the expected victory of ^^r. Tourville over the English fleet to carry out an invasion of England. The danger was pressing, as in the last naval battle the French had been victorious, and the government knew that Eussell, the admiral, had been corresponding with James. Fortunately at this crisis, James drew up and published a proclamation, in which he Proclama- declared that, if he were successful, he would punish not only men like Carmarthen, Nottingham, Tillotson, and Burnet, but the mob who had jeered him at Faversham, and all magistrates, judges, jury- men or gaolers who had served under William, or who had taken part in the arrest, conviction, or execution of any Jacobite whatsoever. This proclamation fell into the hands of the queen, who at once published it with explanatory notes ; and this clever move roused the whole country to indignation. Russell, too, though he was not unfriendly to James, had no idea of allowing an English fleet to be beaten by a French one : ' Understand,' he said to a Jacobite agent, ' that if I meet them, I fight them — aye, though his majesty himself should be on board.' Consequently, when the hostile fleets met off* Cape La Hogue, nothing could withstand the vehemence of the English attack. The action began on May 19 in mid-channel, and after a running fight of three days, the mass of Tourville's fleet was glad to make its Battle of 1-1 r A 1 1 La Hoguc. escape through a dangerous channel m the race ot Alderney ; while three French vessels, including the largest ship in the French navy, were burnt at Cherbourg, and the remainder took refuge under the 684 The Stuarts 1692 batteries which commanded the port of La Hogue. On the 23rd the transports were attacked, and by the 24th the greater number of them had been burnt under the eyes of James himself. Russell, Rooke, and Delaval were the heroes of the engagement, and so magnificent was the conduct of the seamen, that James himself exclaimed, in a moment of involuntary enthusiasm, ' See how my brave English fight.' La Hogue was distinctly the greatest naval victory won by the English between the defeat of the Armada and the battle of Trafalgar, and it com- pletely removed all fear of a French invasion. As a reward to the sailors, the royal palace of Greenwich was turned into a naval hospital. Unfortunately, the same summer saw William defeated at Steenkerke. Luxembourg had made himself master of Namur, and as a set-ojff to this Battle of disaster, William attempted to surprise him with an inferior Steenkerke. force. The action began well, but William was deceived as to the ground, which proved to be so broken that he was unable to make the rush on which he had reckoned for victory. In consequence, Luxem- bourg was able to throw his whole force upon the forlorn hope of the English. Its leader Mackay fell, and five British regiments Avere utterly cut to pieces. Much blame was attached to Count Solmes, a Dutch officer, who might have given them support, and who was reported to have said, during the heat of the action, ' Let us see what sport these English bull-dogs will make us.' In 1693, by an ingenious ruse, Luxembourg induced William to weaken his force by detaching a body of 20,000 men, and then, on Battle of the 29th of July, attacked him where he lay strongly Landen. entrenched behind the little river Landen, between the villages of Romsdorf and Neerwinden. From eight in the morning till four in the afternoon the allies held their ground, and the village of Neerwinden was retaken by their valour as often as it was carried by the impetuosity of the French ; but at length numbers prevailed, and the whole line gave way. William was in the thickest of the fight, and, while Talmash arranged the retreat, he strove, ' sword in hand,' to check the tide of pursuit. On the allied side fell Solmes ; on the French the gallant Sarsfield ; while the duke of Ormond, having been captured, was exchanged for the duke of Berwick, James' illegitimate son by Arabella Churchill, who displayed the valour of his mother's ftimily in repeated assaults on Neerwinden. Fortunately, Luxembourg failed to press his advantage, and in a few days William was ready, and even wishful, to fight him again. William, as a strategist and tactician, was no match for Luxembourg, and the British soldiers had not as yet had sufficient training to cope with the veterans of Louis ; but Steenkerke and Landen 1694 William and Mary 685 showed that, in valour and tenacity, they were the true sons of the victors of Agincourt and Crecy, and they were rapidly gaining the experience which enabled Marlborough to lead them to victory at Blenheim and Kamillies, At sea, too, 1693 was an unlucky year. In June the Smyrna fleet of four hundred vessels, carrying several millions worth of goods, sailed from the Thames for the Mediterranean. The main smyma English and Dutch fleets escorted it past Brest, and then ^*^^* ^°^*- left it to make the remainder of the voyage under the convoy of Rooke. Meanwhile, unknown to the English admirals, Tourville had slipped off" to Gibraltar, effected a junction with the Toulon fleet, and was lying in wait in the Bay of Lagos. Rooke fell into the trap, and though both the English and Dutch men-of-war fought admirably, about three- fourths of the merchantmen were captured, sunk, or dispersed. To the London merchants the loss was well-nigh irreparable ; but the Jacobites were delighted, and did all in their power to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. The government, however, was firm, and Mary's personal courage and popularity did much to restore confidence in the eventual success of its policy. As in many another contest, dogged perseverance was beginning to tell its tale ; and the steadiness with which tlie British settled down to reform their naval administration gave the best augury for eventual success. The year 1694, however, was marked by a disaster which, though of no great magnitude, was singularly disgraceful. An attack had been planned on Brest, and entrusted to Talmash. Now that The Attack Mackay was dead, Talmash was the best of the rising men, °" ^'■^^*' and, as such, incurred the jealousy of Marlborough, who actually disclosed the plan to James, and through him to the French government. Possibly the French knew of the expedition without Marlborough's assistance ; but, in any case, the fortifications were strengthened under the care of Vauban himself ; and when Talmash landed, batteries opened upon his troops in all directions, the force was cut to pieces, and Talmash himself was mortally wounded. At the time, Marlborough's treachery was un- suspected. Another event which contributed to restore Marlborough to favour was the death of Queen Mary. Unlike her husband, she had always been strong and vigorous, but in December 1694 she was The Death attacked with small-pox. That terrible disease, then °^ ^^'y- unmitigated by vaccination, claimed thousands of victims annually ; and Mary's case was a very bad one. She met it with her usual calm courage ; sent away from the palace every soul who had not had the 686 The Stuarts 1694 disease, arranged her papers, and then calmly awaited the course of the malady. In a few days it was fatal. The shock to William was the more terrible because it was so wholly unexpected, and for a few weeks he was completely prostrated. Before her death, however, kind messages passed between Mary and her sister Anne, and after her death the princess was received by William himself. Henceforth Anne was on friendly terms with the court, and the position of Marlborough and his wife changed accordingly. Within a few days of Mary's death died William's great antagonist Luxembourg ; and when the war was renewed in the spring, it was at Capture of ^^^^ apparent that the balance of skill had been altered. Namur. Luxembourg's successors — Villeroy and Boufflers — showed themselves in every move of the game inferior to William. The allies, therefore, attempted the recapture of Namur ; and in October that great fortress, whose capture was the proudest event of Louis' military career, was again in the hands of William. The siege began on the 2nd of July, and after a series of assaults in which General Cutts distinguished himself so much that his men called him the ' Salamander,' the town was taken. The citadel only remained ; and to save it, Villeroy attempted to divert William by a cruel bombardment of Brussels. William, however, was firm ; and in September the citadel also fell. The capture of Namur was William's crowning achievement. France was now exhausted, and though the war dragged on two years longer, it Peace of was not distinguished by any brilliant events. Negotia- Ryswick. tions wcro opened, and in 1697 a treaty was signed at Ryswick. In this, Louis agreed to give up all conquest taken since the treaty of Nimegaen in 1678, and — what was of vital importance to Great Britain — to acknowledge William as king of England. The treaty of Ryswick brought to a close the second stage of William's long- contest with France. In the first he had, as stadtholder of the Dutch republic, excited the enthusiasm of Protestant Europe by his noble, but not always successful, defence of the stronghold of Protestant freedom against the strongest of the Catholic powers. In the second, he appeared at the head of a great coalition, and as the sovereign of the country which had supplied the heroes of Crecy and Agincourt. Even in this stronger position fortune had not always been on his side ; but since. 1693 the tide had been turning ; the terms of the peace of Eyswick left no doubt whatever on which side victory had been, and the rejoicings which hailed its completion testified the satisfaction of Britain with the results that had been attained. Having brought the war to a termination, it is now time to revert to 1697 William and Alary gg-^ domestic affairs. Between 1690 and 1697 a great revolution had been effected in the constitution of the executive government. At his accession William had tried the experiment of forming an administra- pa^t go- tion from the leaders of both political parties. The plan vemment. however, did not work well. The opinions of the Whigs and Tories were so different that they could not act together ; and— what was more serious still— the House of Commons, left without the guidance of responsible leaders confident in the possession of a steady majority, was little better than a political mob swayed hither and thither by the passions of the hour. For this extremely serious state of affairs a remedy was suggested by the astute but unprincipled Sunderland. That statesman had made his peace with William by disclosino- to him the secrets of his fallen master, and though his name appeared among those who were excepted from the Act of Grace, there was no intention of prosecuting him. By degrees he acquired fresh influence, and though he held no office himself, his acute judgment on the conduct of affairs was always at William's disposal. Accordingly, in 1693, he advised William to form a united Whig ministry by gradually weeding all the Tories out of the government. His advice was taken ; and between 1693 and 1695 it was carried into effect with the best results, not only on the working of the executive government, but on that of the House of Commons. The rise of the Whigs meant the elevation to power of four very remarkable men — Edward Eussell, John Somers, Charles Montagu, and Thomas Wharton. Eussell had taken a leading part The in the revolution, had won the battle of La Hogue, was 'J""to-' the most efficient naval administrator of the time, and though at one period he had entered into correspondence with James, he had probably been led to do so more by his dislike of William's employment of Tories than for any other reason. John Somers had distinguished himself in the bishops' trial, and was the best constitutional lawyer of his time. Charles Montagu, who first gained celebrity by writing with Prior The Town and Country Mouse, was an admirable debater, and a bold and original financier. Thomas Wharton, son of the old Puritan, Philip Lord Wharton, with vices of magnitude enough to have ruined the reputation of the ablest statesman in a more austere age, had secured an influence in the House of Commons and in the constituencies which made his services invaluable. Diflerent as these men were, in politics they were all agreed ; and so close was their political partner- ship that they were usually classed together as the 'junto.' Accordingly, in 1693, Somers became lord keeper of the great seal. 688 The Stuarts 1694 and, in 1697, lord chancellor. In 1694, Russell, who had been treasurer of the navy from the beginning of the reign, became first lord of the The Whig admiralty. The same year, Montagu, who had been a mem- M inistry , ^^^ ^f |.]^g treasury board, became chancellor of the exchequer. Trenchard, an ardent Whig, who had been deep in all Shaftesbury's plans, and had been made secretary of state in 1692, was joined by the Whig Shrewsbury in the place of the Tory Nottingham ; while Wharton, who all along kept his place as controller of the household, became more and more influential. In 1695 the Tory duke of Leeds (formerly Danby and Carmarthen) was proved to have used his influence to aid a friend in securing a bribe from the East India Company, and was forced to give up his post. Godolphin, who was a clever financier, and had never identified himself strongly with party politics, remained the only Tory in the government ; but, in 1696, he too gave up his post. So long as the war lasted, the necessity of providing money for the troops, and, consequently, of keeping on good terms with the financiers of the city, was the keystone of domestic administration. National The series of measures taken with this object were due to ^ ■ the genius of Montagu. In 1693 he originated the national debt. It had long been the practice for English kings to borrow on their own security, and parliament had often been asked to pay their debts. William's expenses, however, had been absolutely unprecedented. In 1693, the estimated expenditure was over ^4,000,000, the estimated revenue about ^3,000,000, and it seemed impossible to add to the weight of taxation at the risk of an outburst of discontent. Accordingly Montagu adopted the device of a loan raised, not on the security of the king, but on that of the nation, and for that reason known ever after as the nucleus of the national debt. The plan found ready acceptance, for at that date, while city men were prosperous, fticilities for lending money on good security were few. The Whig capitalists took up the loan at once, and the plan once at work, its extension was rapid. Besides relieving the financial distress of the government, Montagu was acute enough to perceive that he was also adding immensely to its political strength. Nothing was more certain than that, if James were restored, all responsibility for the debt would instantly be repudiated, so those who had lent money were not only stout supporters of the government at ordinary times, but at critical moments saw the best security for their investments in again coming forward to help the government out of its difficulty. In 1694 the Bank of England was established. Up to this date mer- chants had either kept their cash in strong boxes in their own premises^ 1697 William III. 689 or had intrusted it to the care of goldsmiths, who invested the money bat agreed always to meet bills drawn upon them by the depositor to the amount of the sum deposited. In this way the The Bank of goldsmiths' shops became, to all intents and purposes, England, private banks. There had, however, been in existence for some time public banks, such as the Bank of St. George at Genoa, founded in the fourteenth century, and that of Amsterdam, founded about 1610. Under William iii. the idea of starting such a bank in England was frequently mooted, and the notion eventually took shape in the hands of William Paterson, a Scottish jDrojector, Michael Godfrey, a London mer- chant, and Montagu. Accordingly the subscribers to a new government loan of ^1,200,000 were formed into a banking company. In return for their loan they received eight per cent, interest. This gave them, with a further sum of £4000 for management, an income of £100,000 yearly. They were allowed by act of parliament to receive deposits of money, to lend money at interest, and to issue promises to pay on demand, which were called bank-notes. By a special clause, however, the bank was for- bidden to advance money to government without a special act of parliament, the object of which was to avoid the risk of government making itself independent of parliamentary control. This institution was of great advantage to the country, because persons who had capital felt that they could safely trust it to the bank, whose regular income of £100,000 a year, independent of their banking transactions, was a guarantee against failure ; while the bank in its turn advanced money on moderate interest to enterprising peoj)le, on whose integrity and ability the directors of the bank relied. In this way trade was bene- fited, and both the depositor and the borrower advantaged. Such was the origin of the Bank of England, which became the model for the numerous joint-stock banks which now exist, while the private banking companies are the successors of the goldsmiths of an earlier stage of commercial development. The establishment of the Bank of England still further united the mercantile classes in support of the government, and as the bank was always ready to lend to the government whenever parliament authorised a loan, the collection of money on an emergency became easier than ever before. This was well showTi in 1696. In that year the country gentry, led by Kobert Harley, a man of moderate ability but with a genius for making himself necessary, wished to form a Land Bank, The Land which was to advance money on the security of land only. For this they agreed to lend to the government no less than £2,500,000 at a rate of seven per cent. But the country gentlemen, unlike the 2x 690 The Stuarts 1694 merchants, had very little money in hand, and no capitalist would put his money into a concern which was restricted to lend on land at a rate of four per cent., whereas he could get six per cent, in the open market ; and when the day came for the production of the ^2,500,000, only £7100 was produced, of which £5000 had been advanced by William himself in order to give a fillip to the undertaking. The position of the government was most serious, for the money was wanted immediately to pay the troops in Flanders ; but the emergency was got over by the public spirit of the shareholders of the Bank of England, who advanced £200,000 at a few days' notice. In consequence, the Whigs and the merchants became better friends than ever ; but the failure of the Land Bank was a sore disappointment to the Tories. The same year that the Land Bank was projected, the government did a great service to the whole country by renewing the coinage. Since the State of the great renewal of the coinage under Elizabeth (see pp. 423 and Currency. 453^ |.}^g standard of quality had been well maintained ; but the method of manufacture had become antiquated, and a system which worked fairly well in an agricultural country where transactions were few was not suitable to a thriving commercial community such as was growing up in England at the close of the seventeenth century. The method in use had been introduced in the time of Edward i., and con- sisted of cutting the coins from a sheet of metal and reducing them to the proper shape by the blows of a hammer. Such coins were rude in form and easily imitated, and it was so easy to clip them that under William really good coins were rare. Trade naturally suffered, because no one knew what the value of money was ; and, as merchants wished to weigh the money before they parted with their goods, business could not be carried on between people at a distance from each other. About the time of the Restoration, however, a mill had been set up in the Tower which turned out a superior coin — round, exact in weight, and with a serrated or 'milled' edge which showed at a glance whether the coin had been clipped or not. The milled coins were excellent, but no one who possessed a milled shilling would make a payment with it if he could secure one of the old make. He preferred to melt it down, or to send it out of the country. Consequently, the milled coins disappeared as fast as they were produced. As time went on, the old, from clipping and wear, became worse than ever ; and the medium of exchange became thoroughly out of order. Prices, too, rose at a rate which far surpassed the power of wages to keep up with them. A shilling would go no further than sixpence did a few years before. So great was the uncer- tainty as to the value of the currency that quarrelling was incessant, for 1697 William III. (591 buyers and sellers, after haggling over the price, began a new bargain over the coin. Every one was inconvenienced ; and among the poor who could protect themselves least, inconvenience amounted to positive suffering. Such a state of affairs was dangerous to the peace of the country. Penal laws proved an ineffectual remedy ; and it was impera- tive that by some device or other the bad coins should be withdrawn from circulation and good ones supplied in their place. Among others who devoted their attention to the subject were John Locke, who had already conferred an obligation on the world by his tract on Toleration ; and Isaac Newton, the discoverer of the law of gravitation. In a happy moment they were consulted by Montagu and Somers. The great difficulty in the way of renewing the coinage was to settle whether individuals should bear the loss in exchanging their old coins for new, or whether it should fall on the nation at large. At The Coinage length, on the motion of Montagu, it was decided by parlia- renewed, ment that, on and after a certain day, the use of the old coinage should be forbidden ; but that all who brought in coins before that date should, as soon as possible, receive their nominal value in new milled coins. By this plan the loss fell on the nation at large. The management of the transaction was entrusted to Somers, Montagu, Locke, and Newton. Newton had been chosen by Montagu to be master of the mint, and so rapidly did he improve the system of coining that at length he was able to turn out no less than eight times as many shillings per week as had ever been coined before. The 2nd of May 1696 was the last day for bringing in the old coins, and with all Newton's expedition it was the end of August before even a fair amount of the new money was in circulation. During these four months every one lived on credit ; but so strong was the faith in the honesty of the government, and so patient and good- humoured was the temper in which the people met their difficulties, that the time passed off without disturbance ; and when the new coins were in full circulation it was found that a great boon had been conferred on the community at large. The establishment of the national debt and the Bank of England, and the renewal of the coinage, form an epoch in the history of English commerce, and won for the government the good- will of all who were concerned in trade. Until the accession of William iii. the great object of Whig statesmen, and indeed of all Englishmen, had been to oblige the king to call frequent parliaments. To this spirit was owing the Act of Edward The Trien- III. enjoining annual sessions ; the Triennial Act of the Long Parliament ; and the clause in the Bill of Eights declaring that parlia- ments ought to be held frequently. However, since supplies had been 692 The Stuarts 1694 voted annually, and the Mutiny Act had to be renewed, there was no fear that parliament would not meet every year. But this was replaced by the apprehension that if the king got a House of Commons to his mind, he would never dissolve it ; and so that for long periods parliament might be out of accord with the country. Such an instance had occurred in the case of the Long Parliament of Charles ii., which had existed for seventeen years. To prevent this, in 1692 a Triennial Bill, fixing three years as the longest term of any parliament, was introduced by the Whigs, and passed through both Houses. William, however, thought that the bill trenched seriously upon the prerogative of the crown ; and though Sir William Temple, who had been consulted, explained through his secretary, Jonathan Swift, that in his opinion the king had nothing to fear, he met it by the exercise of his veto. In 1693 it was introduced again, but defeated at the third reading in the Commons. In 1694, however, the bill was more fortunate, and William, who had long decided not to oppose it again, gave his consent. It is remarkable that the par- liament which passed the bill was not allowed to run its full course, but was dissolved by William on his return from the capture of Namur, in order that the elections might be held while that glorious exploit was fresh in the minds of the voters. Ever since the Keformation, government had claimed to regulate the printing and publication of books, with a view to forbid such as might be Freedom of injurious either to religion or to morality, or were likely to the Press. spread seditious opinions. Till the meeting of the Long Parliament this duty had been exercised by the archbishop of Canter- bury, and persons who printed unlicensed books had been prosecuted in the courts of Star Chamber and High Commission. After the dissolu- tion of these courts, the press for a short time was free ; but the Long Parliament, alarmed by the flood of pamphlets which inundated the country, and absolutely unmoved by the abstract reasoning in favour of liberty of thought which Milton addressed to it in his Areopagitica, again obliged books to be licensed. At the Kestoration a Licensing Act was passed, by which the whole control of printing was vested in the govern- ment, and printing was allowed only at London, York, and the univer- sities. This restriction, it must be borne in mind, affected not only books but also newspapers, pamphlets, and literature of every description ; and meant that no one could get a hearing for any views either on politics or religion which did not accord with the views of government. Indeed, under Charles ii. it was laid down by the judges that, ' To print or pub- lish any newsbooks, or pamphlets of news whatever, is illegal ; that it is a manifest intent to the breach of the peace, and the offenders may be 1697 William III. 693 proceeded against by law for an illegal thing.' Such a power was too great to place in any hands ; but more efficient than general arguments in favour of a free press, which could not have the weight then which they have since gained from the experience of two centuries, were those derived from the anomalous manner in which the right of veto was exercised. Milton's Paradise Lost passed the ordeal with difficulty, while the most scurrilous and indecent productions of the Restoration drama were printed as a matter of course. No Whig newspaper could appear, while the Tory Sir Roger L'Estrange, whose name was omitted from the Act of Grace, could libel the ' country party ' in his Observator without any check. Ludicrous cases could be cited to show how per- functorily the work of examination was done by the licenser and his deputies. A book which entitled King William and Mary ' conquerors ' had passed, while a history of the 'Bloody Assize' had been stopped. Cases like these undermined the reputation of the Act ; and when, in 1695, the Licensing Act, which was a temporary measure, expired, par- liament refused to renew it. Since that year there has been complete liberty to publish ; libels have, of course, been liable to prosecution like any other criminal offence ; but so long as they can keep out of the clutches of the law, writers may abuse either the government, the oppo- sition, or each other to their hearts' content. This revolution, though little noticed at the time, was as important in the world of thought as the much more celebrated Revolution in the world of politics. No sooner was the publication of thought free Effects of a than both thinking and writing themselves improved, and, as Milton had foretold, virtue herself was benefited and strengthened by often meeting her antagonists in ' a free and open encounter.' In politics the effect was instantaneous. Within a fortnight reappeared the [ntelli- gence Domestic and Foreign, which had been promptly suppressed on its first appearance in the days of the Exclusion Bill. It was quickly followed by other papers ; and in a few years the remotest villages were able to command intelligence which, though it may appear meagre to us, was full and accurate compared to what a few years before had been accessible even to Londoners, and the consequence was the rise of a public opinion which statesmen of neither party could afford to neglect. Nor was the effect on morality at all what had been expected. Instead of the press becoming coarser it became purer. Writers who depend on the general sale of their works must produce what the public will buy ; and nothing proves more clearly that the morality of the court of Charles ii. was not the morality of the average reading public, than the difference between the tone of the works which had the best 694 The Stuarts 1694 sale and of those which obtained most readily the patronage of the court. While engaged in this great series of constitutional, financial, and social reforms, and in waging a great European war, ministers had to be Assassina- constantly on the alert to detect and frustrate a series of tion Plots. plots which from time to time were formed against William's government or life. As early as 1691 Viscount Preston, a Eoman Catholic, who had been secretary of state under James ii., was arrested on board a vessel in the Thames when actually sailing to France with letters for James and Louis urging a renewal of Tourville's attempt. Condemned to die, he purchased his life by betraying his fellows, and received an ignominious pardon. In 1692, probably with the concurrence of James, a Frenchman named Grandval was despatched to Flanders in order to murder William. He was, however, betrayed by his accomplices and shot. So long, however, as Mary lived, her popularity was William's security, but her death made him much more liable to assassination, for his single life might be thought to stand in the way of a restoration. From that time forward he was in constant peril, and made the work of guarding his life more arduous by his fearless disregard of danger. The most formidable of these conspiracies was detected in 1696. It combined two designs : one, the raising an insurrection in England, supported by a French invading force ; the other, the assassination of William. The former of these was to be managed by Berwick, the latter by a group of desperate conspirators headed by Sir George Barclay, a Scottish follower of Dundee, and Robert Charnock, formerly a fellow of Magdalen College, who are said to have received a commission from James authorising them to attack the Prince of Orange in his winter quarters. Under this euphemism was concealed a design to surround his coach in a dark lane near Turnham Green, as he was on his way to Hampton Court, to kidnap him if he made no resistance, but to cut his throat if he did. Happily this diabolical plot was betrayed to the government, and the conspirators were seized in their beds. The whole design therefore came to nothing ; and James, after waiting in vain at Calais for the lighting of the beacon which was to announce from Dover cliffs the death of his son-in-law, retired in disappoint- ment to St. Germains, The government, on the other hand, made the best use of their good fortune. The opportunity was seized to band together the whole nation in an association similar to that formed in 1584 for the protection of Queen Elizabeth. Four hundred and twenty members of the House of Commons and eighty-three peers signed a parchment, binding them, in case of the king's murder, to aid in 1697 William III. 695 taking a signal revenge on the assassins, and to support the accession of Anne as arranged in the Bill of Rights. Signatures were then invited from the general public ; and so great was the indignation aroused by the infamous assassination plot, and the scarcely less terrible project of a French invasion, that the document was signed by the vast majority of the population, and the red ribbon of the association was to be seen on almost every hat. At no moment before or after did William enjoy such unanimous popularity as when he had just escaped from what appeared to his enemies certain destruction. Of the intending murderers Charnock and seven others were hanged, but Barclay escaped. Just before the conspiracy was detected, but not in time to give the conspirators the benefit of its provisions, parliament had passed an important Act regulating trials for treason. Up to this time Treason the conduct of these trials had given every assistance to the Trials, government, and put the accused at a great disadvantage. Till the trial began a prisoner was neither informed of the names of the jury nor of the exact charge which was to be brought against him, and witnesses for his defence were not allowed to be examined on oath. This state of things arose from the old form of trial based on the ordeal, which regarded the process as an attempt of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the prisoner, the business of the jury being to return a verdict of not guilty, unless the guilt of the prisoner admitted of no possible doubt. This method, excellent in theory, had in practice proved quite inefficient to secure fair play, especially in trials for treason. For a long time, however, no change had been made, partly because so long as Whigs only were tried Tories felt that there was much to be said for making treasonable practices dangerous, partly because the case of j^ersons accused of treason was no worse than that of other accused persons, and it seemed anomalous to give Guy Fawkes or Anthony Babington advantages which were denied to a poor shoplifter. However, fortune's wheel had now made the Tories the conspiring party, and before William had been long on the throne all parties were agreed that something must be done. Accordingly, by the new Act, the prisoner was to have a copy of the indictment and a list of the jury five days before the trial, and his witnesses were to be examined on oath. By the law of Edward vi. two witnesses were necessary for conviction ; but the safeguard conveyed by this rule had been narrowed by the crown lawyers to such an extent that Algernon Sidney was convicted on the evidence of one witness and the testimony afforded by some unpublished papers found in his desk. By the new law two witnesses were required to one open act of treason, or one to one, and one to another open act of the same kind of treason. (See page 434.) 696 The Stuarts 1697 This law, while it secured the safety of innocent men, undoubtedly made it harder to convict the guilty. Indeed, it was said satirically Fenwick's that the object of the Act was 'to make treason as safe as Case. 230ssible ' ; and in the case of Sir John Fenwick, who was accused of treason in 1697, a guilty man nearly escaped through its provisions. Fenwick was an old member of parliament who had taken an active part in forwarding the Bill of Attainder under which Monmouth had suffered. The Revolution made him a conspirator, and in 1695 he was certainly generally cognisant of the intentions of Charnock and Barclay. For some months he lay hidden, but was at length arrested ; and an intercepted letter which he had sent to his wife left no doubt whatever of his guilt. A London grand jury returned a true bill, but before his trial came on he attempted to purchase mercy by sending to William a rambling statement in which Shrewsbury, Russell, Marl- borough and Godolphin were accused of treasonable correspondence with St. Germains. To William this was no news, and he wisely determined to leave Fenwick to his fate ; but before the day of trial came on it was announced that Goodman, one of the two witnesses against him, had absconded. The Whigs, however, were not to be thus baulked. They voted Fenwick's confession to be scandalous ; then having satisfied themselves what Goodman's evidence would have been, passed a Bill of Attainder against Fenwick, to which the Lords agreed, and William, having given his consent, Fenwick was beheaded. The conclusion of the peace of Ryswick in 1697 proved in another way a turning-point in English politics. So long as the war continued, the nation recognised the paramount importance of military larity^" a success, and had cheerfully borne the burdens entailed by Standing ^]^g y^^^ . \^^^ with peace a reaction set in, and the national dislike to taxation, the unpopularity of standing armies, and insular prejudice against foreigners, had opportunity to assert them- selves. Accordingly, in the general election of 1698, the cry of the Tories was for peace and retrenchment, and a, majority of that party were returned. These men had little sympathy with William. Most of them belonged to the class of landed gentry on whom taxation for the war, especially the land-tax of £2,000,000 a year, had fallen very heavily ; and they had not only failed to obtain a share in the prosperity secured to the mercantile classes by Montagu's measures, but also had been bitterly disappointed by the failure of Harley's Land Bank, and they most unfairly ascribed the fiasco to the jealousy of the Whigs. Moreover, they had, and could have, no such thorough acquaintance with the condition of European affairs as was necessary to ajjpreciate William's foreign i^olicy ; 1700 JVilliam III. 697 and they did not understand his view that it was as needful to keep up a strong standing army and to be ever on the watch against the ambition of Louis XIV. England, they said, would do well to avail herself of her insular position, keep ou^ of foreign complications, and trust for defence to her fleet and her militia. Accordingly the army, which had already been reduced to 10,000 men, was further cut down to 7000, and a proviso was added, ' these to consist of his majesty's natural-born sul)jects.' The object of the Army last clause was to compel William to part with his Dutch reduced, guards, who formed the most obvious subjects for an attack upon foreigners so savage that Daniel Defoe was moved to write his satire of the True-horn Englishman, in which he derides the English claim to purity of descent, and reminds those people ' who deride the Dutch and rail at new come foreigners so much,' that they were themselves descended from swarm after swarm of foreign conquerors and refugees, and that their vaunted motto, ' A True-born Englishman,' was but ' a metai^hor invented to express a man akin to all the universe.' Another excellent subject for combining an attack upon William and the Dutchmen with an ostentatious care for economy was found in the Irish grants. William, like many other men who have no The Irish gift for general popularity, was dearly attached to a small ^'"^"t^- body of friends, such as Bentinck, Keppel, and Auverquerque, and he had lavished upon them extensive grants of land, especially in Ireland. Such grants had also been given to Lord Romney, who, as Henry Sidney, had been one of his chief advisers, to such stout soldiers as Ginkel Lord Athlone, and Ruvigny Lord Galway ; and a large estate belonging to James ii. had been given to Elizabeth Villiers, now Lady Orkney, who had been William's mistress before he came to England, and who after her marriage had been the confidential and valued adviser of some of the leading Whigs. A committee was appointed to inquire into the Irish grants, and its report showed that nmch land had been given away contrary to a promise of William that ' he would not make any grants of the forfeited lands in England and Ireland till there had been another opportunity of settling that matter in parliament.' This promise had been made in 1691, and parliament had done nothing since ; but the worst part of the matter was that the shares of Auverquerque, Keppel, and Portland's son, William Bentinck, whose public services Avere little or nothing, were very much larger than those given to Ptomney, Athlone, and Galway. Of this undoubtedly strong case the Tories made the very most, and in 1700 an Act was passed through parliament by which the whole of the grants were resumed. 698 The Stuarts 1700 The differences of opinion between the Tory House of Commons and the Whig House of Lords gave rise at this time to a constitutional • struggle of considerable importance. By a usage which dated since the time of Henry v., the Lords had no right to amend a money bill which had passed the Commons. Accordingly, when a measure was in hand of which the Lords were certain to disap- prove, an ingenious Tory devised the expedient of ' tacking ' it to a money bill. The Lords had then either to pass both, or to render themselves unpopular and throw government into confusion by stopping supplies. In the case of the Resumption Bill this was done with success ; but it remained to be seen whether the country would approve of a plan which put the whole control of public affairs into the hands of the House of Commons, and reduced the power both of the House of Lords and of the king to an absolute nullity. Confronted with this difficulty, William effected a change of ministers. In 1692 he had begun to modify the construction of his ministry, in A Tory order to bring it into better agreement with a majority of Ministry. Whigs ; he now reversed the process, and began cautiously to recall the Tories. In 1697 Shrewsbury resigned, and was succeeded by Jersey ; in 1697 Montagu's place was given first to Tankerville (formerly the Lord Grey of Monmouth's rebellion), and in 1700 to Godolphin ; Russell resigned in 1699, and was replaced by Bridgewater ; and Somers, who had been the subject of vehement parliamentary attack, gave up the chancellorship. In 1700 Rochester took office as lord- lieutenant of Ireland. The presence of Jersey, Godolphin, and Rochester was designed to appease the Tories ; but the ill effects of endeavouring to amalgamate the heads of both parties in a coalition ministry were soon apparent. In 1700 the question of the succession again became pressing. Of Anne's seventeen children most had been born dead, and four daughters The Act of ^^= ' '' ^ Decisive eleventh hour declared for the principles he had supported action of the Whigs in 1688), Somerset, the lord-chamberlain, who had long held himself aloof from the party, and Argyll, made their way to the council- chamber and insisted that the post of lord-treasurer, which was then vacant, should be given to Shrewsbury. To this, in a lucid interval, Anne agreed, and almost immediately sank back into lethargy. Two days later, on August 1, she died. Atterbury implored Bolingbroke to pro- claim the Pretender at Charing Cross, and even offered to head the procession in his lawn sleeves. The impetuous prelate found no sup- '30 The Stuarts 1714 porters. The collapse of the Tories was for the time complete, and the Whig lords, with Shrewsbury at their head, carried into effect without opposition the arrangements which had been prepared to secure the succession of the Protestant heir. Even Bolingbroke confessed that fate had been too much for him. CHIEF DATES. A.D. Battle of Blenheim, 1704 Battle of Ramillies, 1706 Scottish Union, . 1707 Battle of Oudenarde, . 1708 Battle of Malplaquet, . 1709 Impeachment of Saeheverell, 1709-10 South Sea Company formed, 1710 Treaty of Utrecht, 1713 Schism Act passed, . 1714 Book VIII THE HOUSE OF HANOVER XIX.— THE KINGS OF FEANCE SINCE 1609. Louis XIII., 1609-1643. Louis XIV., 1643-1715. Louis (dauphin), d. 1711. Louis, Duke of Burgundy, d. 1712. I I Louis XV., 1715-1774. I Louis (dauphin), d. 1765. Philip, King of Spain, d. 1746. Ferdinand Charles, of Spain. King of Naples. Louis XVL, 1774-1793. I Louis XVII., never reigned, d. 1795. Louis XVIII. 1815-1824. Charlpjs X., 1824-1830, abdicated. Grandfather of the Count de Chambord, who died without children, 1884. Philip, Duke of Orleans, d. 1710. I Philip (Regent), d. 1723. Great-great-grand- father of Louis Philippe, 1830-1848. I Duke of Duke Orleans, d'Aumale. d. 1842. I Count de Paris, d. 1894. I Philip, Duke of Orleans. XX.— THE HOUSE OF STUAKT. James II., 1685-1688, d. 1701. I James iii. (the Old Pretender), d. 1765. Louisa Maria Theresa, b. 1692, d. 1712. I Charles Edward (the Young Pretender), d. 1788. 732 Henry, Cardinal, of York, d. 1807. XXL— THE HOUSE OF HANOVER George I., 1714-1727. I I ^1 George II., Sophia = Frederick William, 1727-1760. King of Prussia. Frederick the Great. Frederick, Prince of Wales, d. 1751. Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. William, Duke of Cumberland, d. 1765. George III., = Sophia Charlotte 1760-1820. of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. I I George IV,, = Caroline Frederick, 1820-1830. of Duke of I Brunswick. York, Princess d. 1827. Charlotte, d. 1817. William IV. 1830-1837. Edward, Duke of Kent, d. 1820. Victoria 1837- Albert of Saxe-Coburg, d. 1861. Victoria = Frederick, Albert Edward, Alfred, Arthur, Leopold, Princess Royal. German Emperor, Prince of Wales, Duke of Duke of Duke of I Edinburgh. Connaught, Albany, lid. 1884, William II. , Albert Victor German Edward, Emperor. d. 1892, George duke of York, Princess May of Teck. George Patrick Andrew David. 733 CHAPTEK I GEOKGE I. : 1714-1727 Born 1660 ; married 1682, Sophia Dorothea of Brunswick. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Spain. Emperor. Louis XIV., d. 1715, Philip v., d. 1746. Charles vi., d. 1740. Lovus XV., d. 1774. The Whig Ministers — Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 — Foreign Policy — Stanhope and Sunderland — The South Sea Bubble — Walpole in Power — Wood's Halfpence. Contrary to all expectations, the proclamation of the new king passed off without disturbance. The sudden death of the queen seei^ to have Quiet paralysed the Jacobites, and it soon became clear that Accession, throughout the country the friends of the Hanoverian suc- cession had an overwhelming majority. So quiet, indeed, was every- thing that George made no hurry to appear among his new subjects, and did not land in England till September 18. Till his arrival the govern- ment was carried on by the seven great officers of state, and eighteen ' Lords Justices,' to whom Addison acted as secretary. Among these were Shrewsbury, Somerset, Argyll, Nottingham, Cowper, Halifax, and Townshend ; but the names of Marlborough, Somers, and Sunderland were omitted. Marlborough's exclusion was j)robably due to the offence which George had taken at the great captain's reticence on military aflfairs ; that of the other two to a determination to keep at a distance the great party leaders ; but whatever were his motives, Marlborough received amjale compensation in the magnificent and spontaneous recejD- tion which was given him by his countrymen on his return from the continent, and neither Somers nor Sunderland suffered any abatement of influence. The new king had a few useful qualities ; but he was not likely to make a popular sovereign, for his merits made little show, while his Character failings were easily seen. In appearance he was a small, of George, ^eavy-looking man, of kindly disposition and faithful to his friends. His intellectual capacity was second-rate, but he was 734 1714 George I. 7.35 diligent and business-like. As a soldier he had fought bravely at Landen and Steenkerke, and had for some time commanded an army on the Rhine but though he had certainly discussed the march to Blenheim with Marl- borough he had no pretensions to be a great commander ; and in civil matters, though he had made a good elector of a second-rate German state, and was beloved by the Hanoverians, he was not the man to shine on a larger field. Moreover, he was fifty-four years of age, of fixed habits, knew no English and little French ; naturally cared more for Hanover and the Hanoverians than for his new subjects ; and, though honest himself, was surrounded by courtiers, both men and women, whose one wish was to make as much as they could out of a new field for corruption and intrigue. But when this has been said, the worst has been told ; and George had one great merit, which, in the eyes of Englishmen, ought to outweigh all defects. He thoroughly trusted his ministers, and though he often wished to have his own way where the interests of Hanover were involved, he allowed them to do what they thought best in England. Such a king was exactly what England wanted ; for under George's unostentatious rule, the system of party government, which we have seen growing up during the last two reigns, took root, and became a recognised principle of the English constitution. At the commencement of each of the last two reigns, the experiment of a mixed ministry had been tried, but with such ill success that both William and Marlborough had been compelled to have recourse to a homogeneous administration. Warned by their experience, George at once gave his confidence to the Whigs, and, avoiding the great party leaders, chose for his ministers a set of younger men, of which Townshend, Stanhope, and Walpole were the chief, along with Sunderland and Nottingham. Lord Townshend, then aged thirty-eight, was the son of a Norfolk cava- lier, and had married Walpole's sister. He was a man of rough exterior, but of excellent heart— feared by strangers, but beloved by ^^^j^ghend. those who knew him best ; of upright character, energetic and assiduous in business ; no orator, but always listened to with attention because he spoke to the point. So far his chief claim to distinction had been the negotiation of the Barrier Treaty. He was now made secretary of state in succession to Bolingbroke. His colleague Stanhope, aged forty-one, was both a statesman and a soldier, dis- tinguished for bravery on many fields. He had taken a leading part in the impeachment of Sacheverell, but being cap- gtanhope. tured at Brihuega, and imprisoned till the peace, he had been absent from England at the fall of the Whig ministry. Since 736 * The Hanoverians 1714 his return he had been deep in the councils of the Whigs, and in Marlborough's absence had been their most trusted military adviser. As a soldier he was beloved by his men, to whom it is related that he always said, ' Come on,' and not ' Go on.' In civil life Steele speaks of 'his plain dealing, generosity, and frankness, his natural and pleasing eloquence in assemblies, and his agreeable and winning behaviour in conversation.' Walpole (see p. 714) had distinguished liimself as secre- tary at war, and his prosecution in 1712 had raised hun to the front rank among the Whig leaders. Parliament sat for six months after Anne's death, and was then dissolved. At the general election the country reversed the verdict of 1710 and 1713 by sending back a large majority of Whigs. In consequence, the government felt itself strong enough to attempt, according to the practice of the time, to set on foot a prosecution of the late ministers. As soon as Parliament reassembled, a committee, of which Walpole was the chairman, was appointed to enquire into the guilt of the late „ ministers. Its report, drawn by Walpole, advised the Prosecution r ^ ^ r i of the Tory impeachment of Oxford, Bolingbroke, and Ormond, on a general charge of having treacherously sacrificed British interests and British honour at the Treaty of Utrecht, and also of having intrigued to restore the Pretender. As soon as the decision was known, Bolingbroke escaped to the continent, Avhither he was eventually followed by Ormond, and Oxford alone remained to brave the storm. He was arrested, and sent to the Tower. The flight of Bolingbroke and Ormond was taken by parliament as equivalent to a confession of guilt, and they were at once attainted. With regard, however, to Oxford, the more his case was examined, the less likely did it appear that his conviction could be secured. His conduct in negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht had received the approval both of parliament and of the queen, while the evidence of his connection with the Pretender was to be found only at Versailles. Accordingly, a year later, the charge was reduced from treason to misdemeanour, and in 1718 the proceedings were allowed to drop, and the fallen minister was set at liberty. By the flight of Bolingbroke the Jacobites lost little, but that of Ormond was a great blow to their cause, as it had been hoped that he would put himself at the head of a western insurrection ; but his natural hesitation — and possibly his military instinct that such an insurrection, unless backed by French troops or Highlanders, would be of no avail — deterred him from the attempt. The elections had passed over quietly, but during the spring and sunmier Jacobite riots occurred in many places, particularly in the 1715 George /. -j-^- midland counties. At Oxford the cry of the mob was, 'James iii and no pretender !' In Staffordshire the Tory rabble pulled down the meeting-houses of the obnoxious nonconformists, with shouts of ' Hiuh church and Ormond for ever ! ' Such occurrences ^'°*^' required prompt measures ; and in order to strengthen the hands of the local authorities. Parliament passed the Riot Act, which is The Riot still in force. This provides that, if twelve or more persons ^*^*- unlawfully and riotously assemble against the peace, and do not disperse within one hour after being ordered to do so in the king's name by a justice of the peace or other lawful authority, they shall be guilty of felony ; and if after such order any one is killed in resisting those who are charged to disperse them, no one shall be held guilty of his murder. The riots were only symptoms of the prevalence of a very dano-erous feeling. There is no doubt that Jacobitism was very widespread ; and short of Jacobitism, there was a strong suspicion of every- thing which savoured of Whiggism, a feeling which had * '^'"" been stimulated by the publication in 1708 of Lord Clarendon's History of the Great Rehellion. For years it was the text-book in which the history of the seventeenth century was studied in every parsonage and country house, and its strong partisan colouring cast a glamour over the royalist cause which was most favourable to the interests of the Stuarts. Jacobitism was strongest in the west, where Sir William Wyndham had great influence, and in Lancashire, where the number of Roman Catholic families was very considerable; In Scotland, too, dissatisfaction with the Union, joined with the usual antagonism of many of the Highland clans to constituted authority, and especially to any government which was favoured by the Campbells, gave the Jacobites hopes of organising a successful rebellion. The best hope of the Jacobites lay in a simultaneous rising in England and Scotland, supported by the presence of the Pre- tender, in person at all events and, if possible, backed by a body of foreign troops. Of this Bolingbroke was well aware, but even his skill could not overcome the difficulties in his path. First, the flight of Ormond deprived them of their only military leader ; then the dying condition of Louis XIV. paralysed the politics of the French court ; then the British government arrested Wyndham, who was the life and soul of the western Jacobites ; and, finally, the Pretender gave orders to the earl of Mar to begin an insurrection in Scotland, without waiting till England was ready to move. Accordingly, on August 1, Mar set out from London, and making his way by sea to Scotland, raised the Highland clans. In this he showed 3 a 738 The Hanoverians 1715 much address, and by the end of September was at the head of a far larger force than any Montrose had ever commanded. To cope with him the Mar's government despatched Argyll to the north. He found hmi- Rising. ggjf^ however, far outnumbered, and had to content himself with encamping his scanty forces under the walls of Stirling. Fortu- nately for him, Mar showed at this crisis none of the qualities of a great commander, and instead of pushing on and overwhelming Argyll, Forster's ^^ allowed himself to be detained at Perth. Meanwhile, Rising. Thomas Forster, member of parliament for Northumberland, assisted by the earl of Derwentwater, had collected a body of cavalry on the border, and had been joined by another party of horse raised by Lord Kenmure in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. To aid them. Mar de- spatched brigadier-general Mackintosh with a corps of Highlanders to Kelso, whence the whole body crossed the border, and made their way into Lancashire. They reached Preston at the end of November, and occupied the town with a badly armed force of some three thousand men. There they were attacked by General Wills with a small but efficient force ; and Forster, who had been named commander — not for any military qualities, but solely because he was not a Roman Catholic — showed his incompetency by not even defending the bridge over the Ribble, and confined his exertions to barricading the main streets. There, Surrender however, his men fought well, and the first assault was at Preston, j-epulsed; but when General Carpenter joined Wills, Forster abandoned hope, and — much to the disgust of his officers and men — surrendered at discretion. On the very day of the surrender at Preston, Mar at length summoned courage to march against Argyll ; and as he had 10,000 men to Argyll's Battle of 3300, no difficulty was expected. Argyll, however, marched Sheriffmuir, q^^ ^o meet him, and drawing up his forces on the open ground of the Sheriffmuir, on the road to Dunblane, oflFered battle. The fight which followed was one of the most singular in history. Each commander fought on his own right, each carried all before him, and each, on hearing of the disaster to his left, returned to the field ; but Argyll's men were the fewer and apparently the more exhausted, and, above all, had to be drawn up at the foot of a slope, while the rebels were on its summit. At this moment a vigorous charge would have carried the day ; and Argyll was making the best dispositions for a desperate defence, when, for some unexplained reason. Mar gave the signal for retreat. It was then that one of the disgusted Highlanders gave voice to the well-known sentiment, ' Oh, for an hour of Dundee ! ' The battle of Sheriffnmir, though it was rather a defeat for Mar than 1715 George I. 739 a victory for Argyll, was decisive of the issue of the campaign, and Mar made no further effort to break the bridling line of the Forth. Even the arrival of the Pretender in person was unable to The Old restore the energy of the troops. On both sides the dis- Pretender, illusionment was complete. He expected to find a numerous, well- disciplined, and victorious army ; they a handsome, active, and energetic leader. He found a disheartened and ill-armed rabble ; they saw before them a tall, thin, pale young man, slow of speech, and without a smile. Nothing further was attempted. In January the rebels retreated from Perth, and on February 4 the Pretender and Mar abandoned their followers, and made the best of their way to France. Of the noblemen taken at Preston, Lords Derwent water and Kenmure alone were beheaded ; and the fact that this was done with the full approval of the kindly and lenient Walpole is strong evidence that a stern example was necessary. Forster and Mackintosh both escaped. The miserable failure of these insurrections, even making allowance for the incompetency of Mar and Forster, showed clearly that no rising was likely to be successful which was not aided by a foreign chances of force. Such an army might be supplied by France, Spain, ^"°^^^e" ^'d. or Sweden, and the foreign policy of George's ministers was chiefly directed to prevent such aid being given. Fortunately the death of Louis XIV., which occurred on September 1, 1715, completely changed the policy of the French court. His successor was his great-grandson, Louis XV., a little boy of five years old, in delicate health, who was under the regency of his cousin, the duke of Orleans, generally known as Philip the Regent. By blood the next heir to the throne was Louis' uncle, Philip of Spain, but his claim was barred by the Treaty of Utrecht, and Philip the Regent, as next in succession after him, was, therefore, desirous of maintaining the treaty (see pedigree, p. 732). In accordance with this view, and advised by the clever Abbe Dubois, the regent negotiated a treaty with England ; recognised the Hanoverian succession, and for some years this alliance between England and France was the dominat- ing fact in European politics. For the first time, therefore, since 1688, the government of France was really friendly to England. Spain was more dangerous. Philip himself was a feeble personage, wholly under the dominion of his wife, but his minister, Alberoni, was one of the most distinguished men of the day. By birth the ^j^g^^^. son of a gardener, he had raised himself to be the chief power in Spain. Alberoni had the good sense to perceive that the loss of her outlying possessions in Italy and the Netherlands had not really destroyed the power of Spain, and he had sufficient address to secure a 740 The Hanoverians 1715 period of peace, during which the finances, the army, and the navy could be placed on a sound footing. With returning prosperity the ambition of Alberoni expanded, and he now looked forward to restoring Spain to her place among the Great Powers, and regaining the pro- vinces she had lost by the treaty of Utrecht, His plans were viewed with suspicion, both at Paris and Vienna. In 1717, incensed by the arrest of a Spanish subject, Spain declared war against Austria. As a first step she attacked and conquered the island of Sardinia, and in 1718 sent an expedition to Sicily. In consequence of the threatening attitude of Spain the triple alliance was extended to include Austria, under the title of the quadruple alliance, and Admiral Byng received orders to hinder any attack on Sicily. Accordingly, when he arrived Cape there he brought on an action with the Spanish fleet^olf Passaro. Q^pe Passaro, in which the British were victorious. This check to his plans roused the anger of Alberoni, and he at once retaliated by taking up the cause of the Pretender. His first scheme was to foment the anger of Charles xii., the eccentric soldier who then reigned in Sweden, and who had been exasperated vTT against Britain by the circumstance that George had recently purchased from Denmark the duchies of Bremen and Verden, l^etween the Lower Elbe and the Weser, which, till overrun by the Danes in 1710, had belonged to Sweden since the year 1648. Accordingly, Alberoni had little difficulty in inducing him to fall in with his suggestion of an invasion of Scotland. Such an event would have been most formidable, for Charles was no contemptible general, and his appearance in the Highlands at the head of a strong force would have been a signal for a rising to which Mar's rebellion would have been a trifle. Happily for England, the conquest of Norway was to be under- taken as a preliminary, and Charles' death before the fortress of Fredericks- hall in December of 1719 removed a very serious danger. Charles having failed him, Alberoni then invited the Pretender to Spain, and prepared a SiDanish expedition to England. It consisted of 5000 soldiers, under the command of Ormond, with weapons Spanish ' . • i V, invasion of for 30,000 more, but it was shattered by a storm m the Bay of Biscay. Only two ships with 300 men reached Kintail in Ross-shire, and the small force they carried was utterly routed in 1719 at the pass of Glenshiel. In Spain itself, and at sea, Alberoni suffered numerous disasters at the hands of the British and French, and at length his removal from office was made a condition of peace by the allied powers. The condition was accepted. Alberoni fell from power and left Spain for his native Italy, and a general peace was concluded 1720 George I. 74 •[ in 1720, of which the most interesting item was the acceptance by the newly-crowned King of Sicily (see p. 726) of the island of Sardinia in lieu of Sicily ; and a general pacification followed, mainly due to the joint influence of the unusual alliance between England and France. The chief credit for the defeat of Alberoni must be ascribed to Stanhope. At home the chief measure of the government had been the passing of the Septennial Act. For some time the policy of the Triennial Act had been called in question, and it had been bitterly declared that under it parliament spent its first year in trying Septennial election petitions ; its second in discussing measures ; and ^^' its third in awaiting dissolution. However, in 1716, it was found that unless some change were made a general election would have to take place in 1717. Considering the agitated state of the country, ministers refused to run the risk, and proposed to extend the life of the existing and future parliaments to seven years. The bill passed both Houses by large majorities, and appears to have excited little opposition outside the House. Its importance was very great. It strengthened the House of Commons against the House of Lords, partly by adding to its perman- ence, partly by relieving individual members of their dependence on individual peers who then nominated a large number of the members of the Lower House ; and it is noteworthy that from the date of its passing more pains were taken by ministers to keep some of their best men in the Lower House. It also made the policy of the House less fluctuating, and aided the Whigs to consolidate their power between one general election and the next. The aged Somers praised it on the ground that ' it would be the greatest support to the liberties of the country ' ; Carteret, as ' increasing the credit of England abroad by adding to the stability of ministers.' Its chief effects at present are to give greater security against violent changes of policy ; to insure that the policy of any set of ministers has a fair trial ; and to secure time for the subsidence of the party passions which are kindled by a general election. It also gives greater independence to the members than they would have if elections were more frequent, and saves the country much expense. In 1717 the Whig triumvirate broke up. Like all parties with a large majority the Whigs were peculiarly liable to internal quarrels, and at this date the loyalty of members of the same cabinet to one cabinet of '' '' 1 xi T^ Marvels. another was not so strong as it has subsequently become. ^ Very early, therefore, there were symptoms of strained relations between ministers, and Lord Sunderland, who was exasperated at being relegated to the unimportant position of lord-lieutenant of Ireland, did what he could to foment them. The difficulties arose not so much from any one 742 The Hanoverians 1717 cause as from a series of petty piques and misunderstandings — for on general politics the ministers were agreed ; but among other things the King was annoyed by Townshend being friendly with the Prince of Wales, whose comparative popularity made him odious to his father. Moreover, the fact that Stanhope and Sunderland were at Hanover while Townshend was in London, and that all dealings between them were by letters exchanged at long intervals was most unfavourable to harmony. Accordingly, George dismissed Townshend from his post of secretary of state, but endeavoured to appease his anger by making him lord-lieutenant of Ireland. Townshend for a time submitted, but the relations of the ministers were little improved, and in 1717 George suddenly dismissed Townshend from the lord-lieutenancy. Walpole, contrary to George's strongly exjDressed wishes, immediately resigned, and with him William Pulteney, who was an excellent speaker and a close ally of Walpole. Their retirement was followed by a reconstruc- tion of the government. Stanhope became first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. Sunderland reaped his reward by being made secretary of state, with Addison as his colleague. A little later Stanhope was raised to the peerage, and gave up his post as chan- cellor of the exchequer to Aislabie. In 1718 Sunderland became first Lord of the Treasury, and Stanhope took the post of Secretary of State. Stanhope was an able and broad-minded minister. Sunderland, with great ability and industry, was of an exclusive and oligarchical turn of mind. The influence of the one is seen in the repeal of the Stanhope . and Acts against Schism and Occasional Conformity ; of the other in the abortive Peerage Bill. Both Stanhope and Sunderland were firm believers in toleration, and with Sunderland's full concurrence Stanhope introduced a bill, ingeniously entitled, ' An Act for Strengthening the Protestant Interest,' by which it was proposed to repeal the Schism Act, and the Act against Occasional Conformity, and those portions of the Test and Corporation Act which applied to Pro- testant Dissenters. It was soon apparent how little hold the theory of toleration had secured over the minds of Englishmen. All the bishops but four opposed the measure ; many peers, among others the Whig Devonshire and the Tory Nottingham supported them ; and eventually the second reading was only carried by 86 to 68. Warned by this. Stanhope dropped the proposal to touch the Test and CorjDoration Acts ; but even with this modification, the second reading in the Commons was only passed by 243 to 202 ; and to his great disgrace Walpole, Avho had formerly described the Schism Act as more worthy of Julian the Apostate than of a Protestant parliament, spoke and voted in the minority. 1720 George I. 743 The fate of this measure showed clearly that Sunderland had been right in declaring that any ' attack on the Test Act would ruin all,' and Stanhope, who would gladly have done away with all the disabilities, both of the Protestant Dissenters and of the Roman Catholics, felt that he could go no further without rousing the hostility of the Anglican Church, which had already proved fatal to Godolphin and Marlborough. Sunderland's scheme was even less successful. Its nominal design was to secure the House of Lords from any repetition of the coiqj d'etat of Queen Anne, by restricting the number of peers ; but in reality, ^he Peerage it was designed to serve Sunderland's oligarchical views by ^^''i- increasing the relative importance of the nobility, and by putting the House of Lords in a position to set at defiance the wishes, either of the House of Commons or the crown. He hoped to make it palatable to the Commons by indirectly preventing the Hanoverian kings from conferring peerages upon foreigners. The bill provided that only six more peerages, beyond the then number of one hundred and seventy-eight, might be created. Extinct peerages were, however, to be filled up, and, to insure frequent vacancies, the new peerages were to be confined to heirs male. The six- teen elective Scottish peers were to be replaced by twenty-five hereditary peers from that country. The bill passed the Lords readily enough, and would j)robably have passed the Commons too, had it not been for the determined opposition of Walpole, who saw more clearly than any other man of his time the importance of securing, at all hazards, the predomin- ance of the Lower House. His speech was a masterpiece, appealing both to the political instincts of the members, and to their fomily and social prejudices and ambitions. The bill, he declared, would take away a great inducement to virtue, ' for there would be no way of arriving at honour but through the winding sheet of an old decrepit lord or the grave of an extinct noble family.' ' It was obvious,' he said, ' that whatever the lords gained, must be acquired at the loss of the Commons and the royal prerogative ' ; and finally he asked his fellow-commons how the lords could expect them to consent to a bill to prevent themselves and their descendants from being made peers. With these homely arguments he 'bore down everything before him,' and the bill was rejected by 209 to 177. Had it passed, the rule of the Whig oligarchy, who were then in power, would have been made perpetual, and nothing short of a revolu- tion could have broken down the opposition of the House of Lords when it chanced to disagree with the Commons. The same year that saw the rejection of the peerage bill witnessed the rise of the South Sea scheme. The South Sea Company had been founded by the Tory ministry in 1711. In principle, the new company was created 744 The Hanoverians 1717 on the same lines as had been followed by Montagu in the formation of the Bank of England. The holders of bonds or floating debt, to the value Th s th ^^ £19,000,000, were formed into a company, which was to re- Sea Com- ceive from the government an interest of six per cent, guaran- teed on certain customs duties, the sum of £8000 a year for management and the exclusive right of trading in the Pacific Ocean and along the east coast of South America from the Orinoco to Cape Horn. The new company was regarded as a Tory institution, and at the treaty of Utrecht sjDccial care was taken of its interests. For its benefit, the monopoly of the African slave trade or assiento had been secured for England, and also the right to send one ship a year to trade with the Spanish colonies. The company, therefore, flourished, and in 1717 the value of its shares was considerably above par. In the early days of George i., the increase in the national debt, and especially the heavy burden of the terminable annuities, were creating much apprehension. As the stability of government increased, its credit improved, and the rate of interest steadily declined. In 1717, govern- ment took advantage of this to reduce the interest on the debt payable both to the South Sea Company and to the Bank of England from 6 to 5 per cent., and the two companies advanced 4| millions at 5 per cent, to enable the government to pay oft' those of its creditors who preferred it. The South Sea scheme of 1719 was, in its origin, a proposal to carry this process a step further. The subject was mooted between Sir John Blunt, ^ , the chairman of the company, Aislabie, chancellor of the Proposals i. i of the exchequer, and Sunderland, the first lord of the treasury. ^ ^' The scheme, as it first stood, was moderate ; but the friends of the Bank of England obtained leave for it to make a proposal, and in consequence of this the two companies bid against one another till all idea of prudence had disappeared. Eventually the South Sea Company won the race, and agreed to take over the whole of the debt at 5 jDcr cent., and to pay the government no less than 7^ millions of money to pay off" its floating liabilities and such fund-holders as did not fall in with the scheme. At first it was doubtful what the fund-holders would do ; but within a few days the vast majority of them accepted shares in the company to the value of 8i years' purchase of their annual income. Apparent " ■^ ^ Success of Not a doubt of the success of the scheme crossed the public mind, and confidence was increased by the circumstance that at Paris a similar scheme was on foot, and that glowing accounts of the untold wealth conferred on France by the transactions of the Missis- sippi Company were circulated in London. Another influence which 1720 George I. 745 added to the rage for speculation was the fact that at that date the opportunities for investment were few, the wealth of the country was rapidly increasing, and consequently a tremendous rush was made to secure shares in an undertaking which seemed to be guaranteed by all the authority of the statesmen of the day. In consequence, the £100 shares, which at the beginning of the year were at 130, rapidly rose in value. All through the spring and summer of 1720 the value continued rising, and in August it reached the gigantic price of £1000 per share of £100. To make this value profitable, the company would have to pay at least 50 per cent. ; but so sanguine or infatuated were the directors, that they made a public announcement that after Christmas 1721 the dividend should never fall below this sum. Meanwhile, the rage for speculation was so great that other companies came into the field. Some were sensible but premature ; others were absurd. One was for smelting iron by pit coal ; another for Rival 'insuring masters and mistresses against losses caused by the Companies, carelessness of servants ' ; another ' for a wheel for perpetual motion ' ; and a fourth for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is. As chairmen of the companies appeared the names of dukes and earls, and even the Prince of Wales came before the public as chairman of a Welsh copper company. Most of these companies had no legal standing, and the South Sea Company commenced proceedings against them. Their action, however, opened the eyes of the public to the recklessness of the original speculation. Shares immediately fell. By October the stock had fallen to 300 ; by the end of November it was at 135, and there it stayed ; but all those who had been foolish enough to pay above that price, and failed to sell out, lost their money, panic and Terrible ruin followed ; for men and women of all classes, ^"*"- statesmen and cobblers, ladies and laundresses, had alike joined in the race for wealth. Sunderland lost, Walpole gained ; the prudent Pope added to his income, the careless Gay lost his. Public credit seemed likely to be annihilated, and no one could foresee what would happen. The Jacobites were triumphant. In these circumstances one name was on every lip as that of the man who might save the country. From the first Walpole had opposed the scheme as too gigantic for safety, though he had no scruple in making money by it himself; but as he had opposed everything proposed by Stanhope and Sunderland, his advice had been unheeded, and moreover he had since rejoined their administration. Now, however, his warnings were remembered, and his advice was eagerly listened to. At the same time a loud cry was raised for the punishment of the 746 The Hanoverians 1720 directors ; and an investigation was demanded. Its researches soon laid bare a mass of corrupt dealing, which, though probably not unusual in the case of companies at that date, caused intense excitement. It The Dilin- ^^^ found that large quantities of wholly fictitious stock had quents. been assigned to ministers and others as the price of their support. Ten thousand pounds each had been given to the duchesses of Kendal and Sufi"olk. The names of Sunderland, Craggs, Aislabie, and Charles Stanhope, a cousin of the earl, were all mentioned as persons who had received complimentary assignments of stock. Of these, Sunderland and Stanhope were with difficulty acquitted. Craggs died of small-pox the very day the report was published. His father committed suicide. Aislabie was expelled. The culpable directors were fined. Gibbon's grandfather had to give up £95,000 out of a fortune of £100,000. Earl Stanhope was not badly implicated ; but his fury at the gibes of Lord Wharton was so great that he was taken ill in the House of Lords and died a few days later. Sunderland was compelled to resign. These changes made way for Walpole, who succeeded Sunderland as first lord of the treasury, and Aislabie as chancellor of the exchequer. By his advice it was arranged that the capital of the company Company should be £33,000,000, on half of which an interest of ga ise . g _^^^ cent, was to be paid by the government down to 1727, and 4 per cent, afterwards ; and shareholders were to have 33 per cent, of their nominal capital. In this way the nation was able to look forward to a reduction of 1 per cent, in the interest on the national debt after six years. Gradually the disturbance in trade subsided. Hapjiily there had been no destruction of capital, as in the case of the Darien scheme. Some were richer, and some were poorer, but the wealth of the nation remained the same ; by degrees confidence was restored and trade settled down into its accustomed channels. Walpole now became first lord of the treasury and prime minister of England. He is the first to whom this title is usually given, though as early as 1677 Evelyn speaks in his diary of Lord Arlington Prime as having been ' secretary of state and prime minister.' By IVIinistcr • this, however, he merely means the leading minister, and from the earliest times one among the king's ministers could usually be thus distinguished. Under the Normans and early Plantagenets it was the justiciar, such as Roger le Poer, or Hubert de Burgh ; under the later Plantagenets and early Tudors it was usually the chancellor, such as William of Wykeham, Morton or Wolsey. Under the later Tudors and the Stuarts it was sometimes the chancellor, sometimes the lord-treasurer, sometimes the secretary of state. Burleigh was first 1721 JValpole 747 secretary of state, and then lord-treasurer. Clarendon was chancellor ; but after his fall the office of lord-treasurer was generally filled by the leading minister, and was held as such by Danby and Godolphin. It had, however, been often the custom not to appoint a lord-treasurer, but to place the treasury under the management of a board of com- missioners, each of whom was entitled a lord of the treasury, and their chairman was called the first lord. In a similar way we now have a board of admiralty, which takes the place of the lord high admiral. There was then no fixed rule as to precedence, and under George i. both Townshend and Stanhope, when really leading minister, had held the office of secretary of state. Circumstances, however, had arisen which of necessity made the position of leading minister more definite than heretofore. Of these, the most important was the absence of the sovereign from meet- The ings of the cabinet. Hitherto it had been the practice for Premiership, the sovereign always to be present whenever he was in England, and to take the chair. George i., however, found the task irksome and useless, from his ignorance of the English language, and soon gave up the habit. Henceforward, therefore, the leading minister was recognised as the chair- man of the cabinet council, and to him was invariably given the title of prime minister, and a little later of premier. Walpole's long tenure of office associated the position with that of first lord of the treasury ; but there is no fixed rule on the matter, and in both the ministry of 1885 and that of 1886 Lord Salisbury reverted to the older practice, and held the position of prime minister along with that of secretary of state for foreign affairs, giving that of first lord of the treasury to the leader of the House of Commons. The position of prime minister, however, is not to be found in English law ; it is merely a title of courtesy, and is given to the person who is asked by the sovereign to form a cabinet. The change thus initiated was of great importance in the history of party govern- ment ; and, combined with George's practice of choosing his ministers from one political party, did a great deal to make the The ministers a united and disciplined body, a change which was recognised by the new practice of speaking of the whole body of ministers as the ministry. Henceforward the ministry includes all the political officers of the crown who are changed in accordance with the fluctuations of political opinion ; the cabinet includes those members of the ministry who sit as a secret committee under the chairmanship of the prime minister. Cabinet ministers, if they are not so before, are always made members of the privy council, and as such have the title of Riffht Honourable. 748 George I. 1721 Waljiole's chief colleagues were Townshend and Carteret, the two secretaries of state, and Pulteney, cofferer, or treasurer, of the king's Walpole's household. Fortunately for Walpole, he assumed office at Colleagues. ^ moment when accident or death was removing from the political stage all the men who might have been his successful rivals. All the members of the old Junto were dead. Godolphin had died in 1714, Marlborough in 1722 ; Stanhope, too, was gone. Sunderland, whose insinuating tongue was busy to the last in undermining Walpole, as it had undermined Townshend, died in 1722 ; Harley died in 1726 ; Boling- broke was discredited ; Craggs was dead ; Aislabie had been expelled. The first prime minister of England was a typical Englishman of his own time. Born in 1676, the third among the nineteen children of a Character country squire, he was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and of Walpole. acquired a knowledge of business and of his fellow-men on the magistrates' bench and in the hunting field. He entered parliament in 1700, and as he controlled the elections at Lynn and Castle Rising, and was a strong Whig, he soon attracted attention. In 1704 Marl- borough gave him a seat on the admiralty board ; in 1708 he became secretary of war, and his imprisonment in 1712 raised him to the front rank among Whig statesmen, and henceforth his personal history becomes part of that of his country. In appearance he was the country squire, with an open and genial countenance, well-knit frame, and habits of steady endurance, either in the field or at the desk. Of easy morals, and intelligent enough to lead, but not too far ahead of his contemporaries to be out of sympathy with their ideas and prejudices ; plain-spoken and good-natured ; a hard worker but a lover of sport, with a capital knowledge of human nature and of the art of managing men ; he knew what he wanted to get and how to get it, and if he found that insuperable difficulties lay in his way, he was willing either to turn back and wait for a more convenient season, or to devise some less ostentatious method of compassing his ends. Thoroughly impressed with the necessity of a period of repose after the long series of agitations through which England had passed during the preceding eighty years, he avoided anything that might revive either political or religious rancour. In foreign politics he recognised the maintenance of peace as the best security against Jacobite intrigue ; and while never truckling to foreign powers, and keeping a steady eye on the ^^reservation of British interests, he steadily avoided complications that might lead to war, and when forced to fight did his best to confine hostilities within the smallest practicable limits. Either at home or abroad he had no liking for heroic measures, and always acted on the principle of letting well alone. 1722 Walpole 749 The need of this caution was very soon demonstrated by the revelation of a Jacobite conspiracy. In 1720 the friends of the Pretender had been much elated by the birth of a grandson of James ii., jacobite named Charles Edward Lewis Casimir Stuart, who was ^^°*^- afterwards the unfortunate leader of the risino- of 1745. They also had conceived the singular idea that George was tired of his new power ; and the Pretender actually wrote to him and offered to secure him the title of king of Hanover if he would retire in his fiivour. It was also believed that the country was exasperated by the failure of the South Sea scheme, for, with the credulity of exiles, the Stuarts and their friends interpreted every event in their own favour. At this time the affairs of the Jacobites were managed by a committee of five persons, of whom Atterbury, bishop of Eochester, was the ablest and most energetic ; and, though the correspondence of the conspirators had been most artfully concealed, a chance incident enabled the government to identify the work of Atterbury. He was accordingly arrested, and in spite of an eloquent defence before the House of Lords, a Bill of Pains and Penalties against him passed through both Houses, and in accordance with its provisions he was deprived of his bishopric and banished in 1722. There is no doubt of his guilt ; but among the high church party great scandal was caused by such an attack on a bishop, and during his imprisonment in the Tower prayers were offered for him in many London churches on the plea that he had the gout. The detection of Atterbury was a great blow to the Jacobites, and Walpole followed it up by imposing a tax on all Catholic recusants, and this was afterwards extended so as to apply to Nonjurors. This intolerant measure admits of no defence ; but as the Roman Catholics and Nonjurors furnished the Jacobite conspirators, Walpole seems to have thought that their sins should be visited on all alike. So powerful did Walpole feel after Atterbury 's trial that he ventured at this date to permit Bolingbroke to return to England. Since his flight that statesman had met with a singular experience, g^jj^^. Within twelve months he had been dismissed from the broke 's service both of the king and the Pretender ; attainted by the parliament of one ; denounced as a traitor by the adherents of the other. His dismissal by James, which seems to have been due to the jealousy of Ormond and Mar, made him the bitter enemy of the Stuarts, and he was delighted to enter into any bargain which should restore him to England. Walpole, however, was careful. The sincerity of his repentance was tested by six years of delay ; and when, as the result of a bribe of ^11,000 to the duchess of Kendal, the king's mis- tress, a pardon under the great seal Avas granted, his estates were restored 750 Gem-ge I. 1722 by Act of Parliament, nothing was done to reverse the attainder, and Bolingbroke was therefore exchided from parliament. In 1724, the first of a long series of internal dissensions broke out in the cabinet. The causes of these were both general and special. In the first place, the tendency of party government had been to Quarrel , , ^ • • • % . , ,. with compel the admmistration to adopt a united policy, and to stand or fall together, and it was obvious that if this were to be the rule, it would be impossible for any man to retain his place in the cabinet who was, on vital questions, opposed to the views of his colleagues and especially to those of the prime minister. In the second, several of Walpole's original colleagues were men of so much character and ambition that it was difficult for them to acquiesce in a principle which involved so much sacrifice of individual opinion. Of these the first to go was Lord Carteret. This nobleman, who was born in 1690, was recognised by his contemporaries as one of the most notable and accomplished men of his time, and when he died Lord Chesterfield asserted that, ' take it for all in all, the ablest head in England dies with him.' Having become a peer as a boy, he never sat in the House of Commons, but soon after taking his seat in the Lords he had attached himself to Lord Sunderland, and distinguished himself for his address in debate and for his devotion to Whig principles. In private life he was a most amiable and upright man, extremely well-read, both in ancient and modern literature, and possessed of the rare accomj^lishment of speak- ing German, a power which gave him gi-eat influence over the king. In politics he had distinguished himself as ambassador to Sweden, and, young as he was, Walpole intrusted him with the post of secretary of state. Unfortunately, between Carteret and his chief there were marked diff'er- ences of character and temperament. The secretary's ambition lay mainly in the direction of foreign affairs, and he cared very little either for the details of administration or for the arts necessary in the management of men. ' What does it matter to me,' he would say, ' who is a judge or who is a bishop ? It is my business to make kings and emperors, and to main- tain the balance of Europe.' Carteret, in fact, had ideas of his own ; and Walpole's jealousy, once aroused, was aggravated by Carteret's personal friendliness with the king, and, as in the case of Stanhope and Townshend, by Carteret's prolonged absences with George in Hanover. Eventually, an obscure intrigue at the French court, in which Walpole's brother, Horatio, outwitted Carteret's friend, Sir Luke Schaub, the regular English ambassador, brought matters to a crisis, and Carteret's fall followed. Though he ceased to be a secretary of state, Carteret did not leave the cabinet. As Townshend had been in 1717, he was nominally promoted 1724 JValpole 751 to the post of lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and as it chanced arrived there at a moment when an opportunity for distinction presented itself. Since the capitulation of Limerick, Ireland had been in a condition of complete stagnation. Power had been eflfectuaUy concentrated in the hands of the Protestant minority, and had been exercised so much under the direct superintendence of English ministers ^^^^^"'*- that a series of commercial measures, designed to prevent the growth in Ireland of any manufactures likely to compete successfully with English industries, had been passed by the Irish parliament. So thoroughly, indeed, was the independence even of the 'English interest' subdued and so little danger did there appear to be of trouble from an Irish parlia- ment, that in 1708, when, after the legislative union with Scotland, the Irish parliament petitioned for a similar measure, the ministry did not consider the request worthy of attention ; and an Act passed in 1719, by which the Irish parliament was declared to be a subordinate body and the English parliament empowered to make laws binding in Ireland, was hardly regarded in England as doing more than register a patent fact. In Ireland, however, the taking away of the last semblance of independent legislation was naturally regarded with jealousy. Of this feeling the English ministers became aware when, in 1 722, Wal- pole, finding that Ireland was in need of a new copper coinage, granted a patent for coining copper to an ironmaster named Wood, wood's The need of a new coinage was unquestioned, for wages had Halfpence, lately been paid in tokens, or even with cards stamped with a promise to pay. Wood was one of the first great English ironmasters and held mining rights in no less than thirty-nine counties. Specimens of the new coins had been tested at the mint by Sir Isaac Newton and pro- nounced to be of excellent quality. On the other hand, the amount, £108,000, was in excess of what was wanted ; and there had been the usual amount of jobbery over the issue of the contract. In Ireland, how- ever, the true cause of the unpopularity of the scheme lay in the fact that Ireland had not been consulted at all, but that the whole scheme was English or German from beginning to end. In this Swift, who was then residing in Ireland as Dean of St. Patrick's, and who had long been nurs- ing his anger at the neglect with which he had been treated by the English ministers, saw his opportunity, and poured out the whole vials of his wrath in an attack upon the scheme, which he published under the assumed signature of the ' Drapier.' In these no slander ^^^ or exaggeration was omitted that might serve his purpose. Drapier's Wood was a 'tinker'; the money was 'base.' It was to be forced upon the reluctant Irish by an army of English soldiers. 752 George I. 1724 Wood, he declared, was like the giant Goliath, and himself like little David come out to do battle for his people. These lies, enforced with the whole power of the homely rhetoric of which Swift was a master, stirred all Ireland to indignation, and at the time when Carteret assumed the post of lord-lieutenant it seemed highly probable that persistence in the scheme would array against the government the united force of Irish opinion both Protestant and Catholic. In these circumstances Carteret perceived the necessity of concession, and his views were adopted by the govern- ment. The patent was withdrawn, a compensation was paid to Wood, and Ireland again settled down into gloomy quiescence. The magnitude of the agitation, however, convinced government that the political power of the Roman Catholics must be still further curtailed ; and in 1727 an act passed by the Irish parliament took away the Ascend- franchise from the Roman Catholics. This law continued in ^' force till 1793, so that for more than sixty years the govern- ment of Ireland was wholly in the hands of the Protestants, who did not form more than one-sixth of the whole population of the country. Of the general condition of Ireland at this date it is exceedingly difficult to form any trustworthy estimate. There is, however, no doubt that this depri- vation of political power had the effect of closing the eyes of the Irish parliament to the wants of all Irishmen who were neither government officials, manufacturers, nor landlords, and consequently that the condition of the mass of the agricultural population, if it did not go from bad to worse, made little or no progress. The stagnation of trade, the want of a free market for produce in England, and the reliance of the mass of the rural population on the precarious subsistence afforded by the potato, re- sulted in the recurrence of frequent periods of distress, amounting, in some cases, to actual famine, to which Dean Swift drew attention by a satirical pamphlet entitled a Modest Proposal, in which he advocated the rear- ing of Irish children as an article of diet. In these terrible times, the chief, almost the only friends, of the Irish peasants were the Roman Catholic priests, who set the law at defiance to secure for their flocks the ministrations of religion and an opportunity of securing some tincture of education, without which a relapse into comparative barbarism would seem to have been probable. In 1725, Walpole quarrelled with Pulteney, another of his colleagues. William Pulteney was born in 1682. He was a man of great wealth, and ^ , was reckoned by some 'the greatest House of Commons orator Quarrel "^ ® with Pul- that had ever appeared' ; but, on the other hand, he was of very uncertain temper, apt to change his mind, and. ' full of little enmities.' Pulteney had won a great name ir!j.t.he d,ebates of th^ 1725 IFalpole 753 last reign, and on George's accession he became secretary at war. In the cabinet quarrels he had attached himself to Walpole and Townshend, and retired with them in 1717. However, when Walpole became premier Pulteney was only offered a peerage. This he refused, though he took the post of cofferer of the household, but in 1725, when he found that this did not lead to promotion, he threw it up in disgust. The retirement of Pulteney marks an epoch, not only in the history of Walpole, but in that of parliament ; for the ' vindictiveness,' which was noted as one of Pulteney's characteristics, caused him not only to oppose his late colleagues but to attempt the task 'Opposi-" of creating a systematic opposition, the object of which was **°"" to expel the existing government from office and to take its place. Henceforward, an Opposition was recognised as an institution insepar- able from party government, and it has been shown by experience that the existence of a coherent and well-led opposition is almost as important a factor in securing the well- working of parliamentary government as a coherent and well-led ministerial party. Since the accession of George i. there had been no systematic opposition to the Whig administration, just as after the Kestoration the royalists, for a few years, had almost unquestioned power ; and a comparison might be instituted between the growth of the so-called ' country party ' under Charles ii. and of Pulteney's party of opposition under George i. In attempting to create a compact opposition by combining the regular Tories with the discontented Whigs, Pulteney received most valuable assistance from Bolingbroke. Since his return to England ^ _ '^ Bolmg- that discredited but versatile politician had been posing as a broke 's 1 • • 1 ,^ 1 TT • • Intrigues. smcere convert to the principles oi the Hanoverian succession, and had even been permitted to explain his views to George i., without, however, producing on the king an impression of his sincerity. He was now little better than a political adventurer, and as he recognised that he had no chance of regaining influence so long as Walpole was at the helm, he was ready to join with any party or to advocate any principles which Avere likely to lead to a change of government. Accordingly these two able and vindictive men set themselves to form an organised opposition to the ministry, both in parliament and in the country. In parliament Pulteney gathered round himself The a band of discontented Whigs, induced them to act as much ''^ tsman. as possible in concert with the Tories, and exerted all his powers to attach to his standard aU the young men of ability who from time to time found their way into parliament. Outside parliament, Bolingbroke strove to excite the country by attacking ministers in the Craftsman. This paper, which 3b 754 George I. 1726 appeared daily, was the first regular opposition newspaper, and the frequency of its publication and the extent of .its sale prove that an increase in the reading public had followed the abolition of the censorship of the press. Its principles were those of every thoroughgoing opposition paper — i.e. it attacked the government of the day impartially, whatever it did. If Walpole advocated peace, it said he was bent on sacrificing the best interests of his country ; if he remonstrated with foreign powers, it declared that he was dragging the country into war. Such methods seem to be inevitable in party warfare. As David Hume wrote in 1741, the enemies of a minister ' are sure to charge him with the greatest enormities, both in domestic and foreign management ; and there is no meanness or crime, of which, in their judgment, he is not capable ' ; on the other hand, his partisans ' celebrate his wise, steady and moderate conduct of his administration.' Indeed the Craftsman was only the forerunner of a long band of successors. To win favour with the multitude the opposition assumed what Dryden called the ' all-atoning name ' of Patriot. The headquarters of the new party was Leicester House, the residence of the Prince of Wales. It was one of the peculiarities of the early The Prince Hanoverian sovereigns that they always quarrelled with their of Wales. }^q[j^^^ George the First was jealous of his son, who, being able to speak English, had better opportunities than his father of making himself popular, and the amount of his allowance was a constant source of dispute. The discredit of this must be divided equally between the king and the prince, but as matters then stood the opf>osition between them must be regarded as a good thing for the country. Had father and son been united, any one who was discontented with the court or the minister would have been sorely tempted to ally himself with the Pretender. As it was, he merely allied himself with the Prince of Wales ; and even the Tories, though for the most part Jacobites at heart, found themselves drawn towards what thus became the natural centre of opposition. Moreover, in those days the influence of the king in choosing between rival members of the same party was still unimpaired, and Pulteney hoped that by making himself agreeable to the prince he was making his own selection secure when his patron became king. At home these intrigues occupied the chief attention ; but abroad, in spite of all his care, Walpole was unable to avoid takiug part in a war Foreign which arose from the annoyance felt by the Spaniards when Affairs. Louis XV. was married to Maria Leczinska of Poland, and a little Spanish princess who was being educated in Paris as the future queen of France was unceremoniously^ sent home. The result was the First Treaty of Vienna, an alliance against France between the emperor 1727 Walpole 755 and the king of Spain,. As Great Britain was now friendly to France, she was inchided in their enmity, and a scheme was formed for the recapture of Gibraltar, and for the restoration of the Stuarts. This movement was met in 1726 by a counter-alliance between England, France, and Prussia, known as the treaty of Hanover. Happily the war was kept within narrow limits, and, so far as Great Britain was concerned, was confined to the defence of Gibraltar, and to the sending of an English fleet to the West Indies, under Captain Hozier, with orders to remain strictly on the defensive. Nevertheless, the excitement caused among the Jacobites and their ill-concealed hopes of a foreign invasion, showed conclusively how easily war abroad might be followed by insurrection at home. Seeing this, Walpole did all he could to bring hostilities to a conclusion, and, in 1729, peace was restored by the treaty of Seville. During the progress of the war George i. died suddenly tit Hanover on June 10, 1727, leaving behind him the name of a cautious and well- meaning sovereign, who, without any shining qualities. Death of had contrived during his thirteen years' reign to steer ^^o'"^^- safely through the difficulties of party and parliamentary warfare, and to leave his family in safe possession of the British throne. CHIEF DATES. A.D. The Riot Act, 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, Septennial Act, Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts re pealed, South Sea Bubble, Walpole becomes Prime Minister, Drapier's Letters, 1715 1716 1718 1720 1721 1724 CHAPTEE II GEORGE II.: 1727-1760 Born 1683; married 1705, Caroline of Anspach. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Eviperor, Prussia. Louis XV,, d. 1774. Charles v., d. 1740. Frederick the Great, 1740-1786. Walpole in Power — Tlie Wesleyans — The Opi^osition — Spanish War and Fall of Walpole — Carteret in Power — Foreign Affairs — Henry Pelhani — The '45 — Rise of Pitt and Fox — Domestic Affairs — The Seven Years' War — Triumphs of Pitt. It was expected that the accession of the new king would be followed by a change of ministry, and his first act was to dismiss Walpole, and to offer his post to Sir Spencer Compton, speaker of the House retains of Commons. Compton, however, who is described as 'a powe . ^xiW^ heavy man,' had little ajotitude for business, and so little readiness that he actually asked Walpole to assist him in composing the short address which the new king was to deliver to the privy council. Of course Walj)ole complied, but took care to let the new queen know what he had done ; and Caroline, who knew Walpole's worth, soon pointed out to her husband the absurdity of Compton's position. Walpole also let it be known that, if he had been continued in power, it had been his intention to propose a large increase in the civil list ; and George soon perceived that he had little to gain and much to lose by dis- missing the old minister. Accordingly, before forty-eight hours had elapsed, Walpole was reinstated ; Compton's house, which since his eleva- tion had been crowded by politicians, eager to jjlace their services at his disposal, was again deserted ; and Walpole repaid the king by an extra grant of £130,000 a year, and by carrying a declaration through the House of Commons that the death of the late sovereign was ' a loss to the nation, which your majesty alone could possibly repair.' The new king was now in his forty-fourth year. In all respects he Character of was a smaller man than his father, and had less general George. capacity for afiairs. At the same time he had something of his father's capacity for distinguishing ability in others, and when he Tie 1730 Walpole ^jP)^ had selected his friends was not easily tnrned against them. In foreign polities his first care was for the interests of Hanover ; in home aftairs he took little interest, his most active enthusiasm being for the army. He had fought bravely under Marlborough at Oudenarde, and believed that he had talents for command. Queen Caroline, on the other hand, was a much more remarkable personage. As a girl she had shown her independence of character by stoutly refusing to marry a Eoman Catholic ; and on arrivino- in England she rapidly made herself mistress of English Queen politics, and of the true character of the chief public men. ^^'■°^^"^* She interested herself also in literature and learning ; offered a place in the household to Gay, who had written his Fables for the diversion of her little son William, afterwards duke of Cumberland ; made the acquaintance of Swift ; delighted in metaphysical discussions ; and was an appreciative patron of the nuisician Handel. Over the king she exercised, though at the expense of much trouble, an almost unbounded influence. Indeed, so long as she lived, it was she and not her husband who really directed the politics of the court ; and as she had a perfect understanding with Walpole, his position during her life was impregnable. At the accession, Walpole's chief attention was engrossed by foreign affairs ; and at home he confined himself, as before, to carrying on the routine business of the country. The one question pressing waipoie's for immediate attention was the position of the Noncon- policy, formists in reference to the Test and Corporation Acts. These Stanhope would have ventured to repeal ; but Walpole was far too nuich alive to the danger of raising the old cry of ' the church in danger ' to run so much risk, and he contented himself with the less heroic policy of reducing them to a dead letter by passing an annual Act of Indemnity for all who had been guilty of violating their provisions. This was not a satisfactory way of dealing with the matter, but it was eminently characteristic of its inventor. In 1730 Carteret resigned the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, and openly joined the ranks of the opposition ; and in the same year Lord Townshend also left the ministry. Townshend and Walpole had been on Quarrel with the most intimate terms for thirty years, but of late various Townshend. circumstances had arisen to cause an estrangement. Lady Townshend, Walpole's sister, was dead. A partnership, in which Townshend, as the elder man, had taken the lead, became less agreeable to him, when its title in Walpole's words was changed from 'Townshend and Walpole' to ' Walpole and Townshend.' The old grievance that Townshend, who accompanied George to Hanover, used his opportunities to increase his 758 George II. 1730 own influence, was a constant source of friction ; and Townshend was exasperated at Walpole's persistent habit of allowing obnoxious bills, which though popular were awkward for ministers to pass unopposed through the Commons, and leaving them to be rejected in the House of Lords. All these things helped to loosen the tie between them ; and, finally, a coarse joke of Walpole's roused to anger the irascible Townshend, and they were with difficulty prevented from coming to blows in a lady's drawing-room. After this, further concord was out of the question ; so Townshend with dignity resigned his office, and left Walpole supreme. Unlike Carteret and Pulteney, Townshend refrained from opposition to his old colleague, and retired to Norfolk, where he devoted himself to agriculture, and did a gTeat service to the whole country by encouraging the growth of turnips. The first success of the opposition was gained in 1733, when Walpole brought forward his celebrated excise scheme. At this date the chief The Excise soi^'ces of the crown revenue were the land tax, the customs Scheme. duties, and the excise. Of these, the land tax was levied at the rate of four shillings in war time, and from one shilling to three shillings in time of peace, according to a valuation made in the year 1692 ; and at four shillings produced about J2,000,000 per year. The customs duties — customary payments — were the modern substitutes for the old taxes of tonnage and poundage, but were levied only on articles imported into the country. In Walpole's time they produced ;£ 1,500, 000 per year. The excise duties — excisum, a part cut off — were levied on articles produced or manufactured in the country itself. They had first been imposed by the Long Parliament, were levied chiefly on salt, malt, and distilleries, and in 1733 amounted to ^3,200,000. Of these taxes the customs duties were decidedly the most expensive in collection, and were the most liable to be evaded ; indeed the gross customs duty on tobacco being ^750,000, the nett revenue was only ^160,000. Moreover, customs duties raised the price to the consumer to the highest amount, because, the tax being levied on the raw material, interest on the sum paid was charged by the dealer at every stage of the manufacture, and the gross sum added to the cost of the finished article ; whereas, in the case of the excise, the duty was levied once for all on the completed article. This was a great advantage to the consumer. For these reasons Walpole proposed to transfer tobacco and wine from the customs list to the excise, pointing out that the effect of doing so would be to enable him to repeal the land tax ; and he also pr oposed to levy no taxes on goods merely imported for re-exportation, which would, he said, tend ' to make London a free port, and the market 1735 Walpole 759 of the world.' This reasoning was perfectly sound ; but, unfortunately, the excise, which had been levied first by the parliamentarians during the civil war, had always been unpopular from an idea that it was arbitrary and inquisitional — a view summed up by Dr. Johnson in his celebrated definition of the excise as 'a hateful tax levied upon com- modities, and adjudged, not by common judges of property, but by wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.' Of this feelino- the opposition took full advantage ; roused popular indignation Agitation before it was even known what Walpole's bill was to be ; against it. declared that, if passed, an Englishman's house, which had hitherto been his castle, would be open at all hours to the inspection of the ganger. They declared, too, that Walpole's real object was to flood the country with excisemen, who would turn the scale at every contested election — and this in spite of Walpole's statement that the number of new officers required would only amount to one hundred and twenty-six. The Craftsman professed itself at a loss for words to describe the infamy of the proposals ; and Walpole ill-advisedly made matters worse by speaking of some riotous petitioners against it as 'sturdy beggars.' Before such an outburst of popular clamour, Walpole's majority sank to sixteen on the second reading ; and recognising the hopeless- ^j^g scheme ness of continuing the struggle, and declaring that 'he withdrawn, would never be the minister to levy taxes at the price of blood,' he withdrew the bill. The changes, however, were afterwards introduced one by one without conmient ; and the fact that, fifty years later, it was found that no less than seventy elections depended on the votes of excisemen, shows that, in those days of rotten boroughs and minute constituencies, the second argument of the opposition had not been without weight. After the failure of the excise scheme, Walpole's wrath fell heavily on the colleagues whom he considered to have betrayed him. Two days after the withdrawal of the bill. Lord Chesterfield was dismissed from his post at court ; the duke of Montrose and the earls of Marchmont and Stair were deprived of their offices in Scotland ; and the duke of Bolton and Lord Cobham were ousted from their colonelcies in the army. These dismissals, however— of which the two last were wholly indefensible- served further to augment the ranks of the malcontents ; and in the general election of 1735 the majority for ministers was somewhat reduced. With the exception of Jacobite intrigues, the internal afiairs of Scot- land had of late given little trouble to the British ministers. Since the legislative union the progress of that country had been not gj,jjtig^j only steady but rapid. In 1708 Edinburgh had possessed thirty thousand inhabitants ; Glasgow— where the River Clyde had not yet 760 • Gemge 11. 1735 been made navigable for sea-going ships — had nearly fifteen thousand ; while Dundee and Perth had ten thousand and seven thousand respec- tively. The revenue of the whole country was only £160,000, as against nearly £6,000,000 in England ; even in the Lowlands the standard of domestic comfort was extraordinarily low ; while, even in good seasons, a horde of beggars infested the country : while, in the Highlands, roads were unknown, horses were rare, and coaches non-existent ; the plough was still fastened to the horse's tail, spades were made of wood ; and the law, such as it was, was administered by Highland chiefs, each of whom ruled his clansmen like a petty king, waged war on his neigh- bours, and lifted a Lowlander's cattle almost within sight of the queen's garrisons. Thirty years, however, had witnessed an enormous improve- ment. The establishment of the Presbyterian Church, coupled with an Act of the British Parliament in 1712, by which toleration was secured to Episcopalians, had removed the curse of religious persecution. The Parochial Schools Act of 1696, aided by the efforts of the Scottish ' Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge,' had diffused among the people a higher standard of elementary education than probably existed in any other country in Europe, and was being followed by a further development of secondary and higher education. The grant of the right of free trading had caused the industrial enterprise of Scotland to advance by leaps and bounds, and raised the whole standard of com- fort ; while even in the Highlands, the exclusive knowledge of Gaelic — a great obstacle to migration and advancement — was beginning to give way before the systematic use of English in the schools ; and Marshal Wade's creation of a system of Highland roads, carried out between 1726 and 1737, had opened the way for the trader, the soldier, and the preacher, into districts hitherto practically inaccessible. At the same time it is incontestable that the Union was regarded with feelings of hatred by most patriotic Scotsmen, and that nothing but The Beer conciliatory action on the part of the government could Riots. secure a fair trial for the new system. One of the most unpopular items in the Union was the extension of the malt tax to Scot- land. The imposition had been systematically evaded, and in 1724 it was exchanged for an excise duty of sixpence on each barrel of ale — then the common drink of the Lowlanders. This change led to riots ; but the firmness of Walpole, aided by the tact of his agent, the earl of Isla, brother of the duke of Argyll, overcame the difficulty. An agree- ment by the brewers not to brew broke down, and henceforward the excise was paid without difficulty. So seriously, however, did Walpole regard the matter, that he abolished the office of secretary of state for 1735 Walpole 761 Scotland, and took the general management of Scottish afifairs into hi« own hands. In 1735 an even more serious disturbance broke out at Edinburgh. Two smugglers, Wilson and Eobertson, were condemned to death for robbery. With the aid of a file they had divested them- selves of their shackles, and removed the bar of the window Porteous of the cell, when Wilson, the stouter of the two, making the ^^°*^- attempt first, stuck fast and so prevented his comrade's escape as well as his own. However, the next Sunday, when taken to church under a guard of soldiers, he, by the exercise of herculean strength, overcame the guard and permitted Eobertson to escape. This heroic deed excited the pity of all, and though his execution passed ofl" quietly, some stone- throwing followed it. Exasperated by the missiles. Captain Porteous, who commanded the city guard — a body in the pay of the corporation, and recruited chiefly from the Highlands — seized a musket and discharged it at the crowd. His example was followed by his men, and some loss of life followed. Accordingly, Porteous was tried for murder, and con- demned to death ; but the sentence Avas commuted by the British government. Exasperated at this, a well-organised mob, composed to some extent, certainly, of the better classes of Edinburgh citizens, stormed the Tolbooth, took Porteous out and hanged him on a dyer's pole. This outbreak of violence raised the utmost indignation in England, and as no evidence against individual rioters was forthcoming, an act was introduced by which Edinburgh was to lose its charter ; the city gates were to be demolished, and the guard disbanded. In Scotland, however, this was regarded as grossly unfair. The Scottish members, both Lords and Commoners, were almost to a man against it ; and Walpole, seeing how foolish it was to set the national feeling of Scotland against him, reduced the act to a fine of .£2000 to Porteous' widow, and a sentence of disability from holding office against the lord provost of the city. In this way a storm which might, if badly dealt with, have had far-reaching consequences, was judiciously allayed. The most important event of the earlier years of George ii. was the rise of the Methodists, which not only completely altered the position of Dissent, but also had a most remarkable influence on the state of condition of the established church. Since the Revolution, ^^ '^*°"' circumstances had been tending towards the obliteration of the rigid line of demarcation which had long separated the Protestant world. The Toleration Act removed the most obvious hardship under which the Dissenters laboured, and though their political disabilities still found a place in the statute book, the tolerant policy of Walpole deprived them 762 George II. 1735 of tlieir practical hardship. Moreover, now that a modus vivendi had been discovered, the importance of the speculative differences on matters of church government between Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Inde- pendents, had much diminished ; while the age, wearied with the incessant doctrinal strife of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was inclined to set little value on dogmatic teaching. On the other hand, many causes were acting to reduce the efficiency of the church. Since the succession of Whig ministers had confined the promotion of bishops to the small band of Whig clergy who were to be found in London and the universities, and as the mass of the country clergymen were Tory or even Jacobite in views, all sympathy between them and the osten- sible leaders of the church was at an end. In 1718 the sittings of convocation, which, since the days of Edward i., had met Convocation ' . "^ , ' discon- at the same time as parliament, were discontinued. This was due to two causes. First, since the Restoration, the clergy had paid their taxes on the scale voted by parliament, so that there was no need of a special grant from the clergy. Secondly, the difference of opinion between the Whig bishops in the upper House of Convocation and the Tory representatives of the rural clergy in the lower House, had given much trouble to politicians, and in 1718 this culminated in an attack made by the lower House upon Hoadly, bishop of Bangor, for his views on the apostolic succession. After that year convocation was not permitted to transact business again till the year 1853. This deprived the church of its only existing assembly for dis- cussion, and while it undoubtedly promoted the peace of the government, it struck a serious blow at the vitality of the church. The lethargy, too, into which Oxford and Cambridge had fallen reacted upon the clergy trained there. The identification of the fortunes of the church with those of the Tory party — not altogether the fault of the clergy — had seriously diminished the influence of the clergy as ministers of religion. On the other hand, the foundation, in 1696, of the ' Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,' and in 1701 of that for the 'Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,' coupled with the steady demand for religious books, showed that there existed the materials for a revival of enthusiasm if a leader appeared to show the way. A leader was found in John Wesley. This remarkable man, who com- bined the earnestness of a religious enthusiast with the talents for organisa- john tion and management that distinguish a statesman, was born Wesley. ^^^ Epworth in Lincolnshire, in 1703. His father was an earnest and hard-working clergyman of the Church of England, and his mother, a lady of Nonconformist extraction, was a person of great piety 1735 IValpole 753 ;md force of character. He was educated at Charterhouse and Oxford. At twenty-three, having distinguished himself for his ability in logic, he Avas chosen fellow of Lincoln College, and, with the exception of a short interval, he remained at Oxford till 1735. Meanwhile, his younger l)rother Charles, destined to be the poet of the new movement had formed a friendship with a fellow-undergraduate, George Whitefield, who afterwards became the greatest preacher of his time. These three with a few others, formed among themselves a little society bent on attainino- a deeper religious life, and the members— perhaps because the word 'Method,' a favourite of their mother's, was often on the lips of the Wesleys — were called in derision Methodists. In 1735 the two Wesleys went out to Georgia, and the society was for a time broken up. In 1738 John returned, and, falling under the influence of some members of the Moravian body, adopted their views as to ' Justification by Faith.' The society was then reconstituted, on the basis of being a church within a church ; a strict rule of life was adopted by the leaders ; weekly confession of sins to one another, and weekly communion being amono- their practices. The leaders of the society, all of whom were ordained ministers of the Church of England, adopted the profession of itinerant preachers, whose duty it was to preach repentance to the unconverted. By degrees, circumstances compelled them to adopt the character of an in- dependent organisation. Their extemporary preaching, passionate gestures and stern denunciation of the idleness of the clergy, caused the church pulpits to be generally denied them. In 1739, White- sepamtion field, touched with the condition of the miners of Kingswood, ^?"^ ^^^ ' _ . Church, near Bristol, thousands of whom were living without any visible form of religion, began the practice of preaching in the open fields. The same year John Wesley authorised the building of special chapels for Methodist services. The want of ordained preachers being felt, the services of lay -preachers were enlisted, while the rapid accession of con- verts compelled the society to organise itself on an extended basis. Had the church of that day possessed any elasticity of organisation, she might, without difficulty, have found a place for the ministration of men so reluctant to quit her fold as the Wesleys and Whitefield ; but her authorities failed to seize the opportunity, and the Methodists, even against their will, steadily drifted out of her pale. Baffled by the refusal of the bishops to ordain his lay-preachers, Wesley persuaded himself that he was justified in bestowing orders ; and in 1784 he consecrated Coke superintendent or bishop of the American Methodists. Even then, Wesley never acknowledged himself a Nonconformist. In the last year of his life he wrote : ' I live and die a member of the Church of England, 764 Geoi-ge 11. 1735 and no one who regards my judgment will ever separate from it,' Facts, however, were too strong for him. A body which numbered 71,000 souls in England, 48,000 in America, had 500 travelling preachers, and had an organisation planned by one of the greatest organisers of the time, could not long remain neutral ; and four years after his death, which occurred in 1791, the Methodist preachers began to administer the Sacraments, and from that time the position of the Methodists as a separate religious body became more and more defined. The separation, however, did not take place before there had grown up within the Church of England a considerable body, the members of which, while holding aloof from Wesley's organisation, adopted in The Evan- , ,. i- • • , \ . L K geiical general outlme his principles and practices. They formed ^^ ^' the Evangelical Party, with which are associated the names of John Newton, the poet Cowper, Hannah More, and a host of others, who took the lead in reviving the religious fervour of the Church of England, and honourably identified themselves with, if they did not originate, almost every one of the philanthropic and religious movements which distinguished the close of the eighteenth century. It succeeded in attaching to itself most of those members of the upper and more cultivated classes which had originally been attracted by the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley, but who had held back from dissent. The beginnings of Wesley's work, however, attracted little notice, for all eyes were turned upon the great contest betAveen Walpole and his w 1 1 ' opponents. It was not easy to shake Walpole's position, party man- The great number of decayed boroughs, many of which had always been directly under the influence of the crown, especially those in Cornwall and the sea-ports, opened a field for corrup- tion which, if cleverly tilled, would return a rich crop of ministerial representatives, and Walpole was admittedly the greatest parliamentary and electioneering manager that had yet made his appearance in England. No stone was left unturned to secure the return of his candidates, and when returned Walpole was equally careful to keep them true to their allegiance by every call of self-interest. In 1 725, finding that the institution of the Garter did not supply as many vacancies as he required for the decoration of his political partisans, he had astutely revived the order of the Bath, and set the example by becoming one of its first knights. All the sinecures at court, all posts in the army and the civil service, were given away with a single eye to the preservation of the government majority, even the ecclesiastical patronage of the crown was administered with the same intent. Corruption had long been known, but by no one had it been reduced to such a system ; and as no division lists 1737 Walpole 765 were published, and even the printing of Parliamentary debates had recently been declared illegal, a cloak of convenient secrecy shrouded the proceedings of the members from the critical eyes of inquisitive constituents. Still the opposition made way, and derived some advantage from an alliance with Frederick, Prince of Wales, who was following the example of his father by quarrelling with the reigning sovereign. Frederick was an extremely foolish man, so entirely given up of the to frivolity that when the rebels of 1745 were at Derby, he °pp°^^*^°"- A\ as found playing blind man's buff with his pages. He formed, however, a convenient figurehead for the oj)position, and when on his marriage in 1736 difficulties arose about his allowance, Walpole's enemies took up his cause as a ready way of striking at the minister. The numbers of the opposition were also increased by the adhesion of most of the young men of talent who were entering upon a political career — men such as William Pitt and George Grenville, whom Walpole contemptuously styled ' the boys.' Kound them, too, rallied most of the literary men of the time, repelled by Walpole's indifference to their support ; so that whether considered as to number or talent, the opposition which Walpole had to face, both in parliament and out of it, was becoming daily more formid- able. About equal in numbers to the discontented Whigs were the Tories under Sir W. Windham, Sir John Barnard —next to Walpole the best financier of his time — and Skippen the Jacobite. The whole party acted, as a rule, under the lead of Pulteney, who was reckoned the best man for debate in the House of Commons. Walpole's fall, however, still seemed far off ; and after the election of 1735, Bolingbroke, despairing of the cause, left England for some years. The first serious blow to Walpole's power was the death of Queen Caroline in 1737. On her deathbed she recommended her husband to the care of the minister, and tlirough good and ill report George ^^ never lost faith in Walpole so long as the latter lived. Queen Walpole, however, soon experienced another shock. Under George ii. he had steadily adhered to his policy of keeping clear of con- tinental intrigues, and in 1734 had been able to make his proud boast to Queen Caroline, ' Madam, there are 50,000 men slain in Europe this year, and not one Englishman.' Events, how- to°SpaiZ ever, were becoming too strong for him. For many years there had been growing up a hostile feeling between Great Britain and Spain. This arose out of the existing colonial policy of all European nations, which forbade the colonies of one nation to trade either with the colonies of another, or with other European countries. However, at the Treaty of 766 George II. 1737 Utrecht, Spain had miide a concession to England of the assiento or slave- trade, and had also given permission to the South Sea Company to send one ship a year to trade with the Spanish colonies. This permission was grossly abused by the British, who, besides the single ship, sent out a number of other ships, who, keeping themselves out of sight of land, re- plenished the trading- vessel with fresh goods. Moreover, our colonists made such a practice of smuggling goods into the Spanish ports that a regular contraband trade grew up and tiourished exceedingly. Naturally the Spaniards took the precaution of organising a system of coastguards whose business it was to search vessels they suspected of illicit traffic, and to detain such as were detected. Ever since the days of Drake and Hawkins no love had been lost between British and Spanish sailors, and, consequently, frequent quarrels ensued, in which sometimes the one, some- times the other, was the more flagrantly in the wrong. In addition to this, the Spaniards denied the right which the British claimed of cutting logwood in the Bay of Campeachy, and demanded compensation from Great Britain for the losses sustained at the battle of Cape Passaro which the British regarded as a glorious victory. Here were ample materials for a quarrel ; and as the Spaniards had secretly secured the aid of France in case war broke out, they were not prepared to give way, and, when Walpole tried to arrange matters by negotiation, fresh difficulties were raised. Of this state of afiairs the opposition took full advantage, and the whole country soon rang with stories of cruelties sufiered by inoflensive Jenkins' traders at the hands of savage Guarda-costas, and of mar- Ear, tyred sailors lingering out a life-long agony in the dungeons of the Inquisition. Among these, that of Jenkins' ear was pre-eminent and typical. According to his own account, Jenkins had been to Jamaica in 1731 with a cargo of sugar, when he was boarded, on his way home, by a Spanish coast-guardship, and accused of cutting logwood in Cam- peachy Bay. None, however, was found ; the Spaniards in their rage cut oflF his ear, took away his nautical instruments, and left him to get home as best he might. As a proof of the truth of his story he was accus- tomed to show something wrapped up in cotton wool, which he declared to be the severed ear. According, however, to others, his ear had been lost in the pillory ; and according to a third version, Jenkins had never lost his ear at all. Burke subsequently spoke of the afi'air as the ' fable of Jenkins' ear ' ; and Alderman Beckford, who arranged for his appear- ance before the House of Commons, told Shelburne, ' if any members had had the fancy to have lifted up his wig, they would have found his ears as whole as their OAvn,' as indeed was said to have been proved after his 1739 Waljpole 7Q7 death. Jenkins, however, was brought before the House of Commons, and when asked what his feelings were when in the hands of the Spaniards, replied : ' I commended my soul to God and my cause to my country.' ' This phrase itself,' said Pulteney, ' will raise volunteers ' ; and the opposition made the most of the incident, as a proof of their constant assertion that Walpole was neglecting the best interests of his country. Walpole, however, had no mind to go to war. He instinctively felt that war with Spain would inevitably develop into war with France, and that, he was well aware, would moan the renewal of Jacobite ' intrigue. However, the war policy was supported by the forced into king, by Newcastle one of the secretaries of state, and by ^^' the general voice of the country ; and, before the close of 1739, Walpole found that he nmst either go to war or resign. He chose the former. Had he resigned, it is easy to see now that in all probability he would within a very short time, have been recalled to office, and to do so would, according to modern ideas, have been the more constitutional course. On the other hand, he may easily have hoped to keep the war within moderate proportions, as he had done in 1726, and have considered himself more likely than the 02)j)osition leaders to seize the earliest opportunity of making peace. Though he changed his policy, however, he did not change his mind, and said, when he heard the bells ringing to celebrate the declaration of war, ' They are ringing their bells now, but they will soon be wringing their hands.' At first the operations of war were confined to an attack upon the Spanish colonies, conducted by Admiral Vernon, who sailed to the West Indies, and Commodore Anson, who was despatched round ^, „, ' ' , , ^ . The War. Caj^e Horn to attack the Spanish territories on the Pacific. Neither expedition was a large one. Admiral Vernon, a member of the oj^position, and a violent supporter of the war, succeeded in capturing Porto Bello with the loss of only seven men ; and the country, encouraged by this success, contrasted his exploits with those of Hozier in the late war, and demanded that further reinforcements should be sent out. An attack was then made upon the important town of Carthagena, which com- manded the isthmus of Panama. The undertaking, however, proved more difficult than was expected, and a want of co-operation between Vernon and the military leaders brought it to an ignominious conclusion. Mean- while, Anson was engaged in adventures which have made his name memorable ; but as no news was heard of him for nearly four years, his expedition also seemed a complete failure, and the country soon became disenchanted with the war. 768 George II. 1740 The whole responsibility for every mischance was of course thrown on the government, and Carteret and Chesterfield in the Lords, and Pulteney, _ . ^ Samuel Sandys, and ' the boys ' in the Commons, were in- Tactics of . . . . . the Opposi- cessant in their attacks on the ministers, against whom they attempted to rouse the country in view of the general election which would take place in 1741. Against this array of talent Walpole could only bring forward the duke of Newcastle in the Lords, and in the Commons had to rely mainly upon himself, with such assistance as could be obtained from Henry Pelham, Newcastle's younger brother ; but in February, 1741, he defeated a general attack on his administration by 290 to 106 in the Commons, and 108 to 59 in the Lords. However, in 1741 a general election took place, and no stone was left unturned to defeat Walpole's candidates. Money flowed like water ; and to provide the means of bribery a subscription list was set on foot, headed by the Prince of Wales, the old duchess of Marlborough, and Pulteney. These eSbrts proved so far successful that Walpole's majority in the Commons was reduced to sixteen ; and when the new parliament met in December, Walpole's fall was reckoned to be merely a question of time. This proved to be the case. A motion of Pulteney's, equivalent to a vote of want of confidence, was defeated by seven votes only in a house of 508. A few days later, on a motion on the Chippenham election petition, Walpole ^^16 government were in a minority of one. On this, resigns. Walpole determined to resign, and before the arrangements were complete, he was again beaten on the same question by a majority of sixteen. This last blow was decisive, the great minister resigned all his offices, and retired to the House of Lords as earl of Orford. The fall of Walpole was not followed by a complete change of ministry, and it soon apj)eared that the man and not his measures had been the The New ^^^ cause of the hostility of the opposition. Pulteney — Ministry, actuated apparently by a quixotic theory that he was bound in honour not to accept a post for himself — declined the ofl&ce of first lord of the treasury, so by Walpole's advice that post, and with it the nominal premiership, were given to Sir Spencer Compton, who now held the title of earl of Wilmington. Carteret became secretary for foreign afiairs, and Sandys chancellor of the exchequer. Newcastle continued secretary of state, and Hardwicke lord-chanceUor. Two friends of the Prince of Wales were made lords of the admiralty ; but Pitt and the other ' boys ' received nothing. For himself, Pulteney asked for a seat in the cabinet, and was raised to the peerage as Lord Bath ; an elevation which so obviously destroyed his power, that Walpole, on meeting him in the House of Lords, remarked, ' Here we are, my lord, the two most 1743 JVilmington 769 insignificant fellows in England.' For about a year a possible impeach- ment of the fallen minister was the chief object of interest in domestic affairs ; but in spite of the volumes of abuse and accusation to which he had been subjected, the attempt to support specific charges by evidence failed completely. In its first form, the new government did not last long. In 1743 Wilmington died, and his place was taken, at Walpole's suggestion, by his friend and supporter Henry Pelhani, who, if he was not Henry a man of first-rate genius, was recommended by his kindly Peiham. temper, ready wit, and perfect honesty. This arrangement naturally did not suit Carteret, who had hoped for the post himself, and in 1744, shortly after succeeding to the title of Earl Granville, he retired from office. Peiham then, true to his policy of conciliation, endeavoured to widen the basis of his power, and formed what in the cant phrase of the time was called the ' Broad-Bottomed Ministry.' This included Chesterfield, the duke of Bedford, Lord Sandwich, George Grenville, Bubb Doddington, and Sir John Hynde Cotton, a Tory ; and the friends of Pulteney and Carteret were turned out to make room for them. At home, Walpole's retirement made little change ; but, abroad, the attention of the ministry was soon absorbed by a struggle far more important than that with Spain. This was the war of the „, . (. 1 • 1 • War of the Austrian succession, which arose out of the jealousies caused Austrian by the accession of Maria Theresa to the hereditary do- minions of her father Charles vi. This sovereign, having no sons, had executed in her favour a formal document called a pragmatic sanction, by which he declared the unity and indivisibility of the Austrian dominions, and the right of Maria Theresa to succeed to all of them. To this he secured the guarantees of most of the European sovereigns. On his death, however, the duchies of Silesia were claimed by Frederick ii. of Prussia, afterwards known as Frederick the Great. This prince, who was a nephew of George ii., had succeeded in 1740 to a well- drilled army and full treasury, which had been provided by his father, Frederick William i., a prince who had spent his life in trying to make up for the military deficiencies of Prussia's geogi-aphical position by the excellence of her military equipments, and the careful organisation of her administration. Frederick was eager to turn his advantages to account, and almost immediately on the emperor's death he marched his armies into the duchies, and defeated the Austrian troops at the battle of Mollwitz. This invasion encouraged others ; the Elector of Bavaria also set up claims, and pushed his pretensions to be elected emperor ; and the French, seeing in these events a favourable opportunity for interfering in 3c 770 George II. 1743 Germany, entered into an alliance with Prussia and Bavaria, and planned a general attack upon the Austrian dominions. Fortunately, however, for Maria Theresa, she was able to buy oif Frederick by surrendering the duchies ; and her appeal to the valour and attachment of the Hungarian nobility was received with such enthusiasm that she was able to make head against her other enemies. In this state of affairs Hanover could hardly be neutral, even had George wished it. On the other hand, he regarded Bavaria with jealousy ; and Carteret, who practically had a free hand in foreign politics, was always of opinion that it was a matter of paramount importance to check all French interference in German affairs. Accordingly, George entered into an alliance with Maria Theresa : took sixteen thousand Hanoverians and six thousand Hessians into British pay, and appeared in Germany as her ally while yet technically at peace with France. The arrival of the British troops was very opportune, for, in 1743, two large armies of French and Bavarians were advancing, by the valleys of the Main and the Danube, against Austria. Their appear- ance at once drew oft' one of these, and so enabled the queen to bring all her force to bear upon the other. Battle of DETTINGEN. June 27. 1743. Aschaffeuberg The French army of the Main, numbering sixty thousand men, was commanded by Marshal Noailles, who had under him his nephew, the «,, T, .., duke of Grammont ; while the allies, numbering; thirty- seven The Battle ' t> ./ of thousand, were under the nominal command of the earl of inge . g^^jy^ rpj-^g armies came within sight of one another on the banks of the Main ; and so badly did Stair manage, that the allies were forced by want of provisions to make a flank march along the river bank from Aschaffenburg towards Hanau, while the whole French army was posted on the south of the river, opposite to their line of march. At this crisis they were joined by George himself, his son — the duke of Cumber- 1743 Pelham 7 71 land — and Lord Carteret. Between Ascliaffenburg and Hanau lies the defile of Dettingen, where the road passes through a narrow space hemmed in between the river and the hills. On June 27, Noailles, who had plenty of time to make his dispositions, sent his nephew Grammont across the river to hold this pass, with twenty-three thousand men, and planted his batteries in such a way as to take the English in flank if they attempted to force a passage ; and as soon as the allies began their march, sent twelve thousand men to occupy Aschaffenburg, so that the allies were completely caught in a trap. When their danger was perceived, George dismounted, and, telling his men that ' the French would soon run,' put himself at the head of the right wing, while Cumberland took post on the left, and prepared for a desperate attack on Grammont's position. At this moment Grammont, eager to secure the glory for himself, pushed his men forward to attack the allied line, and by so doing placed his troops exactly between the allies and the French batteries on the other side of the river. His attack, therefore, was easily repulsed ; the allies in their turn became the assailants ; and, before Noailles could repair the mistake, Grammont and his men had been driven out of Dettingen at the point of the bayonet, and hundreds had been drowned in their struggles to regain the bridges. The French, therefore, lost the battle by impatience ; but the chief credit for averting panic among the allies, when thus taken in front and rear, must be given to George himself ; and both he and his son gained a reputation for valour which did them much good in England. The military results of Dettingen were very considerable ; Noailles' army immediately withdrew beyond the Ehine, whither it was followed by Broglie's division ; and henceforward the fighting was carried on in the Austrian Netherlands. Dettingen was the last battle at which an English king was present. The victory of Dettingen gave considerable credit to the government, which was increased next year, 1744, by the fortunate return of Commodore Anson. This officer, who was a man of solid Anson's capacity and devotion to his profession, rather than of Voyage, brilliant ability, had left England in 1740, with two men-of-war— the Centurion and the Gloucester— d.ndi four smaller vessels. After en- countering fearful storms in rounding Cape Horn, the Centurion and the Gloucester and the Trial sloop reached the island of San Juan Fernandez, oflf the coast of Chili. There they refitted ; captured some prizes ; and, landing a body of sailors on the coast, attacked Paita, where the Spaniards had stored their treasures, stormed it with a party of seventy men under Lieutenant Brett, and seized plate worth £30,000. From 772 George II. 1743 Paita they sailed along the coast to Mexico, and then went in search of the Manilla galleon. After terrible privations, the Centurion alone reached Macao, on the coast of China. Having refitted there, Anson returned to the Philippine Islands, and finally captured the long-sought- for plate ship, worth £300,000 ; and then, sailing home by the Cape of Good Hope, returned to England, bringing with him treasure worth £1,250,000, which was conveyed from Portsmouth to the Tower in thirty- two waggons, escorted by the sailors. The year 1744, however, was an extremely critical one for the country. The French minister, Cardinal Tencin, planned an invasion of England in favour of the Stuarts ; collected a force of fifteen thousand Projected Invasion of men at Dunkirk, and secured the co-operation of Prince England. Charles Edward, the eldest son of the Old Pretender. Against this force England had not more than eight thousand effective men at her disposal, and the Channel was badly guarded. A landing was daily expected in Essex or Sussex, which Horace Walpole, among others, thought would be supported by a general rising. Fortunately, however, for England, the winds — ' those ancient and unsubsidised allies of Eng- land,' as Pitt called them — were first contrary and then tempestuous ; and when the troops were on board, and everything in readiness for the invasion, a terrible storm shattered the French fleet. Meanwhile the spirit of the nation rose ; the suggestion of a French invasion was as injurious to the Jacobite cause as it had been after the battle of Beachy Head. The very publicans refused payment for the soldiers' quarters, saying, ' You are going to defend us against the French ' ; and so rapidly was resistance organised that Tencin gave up the attempt, much to the disappointment of the young prince ; and the remainder of the year was occupied by marches and countermarches in Flanders, under Wade and Baxe. The next year (1745), however, was not so fortunate. The French, under Marshal Saxe, one of the best generals of the time, advanced to Battle of attack Tournay, which, in accordance with Townshend's Fontenoy. barrier treaty, was garrisoned with Dutch troops. A mixed army of British, Hanoverians, Hessians, and Dutch advanced to relieve it. The allies were commanded by the duke of Cumberland, who, though he had shown plenty of personal bravery at Dettingen, and was devoted to his profession, had no real generalship. He was advised, how- ever, by Marshal Ligonier. Louis xv. in person was present in the French army. The armies met at Fontenoy ; the French occupied a strong position at right angles to the river Scheldt, their right and centre being covered by the villages of Antoin and Fontenoy, and their left by the wood 1745 Pelham 773 of Barre — a position not unlike the English at Waterloo. A simultaneous attack was ordered along the whole line. The Dutch were to attack Antoin and Fontenoy ; the British and Hanoverians the space between Fontenoy and the wood itself. Unfortunately the Dutch made no serious attempt to carry out their orders, and many of them ran away. On the right, General Ingoldsby recoiled from his attack on the wood. The whole brunt of the action, therefore, fell upon the duke of Cumber- land, who, with a column of British and Hanoverians — long remembered as ' the terrible English column ' — made their way between the village and the wood, and actually cut the French line in two. Victory seemed to be theirs ; when the French marshal, observing the inaction of the Dutch, brought up reinforcements from the^right and centre, including the famous Irish Brigade. Attacked thus by overwhelming numbers, and cut down by a battery of guns which had been placed in their very front, the British and Hanoverians sullenly withdrew, and ultimately yielded the field. The victory, therefore, lay with the French ; but the magnificent advance of the British and Hanoverians was long remem- bered with pride. Tournay soon afterwards surrendered. This success encouraged the French to make the Low Countries the chief seat of their military operations, and all thought of an invasion of Endand was abandoned. To Prince Charles Edward this _, . " _ Prince was a bitter disappointment ; and he determined, with or Charles without French aid, to make his way to Scotland, and attempt something against the Hanoverian government. For such an enterprise, in which loyalty to an individual must be set against all considerations of prudence, and no account must be taken of the resources of the government in power, of the scanty numbers of the Highlanders, and of the obstacles to be surmounted in a march to London, the young prince was admirably fitted. He was twenty- four years of age, of a noble presence and well-knit frame, full of fire and enthusiasm. Though ill educated, he was by no means deficient in natural ability, and with manners so graceful and winning as to banish criticism. With great secrecy he engaged a passage to Scotland in the brig of one Walsh, a merchant-privateer of Nantes, who also secured the convoy for his ship of a French man-of-war, the Elizabeth, in which were placed 1500 muskets, 1800 broadswords, twenty small cannon, and a supply of amn^mition, all of which Charles had purchased with his own resources. In disguise, and with only seven friends, Charles then entered the brig, and the two vessels left the mouth of the Loire on July 2, 1745. Four days later they fell in with the Lion, a British man-of-war, commanded by Anson's old officer, Brett, which attacked the Elizabeth with such 774 George 11. 1745 determination that both vessels were ahnost completely disabled. They separated from sheer inability to continue the struggle, and each returned home with difficulty. Though deprived by this untoward accident of his little store of arms, Charles nevertheless decided to continue his voyage, and reached the outer Hebrides in safety. There, however, he found among the chiefs the utmost unwillingness to risk themselves upon so hazardous an enterprise. Indeed, John Murray of Broughton, who had been in France with Charles, Charles ^^^d been despatched to the west coast to adjure him to HieWands d^^i^*'? ^"^ had only just gone home under the impression that nothing was intended for that year. Still Charles' winning address, and his frank appeal to the loyalty of the clansmen, triumphed over all other considerations. The earliest to join him were the Macdonalds of Kinloch Moidart ; the first chief of influence was Cameron of Lochiel. Accordingly, with his seven followers, of whom the most notable was the marquis of Tullibardine, who had been ' out ' in 1715, Charles landed on July 25 on the beach at Moidart, and on August 19 raised the royal standard at Glenfinnan. His whole force now amounted to 1600 men. He had also been joined by Murray of Broughton, who acted henceforward as his secretary of state. Nature has divided Scotland into three distinct parts : first, the northern Highlands ; second, the central Highlands ; and third, the Lowlands. Of these, the second and third are separated bv Geography . ' i. j of the the lines of the Forth and Clyde, defended by the fortresses ig an s. ^^ Edinburgh, Stirling, and Dumbarton ; the first and second by a line of lakes and rivers, now united by the Caledonian Canal, and defended by the three fortified posts of Inverness, Fort Augustus, and Fort William. These formed, therefore, the first line of defence against Charles' advance. From Glenfinnan, Fort William, which lies close to the rugged mass of Ben Nevis, is distant about fifteen miles. Even before the standard had been raised, however, the line of defence had been broken, and a small reinforcement sent from Fort Augustus to Fort William had been forced to lay down its arms. On the very day that the standard was raised at Glenfinnan, Sir John Cope, the commander-in-chief of the Hanoverian troops, marched from General Edinburgh for Fort Augustus. Contrary to the tactics Cope. adopted with success in 1715, the plan of the government was to destroy the rebellion by attacking the movement at its root. From Perth Cope followed one of Marshal Wade's military roads toward Fort Augustus ; but on reaching the central chain of the Grampians he found that the Devil's Staircase, where the road in seventeen zig-zags 1745 Pelham 775 winds painfully up the brow of the Corrie Vairack, was already in the possession of the Highlanders, to whose bitter disappointment he turned aside and made his way to Inverness. There he hoped to join the well- aflfected clans — such as the Mackays — whom Duncan Forbes of CuUoden House, then the ablest and most honourable statesman in Scotland, was endeavouring to rally to the Hanoverian cause. Cope's movement, how- ever, had the effect of leaving the road to the Lowlands open ; and Charles, hurrying along it, and receiving at the entrance of every glen reinforce- ments for his victorious army, entered Perth without Charles opposition on September 3. Here he was joined by Lord ^^ Perth. George Murray, a younger brother of Lord TuUibardine, a man of great talent, bravery, and military experience, whom Charles wisely made his commander-in-chief. His subsequent conduct of the expedition elicited much praise from all military authorities ; but, unluckily for Charles, his overbearing temper and impatience of contradiction excited much jealousy among the other leaders. On hearing of Charles' southward march, Cope again altered his plans and made for Aberdeen, to which vessels were sent from Leith to convey him and his soldiers to Dunbar, where he disem- cope sails barked on September 18, and was welcomed by the news *° Dunbar, that the town of Edinburgh had been occupied by the rebels the very day before his landing. Nothing daunted, however, by the intelligence, he at once marched to the aid of the castle, which was still holding out ; and as Charles was as eager as Cope to fight a battle, he too hurried on towards Dunbar, and the two armies, neither of which exceeded 3000 men, came within sight of one another at Prestonpans. At that moment Cope's men were on the main road which runs along the low ground by the shores of the Firth of Forth ; the prince's followers were on high ground further inland, and when the two armies drew up facing one another they found themselves separated by a marsh which was prac- tically impassable. In this situation night fell. During the night Prince Charles learnt the existence of a path by which he could skirt the marsh and come out on the level ground between Cope and Dunbar. Accordingly, before daylight the Highlanders Battle of began their march, and when day broke Cope found restonpans. his enemies drawn up in two lines, and ready to charge him from a wholly unexpected direction. In haste he re-formed his men at right angles to the road, and stretching from the marsh on their right to the park wall of Colonel Gardiner, who was present in command of Cope's cavalry, on their left. His artillery was on the right ; his cavalry, under Gardiner and Hamilton, on each flank. His efi"orts, however, were of no 776 George II. 1745 avail. The Highlanders, charging sword in hand, proved a match for infantry, cavalry, and artillery alike. It is said that five minutes sufficed for the combat ; and the Highlanders gleefully asserted that they had a prince who could ' eat a dry crust, sleep on pease-straw, eat his dinner in four minutes, and win a battle in five.' Gardiner perished on the field ; Cope reached Berwick with the survivors of the cavalry, and was scornfully congratulated by the governor on being 'the first general who ever brought the news of his own defeat.' The battle of Prestonpans, as this engagement was called from a village which lay in the rear of Cope's position, made an immense sensation both in England and Scotland. With the exception of the fortresses and the districts held by the loyal clans, all Scotland fell into the possession of the rebels, and they were immediately joined by Lords Balmerino, Pitsligo, and Kilmarnock. The prince's next step, however, was a matter of grave debate. Charles himself was desirous of an immediate advance into England, Invasion of ^^^ many of his followers advised him to declare Scotland England. independent, and to rest on the defensive until reinforce- ments had arrived from France and the whole force of the Highlands had been completely organised. In the end the prince's views carried the day, and on October 31 he set out from Edinburgh with a force of about 5000 good infantry and 500 cavalry. His first object was to elude Marshal Wade, who was at Newcastle with a considerable force, and for this purpose, while making a show of moving on Newcastle, he secretly made for Carlisle, crossed the border on November 8, and so put the hilly country that divides Cumberland and Northumberland where the Highlanders would fight with advantage, between him and Wade. On the 14th, Carlisle Castle surrendered. Hurrying forward, the rebels reached Preston on the 27th, and on the 28th they entered Manchester. By this time their force was reduced by desertion between Edinburgh and Carlisle to about 4500 men. No news had been received of a French invasion in the south, and the English Jacobites, headed by the duke of Beaufort, the earl of Westmorland, and Sir Watkin Wynn, absolutely refused to rise without one. Even Lancashire, probably the most Jacobite county in England, had only produced some two hundred recruits. The peace and plenty which under Walpole's long rule had come to be associated with the Hanoverian government, had completely dissipated the sentiment of personal grievance under the existing state of affairs on which successful rebellion in a civilised country so much depends for success. From a military point of view, the situation was almost more hopeless. Wade was advancing through Yorkshire to take them in the rear. 1745 Pelham 777 Caoiberland, with an army of 8000 men, was in Staffordshire. George him- self was collecting a new army at Finchley, and the men whom Cumberland had with him were not the raw recruits who had fled at Prestonpans, but seasoned soldiers who had been under fire of the at Dettingen and Fontenoy. Still the rebels decided to ^'■"^'^^• push forward, and Lord George Murray, by a masterly movement on Congleton, caused Cumberland to rendezvous at Stone, about seven miles north of Stafford, while Charles and the main body, keeping to the east, made his way through Stockport and Ashbourne. The Rebels On December 1 the rebels entered Derby, and found them- ^^ Derby, selves within one hundred and thirty miles of the capital, on a good road, and with only one army between them and it. Meanwhile the approach of the rebel army was exciting great appre- hension in London. When first heard of, the rising was regarded as a mere flash in the pan ; but when the prince, so far from Feeling of being checked at once, was reported to have reached Perth, °" °"' then Edinburgh, and then to be advancing from Carlisle to Manchester, people's fears grew ; and when it was known that he was at Derby, and the Highlanders were reported to be sharpening their broadswords at the blacksmiths' shops, apprehension gave way to panic, and the day was long remembered as ' Black Friday.' So great was the run on the bank that the directors were forced to pay in sixpences in order to gain time. The king had placed most of his valuables on a yacht in case it became necessary to take refuge in Hanover, and it is said that the duke of Newcastle shut himself up for twenty-four hours to consider whether or not the readiest way to make his fortune would be by being the first English minister to declare for the Pretender. The situation, undoubtedly, was very serious. Had Charles advanced to Finchley and defeated George ii., as was probable enough, in a pitched battle fought on English soil, no one can say what would have followed, for the indifference of the mass of the people to the whole affair is one of the most curious signs of the time. In general, however, the best chance for a rebel army is to advance ; and Charles was eager to try his luck in another battle, and so, un- doubtedly, were the rank and file of his men ; but the The Rebels officers could not conceal from themselves the terrible risk they were running, for Cumberland was already in pursuit and Wade was closing in. Moreover, the news that Lord John Drummond had arrived in Scotland with some Scottish and Irish troops in the French service, and that considerable bodies of Highlanders were ready on the other side of the border, seemed to promise a more successful campaign next year. 778 George II. 1745 For these reasons, therefore, the council of officers was clear for retreat, and Charles, much against his will, was compelled, to yield. Once on the march back, in spite of the dejection due to failure, the retreat was admirably conducted by Lord George Murray. Two days' march was gained on Cumberland at the start, and before Wade could be over the hills into Lancashire, the rebel army had passed him. Thus baffled, Cumberland hurried on with some mounted infantry and his regular cavalry ; but even these horsemen did not overtake the rebel rearguard till they were close to Penrith. There, at the village of Clifton, on the Skirmish right bank of the river Low^ther, Lord George Murray turned at Clifton. ^Q i^^y. ^^^ -^^ ^ cleverly managed skirmish beat off Cumber- land's attack, and so proved victor in the last serious fighting that has taken place on English soil. This stand at Clifton secured the prince from further molestation, and the rebels, leaving a weak garrison in Carlisle, recrossed the border on December 20. Cumberland, however, was in no hurry to follow them. The fear of a French invasion was too serious to allow of England being denuded of Battle of troops ; SO the best regiments were remarched to the southern a kirk. coast, and Wade's army only was placed under the command of General Hawley, and despatched across the border. Hawley found the rebels engaged in the siege of Stirling, where, with extremely inadequate artillery, they were endeavouring to frighten General Blakeney, the governor, into surrender. Their main force of 8000 men, under Lord George Murray and Lord John Drummond, was drawn up near Bannock- burn to cover the siege, and when, on January 17, Hawley advanced with a force of about the same size from Falkirk, they advanced against him. The two armies met on Falkirk Muir, a ridge of upland which hid them from each other. The Highlanders gained the summit first, and saw the royalist force toiling up the hill, a violent wind blowing the rain and sleet full in their faces. In these circumstances, every advantage was with the Highlanders. Hawley's force, with the exception of a small body on the right who were protected by a ravine, were utterly routed, and Falkirk with the baggage fell into the hands of the prince. The victory, however, did little good to his cause. Quarrels between Lord George Murray and Lord John Drummond were incessant. Numbers of Highlanders hurried off to their homes to secure their share of the booty, and Hawley's place was immediately taken by the duke of Cumberland, who was determined that in the next battle nothing should be left to chance. Prince William, duke of Cumberland, was almost exactly the same age as Prince Charles. Hitherto his character was unsullied by the stain 1746 Pelham 779 which subsequently blackened it. He was known as an eager soldier, who had fought well at Dettingen and had been beaten at Fontenoy through no fault of his own, and who bore in civil life the The Duke of reputation of trustworthiness and honesty. He reached Cumberland. Edinburgh on January 30, and set out next day to bring the rebels to battle ; but on reaching Falkirk he found that they were in full retreat and had already crossed the Forth. In this, as at Derby, Prince Charles had been overruled by his officers, who thought it madness to fight when many of their men had gone home to secure their plunder, and who wished to fall back on Inverness where considerable reinforcements were believed to await them. Inverness itself was held by Lord Loudon with some 2000 men ; but on the prince's approach he withdrew into Suther- landshire. Inverness then fell into the prince's hands, and soon afterwards Fort Augustus surrendered ; but Fort William still held out, and Lord George Murray failed in an attempt to capture Blair Castle. While these operations were going on, Cumberland was organising his forces at Perth. The opportune arrival of 6000 Hessians in English pay, who could be used for garrison duty, enabled him to take the field with a force exclusively British, and with it he advanced to Aberdeen. There it was expected that he would await the arrival of summer ; but in April he was ready to start, and on the 8th the army marched for Inverness. Cumberland's force consisted of 8000 foot and 900 horse. Great pains had been taken in drilling the men to meet the first rush of the Highlanders, even to the detail of telling each man not to use his bayonet against the Highlander in front of him who was covered by his target, but to thrust at the man on his own right whose side would be unprotected. Pro- visions in plenty were carried in a fleet which accompanied the advance, and the men wanted for nothing. The soldiers had the greatest con- fidence in their leader, and were eager to wipe out the disgrace of Prestonpans and Falkirk. When it was known that Cumberland was advancing, Charles concen- trated his force at Culloden, a few miles short of Inverness. He had 5000 men still with him ; but these were more than he could a Night well feed. His money was exhausted ; provisions were so March, scarce that when a day's march alone separated the armies, a single biscuit per man was all the rations served out, and night and morning the troops were dispersed seeking for something to keep body and soul together. In these circumstances, it was determined to try a night surprise ; but the plan was ruined by the delay in starting caused by the difficulty of collecting the stragglers, who were searching for food in Inverness and the neighbouring villages. When day was within an 780 George II. i746 hour of breaking, the advanced guard with Lord George Murray were still four miles from Cumberland's camp. There was nothing for it but to retrace their steps. Even then Murray and the best officers wished to make for some more inaccessible ground ; but his opinion was over- ruled, and Charles decided to wait Cumberland on the open space of Culloden Moor. He himself commanded the centre ; Murray was on the right ; Lord John Drummond on the left ; and the army, as usual, was drawn up in two lines. Cumberland also drew up his men in two lines, each four deep. The front ranks were instructed to kneel, the second to stoop, and the third Battle of '^^d fourth to fire over the heads of their fellows. The Culloden. artillery was placed in the gaps between the regiments of the front line, and the cavalry on each wing were directed to work round and take the Highlanders in flank. These careful precautions reduced victory almost to a certainty ; but the bravery of the High- landers, cold, weary, and hungry as they were, with a storm of sleet in their faces, never showed to more conspicuous advantage than on that fatal day. In spite of the deluge of shot that met their charge, no less than two regiments of Cumberland's front line were broken ; but against his second line all valour was unavailing, and the clansmen of the right and centre, driven into hopeless confusion and charged by cavalry on the flank, retreated sullenly from the field. On the left the charge had been less vigorous, for the Macdonalds, furious at being deprived of their usual post of honour on the right, refused for the most part to follow their leaders, and retreated unbroken out of the fray. An attempt was made by Lord George Murray to rally the rebel force at Ruthven in Badenoch ; but the want of money and supplies was fatal to any success- ful attempt to carry on the war, and, orders being given by Charles that each man should shift for himself, the army broke up. In the days immediately succeeding the battle, Prince Charles made his way across country and took refuge in the western isles, where he hoped to wait safely for the arrival of a French ship. His Prince retreat, however, being discovered, and a body- of two thousand men having landed to search the island of South Uist, where he then was, his capture seemed inevitable, when he was rescued from his perilous position by the devotion of Flora Macdonald, who took him with her in the disguise of a woman. He thus passed in safety through the line of eager sentinels, whose vigilance had been stimulated by the offer of ^'30,000 as a reward for his capture. But even then his dangers were by no means over. Again and again he had to trust himself to the honour of poor fellows, to whom the government 1746 Pelliam 781 reward must have seemed untold wealth, but whose noble generosity invariably forbade them to speak the word which would have won it. At length, after five months' wandering about western Scotland, he reached a French vessel, and landed safely in France. For many years the chance of renewing his attempt seemed by no means hopeless. During the remainder of the war now going on, and again during the Seven Years' War, proposals to make use ^he last of of his services were frequently made ; but as time went on the Stuarts, with less and less chance of success. In 1747 a great blow was struck at the reputation of the Stuarts, when Henry Stuart, Charles' younger brother, became a cardinal. Charles' own marriage in 1762 proved childless ; and finally Pitt's decisive victories over the French destroyed all hopes of aid from them. The Old Pretender died in 1766 ; the Young in 1788 ; and his brother Henry, the last of the legitimate descendants of James ii., in 1805. Many leaders of the rebellion were singularly fortunate in escaping. Lord George Murray, Lord John Drummond, the duke of Perth, and Cameron of Lochiel all made their way to friendly shijDs. Punishment Old Lord Tullibardine died in the Tower. Of the others, °^the Rebels. Lord Kilmarnock, Lord Balmerino, and Charles Eatclifi*, brother of the late earl of Derwentwater, who had been captured in a French vessel on his way to Scotland, were beheaded in 1746. In 1747 they were followed by Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, a wily old chief of abominable character, who, while assuring Duncan Forbes of his fidelity to the government, had despatched his son, the master of Lovat, to fight for the prince. Very nearly indeed did he save his head ; but, unluckily for him, Murray of Broughton, the prince's secretary, was captured, and having turned king's evidence, completed the chain of proof necessary for Lovat's conviction. The last who suffered in England was Dr. Cameron, brother of Cameron of Lochiel, who was arrested while visiting England in 1753. He was convicted and hanged, not so much for the old rebellion, as because the government thought it needful to check by a severe example the revival of Jacobite intrigue ; and as it is known that the Young Pretender himself had recently visited London to consult with the English Jacobites, the severity is not altogether without justification. These executions took place under the due forms of English law, and so did some eighty others at Lancaster, Carlisle, and other places where prisoners were reserved for trial ; but a more barbarous and Barbarous brutal retribution was meted out to the wretched men and o7t1ie"H^gh- women whom Cumberland and his soldiers chose to regard landers, as guilty of rebellion. Many poor fellows were slaughtered on the field 782 George II. 1746 itself, and so indiscriminate was the massacre perpetrated in the Highland glens during the three months that followed Culloden, that all Cumber- land's excellent qualities and his real services have been forgotten in the hated name of the ' Butcher.' Fortunately statesmen were not wanting who realised that, as Lord Carteret ably put it on another occasion, ' in the body politic as in the body natural, while the cause remains it is impossible to Precau- ./ ^ i tionary remove the distemper ' ; and they were determined to make easures. ^-^^ suppression of the rebellion a fresh starting-point in Highland history. It was obvious that the real cause which made rebellion so easy was the clan system, by which the chief had the first claim upon the loyalty of his followers, lived on their contributions, was the fountain of justice and honour in his own district, and could command the obedience of his men for any service, however lawless, for which he might choose to require them. To break down this system, an act was passed by which the chiefs were deprived of their hereditary jurisdictions, and received instead a financial compensation. The clans were rigorously disarmed, and to break the distinction between a Low- lander and a Highlander, the latter were forbidden by law to wear the Highland dress. By this means it ceased to be the interest of the chiefs to surround themselves with a body of fighting men. For the first time they began to look to the cultivation of their lands as a source of profit, and this change in the life of the chiefs led to the migration and dis- persion of the most energetic and lawless of their followers. These coercive measures, however, though they might have broken the power of the chiefs, would have done little to secure their loyalty had not Pitt, a few years later, raised the Highland regiments, and put land Regi- them under the Command of leading chief tains, one of whom "^^"*^* was a son of the executed Lord Lovat. By this means he secured for the country the services of the magnificent fighting capacity of the Highlanders, thus changing a source of danger into a means of defence. While the rebels were still unconquered, the country had been passing through a ministerial crisis. Of the younger members of parlia- Wiiiiam nient none had distinguished themselves more than William P^"- Pitt and Henry Fox. Pitt was the grandson of a governor of Madras, who made himself a name by bringing home from India the celebrated Pitt diamond, and nephew, by marriage, of the first earl of Stanhope. He was born in 1708, educated at Eton and Trinity College, Oxford, obtained a cornetcy in the Blues, entered parliament for the pocket borough of Old Sarum in 1735, and immediately threw himself 1746 Pelham 733 into violent opposition to Walpole. From his schooldays he had made a study of oratory ; and his figure, 'tall, and perfectly erect, with the eyes of a hawk, little head, thin face, and long aquiline nose,' coupled with a voice of extraordinary range and power, undaunted courage, and immense belief in himself, combined with real ability and a capacity for dealing with any subject he touched upon in a broad and statesmanlike manner, at once marked him out for a distinguished parliamentary career. His first speeches attracted the notice of Walpole, gained for him the charac- teristic compliment, ' we must muzzle this cornet of horse,' and the loss of his commission in the Blues. Weak in prepared speeches, he soon showed himself to be one of the very best extempore debaters that the world has ever seen, and became conspicuous among a crowd of worthy rivals by his mastery over the arts of oratory and sarcasm. In spite of the fact that he was a new man, almost unconnected with any of the o-reat Whig families which at that time monopolised office, he soon attained a commanding position in the eyes of the country ; for his absolute freedom from mercenary motives gained him much respect in parliament, while his enthusiastic support of British interests gained him the good- will of the people at large. With George 11., however, he was by no means a favourite, partly because he had been made groom of the chamber to the Prince of Wales to make up for the loss of his commission, and partly because much of his popularity outside the House had been won by his vehement opposition to Carteret's Hanoverian policy. In particular, he had always opposed the taking of Hanoverians and Hessians into British pay, and had spoken of Carteret in parliament as ' the Hanover troop minister.' ' Nothing could be more dissimilar than the characters, talents, habits, and education' of his rival Henry Fox ; who, while described to us as ' infinitely able in business, clear, penetrating, confident, and , . . . „ ,. -, ,. ., ,. 1 t I. \ Henry Fox. decisive in all his dealings with mankind, and 01 extra- ordinary activity,' was wanting in those loftier qualities of statesmanship which distinguished Pitt. His talents were always strictly subservient to his own advancement, and, from a long training under Walpole, he had acquired the official tone of mind which tends to regard all political questions from the point of view of their influence upon votes. Indeed, Lord Chesterfield wrote of him ' that he had not the least notion of or regard for the public good or the constitution, but despised these cares as the objects of little minds.' Fox was born in 1705, and his long official training had given him a mastery of detail, and a facility in the art of defence that made him a most valuable man, and the post of a junior lord of the treasury, which he held under Pelham, appeared to him quite 784 George II. 1756 inadequate to his deserts. The open hostility of Pitt, and the discon- tented support of Fox, were therefore serious matters for the ministry. In February 1746, Pelham determined to strengthen himself by the admission of Pitt to office. George sternly refused his consent, upon Ministerial which the Pelhams and most of their followers resigned. Crisis. Their resignations were accepted, and Granville and Bath , (formerly Pulteney) were commissioned with the formation of a ministry. The attempt, however, completely failed, because they had forgotten ' one little point,' which was, says Horace Walpole, ' to secure a majority in both Houses.' In these circumstances, George, sorely against his will, was compelled to reinstate the Pelhams, and to give Pitt the post of vice-treasurer for Ireland, which he soon afterwards vacated for that of paymaster of the forces. This post was then reckoned the most valuable in the administration, from the immense sums that could be made indirectly out of percentages on the money which passed through the hands of its occupant, and even by investing public money under his charge. Pitt, however, refused to make a penny by such devices, and so made good in office the character for disinterestedness that he had acquired in opposition. So completely were his qualities recognised, that Pelham described him as ' the most able and useful man we have among us, truly honourable and strictly honest.' At the same time Fox was conciliated by promotion to the distinguished post of secretary- at-war ; and a little later Chesterfield became secretary of state, and entered the cabinet. While Great Britain had been occupied in suppressing rebellion at home, France had been advancing with rapid strides. Almost every fortress in the Austrian Netherlands had fallen into her The War. hands ; and in 1746 Holland had been invaded. Ever since the death of William iii. the Burgher party had been in the ascendant, and the house of Orange had been out of power ; but, as in 1672, fear of France impelled the Dutch to invite the services of their old leaders ; and Frederick William of Orange, generally called William iv., son-in-law of George ii., was nominated stadtholder, and intrusted with the command of the troops. On the defeat of the Pretender, however, Cumberland was able to return to the continent ; but, though an ex- cellent officer, he was no match in generalship for the French leaders ; and matters were made worse by a want of harmonious co-operation between him and his brother-in-law. Accordingly, in July 1747, at Lauffeld near Maestricht, the allied army was defeated by Marsha Saxe, after a hard-fought engagement, and compelled to retire behind the Meuse. The French then advanced to the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, 1749 Pelham 785 an excellent fortress constructed by Coehorn, but so badly defended by its Dutch garrison that it fell in September. There was every pro- bability that Maestricht would share its fate ; and, meanwhile, the ministry seem to have had no better idea of using English resources than that of applying to every little court in Europe to supply us with mercenary troops. At sea, however, our position was not quite so contemptible ; for Anson and Hawke had each beaten a French fleet, and each captured six ships of the line off Finisterre and Belleisle respectively. Our American colonists, too, had shown their mettle in an expedition against Cape Breton Island in 1745, and the capture of Louisbourg, its capital. On the whole, however, both we and the French were glad to bring the war to a close. A congress was summoned, at which British, French, and Dutch representatives met ; and on April 30, 1748, preliminaries of peace were signed, and a treaty was con- cluded at Aix-la-Chapelle in the course of the same year. By the articles of peace, all conquests were to be restored on both sides ; the Pretender was to be expelled from France ; Silesia was guaranteed to Frederick : and Maria Theresa's husband _ mi 1 r, • 1 Treaty of Francis was recognised as emperor. Though Spam also Aix-la-Cha- was included in the general pacification, the right of search ^^ was unmentioned. On the conclusion of peace, the army was at once reduced to eighteen thousand men ; but land in Nova Scotia was given to the disbanded soldiers, and, after the secretary of state, the name of Halifax was given to a new town. When the peace was concluded, Pelham gave his attention to domestic affairs. As a follower of Walpole he took great interest in finance, and devised measures to reduce the national debt. Since the Rate of initiation by Montagu of the practice of perpetual funding, De*brrU°" the debt had been steadily increasing. At the treaty of d^ced. Eyswick it amounted to ^21,000,000 ; at that of Utrecht to £53,000,000 ; at that of Aix-la-Chapelle to £78,000,000. Generally speaking, it could be divided into four heads : loans contracted in perpetuity ; loans raised in anticipation of special taxes ; loans advanced in return for annuities for life or a term of years ; and exchequer bills. William iii. had been obliged to guarantee an interest on the funded debt of eight per cent., and Anne of six per cent. ; but in 1716 the interest was reduced by Walpole to five per cent., and again, in 1727, to four per cent. However, in spite of the growth of the debt, the defeat of the Pretender had still further improved the credit of the government, and the widespread financial prosperity of the country made money cheap. Accordingly, in 1749, Pelham was able to efi'ect a still further reduction 3d 786 George II. 1749 by offering the government creditors either to be paid off in full or to accept three per cent, interest. The majority accepted his terms ; the rest were paid off in full ; and shortly afterwards the fourteen different kinds of stock were consolidated into five. By these transactions Pelham effected an annual saving of above .£500,000. In 1751, Frederick, Prince of Wales, died of congestion of the lungs, possibly complicated by a wound caused some time before by a blow from a trap-ball. At one time he had been most unpopular ; Prince of and the cry of the London mob — ' Oh, that it had been the es. Butcher ! ' — showed how completely Cumberland had for- feited the esteem of the nation. He left a widow, Augusta of Saxe- Coburg, and nine children, the eldest of whom, born in 1738, was after- wards created Prince of Wales. The princess was a clever woman of good character, who saw clearly how important it was for her children that Death of ^^® should keep on good terms with the old king. A few Bolingbroke. months later, at the age of seventy-three, died Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, a man who had hoped to be the evil genius of the Hanoverians, but had lived to see them fixed on the throne more firmly than ever. In 1752, through the influence of Lord Chesterfield, the calend|ir was reformed. Philip Dormer Stanhope, earl of Chesterfield, filled a large Lord place in the eyes of his contemporaries, but is now chiefly Chesterfield, remembered for some witty sayings and his celebrated letters to his son. He was born in 1694, and had early shown himself a consummate courtier, a good negotiator and an excellent debater. He never took a first place ; but, nevertheless, ought to be remembered as one of the very best lord-lieutenants of Ireland, to whose mingled tact and firmness it was probably due that Ireland was undisturbed by rebellion during the rising of 1745 ; and for having thrown up his post of secretary of state, in 1747, because his advocacy of peace was dis- regarded. He was now giving a general support to the ministry without holding office. At that date England followed the Julian calendar, which had been arranged by Julius Caesar. Its reckoning was incorrect, owing to the number of leap-years introduced being too many ; and, accordingly, the calendar was now eleven days behind the correct date. Attention had been called to this by the astronomers of the sixteenth century ; and in 1582, Pope Gregory xiii. had published the Gregorian calendar, in which the error was corrected. This had at once been Calendar adopted in all Koman Catholic countries, and eventually in reformed. ^11 European 'states except Great Britain, Sweden, and Russia. By Chesterfield's act, the 3rd of September was to be reckoned 1754 Pelham 787 as the 14th, and the year 1753 was to begin on January 1st, instead of on Lady Day, March 25, as heretofore. The quarter days, however, reckoning for the ' eleven days,' were to be April 5, July 5, October 10, and January 5. This change, which did away with much confusion and difficulty, was strongly resented by insuUxr prejudice. An election cry of ' Give us back our eleven days,' and ' In 1753, The year was changed to popery ' — the refrain of a popular song — preserved the memory of the mixture of ignorance and prejudice by which it was in some quarters received. Another piece of useful legislation was the Marriage Act, brought in by Lord-Chancellor Hardwicke in 1753, by which it was arranged that persons about to be married must either have their banns The published on three successive Sundays in the church of the Marriage • • Act parish where each was residing, or must have a licence ; and that in any case the marriage must be celebrated in church between 6 A.M. and noon. In any other place or hour a costly special licence must be obtained from the archbishop of Canterbury. This Act was designed to check clandestine and inconsiderate marriages, and was stoutly opposed by Henry Fox, who, haviug himself run away with the daughter of the duke of Richmond, regarded the bill as a personal insult. Charles Townshend, also, who was recognised as one of the wittiest speakers in the House of Commons, also opposed it in what he called the interest of younger sons, who, if the bill passed, would be deprived of all chance of securing an heiress ; and society laughed immoderately when, within a year of its becoming law, he consoled himself with an elderly but well-endowed dowager. Pelham died in 1754. He was not an old man, but had allowed himself to indulge too freely in the pleasures of the table, and had thus undermined his constitution before he was fifty-eight. Death of Though in no sense a brilliant minister, he had plenty of P^^^am, common sense, and inspired confidence by his probity, industry, and punctuality. Though no orator, he was able to make a clear statement on matters of business, and his conciliatory manner helped to disarm opposition. On hearing of his death George exclaimed—' Now I shall have no more peace ' ; a prophecy which proved true. Pelham's place as head of the ministry was taken by his elder brother, Thomas ^^^^^^^-^^^ Pelham, duke of Newcastle, born in 1694, one of the most singular men who have ever taken a high part in political life. He had been secretary of state for the last thirty years, and in experience of 788 Gem-ge It. 1754 business and of parliamentary management he had no rival, yet on the subject of his eccentricities the testimony of contemporaries is unani- mous. He was invariably in a hurry, and gave the impression of ' having lost an hour in the morning and being all the day looking for it.' In walking he saved time by adopting a half run half shuffle, and in talking by asking questions, but not waiting for the answers. He was extra- ordinarily ignorant of geography and of the general principles of statesmanship, but took his ideas from others, and occupied himself wholly with details. Like his brother, however, he was personally honest and disinterested. As the prime minister was now in the House of Lords, it was of the lirst importance to secure an efficient leader for the House of Commons. This presented great difficulties. Eventually the choice Leadership . . of the seemed to lie between Pitt and Fox ; but Newcastle was afraid of both of them, and preferred in their stead Sir Thomas Robinson, a dull, heavy man, who had been so long ambassador at Vienna that he hardly remembered the forms of the House of Commons. ' The duke,' said Pitt, ' might as well have sent his jack- boot to lead us,' and he and Fox, for the first and last time working in concert, joined to make Robinson's position unbearable. Their plan of campaign was for one to attack Robinson for his mistakes, and for the other to defend him on the ground of his inexperience, and it was a matter of speculation whether Robinson disliked most the attack or the defence. Before long this state of things became intolerable, and, choosing the lesser of two evils, Newcastle gave the leadership to Fox. A few months later, Pitt refused to give his consent to the payment of subsidies to Hesse and Russia, and was dismissed from the paymaster- ship, and then Fox obtained the coveted post of secretary of state. Meanwhile, causes arising out of the affairs of America and India, and almost wholly unconnected with home politics, had been making inevit- able a renewal of the war between England and France. Colonies Since the foundation of the colony of Massachusetts in the in North Hyhq of Charles i., the English colonies in America had been America. ' ^ making steady progress. In 1663 Carolina was founded, probably as a refuge for distressed royalists. Connecticut had been founded in 1635. In 1664 the capture of New Amsterdam had opened the way for the foundation of a new series of colonies lying between the old New England colonies and Maryland and Virginia. That of New York had been founded in 1664, New Jersey in 1665, and in 1681 William Penn the Quaker founded his colony of Pennsylvania, and colonised it chiefly with members of the Society of Friends. In 1703 1756 Newcastle 789 Delaware was separated from Pennsylvania. A pause ensued till 1732, when Georgia was occupied by a colony of poor men under General Oglethorpe. By 1750, therefore, the colonies stretched north and south in an unbroken line for miles, and extended inland from the coast a dis- tance of, on the average, about two hundred miles. The white popula- tion, however, was only about two and a half millions, or about the same as that of Wales at the present day, and between the different colonies there was no political concert, and not a great deal of intercourse. 790 Ge(yrge II. 1756 North, south and west of the long line of English colonies lay the settlements of the French and Spaniards. Florida was the possession of The French Spain ; and the French not only held Louisiana and the basin Settlements. ^^ ^^le lower Mississippi, but also Canada, with its chain of lakes, and joining hands along the river Ohio, at the back of the English settlements, denied access to the west. Nor was their claim to this territory merely nominal. The French absolutely denied the right of the English to trade with the Indians, and in 1749 began a system of exploration and fort-building, the object of which was to surround the English colonies with an iron barrier. The chief of these forts were those of Niagara, on the river St. Lawrence, Crown Point on Lake Champlain, and, most important of all, Fort Duquesne, built at the point where the Alleghany river from the north and the Mononhangela from the south unite to form the Ohio river, which flows thence in a westerly direction to join the Mississippi. These proceedings of the French naturally excited the alarm of the colonists, particularly of the Virginians, and George Washington, a young Virginian planter, was sent out to examine Fort Duquesne, and upon his report a force of Virginian militia, with Washington as major, was sent to annoy the new-comers. It was, however, attacked by an overwhelming force at Great Meadow, and forced to surrender. After this outbreak of hostilities between the colonies, both France and England, though nominally at peace, sent out additional forces to America ; and though the main fleets passed each other in a fog, two French men-of-war were attacked and captured off the American coast by Captain Howe. The general sent out by the British was Braddock, a veteran of forty-four years' standing, and 'intrepid and brave,' but who knew nothing of bush fighting, and despised irregular troops. The French commander was a German named Dieskau. In 1755 Braddock organised a second expedition against Fort Duquesne, led by himself and Washington, but within a few miles of the fort it was attacked in the forest by a force of Canadians and Indians, against whom Braddock's regular troops and parade tactics were utterly useless. Braddock fell, and only the skill of Washington and his provincials prevented a complete massacre. This disaster threw open a road to the southern colonies, of which the Indians were not slow to avail themselves, and Washington had as much as he could do to keep their raids in check, and to prevent them from penetrating even into tlie settled districts. Meanwhile, Dieskau, making a similar advance with French regular troops against Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George, which discharges its waters into Lake Champlain, was defeated and killed by Johnson with a body of colonial militia from Massachusetts 1757 Newcastle — Devonshire 791 and New York, assisted by some friendly Indians. Such obvious viola- tions of peace made open war inevitable. The resumption of hostilities against France was loudly advocated by Fox and his patron the duke of Cumberland, and in May, 1756, war was formally declared against her. The outbreak of a colonial war between Great Britain and France coincided with a resumption of hostilities on the continent. Maria Theresa had never acquiesced in the surrender of Silesia to Frederick, and for years had been working to form a Sie*Seven°^ coalition against him. For this purpose her minister ^^^^^' "^^'■■ Kaunitz flattered Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis xv. and Augustus, Elector of Saxony and king of Poland, and induced them form an alliance against Prussia, in which she also hoped to have the assistance of Elizabeth of Kussia. Against such a formidable coalition Frederick turned for assistance to his uncle, George ii., whose Hanoverian instincts led him to view with apprehension the weakening of a Protest- ant German power, and in January, 1756, a defensive alliance between Great Britain and Prussia was signed. Having thus secured himself from an attack in the rear, Frederick determined to anticipate the pro- ceedings of his enemies by a forward movement, and in August, 1756, declaring ' that he meant to lay the cloth as far from home as possible,' he invaded Saxony, and having seized at Dresden the proofs of the alliance for his destruction, published them to the world as a justification for his conduct. He was then openly attacked not only by the French, Austrians, and Saxons, but also by Elizabeth of Eussia, whom Maria Theresa had won over to her alliance. Had Louis xv. been wise, he would probably have devoted his attention to the colonial war ; but, as it was, he treated the war in Germany as of the first importance, and that in the colonies as a secondary matter. The French began the war by an expedition against Minorca, which was defended by General Blakeney, who had been governor of Stirling in 1745. To relieve it a force was despatched under Admiral Minorca John Byng. He was the son of the victor of Cape Passaro, ^°^** and, without having seen much service, he had been promoted by his father's influence over the heads of better men. On arriving at Minorca he found that the French fleet outnumbered his own, and, after a partial engagement, he withdrew his squadron, more from half-heartedness and fear of responsibility than from cowardice. In consequence, the island, which had been in English hands close upon half a century, was com- pelled to surrender. The country was furious at the disaster, ^ ^^^^ and on his return home, Byng was at once tried by court martial and shot. His case was a hard one ; but only eight years before. 792 George II. 1757 the articles of war had been deliberately made more severe against faults of this kind, and even if they had not, popular feeling ran so high that it is doubtful whether the strongest government would have ventured to acquit him. Voltaire remarked of his execution, ' in England they kill one admiral to encourage the rest.' It is not improbable that a stern example was needed ; and the execution of the unfortunate Byng marked, once for all, the sense of the nation that odds must be most unusual to justify a British admiral in retreating before the enemy. The ministry which failed to save Byng was not that which had sent him out. Newcastle had been forced into the war by Cumberland and Fox, and was well aware that he had little aptitude or in- Devon- Bhire's clination for directing its operations. He wished to limit Ministry. ^^ ^^ much as possible, and nothing but old Granville's advice, ' If you hit, hit hard,' prevented him from giving an extra- ordinary order to attack men-of-war only and allow merchantmen to go free. The loss of Minorca completely staggered him, and before Byng's trial he resigned. His place was taken by the duke of Devonshire as representative of one of the great Revolution families, while Secretary Pitt became secretary of state and virtual head of the of state. government, supported by his brothers-in-law, Lord Temple and George Grenville. In pursuance of his policy of relying as much as possible on the national resources, one of Pitt's first acts was to bring forward and pass a bill for the organisation of a national militia, which Pitt hoped would act as a reserve for the regular army in time of war, and also as a nursery of efficient soldiers ; and he took this opportunity of raising the Highland regiments, who have ever since played so con- spicuous a part in every quarter of the globe. A nearer acquaintance with Pitt, however, did nothing to soften George's dislike of him. He regarded him as too much the friend of the Princess of Wales, and he conceived a violent dislike for Temple, who irritated him by his rudeness and want of tact — going so far, on one occasion, as to try and illustrate the case of Byng by comparison with George's own experience at Oudenarde. His feelings were shared by the duke of Cumberland, who positively declined to take command of the Hanoverian army so long as Pitt was in power. Accordingly, in April 1757, George suddenly dismissed Pitt from his post, and the resignation of Devonshire, of coarse, followed. George wished to form a government without having recourse either to Pitt or to Newcastle ; but found it impossible to do so, for Newcastle was supported by all the great Whig fiimilies and by the Princess of Wales, and Pitt by the citizens of London and the general voice of the 1758 Neivcastle 793 people. For eleven weeks he held out, and all sorts of combinations were attempted, but capitulation was inevitable, and ultimately the famous Newcastle-Pitt ministry was formed on the basis of Newcastle holding the post of prime minister, with the busi- Se^c'SJnd^*^^ ^ ness of manipulating the parliamentary majority ; Pitt that ^'"^^^'"y- of secretary of state, with a free hand in politics ; and Fox that of pay- master of the forces, with the opportunity of unlimited money-making — a division of labour much to the satisfaction of the parties concerned. The new ministry found the country in the lowest depths of despair. The long employment of foreign mercenaries had had its usual effect of making the native soldiery distrustful of their military Pitt in capacity, while the failure of Byng was interpreted as a Power, proof of the loss of our naval supremacy. Even Lord Chesterfield wrote that, ' whoever is in, or whoever is out, I am sure we are undone, both at home and abroad. We are no longer a nation.' From this depression Pitt set himself to rouse his countrymen. He had great belief in him- self. ' I can save the country,' he said, ' and I know that no one else can ' ; and he lived to verify his boast. His own energy was soon difi'used into every department : ' No one, it was said, ever entered Pitt's room who did not come out of it a braver man.' For the first time since the days of Oliver Cromwell, soldiers and sailors were chosen, not for rank or court influence, but for professional merit. Pitt himself showed his own moral courage by a remarkable change in policy. Hitherto he had been the vigorous opponent of any interference in Germany, but he now saw that success in India and America could best be secured by aiding Frederick to keep the French employed in Europe, so he boldly threw over his own professions, saying : ' I will conquer America for you in Cermany,' and advocated the assistance of Frederick in every possible way. Pitt was only just in time ; during the change of government the duke of Cumberland had gone out to Hanover and taken command of the Hessian and Hanoverian troops. The duke had never _ '- Cumber- been a great general, and he was now corpulent and short- land's sighted. Foolishly attempting to defend the line of the Weser, a river which could be forded at many points, he allowed himself to be out-manoeuvred and drawn into a battle at Hastenbeck. After a confused fight, both sides thought themselves beaten, but the French are said ' to have recovered their senses first.' In some negotiations which followed, Cumberland was completely outwitted by the French com- mander, and induced to sign a convention at Klosterseven, by which he agreed to allow the French to occupy Hanover till a general peace, 794 George II. 1758 and that his soldiers should not fight again during the war. George felt bitterly the failure of the duke : ' Here is my son,' said he, ' who has ruined me and disgraced himself.' Pitt's energy, however, soon put a different face upon aflFairs ; the convention of Klosterseven, like that of the Caudine forks in Koman history, was repudiated on the ground that generals in the field have no business to conclude agreements dealing with anything but the conduct of war. He then persuaded parliament not only to grant Frederick a subsidy of ^670,000 a year, but also to send British troops to Germany, and begged from Frederick the services of Ferdinand of Brunswick, one of his best generals, to lead the allied forces in Hanover. For Frederick the Great the capitulation of Kloster- seven was a very serious matter, as it enabled the French to attack him on the right, while the Austrians advancedagainst his left ; but fortunately he defeated the French at Eossbach in November, and the Austrians at Leuthen in December ; and, henceforth, Ferdinand of Brunswick took the French off his hands, without which assistance, it is difficult to see how the Prussians could have held their own. Pitt also sent a number of small expeditions against Eochefort, Havre, Cherbourg, and other places on the French coast, which, though not important in themselves, were not without value in keeping on the coast troops that might other- wise have been sent to Germany or America. Well might Frederick exclaim : * England's great travail has at length brought forth a man.' In America, the year 1757 was not marked by any important events. Loudon, who was sent out by Newcastle to succeed Braddock, was a War in mere letter-writing commander ; while Montcalm, the French America, leader, was an excellent officer, whose energy was seen in the general success of the French all along the line. Loudon's chief efibrt was an attempt to recapture Louisbourg, the capital of CajDe Breton Island, and the Gibraltar of the river St. Lawrence. It failed, however, for the French had twenty-two ships of the line in the river, and were too powerful to be attacked and too wary to fight. In 1758, Pitt organised a general attack on Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, and finally on Fort Duquesne. The expedition against Louisbourg was intrusted to Jefiry Amherst, a young officer of no great rank, but of solid abilities and great power of self-restraint, who had seen service at Dettingen, Fontenoy, and Hastenbeck, and with him he associated the impetuous Wolfe, thinking that the fiery nature of the one, and the self-restraint of the other would balance each other. They landed on the island in June, Capture of ^^^, in spite of the great strength of Louisbourg, contrived Louisbourg. ^Q capture it and destroy all the French shipping there. Wolfe then went home. In the Ticonderoga expedition, Pitt had associ- 1759 Newcastle 795 ated the veteran Abercromby and young Lord Howe, an excellent officer. Unluckily, Howe was killed, and Abercromby completely failed in an attack on Montcalm. That officer had entrenched himself behind a formidable outwork composed of felled trees, with the branches sharp- ened and turned outwards, and before this formidable obstacle Aber- cromby was compelled to retreat to the head of Lake George, after a terrible loss of life. The third expedition was more successful ; for the French, discouraged by the action of some Indians who were won over to the English side, evacuated Fort Duquesne, and Forbes, the com- mander of the expedition, changed its name to Pittsburg. These successes, however, Pitt designed to be merely a prelude to the utter expulsion of the French from Canada. Accordingly it was arranged that, in 1759, Amherst was to advance against Montreal by way of Lakes George and Champlain, and that Wolfe was to make his way up the St. Lawrence and attack Quebec. HEIGHTS OfBabRAH»UI— vTL G WOLFE'S OPERATIONS AT QUEBEC Wolfe was now thirty-three years of age. He had entered the army at fourteen, and by the time he was twenty-two had fought at Dettingen, Fontenoy, Culloden, and Lauffeld, and was lieutenant-colonel General of his regiment. In person he was thin and singularly ^oif^- frail, but his eyes were bright and piercing. As a young officer he had neglected no means to improve himself by reading and study ; he was actuated by lofty principle and elevation of mind, and had the art of calling out the best qualities of those with whom he came in contact. Quebec stands on the north bank of the river St. Lawrence,at its juncture with the Charles river. Behind it the ground rises abruptly to a plateau called the Heights of Abraham, along which the river St. Lawrence flows 796 George 11. 1759 at the foot of a line of precipices. Across the Charles river the clifl's are less abrupt, and between it and the gorge of the Montmorency, about Position of four miles lower down, Montcalm had placed an entrenched Quebec. camp. At Quebec the river is nearly a mile across, and opposite the mouth of the Montmorency it is divided into two channels by the island of Orleans. On arriving at Quebec, Wolfe landed his army on the island of Orleans, and after reconnoitring Montcalm's camp, attempted to storm it. The plan failed, however ; so the troops were transported to the south bank of the river, and Quebec was bom- barded from that side. Still no impression was made ; and after a weary wait of nearly three months, during much of which Wolfe was extremely ill, he determined as a last resource to land above Quebec and attempt to scale the precipices which led to the Heights of Abraham. On the night of the 12th of September the fleet escorted the boats up the river, French ^nd a series of lucky accidents combining to deceive the defeated. French sentinels, Wolfe and his men effected their landing unopposed, and made their way up the steep ascent almost without fighting, and drew up in battle array on the plain above. ' This is a serious business,' said Montcalm, when at break of day he saw from his entrenchments the red line of British soldiers. With all speed he broke up his camp, and marched across the Charles river and through Quebec to attack the intruders. Each army contained about 4000 men. Wolfe had no cavalry with him, and only one piece of artillery, but his men bore the assault well, and when the steadiness of their fire had thrown the assailants into confusion, a charge from the whole line completed the victory. Hitherto Wolfe had been everywhere, encouraging his men, but in the final charge he was struck by no less than three balls ; but he had still strength to order measures for cutting off the French retreat, Death of then, turning on his side, he said : ' Now, God be praised, Wolfe. J ^jjj ^^g ^jj peace,' and passed quietly away. His rival, Montcalm, was shot through the body in the retreat, and died in the evening of the next day. On the 18th Quebec surrendered ; but the conquest of Canada was by no means complete, for Amherst had got no farther than Ticonderoga, and winter compelled Saunders, with the fleet, to leave the St. Lawrence, leaving Murray in command of Quebec, with the anxious task of holding it through the winter against Levis, the worthy successor of Montcalm. Fortunately the British ships were back again in the spring before the French could bring their vessels down from Montreal to support Levis, and as soon as the weather permitted Murray advanced against Montreal, while Haviland joined him from Ticonderoga, and Amherst from Lake Ontario. Thus surrounded, the 1759 Newcastle 797 French had no course but capitulation ; and on September 8th the governor surrendered Canada and all its dependencies to the British crown, stipulating for the Canadians free exercise of their religion, and the possession of all their rights and privileges. Nor was America the only place where French and English settlers regarded each other with hostility. In India they had long been com- mercial rivals, and had recently entered into a political contest of the most important character. Trading settle- SetUenfents ments upon the coast of India had originally been made by *" ^"dia. the Portuguese ; but in 1600 an English East India Company had been formed, which had founded its own factories or trading stations — Madras, founded in 1629 ; Bombay, acquired from the Portuguese in 1662 ; and Calcutta, on a branch of the Ganges, founded in 1690, and then named Fort William. The Dutch, Danes, and French had also their factories ; the chief French factories being Pondicherry, not far from Madras, and Chandernagore, near Calcutta. The ground on which these factories were built was bought or hired from the native owners. They were fortified as all Indian houses were, and beside them there usually grew up a considerable town, inhabited by natives attracted to the place either for trade or to supply the various wants of the Europeans. For two centuries after European settlements were made, the merchants confined themselves strictly to trade and made no effort to extend their territories by conquest, or to interfere in the aflairs of the native states. Nevertheless, there was much jealousy among themselves ; and, in 1746, during the war of the Austrian succession, Labourdonnais, governor of Mauritius, had organised an expedition against Madras and captured the British settlement. It was, however, restored at the peace of 1748. Nevertheless there was a constant temptation to interfere in native politics, and many observant persons had remarked with what ease a strong military power might make itself master of India. ^^^ This was due to the peculiar conditions of Indian govern- Condition ment and society. The population of India is made up of the descendants of a succession of conquerors, who have crossed the mountains from Central Asia, and have, one after the other, conquered the descendants of the earlier invaders, who had become more or less enervated by life in the hot plains below. Such a succession of conquer- ing immigrations, however, is by no means peculiar to India. England has experienced the same fortune ; but whereas with us the various races have amalgamated and become indistinguishable by blood, language or religion, in India they have remained apart, and though living side by side, exhibit in all these respects the characteristics of different nationalities. 798 Gem-ge 11. 1759 with at least the ordinary amount of distrust and prejudice between them. Ill such circumstances patriotism, in the common sense of the word, is out of the question. A man's allegiance is due to his race, his religion, his employer, but not necessarily to his country ; and it is this absence of unity which for ages has made India an easy one to conquer and to hold. Politically, the north-east of India was under the rule of the Great Mogul, often called the Padishah, the representative of the Mohammedan Moguls or Mongols chiefs, among whom Akbar and Aurungzebe are famous, who crossed into India during the sixteenth century, and during that and the seventeenth made themselves masters of the upper waters of the Indus and the whole of the Ganges valley. By the middle of the eighteenth century, however, they had ceased to be conquerors, and regarded with apprehension the arrival of fresh Afghan hordes. The system of government which circumstances had forced on the Mogul sovereigns was analagous to feudalism. Each outlying district was in the hands of a nabob or viceroy, who was originally nothing more than an officer of the Mogul, but had rapidly developed into an hereditary ruler, owing little but a nominal allegiance to the central authority. Poly- gamy being universal, there were endless disputes about succession in every ruling house, which offered a tempting field for intrigue. Under the rule of the Mogul princes and their representatives, supported by their Mohammedan adherents, were the Hindus, who constituted the mass of the people. Their religion was Brahminism, and they cordially detested their Mohammedan rulers. They had not, however, the fighting ability of the Mahommedans ; and, moreover, they were themselves divided by their system of hereditary castes into classes which had little more in common than the Mohammedans and Hindus themselves. In southern and western India the chief power was in the hands of the Hindoo Mahrattas, whose chiefs were the Peishwa at Poonah, the Gaikwar of Baroda, Scindhia of Gwalior, Holkar of Indore, and Bhonsla of Nagpore — all of which are hereditary titles. These had never been conquered by the Moguls. Besides these great divisions there were an immense number of smaller ones, and many isolated chiefs, who owed allegiance to no authority, and maintained their position solely by the sword — such as the Eajpoots of the north-west. Personally, many of the natives were exceedingly brave ; but they had never adopted European discipline — that wonderful power which makes a mob into a machine, gives skill to the most awkward, and endows the whole with a courage far superior to that possessed by the individuals who compose it. The possibility afi^orded by this state of things for a European 1759 Newcastle 799 conquest of India had already been perceived by many, but it was first acted upon by Dupleix, governor of Pondicherry, at the time of the capture of Madras. His plan was to hire and drill an army of natives— or Sepoys, as they were called— and to offer ^"P^^^^- their services to any of the neighbouring princes or pretenders who were willing to make friends with the French. His success was so great that he acquired a preponderating influence in southern India, while the British were looked upon by the natives as mere traders, whose town of Madras had been captured by the French warriors. In self-defence, therefore, the British were compelled to adopt Dupleix's plan of hiring Sepoys, and to counteract his influence by taking sides against him in the native quarrels. In the course of 1751, a dispute arose between two rival Nabobs of Arcot, a town about equi-distant from Madras and Pondicherry ; and Chunda Sahib, the French candidate, was engaged in besieging Mohamed Ali, his rival, at Trichinopoly. To effect a diver- sion, the British sent an expedition to seize Arcot itself, and intrusted it to the command of Robert Clive. This remarkable man was born at Market Drayton, in Shropshire, in 1729 ; and, after a stormy boyhood, was sent out to act as a clerk in the Company's factory at Madras. Utterly unsuited for desk work, Clive had welcomed the outbreak of war. He gladly exchanged the pen for the sword, and soon showed that he possessed all the qualities of a great commander, and also a genius for diplomacy, which made him more than a match for the natives. With five hundred men — two hundred of whom were Europeans — siege of he advanced upon Arcot. When the garrison saw him ^.rcot. approaching, undeterred by a terrible storm of thunder and rain, they fled with precipitation ; and Clive occupied the fort without the loss of a man. There he was shortly besieged by an overwhelming force which Dupleix had collected ; but for fifty days Clive and his little band held out against all the efforts of the besiegers. So devoted were the Sepoys, that they actually offered to subsist on the water drained off from the boiled rice, so that the grains might be kept for the European soldiers. At length, having been joined by a French force, the besiegers delivered a tremendous assault, but Clive again beat them off ; and, discouraged by their repeated failures, the besiegers marched away of their own accord. The defence of Arcot was recognised all over the world as a military achievement fit to rank with the great exploits of the world. Pitt described Clive in parliament as a ' heaven-born general ' ; ^nd when shortly after, the state of his health compelled him to visit England, he was received with distinction both by statesmen and soldiers. 800 George II. 1759 In 1756 fresh trouble broke out in Bengal. There the British held their factory at Calcutta as tenants of the Nabob of Bengal, who lived Surajah ^t Moorshedabad, farther up the river Ganges. The reign - Dowlah. -j^g Nabob was Surajah Dowlah, a stupid and effeminate young man, who was incited by French agents to think he could make more by quarrelling with the British company than by encouraging their trade. Accordingly he advanced with an army upon Calcutta, and seized all the British who had not escaped. The prisoners, apparently without his orders, were thrown into the small room since well known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. Only fourteen out of one hundred and forty- six came out alive. About this time Clive returned to Madras, and was at once put at the head of an expeditionary force, including the 39th regi- ment of the British army (now the 1st Battalion West Dorset), which bears on its colours, 'Primus in Indis.' The force sailed for Bengal under the convoy of Admiral Watson, and on reaching Calcutta Clive entered into a series of intrigues for the dethronement of the Nabob, and the substitution of Mir Jaffier. When all was ready Clive advanced towards Battle of the capital, and defeated the Nabob in the pitched battle of Piassey. piassey, fought on the 27th June, 1 757, in which 2000 British and 5000 Sepoys defeated about 40,000 native soldiers. The result of the battle was the dethronement of Surajah Dowlah ; Mir Jaffier was made Nabob in his stead, and the Company placed on its old footing in Bengal. Again Clive was compelled by the climate to return home, but his place was taken by Colonel Eyre Coote, who had fought at Piassey, and had a wonderful ascendancy over the Sepoys. Between him and his French antagonist. Count Lally, a descendant of an Irish exile, a long Battle of series of manoeuvring culminated in December 1760, in the Wandewash. \^^xaXq ^f Wandewash, near Madras, fought almost exclu- sively between Europeans. The result was a decisive victory for the British ; and after the action Coote's Sepoys are said to have thanked him for showing them what a battle between Europeans was like. Henceforward the natives regarded the British as better soldiers than the French. At sea Pitt had been . equally successful. Though no great naval action was fought, in the course of 1758 we took and destroyed in small encounters no less than sixteen French men-of-war, and a War. ^^^ great number of merchantmen, and captured Guadeloupe in the West Indies, and the island of Goree on the coast of West Africa. In 1759, however, a series of great victories recalled the memory of Blake and Eussell. It was the scheme to carry out an invasion of England, for which purpose a fleet of transports were 1759 Newcastle 801 collected at Havre at the mouth of the Seine, and the Toulon fleet was ordered to sail through the Straits of Gibraltar, join with that at Brest, and cover the passage of the invading force. Pitt intrusted the Medi- terranean fleet to Boscawen, and the Channel fleet to Sir Edward Hawke, and when De la Clue from Toulon was stealing along the Battle off Portuguese coast, Boscawen caught him off Lagos, took four ^^gos. ships, and dispersed the rest ; and Sir Edward Hawke, supported by Commodore Howe, braving the storms of a wild November night, dashed in among the Brest fleet, which Conflans had drawn ^^^^^^ ^^ up among the rocks and shallows of Quiberon Bay. 'Lay Quiberon me alongside the Soldi RoyaW were Howe's orders to his terrified pilot ; and, led bf their commander, the British ships with a loss of only forty men, captured, burnt, or drove on shore the greater nmnber of the French vessels. Rodney was chosen to bombard Havre, which he 3 E 802 George 11. 1759 did most eflfectually, so that the French scheme of invasion was com- pletely ruined. Hundreds of French merchantmen were brought in as prizes, and ko completely were communications between France and her dependencies interrupted that Montcalm passed eighteen months without receiving a single letter. On the continent the years 1758, 1759 tried Frederick's powers to the uttermost. In the summer of 1758, Ferdinand gave him material aid by beating the French at Crefeld, and he himself defeated a tinental great Russian army in the terrible battle of Zorndorf. But ^^' in November Frederick's overweening confidence led him to suffer a disastrous defeat in the night battle of Hochkirch, where his best soldiers perished, and nothing but his great skill in manoeuvring saved him from overwhelming ruin. However, by the aid of Pitt's subsidy, he reorganised his forces during the spring and took the offensive against the Austrians and Russians, whilst Ferdinand and the allies attacked the French. Foolishly separating himself from the English detachment, Ferdinand was defeated by De Broglie at Bergen ; but rejoining them. Battle of 1^6 drew the whole French army into an ambuscade near Minden. Minden. Here the French fought with their infantry on the flanks, and their cavalry in the centre, and the battle, as at Waterloo, consisted largely of cavalry charges against the British and Hanoverian squares. These were nobly repulsed ; but when a general advance was made, and the cavalry ordered to charge, Lord George SackviUe, the British commander — an admirable parliamentary speaker, but already suspected of cowardice— pretended not to understand. Ferdinand, in disgust, sent fresh orders to the marquess of Granby, the second in command, but the moment for decisive success had been lost. For this conduct Lord George was tried by court-martial, and his disgrace published to every regiment in the army. Unfortunately, a fortnight later, Frederick lost the battle of Kunersdorf, and for a time, Berlin itself was in the hands of his enemies ; but he was again saved by the dissensions of his "antagonists, each of whom waited for the other to inflict the final blow. Nevertheless, in 1760, Frederick's affairs seemed Battle of desperate, but again Ferdinand helped him by the victory Warburg, ^f Warburg, where Granby, charging without hat or wig, retrieved the honours of the English cavalry ; and Frederick's own victories of Liegnitz and Torgau just averted destruction. This was Frederick's critical year ; for, the next spring, Elizabeth of Russia died, and her successor, Peter iii., was his friend, Austria and France, however, still continued the war ; but no more important battles were fought, and, on the whole, Frederick's position improved. 1760 Neivcastle 803 It was in the midst of these exciting events that George ii. passed suddenly away at the age of seventy-seven. Though not a great king, he was by no means without his merits. He was true to his friends and steady in his policy, and in the troublous times of his successor, his days were remembered not without regret. Several good sayings of his are recorded. When some one told him that Wolfe was mad, he replied : ' I wish he would bite some of the other generals.' CHIEF DATES. Methodist Society founded, A.D. 1730 Excise Bill, 1733 Porteous Riots, 1736 Death of Queen Caroline, 1737 Fall of Walpole, 1742 Battle of Dettingen, 1743 Battle of Fontenoy, . 1745 Jacotoite Rebellion, . . 1745-46 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, . 1748 Siege of Arcot, . 1751 Death of Pelkam, 1754 Seven Years' War begins, 1756 Battle of Plassey, 1757 Capture of Quebec, . 1759 Battle of Wandewash, 1760 CHAPTEE III GEORGE III.: 1760-1820 Born 1738 ; married Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1761. CHIEF CONTEMPOIIARY PRINCES TO 1789 France. Prussia. Louis XV., d. 1774, Frederick the Great. Louis XVI. Fall of Pitt — The Wilkes Case — Estrangement of the American Colonies — Tlie Middlesex Election — Junius' Letters — Loss of the American Colonies- Parliamentary and Economical Reform— The Coalition— India— Ministry of the younger Pitt. At his accession George iii. was twenty-two years of age. He was strong and well formed, his personal character was excellent, and his Character manners pleasant, but his retreating forehead gave little of George, indication of ability. His speech, too, was stammering, and his habit of repeating his questions, and of constantly saying, ' Eh ? eh?' and 'What? what?' gave the impression that his capacity was less than it really was. As a matter of fact, though he lacked the power of taking a broad view of affairs, and was wholly deficient in that elasticity of mind which enables a man to recognise his own mistakes and to take up a new position, he was an excellent man of business, had a shrewd knowledge of character, and was thoroughly desirous of doing his duty to the best of his ability. He spoke English as his mother-tongue, regarded himself as an Englishman, declared in his first speech that he ' gloried in the name of Britain,' and, as he was fond of field sports, and his likes and dislikes were those of the mass of his subjects, he bade fair to be a much more popular sovereign than either of his Hanoverian predecessors. Unfortunately, education had done little to improve George's mind, or remedy his natural deficiencies. By a singular oversight of the Whig His Educa- ministers his instruction had been allowed to fall into the tion . hands of men of high Tory or even Jacobite views. Books had been put into his hands which gave a completely wrong view of English history and the British Constitution, particularly of the revolution of 804 1760 Newcastle §05 1688 ; and the result was that the new Hanoverian King of England held views which would have been much more appropriate for one of the Stuarts. This wa,s the more serious, as many of the old Jacobites, despair- ing of seeing the restoration of the Stuarts, had come over to the reigning family ; but as was wittily said—' While they left their king, they brought their principles with them ' ; and the name Tory, which under Pitt's rule had almost disappeared, was revived to designate the new converts. The rallying-place of this party was the court of the Dowager Princess of Wales. Educated at a petty German court, the Princess was ill acquainted with the British constitution, and her constant advice to her son was, ' George, be king.' Her chief adviser and friend was John Stuart, earl of Bute, a pompous and opinionated Scottish nobleman, who spoke so slowly that his words, said Charles Townshend, ' sounded like minute-guns,' and who was quite ignorant of the business of state. From the very beginning of the new reign, the effect of his influence was dreaded. A paper was posted on theEoyal Exchange, 'No Petticoat Government — No Scotch Favourite — No Lord George Sackville' ; and it was jestingly asked as a riddle, ' What coal should the king burn in his bedchamber — Newcastle, Scotch, or Pit 1 ' The object of the new king's dislike was the ascendency of the Whig revolution families, of whom Newcastle was the leader, and who had so completely engrossed power that even such able Whigs as jjis Political Fox and Pitt had been only grudgingly admitted to office. Views. George had read a book by Bolingbroke, called The Patriot King, in which it was advocated that a king should choose his ministers from the ablest men of all parties, and direct them to carry out a policy chosen by himself. Such a scheme had much in it to fascinate the imagination. George determined to act upon it, and as a first step to break the political power of the Whigs. To do this, however, was by no means easy ; their power rested on the memory of their past services and their family connections, supplemented for close on half a century by all the arts of political patronage. For this, the rapid increase in the number of government places, due to the development of the civil and military services, had been most valuable, and still more important were the facilities for parliamentary corruption afforded by the condition of the constituencies. Many of these were boroughs which, since they had received their right to send members, perhaps in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, had utterly decayed, and others had been created by the Tudors and early Stuarts, with the distinct intention of keeping them subservient to the crown. The members The Rotten for such rotten boroughs— as they were called— were nom- Boroughs, inated by the crown or some neighbouring landowner ; and it was the 806 George IIL 1760 business of such a party-manager as Newcastle to enlist the patrons on the side of the Whigs. In 1780 it was asserted by a society called the ' Friends of the People,' that no less than 200 members of the House of Commons were returned by places having less than a hundred voters each, and also that 357 members were practically nominated by 154 patrons. So long as such forces remained in the hands of the Whigs, their position was impregnable ; and they had recently shown evidence of its strength by forcing Pitt upon George ir. George iii., however, determined to attack it, and he hoped to have the sympathy of the discontented Whigs, of the Tories, and of the great body of the electors, who had little more influence than he had himself. In the first instance, George had recourse to the services of Lord Bute, who held that in the present condition of affairs, ' the king was phantom, and the country under a mere oligarchy.' Two days after the accession, Bute was admitted into the privy council, and in March 1761 he succeeded Lord Holderness, Pitt's cipher-colleague, as secretary of state. With Bute in the cabinet, George was fully informed of the views and inten- tions of his ministers, and proceeded with great acuteness to use this knowledge for his own advantage. So long as the war lasted, however, it was impossible to dismiss Pitt, but he might be driven to resign ; and before the end of the year this was effected. During the earlier years of the war Spain had held aloof, but on the death of Ferdinand in 1759, he was succeeded by the king of Naples as Foreign Charles III. ; and the new king entered into a 'family com- Affairs. pact' with the court of France, to promote the interests of the Bourbon family. This treaty, however, was to be kept secret till the annual Plate fleet from South America had safely arrived at Cadiz ; but its effect was immediately seen when the French broke off some nego- tiations into which Pitt had entered. Of the reason of this, Pitt had ample information, and wished to forestall events by an instant declaration of war and the seizure of the Plate fleet. Bute, however, backed by the king, disputed Pitt's facts ; Newcastle shuffled and hesitated, and other members of the Cabinet, piqued by Pitt's threat of resignation if he did „ . . not get his own way, supported Bute. Accordingly, Pitt Resignation * Ji ff & jj of Pitt and threw up the seals, and was succeeded by George Grenville. However, as Pitt foretold, Spain, so soon as the Plate fleet was safe, declared war. Newcastle's resignation soon folloAved that of Pitt. Nominally, he retired because Bute refused to renew the subsidy to the king of Prussia ; in reality, because he found himself without a voice in the distribution of court patronage. For years this had been in the hands of the prime minister, and had been used to consolidate the 1762 Newcastle — Bute 807 power of the Whigs ; but George insisted, as in theory was his right, to distribute places and pensions himself. Newcastle, therefore, almost piteously complained that—' It was impossible to speak to members of the House of Commons when one did not know who had received a gratifica- tion,' and retired from office. Nothing in his official career, it was said, ' became him so well as the leaving of it ' ; he asked no reward for him- self, and thirty years of place left him a poorer man by many thousand pounds. The road was now clear for Bute. In 1762, he Bute's became first Lord of the Treasury ; George Grenville was Ministry, one secretary of state. Lord Egremont, the Tory son of the Jacobite Wyndham, was the other, and Fox retained his post of paymaster of the forces. At sea, the war against France and Spain was meanwhile carried on with considerable vigour. Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent were taken, and after a vigorously conducted siege, TT 111 -ii- 1 1 'West Indian Havana was stormed, and three million pounds worth of islands treasure fell into the hands of the victors. Another expedi- ^'^^ ^^^ tion took Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands ; and several rich Plate ships also fell into our hands, one of which alone was worth J800,000. On the continent Frederick held his own well against Austria, and Ferdinand and the marquess of Granby had again distinguished themselves on the Khine. Bute, however, with an eagerness for peace that left him little thought for the welfiire either of Great Britain or of her allies, resumed negotia- tions during the year ; and so anxious was he lest they should Negotiations fiiil, that he ofiered concessions right and left, and even pro- ^°»" Peace, posed to give up Havana without saying a syllable about an exchange. George Grenville would not stand this, and his resignation compelled Bute to ask for an equivalent, on which the Spaniards at once gave up the valuable province of Florida. As for Prussia, no word of the interests of our good ally escaped Bute ; and he would have allowed France to give up to Austria the Prussian towns she held on the Ehine, had not Frederick secured himself by negotiating a separate treaty at Hubertsburg by which he retained his dominions intact. This conduct, and the mean withdrawal of his subsidy, made Frederick ever after hate England. Eventually, by the Peace of Paris, Bute agreed to restore to the French Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Lucia ; to exchange Belle Isle for Minorca, and to retain Canada, and Cape Breton Island. We also kept Tobago, St. Vincent, Dominica, Grenada, and Florida ; but we gave up Havana, as the equivalent of Minorca, and Manila as a free gift. Pondicherry also was restored to the French. 808 George III. 1763 The peace of Paris, which, though it gave us great advantages, might have been much more favourable had Bute shown the most ordinary firm- ness, was very unpopular in the country, and was fiercely de- larity of the nounced by Pitt, who had long ago declared that 'no peace eace. ^£ Utrecht should again stain the annals of England.' In these circumstances Bute found it needful to secure the help of an efficient leader in the House of Commons, and for this purpose bought the services of Fox, at the price of an immediate seat in the cabinet and the promise of an eventual peerage. Fox did his work well ; the whole influence of the court was brought into play to neutralise the forces of Pitt and Newcastle ; and, to show his opponents what they had to expect, George himself struck the name of the duke of Devonshire off the privy council list. These tactics secured success ; and a vote of approbation of the preliminaries of the treaty was carried in the House of Commons by 319 to 65, The victory thus won, the Proscnp- -^ . tion of the court proceeded to the work of proscribing its opponents. '^^' Peers who had voted against it were deprived of their lord- lieutenancies, officers of their commissions in the army, and civilians of their pensions ; even humbler victims were not overlooked, and woe to the unhappy exciseman or tide-waiter who had received his place from Newcastle ! Happily, this wholesale dismissal of placemen, carried out on the principle of ' the spoils to the victors,' called down such execra- tions that it was never again imitated ; and the compromise has been accepted that all posts held by members of parliament are to be vacated at a change of government, but that other placemen are to be undisturbed. For his services Fox was raised to the peerage as Lord Holland. The negotiations between Bute and Fox had been carried on by Lord Shel- burne ; and as Fox thought he had been taken in by him, by what was called at the time 'the pious fraud,' the result was to gain for Lord Shelburne a character for double-dealing and the deadly enmity of the Fox family, which was ultimately a matter of great importance. For the moment Fox's effort had been successful ; but the dismissal of placemen was most unpopular, and before this storm had settled, Bute had raised another. The expenses of the war had been Fall of Bute. ,11/1. enormous. The national debt had mcreased to J 139, 500,000, and new taxes were imperative. It was therefore proposed to tax linen ; but this plan is said to have been rejected because Sir Francis Dashwood, the chancellor of the exchequer, could not be made to understand it The Cider sufficiently to explain it to the House ; and a tax on cider '^^^- took its place. It would have been hard to select an impost more unpopular or more unfair — the first, because it opened to the excise 1763 Bute — Grenville 809 officers every farmhouse where a gallon of cider was brewed ; and in the second, because it actually charged a uniform rate of five shillings a hogshead on every quality of cider, though the liquor itself varied in price from five to fifty shillings. At this the outcry grew worse ; and the burning of scores of 'jack-boots and petticoats' showed the uniwpu- larity of the prime minister. Even a guard of prize-fighters failed to restore his sense of security, and his resignation was sent in. He was, however, strong enough with the king to name his successor ; and, as Lord Chesterfield put it : ' The public still saw Lord Bute through the curtain, which, indeed, was very transparent.' The prime minister thus named was George Grenville, younger brother of Earl Temple, and brother-in-law of Pitt. Few other changes were made. The earl of Egremont continued to hold one sec- orenvilie's retaryship of state, and George Montagu, earl of Halifax, Ministry, took the other. Lord Holland remained paymaster, and Shelburne received the post of president of the board of trade. By this time George had organised a party in the Commons, who were ^he King's commonly spoken of as ' the king's friends.' These men, Friends, though rather Tory than Whig in sentiment, considered themselves as detached from any political party, and voted solely by the king's direction. As they numbered some sixty persons, a ministry which had not a very large majority was dependent upon their assistance ; and, consequently, George could turn out his ministers or maintain them just as he pleased. Such a system was, of course, utterly subversive of the fundamental notion of party government, but it was exceedingly difficult to defeat. George might, however, have been battled if the Whig party had been united ; but its long period of success had led to its division into sections, whose ditterences, though chiefly personal, were far too strongly marked to permit of their acting together. The first of these was that of the Eockingham Whigs, the Rockingham remains of Newcastle's old party. It consisted chiefly of the members of ' old Eevolution families,' and contained in its ranks such men as the dukes of Portland, Devonshire, and Richmond ; and in the Commons, General Conway, Lord John Cavendish, and Sir George Saville. The next section was that led by the duke of The Bedford Bedford ; their severance from the main body dated from ^^^s^- the time of Walpole, who always spoke contemptuously of them as the 'Bloomsbury gang.' Besides Bedford, it included among The Chat- the peers Gower, Sandwich, and Weymouth ; in the Com- Grenville mons its best man was Rigby. The remaining two sections whigs. were the followers of Pitt and Temple and those of George Grenville, 810 George IIL 1763 afterwards known respectively as the Chatham and Grenville Whigs ; but as yet they were not very strictly defined. These parties refused to make common cause, so the king was able to defeat them in detail. Grenville was not a successful minister. Burke once defined him as a man of routine but not a statesman ; and Henry Fox said he was ' more George ^ hindrance than a help.' He w^as a fair parliamentary Grenville. speaker, but Avearisome in private conversation or cor- respondence. One of his ordinary letters fills seven pages of print, and contains one sentence of a hundred and fifty words. George, however, had chosen him, not to initiate a policy, but to carry out the king's ideas ; and so the sovereign rather than the minister must be regarded as responsible for mistakes. Their first error was the prosecu- tion of John Wilkes, member for Aylesbury, a clever but profligate man, who had started a magazine called the North Briton in opposition to Bute's paper the Briton, and was aided in writing it by Lord Temple and by Churchill the poet. From the commencement the North Briton was extremely scurrilous ; and in No. 45 it denied a claim made in the king's speech to credit for procuring peace for the king of Prussia, asserting that ' no advantage of any kind has accrued to that magnanimous prince from our negotiations, but he was basely deserted by the Scottish prime minister of England.' Everyone knows that the king's speech is written by the king's ministers ; but George chose to consider the accusation as a personal aff'ront, and insisted that Wilkes should be prosecuted. Accordingly Halifax, with the concurrence of Grenville and Egremont, issued a warrant the very next day, ordering the arrest of ' the authors, printers, and publishers,' but mentioning no names. Such an order is called a general warrant. Wilkes at once told the officers that it was illegal, but was arrested ; and George deprived him of his colonelcy of militia, and his friend, Lord Temple, of the lord- lieutenancy of the county of Buckingham. The arrest was also illegal on a second ground. Wilkes was a member of parliament, and as such could only be arrested for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. Wilkes' first action, therefore, was to claim his release under the Habeas Corpus Act ; and Chief-Justice Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, at once granted it on the ground of privilege. Wilkes and the printers then sued the king's messengers for illegal imprisonment under a 'general warrant,' and were successful in obtaining damages. These events occurred in the spring of 1763. During the summer the North Briton was as violent as ever^ and spoke of Grenville's government as 'a narrow-spirited ministry, intent only on gorging their pockets with the plunder of the public' ; accordingly, Avhen parliament met in 1765 Grenville 81 1 November, tlie question was revived, and tlie House of Commons resolved, by 237 votes to 111, that No. 45 was a 'ftilse, scandalous, and seditions libel.' Shortly afterwards it declared that privilege of parliament did not confer immunity for libel, and ordered No. 45 to be burnt by the common hangman. At the same time Wilkes was attacked in the Lords as the author of a poem called A71 Essay on Woman, an indecent parody of Pope's Essay on Man, which the Lords voted to be a breach of privilege on the ground that the notes to it were pretended to have been written by Bishop Warburton. Before anything further was done, Wilkes was wounded in a duel, and when better escaped to France. On this the House of Commons expelled him, on the ground that No. 45 had 'a manifest tendency to alienate the affections of the people from the king.' In the Lords, Cumberland, Newcastle, Kockingham, and Shelburne all voted for Wilkes, and Pitt and Barre defended him in the Commons. For this, Shelburne and Barre were expelled from all their posts, civil and military. The burning of the No. 45 caused a serious riot ; and the whole ajffair destroyed the little popularity which George's connection with Bute had left him. Grenville's next blunder was the attempt to tax the American colonies. It must, however, be understood that the taxes proposed were not designed to go into the British exchequer, but to be used in the colonies for the payment of expenses incurred in American the colonies. In not asking for a regular contribution to home expenses, Great Britain stood alone among the colonising nations of the world. Rome, Carthage, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and France all exacted tribute ; but our colonies had never been so burdened ; and Walpole, when the idea had been suggested to him, rejected it with con- tempt. During the Seven Years' War, however, the expenses of the colonial troops had been shared between the home government and the colonists — the king providing arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions ; the colonists, soldiers, clothing, and pay. For the future it would obviously be neces- sary to provide for a number of permanent troops both as a defence against the Indians and against foreign aggressions. Of our other dependencies the Irish parliament and the East India Company each maintained a per- manent army for its own defence, and Grenville and Townshend wished that a similar force should be supported by the American colonists. Moreover, the civil government of our newly acquired territories had raised the total cost of their civil service from £70,000 to £350,000 ; and Grenville stated his desire to find ' in what way, least burdensome and most palatable to the colonists, they might contribute towards the additional expense of 812 George III. 1766 their civil luid military establishments.' The question evidently raised the whole subject of the relations between parliament and the colonies, and it was complicated by the fact that at that moment the colonies, who had S]3ent, in proportion to their resources, immense sums on the war, were finding considerable difficulty in meeting their liabilities, and also by the trouble that had recently arisen about smuggling. According to the Navigation Acts, our colonists had no right to trade with any power except Great Britain, but in practice a large trade between them and the Spanish and French possessions had been tolerated. New England jDroducts had been largely exchanged for sugar from the French and Spanish islands ; and the traffic, though technically smuggling, was carried on by respectable firms without interference from the Custom House authorities. After the peace, Grenville had found it necessary to conciliate the Spaniards by putting a stop to it, and the attempt to do so had caused nmch irritation in America. For the purpose of carrying out the Navigation Laws, customs duties of a nominal value had long been imposed at the colonial ports. Grenville Customs iiow proposed to raise the value of these customs, and so to Duties. combine a more stringent enforcement of the Navigation Laws with the placing of an additional sum at the disposal of the colonial governors. Though the right of the British parliament was undisputed, this act caused considerable stir, and the colonists were still further dis- quieted when Grenville gave notice that next year he proposed to levy a The Stamp stamp-duty in America, estimated to bring in not more than ^^^' J100,000 a year. Against this six out of the thirteen colonies formally protested, not so much on the ground afterwards taken up that such taxation was illegal, as on the ground that it was inexpedient ; but in spite of the colonial protest and the eloquent speeches of Conway and Barr^ in the Commons, Grenville carried his bill by a majority of two hundred votes. The new duty was levied on the stamped paper used for legal documents, and varied in amount from 3d. to 10s. according to the nature of the transaction recorded, and also on the paper used for news- papers. The proceeds were to be used exclusively for the protection and defence of the colonies. This was the first attempt to levy an internal tax. It infringed the general principle of the British Constitution that no people may be legitimately taxed except by themselves or by their represen- tatives ; and was made more alarming by a remark of Grenville's in the House of Commons that 'it was designed as an experiment towards further aid.' The fears of the colonists were now fully roused, and Patrick Henry, a member of the Virginia assembly, was said to have ' rung the alarm beU to the rest of America ' by bringing forward and passing 1765 Grenville — Rockingham 813 a series of five resolutions declaring that the colonies could not be taxed without their own consent ; and no less than nine of the colonies ap- pointed representatives to meet as a ' Congress ' at New York and con- sider the whole situation. Meanwhile, the people refused to make use of the stamped paper. All attempts at compulsion failed, and numerous riots gave proof of the violent spirit which had been engendered. At the same time, great efforts were made to promote colonial manufactures so as to render the colonies independent, as far as possible, of home manufactures. This resulted in widespread distress among English merchants and manufacturers. Before this state of afi'airs, however, had lasted long, a change of ministry in England gave a fresh turn to events. Grenville had never been popular with George, whom he bored by his intermin- p^u ^^ able and argumentative speeches ; and quite in the early Grenville. days of his ministry the king had vainly attempted to replace him by Pitt. However, during 1763, Grenville strengthened himself by an alliance with Bedford, who agreed with him in regard to Wilkes and America, and this coalition had produced a fairly stable government in which Bedford was so much the more powerful that it is often spoken of as the Bedford Ministry. However, in 1765, a new cause of offence arose. During an attack of illness, George showed symptoms of the mental disorder Avhich overclouded his later years, and it became necessary to provide for possible contingencies by passing a Regency Act. This delicate matter was managed by the ministers in the most tactless manner. They ofi'ended the duke of Cumberland by omitting his name, and then persuaded George to omit that of the Dowager Princess of Wales, on the ground that owing to the unpopularity of her connection with Bute, probably the House of Commons would not accept her name. On the contrary, the House of Commons inserted it, so that the king was made to appear as ofiering a gratuitous insult to his mother. George was deeply chagrined, and, with Cumberland's aid, set about finding another minister. The first application was made to Pitt, but Pitt declined because he thought himself unable to act without Temple ; and that fickle nobleman refused his aid ' for certain delicate and tender reasons,' ^^^ ^.^^^ which proved to be an impending reconciliation with his Rockingham Ministry. brother Grenville. Cumberland then made overtures to the followers of Rockingham and Newcastle, and they agreed to take office with Rockingham as first lord of the treasury, and Newcastle as privy seal. One secretaryship of state was held by the duke of Grafton, and the other, with the leadership of the House of Commons, by Conway. 814 George III. 1765 Rockingham would gladly have had the aid of Shelburne ; but Shelburne had now given up all connection with Bute and Fox, and through a com- munity of ideas on the Wilkes affair and on American taxation, was rapidly drifting into an alliance with Pitt. He was, moreover, also deterred from joining by the circumstance that Rockingham was giving the post of vice-treasurer of Ireland to the notorious Lord George Sackville. Rockingham's private secretary was a young Irishman, Edmund Burke, already well known as a man of immense knowledge, but as yet without a seat in parliament, who was destined to play a most important part in the history of his country. Opposed as they were by the Grenvilles and Bedfords, and coldly supported by Pitt, the Rockingham govern- ment depended from the outset on the precarious aid of 'the king's friends,' and it seems to have been understood from the moment they took office that George would rid himself of them at the earliest opportunity. The new government was formed in July 1765, and when parliament met in December, two great measures were passed : one repealing the Stamp Act, the second declaring the right of parliament to the Stamp legislate for America ' in all cases whatsoever.' The first was that on which the ministers relied for conciliation ; but public opinion compelled them to pass the second in order to vindicate the dignity of parliament. They were, however, assured by Benjamin Franklin, the well-known agent-general for Pennsylvania, that ' the resolutions of right would give the colonists very little concern, if they are never attempted to be carried into practice.' In passing both acts the Rockingham ministry had the full support of Pitt, who declared ' that he was glad the colonists had resisted,' and pointed out that our trade with the American colonies was worth ^£2,000,000 a year, and that we were risking that sum for a miserable pittance. They were also aided by Shelburne, but were openly opposed by Grenville and the Bedford Whigs, and covertly by 'the king's friends.' Franklin's words proved true. The repeal of the Stamp Act was received with enthusiasm at both sides of the Atlantic, the reduced duties were readily paid, and for a time no notice was taken of the Declaratory Act. In spite, however, of his support of the repeal of the Stamp Act, Pitt held to a distinction between supporting measures and acting with men. He repeatedly refused to join the administration, though he Rocking- gave a hearty support to the passing of a resolution by ^^"^' which 'general warrants' were condemned as absolutely illegal. This resolution, and the repeal of the Stamp Act, were bitterly resented at court ; ' the king's friends ' began to vote against the king's 1766 Rockingham — Grafton 815 ministers ; and, after having held office exactly a year, Rockingham was dismissed. Application was then made to Pitt. That statesman, who had forced himself into high office in spite of the party of which Eockingham was now the leader, disliked party connections ahnost as much Grafton's as the king did, and thinking that the way was now clear for Ministry, the formation of a ministry composed of men of all parties, he readily accepted office. The nominal head of the new ministry was the duke of Grafton, one of Rockingham's secretaries of state ; the other, Conway, re- tained his post, and the leadership of the Commons. Charles Townshend was chancellor of the exchequer. These all ranked as followers of Rocking- ham. Pitt himself was privy seal, his old friend Pratt became chancellor as Lord Camden, and his new ally, Shelburne, in spite of the hostility of the king, was made the second secretary of state. Lord North and Barre also had places. No post was offered to Rockingham, or to any member of the Bedford or Grenville party. This administration, which was afterwards described by Burke as ' a piece of diversified mosaic,' very curious to look at but most unsafe to touch, had an appearance of strength much greater than the T T •, 11/. ^ ^ n 1 -, Weakness reality ; but it was unlucky irom the first, and turned out of the new a complete failure. Pitt's office of lord privy seal necessi- *"'^ ^^' tated his sitting in the House of Lords, and his acceptance of the title of earl of Chatham was a mistake so great that it seemed to many an act of political suicide. Not only did he leave the House of Commons, which for years he had ruled with almost unquestioned authority, for the House of Lords, where his fiery rhetoric was completely out of place, but it lost him his popular title of ' the great commoner,' and greatly impaired his reputation for disinterested patriotism. Moreover, his efibrts to group together such a heterogeneous body of politicians resulted in his own views having no adequate support in his own administration, while his efibrts to strengthen himself by negotiations with all parties made him at least as many enemies as friends. In these circumstances it was suddenly announced that he w^as ill. How ill he was will never be known, but he first refused to see his colleagues, or even to have an audience with the king ; then he ceased all attendance at parliament, declined even to answer letters, withdrew to his country -seat, or to Bath ; and finally took no share in public business. Left thus without a head— for Grafton, though not without ability, had little real influence— the ministry had neither coherence charles nor policy. Charles Townshend, the witty but volatile chan- Townshend. cellor of the exchequer, driven to despair by an adverse vote of the 816 George III. 1766 House, which reduced the land-tax from four to three shillings in the pound, again bethought himself of America as a source of revenue, and imposed customs duties, to the estimated value of £40,000 a year, on glass, paper, pasteboard, white and red lead, painters' colours and tea. Out of the proceeds were to be paid the salaries of the colonial governors and judges, and any surplus was to be applied to colonial defence. As another source of revenue he at the same time bargained with the East India Company for an annual payment to government of £400,000. These acts took up most of the session of 1767, and in September Townshend died suddenly of fever. This unexpected event caused further confusion. Chatham made no sign ; so Grafton in despair effected a coalition with the Bedford Whigs, and also brought into the Cabinet Lord North, the eldest son of the old Jacobite, Earl of Guild- ford. In March 1768, there was a general election. Wilkes came back from Paris, and, after obtaining a considerable number of votes for the city of London, was triumphantly returned for Middlesex ; the election cry of his supporters being ' Wilkes and Liberty.' Then, before parliament met, he surrendered to the Court of King's Bench, and was committed to King's Bench prison to await sentence on his former conviction for libel. Meanwhile parliament met on May 10, and a violent mob, angry that Wilkes was not released, assembled at the prison and made such a disturbance that the military Avere called in, the Eiot Act read, and a score of persons were killed and wounded by the fire of the soldiers. Whether from ill luck or accident, a Scottish reo-iment was employed, and Wilkes, becoming possessed of a letter in which the secretary of state had ordered the magistrates to make use of the military in case of emergency, made a fresh attack on the Scots, and fiercely inveighed against Weymouth's ' bloody scroll' On his appear- ance in court Wilkes was then sentenced for his former libels to pay £1000, and to be imprisoned for twenty-two months, but the court did not dare to put him in the pillory. This sentence was regarded as simply malignant ; and Wilkes and his ' 45 ' became so popular that the number was scored upon every wall and vehicle within fifteen miles of London, and even the Austrian ambassador was dragged out of his coach and had the mystic number chalked on the soles of his shoes. When the excitement was at the highest Chatham resigned, and there were not wanting those who suggested that a dramatic opportunity rather Resignation than improved health was what he had long been waiting of Chatham. £qj._ j^ ^^^ g^^j^ rumoured that he would be well enough to appear in opposition. 1769 Graftm 817 Meanwhile, the Wilkes' case was giving infinite trouble to the ministers. Grafton would gladly have pardoned him, and allowed him to sink to his natural level ; but George regarded the affair as personal to wiikes and himself, and insisted that he should be expelled from parlia- Middlesex, ment. Accordingly on February 3, 1769, his expulsion was voted on the ground of his former libels and his recent attack upon Weymouth. On the 16th he was re-elected unopposed, and the very next day the House voted, by 235 to 89, that he was ' incapable of sitting in the present par- liament,' and a new election was ordered. Again Wilkes, who was still in prison, was returned unopposed, and the election again declared void. Finally, at the fourth election. Colonel Luttrell, afterwards Lord Car- hampton, stood against him, and though Wilkes received 1143 votes to 296 given for his opponent, the Commons declared, by 197 votes to 143, that Luttrell ' ought to have been elected,' and gave him the seat. The decision was grossly unconstitutional ; for even if Wilkes was ineligible, it did not follow that Luttrell commanded a majority of the voters, and the conduct of the government was strongly denounced by the whole weight of the Eockingham and Grenville Whigs, and also by Lord Chatham's friends. Lords Shelburne and Temple, in the Lords, and l:)y Conway, Burke, Grenville, and Barre, in the Commons. Out of doorw the government was most unpopular. Grafton commanded no respect, either for character or ability. Repeated riots showed the violence and discontent of the masses, while the press teemed with letters and pamphlets which equalled the North Briton in violence and excelled it in ability. Of these, special attention was called to a series of letters which were published over the signature of ' Junius,' and were printed in the Public Advertiser. The first letter with this signature appeared in The Letters November, 1768 ; and in January, 1769, a series of letters of '!""»"«•' began which culminated in December, 1769, in a letter addressed to the king, and terminated in January, 1772. Several causes gave notoriety to these letters. Their style was excellent ; the virulence of their invective surpassed anything yet seen, even in that foul-mouthed age ; they dealt largely in private scandal, and, above all, they were written by some one who was evidently, to a large extent, behind the scenes. All these things ensured plenty of readers, and the letters were republished in papers and magazines all over the kingdom. Who ' Junius ' was has never been known ; and though many believe that the writer was Philip Francis, a clerk in the War Office, there is strong evidence to the contrary ; and even if he wrote the letters, it is quite possible that he was inspired and aided by some one of higher position. ' Junius ' was in favour of 3 F 818 ^ George III. 1769 Wilkes, but opposed to the American colonies — an attitude which pro- bably reflects very fairly that of the average Englishman of the day, and goes far to account for the influence of his writings. Meanwhile, in parliament a strong opposition had been formed in both Houses. Rockingham, Richmond, Chatham, and Shelburne in the Grafton Lords, and Grenville, Barre, and Burke in the Commons, Resigns. though not agreed among themselves, united in attacking the ministers. Before such a phalanx of ability and influence Grafton quailed ; and on January 15, 1770, the very date fixed for a debate in the House of Lords on the state of the nation, Grafton resigned. Had the opposition been united they might now have forced their own terms on the king ; but there was no real bond of union between Rockingham and Chatham. So George, cleverly taking advantage of their diflerences, contrived to reorganise the government under the leadership of Lord North. The new prime minister was one of the most remarkable parliamentary figures of the time. Though clumsy and short-sighted, he was a capital debater and an excellent man of aflairs, while his Lord ^ ' North's imperturbable good temper enabled him to bear with inis ry. equanimity the most virulent invective of the opposition, and his wit to turn the laugh against his opponents. In private life he was a universal favourite. North's weakness, however, lay in an easiness of disposition which led him to carry out plans of which he did not approve rather than take the troulile to oppose them. It was, however, this quality which recommended him to George, who found in him exactly the prime minister for whom he had been seeking — one pliable enough to adopt the king's policy as his own, and sufficiently clever to defend it in the House of Commons. George's policy met with even greater success than might have been expected. Within a short time the opposition fell completely to pieces. Rockingham's opposition was lukewarm. Wilkes lost ground by his character. Grenville died in 1770, Bedford in 1771, and in the same year Shelburne and Barre went abroad. The result Avas that North was all-powerful in parliament, and as the country thoroughly approved of his American policy, the opj)osi- tion had little hope of improving their position. Several important domestic events marked the beginning of North's administration. As the personality of ' Junius ' could not be discovered, Prosecution an attempt was made to prove his publisher Woodfall guilty of Woodfall. Qf publishing and printing a seditious libel, but the jury found Woodfall guilty, not of libel, but of publishing only. On this the judge, Lord Mansfield, denied the right of the jury to judge of the law 1771 North 819 as well as the fact, and a legal controversy arose which was not finally settled till 1792, when Fox's Libel Act, passed with the consent of all parties, declared the right of the jury to find a general verdict. In 1771 the vexed question of parliamentary reporting was finally settled. Since the decisions of the House of Commons, in 1728 and 1738, that the publication of parliamentary debates was a breach of privilege, the public had had to be content with mentary reports of a most inferior kind. Some were published '■^p°^^'"&- under the title of Debates in the Parliament of LilUjmt, and others oave the names of the speakers in Ijlank ; but none professed to be really accurate. Eeporters obtained from friends the order of the speakers with the heads of their arguments, and trusted to imagination for the rest ; while Dr. Johnson once declared that one of Pitt's most celebrated speeches was written by himself ' in a garret in Grub Street,' and con- fessed that he habitually arranged the arguments so that 'the Whi_o' dogs should have the worst of it.' However, in 1770, all disguise was thrown ofi" ; and next year the Commons, alarmed for their privileges, arrested one Miller for a breach of privilege in publishing their debates. Miller, being a livery-man of London, appealed for protection to the lord mayor. The messenger of the House was accordingly arrested and brought before the lord mayor and alderman Wilkes, and held to bail. The House was extremely angry, and sent the lord mayor, who was a member of parliament, to the Tower ; but the action was so unpopular, and the attitude of the city so threatening, that the matter was allowed to drop. Since then reporting, though nominally illegal, has practically been undisturbed. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the change. The newspapers took full advantage of their liberty, and the result was the rapid growth of an educated opinion on public affairs, which soon showed its influence on the government of the country. This was in itself a great check on the action of members ; and in 1770 a change had been introduced which did something to check corruption in parliamentary elections. Until this date election petitions, Election like that of Chippenham (see p. 768), had been tried before Petitions, a committee of the whole House, and the members had given a strict party vote without regard to the merits of the question ; but in 1770 George Grenville succeeded in persuading the House to rid itself of this scandal by appointing a select committee of sworn members to inquire into any alleged malpractices. This plan was a great improvement ; but even the select committee was largely influenced by party feeling, so that in 1868 it was decided to put the trial of election petitions into the hands of the ordinary judges. 820 George III. vn\ In 1770 Burke published a pamphlet entitled Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, the object of which was to explain to the country the working of the system by which George really controlled his ministers and parliament by the votes of ' the king's friends,' and to show how fatal this was to the proper working of the constitution. Edmund Burke was an Irishman, born in 1729. His first connection with politics arose from his writing the political part of the Aniuial Register, first published in 1759 ; and he then became private secretary to the marquess of Kockingham. He entered parlia- ment in 1765, and soon became the spokesman of the Rockingham Whics. In views, Burke's tone of mind was essentially conservative. He embodied the time-honoured English idea that the constitution was itself perfect and required only to be freed from abuses, and he had a thoroughly British distrust of all abstract reasoning on political matters. At this time of his life he regarded George's action as a danger to the constitution, and as such he resisted it. In parliament Burke was never a great success. His Irish brogue was against him, and he wearied the House with set phrases and elaborate metaphors, which were ill appreciated after North's jokes and Fox's gay dashing onslaughts. With the pen, however, he was more powerful ; and many of his speeches, which only emptied the House of Commons, are now read as mines of political wisdom, and have tended to give an exaggerated idea of his importance and that of the Rockingham Whigs with whom he acted. In 1774 George compelled Lord North to pass the Royal Marriage Act. The cause of this was to be found in the unsatisfactory marriages made by the king's brothers, the dukes of Cumberland and Marriage Gloucester; and George wished to prevent such conduct for ^^' the future by putting it into the power of the reigning king to veto such marriages. According to the terms of the new Act, no descendant of George ii., except those of British j)rincesses married into foreign courts, might marry without the consent of the reigning sovereign unless he or she was twenty-five years of age, had given a year's notice of the intended marriage to the privy council, and no petition against it had been presented by parliament. Contrary to George's intentions, this Act had the worst effects. Almost all his sons con- tracted marriages which were in everything but law binding, and then, by the terms of this Act, were able to repudiate them afterwards, to the manifest injury of morality. This Act was strongly opposed by Charles James Fox, second son of Lord Holland, who now began to play a great part on the parliamentary 1774 North 821 stage. Fox was bom in 1'749, and educated at Eton and Oxford. Though indulged by his parents, and encouraged by his ftither to plunge into all forms of dissipation, he contrived— being, as he said, ' a very painstaking man '-—to acipiire a thorough knowledge ^^^^^^^ ^°''- of Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, and to become an adept at every sport or pastime in which he indulged. In parliament Fox soon showed himself to be a debater of the first rank. In spite of his short, thickset figure, and the fierce expression given by his black hair and SAvarthy complexion, he gained an influence to which men of more taking exterior aspired in vain ; and, though he had been brought up by his father in the narrowest school of place-hunting, his natural good sense and honourable character eventually taught him to take a wider view. At present he still ranked as a follower of Lord North. While these events had occurred at home, the unremitting attention of the government had been required for American affairs. Townshend's taxes had raised a storm of resistance, English n;oods had ^ ^ The been boycotted by almost unanimous consent ; and Massa- American chusetts had put itself at the head of an agitation which bade fair to develop into a repudiation of the authority of the British parliament either to tax or to legislate, Grafton's government had met this by a display of additional force. In 1768 a reinforcement of two thousand soldiers was sent to Boston, making the British force in the colony up to ten thousand men ; and, by the advice of the Bedford section of the ( Jabinet, it was seriously contemj^lated to l:)ring the chief agitators over to England, and try them for treason under a law of Henry viii. for dealing with treason committed 'outside his majesty's dominions ' — a singularly inappropriate law to quote. The presence of the soldiers served only to exasperate the men of Boston, who took every opportunity of insulting and annoying them ; and when, on March 2, 1770, a j^arty of seven soldiers fired in self-defence on a threatening mob, and five men were killed, the affair was magnified into a ' massacre,' and made a pretext for demanding the withdrawal of the whole of the British forces. On North's accession to office he determined to try the effect of concilia- tion, and repealed all the taxes except that on tea, which stood at the trifling figure of threepence per pound. This he maintained, at North tries George's request, as an example of a principle, while to allay Concihation. apprehension a circular was issued pledging the government to raise no further revenue in America. The plan of making America contribute directly to the expenses of her defence and government, which had been the object of Grenville and Townshend, was thus virtually abandoned : 822 George III. 1774 at the same time the soldiers were withdrawn from Boston. This change of policy was fairly successful, and for a time there seemed to be some chance that the agitation would die out. Two events, however, proved fatal to this. Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, an American by birth but distinctly opposed to the agitation, wrote a series of private letters to Hutchinson's ^^^^ friend Whately, under-secretary of state in England, Letters. i^ which lie spoke his views strongly, and raised the question whether a colony 3000 miles distant should have the same liberties as the mother-country. On Whately's death these letters came into the hands of Benjamin Franklin, who was then agent-general for Massachusetts in London, and he, in a wholly indefensible breach of confidence, sent them to America. There they were published, and aroused the wildest indignation. Hutchinson's recall was demanded in a petition to the king. This was heard before the privy council, and Franklin, as agent, was present. In the debate that followed, Wedderburn, the attorney-general, accused Franklin of being ' a man of three letters ' — in other words fur, a thief — and the petition was dismissed as ' groundless, vexatious, and scandalous.' Franklin was much annoyed at Wedder- burn's attack. He set aside the brown coat he was wearing that day, and only put it on again in order to sign the treaty which gave the colonies independence. Meantime, further disturbance had arisen from a cause which had certainly not been designed to irritate. In 1773 Lord North's govern- The Tea "lent passed an act by which the powers of the East India Ships. Company were limited, and as some compensation to the shareholders they Avere permitted to bring their tea to England and export it to America without paying any duty in England. They could thus sell it in America at a low price and yet make a profit, while the Americans could get the advantage of cheap tea. Contrary, however, to all expectation, the Americans regarded the transaction as a mere trick to induce them to submit to the tea-duty ; and when the ships were lying in Boston Harbour, they were boarded by a number of young men disguised as Mohawk. Indians, and the whole of the tea thrown into the water. This turbulent action was regarded by the British government as deserving condign punishment, and three coercive acts were presented to parliament. By the first, the custom-house was removed chusetts from Boston to New Salem, in order to ruin the former port. By the second, the constitution of Massachusetts was suspended, and the colony put under the direct authority of the 1775 North 823 crown. By the third, persons accused of treason in America were to be tried in England. These bills were opposed by Shelburne and Rocking- ham in the Lords, and by Barre and Burke in the Commons. Fox also threw in his weight with the opposition. The death of his father in 1774 had left him free to follow his own inclinations. Henceforth he acted with the Rockingham Whigs. The passing of these three acts amounted to a virtual declaration of war, for no one who knew anything of the spirit of the colonies could doubt that the colonists would fight rather than yield. Unfortunately in England the densest ignorance of the colonies pre- vailed. Even now, with all our facilities of steam and electricity, a real knowledge of the wants and conditions of the colonies is British rare, and in those days it was far worse. The voyage to ignorance. America took, on the average, six weeks ; for many years there had been very little emigration ; visits to America— so common now — were then almost unknown ; and few Americans, except merchants, had ever made the voyage to Europe. Even professed statesmen knew very little of the colonies they had to govern ; and Burke, who was so conversant with the interests of Massachusetts, that he was at one time agent-general for that colony, and Shelburne, who was a personal friend of Franklin, were quite exceptional in their knowledge. Moreover, so angry was the nation at large with what appeared to most the insolence of the Americans, that it was hard for any one to state the colonial side of the question without incurring a charge of want of patriotism, while violent denunciation of the conduct of the colonists was everywhere popular. In these circumstances it is absurd to charge the disastrous result of the attempt to tax America upon the king only, or even upon the king and his ministers. The blame for losing America must rest upon the whole nation, who applauded energetic measures and scouted all conciliation. In short, prejudice, ignorance, and spurious patriotism were at the bottom of the whole series of mistakes. In view of possible fighting. Governor Hutchinson had been replaced at Boston by General Gage, a well-intentioned and brave man, but not energetic enough for such a crisis. Immediately on the Hostilities arrival of the news of the suspension of the Massachusetts ^^S'"' Charter, Gage of course dissolved the legislative assembly. The mem- bers, however, set the government at defiance by reassembling at Concord, a few miles inland. There they organised the militia, arranged a system of minute men, who could be called out for active service at a moment's notice, and collected military stores. As it was impossible for Gage to look on quietly while this was being done, he sent a detachment to seize 824 George III. 1775 the stores. On their way the troops were attacked at Lexington village by a body of militiamen, and though they reached Concord and captured or destroyed the stores, they had to fight the whole of their way back, and lost no less than two hundred and seventy men. The skirmish at Lexington, though of no great military importance in itself, showed the colonists that though they might not be able to stand up in the open against trained troops, they would have the superiority in irregular skirmishing, and in taking advantage of cover. It also made a peaceful settlement more difficult, and though many good men both at home and in the colony still hoped for peace, a trial of strength between the colonies and the mother-country became inevitable. As Gage, instead of vigorously retaliating, remained quiet at Boston, the colonial troops boldly took the offensive, and established themselves Bunker's on Breed's Hill, a piece of rising ground which overlooks ^'^'" Boston from the opposite side of the harbour, and behind which the ground still rising is called Bunker's Hill, a name used by the English for both heights. This bold step roused Gage from his inaction, and the position was stormed, but so badly was the whole aflair mis- managed that the British lost nearly one-third of their force, whereas a slight exhibition of strategy might have compelled its evacuation without the loss of a man. After this General Gage was recalled, and General Howe took his place. Hitherto the main stress of the struggle had fallen upon Massachusetts, but in the spring of 1775 a Congress was called at Philadelphia, which state of the was attended by members from all the states except Georgia, Colonies. ^hich had only been founded in 1730, and these deter- mined that the whole of the colonies should act together under the title of the United Colonies. The importance of this was very great, for the colonies were so different in history and character that it was quite j)Os- sible for them to have taken different lines in a contest with the mother- country. It was also of vital importance which side the Canadians would take. Having been so recently taken from France, they might be expected to be disaflected ; but Lord North had wisely passed an act called the Quebec Act, by. which the Canadians were secured their own laws and the free exercise of the Eoman Catholic religion. This measure completely conciliated the Canadians, who dreaded nothing so much as to come under the rule of the New England Puritans, who inveighed against the act as establishing pof>ery. Canada therefore remained loyal. Having determined to act together, the members of Congress appointed Washington commander-in-chief. George Washington was a Virginia 1776 North 825 planter, and a thorough gentleman, whose simple and fearless character and transparent honesty of purpose gave dignity to the cause which he espoused, and inspired respect among the democratic officers GcorsTG and men with whom he had to deal. His acceptance of Washing- the post was a proof that the southern colonies meant to *°"* take their share in the war, and when the struggle was once begun the southerners produced more than their fair share of officers and statesmen. Washington, who in 1775 was forty-two years of age, had fought under Braddock in the Seven Years' War ; and well understood both the strong and weak points of the citizen soldiers whom he would have to command. A better choice could not have been made. At the same time Congress organised an expedition against Canada, under Arnold and Montgomery. It proved, however, a complete failure, and Montgomery was killed in front of Quebec. On the arrival of Washing- ton in Massachusetts, it taxed all his ingenuity to introduce some sort of order and military discipline into his motley army ; but he was given time to do so by the supineness of Howe, who remained through the winter at Boston. As soon as his army could move, Washington again took the offensive and seized Dorchester heights, which commanded Boston itself. For some inexplicable reason, Howe made no attempt to recover them by a battle, but withdrew his troops altogether and conveyed them to Long Island, which lies at the mouth of the Hudson, and on which Brooklyn, now a populous suburb of New York, stands. There he nuistered about 30,000 men of different nations, for the British govern- ment, as if they wished to exasperate the Americans, had hired Hessians to fight against them, and had even incited the Indians to renew their raids. Encouraged by the evacuation of Boston, Congress boldly declared the colonies independent, speaking of them as the ' free and independent States of America.' Still keeping the offensive. Wash- i^depen- ington in 1776 endeavoured to drive the British out of dence , declared. Long Island ; but in a pitched battle at Brooklyn the colonial troops were beaten by the regulars ; and Washington, with great difficulty, withdrew his men to New York, and thence to Phila- delphia. Next year the British formed the plan of a great attack. General Howe was to continue the operations against Phila- surrender delphia, while Sir John Burgoyne was to march from at Saratoga. Canada along Lake Champlain and Lake George down the Hudson river, and was to be met half-way by General Clinton from New York. Had these operations been successful Washington would have been driven into the south, while the New England States would have been 1780 North 827 completely separated from the rest of the colonies. The plan, however, had been formed without sufficient regard to the obstacles caused by distance and the difficulties of the country. The blame for it is said to rest on Lord George Germaine, notorious under his former title of Lord George Sackville, whom Lord North had most unwisely made secretary of state for the colonies. Howe's part of the plan was successful, but Sir John Burgoyne, on reaching Saratoga, found himself with less than 5000 soldiers surrounded by Gates with 15,000, and was consequently compelled to surrender. The nnlitary effect of Burgoyne's surrender was sufficiently disastrous, but the political results made it the turning-point in the war. Hitherto France, though sympathising with the colonists, had thought France, their cause so hopeless as to be unwilling to give them u^^l^"' ^"'^■ ^ to fc) Holland join open assistance ; but now, believing that they would be sue- the Colonists cessful, she openly acknowledged their independence, concluded a treaty, sent a young and ardent French nobleman, the marquess of Lafayette, with a body of French troops, to aid Washington, and despatched a fleet to the West Indies, under Admiral d'Estaing, to threaten the British sugar islands and to intercept our communication with America. In 1779 Spain also joined the Americans. France and Spain had many injuries to revenge ; the former was still smarting under the loss of Canada, and Spain under that of Gibraltar and Minorca. But our old allies, the Dutch, were driven to join the Americans in 1781 by a different cause. This was the very important question of the ' Law of Neutrals.' The Dutch held that if Dutch ships were carrying French goods during a war between England and France, the goods were not liable to be seized by British cruisers ; while the British held that ' neutral ships do not cover hostile goods.' In practice the British principle has brought us into difficulties with neutrals during every great war in which we have been engaged, and in this case it actually brought about war with Holland ; and, had the war been pro- longed much lono-er, would have involved us in war also with Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, who had formed themselves into what was called an armed neutrality. When France joined the colonists there was much difference of opinion in England as to the best course to take. The duke of Richmond would have been willing to acknowledge the independence of the United States ; George was in favour of fighting it out, and wrote : ' I can never suppose this country so lost to all ideas of self-bnportance as to be willing to grant American independence' ; while Chatham and Shelburne, who still clung to the hope that disrup- tion might be avoided, were in favour of granting everything that the 828 George III. 1779 Americans asked, except independence, and then trying to go on as before the war. So strong was Chatham's feeling on the subject that in 1778, when the duke of Richmond brought forward his motion in the House of Lords for granting independence to America, he came down for the purpose of ' lifting up his voice against the dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy.' He spoke under great excitement, and, falling down in a fit on the floor of the House, was carried home only to die. His protest, however, proved successful, and the war was continued. Meanwhile, the disasters into which the king's government was plung- ing the country had strengthened the spirit of opposition, and resulted Economical in a better understanding between the Chatham and Rock- Reform, ingham Whigs. Each party, however, had its own special scheme for reform. The Rockingham Whigs, urged by Burke, thought that the remedy lay in diminishing the king's command of money, and the ex- tensive patronage, especially in sinecure offices, by which he was able to secure adherence in both Houses. Burke also wished to have the division lists published, and, though he was strongly against any organic change in the constitution, wished constituents to look more closely into the votes of their representatives. The Chatham Whigs, on the other hand, who were now led by Lord Shelburne, thought the true remedy Parlia- . "^ i • i i mentary was to be fouud lu parliamentary reform, and wished to take away meml^ers from the rotten boroughs and give them to populous towns and counties. Those views were, to some extent, based on the interests of the parties concerned, fur the king and Lord North had most influence in the small boroughs, Rockingham in the counties, and the Chatham Whigs in the large towns, particularly in London. Fox seems to have been in fixvour of both schemes, and also of shortening the duration of parliament. In 1 780 the advocates of reform received a new form of support in the shape of general petitions in favour of their policy now for the first time presented to the House of Commons. Of these the most important were the Westminster petition. Petitions. , . , , 11- ,. n .•^• which advocated parliamentary reform, and a great petition from the freeholders of Yorkshire, which demanded a reduction in the salaries of officials and the abolition of sinecure offices. No less than twenty- three counties supported the Yorkshiremen, and Burke was encouraged to bring in a bill for economical reform. This passed the second reading easily, as it Avas difficult to dispute the principle ; but in committee all holders or expectant holders of government offices naturally opposed the abolition of any one in particular, and the bill was lost. The same fate befell Burke's contractors bill, intended to prevent the government giving contracts to members of parliament, a most fruitful source of bribery. 1780 North 829 It Avas asserted, for instance, that a member had cleared £70,000 by a contract to supply beads, tomahawks, and scalping knives to the American Indians. Thwarted in this way. Dunning, on behalf of the Rockingham Whigs, brought forward a motion that 'the power of the crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.' Being brought forward without notice, the proposal took the ministers by surprise, and it was carried by 233 to 215. Next year Burke brought forward another bill for economical reform, but was defeated as before. Meanwhile the party who favoured parliamentary reform were not idle. The first motion on the subject had been made by Sir Francis Dash- wood, a Tory, in 1745, in the midst of the Jacobite rebellion. History of Of course nothing came of it, and after George iii. came to ^^^^'l^- _ ° mentary the throne the Tories were not likely to propose any diminu- Reform, tion of the rotten boroughs on which George relied for the return of the king's friends. The Whigs, on the other hand, particularly the followers of Lord Chatham, who were strongest in the large towns, now felt aggrieved, and in 1770 Lord Chatham, after denouncing the existing system of returning members as the ' rotten part of the constitution,' suggested giving an additional third member to every county. In 1776 Wilkes, who had been allowed to take his seat after the general election of 1774, proposed to disfranchise the rotten boroughs and to give their members to counties and to large and populous towns. His proposal, however, was negatived without a division. Shelburne and Fox both supported parliamentary reform on the ground that the county constitu- encies and the large towns returned the most independent members ; but were opposed by Rockingham and Burke, who viewed with distrust any attempt to tamper with the constitution on abstract principles. Never- theless Fox's uncle, the duke of Richmond, though a follower of Rocking- ham, proposed in 1780 to establish manhood suffrage, annual elections, and equal electoral districts. His proposal, however, met with nothing but ridicule ; for it happened to be made the very night when the Lord George Gordon riots broke out, and the members of the House of Commons were fighting their way to their own houses almost sword in hand. These celebrated riots arose out of a measure carried in 1778 by Sir George Savile, a Rockingham Whig, for the repeal of some of the more onerous of the disabilities under which the Roman Catholics . Ungin oi had groaned since 1689, and especially for the repeal of the the Gordon statutes by which their priests were forbidden to say mass and their laymen to acquire land by purchase. The very meagreness of these concessions served to show how strong was the anti-Catholic feeling both 830 George III. 1780 in England and Scotland. The tronlile began in Scotland in an agitation against the extension of Savile's act to that country, during which much damage was done to Roman Catholic chapels and property. In 1780 it spread to England, and a vast league was formed under the presidency of Lord George Gordon, the half-insane brother of the duke of Gordon, and under the name of the Protestant Association. On June 2 Lord George, who was a member of the House of Commons, presented a petition for the repeal of Savile's act. This he brought to the House accompanied by a body of his followers, numbering some 100,000 men, who marched in procession through the streets and besieged the doors of the House of Commons, while those who could not get admittance to Westminster Hall diverted themselves with maltreating unpopular members of both Houses, who were struggling to make their way in. The mob remained about the House till late at night, and on its way home sacked and burnt two chapels belonging to Roman Catholic ambassadors. As no serious steps were taken to check this licence, the mob became daily bolder, and the more respect- able of Lord George's followers having by this time retired from the scene, the rabble broke open and burnt Newgate prison, fired distilleries, breweries, and private houses, amongst others that of the unpopular Chief-Justice Mansfield, and for three days held all London in terror. In those days there was no regular police force, and the ordinary city and parish constables were quite unequal to deal with the mol), and yet, for some reason, the military were not employed at first, and when they were ordered out were directed not to fire. This only made the mob bolder, and at last George, taking upon himself a responsibility which his ministers shirked, issued a proclamation, ordering the troops to use their weapons. This firmness which, had it come earlier, might have checked the riots altogether, was at length successful, though at least five hundred persons were killed and wounded by the soldiers before order was restored. The Gordon riots were important in three ways. In the first place they distinctly showed that members of parliament were more tolerant than the nation as a whole ; secondly, the circum- stance that Fox and Shelburne had unadvisedly continued their opposi- tion to the government during the riots, gained them, unjustly, a reputation for sympathy with disorder which was cleverly used against them by the king at the next general election ; and thirdly, the riots formed an object lesson in mob violence, which distinctly increased the dislike with which the atrocities of the Parisian mob were viewed in this country.^ 1 The description of these riots should be read in Dickens' Barnahy Rudge. 1781 North 831 The military effect of the entrance of France and Spain into the war was to make the command of the sea the key of the situation, and pro- bably the best course for the British would have been to hold a few ports in America, and concentrate their attention '^^^ ^^^' upon defeating the French and Spanish fleets. Instead of this they still continued their land operations, but with less prospect of success than ever ; for, as Chatham put it, we have spent three years ' in teaching the Americans how to fight,' and their armies were stronger than ever, while the presence of the French fleet on the coast made communications between the armies difficult. In 1778 we were obliged to evacuate Philadelphia, and made New York our headquarters ; and during the next year the British troops remained almost wholly on the defensive. In 1780 Benedict Arnold, Major the commander of the American troops on the Hudson Andr^. river, dissatisfied with his position under Washington, offered to desert and hand over the forts on the Hudson river to the British ; the necfotia- tions between him and Sir Henry Clinton at New York were carried on by Major Andr^, a young officer of great promise and considerable literary ability, Andrt^ landed in the American lines under a flag of truce, but having been detained longer than he expected, foolishly permitted himself to be persuaded to change his uniform for a civilian's dress, and in this he was arrested while endeavouring to pass the American sentries. On being searched Arnold's letters were found in his boots. He was, of course, tried as a sj)y, convicted, and, in spite of all petitions to the contrary, Washington allowed him to be hanged. Arnold escaped to the British, but his plan of betraying the forts completely failed. Andre's sad fate created a melancholy impression both in England and America, but it is hard to see how Washington could be blamed. The same year a British army under Lord Cornwallis was sent to Charleston, in South Carolina, with a view to driving the American army out of the southern states, which contained the largest Surrender at proportion of loyalists, and so making them a basis of '^o'^'^town. operations against the middle and northern states. At first the jjlan seemed successful, and the Americans were defeated at Camden in 1780, and Guildford Court-house in 1781. These defeats much discouraged the French troops in America, who now amounted to some 7000 men under Lafayette, and a truce for two months was proposed by them, which was foolishly rejected. After the battle of Guildford, Cornwallis marched along the coast towards New York, much as Burgoyne had tried to make his way down the Hudson river, but was henmied in at Yorktown on the York river by General Green, and forced to fortify 832 Gemrje III. 1781 himself on a small peninsula with his back to the coast, where his whole force was concentrated on the 22nd August. Had the English possessed command of the sea, Cornwallis' position would have been impregnable, but eight days afterwards the Count de Grasse arrived off the coast with twenty-eight ships of the line ; the British admiral, Graves, was unable to drive him away with an inferior force of nineteen vessels. The result was that on October ] 7 Cornwallis found his position untenable, and was forced to capitulate to Washington, who had concentrated the whole of the American forces to effect his destruction. This great disaster brought the fighting on land to a virtual close, but the British still continued the naval war against the three European states. The disasters of the year were somewhat redeemed by Eodney's capture of St. Eustacia, a rich West Indian island belonging to the Dutch ; but the French soon captured it, and having complete command of the sea, took from us also Essequibo and Demerara, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, and Tobago, and it seemed as if the whole of our West Indian islands would soon be lost. These disasters were largely due to the half-hearted manner in which the British commanders worked together ; the curse of party had for the first and last time found its way into the navy, and some captains failed to support Kodney because he was a Tory, and others Keppel because he was a Whig. Even in Europe we lost command of the sea. Keppel fought an indecisive action oft* Ushant. The siege of Gibraltar was Loss of carried on simply because we had no fleet to relieve it, Minorca. ^^^ jjj March, 1782, Minorca was captured. These dis- asters depressed the spirit of the nation to a point lower than it had reached since Fontenoy. The elections of 1780, coming just after the Gordon riots, proved more favourable to the government than was expected. For some time the oppo- North's sition leaders were disheartened, but in the autumn of 1781 Resignation, ^j^gy again became active, and Lords Eockingham, Eichmond^ and Shelburne in the Lords, and Fox, Burke, Conway, and Barre in the Commons, renewed their attacks on the administration. By this time Lord North was thoroughly tired of carrying on a war of whose con- tinuance he disapproved, and was only kept in office by the entreaties, of the king, who represented resignation as equivalent to desertion, and who threatened to return to Hanover rather than fall into the hands of the opposition. Facts, however, were too strong for Lord North. In February, 1782, General Conway carried a motion to the efi*ect that it was impossible to subdue the Americans by force, and when in March the news arrived that Minorca had been taken, North insisted on leaving office. 1782 North — Rockingham 833 His retirement brought into full view the differences which existed in the opposition. The king agreed to accept a mixed ministry, composed of Rockingham's followers and the Chathamite Whigs ; but so great was his prejudice against Lord Rockingham that hai?i"^' he refused to see him, and conducted all the negotiations ?^5°."d Ministry. through Lord Shelburne. Indeed, as Fox plainly told Shel- burne, the cabinet was to consist of two parts, ' one belonging to the king, the other to the public' Its composition is very instructive. Of the ten members of the cabinet, Rockingham, Lord John Cavendish, Keppel, Richmond, Fox, and Conway were of one party ; Shelburne and Dunning, now created Lord Ashburton, represented the followers of Chatham ; Grafton was neutral, and Thurlow, the lord-chancellor under North, continued to hold his post apparently because he was too dangerous to be driven into opposition. Burke, who, great as is his present reputation, was never trusted by his contemporaries, or admitted within the aristo- cratic circle which could then claim a place in the cabinet, was paymaster of the forces. In accordance with Whig principles, active hostilities against the Americans were at once discontinued, but the war with the European powers was carried on as vigorously as ever. In this the The War new ministry met with a success greater than it deserved, continued. For more than a year Rodney had been in the West Indies manoeuvring against the French admiral de Grasse. He was, however, a supporter of Lord North, and as such Rockingham's ministry recalled him. Fortun- ately, however, the recall had not reached Rodney when he contrived to force the French admiral into a general action off' the island Rodney's of Guadeloupe. Rodney had thirty-five ships of the line to Victory, his opponent's thirty-three ; and, getting the weather gauge, he employed the new manoeuvre of breaking his enemy's line. Sailing at right angles to the French line of battle, he cut off some of their ships from the rest, and then brought his whole force to bear on these ; while the rest of the French fleet, having the wind against it, was unable to come to their assistance. In this way the French fleet was thrown into hopeless con- fusion ; five ships were taken and one sunk, and the naval superiority of the British in the West Indies was at once re-established. Almost as memorable as this great victory was Governor Eliott's defence of Gibraltar. During the war the chief attention of the Spaniards had been devoted to the siege of Gibraltar. This The Siege of was formed in 1779, immediately on the declaration of war, and as the British had no fleet to spare for the permanent assistance of the garrison, General Eliott, a veteran who had been George ii.'s 3g 834 George III. 1782 aide-de-camp at Dettingen, was forced to rely on his own resources. To this, however, he showed himself fully equal, keeping his assailants at a distance by a free use of red-hot shot. His stock of provisions, however, was running low, when, in 1781, Rodney contrived to beat the Spanish fleet in a terrible night battle fought oflF Cape St. Vincent, and to throw ample sujjplies into the place. However, in 1782, a ■ supreme efibrt was made to take the fortress. The Spanish army was jomed by a strong reinforcement of French ; a large fleet covered the operations of the siege, and, by the ingenuity of a French engineer named d' Arcon, huge floating batteries were contrived, which it was hoped would prove impervious to Eliott's red-hot balls. On September 13 a tremendous Are was opened on the fortress by sea and land ; but Eliott, who had so strengthened his defences that he was stronger at the close of the siege than at the beginning, defied all their efforts, and set most of the batteries on fire. A terrible scene of destruction ensued. Eliott's guns sent their shot all over the bay ; in every du-ection gunboats and batteries were blowing up, while the water was crowded with wounded and half-burnt A\Tetches. Eliott, however, showed that he was as humane as he was brave. The Spaniards being completely beaten, the British guns ceased firing, and Eliott and Curtis, the commander of the British gunboats, did all they could to save life. A few days later, Lord Howe arrived with a large convoy of provisions and two fresh regiments, which he safely landed in spite of the French and Spanish fleet, and again withdrew after a doubtful battle, in which, owing to the wind, the British could not compel their antagonists to engage at close quarters. This relief of Gibraltar was final, and though the siege was not raised till the end of the war, Eliott was not again in serious danger. On coming into office Rockingham had stipulated with the king that he might pass acts diminishing or abolishing all useless offices, excluding Economical contractors from the House of Commons, and depriving Reform. revenue officers of their votes ; and to these objects they at once applied themselves. Fox being reputed to have said that, provided he was able ' to strike a good stout blow at the influence of the crown, he did not mind how soon he went out.' Accordingly, Burke's bills were again introduced, and this time were passed. The civil list was divided into eight classes, and reductions were made to the extent of ;£72,000 by abolishing useless offices. Among those abolished was that of ' king's turnspit,' the holder of which sat in the House of Commons ; by another act, contractors to supply government with any articles were forbidden to sit in the House ; and by a third, revenue officers were forbidden to vote in elections. As it was shown that 11,500 of these 1782 Rockingham 835 officers were electors, and that no less than seventy elections turned upon their votes, this was a great blow to the influence of the crown. Eockingham's party had no love for parliamentary reform, and it made no part in the government policy ; but the question was raised by young William Pitt, second son of the great Lord Chatham, who had entered the House in 1780. His motion, though supported by Fox, was opposed by Burke and the other Rockingham Whigs, and was lost by 161 to 141. By another motion, all the former proceedings of the House in connection with Wilkes' election for Middlesex were expunged from the journals. Between the agitation against Wood's halfpence and the breaking out of the American war, Ireland, if not contented, had been unusually peaceful. Owing to the wise administration of Lord irish Chesterfield, she had passed undisturbed through the crisis Grievances, of 1745 ; and it was not till the European powers joined the Americans that symptoms of disaffection began to show themselves. The grievances of the Irish were twofold — commercial and constitutional. The former arose from the selfish policy by which, in the supposed interests of English merchants and farmers, Irish trade and agriculture had been treated. No manufacturing industry except that of linen had received anything but discouragement. Even that was now suflering from the general depression which had been caused by the Avar ; while the exjjortation of provisions to America had also been put under an embargo. At the accession of George iii. the chief constitutional grievances lay in the existence of Poynings' Act (see p. 382), by which no bill could be introduced into the Irish parliament till it had received the approval of the English council ; of the act of 1719 (George i., ch. vi.), by which the British parliament could pass laws bmding on Ireland ; the perpetual Mutiny Act, by which the Irish parliament was deprived of any control over the troops in the island ; and the practice by which the Irish parliament sat every two years, and Avas only dissolved, except with the king's consent, at the death of the sovereign. Early in the reign, however, an opposition was organised in parliament under Henry Flood, born in 1732 ; and in 1767 he was successful in getting an Octennial Bill passed, by which the duration of ^^^^^ the Irish parliament was limited to eight years. Flood then devoted his attention to acquiring greater control over expenditure for parliament ; but in 1774 he destroyed much of his popularity by taking office under the government. Flood's place was o ^ 1 1 T Grattan. taken by Henry Grattan, born 1746, Avho entered parlia- ment in 1775. The moment was a critical one, for the struggle with America was just beginning, and was watched with intense interest by 836 George III. 1782 the Irish, whose grievances, especially the commercial ones, were by no means unlike those of the colonists. When France declared war, Ireland was almost denuded of troops ; and, to protect themselves asiainst a French invasion, the Protestants were allowed to form volunteer corps, which were furnished with arms by the government. These corps soon amounted to 50,000 eflfective men ; and their leader, Lord Charlemont, joined with Grattan to use them as a menace against the government. In face of such a military force North saw that resistance was useless ; and an act was passed allowing Ireland to trade with foreign countries and with the English colonies. The passing of this measure had been largely assisted by the eloquence of Burke ; but the Bristol merchants, jealous of their trade, punished him at the general election of 1780 by turning him out of his seat for Bristol. These concessions caused universal rejoicing in Ireland ; and Grattan went on to pass through the Irish parliament a Declaration of Right, which demanded the repeal of Poynings' Act and the Sixth of George i. ; that appeals in Irish lawsuits should go to the Irish and not to the English House of Lords ; and, lastly, the repeal of the Legislative perpetual Mutiny Act. This Declaration was passed in dence^" 1782. Eockingham's ministry at once granted the demands, granted. and passed measures by which the Sixth of George i. was repealed, and Poynings' Act was so far modified that the Irish parlia- ment became legislatively independent. In July 1782 the marquess of Rockingham died quite unexpectedly ; and this brought to a crisis the quarrel that had long been imminent between the Chatham and Rockingham Whigs. Already Death of . o & J Rocking- Fox and Shelburne — the two secretaries of state — had had separate agents negotiating at Paris about the conclusion of peace ; and an open quarrel must have broken out before long. George acted at once ; and, the instant Rockingham's death was known, named Shelburne prime minister. The Rockingham Whigs, on the other hand, wanted to have the duke of Portland, a young and amiable nobleman, but of no ability — ' a fit block to hang Whigs on,' as some one said. On Shelburne's Slielburne's appointment. Fox and Burke immediately Ministry. threw \\^ their places, and were supported by Lord John Cavendish and Ashburton ; but Shelburne replaced Cavendish by giving the chancellorship of the exchequer to William Pitt, while Camden, Grafton, Keppel, Richmond, and Thurlow retained their places. The resignation of Fox was due quite as much to personal dislike of Lord Shelburne as to his policy and connections. The character of Shelburne is one of the enigmas of the period. Having entered politics 1782 RoeUngham — Shelhnrne ,337 with every advantage, he liecame a secretary of state at twenty-nine ; he was the trusted lieutenant of Chatham, and was remarkable for the breadth and liberality of his views on all subjects. Yet p^^'s for all this he was a political fiiilure, apparently because Action, he could convince no one of the honesty of his intentions. In speaking, his habitual reservations made it almost impossible to tell what he really meant ; and m ordinary life, his habit of habitually suspecting and watching his friends made everyone ill at ease. With Fox, indeed, distrust was hereditary, for Lord Holland believed that he had been tricked by Shelburne ; but it was just the same with those who might have been expected to be his hereditary friends ; and Fox and William Pitt, if they agreed in nothing else, were at one in distrusting Lord Shelburne. Fox, however, whose weak point was want of judgment, made a distinct mistake by throwing up his post on personal grounds. Pitt, whose strong point was sound judgment, made the right choice when he accepted office. The independence of the United States had been practically acknow- ledged by Kockingham's ministry ; but a formal peace was concluded by Lord Shelburne. This was signed at Versailles in January 1783 ; and the same day a treaty was also signed States ac- between Great Britain, France, and Spain. Fortunately for '^"°wiedged. Britain, Eodney's victory in the West Indies, and the failure of the siege of Gibraltar, had placed her in a much better position to treat than she would have been a year before. Even as it was, she was obliged to submit to the loss of Minorca, which was restored to Spain, and to give up to France Senegal and the island of Goree. The necessity for recognising the independence of the American colonies, and the impos- sibility of even a nominal connection between Great Britain and the States, were now admitted by all parties ; but their loss was regarded as ruinous to the mother-country. A very considerable number of the colonists wholly objected to breaking the British connection, and under the name of the united empire loyalists settled in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada, where their arrival materially strengthened the British section of the community. When parliament met, at the close of 1782, it was seen that neither the followers of the government, nor those of Fox, nor those of Lord North, could command a majority by themselves ; and paii of intrigues of all sorts were at once set on foot for a coalition Shelburne. between two of the three parties. Shelburne applied both to Fox and North, but the distrust that he inspired in both was fatal to an alliance. On the other hand, negotiations between Fox and North were successful ; 838 George TIL 1782 and they agreed to form a coalition against the government. Snch an alliance was received by the public of the day with disgust, and has since received more abuse than perhaps it actually deserved. Unluckily for Fox, the regular reporting of speeches enabled his critics to look back to his previous sayings. Fox had never spoken in measured terms of any political opponent ; and on his very first speech after Shelburne became premier, had depicted him as being capable of an alliance with North — 'the depth of political infamy.' Fox, however, had always distinguished between the policy and character of Lord North, with whom he was personally on the best of terms, and had had frequent abortive negotiations about joining him ; but this the public did not know. What it did see was that two politicians, each of whom had held up the other as guilty of infamous conduct, had allied together against a third, whom one of them had recently deserted on personal grounds ; and it regarded the whole affair as a disgrace to the politicians con- cerned, especially to Fox. The king, on the other hand, was furious at a scheme which threatened to saddle him with a ministry composed of Fox, whom he detested, and North, who he thought had deserted him. In the House of Commons, however. Fox and North had a large majority, who carried an amendment against the government by 207 to 190 ; and on this Lord Shelburne resigned, and soon afterwards went abroad. George, however, did not, as he said, ' take the bitter potion ' without a struggle. After offering the post of premier to Pitt — and, indeed, going so far as to say that he would offer it to ' Mr. Thomas Anybody who would take it ' — he found himself fast in the toils ; and, after thirty-seven days without a ministry, the coalition Coalition came into power, with the duke of Portland as prime inis ry. ,^jinister, and Fox and North as secretaries of state, sup- ported by Lord John Cavendish, Keppel, and Burke. The affairs of India demanded the immediate attention of the new ministry. Since the battle of Wandewash a great revolution had taken place in that country. Between 1760 and 1765 the affairs India. ^ "^ both of the Mogul empire and of Bengal had been in a state of great confusion. . At Delhi a fierce struggle had been going on between one vizier, supported by the Mahrattas, and another supported by the Afghans, which resulted in the defeat of the Mahrattas at the great battle of Paniput. The British, however, recognised as Padisha or emperor, a son of the reigning sovereign named Shah Alum, who was an exile in Oude. In Bengal Mir Jaffier, who had been made Nabob after the battle of Plassey, was deposed as inefficient and his place taken by his son-in-law, Mir Cassim. He, in his turn, quarrelled with the British, 1783 Shelhnrne — Portland 839 and put to death a number of British prisoners in the massacre of Patna. His troops, however, were defeated in 1V64 by Major Mimro at the Ixittle of Buxar, which made the British masters of Bengal Next year Olive again visited India, and he made an arrangement with Mir Jaffier and Shah Ahim, by which the East India Company was recognised as the collector of revenues in Bengal, Behar, and Orissa at the price of paying ^500,000 a year to the Nabob of Bengal, and £250,000 to the nominal Padisha, Shah Alum. This arrangement made the company the virtual rulers of these three provinces, which together made up a territory as large as France. Clive's plan for the future was that both the government and the collection of revenue should be carried on by the native officials, while the company should pay an army for purposes of defence, retaining in its own hands so much of the revenue as remained after the tribute and army had been provided for. Olive also attempted to put a stop to the practice of private trading in which, to the great loss of the company, the company's officers had indulged. This he accompanied by a general rise of salaries ; and he also, in spite of much opposition, carried out salutary reforms in the condition of the army, and left India for the last time in 1767. When Olive's stern hand was removed, abuses again broke out. The financial demands of the company were too heavy for the resources of the country, and matters were made worse by the utter corruption of the native officials. The result was severe distress, culminating in a famine which desolated Bengal in 1770, and in 1772 a new system had to be adopted. This was introduced by Hastings, who was sent out in 1772 as governor of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, generally spoken of inexactly as Bengal. Warren Hastings was born in 1732, and, after passing some time at Westminster School, was sent to India in 1750. There he exhibited the versatility which has distinguished so many of our great vvarren Indian officials. At first he acted as a merchant, but being Hastings, seized by Surajah Dowlah in 1756, he became deeply involved in the conspiracy in fiivour of Mir Jaffier. Having escaped from detention, he joined the army and carried a musket at Plassey ; but his talents having attracted the notice of Olive, he was employed in diplomacy, and was soon recognised as one of the ablest officials of the company. Hastings was in England during the famine, and went out with large powers to reform the abuses which had led to that terrible event. His first act was to place the administration of Bengal in the hands of English collectors and magistrates instead of those of the native officials who had proved themselves unfit for the charge. Meanwhile, the afiliirs of the East India Oompany had attracted the g40 George III. 1783 attention of parliament. The fact that a mere trading company should have become the virtual ruler of an immense territory with millions of in- Attitude of habitants was itself an anomaly, and parliament was inclined Parliament, j.^^^^ ^^y^ ^q ^^q jealous of the company's political power, but also wished to relieve taxation by making the company pay as hand- somely as possible for its privileges. The matter was taken up by Burke, who drew a graphic picture of the insatiable desire for wealth of the com- pany and its servants, describing them as, ' animated with all the avarice of age and all the impetuosity of youth, they roll in one after another, wave after wave ; and there is nothing before the eyes of the natives but an endless, hopeless prospect of new birds of prey and of passage, with appetites continually renewing for a food that is continually wasting.' This picture, though, like all Burke's rhetoric, it was highly coloured, and, since Olive's reforms, largely untrue, rej)resented the ideas The of the day. Numerous persons who had made money ' Nabobs.' -^^ India had returned to England, and their wealth being greater than that of the average gentleman of the day, at- tracted attention. Their manners were often not equal to their new position ; and their ostentatious attempt to make up by their wealth what they wanted in breeding and education made them so extremely unpopular that, under the name of 'Nabobs,' they became a butt for the satire of the day. Accordingly, in a parliamentary committee which investigated the case, Olive, as the representative of a whole class, was bitterly attacked ; and though he defended himself with success he never recovered his spirits, and in 1774 put an end to his life. On the w^hole, however, the decision of parliament was moderate and judicious. A ' Eegulating Act' was passed, based on the principle that The Reguiat- parliament should have a voice in the political as distin- ing Act. tinguished from the commercial affairs of the company. Hastings was made governor-general of India, with the right of deciding the policy of the presidencies of Madras and Bombay in matters of peace and war, and was assisted by a council of five, made up of two officials of the East India Oompany and three members appointed by parliament. The new arrangement did not make Hastings' task an easier one. By taking from them the administration he had already deeply offended the natives, especially a certain Brahmin of the name of Nun- Hastings XT <. 1 • 1 • -11 1-11 Governor- coniar. He found it almost impossible to work with the council, the parliamentary members of which, headed by Philip Francis, who has often been thought to be the author of the letters of ' Junius,' set themselves to thwart him. Besides this he was in the greatest straits to provide money for the administration, and to satisfy 1783 Portland 841 the deinands of the directors. However, in 1775, Nimcomar was tried before Chief- Justice Impey, convicted of forgery, and hanged.^ In 1781 Francis went home, and matters became more tolerable at the council table. The demands for money, however, were incessant. Pushed on by these, Hastings actually sold to the Naboli of Oude the services of a regiment of English troops for the purpose of attacking the Rohillas of Rohilcund, whose territory was coveted by the Nabob. Still more diffi- cult became Hastings' position when the outbreak of war with France revived all the old difficulties with the French settlements ; and matters were also complicated by a war with Hyder Ali, a Moham- medan, and Sultan of Mysore. Hyder Ali was a typical ^ man. In youth he had seen service and acquired a knowledge of drill as a French Sepoy, and had then raised himself by his military skill to be the commander-in-chief of the troops kept by the Rajah of Mysore. He then deposed the legitimate princes, and took the title of Sultan. Hyder Ali was an excellent soldier, and with French aid he attacked Madras so vigorously that it was all Hastings could do to provide the means of repelling him. In his extremity Hastings had recourse to the most questionable means of raising money. He resorted to intimida- tion, and, among other acts of injustice, extracted a large sum from the Begums, or Princesses, of Oude. Eventually, however, his determined courage surmounted all obstacles. Hyder's troops were defeated by Eyre Coote at the battle of Porto Novo, one of the old Portuguese settle- ments ; while Admiral Hughes, with only nine shij)s, fought Suffren's fleet of twelve no less than four times without losing a ship, and so not only prevented the French from giving any efficient assistance to their Indian ally, but preserved Great Britain's command of the eastern seas at a most critical period. Nevertheless, the finances of the company were unable to support the expenses thrown upon them by the wars, and in 1783 its imminent bankruptcy compelled the government to interfere in its affairs. Accordingly the Coalition Ministry drew up an India Bill, which was designed, as Burke said, to be the Magna Carta of Hindostan. The bill, so far as it concerned the administration of afi'airs in India, Fox's India was admirable ; and is said to have been designed by Burke ^'"• himself ; but the part that attracted most attention was that which dealt 1 In bis celebrated essay on Warren Hastings, Lord Macaulay takes it for granted that Nuncomar's execution was a judicial murder ; but a great English judge, Sir James Stephen, in his Nuncomar and Impey, says : ' I think that Nuncomar's trial was perfectly fair ' ; and shows his reasons for thinking that Macaulay's inferences are untnie. Vol. ii., pp. 83-86. Indeed, Macaulay's brilliant writing has given quite a false impression of Hastings' career. 842 George HI. 1783 with the relations between the company and tlie crown. By this the transference to the crown of the political power of the company, begnn in 1773, was completed. A body of fifteen directors was formed, seven of whom were to have all the political power in their hands, and eight all the commercial. The appointment of the eight was in the hands of the company ; the seven were to be named by parliament for four years, after which they were to be appointed by the crown. The weak point of the Act lay in the method of appointing the seven political directors ; for it was represented that, being appointed by the parliamentary majority, they would in the first instance be friends of Fox and North, and that for four years they would have the whole patronage of India in their hands with which to secure for ever the parliamentary ascendency of the coalition. When the bill was shown to North he remarked that ' it was an admirable recipe to knock up an administration,' and his words proved correct. Every effort was made to excite feeling against the bill. Fox was represented in one caricature as Carlo Khan riding into Downing Street on the top of an elephant, and the charter of every corporation in the country was declared to be endangered by the attack on that of the East India Company. Nothing, however, could be done in the Commons, where the bill passed by large majorities ; but when it reached the Lords, George ventured on the highly unconstitutional course of sending young Lord Temple, son of Chatham's friend, to each peer with a plain message written on a visiting card, that ' whoever voted for the India Bill was not only not his friend, but would be considered by him as an enemy.' The result was that the bill was rejected on December 18, and George sent for the seals of the coalition ministers the very same night. As his new prime minister George named, not Shelburne, but William Pitt. Pitt was then twenty-four years of age, and had only been in Pitt's first parliament three years ; but he accepted the post with- Ministry. Qy^\^ hesitation. His whole life had been a careful training for a parliamentary career. As a mere child his father had taught him to declaim Paradise Lost and to translate the classics at sight, in order to give him command of the voice and facility in the choice of words. His delicacy prevented him from entering a public school ; but at fourteen he was sent under a tutor to Cambridge, and remained there for the most part during the term time till he entered parliament. At the university he devoted himself not only to classics and mathematics, but also to the study of such works as bore on the politics of the day, especially to Adam Smith's work, the Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, in which the principle of Free Trade was first systematically argued. At the election of 1780 he stood for the university, but was defeated, and was 1784 Portland— Pitt 843 returned hy Sir Jniiies Lowtlier for his pocket boron,f,di of Appleby. In parliament he showed a readiness and a solidity iar ])eyond his years, coupled with a belief in his own powers that bordered on the ridiculons. Bold as he was, however, he now required all his courage, for he had against him all the old parliamentary hands of the day, and those who might have been expected to support him were reluctant to connect their reputations with what seemed certain failure. In the House of Commons, Pitt was the only cabinet minister ; for his only efficient supporter in debate— Henry Dundas, lord-advocate for Scotland, and treasurer of the navy — was not in the cabinet. In the Lords he had no colleague of the first ability except, mentlry perhaps, Thurlow, who was more a hindrance than a help in ^^^^^^• general policy. Camden, Grafton, and Temple all held aloof. To Shel- burne, Pitt, afraid either of his unpopularity or of his ability, did not offer a place ; and that statesman soon afterwards went abroad. Against this apparently weak administration were arrayed Fox's genius for debate, the easy banter of Lord North, and the solidity of Burke. The tactics of both parties were simple. George and Pitt Avere determined to hold on till time had been given for the slow-growing public ojiinion of that day to form itself. Fox and North wished to force either resignation or dis- solution at the earliest possible moment, and even contemplated a refusal to vote supplies in order to make government impossible. Short of this, however, no law of the constitution can compel a minister to resign ; and though Pitt was beaten night after night in the Commons, he had no more thought of resigning than George had of demanding his resignation. Meanwhile, proofs were not wanting that the flowing tide was with Pitt. The House of Lords showed a division in his favour of two to one. The city of London, the most liberal constituency in the kingdom, voted him its freedom. Encouraging addresses came in from every side. In vain the opposition wits laughed at ' a kingdom trusted to a schoolboy's care,' and passed resolutions in favour of 'an efficient, united, and extended administration.' Their majority steadily dropped, and at length a resolu- tion against the government was carried by one only. Then Fox gave in : the Mutiny Bill was passed, and on March 25 parliament was dissolved. The struggle was then transferred to the constituencies. In those days of public nominations, open voting, and polls extending over days and even weeks, an election presented an exciting scene of riot, ^he General influence and bribery, and few elections had been harder Election. fought than this. On the one hand the East India Company sent a copy of the bill to every borough, with the advice, ' our charter is invaded, look to your own.' On the other, the great Whig fomilies put forth all their 844 Gem-ge III. 1784 strength in defence of the monopoly of power which they had enjoyed for seventy years. In the end, however, victory declared for Pitt and the kino;. Wilberforce, Pitt's yoiino' friend, carried Yorkshire against all the efforts of the great Whig county families. Pitt himself came in trium- phantly for Cambridge University ; while Fox with difficulty secured the second place for the popular constituency of Westminster which he had already represented. No less than one hundred and fifty of Fox's followers lost their seats, and were called by the wits of the day Fox's Martyrs. The main cause of this great discomfiture of the old Whigs was the disgust of the country with the old gang of politicians, who had treated the government of the country as a monopoly of their own. Another element was certainly belief in Pitt. Not only did he inherit his father's name, but he had won the esteem of the country by his ability, by his 'pluck' — the most .widely recognised of all virtues — and above all by his disinterestedness. Of this he had given a remarkable proof by handing over to his father's old friend, the blind Colonel Barr6, a sinecure office of £3000 a year, which all the world expected that he would take for himself. But, however its cause may be analysed, Pitt's success was complete, and as the first minister of the reign who had enjoyed at once the confidence of the king, of parliament, and of the country, he occupied a position of power and security to which no one since Walpole had been able to pretend. Pitt's first consideration was the affairs of India. In the late parlia- ment he had already brought in a bill, which had been rejected. He now Pitt's India brought in another which combined the method of Fox's ^Biil- bill for the actual government of India with a new method of securing the control of the government over the political affairs of the company. For this purpose it created a Board of Control consisting of six members, which was to be a department of the government of the day. This was to control all political affairs, while everything connected with commerce was left, as before, in the hands of the company. The appoint- ments to the posts of governor-general and commander-in-chief were left in the hands of the company subject to the veto of the government ; all other political appointments were in the hands of the Board of Control. This scheme lasted till 1858. In theory, it seemed to give a fair share of Indian patronage and administration to both political parties ; in practice, during the long rule of Pitt, it was used by his friend Dundas, who became the first president of the Board of Control, to secure Pitt's power in Scotland. To be a Scotsman and a supporter of Pitt were the two essential conditions for a successful application for a post under the Indian government ; and so cleverly did Dundas use his power, that 1788 Pitt 8^5 the Scottish constituencies became, ahnost without exception, supporters of Pitt's administration. In 1785 Warren Hastings came home, and the question immediately arose whether his Indian rule, which had been the subject of most violent attack during the recent debates, should be passed Trial of over in silence, or whether he should be subjected to a Hastings, prosecution. Hastings played his cards badly, and his agents succeeded in drawing attention to his case without forming a party for his defence ; on the other hand, he was violently attacked by his old enemy Francis, and in parliament Fox and Burke loudly demanded his prosecution. The first impulse of Pitt and Dundas was naturally to support a man who had brought British India through such a crisis ; but, on carefully examining the evidence, they found it impossible for government to undertake his defence. Accordingly they took up an attitude of neutrality, and left the lead to the opposition, who carried a resolution to impeach Hastings on four heads : first, the extirpation of the Rollillas, for which he had received i,'400,000 from the Nabob of Oude ; second, for extracting ^500,000 from Cheyte Singh, Rajah of Benares, for delaying to pay a sum of ^50,000, which was by no means clearly due at all ; fur deposing Cheyte Singh and appropriating his whole revenue of J200,000 a year ; and lastly, for extorting large sums from the Begums or Princesses of Oude. The trial began in 1788, and the principal speakers against Hastings were Fox, Burke, R. B. Sheridan, and W. W. Windham. Public opinion on the subject was much divided. The Court wiis strongly for Hastings ; the rising humanitarian feeling of the day was against him. Eventually, the trial dragged on six years, for the Lords only sat to hear evidence a few days in each session. In the end Hastings was acquitted ; but the effect of the trial was altogether out of proportion to the apparent insignificance of this result. The attention of the country had been fully concentrated on India, and public opinion had been formed more rapidly than would probably have been the case under the influence of any less dramatic event. Hitherto the British administration of India, though illuminated by many deeds of bravery, and by much- ability, had been on the whole a disgrace to the country. It was now gradually changed ; a much higher standard of duty, both to the natives and to the service to which they belonged, was set before Indian officials ; and during the seventy remaining years of the company's rule, some of the noblest names of which the nation can boast have been associated with the government of India. Meanwhile, Pitt had been vigorously engaged in reforming, or attempt- ing to reform, most branches of the administration. Pursuing his own 846 George III. 1784 and his father's policy, he brought forward in 1785 a bill for parlia- mentary reform. By this he proposed to disfranchise thirty-six rotten Parliament- boroughs, with less than six voters each, and to compensate ary Reform. \^q[j. owners with a money grant. The seventy-two seats thus set free he i3roj)osed to give to the counties and to London. He also proposed to give votes to copyholders in counties holding land worth forty shillings a year. This plan received the support of Fox, but Avas vigorously opposed by Burke. The king Avas against it, and many of the older reformers, satisfied with the existing government, had grown cold. In spite, therefore, of Pitt's genuine wish for the success of his measure, it was thrown out on the second reading by 248 votes to 174. Foiled in his attempt to reform parliament, Pitt succeeded in doing something to purify the administration itself by passing an act establish- ing a systematic audit of the government accounts. Hitherto the amount of jobbery had been frightful, and it was found that no less than ,£300 a year had been credited to Lord North for pack-thread for his own use. Pitt also did a great deal to aid the public in forming an opinion on the administration by publishing a public statement of accounts after the fashion set by Necker in France. Another change connected Avith Pitt's administration is an alteration in the time of the parliamentary session. Hitherto parliament had usually met in November. After the session of 1783-84 it was not called till January, 1785, and this practice has since been continued. It Avas in finance, hoAvever, that Pitt achieved his most striking success. He adopted the principles of Adam Smith, who advocated the Pitt's encouragement of commerce by low duties, instead of the Finance. \{i<^\ rates by Avhich previous financiers had endeavoured to restrict the imports of the country, and in 1785 he reduced the tea-duty from 50 per cent, to 12 per cent., making up the difi'erence by means of a window-tax, from which cottages with six AvindoAvs or less were exempt. He also carried out Walpole's plan of putting wine and tobacco under the excise. Even more important was his commercial treaty with France, negotiated in 1786. In spite of the old prejudice AA^hich regarded France as our 'natural enemy,' Pitt declared in favour of reducing the customs duties of both countries to the smallest possible amount in order to encourage trade, and declared his conviction that nothing was so certain to secure peace as the development of commercial relations between the tAvo countries. The immediate result Avas most favourable to the revenue. Before 1786, for every gallon of brandy that passed through the custom-house, at least six were smuggled, but the reduction of the duty made smuggling unprofitable, and the revenue 1788 Pitt 8,47 gained accordingly. Pitt would willingly have applied the same system to Ireland, and in 1785 introduced a bill equalising the duties of the two countries ; this measure, however, was received with the utmost hostility by the commercial men in the English Parliament, supported by Fox and other leaders of the opposition. Pitt, therefore, was obliged to remodel his scheme, and in its new form it was so little favourable to Ireland that it was rejected by the Irish Parliament. Pitt next brought forward a scheme for paying off the national debt, which at this time amounted to £250,000,000. It consisted in settin" aside £1,000,000 every year, which was to be applied to The Sinking buying stock. This stock was to be held by certain com- ^und. missioners, and in the second and succeeding years they were to apply the interest of the stock they held, and the fresh £1,000,000 voted by parliament, to buying up more stock. In this way a larger sum would be applied each year to buying stock ; and when the stock in the hands of the commissioners became equal in amount to the national debt, the debt could be cancelled by a stroke of the pen. The scheme was an honest attempt to make the nation tax itself to extinguish the debt, but was subject to the drawback that if money had to be raised by loan, and the price of the loan exceeded the rate of interest of the national debt, the nation would be borrowing at a high rate of interest to pay off debts at a low. This was pointed out by Fox and Sheridan — who, on the subject of debts, could certainly speak with experience. When the great French war broke out this actually happened. Nevertheless, so long as Pitt lived, the £1,000,000 was duly paid ; but, in 1807, the scheme was virtually dropped, and was formally abandoned in 1828. The humanitarian feeling, which had shown itself in the impeachment of Hastings, was also manifested in a growing agitation against the slave trade ; and the leader of this, outside parliament, Avas Thomas The Slave Clarkson, a young Cambridge graduate, who had won a ^^ ^' Latin prize essay on the subject. In parliament the sj)okesman of the movement was William Wilberforce ; and in 1787 an association was formed for the total abolition of the trade. This could not be effected at once— so large were the interests involved — but a j^arliamentary inquiry into the conditions of the trade revealed such iniquities, that in 1788 a bill was passed for the better regulation of slave-ships, and next year, through the efforts of Pitt, Wilberforce, Fox, and Burke, resolutions condemning the slave trade itself were introduced. In regard to foreign affairs Pitt was neither able nor anxious to attempt a great deal. The loss of her colonies and the severe struggle with the 848 George III. 1784 continental powers had left Great Britain comparatively powerless. Her wealth and her admirable navy still made her respected, but she Foreign ^^'^^^ not regarded as capable of undertaking military opera- Affairs, tions on a large scale. Pitt, however, was as tenacious as his father had been of Great Britain's position as a leading European power, and in dealing with other nations never admitted any inferiority of position. The first question that attracted his attention arose out of a revolution in Holland. This was efiected by the French, or Eepublican party, which, in 1787, expelled the hereditary stadtholder. Prince William of Orange, and proposed to revert to the old Federal constitution of ,^ ,, the united provinces. To this, however, objections were Holland. ^ . raised by the kings of Prussia and England, both of whom were connected with the house of Orange. Accordingly, Pitt made common cause with Prussia to compel the Dutch to receive back their stadtholder. The pressure of the Prussian army and the British navy soon compelled the Dutch to give in, and the stadtholder was restored under a sort of guarantee from England and Prussia to defend him and his dominions. The next difficulty arose out of the question whether the British had a right to form settlements on Nootka, now St. George's Sound, between Nootka Vancouver Island and the mainland. This involved a Sound. decision of the question whether discovery supported by a mere declaration of ownership, but without occupation, was a bar to settlement by other nations. The English had always declared that actual occupation was necessary ; but the Spaniards, who claimed the whole w^estern coast of North America under the will of Alexander vi., asserted the contrary. Matters came to a crisis in 1 790, and Pitt's firm attitude forced the Spaniards to give Avay. Against the Dutch and Spaniards Pitt had been successful, but he failed in an attempt to coerce Kussia. The reigning sovereign of Kussia was the famous Empress Catherine ii., who was bent on giving Kussia access to the Black Sea, just as Peter the Great had secured it a footing on the Baltic. In 1788 her General Potemkim took Oczakov at the mouth of the Dnieper, and in 1790 Ismail was stormed, with terrible loss of life, by the great Suvarov. These successes roused the fear of Pitt, who regarded with apprehension the prospect of seeing Russia established at Constantinople. Accordingly he determined to bring both diplomatic and military pressure to bear on Russia. He found, however, that the House of Commons was in no mood to support him in the pursuit of w^hat seemed so remote an object ; and Catherine was too clever not to perceive that Pitt's threats, if 1788 Pitt 849 unsupported by arms, were valueless. Accordingly she maintained her determination to secure a port on the Baltic, and though her allies, the Austrians, withdrew from the war, she obtained by the treaty of Jassy the fortress of Oczakov and the district between the Dnieper and the Bug. During the early years of Pitt's ministry some progress was made towards replacing the colonies we had lost in America by a new colonial empire at the other side of the world. The voyages of Captain Cooke between 1769 and 1779 had given a fuller knowledge of the islands of the Pacific than any nation had before possessed ; and though he showed conclusively that no habitable continent existed in the southern ocean he made known the existence of an excellent region for colonisation. At that date, however, there was not nuich demand for emigration, as the new manufacturing industries provided ample work at home. Nevertheless the government determined to send out a penal settlement, and in January 1 788 a batch of convicts was landed in Botany Bay, New South Wales. In 1788 the town of Sydney was founded, and named after the colonial secretary. Henceforth the whole of the shores of Australia and New Zealand were claimed as British territory ; and though the lands were almost entirely unoccupied, our unrivalled command of the sea prevented other nations from disputing our claim. In 1788 an event happened which threatened not only to deprive Pitt of power but also to put Fox and North in office. As early as 1765 George had been visited by a slight attack of insanity, and in George's 1788 he became unmistakably mad. Should such an event badness, occur now, no difference would he. made in the condition of parties : a regent would be appointed, and the government would go on as before. In those days, however, the case was very different. In the existing House of Commons it was calculated that 185 members ' would probably support his majesty's government under any minister not peculiarly un- popular.' The independent members were reckoned at 108, the followers of Fox at 138, those of Pitt at 52. From this it was calculated that if Fox was placed in office he would have the support of at least 323 members, which would give him a majority of the House, and conse- quently it made all the difference as to who should be appointed regent. The natural person to hold the office was George, Prince of Wales, now twenty-six years of age. His character, however, was extremely bad. He had taken advantage of the Royal Marriage Act to contract an illegal marriage with Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic— a legal marriage with whom would have forfeited his right to the crown under the Act of Settlement— and had disgraced himself in the eyes of all honour- 3 H 850 George III. 1788 able men by authorising Fox to deny the existence of the marriage in the House of Commons. He was also a notorious profligate and o-ambler, and overwhelmed in debt. In politics he professed to be a Whio', and on coming into power would certainly have dismissed Pitt and called Fox to office. Eager for place, Fox foolishly asserted that the Prince of Wales had as good a right to ' exercise the power of sovereignty during the continuance of the king's illness and incapacity ' as if the king were dead, while Pitt maintained the constitutional practice of parliament appointing a regent and guardian of the king's person, as had been done in the case of Henry vi. Eventually Pitt brought in a bill, giving the prince the regency with full political power, but reserving the guardian- ship of the king and the management of the royal household to the queen. However, before the bill was passed, George recovered, and Pitt's position became more assured than ever. The king's illness forms a turning-point in his life. Up to this time he had been decidedly un- popular, for the bad management of ministers had been put down to his influence. But he now began to get credit for Pitt's success ; and for the remainder of his reign he was distinctly popular, and the more so, because the vices of the heir to the throne acted as a foil to the unostentatious virtues of the old king. Even the judicious financial measures of Pitt would not have sufficed to restore prosperity to the country, had not his administration coincided with the commencement of an industrial revolution which dustrial has efi'ected a greater change in the condition of the English evo ution. popi^jj^tion than anything which had occurred since the enclosure of the commons under the Tudors. Though some steps had been taken towards the creation of a manufacturing industry, England had continued to be in the main an agricultural and commercial country, and down to the year 1769 had even exported corn to foreign countries. Since that date, however, an immense impetus had been given to manufactures by a revolution that had taken place in the cotton trade. Textile ^^^^ ^^^ spread thence with the other textile industries — Industries, linen, wooUen, and silk. Down to the reign of Henry viii. all spinning in this country had been done with the spindle and distafl', but in his time the one-thread spinning wheel was introduced. This was a great improvement, and no further change was made for some time, because in practice the head of the family was able to weave as much as his wife could spin. The loom used was that depicted in Hogarth's Idle and Industrious Ajpiwentices. However, in the early part of the eighteenth century, several improvements were made in the art of weaving. The ' fly shuttle ' saved the weaver from having to throw the 1788 Pitt 851 shuttle backwards and forwards by hand. The invention of the 'drop shuttle' enabled him to change from one coloured thread to another without breaking the thread. In consequence of these improvements, the process of weaving grew more rapid, and the demand for thread increased. Increased attention, therefore, was given to spinning ; and in 1764, Hargreaves, who had already invented a 'carding' machine^ designed the 'spinning jenny,' which enabled one wheel to spin several threads at once. In 1769 Arkwright took out a patent for a machine which spun the threads by passing them between pairs of rollers revolving in diflferent directions ; and, in 1776, Crompton combined the two inventions in his mule, which was made self-acting by Roberts. Hardly had this been done, when Cartright, a clergyman, and Horrocks, a Lancashire weaver, separately designed a power loom that would act by machinery. In the mule and the power loom the motive power was usually supplied by water ; but Watt's improvements in the steam engine now brought a new force into play. The first working steam ^he stea engine was that of Nevvcomen, patented in 1705. It had. Engine, however, only been used for pumping water out of mines ; and it was not till 1782, when Watt took out a patent for a double-acting steam engine, that it became possible to use it for general purposes. The gist of Watt's invention was a contrivance by which the piston was driven both up and down the cylinder by steam ; and this method, which saved fuel and increased the speed at which an engine could be run enabled manufacturers to apply it as a motive power to the new machines. Even this would have been impossible, owing to the great cost of iron- work, had it not been for the application of jron- the discovery that pit coal could be used as well as charcoal working, for smelting iron ore. This discovery, which had been originally made by an Oxford man named Dudley, in the reign of James i., had attracted little attention so long as the demand for iron was limited, and plenty of wood remained ; but it was revived in the eighteenth century, and first applied on a large scale at the Carron iron-works near Stirling. These three great inventions — the mule, the power loom, and the steam engine — revolutionised British industry. Hitherto the work of spinning and weaving had been carried on in the houses of the workmen ; now it began to be transferred to factories, where large numbers of hands worked for the wages of one employer. The result was the desertion of the country by manufacture, and the concentration of all such industry in great manufacturing towns, wherever the neighbourhood of coal and iron, and easy access to the sea, gave promise of remunerative employment. 852 George III. 1788 In the development of their industrial resources the inland towns were immensely aided by the new system of canals. Since the days of the Romans, the first canal dug in England was the Bridg- water canal, designed to bring coal from the duke of Bridgwater's collieries to Manchester, and completed in 1761 by Brindley. The success of this undertaking caused it to be widely imitated ; and before the end of the century no less than three thousand miles of canals had been constructed, and the natural waterways of the Thames, Trent, Severn, Mersey, and Humber connected by an artificial system of navigation. Scarcely less important was the great improvement of the roads, chiefly effected by John Metcalfe — long remembered as 'blind Jack of Knaresborough ' — and Improved Telford, a Scottish engineer. Of this Pitt took advan- Posts. tage, in 1785, to increase the rate of postal delivery by the adoption of Palmer's scheme of fast mail-coaches — an enormous boon to the whole community. These improvements were of more value to England than the discovery of the richest gold mine. If the prosperity of a country is to be measured by the density of its population, that of England advanced by leaps and bounds. In 1700 the population amounted to live millions ; at the accession of George iii. it was six millions ; and in 1801 nine millions. At the same time the demand for work was growing at least as rapidly as the population ; and, until the outbreak of the great French war, the country enjoyed, under Pitt, a period of almost unexampled prosperity. The early years of Pitt's ministry also witnessed the close of one literary period and the dawn of another. In 1784 died Samuel Johnson, the successor of Dryden and Pope in the literary sovereignty of the classical school of English literature. For thirty years he had been the recognised authority on literary taste, just as Voltaire had been in France. He had no successor ; for, after his time, men of letters refused to submit to a dictator ; and, indeed, in the new age a dictatorship was impossible, because, instead of all writers endeavouring to conform to a received standard of excellence, originality again resumed her sway, and variety not uniformity pointed . the way to excellence. Johnson's death was soon followed by that of the other leaders of his school. Adam Smith died in 1790 ; Robertson, the historian, in 1793 ; Gibbon in 1794 ; Horace Walpole in 1797. On the other hand, modern poetry begins with the publication of Cowper's first poems in 1782, and Burns' in 1786. In 1798 Wordsworth and Coleridge published their lyrical ballads. Modern philology begins with Home Tooke's Diversions of Pitr/ey, published in 1786 ; and modern classical criticism with Porson's 1789 Pitt 853 edition of the Hecuba in lVl)5. In 1798 Maltlms published his hook on the principles of the increase of population. Indeed, there is hardly a subject in which the last twenty years of the eighteenth century cannot show the upspringing of a new life. CHIEF DA TES. Peace of Paris, Wilkes and the ' North Briton,' The Stamp Act passed, The Middlesex Election, . Junius' Letters, .... American War begins, Declaration of American Independence, Surrender at Saratoga, Siege of Gitoraltar, .... Surrender at Yorktown, . Rodney's victory over de Grasse, Burke's Economical Reform Act passed. Peace of Versailles, .... Fox's India Bill rejected, . Pitt becomes Prime Minister, . Pitt's India Bill passed, . Impeachment of Warren Hastings, . Sydney founded, .... 1768 A.D. 1763 1763 1765 1769 and 1772 1775 1776 1777 1779-1782 1781 1782 1782 1783 1783 1783 1784 1786-1792 1788 CHAPTEE IV THE WARS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES AND GOVERNMENTS France. Louis XVI., executed in 1793. Republic, 1792-1794. Directorate, 1794-1799. Consulate, 1799-1804. Napoleon, Emperor, 1804-1814. Louis XVIII., 1814-1824. Emperors. Leopold II., 1790-1792. Francis Ii. , Emperor of Austria, 1805-1835. Prussia. Frederick William ii., 1786-1797. Frederick William iii. 1797-1840. Russia. Catherine ii., 1762-1796. Paul, 1796-1801. Alexander i. , 1801-1825. Causes and Progress of the French Revolution— Its effect on the Relations of Great Britain and France — The War against the French Republic — Irish Affairs — The Union, and Fall of Pitt — The War against Napoleon — The Peace — Its effects on England. The gradual awakening of a new political and literary life, wliicli we have seen in England under Pitt's ministry, was only one side of a far The French greater movement which soon absorbed the attention of Revolution. Europe. This is the French Revolution, an event which is certain to be always reckoned one of the epoch-making incidents of the world's history. It effected a change in the condition of Europe as great as that produced by the Reformation, and of which the influence is by no means exhausted. Like all great movements, the Revolution may be looked at from various points of view. From one, its chief result was the abolition of the relics of mediaeval feudalism, and the substitu- tion of modern society ; from another, its chief work was the abolition of privilege, and the ' opening of a career to talent ' ; from a third, it resulted in the substitution of constitutional government for the absolute monarchies which then existed in every country on the continent ; from the point of view of thought, it represented a breaking off from old £51 1789 Pitt 855 ideas, similar to that which accompanied the Renaissance ; and, incidentally, it produced the feeling of nationality on which our present European system is for the most part based. In short, it is impossible to look at any side of European society which has not undergone some change in consequence of the French Revolution. The violence of this change varied in different countries. In England, which had long enjoyed representative government, and where no privileged class was known to the law, much of the transformation, which in other countries was brought about by revolution, had been already produced by a gradual process of evolution ; and, consequently, the force of the storm was hardly felt here. Elsewhere, however, it was much more violent, and especially so in France. This was not due to there being more oppression and hardship in France than elsewhere — for the contrary was the case — but to the circumstance that in that country people were more alive to the existence of abuses, and also that the course of events in France gave an opportunity for a political revolution. In France, as in other continental countries, the framework of feudalism, which had been the basis of society in the middle ages, remained almost unchanged ; but its usefulness had causes of the departed, and its abuses only remained. Society was devolution, divided into the privileged classes and the unprivileged, who were to one another as one to thirty. The privileged classes paid little in taxation, by far the largest share of which fell on the unprivileged. For example, the chief taxes paid at this date were a land tax called the tailU, which the two privileged classes — the nobility and the clergy — did not pay ; second, a poll tax, which all paid ; and, third, a property tax, chiefly assessed on land. The indirect taxes were still more oppressive. The chief was the hateful gabelle, or salt tax, which of course fell most heavily on the poor, who were compelled to take a certain quantity of salt whether they wished or no. It was, moreover, extremely badly managed. No less than sixty thousand persons were engaged in collecting it, and not more than one-fifth of the sum paid ever reached the treasury. In addition to the general taxation of the country, many of the French provinces had the right to levy duties on all goods crossing the frontier ; the towns claimed the octroi on goods entering their gates ; and tolls were exacted on every possible pretext. Conse- quently, it cost so much to transport goods from one part of France to another that internal trade was almost prohibited ; and, even in time of famine, corn could hardly be brought to the starving population from districts where the harvest had been plenteous. In the country districts, the special grievances arose out of the relics 856 George II T. 1789 of the seigniorial system. Generally speaking, this was analogous to the English manorial system (see page 258). The vast majority of the land in France was in the hands of peasant landowners, who Seigniorial held their lands in perpetuity on condition of performing certain services to the lord or seigneur. These varied from holding to holding, and had often been commuted for money ; and the hardships connected with them arose chiefly from their being often farmed to some one unconnected with the estate, who treated the tenants with great severity. Some causes of opj)ression, however, were general. The first was the corvee^ or forced labour on the roads or holding of the lord. Such a duty had been known in England from the earliest times, but had long been commuted for a highway rate ; in France, however, it was still performed in person, and was often made an engine of oppression through the peasant being often called olf from his own work just when he was most wanted at home. The game laws, too, were very oppressive. In England, if a farm has much game on it, the farmer will offer less rent for it than if there is little, and now he has also an inalienable right to kill hares and rabbits ; but in France the seigneur, or lord of the manor, could keep up as much game as he liked on the land held from him, and tlie holder suffered in proportion. Moreover, there was much preserva- tion of deer and wild boars, which did a great deal of harm by their depredations on the crops. The seigneur also had the right to keep a dovecot, with thousands of pigeons, which devoured such quantities of grain that fields had frequently to be sown three times before sufficient remained to make a crop. Townsmen too had their special grievances. In tlie towns all trades were in the hands of corporations or guilds — which, in England, had been dying out since the reign of Edward vi, ^, _ — and no one could set up in business without paying a The Towns, ^ i i large sum to be admitted as a member. In the church, all the best places fell to the lot of the nobility : no peasant's son could hope to be more than a village cure. In the army, no one but a noble could rise above the rank of non-com-missioned officer. Everywhere men of ability found themselves held down and rebuff'ed by privilege. What, however, made this state of things so unbearable in France was the intellectual awakening which had been in progress almost since _. the beginning of the century, and by which all classes were Discontent. * => » i more or less aff^ected. Of this movement the leaders were Voltaire, Rousseau, and the grouj) of men known as the Encyclopasdists. Voltaire — dramatist, poet, historian, novelist, pamphleteer — used each and all of these weapons to attack the existing order of things both in cliuich and state, and particularly the infamous intellectual tyranny 1789 Pitt 857 exercised by the ecclesiastical authorities. Voltaire's satire, however, appealed mainly to the educated classes. It was Rousseau who was the apostle of freedom to all. Seeing that society, with its culture and its teachers, was sunk in sensuality and selfishness, he called on his age to return to that imaginary state of nature where each man, satisfied with the supply of his own immediate wants, would not interfere with his neighbour supplying himself from nature's bountiful store. Almost as important was the work of d'Alembert, Diderot, and others, who in 1771 completed a new encyclopcedia, which they used to express the most advanced ideas on religion, politics, and society, and which had an immense influence in moulding public opinion. A few years later, the part taken by Lafiiyette and the French contingent in the American war familiarised Frenchmen with rebellion against constituted authority, and spread widely a liking for republican institutions, while the utter rotten- ness of court society under Louis xv. did much to bring monarchy itself into disrepute. Everything pointed to some tremendous political catastrophe. As early as 1753, Lord Chesterfield wrote to his son that ' all the symptoms which I have ever met with in history previous to great changes and revolutions in government, now exist and daily increase in France' ; and Rousseau, who died in 1778, observes: 'Every- thing I see scatters the seeds of a revolution which I shall not have the happiness to witness.' Nevertheless, unless opportunity offers, a state may continue for a very long time in a condition verging on revolution without any catastrophe occurring. However, in 1789, such an opportunity came ^he Political through the condition of the state finances. The long wars Opportunity. of Louis XIV., and the unsuccessful but expensive part taken by Louis xv. in the Seven Years' War, had thrown French finances into confusion. The reckless way in which taxation was imposed impoverished the country, with the result that while the expenditure increased the revenue steadily diminished. Louis xvi., who came to the throne in 1774, was well-intentioned, and his finance minister, Turgot, was per- mitted to propose some reforms ; but the moment it was suggested that certain useless offices should be abolished, and that the burden of taxa- tion ought to be equalised, such a clamour was raised by the courtiers that the king was obliged to dismiss his minister, and things went on as before. Unluckily for herself, the queen, Marie Antoinette, who, though frivolous and extravagant was not intentionally wicked, aided the opposition to Turgot, and from that time her name was identified in the popular mind with resistance to reform. But though Turgot was dismissed, the deficit remained ; and no effort 858 Qeorge tit. 1789 to hide it availed. After a time recourse was had to Necker, a Genevese banker ; but his skill in accounts served only to make the difficulties more obvious, and it was certain that nothing but fresh taxation could meet the case. In these circumstances a meeting of notables was called, who in their turn advised the king to summon a meeting of the Estates-General. This body, which had been constituted by Philip the Fair in the time of Edward i., but had not met since 1614, consisted of members elected to represent in each district the clergy, nobility, and third estate. The elections took place amidst great excitement, and the members assembled at Versailles on May 5, 1789. The condition of France was most critical. Crops were failing, bread was scarce, and riots and outrages were taking place all over the country. Hitherto it had been the practice for the three estates to sit separately, so that the votes of the two privileged estates always outweighed that of the third. Now, however, the third estate, after a long dispute, insisted that the three should sit together, and as the members for the third estate numbered six hundred, to the three hundred of each of the others, and were joined by some of the inferior clergy, they were practically supreme in the combined body, which came to be called the National, and sometimes the Constituent, Assembly. The assembly thus constituted was, however, deficient in the characteristics which make an efficient legislative body. The members were enthusiastic, but they had had no experience of practical affairs ; and, consequently, instead of dealing with the matter in hand in a business-like way, they were continually falling back upon general principles — the rights of man, and the like. They wasted an immense amount of time in speech-making, and their speeches were prepared and read like essays of a debating society, and had little about them of the discussions of practical men. Nevertheless, the assembly did much good work. It swept away all the privileges of the nobles and clergy, did away with tithes and seigniorial rights, abolished titles of nobility, and declared all trades and professions open to all men. It also confiscated the property of the church, and of all those who fled from the country to avoid the Eevolution. So far, its work was de- structive, and therefore easy. It was now confronted with the business of creating a new constitution for France ; but as one of its ablest members, Mirabeau, remarked : ' Pigmies may pull down, but it takes a great man to build up,' and its work was therefore slow. Meanwhile, the mob of Paris — maddened by hunger, and excited by FaU of the ^^^^ oratory of agitators like Camille Desmoulins — bad taken Bastille. \\^q j^w into their own hands and stormed the Bastille, a fortress which answered to the Tower of London, and in which prisoners 1792 Pitt 859 confined under lettres de cachet — that is, by order of the king — were placed. These letters had been one of the great grievances of the time, but when the doors were forced it was found that there were only seven prisoners four accused of forgery, one an idiot, one imprisoned at the request of his family, and one imprisoned during thirty years for an offence of which he had no recollection. Nevertheless, the taking of the Bastille created an immense sensation ; for it showed that there was no authority in France that could control the mob of Paris. The army had looked on at the riot ; the assembly had done nothing ; and the king had spent the day in hunting. When told of what had occurred, Louis remarked : * Why, this is a revolt.' ' No, sire,' said his attendant, ' it is a revolution. In the provinces, as in the capital, law and order were set at defiance. Everywhere the peasants assembled in mobs, burnt the country-houses, destroyed the lords' rolls, and killed the game. In Paris, some order was restored by the constitution of the national guards, a body of middle-class citizens, commanded by Lafayette ; but in October the mob again rose, and, marching to Versailles, compelled the king, the queen, and the national assembly to come to Paris. From that moment the mob were the real masters of the situation. For some time there was just a possibility that, if the king would give his confidence to Mirabeau, whose influence in the assembly was very great, some arrangement might be made by which order would have been restored and the monarchy re-established in power ; but Mira- beau's death in March 1791 destroyed all hopes of this, and the king further discredited himself by an abortive attempt to escape from Paris and take refuge with the French army on the frontier. However, in the summer of 1791, the Constituent Assembly had completed its work, and in October the new constitution came into force. The scheme, however, worked badly. The ministry was weak ; the king was distrusted, and the new legislative assembly soon fell under the influence of the com- mune, or corporation, of Paris and of the Jacobin Club, which contained Danton, Marat, Eobespierre, and the most advanced leaders of the revolutionary party. Meanwhile, the greater part of the old nobility who had been ruined by the abolition of their privileges, had fled the country headed by the king's brothers, who afterwards reigned as Louis xviii. and Fall of the Charles x. They appealed for protection to foreign states, Monarchy, and particularly to Austria, for the Emperor Leopold was the brother of Queen Marie Antoinette. In consequence, a coalition was made between Austria and Prussia to invade France, and their armies collected on the frontier in the summer of 1792. The result of this interference was 860 George III. 1790 fatal to the monarchy. On August 10 the Tuileries, where the court resided, was stormed by the mob ; Louis, with the queen and royal family, Avas transferred to the Temple ; and all suspected of sympathy with the refugees were thrown into prison. The advance of the allies only made matters worse. Exasperated by a proclamation of the duke of Brunswick that ' if the king and queen were not set at liberty, Paris would be given over to military execution,' the whole nation flew to arms. The legislative assembly gave way to a National Convention in September ; and when it was known that the foreigners were across the frontier, the prisoners were massacred wholesale, and the mob became more powerful than ever. Had the invasion been successful, it could hardly have turned back the tide of revolution. As it was, it proved a Cannonade Complete failure ; for the raw French troops under Keller- of Valmy. mann held a position at Valmy in spite of a severe cannonade from the allies, and Brunswick, easily disheartened, withdrew from a further attempt. His invasion, however, exasperated the French to Death of frenzy ; a Eepublic was proclaimed ; in February 1793 Louis the King. ^^^^ ^^^ tried and put to death, and for some months there was a reign of terror, during which thousands of persons who, on some pretext or another, were suspected of complicity either with royalty or the foreigners, were put to death. When the news of the Eevolution first reached England, most people received it with satisfaction : some, because they believed that the English French were merely establishing a constitutional monarchy, Feeling. ^^^ |.j^^^ ^^^ ^^^ countries would be more friendly under similar institutions than heretofore ; some, because they believed that France was ruining herself, and would no longer be a source of danger ; others, because they had a genuine sympathy with the cause of freedom, and believed that what was going on in France was a step towards the realisation of a higher ideal. ' How much the greatest event in the history of the world, and how much the best ! ' was Fox's exclamation w^hen he heard of the fall of the Bastille. As might be expected from the complexity of the subject, all these opinions were more or less wrong. The French Eevolution differed from that carried out in England during the seventeenth century in the fact that it was pre-emin- ently asocial uprising, in which politics held only a secondary place. So far from France being weakened, it became very much stronger, for the national feeling aroused by Brunswick's invasion filled the ranks of the army with enthusiastic soldiers, who only required good drilling and good leading to make an admirable army. Fox and his friends, though right in the end, overlooked the disastrous circumstances under which the 1793 Pitt 861 Revolution was being effected, and the terrible crimes of which its advo- cates were guilty. For over a year, however, sympathy decidedly prevailed, when the current of public opinion began to be turned by the publication of Burke's Refiections on the French Bevolution. In this The ' Reflec- book, which was perfectly consonant with Burke's fre- *^°"^ °" ^^^ , 1 -. French quently shown attachment to the lorms of ancient institu- Revolution.' tions, he pointed out that the key to the Revolution was to be found in its social character, and utterly condemned the abstract principles of liberty, fraternity, and equality on which the new system was said to be based. He also pointed out the injustice with which the seigneurs and the church had been treated, denounced the ill-treatment to which the royal family had been subjected, and foretold the complete ruin of French society and the rise in its place of a military despotism. Finally, he declared for an armed intervention. This book, of which some 30,000 copies were soon sold, had an enormous effect. Englishmen, as a rule, dislike and despise abstract ideas ; they detest injustice ; their chivalry is easily roused by the ill-treatment of a sovereign, and especi- ally of a queen ; and when, as the Revolution developed itself, and they saw Burke's predictions coming true, many accej)ted him almost as a prophet, and a war party was rapidly formed. Against this feeling Fox protested in vain. It was useless to point out that the excesses complained of were those of the mob, and that the National Assembly had nothing to do with them ; and, as time went on, that the intrigues of the court with foreigners, and the invasion of the country by Brunswick, were responsible for the massacres of September and the proclamation of a Republic. Burke was almost too furious to be reasoned with. In 1790 he declared his friendship with Fox to be at an end, and even people who were more reasonable than Burke thought the time inoppor- tune for reform. Burke's book received many answers, the most notable of which were the Vindicicn Gallicfe, by James Mackintosh, and Thomas Paine's Rights of Man. The former of these combated Burke's position from a philosophical point of view, and appealed to men of culture and education. Paine's work, on the other hand, appealed to the passions of the masses, and covered with violent abuse both Burke himself and those whose cause he advocated. No less than a million and a half copies of the Rights of Man were quickly sold, and the government became seriously alarmed by the spread of opinions which they regarded as hostile to all government. The temper, however, of the English people against those whose admiration for France carried them too far was clearly shown. In 862 Gemje III. I79i Birmingham the mob broke into and destroyed both the house and the chapel of Dr. Priestley, a Unitarian minister and man of science who had organised a public dinner on July 14, 1791, to cele- sive brate the taking of the Bastille ; and other friends of easures. jij.jj^jjgg were publicly insulted. In these circumstances, the government might well have afforded to look with disdain on much wild talk and writing. Nevertheless, this was not the opinion of those in power ; and both in and out of parliament govern- ment engaged in such a series of repressive measures and prosecutions as to justify the remark that ' because Frenchmen had abused their liberties, Englishmen had been deprived of theirs.' In 1792 a proclama- tion was issued against seditious writings, aimed obviously at the Rights of Man, and at the close of the year the militia w^ere called out in consequence of the prevalence of ' a spirit of tumult and disorder,' In 1793 the Traitorous Correspondence Act was passed. The Habeas Corpus Act was also suspended, and remained so till 1801. In 1795, after stones had been thrown at the king's coach on his way to open parliament, further restraints were placed on public liberty by a Trea- sonable Practices Act, which enlarged the definition of treason, though it did not permit the punishment of death ; and by a Seditious Meetings Act, which practically made it impossible to hold a meeting of more than fifty persons to advocate any measure disapproved of by government. The result of these repressive measures was to drive open critics of the constitution into secret sedition. The members of the London Corre- sponding Society entered into relations with societies in Ireland, which were aiming at the overthrow of British rule, and were compromised in attempts to foment disaffection in the army and navy. The result of their folly was to bring discredit on political associations of all kinds, and in 1799 a bill w^as passed, almost without opposition, by which the London Corresponding Society was suppressed by name, and it was made a penal offence to belong to any society which had secret rules or committees. Besides making these alterations in the law itself, government made the most of existing laws to punish political offences. In 1792 Thomas Political Paine was indicted for seditious writing, and convicted in Tnals. spite of an able defence by Erskine, who based his argument on the principle that 'opinion is free, and that conduct only is amenable to the law.' In 1793 Thomas Muir, a young Scottish advocate, was in- dicted for sedition on the ground that he had advocated parliamentary reform, and actually sentenced to fourteen years' transportation ; while Palmer, a clergyman, was transported for seven years for circulating an 1792 Pitt 863 address from a ' Society of the Friends of Liberty to their fellow-citizens.' In England things were not quite so bad, as English juries refused to be carried away by panic, or overawed by the charges of prejudiced judges. A few convictions were secured for sedition ; but when, in 1794, the government prosecuted Home Tooke, Hardy, and Thelwall for treason on the ground of their connection with the ' Corresponding Society' and the ' Society for Constitutional Information,' the juries returned a verdict of not guilty, and a stop was put to such frivolous interference with liberty. In parliament, however, the panic caused by the French excesses put a stop to the progress with liberal measures which had characterised the earlier years of Pitt's ministry. A motion in favour of the Check to repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, proposed by Fox Liberal in 1790, was rejected by 294 to 105, and the subject was ^^e^^i^tion. not brought forward again for nearly forty years. In 1793 a motion for parliamentary reform, proposed by Mr. Grey (afterwards Earl Grey and prime minister), was rejected by 232 to 41 ; and suffered a similar defeat in 1797, after which it too was dropped. After this, despair settled upon the Whig party. Its members rarely attended parliament, and even such a measure as the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act was only opposed by thirty-nine votes. The only progressive measure of the time was Fox's Libel Act, passed in 1792 with the support of Pitt, by which juries were allowed to return a verdict upon the law as well as the fact, whereas hitherto judges had insisted that juries must confine themselves to the question of publication, the judge deciding whether what was published was libellous. Meanwhile, there was no logical necessity why disapproval of French opinions, and even severe repression of anything approaching them in England, should lead to war with France. Burke, un- England doubtedly, was for armed interference, but Fox was clear ^^^ France, for neutrality, and in this matter Pitt agreed with Fox. He wanted ^ France to arrange its own affairs as it can,' and it is a cruel injustice to his memory to credit him with undertaking a war against French republi- canism. This attitude of absolute neutrality Pitt maintained till the close of 1792. No one could have been more averse than he to war of any kind, and especially to a war with France, for all his schemes of financial reform depended on the maintenance of peace ; his commercial treaty was doing good work, and in 1792 he had paid off two and a half millions of debt. So hopeful, indeed, was he of maintaining peace that in 1792 he declared his firm belief that Europe was never more secure «f fifteen years' peace than at that moment. Circumstances, however, 864 George III. 1792 proved too strong for him. A proclamation, issued by the French in November 1792, offered the assistance of France to all peoples who would rise against their rulers. The victory of Jcniappes in the same month was followed by the occupation of the Austrian Netherlands, evidently with the design of permanent annexation ; and Holland, which we were bound by treaty to defend, was clearly to be the next object of attack. These acts of the French would have made war practically inevitable, as an act of self-defence, even if Pitt had been dealing with an old- established monarchy. To these causes of provocation, however, are added the execution of Louis xvi., which, in the words of Fox himself, was considered by everybody out of France as ' a most revolting act of cruelty and injustice.' In England the news was received with the utmost horror. Every member of parliament but one wore mourning, and the king's coach was surrounded by a crowd shouting * War with France.' In these circumstances, even Pitt admitted that war w^as inevitable. The actual declaration of war was, however, made by France on February 1, when hostilities were declared against England and Holland ; so that if Pitt was to pay any regard to his treaty with Holland of only four years before, he must come to her assistance in- dependently of the need of defending himself. From a European point of view the entrance of Great Britain into the war was most disastrous. The war between Prussia and Austria and France could not have lasted long ; but the entrance of Great Britain into the strife protracted it till the French army became the most powerful body in France, and the creation of a military despotism naturally followed. Though Pitt entered into the war with reluctance, he prosecuted it with vigour. A nation which has no large standing army must, if it Pitt's War enters into a war, be largely dependent on its allies ; and it Policy. ^y^g^ therefore, Pitt's policy to subsidise Prussia and Austria, so as to enable them to keep armies in the field. Great Britain was only to take a small part in military operations ; but he designed to use its excellent fleet to destroy the French navy and to capture the French colonies. He also planned a number of small expeditions to the coast of France in the hope not only of aiding the French royalists, but also because the fear of such descents compelled the French to keep troops at home who would otherwise have been despatched to the frontier. Pitt, however, was singularly unfortunate both in his allies and his generals. The Prussians and Austrians, after a short period of success, 111 success were beaten by the admirable armies of Frenchmen which on land. }^^^ been called into existence by the energy and ruthless- ness of the Convention ; and Frederick duke of York, the second son of 1794 Pitt 865 the king, being put through his father's influence at the head of an English contingent sent to aid the Austrians and Prussians in the Netherlands, proved quite incompetent. The Austrians and Prussians, indeed, were both half-hearted in the war, for both were bent on aiding Russia to carry out the iniquitous partition of Poland, which had been beguu by Frederick of Prussia in 1772, and was completed in 1793. In consequence, the French soon carried all before them. Lazare Hoche defeated the Austrians, and the British contingent, after being beaten at Bois-le-Duc, had to make a disastrous retreat into Holland. There they were followed by Pichegru, and driven from point to point. Eventually the French, by a charge of cavalry, took the Dutch fleet when icebound ; and the British contingent having been completely withdrawn, Holland was recognised as an ally of France, under the name of the Batavian Republic. Our attempts to aid the French royalists met with no more success. In 1793 our fleet entered Toulon harbour to assist the citizens of France who were endeavouring to hold that town against the troops ^^j. -^^ of the Convention. The plan was a failure. The harbour France, of Toulon is situated at the end of a bottle-shaped bay. According to tradition, Napoleon Bonaparte, then a young artillery officer, pointed out that a battery placed so as to command its narrow entrance nR^st compel the British to retire. His advice was carried out, and the British fleet immediately withdrew, after destroying all the French men-of-war in the harbour, leaving the royalists to their fate. In 1795 we landed a body of French refugees in Quiberon Bay ; but the step was most disastrous, for they were cut to pieces by an army under Lazare Hoche. Other expeditions were sent to Corsica to support the patriots in revolt against the Jacobins, and there was some hope of taking it from the French, but it was evacuated in 1796. In naval warfare we did better. There the French laboured under the disadvantage of having one of their best harbours, Toulon, on the Medi- terranean, and their other, Brest, on the Bay of Biscay, while ^^^ ^^ ^^^ their harbours on the British Channel were not at that date large enough to hold large vessels, and had again and again been bom- barded by the British. Moreover, the Revolution had been fatal to the efficiency of the French navy. A very large proportion of the officers came from Brittany, and were royalist in politics. These either retired or deserted ; and as it w^as impossible to fill their places at a moment's notice, or to train sailors as rapidly as to drill soldiers, the navy was much weakened, and the fleets which fought during the revolutionary war were far less efficient than those which we had before encountered. The 3i 866 George III. 1794 destruction of the French fleet in Toulon was a decided blow to the French power in the Mediterranean ; and on June 1, 1794, Lord Howe The First inflicted a crushing defeat on the Brest fleet, which had of June. ventured out to escort some corn ships Avhich were being sent to France by the United States. The corn ships escaped ; but of the twenty-six French ships of the line seven were taken and two were sunk. These two blows for a time disabled the French ; but in 1795 they were joined both by the Spaniards and the Dutch, and it was exceedingly doubtful whether we could hold our own. In 1796 the French designed an expedition to Ireland under the command of Hoche — an excellent general — and expected to be aided on their arrival by an insurrection of the Irish. The fleet avoided the English cruisers, but before it reached Ireland was overtaken by a gale and dispersed. Only three ships reached Bantry Bay, and their commander, Grouchy, dared not take the responsibility of landing his men. The attempt, therefore, came to nothing. The Spanish fleet was not very formidable ; and Nelson, who had seen them when our allies, said they w^ould ' soon be done for ' ; but there was great risk lest a combination of the three allied fleets might deprive us of the command of the Channel, and, consequently, the great hope of the British was to defeat them in detail. This they were lucky enough to do. On February 14 Admiral Jervis and Commodore Nelson, with onW fifteen ships of the line, fell in with twenty-seven Spanish men-of-war Cape St, ofi" Cape St. Vincent. A clever manoeuvre separated nine Vincent. ^f ^.j^g Spanish vessels from the rest. An attack on the main body, in which Nelson did the lion's share of the action, resulted in the capture of four ships of the line, and the rest took refuge in the harbour of Cadiz, where they were strictly blockaded till the end of the war. Thus the Spanish fleet was disposed of, and on October 11 Admiral Duncan gained a decisive victory over the Dutch fleet at Camper- Camperdown. The Dutch, with eleven sail of the line, had down. escaped from the Texel during a storm, and w^ere on their way to join the French fleet at Brest, when they were encountered by Duncan with sixteen sail of the line. The Dutch fought splendidly, but against such disparity of numbers their efforts were unavailing, and they lost eight of their men-of-war. In spite of these great successes, the year 1797 was a most critical year for Great Britain, for between the victories of Cape St. Vincent and The Mutiny Camperdown two formidable mutinies had broken out in at Spithead. ^^^ jj^^j.^ tj^Yiq trouble began at Spithead, the chief station of the Channel fleet. The grievances of the sailors were incontestable. 1797 Pitt 867 Their pay had not been raised since the time of Charles ii. ; their allowance of provisions, reckoned at sixteen ounces the pound, was really only fourteen ounces, the difference being retained by the pursers ; the victuals themselves were often extremely bad ; they had no vef^etables even when in harbour ; their pensions were extremely small, and the pay of wounded sailors was reduced. Matters came to a head in April, 1797, when the whole fleet unanimously refused to put to sea till these grievances were remedied. Confronted with such a humiliating danger, the government exhibited great vacillation ; while the conduct of the sailors in maintaining discipline on board ship, and the tone exhibited in their negotiations with the authorities, were admirable. Even when it granted the demands of the sailors, the government did so in such a way as to give every ground for suspicion as to its good faith, and only the popularity of Lord Howe succeeded in bringing about a satis- factory settlement. A number of the most unpopular officers were removed, and the men then demanded to be led against the Brest fleet, which, luckily for Great Britain, had remained in harbour ignorant of its opportunity. Still more formidable was the mutiny at the Nore, among the ships of the North Sea fleet. The sailors of this had, of course, sympathised with their fellows at Spithead ; but after the Spithead sailors The Mutiny were satisfied, the mutineers at the Nore hoisted the red ^^ *^^^ Nore. flag. Their leader was Richard Parker, an ordinary sailor, but a man of some education, and full of republican ideas. Under his guidance they formulated a series of unreasonable demands, which were at once refused by the admiralty. The ships then formed line across the mouth of the Thames, and blocked the road to all merchant ships. Fortunately, how- ever, they received no aid from shore, and when the sailors found that they had no sympathy from the Spithead men, the greater part came to their senses and returned to their duty. Parker and two or three more were hanged ; but the general loyalty of the fleet was shown in the battle of Camperdown, in which the mutinous crews played an honourable part. During the mutiny. Admiral Duncan, who was watching the Dutch fleet in the Texel, and who was deserted by all but his own ship and two frigates, cleverly deceived the Dutch by sending the frigates to the offing, and constantly signalling to an imaginary fleet out of sight off the coast. In spite, however, of these successes, Pitt would have been glad to discontinue the war had there been a chance of a durable Expenses peace. The expenses had been very heavy. The annual of the War. expenditure in 1792 was J18,000,000, in 1795 i'50,000,000, in 1797 868 George III, 1797 ^35,000,000, and besides that, loans had been raised to the value of ^90,000,000, the interest on which amounted to nearly ,£5,000,000 a year. The result of this heavy expenditure was to throw into confusion the finances of the country; and in order to save the Bank of England from being obliged to suspend payment, an act of parliament was passed Suspension . i-iit r-ini ^ • ^ of Cash in 1/97 by which the directors 01 the bank were authorised Paymen t.. ^^ meet all calls upon them in bank-notes, and Bank of England notes were made legal tender throughout the country, except for the payment of soldiers and sailors. This act was passed as a temporary measure, but was renewed from time to time, and cash pay- ments were not resumed till 1819. The immediate result of the suspension of cash payments was to cause a rise in prices calculated in paper money ; and eventually, no less than thirty shillings in paper money had to be given for a guinea in gold. This was a cause of great annoyance to all classes, but to the poor it was an incalculable hardship ; for it has been found that wherever a sudden rise in prices occurs from whatever cause, the rate of wages never rises so fast as the rate of prices. Moreover, it happened that the war years were also years of bad harvests, and the two causes working together were disastrous in their effects. Corn, for instance, which before the war rarely cost more than 50s. a quarter, cost, in 1795, 80s,, and in 1801, 128s. ; and in general the prices of provisions nearly doubled. On the other hand, a carpenter's wages in 1795 were 2s. 6d. a day ; in 1800 they had only risen to 2s. lOd. The provisions which, in 1795, would have cost a labourer 5s., would, in 1801, have cost him 26s. 5d., while his wages would only have increased to 9s. In consequence, there was a great increase in pauper- ism ; and in 1796 the bad practice was begun of allowing the guardians to supplement the wages of able-bodied paupers out of the rates. This plan was initiated by the Berkshire magistrates at quarter sessions, and was soon adopted in other parts of the country. It was done out of kind-heartedness ; but the results were disastrous, as, of course, farmers paid no more wages than before, and the necessities caused by the rise of prices were met by raising the parish rates. Moreover, as the payments were made in proportion to the size of the labourer's family, the married man was far better off than the single man. The result was a great increase in the rural population living upon the rates. Naturally this was followed by a rapid rise in the rates them- selves, so that in some parishes they actually came to exceed the rental of the land, and a stop was not put to this disastrous state of affairs till the new Poor Law was passed in 1834. In spite, however, of Pitt's wishes for peace, there was little prospect 1797 Pitt 869 of terminating the war. When hostilities began, Pitt, in common with all other Englishmen, expected the war to be short. It was the universal opinion that the Revolution had ruined the French army, strength of and that the country was bankrupt. Both these expecta- France, tions proved to be unfounded. It was true that the old army of the monarchy was in the main broken up ; but its place was rapidly taken by a far superior force, the credit for raising which must be given to the Jacobins, the most advanced of the French republicans. In the new force promotion went entirely by merit, and it was speedily officered by excellent soldiers, such as Hoche and Massena, both of whom had served in the ranks of the old army ; or like Moreau, who, trained as a lawyer, had discovered that he had talents for a military life. Such a force soon became almost invincible, and its victories enabled it to provide for its necessities at the expense of the countries conquered. As for a financial catastrophe, that was soon shown to be a delusion. France got rid of her old debts by simply repudiating them ; and the abolition of privileges and tithes, and the removal of restrictions of all kinds on agriculture and commerce, was the signal for the commencement of an era of prosperity which enabled her to bear with ease the comparatively slight burden of a successful foreign war. Only at sea was her strength diminished by the Revolution, and her attempts to supplement her weakness by the assistance of her allies were defeated by the British admirals, with the result of the loss of the whole of her colonial jDossessions. Her allies also suffered. For the British took Trinidad from the Spaniards, the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon from the Dutch, and from the French the whole of their possessions both in the East and West Indies. Meanwhile, the government of France itself had been passing through a rapid series of transformations, Duringthe spring of 1793, when the French were reduced to despair by the successes of the allies, and „ . . Progress the simultaneous invasion of her territory by the Spaniards, of the Portuguese, Piedmontese, Austrians, Prussians, Dutch, and British, the French had committed their affairs to a Committee of Public Safety, with full powers to save France by repelling invasion from abroad, and putting down insurrection at home. The result was the terrible Reign of Terror ; but when victory had returned to France, and her young generals had not only cleared her own territories of the invaders, but had victoriously carried her arms into those of her enemies, a reaction took place. The first result of this was a series of quarrels between the extreme republicans, in which Hebert, Danton, and Robes- pierre were successively guillotined; and after a time a new constitution was set up, consisting of an executive of five directors, and an assembly 870 George III. 1797 consisting of two bodies — the Ancients and the Five Hundred. Against the adoption of this new constitution an insurrection took place, known as the rising of the sections. It was, however, defeated by the Conven- tion, which employed the services of Bonaparte, who happened to be in Paris ; and the new government came into existence in October 1795. The rule of the directory, which seemed likely to be of greater stability than its predecessors, inspired Pitt with the hope of a successful negotia- tion. Hitherto he had based his hopes largely on the promises of the Abortive emigres^ but he was now quite undeceived as to their Negotiations, influence. Accordingly, in 1796, as soon as the directorate had been in existence a year. Lord Malmesbury was sent to Paris to open negotiations for a peace ; but as his first demand was for the restoration of the independence of Belgium, which the directors would never have dared to grant, his proposals came to nothing. Again in July, 1797, a conference was held at Lille, but as Lord Malmesbury again made the same demand, the negotiations were again broken off. It is probable, however, that had the French been really willing to negotiate, Pitt would have gone a long way in the direction of concession ; but at the moment the war party was supreme in Paris, and the negotiations were never seriously entered on. Moreover, Prussia had already made peace in 1795 ; and in 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been placed ill command of the army of Italy, defeated the Austrians in his cele- brated campaign in Lombardy ; and, following up his success, in 1797 comjDelled the Austrians to conclude the treaty of Campo-Formio. This left Great Britain single-handed, and inspired the French with fresh hopes of success, while the victories of her generals began to create a thirst for military glory in France which was itself dangerous to peace. Down to 1797 the French generals had shown singularly little dis- position to interfere in civil affairs ; but Bonaparte deviated from this Napoleon ^^^^, ^^^5 J^s soon as he had secured his position in Italy, Bonaparte, ggj^j^ Augereau to Paris, and carried out a change in the directorate favourable to his own views. Already he had probably begun to aim at a military despotism ; but perceiving that France was not yet ripe for such a development, he accepted the conmiand of an expeditionary force designed to occupy Malta and Egypt, and possibly, in the imagination of its commander, to be the nucleus of an army to be created in the East, and directed either against India or Turkey in Europe. At first, singular good luck attended the enterprise. Nelson was blockading Toulon ; but a storm drove him to refit in one of the harbours of Sardinia, and the French fleet, taking advantage of the same 1798 Pitt 871 wind, made its escape, nnd reached Mnlfa on May 9. That island had l)een held by the knights of St. John since 1526! It had been strongly fortified, and might have held out for months ; fxpedilion but its gates were opened by treachery, and after a four *° ^^^P*" days' siege Bonaparte was admitted. From Malta the French arma- ment sailed for Egypt. The escape of the French fleet offered a great opportunity to Nelson. This great man, born in 1758, and son of a Norfolk rector, had seen much service, and had long been recognised as one of the best of the British N.W.WiND Battle of the NILE. AUGUST IfS 1798. English shi/>s £> French sh/J>s captured or simk—.-i-^ ^/'roluid French ships escaped^ .•• •^/^^ Egyptian Coast H^'' Scale of F.nglish Miles officers, but hitherto he had not had an opportunity of showing his qualities in a great field. Now, however, his chance had come ; and, divining by a wonderful instinct that the French Avere making for Egypt, Nelson made all sail for Alexandria. He was there, however, before the French, and, thinking he must have been mistaken, he sailed for Sicily, and on his way he passed the French fleet in the night without knowing it. Having refitted his ships by the aid of the Neapolitan court. Nelson again sailed for Egypt, where he found the shallow harbour of Alexandria crowded with transports, and the men-of-war drawn up in the deeper water of Aboukir Bay. 872 George III. 1798 It is not often that in a naval battle either side has any advantage of position except those arising from wind and tide ; but in this case the Battle of French admiral, Brueys, had drawn up his vessels across the Nile. i\^q entrance of the bay in such a manner, that each wing was close to the shore, and was not only defended by the shore batteries, but also was so placed that it was difficult for an enemy's ship to approach it without imminent danger of running aground. Nelson, however, observed that ' Where there was room for a French vessel to swing, an English boat might sail ' ; and decided to take the risk. He had thirteen ships of the line, and the French had the same number, but their ships were, as a rule, larger, and they had also four frigates. Accordingly, Nelson at once gave orders to attack, and his fleet sailed in single file for the left extremity of the French line. Six of the British ships passed between the shore and the French, and attacked them from the inside. Nelson, with five others, kept to the outside, and attacked the French from there, and one man-of-war went aground on a shoal. Placed thus between two fires, the French fought with great bravery. Admiral Brueys was killed, and Nelson was wounded. The result, how- ever, was decisive. Nine French ships and one frigate were taken ; two men-of-war and one frigate were burnt ; two men-of-war and two frigates escaped. Had Nelson been provided with frigates, he might have destroyed the trans jDorts at Alexandria, but unluckily they had been driven away in a storm, and had not rejoined him. Nelson called his success not so much a victory as a ' conquest,' and it fully estab- lished his reputation as the greatest seaman of his time. The result of the battle was not only to destroy the French naval power in the Mediterranean, but also to isolate in Egypt the best army and the best general the French possessed, and to encourage all Europe to renew the war by land. In spite, however, of the loss of his fleet, Bonaparte was not diverted from his original scheme. In July he had defeated the Mame- Bonaparte in lukes in the battle of the Pyramids, and followed up his Egypt. victory by depriving both the Mamelukes and the Turks of all power, and reinstating the rule of the native Egyptians. The Sultan, however, was not prepared to see the French settled in Egypt without a struggle, and despatched two armies — one, escorted by the British fleet, to Alexandria, the other by land through Syria. Against the latter force Bonaparte determined to take the offensive, and, in February 1799, he crossed the desert into Syria and advanced by the coast road by way of Jaffa and Acre. Jaffa fell easily ; but at Acre he met with a formid- able resistance. Here the coast road is completely commanded by the 1799 Pitt 873 fortifications of the town, so it was essential that they shoukl be in French hands ; and Bonaparte, therefore, undertook a formal siege. The town is situated at the extremity of a narrow peninsula, which forms one side of the bay of Acre, and Mount Carmel the other. The Turks have always distinguished themselves in the defence sie e of of fortified places ; and at Acre they had the advantage of Acre, the assistance of Sir Sidney Smith with two British ships. The ships were so disposed as to command, from either side, the zig-zag line of entrench- ments which the French pushed forward along the peninsula ; and when a breach was at length made, British sailors were landed to defend it against Bonaparte's assault. Again and again the French storming parties made their way to the breach, only to be repulsed ; and though Bonaparte himself succeeded in defeating the Turkish relieving army at the battle of Mount Tabor, he was forced to recognise that Acre, with such defenders, was impregnable. Accordingly he raised the siege, and hurriedly made his way back to Egypt, just in time to defeat the second Turkish army at the battle of Aboukir. Bonaparte always said of Sidney Smith, ' That man made me miss my destiny.' Meanwhile, Pitt had organised a second coalition between Great Britain, Austria, and Russia, which attacked the French in Ital}", Switzerland, and Holland. In Italy, after a series of sue- campaign cessful engagements, the Austrians and Russians, under the °^ ^799- great Suvarov, forced the French to retire into Genoa, which was then closely besieged. In Holland, the British and Russians at first met with some success, but eventually, through the bad management of the duke of York, the allies, after a series of hotly contested but indecisive engagements in the neighbourhood of Bergen-op-Zoom, were cajoled into an agreement to leave Holland at the price of giving up the French prisoners taken since the beginning of the war. This failure, however, had no little influence on the war, for the really decisive struggle was in Switzerland, where Massena beat the Russians at Ziirich before Suvarov could cross the Alps to their assistance. This defeat checked the further advance of the allies ; and before the end of the year, the Czar Paul had decided to leave the coalition, and the Russian troops were with- drawn. Except, therefore, in Italy, the campaign of 1799 had been favourable to the French, Meanwhile Bonaparte, having learnt from some old newspapers the state of affairs in Europe, sailed from Alexandria with some of his best officers. For six weeks he ran successfully the gauntlet of Bonaparte's the British cruisers ; and on October 9, 1799, a fortnight '"^t"''"- after the battle of Ziiricb, he landed in France. He was received with 874 George III. 1799 enthusiasm ; and, taking his measures with the aid of Talleyrand, Fouche, and Sieyes, he carried out another revolution, by which the executive government was vested in three consuls, of whom he himself was first. What Burke had foretold had come to pass, and the popular general had become master of the state. The new constitution was cleverly contrived to place all real power in the hands of the executive government. The business of legislation was divided among four bodies : a council of state to prepare laws ; a tribunate which discussed measures but did not vote ; a legislative body which voted but did not discuss ; and, finally, a senate of eighty members, which sat in secret, and inter- preted the constitution. In short, the new regime was as autocratic as the old. On one side — the creation of a free constitution for France— tbe revolutionists had failed ; but on the other they had succeeded, for Bonaparte was determined never to permit the return of privilege ; and in a short time the publication of the Code Najjolcon, completed under his direction, made equality before the law an essential part of the life of France. Bonaparte's first attention, however, had to be given to military affairs. By the foresight of the directors, who had already passed the Campaign l^w of conscription, he was provided with plenty of soldiers, of 1800. Qf ^Yie old generals of the republic, Joubert and Custine had been killed, Hoche had died, Pichegru was distrusted, and Massena was commanding at Genoa. Bonaparte, therefore, gave the command to Moreau, and directed him to attack the Austrians on the Rhine, while he himself crossed the Great St. Bernard pass into Italy, and fell on the rear of the Austrians who were besieging Genoa. Both schemes were successful. Bonaparte, by an extraordinary piece of good luck, had the battle of Marengo won for him on June 14 by Desaix, who fell at the moment of victory ; and Moreau carried out a series of slow but successful manoeuvres, ending in the victory of Hohenlinden, on Decem- ber 3, by which the Austrians were driven down the Danube. Moreau advanced within sixty miles of Vienna, and the Austrians, fearing their capital would be attacked in the spring, signed the treaty of Luneville. The British now remained the sole antagonists of the French ; and Bonaparte, recognising their superiority by sea, determined to attack The Armed them by indirect means. For this purpose he fell back on Neutrality. ^|^g p^^^y ^f ^|^g armed neutrality of 1780. Great Britain, having usually command of the sea, had always argued that, if a ship belonging to a neutral nation had on board goods coming from or consigned to an enemy, such goods might be seized. On the other hand, it was contended that ' neutral ships made neutral goods,' and that such 1802 Pitt — Addington 875 croods ought not to be seized. In the present war, the neutral nations most affected were the Russians, Swedes, and Danes, and, later on, the Americans. The Czar Paul, who succeeded his mother, Catherine, in 1797, was an ardent admirer of Napoleon, and under his influence he negotiated the armed neutrality by which the European nations above mentioned were to unite together for the defence of the rights of neutrals — in other words, against Great Britain, As Russia, Sweden, and Denmark all had considerable fleets, the British government determined to strike before they could unite ; and, in 1801, an expedition was sent to the Baltic under the Attack on orders of Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson second in command. Copenhagen. The Danish fleet was lying along the shore, close to Copenhagen, sup- ported by the land batteries, and even more effectually defended by the intricacy of the navigation, for the coast abounded in shoals, the buoys from which had been removed. Nelson, however, volunteered to make an attack. Owing to a series of unavoidable accidents, this was not made with the full force intended ; and, as the Danes fought with great bravery, a terrible slaughter ensued on both sides before the Danish fleet was compelled to surrender, on April 2, 1801. This victory, and the murder of the Czar Paul, which happened on March 23, broke up the league, for the new Czar, Alexander, adopted a difterent policy. Within a day or two of the bombardment of Copenhagen, an English force, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, landed in Egypt, and defeated the French at the battle of Alexandria. Abercrombie was Battle of himself killed ; but his successor, Hutchinson, took Alex- Alexandria, andria and Cairo ; and in September the remains of the French army evacuated Egypt, and were conveyed to France in British ships. At the same time, though too late to be of service. Sir David Baird performed the striking service of bringing from India a mixed army of British and Sepoys, which landed on the shore of the Red Sea, and, marching across the desert to the Nile, arrived at Cairo in boats. In 1800 Malta surrendered after a long blockade. By this time both France and England were tired of war. Without allies, Great Britain was powerless to injure France by land ; without the command of the sea, France was equally unable to Treaty of injure Great Britain. Consequently, both sides were Amiens, willing to make peace, were it only to gain time to prepare for more effective hostilities in the future. Accordingly, negotiations were entered upon at Amiens, which, in March 1802, resulted in the signature of a peace. The most important articles in the treaty provided that Great Britain should recognise the French republic, and that George in. 876 George III. 1782 should cease to style himself king of France, as the English kings had done since the time of Edward iii. ; next, that Great Britain should restore all her conquests from France, but should keep Trinidad, which had been taken from the Spaniards, and Ceylon from the Dutch ; and, last, that the island of Malta should be restored to the knights of St. John, who were to be reconstituted under the protection of the Czar. Before the treaty of Amiens was made, Pitt had ceased to be prime minister. The cause of his fall arose out of events in Ireland, and to , , , these we must now go back. In 1782 Ireland had received Ireland. , , . . , f - legislative independence from the Eockingham ministry ; but as Protestants only could vote or sit in parliament. Catholics, who formed at least seven-tenths of the population, had nothing what- ever to do with the government. Moreover, as the officials were still appointed by the lord-lieutenant, the executive power was still in English hands. In parliament the ministers secured their majority by bribery, for the really dominant party in Ireland were the borough- mongers, who returned a majority of the Irish members. Nevertheless, some progress was made in 1792 and 1793. Some of the worst disabili- ties of the Roman Catholics were removed, and, under the influence of Pitt, acts were passed permitting Roman Catholics to sit on juries and to vote at elections. The French Revolution caused much excitement in Ireland. Ever since the French had fought in Ireland for James ii., and the Irish French Brigade had won laurels under the banner of France, the Revolution. Irish had regarded themselves as peculiarly the friends of the French nation ; and the spectacle of the French rising against their rulers and securing a new constitution naturally roused much enthusiasm among a people who had so much to complain of as the Irish. In Ireland there were at least three distinct parties — the Roman Catholics, the Orangemen, and the United Irishmen. The Roman Catholics, again, were divided into two sections — the upper classes, who disliked their exclusion from parliament and from the magistrate's bench ; the lower, whose chief grievances lay in the heavy rents exacted by their Protestant landlords, and the tithes levied for the Protestant clergymen. The Orangemen, whose name was taken from William of Orange, came into being about 1795, in opposition to the Defenders, an association formed by the Roman Catholic peasantry. Politically, the Orangemen, though furious at the suggestion of concessions to the Catholics, were themselves in favour of parliamentary reform, in order to secure a further represen- tation for the Protestants. Lastly, the United Irishmen, or Revolu- tionists, founded by Theodore Wolfe Tone in 1791, who combined both 1798 Pitt 877 Catholics and Protestants, and who wished to overthrow the English government altogether, and to establish a republic under the protection of France. The difficulties of the situation were much increased in 1795. In 1792 and 1793 Pitt and Dundas, in opposition to the views of the Irish officials, had agreed to the passing of acts by which Eoman Catholics Lord were permitted to sit on juries, and to exercise the parlia- FitzwiHiam. mentary franchise. Personally, they would have been prepared to go much further, and to sweep away the restrictions' which prevented Eoman Catholics from sitting in parliament, and also to remove most of their other disabilities ; but they were well aware how much opposition this would rouse, both in Ireland and Eogland, and were desirous of not moving in the matter at present. Unfortunately, the new lord-lieu- tenant, Lord Fitzwilliam, a Whig who had joined Pitt along with the duke of Portland in 1794, was by no means discreet. Though he had agreed to act in Ireland only by the advice of the British cabinet, and to keep Pitt's friends in office, he talked largely of his sympathy for the Eoman Catholics and on his arrival in Ireland he not only encouraged Grattan in bringing forward a motion for the admission of Eoman Catholics to jDarliament, but also dismissed some of the ministers in whom Pitt had most confidence. Accordingly he was recalled, after holding office only six weeks. The incident, however, was most unfortunate, for it gave the Irish the wholly false impression that Pitt was against all reform^ and so strengthened the ranks of the Eevolutionists. It was in these circumstances that the Eevolutionists, through their agent, Wolfe Tone, encouraged the French government to despatch Hoche's unsuccessful expedition ; and, by no means dis- Roche's heartened by its failure, they continued to negotiate for Expedition, further assistance. The leaders of the Eevolutionists in Ireland at this time were Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a younger brother of the duke of Leinster, Arthur O'Connor, nephew of Lord Longueville, and Oliver Bond. These men organised a general rising to take place on May 23, 1798. The government, however, were well-informed as to their designs. In February, 1798, Arthur O'Connor and a priest named O'Coigley, or Quigley, were arrested at Margate on their way to France. On the priest was found a paper addressed to the French directorate, asking that England might be invaded in order that no soldiers might be available to quell the Irish insurrection. Accord- ingly he was hanged, but O'Connor was acquitted of high treason, and eventually was allowed to go into exile. Shortly afterwards the whole of the plans of the conspirators were revealed, and in May Oliver Bond 878 George III. 1798 and Lord Edward Fitzgerald were arrested. The latter fought desperately, and the wounds he received eventually proved mortal. In spite, however, of the arrest of their leaders, an insurrection took place, as arranged, on May 23, but Eoman Catholics alone took part in the movement, and Rising in in Ulster, where the United Irishmen were strongest, there Wexford. ^^^^ hardly any movement at all. It was most serious in Wexford, where the rebels, headed by a priest named John Murphy, posted themselves on Vinegar Hill, from which they were driven by General Lake with terrible slaughter on June 21. Two months later, when the insurrection had been completely put down, a French general, Humbert, with nine hundred troops, landed at Killala. At Castlebar they put to flight a number of militia ; but Lord Corn- wallis, with an army of regulars, surrounded them at Ballinasloe and compelled them to surrender. Still later on, another French squadron arrived, having on board Wolfe Tone ; but before a landing could be effected, the French vessels were attacked by an overwhelming force of British ships, and all but one were taken, Tone being among the prisoners. Of the rebels, John Murphy was killed in action, three or four of his followers were hanged. Tone anticipated his execution by suicide, Oliver Bond was pardoned on condition of telling all he knew, and Arthur O'Connor was exiled. The putting down of the insurrection was accompanied by many atrocities, for the most part perpetrated by the Protestant militia regiments, who regarded the Roman Catholics as their hereditary foes, and Lord Cornwallis had much ado to keep the revenge of the dominant party within bounds. This insurrection convinced Pitt that the best solution of the Irish problem consisted in a legislative union of the two countries, coupled Pitt's with such a series of remedial measures as should compen- Scheme. ^.^^^ ^j^^ Irish people for the loss of their national legislature. These were the admission of Koman Catholics to parliament, and the removal of their other disabilities. The obnoxious tithes were to be commuted, and the Eoman Catholic clergy endowed. As it was out of the question to pass the latter part of Pitt's scheme through the existing Irish parliament, he began with the Union. In this he had to encounter the opposition of the borough- Opposition ^ ^^ . ^ to the mongers, whether opposed to government or not, who saw in the scheme a loss of money and influence ; and that of the citizens of Dublin, who feared the loss of custom which would follow the removal of parliament from Dublin. There was also the national feeling which must resent the extinction of a native parliament, and which had played such a considerable part in Scotland. Of this Pitt 1801 Fitt 879 took little account. His business, both in England and Ireland, was to secure a majority in parliament, and as he believed that the passing of his measures would be for the good of both countries, he shrank from nothing that would secure his end. The only way to get anything through the Irish Parliament was to bribe or threaten those who controlled the parliamentary majority to support the measures of the government. By such means Pitt had secured the passage of his relief measures of 1792 and 1793, and it was no secret that he would have to have recourse to similar means to pass the Act of Union. In 1799 resolutions in favour of a Union were placed before the Irish House of Commons, but were rejected. Pitt, therefore, by the agency of Castlereagh, the chief secretary of the lord-lieutenant, approached the borough-mongers, and, by means of wholesale corruption, won such a number of them to change their nominees as should secure a majority for the act of 1800. Besides this he compensated the borough-mongers for their financial loss at the price of £1,260,000, or £7500 per seat. The Act of Union, which was thus passed through the Irish parlia- ment by a foul though necessary use of corruption, was with some slight variations analogous to the Scottish Act of Union. The The Act parliaments of the two countries were united. Four bisho]3s, ° U"^°"- sitting by rotation, and twenty representative peers, were to sit in the House of Lords, and one hundred Irish members in the House of Com- mons. The first united parliament of Great Britain and Ireland met in February 1801. Pitt's next business was to deal with the supplementary measures, to which, as healing remedies, he attached far more importance than to the Union, regarding the latter measure, indeed, chiefly as a g^ppj^, means to an end. If he could bring them before parliament, mentary ^ i» • II Measures. he had a reasonable hope of passmg them ; tor, m all dealings with the Roman Catholic question, the British parliament had shown itself of late years decidedly more tolerant than the average opinion of the country. His first difficulty, however, lay with the king. In making his arrangements for the session of 1801, Pitt seems to have shown less sagacity than usual, for he did not officially bring the Catholic Disabilities Bill before George till January 29 ; and on Feb- ruary 2 parliament was to meet. Meanwhile Lord Loughborough, hoping to displace Pitt, and yet retain his place as lord-chancellor, had told George what the ministers had in view. Against Q^^^gg m ' Catholic emancipation ' George had an aversion founded on and Catholic . j-T, u T, 1 Reliei. a conscientious prejudice. In his coronation oath tie Had sworn ' to maintain the Protestant religion as established by law,' and 880 George III. isoi ' to maintain to the bishops and clergy of the realm and the churches committed to their charge all such rights and privileges as by law do and shall appertain to them or any of them.' This, in spite of the opinions of the best lawyers of the time, he persisted in interpreting as a bar to his agreeing to any act of Roman Catholic emancipation, and when Dundas tried to explain to him the dift'erence between his legislative and his executive capacities, he replied : ' None of your Scotch metaphysics, Mr. Dundas ' ; and described the measure as * the most Jacobinical thing of which he had ever heard.' Worse than all, the excitement of the king produced symptoms of the recurrence of the madness of 1788. In these circumstances Pitt was on the horns of a dilemma. If he persevered with the measure, in spite of George's opposition, there was Pitt's every chance that it would be defeated in the House of Position. Lords, to say nothing of the odium which he was certain to encounter if, in consequence of his action, the king's malady was renewed. If he gave up the measure, he not only spoilt a great scheme of healing legislation, but might be accused of playing false to those Roman Catholics who had favoured, or, at any rate, not resisted, the Act of Union, on the understanding that it would be accompanied by remedial „. . measures. In these circumstances he resigned, and his Pitt resigns. ® ' place was taken by Addington, the speaker of the House of Commons, who formed an anti-Catholic administration, of which Lord Eldon was chancellor. Pitt's resignation was fatal to his scheme. Roman Catholic emancipation was not granted till 1829 ; tithe commutation till 1838 ; and though the Irish Church was disestablished and disendowed in 1869, no attempt was ever made to endow the Roman Catholic and Nonconforming clergy. Had Pitt's enlightened and far-reaching scheme been carried out — above all, had succeeding British ministries imitated Walpole's Scottish policy, and appointed viceroys and chief secretaries who were in sympathy with the people they had to govern — the Union might have been associated in the minds of the Irish people with the dawn of a new and better era in Irish history. As it was, the natural consequence of the mutilation of Pitt's scheme was to ruin all chance of a favourable reception being given to the Union by the Irish people, who, unlike the Scots, had comparatively little to gain from the opening of trade. (See p. 718.) In 1803 a fresh outbreak occurred. This was organised by Robert Emmett, a barrister, and Thomas Russell, a half-pay officer. In Emmett's Dublin, though a large mob was collected and armed Rebellion. ^^^]^ pikes, they showed themselves quite unable even to attempt an attack on the castle, to which they were urged by Emmett, 1803 Addington 881 but disgraced themselves by the murder of Lord Kilwarden, the chief- justice, before the eyes of his daughter, and fled at the first approach of the soldiers. In Ulster Eussell utterly failed to raise a following, and the whole attempt proved a miserable failure. Emmett and Russell were both captured and hanged ; their followers were treated with mercy, and no further rebellious outbreak occurred in Ireland for nearly half a century. The Treaty of Amiens was little better than a truce, and Napoleon had no intention of allowing it to be any more. He hurried on the restoration of the French navy, reorganised Switzerland under French influence, and in violation of the treaty an- of the Treaty nexed Piedmont and Elba to France. Moreover, he excited °f ^'"'^"s. suspicion by the use he made of the consular agents who were despatched to the chief towns of the United Kingdom. These agents were selected from the best engineer officers of France, and their real, though secret, business was to make themselves acquainted with the military character of the neighbouring country, the soundings of harbours, and anything else that could be useful for an invasion. Yet while he was enffiiired in these intrigues he loudly complained that he was libelled by the English press, and eventually, to remove all possible cause for complaint, one of the libellers was prosecuted. This was a French refugee . . . . , Peltier. named Jean Joseph Peltier, who conducted an insignificant print named L'Ainbigu, chiefly read by refugees like himself, in which the first consul and his court were bitterly ridiculed both in verse and prose, and suggestions made which distinctly pointed to assassination. The prosecutions were conducted by Perceval as attorney-general, and Peltier was defended by Sir James Mackintosh. The libels were so obvious that Peltier was found guilty, but the expenses of his trial were paid by subscription, and Mackintosh's defence, being translated into French by Madame de Stael and published on the continent, did Bonaparte a great deal of harm. The real question, however, on which war broke out was that of Malta. Great Britain positively refused to give it up to the knights of St. John, under the protectorate of the Czar Alexander, which Renewal of would for all practical purposes make it a dependency of *^^ ^^'■• France. As Bonaparte denounced this refusal as a violation of the Treaty of Amiens, the British ministers retaliated by pointing to the annexation of Piedmont and Elba ; and as neither side expected to pro- long the peace, the two nations steadily drifted into war. The English cruisers began to seize French merchant vessels, and Bonaparte retali- ated by seizing all English travellers and merchants whom he could find 3 K 882 George III. 1803 in France. The war, which broke out in 1803 and lasted till 1814, was distinctly different in character from that which began in 1792. The former was, in its origin, directed against the French republic with a view to the restoration of the monarchy. The latter was a defensive war, Avhich aimed at checking the ambition of Bonaparte. In the case of Great Britain this was specially the case, for Bonaparte regarded her as his gi'eatest antagonist, and wished to destroy not only her power in the Mediterranean, but her colonial empire as well. When war began the nation naturally looked to Pitt as its leader, the man who, in the words of Canning, was 'the pilot who weathered the Weakness of storiu ' ; but Addington had no thought of making way for Addington. h^^^ When he left office, Pitt did so with the distinct idea that so far as he took part in public business at all, it was his duty to support the new administration. To this plan he adhered till the close of 1 803, rarely attending parliament, but when he did so, supporting the ministers. He also sent a private message to George that he would not, during the king's lifetime, revive the Koman Catholic question. Never- theless, Addington grew more uncomfortable in his place. To quote Canning again : ' What London was to Paddington, so Pitt was to Addington,' and he gradually became aware that this was the opinion of the country. He first endeavoured to win over Pitt by a proposal that they should act as joint secretaries of state under the premiership of Pitt's brother. Lord Chatham ; but the proposal was scornfully rejected by Pitt, who, speaking of it afterwards, said : ' Eeally I had not the curiosity to inquire what I was to be.' After this rebuff, Addington clung more closely to office ; but in 1804 a coalition between Pitt and Fox in the Commons so reduced his majority, that he resigned. The ordinary course was for Pitt and Fox to come into office, and Pitt drew up the draft of a government in which he himself was to be . , premier, while Fox and Fitzwilliam were to be the two chief Second secretaries of state, and Grey (afterwards Lord Howick and mis ry. -g^^j Grey) was to be secretary at war. Lord Grenville, Pitt's former secretary for foreign affiiirs, was to be lord-president. Pitt, however, felt that he could not press this arrangement against the wishes of the king, who had just been troubled with a third return of his malady ; and on George's objecting to Fox, Pitt at once gave way. Seeing the difficulty of the situation. Fox nobly advised his followers to take office ; but Pitt's old colleague, Grenville, not only baulked Pitt by refusing to take office himself, but went out of his way to persuade Fox's followers to do the same. The result was that Pitt, instead of coming back to power at the head of an administration that would have 1804 Addington — Pitt 883 displayed all politicians united and party feeling thrown aside in face of the foreign foe, had to take office at the head of his own followers merely, after a miserable display of party feeling. Weak, however, as Pitt's government was, it contained many remarkable men. In the Commons his chief supporters were Castlereagh and Canning ; in the Lords the duke of Rutland, Lord Hawkesbury (afterwards earl of Liverpool), Lord Melville (formerly Dundas), and Lord Harrowby ; but as a ministry, Pitt's second administration was weak ; and Pitt, though he returned to office, cannot be said to have come back to power. Shortly after Pitt took office, Bonaparte, who had already been de- clared consul for life, took a further step towards absolute power. A series of royalist plots had come to light, in which Georges French Cadoudal, a Vendean peasant, was the chief mover, and Affairs, had received some assistance from Addington's ministry. Bonaparte detected these, and arrested Cadoudal, along with Moreau, the old repub- lican general, and Pichegru, who, so early as the time of the directorate, had been suspected of monarchical leanings. Cadoudal was executed ; Pichegru died in prison, probably strangled by his jailers ; and Moreau was Ixmished. At the same time Bonaparte sent a party of troops into the territory of the duke of Wiirtemburg, and at Ettenheim arrested the Duke d'Enghien, a son of the prince of Conde, on a charge of plotting against his life. The duke was hurried to Paris and there tried and shot. The whole affair is very obscure, and has been related in many different ways hj the friends and enemies of Bonaparte ; but it is certain that it created a profound disgust in Europe, and went far to ruin the character of Bonaparte with many who had hitherto believed in him. In France, however, Bonaparte's policy was successful. Machiavelli remarks that the best way to institute a tyranny is to create a belief in plots, and in December 1804 Bonaparte abandoned the B^j^^p^^te republican forms, w^hich had hitherto been preserved in becomes France, by taking for himself the title of emperor. Such an empire as he set up is generally styled an ' Imperial Democracy', because the emperor professes to act as the representative of the democracy, and to carry out the will of the people by despotic means. Henceforward Bonaparte dropped his surname and styled himself Napoleon. When the war began, the first plan of the French was to invade England. For this purpose a large army, amounting to 167,000 men, was collected at Boulogne, and carefully drilled to embark in the ^^ invasion shortest possible time, in case the French fleet could secure "[^^^^""^ the command of the sea for even a few hours. This, how- ever, he found impossible, for the ports of Toulon and Brest were closely 884 George III. 1804 watched by the British fleet. In these circumstances he entered into an alliance with Spain, and devised an elaborate scheme for the union of the French and Spanish fleets. While Nelson, who was blockading Toulon, was in Corsica, the French fleet sailed out in January 18, 1805 ; and though Nelson's frigates brought him intelligence of their sailing, he was for some time ignorant of their destination, and thought they had made for the east. In reality, Villeneuve, the French admiral, had slipped along the coast of Spain, joined a Spanish fleet at Cadiz, and made for the West Indies. As soon as possible, Nelson followed them, and in June both fleets were in American waters. Villeneuve's movements, however, were simply designed to decoy Nelson from Europe ; and as soon as Nelson reached the West Indies, Villeneuve sailed home again. On Battle off July 22, the combined fleet was off Cape Finisterre, where it Ferroi. ^^^^ with Sir Robert Calder, who was watching the harbour of Ferroi. Calder had fifteen sail of the line, the allies twenty-five ; never- theless he attacked them, and captured two line-of-battle ships. After the battle, the allied fleet brought a Spanish fleet out of Ferroi, and the combined force then made for Cadiz. This step completely spoilt NajDoleon's plan. Had Villeneuve, with his twenty-five ships, made immediately for the Channel, instead of the coast of Spain, it is possible that, for a moment, the command of the sea might have passed into their hands. As it was, the retreat to Cadiz was simply giving up the game, and as such Napoleon took it. Meanwhile, Pitt had endeavoured to balance Napoleon's alliance with Spain by a coalition with Austria and Eussia. In April, Russia agreed The Third to furnish 500,000 men ; in August, Austria joined the Coa ition. league. Nothing but the selfishness of Prussia prevented her adherence. The result of these preparations to invade France, coupled with the failure of Villeneuve, was that Napoleon broke up his camp at Boulogne and marched against Austria. The danger of invasion was, therefore, removed ; but it still remained to destroy the allied fleet at Cadiz. There it was being watched by Battle of Admiral CoUingwood and Sir Robert Calder, but Nelson Trafalgar. ^^^^^ conmiissioned to do the work of destruction, and on September 14 he sailed for Spain. Nelson reached Cadiz on September 29, but it was not till October 21 that he succeeded in bringing the allied fleet to an engagement. However, by judiciously keeping the greater part of his fleet out of sight, and concealing his own presence. Nelson contrived to decoy Villeneuve out of Cadiz. Nelson had twenty- seven ships, and Villeneuve thirty -three. Villeneuve's ships were arranged in line ; Nelson — following the method of Rodney against de 1805 Pitt 885 Grasse, and Duncan against de Winter— formed his ships in two lines of fourteen and thirteen respectively, about one mile distant from each other. These, led by Nelson and CoUingwood, sailed down on the enemy's line at right angles, cutting it into three divisions. Of these, one being to leeward was unable to get into action ; the others were fully engaged by the British vessels, and no less than twenty were sunk or captured. Unfor- tunately Nelson, whose brilliant uniform made him a conspicuous object, was mortally wounded by a bullet fired from the tops of the Redonbtahle, a French ship, alongside which his own ship, the Victory, was lying. Nelson was a typical English sailor of his time. The son of a clergy- man, as Jervis of a merchant, and CoUingwood of a country lawyer, he represented the popular element in the British navy. Enter- character ing the service at twelve, he had made himself a thorough master of every branch of his profession, and had pushed his;,way by sheer 886 George III. i805 merit from one post to another. But to say that Nelson was an admir- able seaman is very inadequate praise. He possessed also the insight into men's motives, and the conduct of affairs on a large scale, which con- stitute a statesman. No one understood more thoroughly than he the conditions of the contest in which Great Britain w^as then engaged. In his profession, strict observance of duty was the keynote, not only of his own conduct, but of what he required from others ; and his last signal, ' England expects every man to do his duty,' has become proverbial as a rule of public conduct. Fortunately, death did not come to Nelson till his work was done. Trafalgar destroyed the last fleet which Napoleon was able to place upon the ocean ; and after its destruction, not only were Enfdaud and her colonies safe from invasion, but her merchants were able to traffic with fair security on every sea. War with France had, as usual, been followed by difficulties in India. Since the retirement of Warren Hastings, the most notable rulers of India had been Lord Cornwallis and Lord Mornington, after- wards Marquess Wellesley. The rule of Lord Cornwallis (1786-1793) is chiefly memorable for the settlement of the Bengal land Lord Corn- question. For a long time it had been doubtful who were waihs. ^|-^g pg.^j owners of land in Bengal — the Zemindars, who collected the revenue, or the Ryots, who cultivated the soil. The Cornwallis settlement was a compromise. The Zemindars were to be reo-arded as owners ; the Eyots were not to be dispossessed so long as they paid the small fixed dues assessed upon them. This arrangement is known as the ' Permanent Settlement.' Lord Mornington arrived in India in 1798, a year after his more cele- brated brother, Arthur Wellesley, had landed there in command of the Lord Morn- Thirty-third Foot, now 1st Battalion West Riding. The ington. time was critical, for Napoleon was in Egypt, bent on destroying British influence in India, and most of the Indian chiefs — such as Tippoo Sahib of Mysore, son of Hyder Ali, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Mahratta chiefs, Scindia and Holkar — had French soldiers in their pay, by whom their armies were trained in European discipline. Trouble first arose with Tippoo, who refused to receive a Seringa- British mission. War, accordingly, was declared, and an patam. army, commanded by General Harris, was sent against him. On this, Tippoo retired into his strong capital, Seringapatam. The conduct of the siege was entrusted to Sir David Baird, and the town was taken by assault. Tippoo was slain, and the greater part of his territory restored to the rightful Hindoo heir, whose ancestor had been displaced by Hyder Ali. Lord Wellesley then devised 1805 Pitt 887 a system of subsidiary alliances by which the native powers were to agree to receive a Resident named by the company, and to regulate their alliances in accordance with his advice ; while domestic affairs were left in their own hands. The attempt led to war with the Mahratta chiefs, who ruled over an immense tract of territory stretching from the Deccan, in Southern India, to Delhi, on the Ganges. The head of the Mahrattas was the Eajah of Sattara ; nominally, they were ruled by his Peishwah, or hereditary vizier, who lived at Poona ; in reality, each chief was inde- pendent. In 1802 Lord Wellesley concluded a subsidiary treaty with the Peishwah. This roused the indignation of the two great chiefs, Scindia and Holkar, and war broke out. The conduct of the war was entrusted by Wellesley to General Lake, the victor of Vinegar Hill, and to his own younger brother, Arthur Wellesley, of whose abilities he had a very high opinion. Arthur Arthur Wellesley was born in 1769, and, after being edu- Wellesley. cated at Eton, and at a French military school at Angers, entered the army at the age of seventeen. At that time commissions in the army were obtained by purchase, and his elder brother. Lord Mornington, helped him to secure one rank after another till, at the early age of twenty-four, he was colonel of the Thirty-third Foot. With this regiment he took part in the duke of York's retreat through Holland, and distinguished him- self by the courage and presence of mind with which, at a critical moment, he threw his regiment across a road by which the enemy was advancing, and covered the retreat. He was then aide-de-camp to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and sailed for India in 1796. There he had distinguished himself by the efficiency in which he kept his regiment, by his conduct at the siege of Seriugapatam, and by the successful pursuit of a robber chief who was the terror of Southern India. He also organised the expedition which General Baird led to Egypt. When the Mahratta war broke out in 1803, Colonel Wellesley was put in command of an army which advanced against Scindia from the south, and General Lake of another force, which was to Mahratta advance along the Ganges. Both were successful. Wei- ^^"^^ lesley increased his reputation by the brilliant victories of Assaye and Argaum ; and General Lake, marching from Cawnpore, took Delhi, and placed the Mogul under British influence. Then making his way east, he defeated the Mahrattas in the great battle of Laswaree. For these exploits Lake was made a peer, and Wellesley a knight. In 1805 Wellesley returned home. He was in time to have several interviews with Pitt, who said of him that 'he had never met with any military officer with whom it was so satisfactory to converse,' and to hear Pitt 888 George III. 1805 make the Guildhall speech, in which he said that ' Britain has saved herself by her courage, and will save Europe by her example.' But if Great Britain could carry all before her at sea, Napoleon showed that he was still irresistible on land. On August 21, 1805, Villeneuve had put into Cadiz, and on the 28th the camp at Boulogne paign of was broken up, and the Grand Army marched in five divisions for the Rhine. In September Napoleon left Paris and took the command in person. The Austrians had foolishly placed in command of their army on the upper Danube the incompetent Mack, who in 1799, when in command of the Neapolitan troops, had amused Nelson at Naples by getting his own army surrounded at a sham fight. Now he did the same thing in earnest ; and on October 20, the day before the battle of Trafalgar, was compelled to surrender at Ulm with 30,000 excellent troops. This disaster opened the road to Vienna, which the French occupied without a battle ; and then pushing forward into Moravia, they defeated the combined forces of the Emperor and the Czar at the great battle of Austerlitz. In consequence of this defeat, the Emperor Francis Joseph was comj)elled to make peace, and left Russia and Great Britain to continue the struggle alone. The news of this series of disasters reached Pitt when he was in the last state of decline. His health had never been very good, and since Death of 1799 there had been a rapid diminution in his strength. Pitt. Moreover, his present ministry had given him little but dis- appointment. He was compelled to act with men who had opposed him, and some of his old colleagues, such as Grenville, were in opposition. Still more grievous to him was the attack made upon his old friend and colleague, Dundas, now Lord Melville. In the session of 1805 he was accused of allowing the money which passed through his hands as treasurer of the navy to be used for private purposes ; and although no loss had been sufi'ered by the public, still even such a good friend of Pitt as Wilberforce felt that some notice must be taken of the irregularity. At the end of October came the news of Ulm, and though that of the victory of Trafalgar soon followed, the death of Nelson overshadowed the national rejoicing. During the autumn Pitt sunk rapidly. His last public appearance was at the lord-mayor's banquet in November. When the news of Austerlitz reached him he w^as at Bath, but struggled up to London for the meeting of parliament. He was, however, fated never to appear again on the scene of his great oratorical triumphs, for he died Pitt's on the day of meeting, January 23, 1806. In judging of Career. Pitt's character, it is well to remember that his career was more than ordinarily subject to the caprice of fortune. The only part 1806 Pitt — Grenville 889 which he himself probably regarded with satisfaction, the peaceful administration from 1783 to 1792, is almost forgotten by the side of more stirring events. Of the other parts, the war with the French Republic was imdertaken sorely against his will, and was so conducted as to give grave cause for criticism ; while his scheme for the settlement of the Irish question was so mutilated as to deprive it of everything on which he based his hopes of success. Nevertheless, if not great in all he undertook, Pitt was really a great man, and his end is one of the most pathetic scenes in the history of this country. On Pitt's death, George would have been glad to have the adminis- tration carried on by one of his colleagues, but none was willing to undertake the work, and he had now to do what two IP 111 -1 T, fii •., Ministry of years beiore he had said was more distasteful than civil ' au the war — namely, call in the assistance of Fox. Accordingly ^ ^"^^' Grenville became prime minister, with an administration described as ' All the Talents.' Fox was secretary of state for foreign affairs ; Grey (afterwards Lord Howick) was first lord of the admiralty ; Addington (now Lord Sidmouth) was privy seal. The most remarkable of the appointments was that of Chief-Justice Lord EUenborough Lord Elien- to a seat in the cabinet. Such an appointment, which might borough, result in the cabinet ordering some one to be tried on a criminal charge before one of its own members, was sharply criticised ; and though approved by a majority of both Houses of Parliament, it has never been drawn into a precedent. The first attention of the new ministers was given to foreign aff;iirs. For fourteen years Fox had been asserting that war with France was unnecessary, and he endeavoured to demonstrate the truth Negotiations of his assertion by opening negotiations with Napoleon. A little experience, however, soon showed Fox how much easier it is to criticise in opposition than to carry out one's views in office. Napoleon was bent on attacking Prussia, and made use of Fox's overtures to give the impression that Russia would soon be left to fight single-handed. He refused to make a joint peace with both Great Britain and Russia, coolly offered to guarantee England in the possession of the Cape of Good Hope, which we had taken from the Dutch ; Malta, which he had taken from the knights of St. John, and of which we were then in full posses- sion ; and Hanover, which was an hereditary possession of the British king. Such off'ers were obviously designed merely to waste time, for Napoleon was bent on putting everything to the arbitrament of the sword, and even Fox was convinced that peace could not be obtained with honour. Unfortunately this discovery came to Fox when it was too late 890 ^ George III. I8O6 to act upon it. His health had long been failing, and was further impaired by the long debates to which the policy of the ' Talents ' gave Death of rise in parliament. In the summer he ceased to attend the Fox. House, and in September 1806 he died. The political capa- city of Fox is not easy to gauge. With the exception of two insignificant periods he spent his whole life in opposition, and as a man of action has left no record at all. As an orator, he is admitted to have been admirable ; but with all his gifts, he left little mark on the history of his country. The most satisfactory work of the Grenville ministry down to the death of Fox was the abolition of the slave trade. This was due in Slave Trade reality to the exertions of Wilberforce and Clarkson, and prohibited. ^|^g policy of abolition was never accepted by the cabinet. Nevertheless Fox gave his support to the proposal, and propositions abolishing it were moved in either House by Fox and Grenville respec- tively, and carried ; and next year, 1807, an act founded on these resolu- tions was carried through both Houses. From this time the trade in slaves became illegal, but the actual abolition of slavery did not take place for nearly thirty years. During the same session Lord Melville was impeached, but the trial excited comparatively little interest. It was thought that he was a somewhat hardly used public servant, and he was accordingly Impeach- . ment of acquitted. His is the last impeachment that has occurred Melville. . ^ , , in Iiingland. Fox was succeeded as foreign secretary by Lord Howick (formerly Grey), who met with no better success than his predecessor in his attempt Napoleon's to come to terms with Napoleon. On the contrary, Napo- Successes. Icon's great successes made him confident that in the end he would get the better of the struggle. On October 14 the two battles of Jena and Auerstadt broke the power of Prussia; and in 1807, in spite of the doubtful battle of Eylau, the great victory of Friedland compelled the Czar to come to terms. Not only did Alexander make peace with Nai)oleon but even entered into an intimate alliance with him, and the Treaty of Tilsit left Great Britain to carry on the contest single-handed. Meanwhile, Napoleon had devised a scheme which he hoped to find more effective than invasion in bringing Great Britain to her knees. The Berlin Though he could hardly send a man-of-war to sea for fear of Decrees. ^]^g British cruisers, he determined to declare the British Isles in a state of blockade. To effect this he issued the Berlin Decrees. By these he declared (1) that the British Isles were in a state of blockade ; (2) that France and all her allies were forbidden to trade with them ; (3) that in a state occupied by French troops all British property 1807 Grenville 891 was forfeited, and all British subjects prisoners of war. These Decrees were issued on November 21, 1806. As Napoleon had no fleet by which he could enforce his Decrees, it is not likely that they would have had much effect ; but without waiting to see this, the Grenville orders in ministry issued the Orders in Council on January 7, 1807. Council. By these orders neutrals were forbidden to trade between one port in France and another, or one in possession of her allies ; and in November this was supplemented by a further order forbidding trade with all ports and places belonging to France and her allies. The Decrees and Orders constituted a commercial war. The object of the Orders was partly retaliatory, partly designed to compel all commerce between the con- tinental and neutral states to pass through British ports. As it has been well put : ' The French soldiers were turned into coast-guard men to shut out Great Britain from her markets ; the British ships became revenue cutters to prohibit the trade of France,' The chief sufierers from the system were, first, the consumers of British and colonial goods on the con- tinent, and second, the neutral countries Avhich wanted to trade with one or both of the belligerent countries. The sufierers naturally became bitterly hostile to the belligerent from whose action they immediately suffered. In Europe the Berlin Decrees created a profound dislike for the Napoleonic system among all who wished to trade with England ; among the neutrals, the bitterest feeling against Great Britain was excited in the United States. In 1807, besides passing the act which gave effect to the resolutions against the slave trade passed the previous session, ministers also brought forward a biU to remove some of the disabilities of Koman Army and Catholics and Nonconformists who served in the army and Navy navy. By an act passed in 1793 in the Irish Parliament, Roman Catholics were permitted to hold any rank in the Irish army up to that of colonel ; but in the English establishment no such right existed. This was such an obvious injustice that the ministers induced George iii. to agree to a measure extending the Irish Act to England. In the end, however, they extended the scope of the bill so as to include both the army and navy, and to throw open all ranks, not only to Roman Catholics, but also to Nonconformists. In this form the bill passed its second reading ; but the king, having become alarmed at its provisions, declared that he never meant to go further than to assimilate the law in England and Ireland, and that the present bill must be limited to that. Then, going a step further, he demanded a iDledge from the Grenville ministers that the subject should not be brought forward dismissed, again, and on ministers refusing this, they were at once dismissed. 892 George III. I807 The place of the retiring ministers was taken by an anti-Catholic administration, under the premiership of the duke of Portland. As a The Portland jo^^ng man Portland had been the prime minister of the Ministry. Coalition Ministry, but in 1794 he had led over into Pitt's camp a body of moderate Whigs who had been alarmed by the excesses of the French Kevolution. He was now both a Tory and an opponent of the claims of the Eonian Catholics. The leading members of his ministry were Eldon, the chancellor, Perceval, chancellor of the exchequer, Canning, the foreign secretary, Lord Hawkesbury — afterwards Lord Liverpool — home secretary. Lord Castlereagh, war and colonial secretary ; and among the others were Sir Arthur Wellesley, chief secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and Huskisson, secretary to the treasury. As it was thought that the new ministers must have given a pledge to the king not to revive the Roman Catholic claims, motions were introduced by the opposition that ' ministers ought not to bind themselves by any pledge as to what advice they should give the king ' ; and also ' that it is impossible for the king to act without advice ' ; but the motions were lost. A dissolution of parliament followed, and the electors showed clearly that the king had their aj)proval in resisting the Roman Catholic claims, by returning a large anti-Catholic majority. In fact, the ' whole spirit of the country was with the king,' and the Roman Catholics had far fewer friends in proportion outside the House of Commons than they had inside. In spite of the abortive negotiations of Fox and Howick, the war was still carried on. In 1806 an expedition, ordered by Pitt, landed in Calabria, under Sir John Stuart, to aid the peasants in an The 'War insurrection against the French. It was met by General Regnier with a French force at Maida. There a battle was fought, Battle of which, though insignificant compared to the mighty contests Maida. q£ Austerlitz and Jena, was decisive as to the merits of the troops engaged. The fighting was almost entirely with the bayonet, and the result was a complete victory for the British troops. In 1807 it was learned that the French were about to seize the Danish fleet, consisting of eighteen sail of the line ; and though we had no pretext for war with Denmark, the Portland administration sent twenty-five ships of the line, under Admiral Gambler, and 27,000 troops under Lord Seizure of > / a. the Danish Catlicart, to couipcl the Danes to hand over their fleet to Great Britain, on condition that it was restored at the close of the war. To this demand they returned a refusal ; upon which Copenhagen was bombarded from both land and sea, and after four days the ships and stores were given up. We also took Heligoland, which was 1808 Portland 893 then considered a valuable naval station for watching the mouth of the Elbe, and useful as a centre for smuggling goods into North Germany. In 1806, pursuing our usual policy, we took Cape Colony from the Dutch. The ministry were then led by Sir Home Popham, the commander of the naval forces at the Cape, into an attack on Buenos Ayres, a colony of Spain, with which we were still at war. This proved a failure, for General Whitelock, who was chosen to command to South the military forces, knew nothing of war, and though he "^^■■*^3- took Monte Video, contrived to entangle his forces in the streets of Buenos Ayres, and was compelled to enter into a disgraceful arrange- ment for evacuating the whole country. Three years later, in 1810, we took from the French the island of Mauritius, which had hitherto been a centre of privateering attacks on our Indian commerce. Far more important, however, than these small expeditions was the outbreak of the war in the Spanish peninsula, which arose directly from Napoleon's commercial system. Portugal still opened her The French ports to British ships ; and so long as this was the case, ^" Portugal. Napoleon found it impossible to keep British goods out of south-western Europe, for they were smuggled by the Portuguese across the Spanish frontier, and by the Spaniards into France. Accordingly, in 1807, he formed a scheme in conjunction with Spain for conquering Portugal, and Junot, one of his favourite generals, was sent through the north of Spain to occupy that country. When Junot reached Lisbon he found that the Portuguese royal family had taken refuge on board their fleet, and sailed for their colony of Brazil. By this flight Napoleon's plan of seizing the Portuguese fleet was frustrated; but the French treated Portugal as a conquered country, and disgraced themselves by plunder- ing monasteries and appropriating works of art. However, it soon became apparent that Napoleon's intentions with regard to the peninsula were by no means confined to the conquest of Portugal. Under the pretence of reinforcing Junot, he The French contrived that French troops should be in practical posses- '" ^P^'"" sion of the fortresses of San Sebastian, Burgos, Ciudad Kodrigo, and other fortresses in the north of Spain. His next step was to set on foot a course of intrigues with a view to displacing the reigning fiimily of Spain. Charles iv., the king, was under the influence of his wife, who, in her turn, was ruled by her favourite Godoy, who had acquired the title of Prince of the Peace from having negotiated the treaty of 1795 between France and Spain. To Godoy was bitterly opposed Charles' eldest son Ferdinand, prince of the Asturias, and their quarrels gave Napoleon an opportunity for interference. Eiots broke out in Madrid 894 George III. 1808 and other Spanish towns, which resulted in the abdication of Charles and the accession of Ferdinand. On this the French troops occupied Madrid, and Napoleon induced both Charles and Ferdinand to come to Bayonne for the purpose of conferring with him. Both were persuaded to abdicate, and then Napoleon named his brother Joseph Bonaparte king of Spain, and had him recognised by what purported to be a body of Spanish notables in June 1808. Joseph had been king of Naples since 1806, and had shown himself an excellent sovereign. By his accession the Spaniards were offered the Spanish advantages of the French Revolution, and were invited to Resistance, ^hrow over the systems of feudalism, priestcraft, and corrup- tion which had long been dominant in Spain. Nevertheless, the majority of the people refused to accept Joseph, even under these conditions, partly because the intelligence of the people was not sufl&ciently aroused to the evils of the existing state of affairs, and also because the Spaniards, being intensely patriotic, resented interference by the French. Hitherto Napoleon, in all his campaigns, had had to deal with monarchs and armies of regular soldiers, and had been accustomed to see whole peoples submit without a blow when their professional defenders had been vanquished. He was now for the first time confronted by a national resistance. In the open field, and against equal numbers, the Spaniards had no chance with the French, and their troops were disgracefully beaten by Bessieres at the battle of Eio Seco ; but the town of Saragossa defied all efforts of the French to capture it, and Dupont, one of the French generals, having advanced too far from his supports, was sur- rounded by an overwhehning force and compelled to surrender at Baylen. The whole Spanish population rose, and commenced a guerilla warfare against the invaders. Confronted with this, Joseph, who was no soldier, evacuated Madrid, and withdrew his armies to the entrance of the road from Bayonne into Spain. Meanwhile, the British government had determined to assist the Portuguese, and for this purpose a body of troops under Sir Arthur Wellesley, which had been designed for South America, Sir Arthur i mi i i i • \Veiiesley were ordered to proceed to Portugal. They landed m in Portugal. j^j^j^^^gQ gj^y^ ^^^ ^^ August 17 defeated a division of the French army under Laborde at Rori^a. He then marched south and took up a position at Vimiero, a little north of Lisbon, to await reinforcements. While these were landing, he was attacked on the 21st by the whole Battle of French army under Junot himself. After hard fighting the Vimiero. J'rench were beaten ; and as it was still noon, Wellesley wished to drive Junot into the valley of the Tagus, and, by cutting him off from 896 George III. I8O8 Lisbon, to compel him to surrender. Wellesley, however, was superseded in turn by two senior officers, Sir Harry Burrard and Sir Hew Dal- ryniple. They gave up his plan, and accepted the overtures for an armis- tice which were made by the French. Accordingly a convention was signed at Cintra, by which the French agreed to evacuate Portugal, taking with them their arms and private property — which turned out to include their plunder — on condition that they were conveyed in British ships to France. From a military point of view the convention was ridiculous, as there is no doubt that a little energy would have compelled Junot to surrender at discretion ; but politically, by giving Portugal to the British as a safe base of operations, it secured a great advantage. In England, however, it was received with the greatest indignation, and of the three generals responsible for it, only Sir Arthur Wellesley was employed again. The French troops had now been expelled from the whole of the peninsula, except where the road to France entered Spain ; but in Napoleon November Napoleon himself took the command, de- in Spain. feated the Spaniards at the battles of Esj^inosa and Tudela, and entered Madrid on the 4th of December, Meanwhile the British army in Portugal, which was now under the command of Sir John Moore, had crossed the Spanish frontier to Salamanca, and there Moore heard of the defeat of the Spaniards, Kecognising that it was impossible for him to fight Napoleon with any chance of success, Moore Moore's determined to march on Burgos in such a way as to threaten Advance. Napoleon's communications with France ; this he hoped would compel NajDoleon to concentrate his forces, and so give time to the Spanish fugitives to recover from their defeat. As Moore expected, the news of his advance caused the concentration of the French on Burgos ; and as soon as he knew this was in progress, his object being now accomplished, Moore retreated towards Corunna, where the trans- ports from Lisbon were ordered to meet him. For some time the British were pursued by Napoleon in person, and suflfered terrible hardshij)S in their forced winter march through the mountains of the Asturias ; but before they reached the coast Napoleon returned to France, leaving Soult and Ney to complete the destruction of the British. On reaching Corunna the transports were not in sight, but Moore turned at bay on Battle of the outskirts of the town and inflicted, on January 16, such Corunna. .^ decisive defeat on the French that the embarkation of the British was conducted without interference. Moore himself was mortally wounded, and died before the troops embarked. Althourdi durinff the war the British had never fought the French on 1809 Portland 897 a large scale, they had now won a series of pitched battles, usually against odds, and this encouraged the government to undertake the war on a larger scale. Accordingly, in April, 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley was again sent to Lisbon to take the command of Surnl\^o the British and Portuguese forces. On his arrival he found ^^'^^^e^'- the country threatened with invasion, both from the north and east. Soult was at Oporto, and Victor was in the valley of the Tagus threaten- ing to assault the capital. Seeing that if he advanced upon Victor a southern march by Soult might cut him off from the sea, the natural basis of a British force, Wellesley determined to attack Soult first, and, marching north, he sent a force up the river Douro to threaten Soult's communications with Spain, while he himself, with the main body, contrived unperceived to cross the river at Oporto itself. The result was that on May 12, Soult, taken by surprise, was compelled to evacuate the town with considerable loss, and was only of the able to make his way into Spain at the price of abandoning ^°"''°- all his guns and ammunition, Soult being thus disposed of, Wellesley advanced up the valley of the Tagus and entered Spain, where he had received lavish promises of support from the Spaniards. Little real assistance, however, was forthcoming ; but in conjunction with Cuesta, the Spanish general, he occupied a position at Talavera, and there, on the 27th and 28th of July, he was attacked by the French under Battle of Victor and Joseph. As the Spaniards were placed in an Talavera. almost impregnable position, the brunt of the fighting fell on the British, who maintained their post with much loss. Three days afterwards Wellesley heard that Soult had reorganised his army with unexpected celerity, and had forced the Pass of Baiios, between the valleys of the Douro and the Tagus, and was now in his rear. Upon this, Wellesley crossed the Tagus, and made his way back to Portugal by way of Badajos. The result of the campaign was to again clear the French out of Portugal, and for this Wellesley received the title of Viscount Wellington. Though successful on the whole i]i Portugal, the British experienced in 1809 a disaster which, being near home, created a great impression on the public mind. This was the notorious Walcheren ^^^ Expedition. Taking advantage of Napoleon's troubles in Walcheren the Spanish peninsula, Austria, for the fifth time, declared ""^^ '*'°"" war against France, and it was thought that if a British expedition were to proceed to the Scheldt Antwerp might be taken, and troops detained in Belgium which would otherwise be despatched against Austria. The expedition was put under the command of Lord Chatham, Pitt's elder brother, who, though a valuable counsellor in the cabinet, had no 3l 898 George III. 1809 qualification for the field ; and the naval force was commanded by Sir Richard Strachan. The whole afi'air was grossly mismanaged. The naval and military authorities failed to work harmoniously together. No proper preparations had been made to counteract the malarious climate of the low-lying flats in which the operations had to be conducted. The troops never reached Antwerp, but wasted their time in operations on the isle of Walcheren. Flushing, indeed, was taken, but the troops died by thousands of fever ; and when it was known that the French had made Antwerp impregnable, the expedition returned home. The minister chiefly responsible for this disaster was Castlereagh, war and colonial secretary. Canning, the foreign secretary, had long been of Castlereagh opinion that Castlereagh was unfitted for his present post, and Canning, .^^^^ their mutual recriminations led to a duel in December 1809. This was followed by the resignation of both. Other causes had combined to injure the Portland administration ; the duke of York, who was commander-in-chief of the army, and had justified his appointment by showing great ability for organisation, was accused of gTanting commissions through the corrupt influence of his mistress, Anne Clark. Though the charge of corruption against the duke was not made out, the scandalous nature of the charge compelled him to resign. In the same session, Lord Castlereagh and Perceval were accused of using improper influence in a parliamentary election, and though they were acquitted, the affair threw much light upon the system of parliamentary election, and helped to revive the movement in favour of parliamentary reform. Portland's health was not equal to coping with such an accumulation of difficulties, and he accordingly resigned. There was then some negotia- tion for a Whig administration, but Grenville's awkwardness and asperity were a bar to any satisfactory arrangement. Indeed, he and Grey (formerly Lord Howick) did not take the trouble to come up to town for Percivai's tlie negotiations. Accordingly, Perceval became j^rime Ministry, minister and Lord Wellesley became minister for foreign affairs in order to support his brother. Lord LiverjDool, formerly Lord Hawkesbury, took the war and colonial office, with Robert Peel as his under secretary, and. Lord Palmerston as secretary at war. The year 1810 promised to be a critical year in the history of the Peninsula. Napoleon had crushed the Austrians in the great Imttle of Campaign Wagram, and was able to send an excellent army under of 1810. Massena, one of his best generals, to drive Wellington out of Portugal. To meet this, Wellington had devised an elaborate scheme of defence. Lisbon lies at the extremity of a peninsula, formed by the estuary of the Tagus and the sea. Across this he prepared three lines 1811 Portlaifid — Perceval 899 of defences, which he hoped, with the assistance of the British gunboats, to hold against any attack, and having secretly made these preparations, he stationed his troops to guard the northern road by Ciudad Eodrigo and Almeida. His hope was to retard the French advance till harvest was over, and then, by compelling the Portuguese to bring all their stores within his lines, to make the country untenable for an army like the French, which trusted to supplying itself from the country through which it marched. Ciudad Eodrigo and Almeida fell on July 1, and, in spite of Crauford's brave attempt to check the French advance at the combat of the Coa, they advanced down the valley of the Mondego. The Portu- guese government had been somewhat slack in carrying out Wellino-ton's directions for the removal or destruction of provisions ; so to gain a little more time, and to encourage the Portuguese troops, he drew up the allied army on the steep ridge of Busaco, which compelled Massena Battle of either to fight or to make a considerable detour. The ^"saco. attack was made on the 27th of September, and was repulsed at all points ; and then Wellington, withdrawing his men down the valley, took up his position behind the famous lines of Torres Vedras. So well had their secret been kept, that Massena of Torres was within two days' march of them before he heard of their ^ ^^^' existence. From October to March Massena remained before the lines looking in vain for a place to break through, and at length, weary of waiting, and utterly unable to find provisions for his large force, Massena retreated. The movement was admirably managed, chiefly by Marshal Ney ; but at the end of March Massena was compelled to cross the Spanish frontier, having lost thirty thousand men in the campaign, and every action in which he had been engaged. The lines of Torres Vedras formed a turning-point, not only in the history of the war, but in that of Wellington himself. Up to that date his genius for war had hardly been appreciated in England, or even in the army ; but no one could mistake the ability with which, during twelve months, he and his chief engineer. Colonel Fletcher, had prepared an obstacle which not only secured the British troops from disaster, but had baffled the genius of some of the greatest marshals of France. His reputation rose accordingly. Wellington's next business was to carry the war into Spain, and for this it was necessary to have command of the frontier fortresses Ciudad Eodrigo and Almeida in the north, and Badajos and Elvas campaign in the south, and also to have a free passage over the river °f ^^n. Tagus. Of these fortresses all except Elvas were in the hands of the French. Had Wellington been opposed to a single chief, success would have been almost impossible ; but his advantage lay in the fact that the 900 George III. isii French troops were under the command of a number of marshals, able men but jealous of one another, who never co-operated heartily. He had also a great advantage over the French in the commissariat depart- ment, for the French troops, accustomed to live on the country, could never be kept together in large masses for more than a few weeks, while the British troops, having the command of the sea and of the great navi- gable rivers, were fed from England, and what supplies they got from the natives were regularly paid for. The first fortress to be attacked was Almeida. It was known to be slenderly provisioned, and a blockade was therefore formed. To raise this Massena and Bessieres advanced with their whole force Siege of Almeida. and attacked Wellington at Fuentes De Oiioro on May 3. _ , ^ The fight was the least decisive battle fought during the Battle of *= . , . Fuentes Peninsular war. Wellington's position was not good, and had Bessieres backed up Massena he would have been very near defeat. As it was, he succeeded in holding his own ; and, during the battle, the garrison of Almeida evacuated the fortress after making it for a time untenable. The remainder of the year was chiefly occupied in the siege of Badajos. The siege of this fortress had been formed by the allies under Beresford, and the covering army was posted at Albuera, Battle of where it was attacked by Soult. The key of the position Albuera. ^g^g r^ \^{\\ q^i the right flank of the allies, from which their whole line could be commanded by artillery. This was lost by the Spaniards, and the allies were on the point of retreat, when the hill was retaken by the British under the direction of Colonel Hardinge, after- wards governor-general of India. This action was the most fiercely con- tested of the war ; out of six thousand British infantry who attacked the hill only eighteen hundred remained unwounded ; but their valour made an enormous impression on the French, and, perhaps, the saying that ' the British never understood when they were beaten ' was never more applicable than to this terrible battle. Two great successes marked the opening of the year 1812. On January 24 Ciudad Kodrigo was stormed with terrible loss, including that Campaign of Robert Crauford, the leader of the light division. On ofi8i2. April 6 Badajos was stormed. These successes opened the storming road into Spain, and were completed when Hill destroyed Roddgo tnd the bridge of Alcantara over the Tagus, and repaired that Badajos. ^f Almarez near the frontier, by which the southern and northern divisions of Wellington's army were able to communicate with one another. Accordingly, in June, Wellington advanced along the Salamanca and Burgos road with a general view to compelling the 1812 Perceval 901 French to evacuate Southern Spain. His task, however, was a hard one, for Marmont, the commander of the forces opposed to him, was an ex- cellent general with whom no liberties could be taken. The two armies mamuuvred against one another till July 21,— Marmont, perhaps, having the advantage. On that day, however, the French and the Battle of allies were moving, roughly speaking, along parallel lines in Salamanca, a westerly direction, when the French left, having pressed on too rapidly, Wellington sent Pic ton's division to attack it in front while he threw the Battle of SALAMANCA JULY 22'7f' 1812. Scale of Miles 4 British attack on the French left, ■when the French ccnt7'e;not having marched into fosition.is unable to aid it. French BHI English ' ' main body of his army under Pakenham upon its flank. The result was the complete rout of the French army ; Marmont himself was wounded, and had it not been for an error of the Spaniards, who failed to hold a ford as Wellington had expected, the whole French army would have been annihi- lated. From Salamanca Wellington pushed forward to Madrid, and then formed the siege of Burgos. For this, however, his means were inadequate, and the French troops concentrating from the south forced him to retreat. This movement was only efTected with great loss ; but though Wellington himself, at the end of the campaign, stood where he had been at the beginning, the French were never able to reoccupy the south of Spain. 902 George III. 1812 The same year, events at home also tended to strengthen his position. Perceval was shot in the lobby of the House of Commons by a merchant Death of named Bellingham, who regarded his private ruin as in some Perceval. ^^,^j ^^^ ^^ ^.j^g government. In 1810 the old king had become hopelessly insane, and his place had been taken by the Prince of Wales under an act modelled on Pitt's Kegency Bill of 1788. For the The greater part of his life the Prince Kegent had professed to Regency. \^q j^ friend of Fox and the Whigs, but he now made no Liverpool's attempt to form a Whig administration, but called on Lord Ministry. -, r> mi-i titt Liverpool to lorm a government. This he accordingly did, with Castlereagh as secretary for foreign affairs, and Sidmouth home secretary. Both Liverpool and Castlereagh believed in Wellington's genius, and gave him a hearty support. Neither of them was a great man ; but Liverpool's tact contrived to hold the government together for twelve years, and to Castlereagh's dogged determination must certainly be attri- buted a large share of the credit for bringing the war against Napoleon to a successful conclusion. Equally favourable to Wellington were events in EurojDe. In 1812 Napoleon made his great expedition to Eussia, the Napoleon disastrous result of which ruined the Grand Army, and in Russia, compelled Napoleon to enter upon an unequal contest in Germany with Russia, Prussia, and eventually Austria. For the impend- ing struggle Napoleon withdrew some of his best troops from Spain, and replaced them by raw levies, so that the advantage both in numbers and in efficiency passed to the side of the allies. Accordingly, in 1813, AVellington began a concerted movement against the French. Graham in the north pressed forward along the line of the Campaign L^ouro ; Wellington, with the centre a little in his rear, of 1813. followed the great road by Salamanca and Burgos, while Hill, again, a little in the rear, marched along the valley of the Tagus. In this way the French were being constantly outflanked, and were compelled in turn to evacuate Valladolid, Madrid, and Burgos. In June Welling- ton's three armies caught up the retreating French at Vittoria. Keeping Battle of the same direction as that in which they had marched, Hill Vittona. attacked the French left and Wellington the centre, while Graham worked round on their extreme right to seize the road in rear of their position. The plan was completely successful. The French were utterly routed, and of the hundred and fifty-two guns which they took into action only two escaped. Treasure worth ^1,000,000 was captured, and most of the plunder which the French were trying to carry with them. Immediately after the battle Wellington pushed forward, and formed the sieges of San Sebastian and Pampeluna, the two fortresses which 1814 Liverpool 903 barred the road into France through the western Pyrenees. In these de- sperate circumstances Napoleon called on Soult to reorganise his beaten armies ; and so well did he fulfil his task that he was able to Battles take the offensive, and almost defeated Wellington in an of the attempt made to pierce through the mountains to the aid of ^y^^"^^^- Pampeluna, known as the battles of the Pyrenees. His plan, however, was unsuccessful, and both fortresses fell into Wellington's hands. In September San Sebastian was stormed with terrible carnage. Fall of San and Pampeluna capitulated in October. Meanwhile Napoleon f nd^Pam" himself, after making a splendid stand in Germany at the peluna. battles of Liitzen, Bautzen, and Dresden, had been utterly defeated in the great battle of Leipzig, and compelled to fall back across the Ehine. Wellington, therefore, prepared to join in a general invasion invasion of France, and, in January 1814, forced the passage of the of France. Bidasoa and established himself on French soil. The south-west of France is defended by a series of rivers, the chief of which are the Adour and the Garonne, which run in a north-westerly direction into the Bay of Biscay. Soult attempted to hold these. Wellington's general plan was to throw forward his right wing, thus threatening to block Soult in between the river and the sea, as at the battle of Oporto. In this way he drove him across the Nive, the Nivelle, and the Adour ; and, eventually, Soult making more and more to the eastward, was defeated by Wellington at the battle of Toulouse on April 10. Meanwhile, the allied forces in the north, in spite of a most brilliant campaign on the part of Napoleon, had driven him back by sheer weight of numbers. On March 31 Paris was captured, and Napoleon compelled to abdicate. This event brought the war to a conclusion, but, unfortunately, the news of it did not reach Toulouse in time to prevent a battle. During Wellington's operations in the peninsula, we had been engaged in a miserable war with the United States. This quarrel arose out of the annoyance caused to the Americans by the Orders in Councd ; ^^^ ^.^j^ and though these had been repealed before the actual tg^jUnh^^ declaration of war, hostilities were still permitted to go on. During 1812 and 1813 the chief of the fighting was done at sea, and took ' the form of contests between single ships. In these the Americans were, as a rule, successful, for their ships were better found than British vessels of the same class. They carried more and heavier guns, and they had better-trained seamen, owing to the relatively small number of their ships, compared to the vast fleets which the British had to man. In some fights, however, where the vessels were practically on an equality, the British won-notably in that between the Shannon and the Chesapeake, fought 904 Gem-ge III. 1813 in Boston harbour on June 1, 1813, when the British boarded and took their antagonist after a fight of fifteen minutes. There was also a good deal of fighting on a small scale along the Canadian frontier, and on the great lakes. In this the Americans, partly because of their superior flotilla on the lakes, and partly because they had to meet in Sir George Prevost a very inferior commander, got the advantage. No great results came of fighting on this scale ; and when the war in France ended, the British government sent some of the best regiments of Wellington's army to America, under the command of General Ross and Sir John Pakenham. The former directed his efi'orts against Washington, the site of the American government, and making his way up the Chesa- Battle of ^ . Bladens- peake, defeated the Americans at Bladensburg. Washing- ^^^' ton was then occupied ; and by an act of vandalism, for which the home government was responsible, the Capitol, where congress met, the White House, or president's official residence, and other govern- ment offices were burnt to the ground. After this the troops retreated to their ships. New Orleans was the obiect of Sir John Failure ^ . . , "^ at New Pakenham's oj^erations. This city, which was the emporium of the American cotton and sugar trade, is situated on the Mississijjpi, 110 miles from the coast. The approaches were extremely difficult, and the Americans, under General Jackson, afterwards president, had blocked Pakenham's road with ramparts of cotton-bales and sugar- casks. Behind these they fired in safety, and after a terrible loss of life, including that of Pakenham himself, the British were compelled to retreat. Had modern facilities for communication existed, the attack on New Orleans would never have been made ; for a week before the assault, peace between Great Britain and the United States had been signed at Ghent. This miserable war decided nothing. The Orders in Council hnd been withdrawn before it began, and the question of the right of search was left unsettled by the peace. So soon as Napoleon had abdicated, the allied sovereigns recognised Louis xvi.'s brother as king of France, by the title of Louis xviii. Until the abdication of Napoleon, the idea of a Restoration had Restoration ^ i • n i i -t of Louis not been openly mooted ; and in all probability was first put XVIII . forward by Talleyrand, the clever and versatile minister for foreign affairs. On the whole, a Restoration of the Bourbons seemed the simplest solution, for there was no one to take Napoleon's position as emperor ; and the crowned heads of Europe were hardly prepared to super- intend a reconstitution of the Republic. Louis xviii., therefore, returned to Paris, and France again took her place among the great monarchies of Europe. This was to her immediate advantage, as in the Congress of 1815 Liverpool 905 Vienna,, which met to reconstitute the European system, after the disorder into which it had been thrown by the wars, she was able to appear among the other powers as an equal, and to exercise great influence on its deliberations. The Congress of Vienna sat for about a year, and dealt in the most careful and deliberate manner with the very difticult problems which came before it. In general, it acted on these principles, — (1) that some sort of equality should be preserved in the real gress of power of the great European states ; (2) that the country most ^*^""^- dangerous to the peace of Europe was France ; (3) that in making the regulations and changes needful to carry out the above principles, nationality might be ignored. Accordingly, Russia received a larger share of Poland. Austria gave up the Netherlands, but received in exchange the dominions of Venice. Prussia was strengthened at the expense of Saxony, and of lands on the left bank of the Rhine that had been French since 1793 or 1794. This made her a stronger opponent of France on the Rhine ; and for the same end, Belgium and Holland were joined together under the rule of the Prince of Orange, who was made King of the Netherlands. The kingdom of Sardinia was strengthened by the annexation of the republic of Genoa. To punish Denmark for her adhesion to France, Norway was taken from her and made independent, but with the same king as Sweden. Great Britain was strengthened in the Mediterranean by the possession of Malta and the Ionian Islands, and in the North Sea by that of Heligoland. In the West Indies she kept Trinidad and Tobago ; and in the East, the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, and Ceylon. On the other hand she restored Minorca to Spain, and the other West Indian islands which had been taken during the war to their former owners. She was represented at the Congress, first by Lord Castlereagh, and then by the duke of Wellington, who maintained h6r character for disinterestedness, especially by their considerate treat- ment of France. On one subject, the abolition of the slave trade, they strove hard to secure a general agreement, and were so successful that France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, the only countries really concerned, agreed virtually to abolish the odious traffic. The labours of the Congress were not concluded when news arrived that, in Return of March, 1815, Napoleon had escaped from Elba, landed in Napoleon. France, and been received with enthusiasm by the army, and by the bulk of his former subjects. This disastrous intelligence caused the revival of the coalition, for the possibility of giving Napoleon time to show whether he would assume his old ambitious policy, or would begin a reign of peace, was not entertained 906 George III. 1815 for a moment. It was determined to invade France on all sides, and Napoleon was therefore compelled, whether he like it or no, to resort to arms. He determined to begin the campaign by an attack paign in upon Belgium. This country was defended by a mixed e gium. g^j.jjjy Qf British, Hanoverians, Dutch and Belgians, under Wellington, whose cantonments extended from the neighbourhood of Charleroi to the sea, with a reserve at Brussels ; and another army of Prussians under Bliicher, whose cantonments extended from Charleroi to the German frontier. Wellington's forces numbered about 106,000 men, but with the exception of his old peninsular troops, were of very inferior material. The Prussians numbered 114,000 ; while Napoleon had under his command 124,000. Napoleon's plan was to strike at Charleroi, and then to bring his main force to bear upon the Prussians while he held the British in check, and then, having separated the two armies, to bring his whole force to bear upon Wellington. In this scheme he was at first successful ; his arrangements were made with such secrecy, that on June 15 he quite unexpectedly crossed the frontier, and drove the Prussians and Belgians before him. In event of Napoleon's advance by the Charleroi road, Bliicher and Wellington had arranged to concentrate at Ligny and at Quatre Bras respectively, about eight miles from each other ; but Napoleon's movements were so quick that Wellington's army was not concentrated in time, and the Prussians had to bear the shock of NajDoleon's onset without any assistance from their allies. Accordingly, on June 16, Napoleon, with two-thirds of his army, attacked the Prussians at Ligny, while Ney, with the other one-third, tried to force the position at Quatre Bras. Unluckily for Ligny and Napoleon, through a series of contradictory orders, D'Erlon's re ras. ^^^^^ gAYQ no effective assistance to either side. The result was that though Napoleon drove back the Prussians, he did not destroy their army as he had calculated ; while Ney, weakened at the critical moment, was unable to force Wellington's position, which was better defended hour by hour, as fresh troops came up. During the night of the 16th, Bliicher fell back towards Wavre, leaving Wellington for the moment isolated at Quatre Bras ; and had Napoleon attacked him with vigour in the early hours of the 17th, the result must have been most disastrous. As soon, however, as Wellington knew that Bliicher was making for Wavre, he gave orders for a retreat on Waterloo, which lay towards Wavre much as Quatre Bras did to Ligny, but was fifteen miles ofl\ The retreat was admirably carried out, and in the evening Wellington's army was in position at Waterloo ; while Bliicher, whose honourable fidelity to his engagement with Wellington can never be spoken of too highly, was ready to march to the assistance of his allies first thing in the 1815 Liverpool 907 morning. These facts, however, were not known to Napoleon. He was under the impression that the main part of the Prussian army had retreated to Namur, and that only a division was at Wavre, and he considered that he had amply provided for that by detaching Grouchy with 35,000 men to prevent its conjunction with Wellington. The battle of Waterloo was fought on an undulation which crosses the two roads from Charleroi and Mons to Brussels, just before their junction at the village of Mont St. Jean. Along the northern ridge ^he Field of ran the road to Wavre. On the slope of the hollow lay, on Waterloo, the west, the chateau of Hougomont, which, with its orchard and gardens, occupied a space of about three hundred and fifty yards long, and a hundred broad ; the little farm of La Haye Sainte on the Charleroi road, and some more farm buildings at La Haye and Papelotte, further to the east. The strength of the position lay in the fact that Wellingtoii was able to strongly garrison these three outposts, while he kept the main ))ody of his men out of sight behind the ridge. The cross-road also enabled him to move troops very easily from one point to another. The slope on his side was longer than that on the French, and enabled his artillery to be used with great effect on troops attacking the position. Wellington 908 Qem-ge TIL 1815 had 01,000 men, of whom 24,000 were British ; Napoleon had 71,000, and the main lines of each army extended for about a mile east and west of the Charleroi road. The battle began about noon. An attack was made on Hougomont ; but though the buildings were set on fire, the courtyard and walled orchard The Battle were SO well capable of being defended, that the position was of Waterloo, maintained the whole day, and Wellington's right wing made perfectly secure. At 2 p.m. an attack was made on the left centre, but was repulsed with loss, though General Picton fell, and General William Ponsonby was killed. By this time Napoleon was aware that a body of troops was coming upon his right flank. At first these were believed to be Grouchy's men, but it was soon found that they Avere Prussians ; and by four o'clock Napoleon had had to hand over the attack upon Wellington to Ney, while he gave his main attention to defend his own right against the Prussians. To do this he had to form a new line of battle at right angles to his old position. After Napoleon had left for Planchenoit, Ney managed badly ; for between 4 and 6 p.m. he foolishly wasted the French cavalry in a series of attacks upon the unbroken allied squares, which practically destroyed it. About six o'clock La Haye Sainte, which had been inadequately prepared for defence, and which was short of ammuni- tion, was abandoned. This enabled the French to advance in the form of a wedge against the very centre of Wellington's army, and about the same time Napoleon, having driven back the Prussians by a most brilliant defence of Planchenoit, returned to the scene. Complete victory was now out of the question ; but if Napoleon could drive in Wellington's centre, he would secure his retreat, and thus the means of continuing the war. Instead, however, of pushing his advantage at La Haye Sainte, he sent forward two columns of the guard to strike at Wellington's line between that place and Hougomont. Wellington, however, was well prepared, for the arrival of the Prussians enabled him to bring up troops from his flanks to the centre. Accordingly the French attack was completely defeated, the right column by a charge of the guards under General Maitland, the left by the 52nd regiment (now the 2nd battalion Oxfordshire) under Colborne, who drew up his regiment on the flank of the French advance, and, after a sustained fire of musketry, pushed on with the bayonet. Just as the repulse of the guard destroyed Napoleon's hopes of breaking Wellington's line, the Prussians dashed forward and seized Planchenoit and the Charleroi road. Napoleon's troops were thus placed between two fires, his line of retreat was cut ofi", his guns and ammunition were all captured, and few of his troops ever appeared in arms again. On reaching Paris, Napoleon abdicated in favour of his son ; but it was BATTLE OF WATERLOO. June 18.1815. 910 George III. I8I6 felt that a return of the Bourbons was inevitable, and Louis xviii. again entered Paris under the protection of the allied bayonets. Napoleon The second himself then fled to Rochefort, where he came aboard a Restoration gj-itish man-of-war, the Bellerophon, casting himself upon of Louis ' T^ TT P 1 • XVIII. the generosity of the Prmce Regent. However, after his escape from Elba, generosity would have been misplaced, and the de- throned emperor was exiled to the beautiful and healthy island of St. Helena, where he was carefully guarded, and died there in 1821. After Waterloo, it was generally recognised that some punishment was deserved by France for having willingly restored Napoleon. Accord- ingly it was decided that for five years the northern departments of France should be occupied by an allied army of 150,000 men under the command of the duke of Wellington, but paid and provisioned at the expense of France. A war indemnity was to be paid, amounting to J28,000,000. Various rectifications of frontier were made, especially on the north, designed to decrease her power of offensive warfare. Above all, the French were compelled to return to their proper owners the works of art which had been stolen during the Napoleonic wars from almost every capital of Europe, and of which the restoration was probably more galling to the French than all the other conditions jjut together. It was while the allies were encamped at Paris that the Emperor Alexander hit upon the idea of a Holy Alliance. This was formed The Holy between the sovereigns of Russia, Prussia, Austria. The con- Alliance, tracting parties declared their intention of conducting their domestic administration and foreign relations according to the precepts of Christianity, and bound themselves to observe three points : (1) to give mutual assistance for the protection of religion, peace, and juritice ; (2) to regard themselves as delegated by Providence to govern three branches of one Christian nation ; (3) to admit any other powers which should declare their adherence to the same principles. Under these specious terms was really concealed a league to prevent the spread of the ideas of the French Revolution, and to guarantee despotic sovereigns against insurrectionary movements on the part of their subjects. France subsequently joined the alliance ; but the duke of Wellington said he believed that the British parliament would like 'something more precise,' and Lord Castlereagh refused to have anything to do with it. Before entering on the years of peace, it is well to note a naval action fought in 1816. This was the celebrated bombardment of ment of Algiers by a combined British and Dutch squadron under A giers. ^-^^ command of Lord Exmouth. Algiers had long been a nest of piracy, and the Algerines were known to be in possession of a 1816 Liverpool 911 number of Christian slaves. It was determined to compel their release, and in August 1816 Lord Exmouth made the demand. As it was refused, the town was bombarded. Before night fell, much damage was done on both sides, and it is doubtful whether the ships could have maiatained the contest much longer. The Algerines, however, ignorant of the damage they had inflicted, and terrified by the intensity of the fire from the fleet, agreed to come to terms. In all 1211 prisoners were released. This lesson served to keep the Algerine pirates in awe, until that country passed into the hands of the French in 1830 and the following years. The conclusion of the Napoleonic wars off'ers a favourable oppor- tunity for reviewing the state of the British Empire in 1815. At the commencement of the wars of the French Eevolution the British held only Gibraltar, Sierra Leone, a few small settlements on the coast of Africa, Canada, Jamaica, and other West Indian islands, some dis- tricts in India, and a small settlement in New South Wales. More- over, our command of the sea, which was essential in time of war both for our commerce and our communication with our outlvincf S£3 Power states, was jeopardised by the fact that the other colonising and states— France, Holland, and Spain — possessed powerful ° omsation. navies. During the war all these were destroyed, and those of Holland and Spain have practically never been restored. The immediate result of their destruction was that Great Britain was able to annex such of their colonies as she desired, and to establish herself at such strategical points as seemed valuable. In the Mediterranean she took Malta ; and, if her statesmen had seen its value, might have had Minorca with its splendid harbour of Port Mahon. In Africa she took the Cape Colony and Mauritius. In Asia she made large annexations of territory, and fought several successful wars, unhampered, as in 1778-82, by the presence on the coast of a French fleet. The war being concluded, the ministry had now to give its attention to peace ; and the strife of parties in parliament, which had to some extent been hushed by the war, was again resumed. In the party House of Lords the leading figures were Lords Liverpool, Warfare. Eldon, Grenville, and Grey. The earl of Liverpool, the prime minister, was a discreet and careful person, with more tact than ^^.^^^ ^^^ eloquence, and more knowledge than statesmanship ; but owed his success to his honesty and his skill in the art of getting other men to work together. Lord Eldon, the favourite chancellor of George iii., is generally regarded as typical of the Tory feeling of his day, which regarded all reforms as in some way dangerous 912 George in. 1815 to the constitution, and therefore to be opposed. It was said of him that 'he never proposed anything himself, and opposed everything that any- body else proposed.' He was an excellent lawyer, but held the narrowest views of politics. Lord Grenville, who had been Pitt's right-hand man in foreign affairs, but who was now almost estranged from any party, was a proud, cold man, quite wanting in tact, and exercising little influence. Lord Grey was the successor of Fox, and without much originality was recognised as the official leader of the Whig party. In the House of Commons the most notable figures were Castlereagh. Castlereagh, Canning, Brougham, Horner, Sir Samuel Romilly, and among the younger men. Lord John Russell and Lord Palmer- ston. Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh, born in 1769, was decidedly the most powerful man in the House. His recent achievements in foreign politics, when he had sat in deliberation with the greatest crowned heads in Europe, and by mere force of character had done more than any other civilian to secure the downfall of Napoleon, gave him an immense prestige, and he enjoyed the respect of the House for personal in- tegrity and patriotism. Though no orator, his speeches were always listened to, because he meant what he said. In private life he was the most genial and kindly of men ; but he had little sympathy with popular ideas, and, though compared with those with whom lie had acted on the continent, he was a decided Liberal, in England he was regarded as typical of the proud and aristo- Canning. . * "^ ^ ^ cratic Tory. In contrast to Castlereagh was Canning. Born in 1770, after a distinguished career at Eton and Oxford he was introduced into political life, and did his patron much service, not only in the House and in office, but by his satirical attacks on the opposi- tion in the Anti-Jacobin. Clever, eloquent, witty, his strong points were those where Castlereagh was weak ; but in the House he never succeeded in shaking oft' the idea that he was an adventurer, and that his clever speeches were wanting in reality. In the country, however, he was stronger, for he was regarded as more in sympathy than his rival with Liberal ideas. The work of opposition was mainly carried on Brougham. . ^'^ '' by Henry Brougham. This remarkable politician, who had the reputation of being the most learned and versatile statesman of his time, had made his parliamentary reputation by his resistance to the Orders in Council, against which, as an advocate, he had spoken at the bar of the House in 1807, and he now took a prominent part in opposition to government measures. With Brougham was Francis Horner, Horner. '^ ^ ' who, though never in office, made a reputation as the most skilful financier of his time, and whose death in 1817 at the age of thirty- 1816 Liverpool 913 seven, was a serious loss to his country. Sir Samuel Romilly had been solicitor-general to the Grenville ministry. He had entered parliament as an independent member, and soon commanded the respect of all parties. His chief attention was given to the repeal of °"^* ^' the most severe punishments of the penal code, but in other matters he spoke with great weight on the side of the Whigs. The official leader of the Whigs was George Ponsonby, who ° ^°" ^' had at one time been chancellor of Ireland ; but Brougham and Horner and Romilly were the leading spirits of the party. The problems which the Liverpool ministry found before it on the conclusion of the war were sufficient to try the abilities of any adminis- tration. Peace, far from being associated — as in the Questions of hackneyed phrase — with plenty, proved to be a time of ^^^ ^^'^' increased distress, and there was no industry in the country which was not complaining of bad times. This depression of trade was due mainly to six causes. First, the cessation of the demand for military and naval stores, especially the former ; second, the reduction of the demand for British goods on the continent, due partly to the resumption of manu- factures on the continent, partly to the impoverishment caused by war, which diminished the purchasing power of the continental nations; third, the confusion in the money market caused by the stoppage of cash payments by the Bank of England, and the uncertainty when they would be resumed ; fourth, the transition from hand labour to machinery, which, though it increased the demand for new workmen, was for the time disastrous to those who had been brought up to earn their living in the old way ; fifth, the unhealthy condition into which the corn trade had come since the war ; and sixth, heavy taxation. Of these causes the first and second were obviously beyond the power of legislation ; the third might be expected to right itself in time, whenever it appeared desirable to go back to cash payments ; the fourth was the efi'ect of ignorance, and could only be combated by the difi'usion of greater knowledge ; the fifth, in the minds of politicians, seemed capable of legislative treatment. The mania for breaking machinery had broken out as far back as 1811. It was difficult for those whose livelihood was obtained by knitting stockings by hand to understand that in the long The _^^^ run it was for the good of the nation that machinery should be substituted for hand labour. In the first instance it was obviously bad for themselves ; and, acting on what appeared to them adequate grounds, the hand-knitters of Nottinghamshire began an organised attempt to destroy all the stocking-frames that had been introduced. After a half-witted lad named Ludd, who had once broken a frame m a 3 M 914 George III. 1815 fit of passion, they called themselves Luddites. The frames could be rendered useless with so little noise, and in so little time, that the proceedings of the Luddites were most difficult to check. Frames were destroyed within a few yards of the military who were guarding them ; and a few minutes' undisturbed possession enabled the Luddites to destroy every frame in a village. The same arguments obviously applied to the thrashing machines, which were the subject of detestation of the agricultural labourers, who saw the threshing, which had lasted the winter through, performed in a few days by the new machines. Soon the introduction of new machinery of all kinds came under the ban, and, in 1815, machine-breaking Avas general both in town and country. Against such a general movement little could be eifected by force ; and it is probable that the first effective check on machine-breaking was William Supplied by the homely arguments of William Cobbett. Cobbett. This remarkable man, born in 1762, who began life as a bird-scarer, and ended it as a member of the House of Commons, had seen much of life both in England and America. He was gifted with a terse and vigorous command of pure English, which he had improved by constant practice ; and in 1815 he was certainly the first journalist of his age. In 1802 he had set on foot the Weekly Political Register^ in which he vigorously attacked the Tory government. Finding, however, that a shilling publication had only a small sale, and no circulation at all among the masses, he reduced its price to twopence. The paper appeared in its new form in November 1816, and the event was of much political importance. Cobbett's great points were that machine breaking was no use, but that parliamentary reform was ; and he did all he could to wean the labouring classes from violence, to encourage them to educate themselves, and to look to parliamentary reform as the first step towards an improved order of things. Quite apart, however, from the question of machine-breaking, the condition of agriculture was such as to cause the gravest anxiety. Since 1670 a law had always been in operation to prevent the ATiculture. importation of foreign corn unless English corn had reached a very high price. It was worked on the jjrinciple of a sliding scale, and allowed no importation at all till the price of wheat was fifty-three shillings and fourpence per quarter. The duty was then sixteen shillings, and was gradually reduced till the price reached eighty-two shillings, when it disappeared altogether. In 1804 the lower limit had been raised to sixty-six shillings per quarter. During the war the fluctuations in the price of wheat had been very great. Before 1793 the price of wheat had rarely exceeded fifty shillings, so that in practice the 1815 Liverpool 915 country had lived on its own produce. During the war time, however, the price had risen to as much as one hundred and thirty-six shillings, and the average price had been about one hundred and twenty shillings. This was due partly to bad harvests, partly to the fact that in w^ar time bad harvests were not compensated for by importation from abroad ; partly to the introduction of paper money ; and much more to the rapid increase in the manufacturing population, which caused an increased demand for bread. The result of the high prices was to bring into cultivation lands which were too poor to yield a profit at the old prices, and particularly to stimulate the enclosure of commons. Another was to increase the demand for agricultural labourers to till the new lauds brought under the plough. When the war closed, it was clear that, owing to the renewal of foreign competition, there would naturally be a fall in the average price of corn. If this happened, there would be a general fall in rent, the newly tilled lands would fall out of cultivation, and labourers would be throAVn out of work. To check this, a change was made in the corn law, by which it was enacted that no colonial corn could be imported till the price of British wheat reached sixty-seven shillings, and no foreign corn till The New the price had further risen to eighty shillings a quarter. ^°^" Laws. From this legislation it was expected that the price of corn would tend to be about eighty shillings a quarter, a price midway between the prices before and during the war, which was considered reasonable both for sellers and consumers ; and also that there would be very little fluc- tuation in the price. The new law was vigorously opposed by Brougham and Horner, who declared that both these expectations would be unfulfilled. Unluckily they proved to be right. The expectation of a steady high price encouraged the investment of much capital in agri- culture ; and though the price of corn at first rose, it afterwards steadily fell. In 1815 the season was good, and the average price of wheat was sixty-three shillings a quarter ; in 1817 the season was bad, and the average price was ninety-six shillings a quarter, and would have been much more had it not been for foreign competition, which began when the price reached eighty shillings. The price then steadily fell, till, in 1822, it reached forty-five shillings. This state of things was bad for both farmers and buyers. Farmers suffered, because, while theii rent was fixed, the price of their produce was subject to great variations. On the other hand, buyers had to pay very much more in bad years than they would under free competition. Experience has shown that the smaller the area from which supplies are drawn the greater the variation in price from one year to another ; while foreign competition, though it 916 George III. 1815 keeps the price at a low level, results in its remaining fairly steady. Consequently, the new corn law satisfied no one. Landlords could not secure impossible rents ; farmers, unable to pay, became bankrupt ; agri- cultural labourers were thrown out of work ; and, in bad years, towns- people saw the price of food artificially increased. Considering how much hardship existed, it would have been wonderful had there been no outbreaks of violence directed against the government. Popular That these w^ere few and insignificant is strong proof of the Outbreaks, orderly habits of the people, and of their reliance on consti- tutional methods to attain their ends. It is difiicult to mention these outbreaks without exaggerating their importance. The most serious riot occurred at Littleport, near Ely, where the labourers, driven to frenzy by Avant of work and food, rose in 1816 and destroyed much property before they were disj)ersed. Of more direct political significance was the Spa Field riot, where half-a-dozen men of no note — among whom was Thistlewood, afterwards notorious for the Cato Street Conspiracy — led a handful of men to attack the Tower. On their way they armed themselves by plundering the gunsmiths' shops ; but being met by the lord mayor, Matthew Wood, the sheriif, and half-a-dozen constables, they dispersed in flight. In June 1817, a hundred ignorant fellows — misled, there is no doubt, by one Oliver, a government spy, with stories of one hundred and fifty thousand men, who were to seize London, and of the ' Northern Cloud,' which was to sweep all before it — set out from Pentridge, near Ambergate, to seize Nottingham, expecting to receive one hundred guineas apiece for the business, and to have merely a pleasure march. A few miles out of Nottingham they were met by Mr. KoUeston, a magistrate, with twenty cavalry soldiers, and at once took to flight. Side by side with these movements was a perfectly innocent proceeding on the part of some unemployed Lancashire artisans, The who proposed to march to London and lay their case before Bianketeers. ^t^^ Prince Kegent. They set out from Manchester, carrying blankets to cover themselves at night, from Avhicli they derived the name of the ' Blauketeers ' ; but none got farther than Derbyshire. Similarly, a body of Loughborough workmen marched to Barnet with a waggon of coal. There they were met ; and, their coal being bought, the poor fellows made their way home. The scale on which all these movements were conducted ought to have shown an indiff'erent observer that though there might be much discon- tent there was no danger of revolution. But so short a time after the French Eevolution the Tory government was not capable of seeing facts exactly as they were, and was open to all sorts of suspicions of plots and 1819 Liverpool 917 conspiracies. Accordingly, in 1817, when the Prince Regent's carriage was surrounded by a howling mob on the occasion of his opening par- liament, Sidmouth, under the lead of the home secretary, who was firmly convinced of the imminent danger of the time, the*GSv°em- decided to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act. This was "^^"*- followed by the issue of a circular authorising magistrates to apprehend persons whom they considered guilty of disseminating libellous publica- tions, by which were meant all writings against the government. The suspension of Habeas Corpus was, of course, opposed by the Whigs, but unsuccessfully. They had, however, no difficulty in showing that Lord Sidmouth's circular was illegal, and it had to be withdrawn. The government was also defeated in a prosecution instituted against William Hone, a bookseller, who had written and printed several attacks on the government, in the form of parodies on well-known religious writings, such as the Lord's Prayer and the Litany. He was prosecuted for bringing the Christian religion into disrepute, but as he had no difficulty in showing that exactly the same thing had been done by Canning and other persons of repute without blame being attached, he was acquitted. Had it not been for Fox's Libel Act (see page 863), the jury must have convicted him of publication, and the judges would have declared his publication libellous. Among the persons arrested under the suspension of Habeas Corpus was Samuel Bamford, well known in after years for his Autobiography of a Radical. Nothing, however, was proved against him, and his examination before the privy council, where he saw and spoke to Lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth, seems to have convinced him that the ministers were not such terrible tyrants as they were believed in Lancashire to be. Meanwhile, the question of parliamentary reform was coming to be recognised as the question of the day. It was heartily advocated by Sir Francis Burdett in parliament, and by Cobbett outside. The p^j.j;^ large unrepresented towns, such as Manchester, Birmingham, mentary . , . 1 1 • J.T, Reform. and Leeds, began to seriously mterest themselves in the question. Their antipathy to the corn laws, especially, made them loudly demand a voice in the government of the country ; anddarge meetings often attended with riots were held from time to time, sometimes with a view to the election of delegates to take part in smaller meetings. The election of these delegates suggested the idea of a convention— a name ren- dered formidable to the timid by its French associations ^^^ — and when it was known that a meeting for this purpose Peterloo , , . , „ , r ' Massacre.' was to be held in St. Peter's Fields on the outskirts of Man- chester, there was much question among the local magistrates as to what 918 George III. 1819 course to take. On the appointed day, August 26, the ' Radicals ' marched in procession to Manchester from all the neighbouring villages, carrying flags, and accompanied by their wives and children. They met in St. Peter's Fields, an open space of two or three acres. They numbered some forty thousand persons, and were to be addressed by Henry Hunt, an Essex squire and notable orator, whose emptiness had not yet been discovered by his followers. Meanwhile the magistrates, who had plenty of troops at their disposal, adopted the foolish resolution of arresting Hunt after the meeting had begun. For this purpose the chief constable was escorted towards the platform by forty men of the Manchester Yeomanry. These advancing, without much order, were soon lost in the crowd, and the magistrates, who were watching from a distant house, thinking they were being attacked, ordered the crowd to be dispersed by the charge of a regiment of cavalry. The result was a scene of indescrib- able confusion. As the hussars, for the most part, used the flats of their swords, only three 'Eadicals' were killed, with one constable and one yeoman, but, perhaps, one hundred persons all told were injured more or less by sword-cuts, stones, and crushing. The blame of this unfortunate occurrence — long-remembered as the ' battle of Peterloo ' — was clearly to be laid to the incapacity of the local magistrates ; but the government was unwise enough, without further inquiry, to praise their conduct and sanction w^hat had been done. This mistake roused much indignation in the country, and confirmed the bad opinion held of the government. Hunt and other prominent 'Radicals' were arrested, and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for conspiring to alter the law by force and threats. The events at Manchester appeared to the minister to give a suitable pretext for strengthening the law. Accordingly parliament met in Nov- The Six ember, and before the end of the year passed a series of acts Acts. known collectively as the ' Six Acts.' These were of varied importance. The first made it easier to prevent out-of-door meetings for political purposes, and was to be in force for five years. The second enabled trials for misdemeanour, which was the usual charge under which political agitators were prosecuted, to be held with less delay. The third, very properly, forbade private persons to engage in military drill, a pro- ceeding tolerated in no civilised state. The fourth was for the more effectual prevention and punishment of blasphemous and seditious libels. The fifth authorised magistrates to seize arms in sixteen counties said to be disturbed, and was to be in force for three years. The sixth was a distinct check on the liberty of the press, for it required all publishers of newspapers to give security in advance for any fines they might incur by 1820 Liverpool 9j9 uttering blasphemy or sedition. Such an enactment made it harder for a poor man to start a newspaper, and, as it stood, was an insult to the press at large. All these Acts were stoutly opposed by the Whigs, and, with the exception of the third, were sooner or later repealed. Though unsuccessful in effecting nuich, the labours of Sir Samuel Eomilly towards making the criminal code more lenient require notice as the first step to an inunense reform. In the early growth The Crim- of civilisation, as in England before the Conquest, reparation ^"^^ ^°'^^- rather than punishment was the object of the criminal code. As property increases in value, the tendency is to defend it by more stringent enactments, and as the prolonged imprisonment of numerous convicts is a serious difficulty, the tendency is to allot the punishment of death to all offences as the simplest way of dealing with the criminal. Under such a system an immense number of persons were hanged, and as time went on, though the moral sense of the community revolted against such wholesale massacre, a mistaken view of the best way to secure respect for the law led to one offence after another being made capital. Accordingly, between 1660 and 1820, no less than 160 new offences were made punishable by death. This severity, however, defeated itself. Sufferers refused to prosecute, juries to convict, and judges to hang ; so that not one sentence in twenty was actually carried into effect. Such uncertainty was fatal to the deterrent effect of the law, to say nothing of its brutalising results on the community at large. No serious attempt, however, Avas made to remove the evil till 1 808, when Sir Samuel Romilly carried a law to exempt the crime of picking pockets from capital punishment. This was carried ; but the upper House, led by Eldon, threw out a bill for remitting the death sentence on shop-lifting to the value of five shillings ; and though, till his death in 1819, Romilly was indefatigable in his exertions, he only succeeded in removing stealing from bleach-yards from the death category. Though in practice he effected so little, Romilly was successful in awakening public opinion, and within a generation a complete change was eff'ected in our criminal code. Within a month of the passing of the Six Acts, in January 1820, George in. passed away, and his eldest son, George, became in name, as well as in fact, the ruler of the country. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. War against the French Republic, . . 1793-1802 Battle of the Nile, 1798 War against Napoleon, .... 1803-1814 Battle of Trafalgar, 1805 Battle of Waterloo, 1815 CHAPTEE V GEORGE IV. : 1820-1830 Born, 1762; married 1795, Caroline of Brunswick. CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES France. Louis XVIII., d. 1824. Charles x., expelled 1830. The Queen's Trial — Signs of Progress— Death of Castlereagh — Policy of Canning and Huskisson — Aftairs of Greece — Eoman Catholic Emancipation. George iv.'s short reign of ten years forms one of the turning-points in English history, for it is a transition period between the Toryism The which prevailed nnder the regency and the Whig policy Accession, -^jjjc}! prevailed under William iv. The first event of the new reign was the discovery of a conspiracy more real and more sanguinary than anything the last reign had pro- Cato Street duced. This was the Cato Street Plot, devised by Thistle- Conspiracy, wood, who had formerly held a commission in the army, and had already been tried but acquitted for his share in the Spa Field Riots, He associated with himself some dozen desperate characters of no social position or influence, and proposed to get admission to the earl of Har- rowby's house while the cabinet ministers were dining, and to murder them all. The heads of Sidmouth and Castlereagh were to be exhibited to the mob ; the Tower was to be seized, the soldiers overpowered, and a provisional government set up. The plan was as absurd as it was cruel ; but fortunately the government were warned by a man named Edwards, who is suspected of having urged on the unhappy men whom he intended to betray. The conspirators were left unmolested till the very day, February 22, which had been fixed for their attempt, and were attacked by the police as they were arming themselves in a hayloft connected with some stables in Cato Street, ofl:' the Edgware Road. 920 1820 Liverpool 921 The arrest was not well managed ; one of the police-officers was killed, and Thistle wood himself escaped. He was, however, captured next day, and, being tried and convicted of treason, suffered the extreme penalty of the law with four of his accomplices. The cruelty and absurdity of such a plot were sufficient to disgust the strongest opponents of the existing government. Fortunately the policy of parliamentary reform began to form a rallying-point for both Whigs and Radicals. The alliance stimu- lated the one, while it moderated the other ; while the rapid revival of trade — now that the special causes of depression produced by the war had disappeared — removed some, at any rate, of the hardships of the labourers and artisans. One effect of his change of title from regent to king was to bring into most unpleasant notoriety the family life of the new sovereign. In 1787 George had contracted a marriage with a Roman Catholic lady named George's Mrs. Fitzherbert. The sole ground of the illegality of the "tarried life, marriage was that the prince had not the consent of his father, as required by the Royal Marriage Act of 1772. Had the marriage been fully legal the prince would have been excluded from the succession by the Bill of Rights of 1689. At the time of the marriage the prince was hopelessly burdened with debts — most of them contracted at the card-table — and in asking parliament to pay them he actually authorised Fox to deny the marriage, at the same time expressing to Mrs. Fitzherbert his surprise that Fox had done so. Such conduct forfeited the prince's rej)utation as a man of honour ; but in spite of it. Fox and some of the Whig leaders allowed themselves to be still called his friends. His debts were paid, but others were soon contracted, and in 1795 his position was as embar- rassed as before. In these circumstances, he was approached by his father with a proposition that if he would contract a legal marriage his debts should again be paid. To this proposal he reluctantly agreed, and allowed his father to name his future wife. The young lady chosen was Caroline of Brunswick, daughter of the duke and of the sister of George III. The prince had never seen her till three days before the marriage, which took place in 1795. One daughter, the Princess Charlotte, was born ; and three months afterwards, George left his young wife and returned to Mrs. Fitzherbert. Such abominable conduct on the part of her husband would have been hard for any woman to bear ; and, unfor- tunately, Caroline's character was not such as to dignify her anger. She had been badly trained and ill educated, and appears to have been extremely frivolous. Her home at Blackheath soon began to l)e the subject of gossip ; and, in 1806, urged on by the prince and his brothers, the ministry conducted a secret inquiry, known as the ' Delicate Investi- 922 Ge(yrge IV. 1820 gation,' into the conduct of the princess. The result was her complete exoneration from any serious charge. For years no more was heard of the matter ; but in 1814 the princess went ahroad, and rumours soon reached England that, taking advantage of the freedom of her new life, she had allowed herself to be led into frivolity and dissipation. Meanwhile, the Princess Charlotte was growing up. Since the age of eight she had been for the most part removed from the charge of her mother, and since 1814 had never seen her at all. The The ' Princess greatest pains had been taken with her education. The result was eminently satisfactory ; and the nation learned with thankfulness how good, fearless, and witty the future sovereign was likely to be. In 1816 she was married to Prince Leopold of Saxe- Coburg, who was exceedingly well fitted to make a suitable husband. All seemed to be going well, when, in November, 1817, the princess died after giving birth to a still-born child. This disaster filled the country with consternation. Of the king's children, the duke of York, his second son, was married but had no children ; the dukes of Clarence, Kent, and Cambridge were unmarried ; while the duke of Cumberland, who was married and had children, was intensely uni)opular. In these circumstances, the dukes of Clarence, Kent, and Cambridge hastened to marry. However, the only daughter of the duke of Clarence Birth of ■^ 1 J ^ Princess died directly after birth, so the hope of eventually succeed- ing to the crown fell to the Princess Victoria, daughter of the duke of Kent, born May 24, 1819, who stood next in the line of succession after her uncles George and William. When George iv. became king, in spite of the notoriously evil nature of his own life, he immediately applied to his ministers to procure The Divorce lii'^'i ^ divorce. On this, ministers entered into negotia- Question. tions with the queen with a view to her staying abroad, and promised the king that if she returned to England they would accede to his request. Probably the negotiations would have been successful had not the name of the queen been omitted from the Liturgy of the Established Church. This insult, which seemed to proclaim her guilty in every parish in England, was more than she could bear. In June she broke off all negotiations, and landed in England, where she was well received by the middle and lower classes ; the aristocracy held aloof Her arrival compelled the ministers to proceed with their bargain. Canning alone resigned his place at the Board of Control ; and a Bill of Pains and Penalties, amounting to an Act of Divorce, was brought forward in the Upper House. To the great scandal of the whole nation a series of It;dian witnesses were publicly examined as to the minutest details of 1820 Liverpool 923 the queen's life. This evidence was printed in the newspapers, and became the daily talk of all classes. As evidence, however, on which to found a divorce, it was quite inconclusive, and was unmercifully discredited under the cross-examination of Brougham and Denman, who conducted the case for the queen. The second reading of the bill was only passed by 28 ; the third reading by only 9. In these circumstances ministers saw that there was not the remotest chance of the bill passing the House of Commons, and it was accordingly abandoned. While it was possible that the bill might pass, the feeling of the nation had been strongly in the queen's favour ; but a reaction now took place. The evidence, though inconclusive, was most discreditable to her fair ftime, and the number of her supporters rapidly diminished. Foolishly enough, she claimed in November to be crowned with her husband. She was, of course, rejected ; and, after a painful scene at the door of Westminster Abbey, where she was refused admittance, she returned home only to die of a fever brought on by excitement and vexation. Her death removed a most serious danger to the country, for it is doubtful whether anything had ever placed the monarchy in greater danger than the Bill of Pains and Penalties. When the excitement caused by the Gato Street Plot and the queen's trial was over, it became evident that the terror of reform caused by the French Revolution had died away, and that a new indications period of progress had commenced. In 1820 Brougham, of progress. wdio since Horner's death had been the most conspicuous figure among the opposition, brought forward a scheme for national education. Few could speak with greater authority than he on this subject. Though a Westmorland man by descent, Henry Brougham had been born in Edinburgh, where his father had married the niece of Robertson, the historian. He had been educated at the High School and University of Edinburgh, and was well acquainted with the admirable Scottish system of education. Horner had been trained in the same school, and he, Jeffrey, Brougham, and Sydney Smith had, in 1802, set on foot the famous Edinhurcjh Review, which did so much for the dissemination of Whig principles that Canning started the Quarterly to counteract it. Brougham advocated the introduction of the Scottish system National of village schools ; but as he proposed that all the school- masters should be members of the Established Church, his scheme found no favour with dissenters, and their opposition was fatal to ^^^ the measure. Some years later Brougham performed a work U"j^^e^'J>t^y of permanent value in starting the movement which resulted in the foundation of the University of London, which has since exer- 924 George IV. 1820 cised an important influence on the higher education of this country. With this movement must be coupled the idea of mechanics' institutes, desioned to be clubs for the moral and intellectual improvement of Mechanics' the artisan class — first carried out by Dr. Birkbeck, but in Institutes. which a keen interest was taken by Brougham— and the formation of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, with a view of supplying poor readers with cheap and good works on science and literature. At the same time that practical men were engaged in such Byron and work as this, poets like Byron and Shelley were stirring Shelley. ^Y\q intellectual world with the new ideas of liberty and life, and, following up the work of Burns, Wordsworth, and Coleridge, Avere breathing into poetry a vigour, reality, and earnestness of purpose which had been wanting during the classical eighteenth century. In 1821 Sir James Mackintosh effected a change in the criminal law, which Romilly had never been able to do, by removing shop-lifting to The Criminal ^^^ value of five shillings from the list of capital ofiences. Code. From this time forward, though progress was slow, the policy advocated by Romilly and Mackintosh steadily gained supporters, and in 1837, on the report of a Commission on Criminal Law, a large number of remissions were made. This was carried still further in 1845, when it was enacted that the penalty of death should be restricted to treason, murder, and attempted murder ; and since that date, the last has been also omitted. The efi^ect of these changes is seen by the com- putation that, between 1810 and 1845, no less than fourteen hundred persons were put to death for crimes which have since ceased to be capital. Some progress was also made in the direction of parliamentary reform. On this subject, Brougham, who had always sat for nomination boroughs, was tongue-tied : but it was taken up by Lord John Eussell, Parlia- & ' l j i mentary a younger son of the duke of Bedford, a man of indomitable Reform. energy. In 1821 the borough of Grampound, in Cornwall, was disfranchised for corruption, and the question arose to whom the members should be allotted. By the House of Commons it was voted that they should be given to Leeds, a proposal which embodied the principle of gradually disfranchising the nomination boroughs, and trans- ferring their members to large towns. However, the House of Lords amended the bill by allotting the members to the whole county of York, and in this stage the Commons acquiesced. The movement for the emancipation of the Roman Catholics made a further step. Of late years this measure had been chiefly in the hands of Grattan, who, in 1813, 1816, and 1819 had brought forward motions 1822 Liverpool 925 on the subject, but had been defeated by small majorities. The govern- ment itself was divided ; for Castlereagh had always been true to the Koman Catholic claims, and they had also received a con- stant support from Canning. The feeling in favour of the Emancf- Koman Catholics was, however, steadily rising, and in p^'^'""- 1821 Plunket introduced a bill for the repeal of the Koman Catholic disabilities, and carried it through the Commons by a good majority. It was, however, thrown out by the Lords. These above-mentioned measures were all brought forward by the opposition ; but so obvious was the change going forward in the feeling of parliament and the country, that the ministry attempted Ministerial to strengthen itself by the introduction of more popular Changes, members. In 1822 it entered into an alliance with the Grenville party, and though Grenville considered himself to be past ministerial work, several of his followers, headed by his nephew, the duke of Buckingham, entered the government. At the same time, the marquess Wellesley, a friend to the Eoman Catholic claims, became lord-lieutenant of Ireland. More important still was the retirement of Lord Sidmouth, who considered his work in detecting conspiracies to be done, and his replacement by Robert Peel. This statesman was the son of a Lancashire manu- Robert facturer, and had been educated at Eton and Christ Church. ^^^'• He took a double first at Oxford, and on his entering parliament, his father is reputed to have said to him : ' Bob, if you are not prime minister, I '11 cut you off with a shilling.' As a man who had himself sprung from their ranks. Peel, though a strong Tory, was in sympathy with the ideas of the rising manufacturing population. As home secretary, his best-known achievement was the organisation of the London police force, his connection with which is still remembered by several popular nicknames for the force, founded on his Christian and surname re- spectively. These changes considerably altered the tone of Lord Liverpool's ad- ministration ; but the greatest change of all was made by the suicide of Lord Castlereagh in 1822, at the age of fifty-three. Lord ^^^^^j^ ^^ Castlereagh, who, in 1821, had succeeded his father as Castle- marquess of Londonderry, embodied in the popular mind the spirit of the old Toryism. Though a most genial and kindly man in private life, he had, in public, the character of being an unsympathetic opponent of new ideas ; and he had done himself harm by some injudicious speeches. He had certainly little sympathy with popular or national movements as such ; but, on the other hand, he had acted as a decided check on the vagaries of the Holy Alliance. Such a man— whose narrowness of view had 926 George IF. 1822 been, as is often the case, accompanied with great force of character — had been an admirable foreign minister when dogged determination had been needed to bring to a successful end the struggle with Napoleon. In times of peace, when greater breadth of view and a more delicate tact were needed, he was less successful. In home affairs he was, except in the matter of Roman Catholic emancipation, a decided reactionary, and his death probably removed a bar to progress. In the end his mind failed him, and he committed suicide. His death was received with indecent expressions of joy, which showed the unpopularity of the system with which the Lord Castlereagh of popular imagination was closely identified. Lord Londonderry's place as foreign secretary was taken by Canning. That statesman, who, in 1812, preferred not to be in office at all if he were not to be the head, had found himself eclipsed by the Canning. . . ' . glory of his rival Castlereagh ; and after taking, for a time, the jDost of ambassador at Lisbon, had, in 1817, joined the ministry as president of the Board of Control, He had then confined his attention to Indian affairs till 1820, when his disapproval of the Bill of Pains and Penalties led to his resignation. He then contemplated going out to India as governor-general, and had been elected by the board of directors, when his plans were completely changed by the news of his rival's death. Lord Liverpool immediately oftered him the foreign office, with the leadership of the House of Commons, and Canning accepted both. The moment of his accepting office was critical. Hitherto the Holy Alliance had been little more than a name, but an opportunity had lately The Holy arisen for putting its principles into practice. This arose Alliance, q^^^ ^f r^jj insurrection in Spain. On the return of Ferdin- and VII,, after the expulsion of Joseph Bonaparte, he had abolished the constitution of 1812, and dissolved the Cortes. Even in Spain this return to absolutism caused some dissatisfaction. In 1822 a rebellion broke out, the constitution of 1812 was restored, and Ferdinand compelled to give his consent. To take into consideration this event, a congress was called at Verona, at which the duke of Wellington was to be the British representative ; and it was on the verge of meeting when Canning re- placed Castlereagh at the foreign office. Canning made no verbal change in Londonderry's written instructions to Wellington ; but on receiving from the duke a request for further orders, he laid it down distinctly that England would be no party to any attempt to coerce the Spaniards. Had he not done so, it is certain that the whole weight of the Holy Alliance would have been brought to bear on Spain, for the Czar was proposing to bring Russian troops to the Rhine, Canning's attitude. 1822 Liverpool 927 however, checked this combined movement ; but he was obliged to remain neutral when French troops invaded Spain, restored Ferdinand, and abolished the constitution. This position was not a very dignified one for Great Britain, but Canning defended it on the ground that he had prevented a general war, and reduced the matter to one between France and Spain. Moreover, the Spaniards shoM^ed themselves so little willing to sacrifice themselves in defence of their own liberties, that their revolution could not be regarded as a really national movement. In form, Canning's action was not very difli'erent from that of Londonderry, who, in 1821, had permitted Austria to interfere in Naples ; but the spirit of the two men was different, and it was felt all over Europe that Canning's policy was fatal to any eff'ective continuance of the Holy Alliance. Equally important was Canning's attitude towards the Spanish- American colonies. These colonies had never accepted the rule of King Joseph, who, not having the command of the sea, was quite The Spanish incapable of coercing them. During his nominal rule they Colonies, had practically enjoyed independence, and on Ferdinand's restoration were by no means willing to return to their old position. They were, however, obliged to accept his rule ; but at the first opportunity insurrections broke out, of which the chief heroes were Miranda, the real father of Spanish colonial independence, Bolivar, and the English admiral, Cochrane. By the year 1822, practical independence had been secured, and to this Canning gave great importance. In his opinion, the situation as regards French interference in Spain was changed by the loss of the Spanish colonies. As he said himself : ' Contemplating Spain, such as our ancestors had known her, I resolved that if France had Spain, it should not be Spain " with the Indies." I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old.' In accordance with this policy the inde- pendence of the colonies was recognised by Great Britain, and Spain was reduced to the dimensions of a European, but not a colonial, power. With discountenance of the Holy Alliance, and recognition of the new American republics. Canning combined a real sympathy with the eff'orts which the Greeks were making to win their independ- ^^^ Greeks, ence. A revolt of the Greeks against the Turks appealed to politicians trained in Greek literature more forcibly than the struggles of obscure colonists, and many Englishmen took a most lively interest in the success of the insurgents. Turkey, of course, was not a member of the Holy Alliance, and therefore could not claim assistance against her revolted subjects. On the contrary, Eussia, the leading member of the Alliance, had every reason to wish success to the Greeks, whose triumph 928 George IV. 1822 would make more easy the Russian advance on Constantinople, The position was further complicated by the fears which the western powers held of the aggrandisements of Russia. In these circumstances the Turks were left to deal Avith the insurrection as best they could, with the result that the Greeks, for seven years, maintained themselves in the field. While Canning was thus breathing new life into the foreign policy of this country, his friend Huskisson was carrying out little less than a ^, , . revolution in its trade and manufactures. Huskisson was Huskisson. born in 1770, and was the eldest son of a Stafi'ordshire squire of small means. In 1790 he became a secretary in the British embassy at Paris, and afterwards distinguished himself by the tact and courtesy with which he administered Pitt's Alien Act. In 1795 he was appointed under-secretary for the colonies ; but his further rise was slow, and after 1812 it was retarded by his close friendship with Canning. When Canning became foreign secretary in 1822 he procured for Huskisson the post of president of the Board of Trade, and in 1823 he succeeded Canning as member for Liverpool. Though a Tory in politics, Huskisson was distinguished by his broad and liberal views on all matters relating to commerce, and his presence at the Board of Trade was soon shown by the adoption of the more enlightened policy. As Huskisson's changes could not be carried out without alterations in taxation, credit must also be given to Frederick John Robinson, afterwards Lord Goderich, who, in 1823, succeeded Vansittart as chancellor of the exchequer, and who worked with Huskisson in a most friendly spirit. Their first step was to aid manufacturers by reducing the taxes on silk and wool, and shipbuilders by reducing that on foreign timber, so Reduction of enabling manufacturers to produce their wares at a less matedai'^^^ cost, and shipowners to charge a less freight. At the same Navigation *^^^ ^ large modification was made in the Navigation Acts. Acts. These acts, which had been first enacted under the Com- monwealth, and renewed under Charles ii., had the eflect of prohibiting most goods being brought to England except in English ships, or, in the case of Europe, the ships of those countries where they were produced. Until 1782 the American colonies had been exempt from this law as British colonies, but they had since ranked as foreign countries, and therefore their ships had been unable to bring goods to Britain. They had therefore to come in ballast ; and the Americans had therefore to pay a freight which paid the journey both ways. This naturally pro- duced retaliation ; and many countries forbade British vessels to bring 1825 Liverpool 909 goods to their ports. Such a state of thinc^s was intolerable, now tliat we wished to do a large trade with the United States and with the new South American republics ; and Huskisson met it by putting these states on the same footing as if they had been European countrtes. A great outcry was raised that this would be the ruin of British shipping ; but experience showed that the shipbuilding trade flourished under the new regime, and that the number of British vessels increased rapidly. Another interesting piece of legislation concerned the Spitalfields silk-weavers. The London silk manufactures had been originally set on foot by the Huguenot refugees who fled to England The Silk- in the time of James 11. They had then been placed under weavers, careful regulations, and the wages of the weavers were fixed from time to time by the magistrates. Meanwhile, an unrestricted manufacture of silk sprang up in other parts of the country, especially in Cheshire and Staffordshire. This competed at an advantage with the Spitalfields trade ; and the result was an outcry by the London weavers against the restrictions. Accordingly they were repealed by act of parliament. Another change was made in the condition of workmen by the repeal of all acts which restricted the freedom of workmen to travel about the country. These restrictions had grown u]3 out of the Act of Settlement of Charles 11., which enabled the overseers of Combina- any parish to remove any new arrival who seemed likely to become chargeable to the parish. In 1824 and 1825 a most important change was made in the laws which dealt with combinations of em- ployers or employed with a view to regulating the conditions of labour. By a law passed in 1800, all agreements between journeymen and workmen for obtaining advancements of wages, reductions of the hours of labour, or any other change in the condition of work, were declared illegal. This continued to be the law down to 1824, when, on a report of a committee of the House of Commons, the whole of the laws restricting combinations were repealed. This measure, however, was thought, on reflection, to be too sweeping ; so, in 1825, another act was passed which attempted to define what was legal and what was not. It enacted that combinations of masters and workmen to settle terms about wages and hours of labour were legal ; but that combinations for controlling employers by moral violence are not. Huskisson's legislation met with the less opposition because it was passed at a time when trade and manufacture were extremely prosperous. This inflation led to much unwarranted speculation, especi- Commercial ally in the South American trade, and was followed by ^^"'^• commercial depression. Many banks and joint-stock companies failed ; 3n 930 George IV. 1825 numbers of workpeople were thrown out of employment ; with the result of reviving much of the disorder that had characterised the years which immediately followed the declaration of peace. Much machinery was wrecked both in town and country, for the workpeople stiU regarded its introduction with aversion, and in times of distress imputed all their misfortunes to the new machines. Meanwhile, the Catholic question was beginning to occupy more than ever the attention of prominent politicians. This was due, to some extent, to the action of Irish iournalists, who persisted in Catholic ' , . ,.. Emancipa- pushmg it to the front, partly to the very serious condition of affairs in Ireland. In that country there had been no political outbreak since Emmett's rebellion ; but the war against tithes and rent had been unremitting ; and the hostility between the Catholics and the Orangemen had become, if possible, more violent. However, in 1823, a remarkable change was brought about by the organisation of the Roman Catholic Association, Avhich was joined almost universally by the Roman Catholics, and which was supported by contributions collected by Daniel the priests. The leader of the new movement was Daniel O'Connell. O'Connell, an Irish barrister. He was a man of great natural eloquence, and was able to exercise from the platform an almost unbounded sway over the passions of his countrymen. The rise of this body had a most salutary effect on the condition of the country. By concentrating the attention of the people on the repeal of the Roman Catholic Disabilities, almost a complete stop was put to the irregular outrages that had disgraced the country. At the same time it was diffi- cult for the government to look on unmoved at its proceedings. The very oath taken by the members savoured of civil war. On his entrance, each swore : ' By the hate he bore the Orangemen, who were their natural enemies, and by the confidence he reposed in the Catholic Association, who were his natural and zealous friends, to abstain from all secret and illegal associations and Whiteboy disturbances and outrages.' Accor- dingly the Association was, in 1825, dissolved by law ; but it had had the effect of forcing the Catholic question to the front, and it became the- question of the hour. The friends of the Roman Catholics were desirous of showing that, though they disapproved of the Association, they were still true to their promises ; and, accordingly. Sir Francis Burdett brought forward a Relief Bill, which, besides repealing the disabilities, provided for the endowment of the Roman Catholic priests. This bill passed the Commons without difficulty, but was thrown out by the Lords ; and the debate in that House was made memorable by an announcement by the duke of York, who declared that in whatever position he were placed he 1827 Liverpool — Camiing 931 should be an opponent of the bill. This announcement determined the friends of repeal to carry it, if possible, before the duke came to the throne. Their efforts were therefore redoubled ; and the Catholic Asso- ciation was virtually reconstructed under another form. These events naturally led to difficulties in the cabinet. Under Lord Liverpool the Catholic question had been regarded as an open one ; but the prominence of the subject tended to divide the cabinet into two hostile camps — one led by Canning and Huskisson, of Lle of symmetry. All The First boroughs having less than two thousand inhabitants were to Reform Bill, jjg disfranchised, and all having less than four thousand were to be deprived of one member each. The seats thus placed at the disposal of the government were to be allotted to London, to large towns which at present returned no member, and to the counties. A uniform franchise for boroughs was also proposed instead of the existing anomalous system. In towns, all householders who paid a rent of ten pounds were to have a vote ; in counties, in addition to the forty-shilling freeholders, all copy- holders to the value of ^10, and leaseholders for twenty-one years or over of the value of £50. For the future all voters were to be registered, so that a man's name being on the register should be sufficient proof of his right to vote ; and, instead of the poll being open for a varying time, some- times amounting to weeks, the voting was to take place in boroughs on one day, in counties on two. This was the outline of the bill which Lord John RusseU submitted to the House in a si:)eech well worthy of himself Opposition ^nd of the occasion. The bill Avas stoutly opposed jby to the Bill. ^Y\Q Tories ; but it passed its second reading by 302 to 301. On going into committee, however, the government suffered a defeat. By the bill it was proposed that the number of members should be 1831 Grey 941 reduced from 658 to 596 ; but General Gascoyne proposed an instruction to the committee that the members for England and Wales should not be diminished, and carried it against the government by a majority of eight ; and three days later the House refused to go into committee of supply, which meant that it would vote no money for the existing government. In these circumstances the ministers had no choice except to resign, or to persuade the king to dissolve parliament. They chose the latter, and induced William to act with such rapidity as to anticipate a petition of parliament, proposed by Lord Wharncliffe, ofPariia-°" against a dissolution. The dissolution was extremely '^^"*- popular. ' Turn out the rogues, your majesty ! ' shouted the mob as the king drove to Westminster. In the city the lord mayor put himself at the head of the movement for a general illumination. Some of those who re- fused to take part, including the duke of Wellington, had their windows broken. All over the country the news of a new election was received with joy, and the popularity of the king and his ministers was unbounded. The new elections took place amidst great excitement, and were ex- tremely favourable to the reformers. In the counties and large towns they carried all before them. A hundred of the anti-reformers lost their seats, and the leading opponents of the bill had to take refuge in the very boroughs which it was proposed to abolish. The cry of the reformers everywhere was for ' the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill ' ; and when the new parliament met, the old bill, with only slight alterations, was again introduced. The Second This time it passed the second reading by 136 votes, but in Reform Bill, committee it was fought clause by clause, and the fate of each mori- bund constituency made the subject of a debate and a division. In this struggle the burden of defending the bill lay mainly on Peel, Sir C. Wetherell, and J. W. Croker ; the attack was chiefly conducted by Lord John Russell, and T. B. afterwards Lord Macaulay. At length the work was done, and the bill passed its third reading by 345 to 236. In the Lords its fate was different. Though there were very few who ventured to go so far as the duke of Wellington and deny the necessity j^^j^^^^^ for any reform, the bill was generally regarded as going too by the far ; and, in spite of all the efforts of Earl Grey, aided by Lord-Chancellor Brougham, was thrown out on the second reading by 199 to 158. The excitement caused by the news that the Lords had rejected the bill was intense. Peers were mobbed in the streets, and the bishops, whose opposition had been unanimous, were subject on every appearance 942 William IV. I83i to the vilest abuse. At Birmingham the bells were muffled and tolled. At Nottingham the mob rose and burnt the castle, which was the pro- perty of the duke of Newcastle, one of the most unpopular against of the peers. At Bristol, when Sir Charles Wetherell arrived to hold the Sessions as Recorder, so violent was the attack made on him that he had to escape in disguise as a postillion. Then the mob, balked of their prey, and infuriated with drink, set the soldiers at defiance, burnt the bishop's palace, the mansion-house, and the gaols ; released the prisoners ; and for three days gave themselves over to every kind of excess. More serious than these ebullitions of mob violence was the formation all over the country of organisations called ' political unions,' the object of which was ' to defend the king and his ministers against the boroughmongers.' In Birmingham the 'union' numbered 150,000 persons, including all the most respected inhabitants ; and the members were ready, if need were, to march on London in case the govern- ment seemed in need of their personal support. Other towns had similar organisations, and there could be no doubt that in their efforts to carry reform the ministers had the people at their back. Encouraged by this support, ministers lost no time in again passing the bill through the House of Commons, by a vote of two to one, and The Third sending it up to the Lords. It now appeared that the ■ opposition party in the Lords was divided into two sections — one headed by the duke of Wellington, which was opposed to all reform, the other under Lords Wharncliffe and Harrowby, known as the ' trim- mers ' or ' waverers,' who were willing to allow the second reading to pass, but hoped to make large changes in committee. The opposition was thus disunited ; and as it was known that the king had agreed to create enough peers to secure the passing of the second reading, the bill was read a second time by nine votes. However, Avhen the bill reached the committee stage, a resolution was passed against the government to take the enfranchising clauses first. On the surface, this amendment was not very important, but it really involved the question whether the govern- ment or the opposition should control the bill in committee, and was regarded by the government as fatal to further progress, unless the king was prepared to assent to a large creation of new peers. This William was not ready to do, though he had been willing to take that course in order to pass the second reading ; but his eagerness for the bill had now Grey changed into something not far removed from hostility, and resigns. -^^ ^^^ much alarmed at the prospects of a revolution with which he was continually threatened. Earl Grey therefore resigned, and the king sent for the duke. Directly this was known the excitement in 1832 Grey 943 the whole country became intense. ' Go for gold and stop the duke ' was placarded over London. At Manchester and other towns large sums of money were actually withdrawn from the banks. Perhaps more significant than anything else was the action of Lord Milton, the eldest son of Earl Fitzwilliam, who told a tax-collector to call again. Had Wellino-ton really formed a ministry, there seems little doubt that there would have been a general move on London ; military officers were ready to take the command ; and changes of the most sweeping character would probably have been enforced. The need for such a movement, however, never came. Wellington, who regarded it as his first duty to aid his sovereign under all circumstances, and wished now to save William from what he considered the humiliation of creating more peers, was willing to form a ministry, and to attempt to carry a modified bill ; but he could get no one to join him. Peel positively refused to have anything to do with the plan. Sir K. Inglis, representing the old Tories, also refused assistance ; and, foiled in every direction, the duke yielded to theinevi- Grey table, and advised the king to recall Earl Grey. He did ^e^^ms. more ; for, acting at William's request, he withdrew his opposition to the bill, and induced so many peers to follow his example that the bill passed through its remaining stages without difficulty ; and, in June 1832, the Reform Bill passed the Lords by 108 votes to 22. The bill which thus passed into law did not materially differ from that brought forward by Lord John Russell. One hundred and forty-three members were taken away from small boroughs. Of these, sixty-five were given to the counties, two members each to ^cts. ^ °^"^ Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, and eighteen other England large towns, including some new London constituencies, and one member each to twenty-one other towns, none of which had been previously directly represented. The right to vote was as previously pro- posed ; except that by the Chandos clause, introduced in the Commons by the marquess of Chandos, farmers occupying land worth £bQ a year as tenants-at-will were enfranchised. Similar bills were passed for Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland the need for a Reform 3^.^^,^^^^^^ Bill was even greater than in England. Even in the counties the right of voting had fallen into the hands of an infinitesimal number of voters ; in the towns it was invariably the privilege of a self-electing corporation. In the whole country the number of voters did not exceed four thousand ; the number of voters for Argyleshire was one hundred and fifteen ; for Edinburgh and Glasgow thirty-three each. By the new bill the number of members for Scotland was raised from forty-five to 944 William IV. 1832 fifty-three ; the franchise in counties was given to all owners of land worth i>10, and to some classes of leaseholders ; and in towns to those who paid a J 10 rental. In Ireland so many rotten boroughs were disfranchised at the Union, that no more was done in this Ireland. ,. . -, ^ ^ • ,^ ^ direction, and the chief change made was the transference of the town franchise from the corporations to the ^10 householders. One great result of the Eeform Bill was the introduction of a uniform franchise. Till this date each borough had rules of its own ; at Preston „ , , every householder had a vote ; in others, those who paid Results of *' . . '. ' ^ the Reform scot and lot, i.e. parish rates ; in others, the members of the corporation. The chief merit of the new plan was its simplicity ; its drawback was that it destroyed the differences between one town and another, which might be expected to aftect the members chosen, and so make the House of Commons to be less a reflection of the varieties of English life than it had been. Another result was the transference of power from the south and east of England to the north and west. If a line be drawn from Hull to Bristol, it may roughly be said that, setting the metropolitan district aside, almost all the disenfranchised towns lie east and south of it ; almost all the enfran- chised north and west. A third was, that in the counties the farmers, in the towns the smaller class of shopkeepers, formed the bulk of the new voters, and their ideas became the predominant factors in determining the drift of public opinion. The period we are about to enter upon, therefore, is that of the rule of the middle classes — as that which pre- ceded the Eeform Bill is that of the rule of the aristocracy ; and this distinction would have been more marked had it not been for the influence which the great land-owning families still exerted in the counties. When the Reformed Parliament met, it was found that the Tories had only secured 172 seats, while the Whigs, who had carried all before The New them in the new constituencies, had 486. The composition Parliament. ^^ ^j-^g ^^^^ parliament excited great interest ; but though there was a larger infusion of the commercial and business class than before the new members were not found to differ very materially from the old. Several interesting elections had taken place. William Cobbett was returned for Oldham, but Henry Hunt lost his election at Preston, where many of his old Radical friends had been disfranchised. A few constitu- encies still remained, which, though they had been saved by the amount of the population from disfranchisement, were to all intents and purposes pocket boroughs. Among these was Newark, where the iufiuence of the duke of Newcastle secured the return of his young Tor}? friend,, William 1833 Grey 945 Ewart Gladstone, the son of a Liverpool merchant, and born in 1809 who had just completed a brilliant career at Oxford. A period of great legislative activity followed the meeting of the Eeformed Parliament. The first evil dealt with was slavery, \houo-h the slave trade had been abolished in 1807, the practice of si both domestic and agricultural slavery still continued in abolished, the West Indies and the adjacent settlements on the continent. The subject was a most difficult one, for the whole social and commercial system of the West Indian colonies was based upon slavery ; but the English middle classes, who had been profoundly impressed by the teach- ing of Wilberforce, Clarkson, and Zachary Macaulay, father of T. B. Macaulay, would hear of no obstacle in the w^ay of its abolition. Accord- ingly, an act was passed by which (1) slavery was abohshed ; (2) outdoor slaves were to work as apprentices for their present masters for seven years and domestic slaves for five years ; (3) a sum of .£20,000,000 was voted to compensate the slaveholders for their loss. The period of apprenticeship was afterwards reduced to four years. At the same time it was agreed that the duty on sugar grown by free labourers should always be less than that on sugar grown by slaves — a bargain which has not been carried out. At home ministers took an important step in making a grant of ^20,000 in aid of education. Until the close of the eighteenth century, the education of the poor, such as it was, had been carried National on at ancient endowed grammar-schools and dame schools, Education, and a very large proportion of the working classes, both in town and country, received no teaching at all. To remedy this, in 1782, Robert Raikes established his first Sunday-school, but the first idea of a really national system of education was due to Andrew Bell and Joseph Lan- caster. From the first a difficulty arose from the rivalry of the church and the nonconforming bodies ; and two societies were founded — the National Society, consisting of Churchmen, to carry out the ideas of Bell ; and the British and Foreign School Society, consisting of Nonconform- ists, to carry out those of Lancaster. In 1807 Whitbread proposed a scheme for parochial schools, which came to nothing ; but in 1816 Brougham took up the idea with his usual energy, succeeded in getting a committee aj^pointed to inquire into teaching in London, and in 1820 brought forward a scheme of national education. Brougham's scheme, however, was wrecked, as Whitbread's had been, on the rock of religious jealousy, and it seemed as if the difficulties in the way of any scheme were insurmountable. However, in 1833, the ministers hit upon a way of assisting education without raising much jealousy. The sum of 3o 946 William IV. 1833 .£20,000 was devoted to aiding school building, and was allotted in special grants on the request of the National Society, the British and Foreign School Society, and in Scotland through the minister and kirk- session of each parish. The sum of £20,000 was not a large sum for a nation to expend on such an important object, but as the germ of the great system which now absorbs annually six and a half millions of public money, the grant of 1833 was of great importance. Another most important piece of legislation dealt with work in factories. Since the introduction of the factory system which had followed the inventions of Arkwright, Hargreaves, and Factory Crompton in spinning, and of Horrocks and Cartwright in weaving, a new set of problems had arisen for statesmen and philanthropists. The simplicity of much of the work required, and its easy character, led to the employment of large numbers of children, from whom the avarice of their parents and employers exacted an amount of labour destructive of their health, and wholly ruinous to their educa- tion. These children were sometimes the children of parents in the neigh- bourhood, but were often apprentices brought from a distance, and housed in cottages or barracks belonging to the millowner. The hardships of the latter class first attracted the attention of the legislature, and in 1802 an act brought forward by Sir Eobert Peel, the elder — himself a large manufacturer — was passed for their benefit. It contained many humane and sanitary regulations. The work was not to exceed twelve hours a day, and night-work was in general prohibited. There was to be instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the working of the act was to be superintended .by two visitors appointed by the justices of the peace. It was soon found that children living at home but working in the mills were almost as much in want of protection as the apprentices ; and in 1819 the second Factory Act was passed, applicable only to cotton mills, by which it was enacted that children should not work at all till they were nine years of age, and between nine and sixteen were not to work more than twelve hours a day. The third Factory Act, passed in 1833, extended this act to other textile industries, and made a distinction between ' children ' from nine to thirteen, and ' young persons ' from thirteen to eighteen years of age. Young persons might work twelve hours a day, and children nine, but they had to spend another two hours in school. Such children are called 'half-timers.' The Education Grant and the new Factory Act were attempts to intro- The New ^^^^,2 a new system ; the new Poor Law attempted to re- Poor Law. organise an old system which had fallen into abuse. Since the Poor Laws had been consolidated in 1601, a number of changes had 1834 Grey 947 been made. Under the old law the functions of the overseers had been to apprentice pauper children, to set able-bodied persons to work, and to relieve the impotent poor— that is, the lame, the old, and the blind. In 1697, at the instance of John Carey, a special act of parliament was passed for erecting the first workhouse at Bristol, to which the able-bodied paupers were compelled to go. The plan proved so successful that it was widely copied, and in 1V22 it was enacted by act of parlia- ment that — ' No poor who refused to be lodged and kept in such houses should be entitled to ask or receive parochial relief.' This system of a ' workhouse test ' was found to work well during the pros- The Work perous times of the eighteenth century ; but in 1795 it house Test. broke down under the stress caused by the war, and the magistrates at Speenhamland, near Newbury, in Berkshire, devised a scheme by which relief was given to able-bodied men and their families at a scale which varied with the price of bread. If the price of a gallon of bread was Is., a single man received 3s., a man and his wife 4s. 6d., and out-door every child up to seven Is. 6d. ; the whole for the family Relief, amounting to 15s. In 1796 this plan received the sanction of parlia- ment, and was generally adoj^ted. The result was completely disastrous. Instead of wages rising, farmers contrived to throw more and more charge on the rates. The honest labourer, who prided himself on not being a pauper, found himself worse off than the man who took parish pay. The poor ratepayer found himself gradually drawn down into the gulf of pauperism. Paupers married paupers, and received the more as their families increased. In some parishes the rates outweighed the rental and the tithes, and the land went out of cultivation. In 1817 it was found that the relief amounted to close on eight million pounds, in a population of eleven millions. Such a state of affairs required a drastic remedy ; but it needed some courage to apply one. However, Earl Grey's government appointed a strong commission, whose report showed a state of affairs worse even than had been anticipated. On its sugges- tions, a new Poor Law was founded, and received the consent of parlia- ment in 1834. By its chief provisions, 'All relief to able-bodied persons except in well-regulated workhouses,' was declared illegal. This enact- ment, therefore, re-enacted the ' workhouse test,' and was coupled with other salutary provisions for the better dealing with vagrants, parish apprentices, and workhouse children. In the past, one of the chief causes of abuse had arisen from each parish, or each union of parishes, being a law unto itself ; for the future, the working of the Poor Law was given over to a department of government called the Poor Law Board. These changes had a most salutary efiect on the country ; but it was 948 William IV. 1834 many years before the demoralising influence of the old state of things was eradicated. During these English reforms, ministers had been compelled to give much attention to Ireland. There a great cause of grievance was the Irish Episcopal Church. In Ireland, the Reformation had Ireland. , ^ ^ ^^ ^ . T . 1 never taken any real hold among the native Irish popula- tion, and since the time of Strafford the condition of the Protestant Church had been a source of scandal. It had, however, in its hands all the property of the ancient Irish Church, and in parishes where there was scarcely a single Protestant, the tithe was still paid to the Protestant rector. Of late years, however, the collection of the tithe had become almost impossible, and though the whole civil and military force of the government was at the back of the tithe proctors, the amount collected did not pay the cost of collection. The criminal statistics of the country were terrible. In 1832 no less than nine thousand crimes, of which two hundred and forty -two were murders, were committed. The government accordingly passed a severe act, by which the lord-lieutenant of Ireland was authorised to prohibit political meetings in proclaimed districts, and to change the venue of trial for political crimes. To be out of doors be- tween sunset and sunrise without due cause was made punishable, and the Habeas Corpus Act was virtually suspended. At the same time, the Protestant Episcopal Church was reorganised. The number of archbishops was reduced from four to two, and of bishops from twenty-two to twelve. The reform of the Irish Church would probably have gone fiu'ther, had ministers been able to agree about the destination of the funds set at liberty by a reduction of the church establishment. As it was, the more liberal section of the cabinet were in favour of applying the surplus to general philanthropic purposes ; the so-called friends of the church were desirous of reserving it for strictly ecclesiastical purposes. Accordingly on this question, the duke of Richmond, the earl of Ripon (formerly Lord Goderich), Edward Stanley, and Sir James Graham left the government. Their places, however, were soon filled up, and the ministry appointed a commission to inquire into the whole question of the Irish Church. Hardly, however, had Lord Grey's ministry tided over this difficulty when another appeared. In 1834 the Irish Crimes Act was to be Resienation renewed, and ministers were not agreed whether the clause of Earl Grey, about political meetings should be re-enacted. Earl Grey was for it. Lord Althorp against it. Littleton, the Irish secretary, very foolishly told O'Connell that it would not be re-enacted ; and when the cabinet, influenced by Earl Grey, decided that it should, O'ConneU declared that he had been tricked. Lord Althorp insisted on resigning ; 1834 Grey — Melbourne 949 on which, Earl Grey, who had long been weary of the toils of office, seized the opportunity to resign too. On this Lord Melbourne became prime minister. Lord Althorp most reluctantly remained in office, and the Crimes Act was toned down to meet the First Minis- views of O'Connell. The appointment of William Lamb, ^^^' Viscount Melbourne, to be prime minister was somewhat of a surprise to the country. As a follower of Canning he had not shown any marked enthusiasm for reform ; in private life he was frivolous and inconstant ; and though he had shown decided ability in the various offices he had held, especially in the Home Office, and a diligence far beyond his repute, few thought him equal to the difficult task of leading the Liberal party, and his accession to power probably diminished the reputation of the ministry. The appointment of Melbourne may be taken as a convenient date for noting an important change which was taking place in the political con- dition of the country. Ever since the passing of the Keform state of Bill a natural reaction had been setting in, partly owing to Parties, the bill satisfying the moderate requirements of many of its supporters, partly owing to the violent demands of the extreme Radicals, who wished to make the Bill a starting-point for a series of constitutional changes. The result was to divide off the moderate and extreme sections of the Whig party. To describe the new state of parties, new names were needed ; and instead of the general appellation of Whig, the party became divided into the Liberals and the Radicals — the former of whom accepted the Reform Bill as, for the present at any rate, final, and wished to carry on the social and political reforms which had occupied parliament since 1832 ; the latter of whom wished to push forward the ballot and other changes, for which the bulk of the party was as yet unprepared. A similar change had been taking place in the old Tory party. Men like Sir Robert Peel, who were in touch with the ideas of the middle classes, saw that the old Tory role of opposition, pure and simple, would secure no support in the new constituencies. He therefore declared his adhesion to the new order of things, and advocated a well-considered and orderly progress within the lines of the existing constitution. For this policy a new name was needed, and he and his followers began to call themselves Conservatives, as distinguished from the old Tories of the type of Lord Eldon. The result was decidedly favourable to the Conservative party. They began to gain in elections, especially in the counties where the 'Chandos Clause,' by giving votes to the farmers, had helped to re- establish the influence of the county families. This state of aflairs had great influence on the mind of the king, whose 950 William IV. 1834 friendship for the Whigs had been decidedly on the wane. In June he took an opportnnity to express to the Irish bishops in the strongest Melbourne terms the obligation under which he felt himself to defend dismissed. ^}^Q\y. churcli and the Protestant religion — a clear menace to the Whigs ; and, in November 1835, he took the distinctly unconstitu- tional step of dismissing Melbourne and his colleagues. All the usual o-rounds for dismissal were absent. The ministers had neither been defeated in parliament nor quarrelled on any particular point with the king, and they were perfectly agreed among themselves. The king, however, was encouraged by the symptoms of a Conservative reaction, the extent of which he exaggerated, to seize the first opportunity of getting rid of his Whig advisers ; and when the death of Earl Spencer necessitated the removal of Lord Althorp to the Upper House, and his resignation of the post of chancellor of the exchequer, he summarily dismissed his ministers, and sent for the duke of Wellington. Wellington, in his turn, advised the king to send for Sir Eobert Peel ; but, as that statesman was at Rome, he consented, till his arrival, to Peel's First himself fill the posts of the three secretaries of state. Of Ministry. course he transacted nothing but routine business, so an outcry that was raised against him for aspiring to a dictatorship was rather absurd ; and as soon as Peel arrived in England, the ministry was constituted as usual, with Peel as first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, Lyndhurst chancellor, the duke of Wellington foreign secretary. Among the junior members of the government was W. E. Gladstone, who was first made a lord of the treasury, and was then promoted to be junior secretary for the colonies, his chief there being Lord Aberdeen. Before meeting parliament, Peel decided to appeal to the country ; and took the opportunity, in addressing the electors of Tamworth, to define Peel's t.he policy of the new Conservative party. ' Our object,' Policy. j^g wrote, ' will be the maintenance of peace, the scru- pulous and honourable fulfilment, without reference to their original policy, of all engagements with foreign powers, the support of public credit, the enforcement of strict economy, and the just and impartial consideration of what is due to all interests, agricultural, manu- facturing, and commercial.' The elections gave a decided proof of the reality of the Conservative reaction in the increase of his party by more than one hundred members. The numbers, however, still stood — Conservatives two hundred and seventy-three. Liberals three hundred and eighty ; so that Peel was in a minority by one hundred and seven in the House of Commons. Peel's difficulties soon 1835 Melbourne — Feel— Melbourne 951 thickened. The duke of Wellington did him great harm by ap- pointing Castlereagh's brother, now marquess of Londonderry, to be the British ambassador at St. Petersburg. Though Lord Londonderry had shown himself an excellent ambassador, he had in the House of Lords spoken of the Poles as the Czar's rebellious subjects. As most Englishmen sympathised with the Poles, there was an outburst of indignation when his appointment was known ; and Peel and the duke were only saved from the condemnation of parliament by the magna- nimity of Londonderry, who chivalrously declined the post. Peel, too, was little more fortunate. In vain he brought forward a series of reforming measures. His opponents scouted them as mere imitations of those of the Whigs. He was uniformly beaten ; and when Lord John Kussell succeeded in carrying a motion for the appropriation of the surplus revenues of the Irish Church to general moral and religious purposes, he was forced to resign, after holding office four months. On this William, much to his disgust, was compelled to recall the Whigs ; and Lord Melbourne again came into power. The only im- portant changes in this ministry were that Spring Eice ^ „ became chancellor of the excheciuer in place of Lord Althorp, Second -. , , 1 \ T • • • mi- Ministry. and that the great seal was placed m commission. Ihis was a heavy blow to Brougham. No one doubted his ability ; but his violence, indiscretion, and, above all, his insufferable egotism, had made him a most undesirable colleague, and Lord Melbourne was glad of an opportunity to quietly shelve him. After a year. Sir Charles Pepys became the Liberal lord-chancellor, under the title of Lord Cottenham. The principal achievement of Lord Melbourne's second administration was the passing of the Municipal Reform Act. The condition of the Encrlish boroughs was as anomalous as had been that of Municipal the parliamentary constituencies. As a rule, however, the corporation of each town filled up its own vacancies, and its members held their places for life ; it appointed the freemen of the town, often for a money consideration ; and its proceedings were conducted in secret. In such a state of affairs it was inevitable that corruption and malversation should exist on a large scale ; and in 1833 a commission was appointed to go into the whole matter. Its report conclusively showed that, in the vast majority of cases, the corporation existed solely for the good of its own members, and that the rest of the popula- tion had lost all confidence and respect for the local government under which they lived. It was, therefore, determined to put municipal government once for all on a popular basis. The towns were divided into wards, and the ratepayers of each ward were to elect one or more 952 William IF. 1835 members to form a town council, which was to be the governing body of the town. The town council was to have in its hands the ultimate appointment of all corporate officers ; all trading privileges were abolished ; and the town councillors ceased to be magistrates. Thus the bill stood as it passed the Commons. In the Lords a clause was added, and ultimately accepted by the Commons, by which aldermen were to be elected by the councillors for six years, during which they were to have the same rights and privileges as the elected councillors. The effect of this addition was to strengthen the hands of the majority of the council for the time being, and to make it more difficult for any change in popular opinion to have effect on the policy of the corporation. The Municipal Corporation Bill created quite a revolution in town life. It not only improved the government of the boroughs, but introduced a most important educative influence in the art of local self-government, and prepared the way for the application of the same principles in rural districts. It was designed to deal with the ancient corporation of the city of London in a separate act, but for some reason this was post- poned, and the corporation of London still remains unaltered. Next year the ministers were successful in carrying a measure which removed a fruitful source of ill-feeling between churchmen and Non- conformists. Hitherto rectors and vicars had been in the Tithes Commuta- habit of Collecting their tithe in kind — for example, mark- ing every tenth sheaf, and removing it to the tithe barn. This process was most exasperating to farmers, and particularly to Nonconformists ; so an act was passed called the Tithes Commutation Act, which provided for the commutation of tithes in kind into a rent-charge upon the land, payable in money, and reckoned according to the average price of corn for the seven preceding years. A similar act was passed by the Commons for Ireland, but the Lords refused to pass a clause by which surplus revenue was to be applicable to general purposes, and the bill was, therefore, allowed to drop. Two changes made in 1836 had much influence on the political education of the people. Since 1712, when Harley's government laid a dutv on new-spapers of one penny a sheet, and one shilling The Duty on "^ , , . , i i , Newspapers on each advertisement, the tax on news had been an owere . important source of revenue. North increased it ; and under Pitt it was regularly raised to meet the exigencies of the war, reaching eventually in 1816 the rate of fourpence a sheet, and three shillings and sixpence for each advertisement. This was slightly lowered in 1826 ; and in 1833 Lord Althorp lowered the duty on advertisements to eighteenpence. The tax on news, however, continued at 4d. a sheet 1837 Melbourne 953 till 183G, when Spring Eice lowered the duty to one penny. This reduc- tion forms an epoch in the development of the press. For a time the o-ross amount of the duty fell ; but the circulation increased so rapidly that in 1854 the proceeds of the tax were as nnich as at the old rate. This was caused not only by an increase in circidation of the old newspapers but by the springing up of a number of others, especially daily papers, with a corresponding diffusion of interest and information about political ideas. The other event was the publication by parliament of its own division lists. Hitherto these had been published on hearsay, and without parliamentary authority, and the right to keep them • 111 -11 Till T Division private had been jealously guarded by the members. It Lists pub- was felt, however, that, as in practice it was always known how members had voted, it was better to publish an authentic list ; and authority was now given for the purpose. The result was not only that a member's constituents knew for certain how he had voted, but were also aware in what divisions he had taken part, so that a valuable check was established on the attendance of members ; and the duties of members became better fulfilled than before. In 1837 no act of importance was passed through parliament ; and in June the session was interrupted by the death of the old king, which created the necessity for a general election. As sovereign Death of of the United Kingdom William was succeeded by his 'VViiham IV. niece, Victoria, the daughter of the late duke of Kent ; but as the Salic law prevailed in Hanover, the duke of Kent's next brother, the duke of Cumberland, became king of that country ; and the separation between the crowns was viewed by Englishmen without regret. CHIEF DA TES A.D. The Reform Bill passed, . . - . . 1832 Slavery abolished, Irish Church reformed, New Factory Act passed, . New Poor Law Act passed, Municipal Corporation Act, 1833 1833 1833 1834 1835 CHAPTER VII victoria: 1837-1865 Born 1819 ; married 1840, Albert of Saxe-Coburg. PART I CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES AND GOVERNMENTS TO 1865 France. Riissia. Prussia. Sardinia. Louis Philippe, Nicholas, William I. Victor Emmanuel, deposed 1848. d. 1855. 1861. 1849. Republic, 1848-1852. Alexauder ii.. Becomes King of ltalj% Napoleou ill.. d. 1881. 1861. Emperor, 1852-1870. Canada — The Chartists — The Corn Law Agitation — The Afghan, Scinde, and Sikh Wars — O'Connell— Repeal of the Corn Laws — The Year of Revolutions — The Russian War — Indian Mutiny— Parliamentary Reform — Foreign Affairs— Death of Palmerston. The new queen had only come of legal age on the twenty-fourth of May before the death of King William, and was little known to her subjects. The Queen's Her mother, the duchess of Kent, had with great judgment Education. j^^p^. j^^j, ^g much as possible from mixing in the society of her uncle's court, which was not desirable for a young girl. In her seclusion, however, at Kensington Palace nothing had been omitted by the duchess wliich could help to fit her daughter for the high place she was to occupy. Her intellect and her heart had been alike carefully trained. She had been brought up in habits of self-reliance, regularity and economy, and when she was called to the duties of her high office, she astonished all who had to deal with her by the way in which she performed her part. From the very beginning of her reign she showed herself determined to reign as a constitutional sovereign, and to make no distinction between parties. Such conduct marked a new departure in the conduct of the sovereign. George iii. had claimed the right to name his ministers, and George iv. and William had barely concealed their preferences ; but though the duke of Wellington foretold the 954 1837 Melbourne 955 extinction of the Tories, on the ground that 'he had no small talk, and Peel had no manners,' he found that the new sovereign was swayed by no such petty considerations, and made the wishes of the House of Commons the sole factor in deciding which party should hold office during her reio-n. Some of the credit for this should certainly be given to Lord Melbourne for it was he who instructed the young queen in the principles and practice of constitutional government. The queen was crowned on June 28, 1838 ; and, on February 10, 1840, she married her cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The marriage was one of affection. Prince Albert was a handsome man, of the highest character, distinguished bv tu r, • " ' o J 1 ne r^rince his devotion to art, music and literature. He made her Consort, an excellent husband, doing all he could to aid his wife in performing the duties of royalty, and in promoting the moral and intellectual well-being of the people among whom he came to live, till his early death in 1861. The separation of Hanover from the English crown had been received by all classes with relief ; but a much more serious loss than that of Hanover threatened to couple with disaster the accession of xhe state the new queen. Canada was thoroughly disaffected. Since °^ Canada. 1774, when Lord North's government had secured the French Catholics in the exercise of their laws and religion, the condition of the colony had been changed by the influx of large bodies of Englishmen and Scots- men, and of Loyalists from the United States, who left that country after its declaration of independence. These men were very different in character and objects from the old French settlers ; and to deal with the new state of affairs Pitt had, in 1791, passed the Canada Bill, by which Canada was divided into two parts — Upper and Lower. Lower Canada lay along the lower part of the river St. Lawrence, contained the towns of Montreal and Quebec, and was inhabited for the most part by a French population ; Upper Canada lay along the great lakes, and was inhabited exclusively by a British population. This arrangement was poli- tically bad, because it prevented any amalgamation between the French and English races, and was on that ground condemned by Fox ; and commercially unsound, because all the produce of Upper Canada passed through the ports of Lower Canada on its way to the sea. Besides this, there were constant difficulties in each colony between the governor and his executive council, and the legislative assembly which was elected by the colonists. In these circumstances the people of Lower Canada, and some of Upper Canada, were ready to revolt, and when the queen came to the throne many congregations showed their disaffection by leavmg the churches when her name was heard in the liturgy. Shortly after, armed rebellions broke out, headed in Lower Canada by Papineau, a 956 Victoria 1837 French Canadian, and in Upper Canada by M'Kenzie. Both outbreaks were put down without difficulty — in Lower Canada by Sir John Colborne, supported by the regular troops, and in Upper Canada by Major Head, with the assistance only of the local militia. It was, however, clear to all parties that a radical change was necessary in the government of Canada. Accordingly, the Melbourne ministry sent out the earl of Durham to effect a reconstruc- Durham's tion of the colouy. Lord Durham was an enthusiastic believer in constitutional principles, who had exercised great influence over Earl Grey, but had recently withdrawn from Lord Melbourne's ministry on the ground that it wanted energy. At first he was entrusted almost with a dictatorship in Canada, and used his power to the fullest extent. In accordance with Fox's views, he reversed the act of 1791, united the two colonies into one, and proposed a scheme of ministerial responsibility with a system of local government throughout the colony. These parts of his scheme were accepted and acted upon, and form the foundation of the present constitution of Canada proper ; and Lord Durham's scheme even prepared the way for such a federal union of the British North American colonies as has since been carried out. On the other hand, his method of dealing with the prisoners who had been arrested after the rebellions gave an opportunity of attacking him, of which the opposition in the Lower House, and his personal opponents in the Upper, were not slow to avail themselves. Had these prisoners been tried in Lower Canada, any ordinary jury would have been certain to have acquitted them. Some of them, however, had already confessed their guilt, and Lord Durham adopted the unconstitutional course of condemnina; them to exile in Bermuda, and denouncing death ao-ainst them in case they returned to Canada. Such action was clearly illegal, for Lord Durham had no authority over Bermuda ; and though it was approved in the colony, it was fiercely attacked in the British Parlia- ment, especially by Lord Brougham, who took this opportunity of revenging himself on Lord Melbourne for not having made him chancellor on his return to office in 1836. So weak was Lord Melbourne, that he threw over his high commissioner, and cancelled the ordinance of exile. Of course. Lord Durham resigned. On his return home he was coldly received by the government, but had some consolation in the friendly reception accorded to him by the mass of the Liberal party. Disappoint- ment, however, certainly injured his health, and though he lived long enough to know that his plans for the future of Canada would be carried into effect, he died in 1840, at the age of forty-eight. The weakness shown by the government in the case of Lord Durham 1838 , Melbourne 957 was characteristic of the Melbourne administration. Several causes combined to weaken their position. In the general election which fol- lowed the queen's accession, they lost a number of seats in weakness of England, and, had it not been for the successes of their sup- Melbourne, porter O'Connell in Ireland, would have been placed in a minority ; while the fact that the government was kept in power by Irish votes did them a great deal of harm in England. Another cause of the weakness of the government lay in the character of Lord Melbourne himself, who cared little about reforms of any kind ; and the impression gained ground in the country that little more progress was to be expected under his government than under a Conservative administration. This state of things was most exasperating to the ardent reformers, and resulted in the growth of agitation in the country. This agitation had two objects, and was conducted by two quite different classes of men — the manu- facturers, who wished to abolish the Corn Laws, and the Radicals, who wished for constitutional reform. The Radicals and the Whigs had looked on the Reform Bill of 1832 in very different lights. The official Whigs, by whom it had been passed, regarded it as a final measure of reform — at any rate for their time — and Lord John Russell had used language to People's Charter this eflect ; while the Radicals had regarded it as a mere instalment, which would pave the way for further constitutional changes. This was specially the feeling among the industrial classes, who saw votes given to the small shop-keeping class of o£10 householders, but denied to themselves ; and the feeling was specially bitter at places like Preston, where the artisans had actually been deprived of their votes by the new franchise. Accordingly, an agitation was got up for further constitutional changes, and the wishes of its leaders were embodied in the following demands : (1) Universal suffrage, on the ground that every grown-up man had a right to a vote ; (2) vote by ballot, to secure the voter from intimidation ; (3) annual parliaments, to secure the depend- ence of members on the wishes of their constituents ; (4) payment of members, in order to enable poor men to leave their work if elected ; (5) the abolition of the property qualification, by which no one could sit in parliament unless he had a certain amount of property (this rule, as a matter of fact, had long been evaded) ; and (6) equal electoral districts, in order to make the value of each man's vote as nearly equal as possible. This set of demands received the popular title of the People's Charter, and the demand for it received the support of O'Connell who said : ' There is your charter ; agitate for it, and never be content with anything less.' 958 Victoria 1838 The advocates of these changes, who were called Chartists, were of two kinds : the moral force Chartists, and the physical force Chartists ; the The former of whom were in favour of constitutional agitation Chartists, ^j^jy^ ^j^g latter of a resort to force. The chief leader of the former were a member of parliament, Feargus O'Connor, a man of great natural eloquence and energy, whose position gave him the greatest prominence in the eyes of outsiders ; Stephens, a Nonconformist minister ; and Henry Hetherington, Henry Vincent, and Lovett, all working men. They endeavoured to spread their views by means of public meetings and by newspapers, the chief of which was The Northern Star, owned by Feargus O'Connor. The physical force Chartists were composed of the most ignorant of O'Connor's followers ; they were regarded as dangerous to the cause by the leaders, and their only attempt at insurrection was a complete failure. This rising took place at Newport, the centre of the mining district of South Wales, and was headed by Mr. Frost, formerly a magistrate. It was arranged that the miners should march upon the town in three bodies, capture the town-hall, and stop the mail to Birming- ham, whose non-arrival was to be the signal for a general rising. The plan, however, was badly carried out ; Mr. Phillips, the mayor of Newport, defended the town-hall with resolution, and the attempt was a complete failure. Frost and other ringleaders were arrested, and sentenced to transportation. This had the effect of completely crushing the hopes of the physical force Chartists ; but the other branch of the agitation was continued for years, and roused great enthusiasm among the unrepresented classes. Of the Anti-Corn Law agitation the centre was Manchester. Between 1826 and 1836 little attention had been given to the Corn Laws, but in that year the depression of trade recalled attention to the The Anti- „ , , • ,. , -, • . • n • i i Corn Law fact that the price of bread was artihcially raised, and an eague. association was formed in London for the purpose of agitating against the Corn Laws. The agitation was soon transferred to Lancashire where great distress existed, and the lead in this movement was then taken up by Kichard Cobden, who had hitherto been chiefly known as a successful calico printer. Cobden, however, soon showed that he was much more than this. In the way of his business he had visited all European countries, the East, and even Canada and the United States ; and wherever he had gone, he had shown a wonderful capacity for gaining information as to the political and social condition of the countries which he visited. The information thus gained, Cobden employed to form and illustrate his political ideas ; and when he entered on the Anti- Corn Law acritation he brought to bear on 1839 Melbourne 959 it an amount of political and economic knowledge, and a wealth of illus- tration, which, combined with a lucid and persuasive style, placed him in the front rank of the movement either as a writer or a speaker. His chief colleague was John Bright, a Rochdale manufacturer, and a member of the Society of Friends, who brought to the aid of ^^^^^*- the Anti-Corn Law agitation not, indeed, so much information as Cobden, but a marvellous command of the English language, and a capacity for moving the hearts of his hearers which made him, for many years, one of the greatest political forces in the country. It was not, however, till 1841 that Cobden made his way into parliament, and John Bright was not elected a member till 1843. Under Lord Melbourne the Anti-Corn Law agitation was represented in parliament by Charles Villiers, who, year after year, brought up a motion for the abolition of the Corn Laws, and whose importance increased in proportion to the development of the agitation which Cobden and Bright were conducting in the country. While the country was thus being agitated by Chartism on the one hand and the Anti-Corn Law movement on the other, the Melbourne ministry, coldly supported by its friends, and attacked with renewed vigour by its opponents, became weaker than Jamaica ever. At last matters came to a crisis over the Jamaica Bill. Since the abolition of slavery the management of the West Indian Islands had been a matter of great difficulty. This was especially the case in Jamaica, which possessed a legislative assembly and the form of constitutional government. The planters would not tamely submit to allow their emancipated slaves to become their political equals, and did all they could to defeat the spirit of the recent legislation. The governor and his council supported the law, while the legislative assembly sup- ported the planters. The only way out of the difficulty appeared to the Melbourne government to be to suspend the constitution of Jamaica for five years, and a bill for this purpose was brought into parliament. For a Liberal government to suspend the constitution of a self-governing colony was obviously to expose itself to a great deal of invidious criticism. The bill was attacked both by the Tories and by the Radicals, and eventually the second reading was only carried by five votes. On this Lord Melbourne sent in his resignation, and Sir Robert Peel attempted to form a ministry, but was met by an unexpected difficulty. For many years it had been the practice that the personal ^^^ ^^^ attendants of the king— the members of his household— chamber ^ 1 • • . J? question. should be of the same way of thinking as the nunistry ot the day, and so when a minister resigned the household resigned too. This practice had presented no difficulty in the case of a king, but it 960 Victoria 1839 was not so easy in the case of a young queen, who naturally objected to the breaking up of her family circle. Lord Melbourne had given the most confidential places in the household to ladies closely connected with his government — such as the marchioness of Normanby, wife of the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and a sister of Lord Morpeth, his chief secretary — and these ladies were in the closest attendance on the queen. As Sir Robert Peel proposed to change the Irish policy of the government, he felt it very awkward that they should have the ear of the queen, but had not sufficient tact to make clear to her the real object of his wishes. As the queen objected to a complete change of the household, Peel declined to go on with the negotiations, and Lord Melbourne resumed office. As, however, he was said to have crept back to power 'behind the petticoats of the ladies of the bedchamber,' he gained little advantage for his party, and though he held office for two more years, the Whigs were weaker than ever. Several events of importance, however, occurred during the latter part of the Melbourne administration. First of these was the war with China. The First This contest, into which the ministry were ignominiously China War. (dragged by the activity of the Indian opium merchants and of the commissioner in China, Captain Elliott, was really fought to compel the Chinese to admit the free entry of opium into their ports. As the Chinese authorities wished, for reasons of health and morality, to check the use of opium, the action of our officials in forcing it upon them was perfectly inexcusable ; and the ministry laid down the right principle in declaring that ' Her Majesty's government could not interfere for the purpose of enabling British subjects to violate the laws of the country with which they trade.' Unfortunately the distance between England and China prevented the ministry from giving practical effect to its excellent principles ; and when hostilities had once begun there seemed no alternative but to go on. The Chinese were easily defeated, and were forced to grant the demands of the British government, the chief of which were the cession of the island of Hong-Kong in perpetuity, the opening of five ports to our traders, and the payment of four and a half million pounds for our expenses and losses. Much more creditable to the government was the adoption of Rowland Hill's scheme of a penny postage. Though great progress had been made The Penny in the delivery of the mails since Pitt's time, the condition Postage. pf ^YiQ post was far behind the requirements of the country. The cost of a letter sent from London to Reading was 7d. ; to Brighton, 8d. ; to Aberdeen, Is. 3kl. ; and to Belfast, Is. 4d. This was paid by the receiver of the letter. The result of this system was, first, to put a 1839 Melbourne 961 heavy fine on correspondence, for the cost of transmitting letters was nothing like that charged by the post-office ; and also to cause a large part of the correspondence of the country to be conducted through private hands, or to be smuggled through the post-office by various devices. Rowland Hill showed that the cost of transmitting letters did not vary with the distance, and proposed to charge a uniform rate of Id., to be paid for in advance by a stamp. The plan was investigated by a parliamentary committee ; and, in 1839, adopted by the government in spite of the opposition of the post-office officials, who feared that the work of the post-office would be rendered overwhelming by the increase in the number of letters, and of some politicians who feared to face the loss to the revenue owing to the diminished charges. Both proved to be wrong. The post-office was equal to the new^ demands. The revenue derived from the transmission of letters, though at first diminished, soon recovered itself ; while the enormous increase in the number of letters sent showed what a boon had been conferred on the community by the change. Especially great was the boon conferred on business men who wished to advertise their goods, and on politicians who desired to disseminate their ideas ; and such movements as the Anti-Corn Law agitation gained enormously by the facilities for communication aiibrded by Sir Rowland Hill's scheme. In 1839 the Melbourne ministry made a very important change in the administration of the Education Grant. Until that year the J20,000 voted in 1833 had been administered by the treasury ; but now National the government raised the grant to £30,000 and created an Education. Education Department, consisting of the president of the council, the vice-president, and four other members. This body, of whom the vice- president was the working member and practically minister for educa- tion, established a system of inspection of all schools receiving government grants, and thus laid the foundation of the existing system of elementary education. The establishment of this committee was stoutly opposed by Peel, Lord Stanley, and Mr. Gladstone, who was then regarded as the ' hope of the stern, unbending Tories.' On the other hand, it was sup- ported by O'Connell. Considering how important is the growth of the British Colonial Empire, it is'unfortunate that there are so few striking events in the history of the colonies. For the most part their progress has Cohjnial been due to the efforts of individuals, the results of which '^ ^''y- have been from time to time recognised by the government. Neverthe- less, during these years steady progress was being made in occupymg the lands which had been secured to us. In 1836 South Australia was 3 p 962 Victoria 1839 first colonised, its capital taking the name of Adelaide from the queen of William iv. The next year Natal was founded by Dutch settlers, who had made their way north from the Cape of Good Hope. At first they were independent ; but in 1841 Natal was placed under English rule. In 1839 we occupied Aden, which is to the entrance to the Red Sea what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean. The same year New Zealand was first permanently colonised. The principal act of parliament passed during Lord Melbourne's second administration was the Irish Municipal Reform Bill. This measure, which had for six years been a bone of contention Municipal between the Upper and Lower Houses, was eventually e orm. ^jased upon a compromise. Fifty-eight corporations were abolished, and ten were reconstituted. Besides this, parliament was engaged in a most important struggle for the right of printing what it chose in parliamentary reports. In 1840 the firm of Stockdale brought stockd ale's ^^ action for libel against Messrs. Hansard, the parlia- ^^^^- mentary printers, and obtained a verdict for libel in the Court of Queen's Bench. Parliament supported their printers ; and, after a long contest, the law court was compelled to give Avay. An act of parliament was then passed to prevent such actions being brought for the future. The principle at stake was most important, for the publica- tion of full parliamentary papers was the great means of educating the public as to the merits of any controversy in which parliament was engaged, and the position was well stated by Sir Robert Peel when he cited the case of the publication of the evidence collected by the com- mission on the slave trade, and said : ' Do you believe that slavery would have been abolished unless we had published to the world the abuses and horrors of slavery ? ' On the merits of the Stockdale case both parties were at one ; but the weakness of the Whigs was steadily increasing, and at length in 1841 General Sir Robert Peel carried a direct vote of want of confidence Election, ^j^ ^-j^g Melbourne administration by 312 votes to 311. On this. Lord Melbourne advised the queen to dissolve parliament, and a general election followed. The result was highly favourable to the Conservatives, who came back to Westminster with a majority of 81 votes, counting 367 against the Liberals' 286. Their success was owing in general to the progress of the Conservative reaction, which had set in Resi na- ^^^^^ *^^ passing of the Reform Bill, and in particular to tion of the financial reputation of Sir Robert Peel. On the residt ^' of the general election being known. Lord Melbourne re- signed office, and retired into private life. The fall of the Melbourne 1842 Melhmirne — Peel 963 ministry brings to a close the period which succeeded the passing of the Eeform Bill of 1832. Many useful measures had been passed, but the enthusiasm for reform had died out, and the natural reaction which always follows a period of unusual activity had set in. Sir Eobert Peel formed his ministry from two sources — the old Tories and the Whigs who had dissented from Lord Grey on his Irish ecclesias- tical policy. The duke of Wellington sat in the cabinet without any special office, and led the ministerial party Second in the House of Lords ; Lord Aberdeen was secretary for ^^"^^^'"y- foreign affairs ; Lord Stanley was colonial secretary ; and Sir James Graham home secretary. Of the junior members of the government no one was more important than Mr. Gladstone, who was first vice-presi- dent, and afterwards president, of the Board of Trade. He had no seat in the cabinet, but to no one did Peel look for more assistance in the financial policy on which he so much relied for the strengthening of his position in the country. Generally speaking, Peel's policy was to sub- stitute direct for indirect taxation. In 1842 he reduced the customs duties on many articles, and substituted an income tax for a limited period ; and in 1845 he took the duty off no fewer than 430 articles, and substituted for them an income tax for three years. This was a step in the direction of free trade ; but at the general election the maintenance of the Corn Laws had been part of the Con- servative programme, and had gained them the votes of The Corn the agricultural interest. Peel, however, made a change in ^^ws. the method of calculating the duty by introducing the Sliding Scale. By this arrangement, when British corn was selling at 51s. a quarter, foreign corn could be introduced at a duty of 20s. ; and the duty regularly decreased till, when British corn was at 73s., the duty on foreign corn fell to Is. This method led to a great deal of gambling on the Corn Exchange, the price of corn being artificially raised in order to lower the duty on foreign corn, while of course it did not satisfy Cobden and Bright, who continued their agitation with more energy than ever. During the year 1842 the chief attention of the country was given to affairs in India, where the East India Company had engaged in war with Dost Mahomed, Ameer of Cabul. Since the Mahratta War ^^^.^^ of 1803 the rule of the East India Company had been rapidly extended. In 1818 the Pindarees, a set of armed robbers who infested the territory of the Great Mogul, were put down and the central provinces brought under the direct rule of the company. In 1817 trouble began with the Peishwah of Poonah, the nominal head of the Mahrat- tas. For above a year the Peishwah maintained himself in the jungle, 964 Victoria 1839 but was beaten whenever he ventured to attack the company's troops. Eventually he was forced to surrender, and was placed by the company at Bithoor, near Cawnpore, where he died in 1853. In 1819 the island of Sino'apore, which commands the Straits of Malacca, was annexed. In 1824 occurred the first Burmese war, which resulted in the cession of Eano-oon and Lower Burmah, leaving Upper Burmah, with its capital of Ava or Mandalay, independent. In 1826 a usurper murdered the o-uardian of the infant Rajah of Bhurtpore, seized the fortress, which was one of the strongest in India, and bade defiance to British authority. A powerful army, commanded by Lord Combermere, the best of Wellinoton's cavalry officers, marched upon the fortress, and, after a reo'ular siege, captured it and restored the infant Rajah to the throne. In 1833 the charter of the East India Company expired, and, on application being made to parliament for its renewal, several important changes were made. The accessions of territory made since of the Com- Pitt's time had resulted in the company becoming more P^"^' than ever the rulers of India ; while it had begun to be recognised that the commercial privileges of the company were a bar to the development of our trade with the East. Accordingly, the monopoly of the trade with the East, hitherto enjoyed by the company, was abolished, and the duties of the company were confined to the business of ruling only. In order to make the governor- general and council more efficient, a lawyer, appointed by the crown, was made a permanent member of council, and the first appointment fell to Macaulay, who had so much distinguished himself in the debates on the Reform Bill. Meanwhile, the advances of the company had brought it into contact with the rulers of Scinde, of the Punjab, and of the more distant state of Afghanistan. This state, which lies beyond the Hindoo Afghanistan. , <> ^ • ■ ^ Khoosh, on the upper waters oi the river, contams the great cities of Cabul, Ghuznee, Candahar, and Herat. In 1837 the greater part of it was ruled by Dost Mahomed of Cabul and his brothers, who had expelled the former Ameer, Shah Sujah ; and the exiled sovereign was living in Bengal, under the protection of the British. Meanwhile, the advance of the Russians in Central Asia had begun to fill the company with alarm, and there was considerable apj)rehension lest Dost Mahomed should make friends with them and admit them into India through the great passes which his territory commanded. This fear was increased when the Persians, who were supposed to be instigated by Russia, laid siege to Herat, then ruled by a relation of Shah Sujah, and were only prevented from taking it by the bravery and skill of an English officer, Eldred Pottinger. At this time, Alexander Burnes, who 1842 Melbourne — Peel 965 believed Dost Mahomed to be friendly to the British, was at his court ; but in 1838, when the Russians also sent an envoy, the Ameer did not feel strong enough to dismiss him. Accordingly, in spite of Burnes' outbreak views, the governor-general declared war against Dost Ma- of War. homed, and British troops captured Candahar, Ghuznee, and Cabul. Dost Mahomed surrendered, and Shah Sujah was established as Ameer. It soon became evident, however, that the new Ameer was intensely unpopular. A rising took place, in which Burnes, who was regarded by the Afghans as a traitor, was murdered, and the British force, under General Elphinstone and the Commissioner, Sir William Macnaghten, "^^oach! ^Hydrabad ^J-^ c/i n d e 0\u d e was besieged in its cantonments. The military arrangements were grossly mismanaged ; the houses which contained the provisions were captured, and the British force, instead of fighting its way out, even at the risk of certain death, agreed to a disgraceful treaty with Akbar Khan, Dost Mahomed's son, who had placed himself at the head of the insurgents. In the course of a parley with Akbar Macnaghten was murdered, Akbar saying to him, ' So you are the fellow who came to take our country.' Then General Elphinstone, who, being old and ill, was quite past his work, agreed that the British force, which for the most part consisted of Sepoys, should be escorted to the frontier, Dost Mahomed restored, and a number of British officers handed over as hostages. 966 Vidmia 1839 Even this ignominious arrangement was not carried out. As the army made its way through the Koord Cabul Pass in January, 1842, it was attacked by the mountaineers, and when it emerged, after terrible loss. The Re- Ak])ar agreed to save the married women and their hus- treat. bands. The rest then marched on, only to encounter the wild tribes of the Jugdulluk Pass. These completed their destruction ; and only one European, Dr. Brydon, reached Jellalabad, where he found General Sale holding out at the entrance of the Khyber Pass. Shortly after the withdrawal of tlie British Shah Sujah was murdered. This disastrous affixir, more disgraceful to our army than anything which had ever happened in India, was a terrible blow to our prestige, and had not immediate steps been taken to restore our military ascendency, a general rising in India would probably have followed. Fortunately, General Siege of Nott held his own at Gandahar ; and General Sale resisted Jellalabad. every effort to capture Jellalabad. The British, therefore, possessed two roads into Afghanistan ; and, advancing from these points, General Pollock marching from Jellalabad, and General Nott from Gandahar, made their way to Cabul, captured the town, and destroyed „ the Bala Hissar or citadel, as a punishment for the murder Re-conquest of Afghan- of Burnes and Macnaghten. The victory of Pollock was followed by a proclamation of the governor-general. Lord Ellenborough, that the British would not force a sovereign on a reluctant people. Dost Mahomed was, of course, restored, so that no advantage whatever was effected by the war ; and Burnes' declaration that the true jjolicy of the company Avas to keep on good terms with Dost Mahomed completely made good. The war in Afghanistan led to a quarrel with the Ameers of Scinde, through whose territory our troops had been allowed to march on The Scinde their way to Afghanistan. Encouraged by the British ^^^^- disasters, they ventured to break their engagements, and in 1843 war broke out. The British general. Sir Charles Napier, defeated the Ameers, after severe fighting, at Meeanee and Hyderabad, and Scinde was then added to the presidency of Bombay. Hardly had Scinde been brought into order when trouble broke out in the Punjab or ' land of five rivers.' This district which comprises the The Sikh basins of the Jhelum, Chenab, Eavee, Sutlej, and the middle Wars. course of the Indus, was in the hands of the Sikhs. This name means ' disciple,' and was adopted by the followers of Nanuk, a religious leader who attracted followers both from the Hindoos and from the Ma- homedans. At the beginning of this century the Sikhs found a great ruler in Runjeet Singh, who made himself master of the Punjab, and maintained 1843 Melbourne — Peel 967 it by the niiglit of the Sikh army, which styled itself ' the army of God and the Sikh Khalsa.' Throughout his life Runjeet Singh was on excellent terms with the British ; but on his death in 1839 the Punjab fell into hope- less confusion, and his army of 60,000 men became completely unmanage- able. At length it invaded Hindostan, came into collision with the British army, and was driven back across the Sutlej in the battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. Next year the invasion was renewed ; but the Sikhs were again beaten at Aliwal and the terrible battle of Sobraon. Runjeet Singh's widow was then left to govern the country in the name of his son Dhuleep Singh. This arrangement, however, failed. In 1848 the Sikh army again took the field, came very near beating a British force under Lord Gough in the battle of Chillian wallah ; but was eventually utterly routed at Goojerat. After this the Punjab was annexed by the Company and organised by British officials, of whom Sir Henry and John Lawrence were the most distinguished. Soon after taking office Peel found himself called on to deal with a Repeal agitation. This had been begun by O'Connell directly after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Bill, and reached its The Repeal culmination in 1843. O'Connell was a born agitator ; he ^g'tation. knew how to stir all the passions of his countrymen, and he made it his great object to rouse their hostility to 'the Saxon,' by which he meant the British connection with Ireland. This action of his did infinite harm, as for many years the race hostility in Ireland had been dying out ; but for his immediate purpose it was extremely successful, and all over the country gigantic meetings were held in favour of Repeal. At last he declared that 1843 should be the Repeal year. It was his practice to hold his meetings at great historical places, such as the hill of Tara ; and in October 1843 he summoned one to meet at Clontarf. The very day before the meeting the government forbade it. O'Connell, forced to choose between obedience to the law and armed resistance, gave way, and to the amazement of his followers, issued a proclamation ordering that the meeting should not take place. This was an anti-climax ; the mass of his followers had believed that O'Connell had been leading up to insurrection, and when they found that he had no intention of fighting, the majority abandoned the movement in disgust. The power of O'Connell, therefore, was gone, and it was probably a mistake of the government to indict him for high treason. He was prosecuted, however, and convicted before a jury composed entirely of Protestants. Such a conviction might easily have restored his popularity in Ireland ; but an appeal being made against it on the ground of irregularity, it was fortu- nately set aside by the law lords of the Upper House in 1844. O'Connell 968 Vidcnia 1843 himself recognised that his reign was over ; his health broke down, and he died in Italy in 1847. Before O'Connell's death Peel had done something by way of conciliat- insr the Irish Roman Catholics. Until 1795 the Irish Roman Catholic priests had, for the most part, been educated at the Roman Maynooth Catholic seminary of St. Omer in France, but when this was destroyed in the course of the French Revolution, a similar college had been set up in Ireland, and since 1795 had been in receipt of a small government grant. In 1845 Peel passed a measure for increasing this grant, and was strongly supported by Macaulay, who had been a member of Lord Melbourne's government. In consequence of this measure, Mr. Gladstone resigned his post in the government. He was not now opposed to the Maynooth grant, but he had written a book called The State in its Belations with the Church, in which he had expressed himself opposed to such grants. Had he retained office he was afraid that he Avould be thought to have changed his mind for the sake of keeping his place ; accordingly he resigned his post, and supported tlie government as a private member. In 1843 an important crisis occurred in the religious life of Scotland. Ever since 1712, when, in opposition to the feeling of the Scottish ^, „ . , church, the British Parliament had restored the ancient The Scottish ' Free rights of the lay patrons of Scottish jjarishes, there had been constant friction between the patrons, who claimed to appoint the ministers, and the parishioners, who demanded the right to refuse to accept the minister so appointed. In 1843, after an unpopular minister had been presented to the parish of Auchterarder, and placed in possession of the manse, and a minister presented to the parish of Strath- bogie had obtained an injunction from a civil court, requiring the Pres- bytery to take him on trial, no less than five hundred ministers and a large proportion of their parishioners, headed by Thomas Chalmers, left the Established Church, and organised the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Eight years later, on census Sunday 1851, 228,758 persons attended the morning service of the Established Church, and 253,482 that of the Free Church. England, too, was being stirred by a religious movement. This was set on foot by a small circle of Oxford men, most of them connected ^, with Oriel College, from whom it is generally known as the The ^ ' sr. J Oxford ' Oxford Movement,' led by Keble, Newman, and Pusey. Its beginning is usually dated from 1833, when it received a special impetus from the preaching by Keble of an assize sermon at Oxford on the action of the Irish Church commission in dealing with the 1845 Peel . 969 Irish Church. The general object of these men was to stimulate the spiritual life of the country, to lay stress upon the continuity which existed between the Church of England and the primitive church, and to protest against the Liberalism of the day, which they thought looked on the church too much in the light of a department of the State. Many of their particular views were enunciated in a series of Tracts for the Times, and Newman, as vicar of the University Church of St. Mary, acquired by his preaching immense influence over the undergraduates. By degrees, however, Newman found himself more and more out of accord with the formularies of the Church of England, and in 1845 he joined the Church of Rome. In this he was followed by many others ; but Pusey and Keble still adhered to the English Church, and the movement thus initiated has been of immense importance in forming the views and conduct of a large section both of the clergy and laity of the present day. Between 1841 and 1845 comj)aratively little progress had been made by the Anti-Corn Law agitation. It was fairly strong out of doors, and in 1843 Cobden and Bright had begun a series of meetings in Covent The Anti- Garden Theatre which attracted a good deal of attention ; Corn Law but in parliament it was still very weak, and Mr. Villiers ^^S"^- found his annual motion supported by a mere handful of members. No one expected any immediate change in the fiscal policy of the country, for though, in 1842, Peel had distinctly declared that he was in favour of the principle of ' buying in the cheapest market and selling in the dearest,' he had at the same time declared that, in his opinion, corn and sugar were exceptions to the general rule. The attitude of the country towards the Corn Laws depended largely upon the harvest of the year, and during the first years of Peel's ministry the harvests were uniforndy good, and the question of the admittance of foreign corn did not seem to the public very important. However, in 1845, a change came. The harvest was worse than had been known for years. In England this was very serious, but still more so in Ireland, where the a Bad vast majority of the population lived wholly upon potatoes harvest. —the cheapest vegetable food. When the potato crop was ruined by the continuous rains, the Irish peasants had nothing to fall back uj^on, and famine stared them in the face. Confronted with such a disaster. Peel decided that something must be done, and proposed to the cabinet to declare the ports free l)y an order in council, at the same time telling his colleagues that if the ports were once free it would be very difficult to close them again. To this step, however, the duke of Wellington and Lord Stanley refused to agree, and the proposal was consequently dropped. 970 Victoria 1845 Hitherto the Whigs had been as little in favour of free trade in corn as the Tories. Lord Melbourne had declared that ' of all the maddest things he ever heard of the proposal to abolish the Corn Edinburgh Laws was the maddest' ; and Lord John Russell, though ^^^^^- more liberal on this subject than Lord Melbourne, had never gone further than a proposal of a fixed duty of eight shillings per quarter. But as soon as it was known that the cabinet would not open the ports, Lord John Russell wrote a letter from Edinburgh, known as the Edinburgh Letter, announcing his unqualified conversion to the principle of free trade in corn, and urging his constituents to move the government in the same direction by 'petition, by address, by remons- trance.' Between them, the famine and the Edinburgh Letter forced Peel's hand, and he at once recommended the cabinet to call parliament together with a view to the speedy repeal of the Corn Laws. To this policy the Duke of Wellington agreed ; but as Lord Stanley refused to consent to it. Peel thought it w^ould be difficult to carry the measure against the influence that Lord Stanley represented, and sent in his resignation. Accordingly the queen asked Lord John Russell, whose letter had made him the leader of the Whig Free-traders, to form a ministry ; to this Lord John Russell agreed, but met with an insuperable difficulty in composing his cabinet, for Earl Grey, the son of the former prime minister, refused to take office if, as Russell intended, Lord Palmerston was to be foreign secretary. Grey was also strongly of opinion that a seat in the cabinet ought to be given to Mr. Cobden ; and on neither point would Lord John Russell give way. His attempt, therefore, to form a ministry failed, and Peel was accordingly requested to take back his resignation. This he did. Lord Stanley alone of the cabinet refused to help him, and his place was taken by Mr. Gladstone. In January 1846 parliament met. Peel at once introduced his Corn Laws measure, and eventually carried it by the aid of his own repealed. personal followers, the Whigs and the Free-traders. By the act so passed, the duty on corn was to be reduced rapidly during the next three years, till it stood at a registration duty of one shilling. The effect of this was at once to lower the price of corn. Had this occurred without any compensating circumstances, it would have had the efi'ect of lowering rents in proportion, and of making bankrupt all farmers who held their lands upon leases. Land would also have been throw^n out of cultivation wholesale, and thousands of agricultural labourers deprived of employment. As it w^as, the result was not at the time so disastrous to agriculture as was feared, for the fall in the price of corn was coincident with a rapid increase in the prosperity of our manufacturing industries, 1846 Peel 971 a growth of the town population, and a consequent increase in the demand for meat, milk, and straw, which could not then be obtained from abroad. It was, however, certain that in the long run agriculture would suffer, as soon as American corn began to compete on a large scale with that grown in the United Kingdom. This began to be the case between 1870 and 1880, when the opening up of the prairie lands and the development of the American railway system brought immense quantities of American corn into the market. Prices then fell so rapidly that wheat-growing became almost unremunerative ; and the condition of agn-iculture, now that wheat is selling at 20s. a quarter, has become one of the most difficult problems of British statesmanship. It was not to be expected that the representatives of the agricultural interest would readily forgive Peel for having repealed the Corn Laws, and the country gentry found a vigorous champion in i->- --T-x- T Tv/r-r-v- 1- 1- in 1 Disraeli. JBenjamm Disraeli. Mr. Disraeh was not himself a member of the landed aristocracy. His fiither was a literary man of Jewish descent, and he himself had made an early reputation by some brilliant novels. Born in 1805, he entered parliament in 1837 as a Tory, and up to 1846 had not met with much success — indeed, his first speech was laughed down. But when Peel announced his intention of repealing the Corn Laws, he stepped forward as the chanii3ion of the country gentle- men, and immediately took a leading position in parliament. Disraeli had already shown himself a master of phrases. He it was who described the Tories under Peel as ' having caught the Whigs l)athing, and stolen their clothes.' He had denounced Peel's government as an ' organised hypocrisy,' and Peel himself as a man of ' sublime mediocrity,' and he now employed all his genius to punish Peel for what the Tories regarded as his second betrayal — the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act being the first. Disraeli, however, was not at first strong enough to be the nominal leader of the Protectionists. That post was given to Lord George Bentinck, a son of the duke of Portland, whose position and character secured him respect, and who had considerable skill in organ- ising his followers ; but after Bentinck's death in 1848 Disraeli became the nominal as well as the real leader of his party in the Lower House. Meanwhile, the failure of the potato crop had reduced Ireland to the most terrible condition. The reduction in the price of corn could do little for people who lived upon potatoes, and whose crop The Irish had fiiiled. The peasants were dying by thousands, and all Fa"^!"^- the efforts of public and private charity seemed inadequate to stem the disaster. In this state of affairs it was not to be expected that there would be no increase of crime among the panic-stricken people, and to 972 Victoria 1846 meet this Peel brought forward an Arms Act. This was naturally objected to by the Irish members, and by many of the English Liberals, Fall of and the Protectionists saw that if they too voted against it Peel. pggj would be defeated. It was their opportunity for revenge, and they took it. Peel was defeated by a majority of 73, and at once resigned office. He was succeeded by Lord John Russell, who made Lord Palmerston foreign secretary. Earl Grey now consented to be colonial and w^ar Russell's secretary ; the earl of Clarendon was f>resident of the Board Ministry. ^^ Trade, and Macaulay w^as paymaster of the forces. At home the chief attention of the new government was given to Ireland, where death and emigration were decimating the country. To relieve the distress the sum of ,£10,000,000 Avas voted by parliament, but the amount was cpiite inadequate. Between 1846 and 1850 the poimlation diminished by nearly two millions. To cope with disorder the Russell ministry, though they had voted against Peel's Arms Act, were compelled to liring in a similar Act of their own. This they passed by the mag- nanimous aid of Sir Robert Peel, Avho declared that ' the best reparation that could be made to the last government would be to assist the present government in passing this law.' The events of the famine had brought into prominent notice the poverty of many of the Irish landlords, who wdth the best will in the . w^orld were able to do very little for their tenantry at such cumbered a crisis, and who were at all times prevented by want of capital from carrying out the improvements which were needed for the development of the country. Their estates being as a rule strictly entailed and heavily mortgaged, escape from their j)osition without the aid of Parliament seemed imj^ossible. Accordingly, with a view both of aiding the existing race of impecunious landlords to pay off their liabilities by selling their lands, and to introduce a class of land- lords with more enterprise and capital, an Encumbered Estates Court was set up by act of Parliament, and through its agency a large number of Irish estates passed into the hands of Englishmen and Scotsmen, who were often induced to -purchase by being told that the rents were too low, and might easily be raised. In 1847 a fiu'ther step w^as made in limiting the hours of labour. By Fielden's Act the work of those under eighteen was limited to ten hours a day, and eight on Saturdays. As this carried with it a Factory similar limitation on the w^ork of adult hands, whose work could not be carried on without that of young persons under eighteen, it practically amounted to a ten hours' day. This act was 1848 Peel — Russell 973 opposed by Cobden and Bright, and what had come to be called the Manchester School, but it was supported by the Protectionists. The year 1848 is memorable for the outbreak on the continent of a series of revolutions. These began in France in February by the overthrow of Louis Philippe, who took refuge in this country. His a Year of government had never had a firm hold on France ; at the first Revolutions, breath of revolution it succumbed, and its place Avas taken by a republic. The movement then spread to Germany. There it took two forms : the one the demand of the people of individual states for constitutional government ; the other, a desire for a union of all Germany on the basis of nationality. The former of these had some success, but the time had not come for the latter, and Frederick William iv. of Prussia declined the imperial crown when off'ered to him, on the ground that the states were not unanimous. In Austria, on the other hand, the national movement took the form of a rising of the Hungarians, under Louis Kossuth, against Austrian rule. The Hungarians fought admirably, and enlisted the sympathy of Europe ; but in 1849 the Eussians intervened, and the rebellion was crushed out. Kossuth and the other leaders escaped into Turkey, and thence made their way, by way of England, to America. In Italy Mazzini, who had long been advocating an Italian republic, and the expulsion of the Austrians, organised a popular rising, and Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, led an army against the Austrians in Lombardy. Eventually both were defeated. Radetzky beat the Sardinians at the battle of Novara, and though Mazzini succeeded for a time in establishing a republic at Rome, it was put down by French republican troops, and the rule of the pope restored. In England much sympathy was aroused by these events, but she had her own share of difficulties. These took the form of a rebellion in Ireland, and a Chartist demonstration in London. After ^^ O'Connell lost influence in 1843, the leadership of the Repeal ' United agitation^which in their hands was simply a movement for Irish independence— fell into the hands of a number of enthusiastic young men, of whom John Mitchel, Thomas Francis Meagher, and Charles Gavan Duffy, and Smith O'Brien, an older man and member of parlia- ment, were the most remarkable. Mitchel was the editor of the United Irishman, a paper he had founded in consequence of the moderation of O'Connell's organ, the Nation, and in it he deliberately attempted to goad his countrymen into insurrection, and explained week by week the best methods of attacking the British soldiery. To meet him the government passed an act by which writing and speaking with a view to excite sedition was constituted a crime under the new name of 974 Victoria 1848 treason felony. Under this act Mitchel was convicted and transported. He expected that an attempt wonld be made to rescue him ; but no such attempt was made. Shortly afterwards, Smith O'Brien and Meagher, who had also been tried but acquitted, drifted into, rather than deliberately engaged in, an insurrectionary movement. This outbreak was never serious — an attack upon some police who had taken refuge in a cottage at Ballingarry, was its greatest achievement ; and their follow- ing having broken up, O'Brien and Meagher were quietly arrested. They were condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted into transportation. O'Brien was ultimately allowed to return to Ireland, and Meagher escaped from Tasmania and made his way to the United States. The insurrection showed the unpractical nature of the Young Ireland movement, and for some time the spirit of insurrection seemed to have died out in Ireland. In England the Chartist movement was even less serious. Encouraged by the success of the Parisians in effecting an overthrow of the govern- The ment, and quite oblivious of the fact that whereas Louis Chartists. Philippe's government was extremely weak, the English ministry was supported in maintaining law and order by the vast majority of the people of the country, they determined to show their strength by holding a great meeting on April 10, 1848, and marching in proces- sion to Westminster, for the purpose of presenting a monster petition to parliament. A quarter of a million persons were, it was announced, to take part in the procession, and the petition was said to be signed by more than five and a half million persons. The anticipation of the great day roused much apprehension among the middle classes. The govern- ment, however, was thoroughly prepared. As commander-in-chief, the duke of Wellington had garrisoned the Post-office, the Tower, the Bank, and other important buildings. Soldiers under cover, but perfectly ready for action, held the approaches to the bridges, and no less than 170,000 special constables had been sworn in; In face of such prepara- tions, and the certainty that any rash movement would lead to a terrible and useless loss of life^ Feargus O'Connor advised the Chartists not to march in procession. As in the case of O'Connell, this advice was the deathblow of the movement. Not more than twenty-five thousand persons, spectators included, attended the meeting, and no procession was formed. The great petition when presented overwhelmed its authors with ridicule. It was found that there were less than two million signatures all told ; that sheets and sheets of names had been written by the same person, and among the signatures were such obvious forgeries as those of the queen, Prince Albert, the duke of Wellington and Sir 1851 Russell 975 Robert Peel, to say nothing of Punch, Davy Jones, ' Cheeks the Marine,' and other fictitious characters. Ridicule, however, would not have proved the end of Chartism, had not other causes operated as M^ell. causes of The legislation that followed the Reform Bill was beginnino- ^^^ disap- to tell. The strong feeling excited by the new Poor Law Chartism. was dying out. Projects of parliamentary reform were being taken up by responsible statesmen,and the abolition of the Corn Laws had been followed by a great increase in the material prosperity of the artisan classes. In 1849 the system of local self-government, which had been intro- duced in Canada in 1840, was extended to the Australian colonies. The method was based on a division of political power between the mother-country and the colony. All strictly Seif-Govern- local matters, with control over customs duties, the militia, "^^"*- and the land were handed over to the colony ; foreign affairs were reserved to the mother-country, which, at her exclusive cost, provided a navy and standing army for the whole empire, the colonies not being bound to make any contribution for these purposes. Within the self- governing colony itself, the system of government employed was imitated from that of the mother-country. The governor, appointed by the queen, was, to all intents and purposes, a constitutional sovereign, and acted by the advice of his ministers, who were responsible to an elected chaml>er, consisting of two houses. Like the sovereign, he had the right to refuse his consent to bills passed by the legislature. In practice, therefore, each colony managed its own affiiirs, subject to the rarely exercised authority of the mother-country. It was anomalous for two reasons : first, because the colonists had no direct voice in the manage- ment of foreign affjxirs, and peace and war, in which their interests were bound up with those of the inhabitants of the mother-country ; the second, because the colonies, though containing a steadily increasing proportion of the wealth and population of the whole empire, contributed little or nothing to its general military and naval defence. The same year parliament repealed the Navigation Laws, so that for the future no restriction was made with respect either to j^^^jg^^jo^ the ships or the seamen by whom the commerce of the Laws ■*• . repealed. British empire was carried on. (See page 928.) The idea of inaugurating a new era of history, in which the free exchange of products should take the place of protection, and friendly competition in arts and manufactures should be substituted ^^^ for political rivalry, which was regarded by the Free- Exhnjition traders as the real object of the repeal of the Corn and Navigation Laws, and other Free-trade legislation, found further 976 Victoria 1848 expression in 1851 in the opening of the first of a long series of inter- national exhibitions. This was held in Hyde Park, under the presidency of Prince Albert, in a building of glass and iron designed by Joseph Paxton and now removed to Sydenham. In it all the civilised nations of the world displayed their various productions, and it was attended by a vast concourse of people. Its eflFects were great, but not altogether what were expected. So far from introducing an era of peace, its date may almost be taken as that of the close of the long peace which followed the revolutionary wars. From a cosmopolitan point of view, it undoubtedly supplied a great stimulus to progress by making the more backward nations acquainted with the methods in use among their more advanced neighbours, especially by showing the continental nations how British manufacturers carried on their business. On the other hand, it tended to stimulate foreign competition in markets where there had hitherto been a practical monopoly for British goods. In 1851, however, the superiority of British manufactures was so marked that foreign competition was hardly thought of as a serious matter ; and, moreover, it was an article of unquestioned belief with the Free-traders that a very few years would witness the adoption of their principles by the whole civilised world — an expectation which has turned out to be mistaken. Between 1848 and 1852 three prominent leaders — Bentinck, Peel, and Wellington — were removed by death. In 1848 died Lord George Bentinck, the honest but not very able leader of the Protectionists in Death of the House of Commons ; and as Lord Stanley had sat in Lord George ^|^g House of Lords since 1844, Disraeli was left to the tJentinck. ' unquestioned leadership of his party in the Lower House. Duke of ^ ^^ 1^^^ importance politically was the death of the duke Wellington. Qf Wellington, who passed quietly away in September 1852. His political life had not been so successful as his military, and gained him much unpopularity. His chief claim to political insight is his clear apprehension of the fact that, the centre of gravity of political power having definitely shifted to the House [of Commons, the House of Lords must be prepared to give way whenever its views were in conflict with the clearly expressed wishes of the nation. Sir Death of Robert Peel died in 1850. His death left a considerable ^^^^' blank in British politics. For some time it had seemed as if he would again take the leading place. Lord John Russell's ministry had not proved very popular ; and the Protectionists alone were too weak and too uncertain of their policy to secure the confidence of the country. On the other hand. Peel's strength lay, not only in his own character and experience, but in the number of able men who had attached them- 1852 Russell 977 selves to him, and were known as the ' Peelites.' Among these were Lord Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, Sidney Herbert, Edward Cardwell, and William Ewart Gladstone; and the whole group numbered some 'forty members of the House of Commons. Such a body, if it acted together, held the key of the situation ; and its individual members commanded attention whatever subject was under discussion. Acute observers were of opinion that one party or the other must make terms with so impor- tant a l)ody ; and Macaulay, while bitterly lamenting the decay of Whia principles, declared that power would go ' to those nasty Peelites.' Such was the state of aflfairs when Peel, at the age of sixty-two, was killed by a fall from his horse in July 1850. Though deprived of their leader, his followers still held together. The deaths of Peel, Bentinck, and Wellington mark the close of a distinct period in British history —that in which the direct results of the Reform Bill of 1832 were worked out ; and from 1850 Parliament a new period, with new objects of interest, sets in. In ary Reform, domestic politics the central fact which gives unity to the next twenty years is the rise of a new reform movement. The settlement of 1832 was eminently artificial. The line drawn both in counties and towns between voters and non-voters was purely arbitrary ; and the spread of education and of political ideas caused it to be called in question. Such a revival of the reform movement was opposed to the ideas of statesmen like Lord John Russell, who had regarded the franchise question as settled for their time ; and for some years it had been left to the Chartists. In 1850 the matter was broached in parliament by a regular member of the Whig party. This was Locke-King, who brought forward a motion for assimilating the county and borough franchises, and carried it against the government by one hundred and two to fifty-two. On this Lord John Russell resigned. Lord Derby was then asked to form a ministry, but as he felt that his party in the Commons was not strong enough to justify his taking office in opposition both to the Whigs and to the Peelites, he declared himself unable to do so ; and Lord John Russell was persuaded to retain office. His position, however, was very weak ; and in 1852 he was again forced to resign. This arose from the action of Lord Palmers ton. Lord Palmerston had been secretary for foreign affairs under Lords Grey and Melbourne, and held the same post under Lord John Russell. In Lord spite, however, of his long tenure of office, and his thorough Palmerston. acquaintance with foreign aflairs, he had nevertheless been a thorn in the side of many Whig politicians. In the first place, he had a somewhat jaunty and supercilious manner of asserting the rights of 3 Q 978 Victoria 1852 Englishmen without much regard for the feelings of foreigners, which was most distasteful to men like Cobden and Bright, and also to Mr. Gladstone, who always tended to regard all questions from the cosmopolitan rather than from the British point of view. Lord Palmer- ston also had a great belief in himself, and annoyed his colleagues by doing what he called ' making a stroke off his own bat,' and committing them to a line of conduct of which they did not wholly approve. The same habit also gained him disapproval at court, where both the queen and Prince Albert were often displeased to find that the foreign minister had embarked on a policy which they had not had time to consider and approve of, but from which it was now too late to dniw back. All these things caused friction ; but Lord Pahnerston, who had a consummate knowledge of the House of Commons and of his country- men, went his own way without much regard either for his colleagues or for the court. The first ' full dress ' attack on Lord Palmerston's policy arose out of the once famous Don Pacifico case in 1849. Don Pacifico was a man of dubious nationality, but undoubtedly a British subiect, The Don , ^ . -, ^ ^ n • • .1 tt- Pacifico whose goods had been destroyed in a not at Athens. His case was energetically taken up by Lord Palmerston ; gunboats were sent to Athens, and reparation extracted from the Greek government by a threat of bombardment. So much dissatisfaction was felt at this high-handed conduct that, to bring matters to a crisis, a friendly motion was introduced by Mr. Eoebuck, approving of Lord Palmerston's action. It was opposed by Cobden, Bright, Gladstone, and Disraeli ; but Palmerston defended himself in a clever speech, and declared that it was his intention to make the rights of the meanest British subject as safe as that of the Roman, whose proud boast — 'Civis Romanus sum ' — announced him to be the privileged citizen of the ancient world. Palmerston knew his audience well, and struck exactly the note which he was sure would appeal to his hearers ; and the result was that Roebuck's vote was carried by three hundred and ten to two hun- dred and sixty-four. His next difficulty arose with the queen in 1850. So annoyed was she with Palmerston's method of conducting business that she sent him a letter, in which she laid it down as a rule (1) that Lord Palmerston was to state distinctly what he proposed to do, so that the queen might know as distinctly to what she was giving her sanction ; (2) that the measure was not to be afterwards arbitrarily altered or modified by the minister ; (3) that the drafts of correspondence were to be sent to her in plenty of time for her to make herself acquainted with their contents. 1852 Russell 979 Palmerston, of course, submitted ; but in 1852 his impulsiveness produced fresh trouble. In 1848 the French had elected as president of their republic Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of The French the great Napoleon, and a personal friend of Lord Palmer- '^°"P "^'^tat. ston, who had seen much of him during his exile in England. In 1851 Louis Napoleon formed a plan for making himself the real ruler of France. By a coujj cVetat carried out on the 2nd of December of that year he seized and imprisoned the leading republican deputies, carried terror into the hearts of his opponents by shooting down large numbers of persons — mostly unresisting — in the streets of Paris; and practically abolished the republic in favour of a thinly -veiled despotism, to which the keystone was given in 1852 by his assumption of the title of emperor. Directly .after the massacre of Paris, when Lord John Russell and his colleagues were most anxious to do nothing that could be regarded as showing approval of what had been done. Lord Palmerston was indiscreet enough to express to the French ambassador his private impression that Bonaparte could not have acted otherwise. This expression of opinion, though quite unofficial, was of course transmitted to Paris and published to the world. Ministers, ^. naturally, were indignant with Palmerston ; and, when his resignation was demanded, he had no course but to leave office. He was not, however, by any means abashed, and believed he would still get his countrymen to reinstate him in power. Lord Palmerston had not to wait long for an opportunity of having what he called his ' tit-for-tat with John Russell.' The revival of the French empire under a member of the Bonaparte family The Militia had given rise to very considerable anxiety on this side of the Channel. It was believed that— partly to divert the thoughts of his subjects from home aflfairs, partly to flatter the French craving for military glory, which had been somewhat tarnished by the events of 1814 and 1815— the emperor would be compelled to embark upon a war- like policy. If he did so, it was thought that Great Britain, Russia, and Prussia would be the objects of his attack ; and, as a mere matter of precaution, the British government decided to reorganise the militia, which had not been embodied for nearly forty years. For this purpose Lord John Russell introduced a bill, in which he spoke of the creation of a local militia. Here Palmerston saw his chance. He proposed to substitute the word 'national' for 'local,' and carried his motion by one hundred and thirty-six to one hundred and twenty-five. There was not much more than a verbal difterence between Palmerston and Russell, as the latter explained that, in case of war, the militia would certamly 980 Victcnia 1852 be available for national purposes ; but the government chose to regard Palmerston's motion as practically a vote of want of confidence, and in February 1852 the Whig ministers resigned. Though Lord Palmerston had defeated the government, he was not in a position to take office. Accordingly the queen sent for Lord Derby, who agreed to form a ministry out of the members of the Lord Derby's *=. . tt i • i/. i First Protectionist party. He himseli became prime minister ; Ministry. Lord Malmesbury was foreign secretary, with Lord Stanley, the premier's eldest son, as under-secretary ; Mr. Disraeli held the post of chancellor of the exchequer, with the leadership of the House of Commons. None of the other members of the government were men of mark. After a Militia Act had been passed, on the lines of that already proposed, parliament was dissolved. The election showed a considerable growth of Conservative opinion. In the new House of Commons the Conservatives numbered two hundred and ninety-nine, the Liberals three hundred and fifteen, and the Peelites forty. In these circum- stances the question naturally arose whether the Conservative party was prepared to adhere to the Protectionist views which had been preached by Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli. To test the question, several resolutions committing the House to the principle of Free-trade were brought forward ; and eventually one of these, devised by Lord Palmerston was passed by four hundred and sixty-eight to fifty-three. Henceforth Conservatives and Liberals alike professed to accept Peel's policy as the policy of the nation, and from that time to this a return to the policy of Protection has been regarded by both parties as being out- side the range of practical politics. As the resolution of the House in favour of Free-trade made any direct return to Protection impossible, the government, in framing the budget, were in great difficulty as to Disraeli's l^ow anything could be done for the benefit of the agri- Budget, cultural interest, whose wrongs had been the chief theme of Conservative orators for the last six years. Mr. Disraeli, however, with great cleverness, devised an ingenious scheme by which, while adhering in the letter to Free-trade principles, he contrived so to rearrange taxation as to give an advantage to the farmers at the expense of the dwellers in towns. The moment the scheme was understood it provoked bitter hostility. The leader of this was Mr. Gladstone, who then entered upon a course of personal antagonism to Mr. Disraeli that ended only with the life of the latter. Mr. Disraeli fought hard in defence of his scheme, and spared neither sarcasm nor innuendo in his attacks upon his opponents — declaring, among other things, that he was the victim of the hostility of a coalition, and that ' England does not leen s 1853 Derby — Aberdeen 981 love coalitions.' Nevertheless, he was defeated by three hundred and five votes to two hundred and eighty-six, and Lord Derby at once resigned. A coalition ministry was then formed, consisting of Whigs and Peelites. Lord Aberdeen, a Peelite, who had been foreign secretary under Peel, became prime minister, bringing with him Mr. Gladstone, as chancellor of the exchequer ; Newcastle, Aberde the son of Mr. Gladstone's old patron, colonial secretary ; ^'"^stry. Sidney Herbert, secretary at war ; and Sir James Graham, first lord of the admiralty. Of the Whigs, Lord John Russell became foreign secre- tary ; Palmerston, home secretary ; and places were found for Lord Granville and the duke of Argyll. There was some difficulty as to Lord Palmerston's position, as neither the Whigs nor the Peelites liked his conduct of foreign aff'airs ; but he good-naturedly settled the matter himself by asking for the Home Office, remarking that ' it was a good thing for a man to learn something about his fellow-countrymen.' As he had so fiercely criticised Disraeli's budget, everyone was interested to see what Gladstone himself would produce. When he formulated his proposals it was found that his main proposal was a farther step in the direction of free imports. He abolished the duty on soap, and reduced it on one hundred and thirty-three other articles. To efiect this he kept the income tax at 7d. in the £1, but proposed, as the new system of taxation became more productive, to reduce it by degrees, so that it would disappear in 1860. Incidentally, he pointed out the advantage of the income tax as a, war tax. Though there was nothing new in the»e principles, which were those of Pitt, Huskisson, and Peel, Gladstone, in his budget, made a great sensation by his marvellous power of throwing the glamour of rhetoric over what had hitherto been a dry statement of accounts, and from this time forward he enjoyed the reputation of being a financier of the highest capacity. Though Mr. Gladstone had mentioned the value of the income tax in time of war, his whole scheme of finance was based upon the continuance of peace, and it was a bitter satire on his forecast of events ^^^ that at the moment he made it, he and his colleagues were Eastern ... . 1 -r. • TIT Ni Question. engaged in drifting into war with Russia. In dealing witli the Russian war, as in many other cases, it is necessary to distinguish between the essential causes of the war and the special circumstances which gave rise to it. The real cause of the war was the determination of the western powers not to allow Russia to acquire such an influence at Constantinople as would virtually amount to the destruction of Turkey as an independent power ; the special causes were a dispute about the claims of the priests of the Latin and Greek Churches 982 Fictmia 1853 respectively to a special interest in the holy places at Jerusalem : such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; and a difference of opinion as to the interj)retation of some clauses in the Treaty of Kutchuck-Kainardji. The quarrel between the priests was trivial in itself, but acquired im- portance from the fact that the Emperor of the French regarded himself as being the special protector of the interests of the Latin priests, and the Czar of Russia of those of the Creeks. The difficulty about the treaty was of much deeper importance. In this treaty, which had been made so far back as 1774, the Turks had promised the Russians ' to protect constantly the Christian religion and its churches.' On this the Czar claimed to be regarded as the protector of the Christian population of Turkey, and to hold the Sultan responsible for his conduct to his Christian subjects — a view which has received the sanction of Mr. Glad- stone, On the other hand, the general opinion of Europe was opposed to such a claim. For it would mean that fourteen millions of Greeks — that is, of Greek Christians — would henceforward regard the Czar as their supreme protector, and their allegiance to the Porte would be little more than nominal. The practical significance of Russia's claim lay in the fact that the Czar Nicholas regarded the Turkish empire as on the verge of dissolution, and was in the habit of speaking of it as ' the sick man.' It seemed, therefore, to most statesmen that the pushing forAvard of Russia's claim to the protectorate was only a step towards claiming the lion's share in the Turkish empire whenever its dissolution came about. The matter became serious in 1852, and for two years the diplomatists of Europe battled against one another. The interests of the several „ states were various. Great Britain regarded herself as dis- Progress ... . . of Negotia- tinctly interested in preserving the independence of Turkey. The Emperor of the French cared little about the matter in hand ; but was anxious to appear as the ally of Great Britain, and gladly welcomed an opportunity of fixing himself more firmly on the throne by a popular war. Austria, which was more directly interested than any other power in keeping the Russians from annexing Turkish terri- tory, was ready enough to see Great Britain and France fight her battles if they could. The key of the situation was really held by the British ministers, and if they had known their own minds, and could have made the Czar believe that they meant what they said, war would probably have been avoided ; for the Czar certainly did not contemplate pushing his claims at the risk of war. As it was, there was no harmony in the cabinet. Lord Aberdeen believed war impossible, and was friendly to the Czar ; IVIr, Gladstone agreed with 1854 Aberdeen 983 the Russians in their interpretation of the treaty, and also disliked a war which would upset all his financial arrangements ; while Lord Palmerston believed in energetic measures, and was anxious to commit his colleagues as far as he could. The result was that the opinions of the ministers were hopelessly divided. No uniform line of policy was adopted and adhered to, and before the country realised the gravity of the situation war had become inevitable. In July 1853 the Russians occupied the Danubian principalities as a material guarantee for the recognition of their protectorate. In October Turkey declared war. In November the destruction by the Russians of the Turkish fleet at Sinope gave them the command of the Black Sea and the power of attacking Constantinoi3le. In December the British and French fleets entered the Black Sea ; and in March 1854, without waiting for Austria to join them. Great Britain and France declared war against Russia. Before the British and French troops could arrive on the Danube, the Turks had, single-handed, checked the Russian advance. It was there- fore determined to take advantage of the unquestioned superiority of the British and French fleets to attack the Operations • • of War. naval arsenals of Russia. For this purpose two expeditions were organised, one under Admiral Sir Charles Napier against Cronstadt — the Portsmouth of the Baltic ; and another against Sebastopol, in the Crimea, which played a similar part in the Black Sea. The latter was placed under Lord Raglan, who, as Lord Fitzroy Somerset, had been mili- tary secretary to Wellington, and had lost an arm at Waterloo. He was a man of great tact, and well fitted to work in harmony with a foreign force, but not of enough force or ability for his post. The former efi'ected nothing, as the fortifications proved far too strong for the ships, but the expedition to the Crimea proved to be of great importance. In undertaking it the British government had no idea of its difiiculty. As the allied fleet dominated the Black Sea, it was thought an easy matter to transport an expeditionary force to the Crimea, destroy Sebastopol, and return before the inclement weather of a southern Russian winter began. This would have been the case had the expedition started in June, when Lord Palmerston first proposed it, for Sebastopol was then practically unfortified, and there were not more than 40,000 troops in the Crimea ; but it was a very different matter in September, when the Russian retreat from the Danube had enabled the Czar to fill the Crimea with troops. Nevertheless, late as it was, orders were sent to Lord Raglan and Marshal St. Arnaud, the commanders of the British and French troops in Turkey, to embark for the Crimea. Accordingly, 25,000 British and 35,000 French were landed in the 984 Victoria 1854 Crimea at Eupatoria, a few miles north of the river Alma, and some twenty miles from Sebastopol. They found the Riissiaus, to the nuni- Battle of ber of 45,000 men, drawn up on a series of heights behind the Alma, ^Y\q river Alma, in a position so strong as to be con- sidered practically iiiij)regnable. On September 20 the allies attacked the Russians, the French taking the right, the English the left of the advance. The battle showed little skill on either side. There was no manreuvring or scientific arrangement of troops ; but both men and officers advanced straight ahead with bull-dog courage, and at the expense of great loss of life carried the heights. Had the allies pushed boldly on in pursuit, it is probable that they might have carried Sebastopol with a rush, as it was quite unprepared for a sudden assault. For reasons. THE OPERATIONS IN THE EAST, 1854-1856 however, not easy to fathom, dilatoriness prevailed, and the Russians were not only allowed to retreat unmolested, but were permitted several days of respite to make their preparations for defence. By the time the allies were again in motion, the Russians had not only withdrawn their army into a position where it could harass the besiegers without much danger to itself, but had put Sebastopol into 'a condition to make an excellent defence. Sebastopol lay on the south side of an inlet of the sea, about four miles long, and consisted almost entirely of dockyards, arsenals, and Position of barracks, with hardly any population unconnected with the Sebastopol. government service. Its buildings were of stone. The side towards the sea was defended by powerful forts. As the Russian fleet was too weak to cope with that of the allies, the Russians withdrew it II \ f \ 1 % French * f' Headquarters^ \ SIEGE of SEBASTOPOL 1854-1856. English Miles 2 I "T" Russian Attack at Inkerman 986 Victoria 1854 into the harbour, and blocked the entrance by sinking a series of ships across the mouth. On the land side, General Todleben, an engineer, to whom the chief credit of the defence is due, planned a series of earth- works armed with guns from the ships. Of these, the most notable were the greater and lesser Redan, and the Malakoff. To besiege such a place was no light matter, and was far beyond the powers of a mere summer expedition, in which light the ministers seem to have regarded the invasion. There was, however, no choice but to undertake the task ; so the allied army was marched from the Alma round the extremity of the harbour of Sebastopol, and took up its quarters on a line of heights overlooking the town, while the fleet prepared to attack the forts. Even then it could not surround the whole town ; and the northern side of the harbour remained in the hands of the Russians. As the army had not only to besiege Sebastopol, but to be prepared to repel an attack from the army of Prince Menschikov, it had to form two lines — an inner line engaged in the siege facing inwards, and another and longer line facing outwards. Though the allies were before Sebastopol on the 26th of September, and it is almost certain that even then an assault would have carried the town, the generals decided to wait for their siege guns. It took nearly three weeks to get these into position, during which time the Russians still fur- ther strengthened their defences, and it was not till October 16 that fire was opened. Though carried on with great energy, the bombard- ment had little effect. In an ordinary siege, a bombardment is often effective by working upon the fears of the non-combatant population ; but in Sebastopol there was practically no one but soldiers and sailors, who were rather encouraged than otherwise by seeing how little damage was done. At the end of a week's firing the allies found that they must give up all hope of an assault, and enter upon a regular siege. Hardly had this been realised than the "besiegers found themselves exposed to a series of attacks from Menschikov's army. The first of Battle of these led to what is spoken of as the battle of Balaclava. Balaclava, j^ really consisted of a series of somewhat isolated cavalry operations by the Russians against the Balaclava end of the allied line, which was defended by British, French, and Turks. The attack of the Russians effected nothing of importance ; but three incidents of the day will always be remembered with pride by the British army. Near Balaclava itself, the 93rd Highlanders (now 2nd Battalion, ArgyU and Sutherland), under Sir Colin Campbell, were charged by a body of Russian cavalry, and repelled them i7i line by a volley, without 1854 Aberdeen 987 taking the trouble to form square. The next was the charge of the Heavy Brigade of cavalry, under General Scarlett. In this, Scarlett, with three hundred horsemen, charged a body of halted Russian cavalry, numbering between two and three thousand men, and cut his way almost through it. Fortunately other regiments were brought up in support, and the whole Russian mass of cavalry broke up in disorder and fled from the field. Even this magnificent feat of arms was thrown into the shade by the romantic episode of the Light Cavalry charge. This arose out of a mistake. Lord Raglan, standing on the heights above the field, could see that the Russians were carrying off" seven British guns which had been lent to the Turks, and lost by them, so he sent orders to Lord Lucan, who commanded the cavalry, to try and save the guns. Lord Lucan being iti the plain, and not seeing as well as Lord Raglan, rather naturally asked, 'What guns?' Nolan, the aide-de-camp sent with the message, said merely, but probably somewhat forcibly : ' The enemy is there, and there are your guns.' This, Lucan understood to refer to a battery not of British but of Russian guns, and he ordered Lord Cardigan with theLight Brigadeof six hundredand seventy-three men to charge these guns. Though to obey it seemed certain death, rhe order was obediently carried out. The guns to be charged were at the end of a valley two miles long, and on the slopes at each side of it, to right and to left, were Russian batteries. Nevertheless, as steadily as on parade, Lord Cardigan and his gallant followers rode off down the valley. For some moments the Russians were dumbfounded at their audacity, but soon a hundred guns were firing on the devoted horsemen. Nevertheless, the brigade actually reached the Russian battery, and even passed it, but their eftorts were perfectly useless, and, after sufi'ering terribly, the sur- vivors fought their way back as best they could. Tavo hundred and forty- seven men were killed or wounded, with a much larger number of horses. Had it not been for a well-directed charge of the French, who silenced the batteries at one side of the valley, a much larger number would have perished. ' It is magnificent, but it is not war,' said a French looker-on from the height ; and, from a military point of view, it was a gross blunder. Nevertheless, as teaching a permanent lesson of unquestioning devotion to duty, it cannot altogether be regretted ; and its memory will always remain a glorious heritage for the British army. A few days later, the infantry had its opportunity for distinction. On November 5 the Russians attempted an attack upon the opposite end of the allied line on the heights of Inkerman, occupied solely Battle of by British troops. According to their plan, a sortie from inkerman. Sebastopol was to assault the extreme end of the allied line, and at the 988 Victoria 1854 same time a body of troops from Menschikov's army was to assault the position in flank. The attack was made in the early morning, when the slopes were covered with mist. The natural way to repel such an attack was for the outlying picquets to fall back on the main body, and so concentrate on some defensible position ; but, partly through the mist, and partly through the unwillingness of the British to retreat at all, the battle took the form of the outlying positions being defended, and the picquets reinforced from the main body. Such a method of fighting was contrary to all rule, and involved the greatest risk, for had the Russians broken through at any point, the whole defence must have collapsed. Luckily for the British, the mist stood them in good stead by preventing the Russians from seeing the exact state of affairs ; and the tenacity and courage with which all ranks fought were beyond praise. The loss, however, was most serious, and had it not been for the French, who moved up troops in sufficient numbers to give an eftective support to the scattered British regiments, it is difficult to see how the Russian masses could, in the long run, have been defeated by such a method of fighting. Nevertheless, victory declared for the allies, and had the French been willing to engnge in a vigorous pursuit the Russian defeat might have been converted into a rout. After the battle of Inkerman the Russians gave up, for a time, their operations in the open field, but their inaction gave little respite to the allied troops. The necessity for engaging in a prolonged of the siege had entirely altered the character of the campaign and compelled the allies to winter in the Crimea. For this they were totally unprepared. Losses by battle and sickness had reduced the strength of the British contingent to 16,000 men, a number so small as to throw upon individuals a disproportionate amount of work, and rein- forcements were slow in coming. The distance of the British camp from Balaclava, some ten miles, traversed by a miserable road, made it hard to get supplies. In a terrible storm on November 14, two vessels, one containing warm clothing the other ammunition, were sunk in Bala- clava harbour. The winter proved to be exceptionally severe ; and it was hard for the troops, camped on a wind-swept plateau, or shivering in the wet trenches, to keep themselves warm. All these things would have tried the resources of any country ; and they proved far too severe for the ministry of Lord Aberdeen. Forty years of peace seem to have been fatal to the efficiency of the British war department. The most grotesque blunders were committed. A consignment of boots, all for the ' left foot, was sent out because the ministers had provided no efficient way of checking the stores. No care was taken even to see that those 1855 Aberdeen — Palmerston 989 who were to superintend the hospitals knew their business. Medical stores were sent out in abundance, but men were allowed to die for want of them, because no official authority had been given for servinc^ them out. No proper appliances for cooking their rations were given to the soldiers ; and lastly, while sending out horses and mules for the trans- port service, the British treasury refused to send any hay on which to feed them. Moreover, the officers and men themselves did not show the resource they might have done in coping with difficulties, and the con- dition of the army became pitiable in the extreme. It is true the French were nearly as badly off, but as there were more of them, work fell less heavily on individuals; and the French soldiers certainly showed more skill than the British in making themselves comfortable under difficulties. Doubtless there had been other campaigns where the British troops had had to bear similar hardships ; but, in former days, the exact state of the army was little known at home, except to the authorities. In the Russian campaign, for the first time, the special correspon- ' Times ' dents of newspapers— and especially Dr. (now Sir William) ^^**^^^- Russell of the Times — kept the public thoroughly informed of vrhat was going on. The natural result was an outburst of vehement indignation against the government. Of this Mr. Roebuck made himself the mouth- piece, and carried a proposal in the House of Commons that a commission should be appointed to inquire into the con- tion of Lord duct of the war. The proposal was regarded as a vote of want ^^ ^^"* of confidence in the government. Lord Aberdeen at once resigned, and his place was taken by Palmerston. What the country really wanted was to have a strong man at the head of affairs. It had no confidence in Lord Aberdeen : it did believe in Lord Palmerston ; and as soon as he was at the head of affiiirs, confidence was restored. Nevertheless, the House merston's was determined to have its commission of inquiry, and Mr. ^^^jg.j. Gladstone and other Peelites, who had at first retained office under Lord Palmerston, decided to resign. The commission did much good ; and its report should be a warning to British governments for all time. Its inquiries showed distinctly that the mismanagement com- plained of was to be traced, not so much to the faults of individuals, as to the absurd system by which Great Britain had allowed the machinery for making war to grow rusty and obsolete in time of peace, and also to the foolish arrangement by which sub-division of responsibility was carried so far as to make it almost impossible to say Avho was really to blame for any particular mistake or omission. Without waiting for the report, 990 Victoria 1855 however, Lord Palmerston's government worked hard to improve the existing state of affairs. Even before the fall of Lord Aberdeen Mr. Sidney Herbert had persuaded Miss Florence Nightingale to go out to Constantinople and see what could be done for the reorganisation of the nursing in the hospitals there ; and the duke of Newcastle had suggested to the cabinet the construction of a railway to bring stores from Bala- clava to the camp. From Miss Nightingale's reports Lord Palmerston learnt what should be done, and so energetic were the steps taken that, whereas, under Lord Aberdeen, the deaths in the hospital at Scutari had been fifty per cent, of those admitted, under Lord Palmerston they were enormously reduced. The railway also from Balaclava — the necessity for which should have been obvious to any government — was at once made by the new ministers. Energy and order were infused everywhere ; and, before summer, the efficiency of our army in the Crimea had been restored, though at the best it was so small that hence- forward the French took perforce the leading part in all military opera- tions. They even took over from the British the north-eastern end of the trenches, and the attack on the Malakoff and Little Kedan. Meanwhile, the inclemency of the weather had proved even more serious for the Russians than for the allies. The Crimea being far distant from the seat of Russian power, and there being no Negotia- . r j n tions for railways to it, all reinforcements both of men and material ^^^^' had to be sent hundreds of miles by road. The loss incurred in doing this was enormous, and sapped the strength of the Russians far more than the losses in the Crimea itself. In these circumstances hopes of peace were raised, which were increased by the death of Czar Nicholas, in March 1855, and by the intervention of Austria. It was, however, found impossible to come to terms, and, with the approach of warmer weather, fighting was resumed. In the spring of 1855 the allies were joined by the Sardinians, who sent a contingent of men to the Crimea under General della Marmora. The Their arrival, and that of numerous reinforcements for the Sardinians, j^rench and some for the British, enabled the allies to feel comparatively safe from attack, and the siege works were pushed on with vigour. It was not, however, till June that a serious assault was delivered. This proved a failure, for Todleben's energy had so enormously strengthened the Russian lines that the capture of one post only revealed a new series of defences behind it ; and on the 18th of June the allies were completely repulsed in an attempted assault Lord Raglan died a few days later, and the command of the British contingent fell to General Simpson. 1856 Palmerston 99^ New approaches had to be opened, and before they were ready the Russian covering army made another attack. This assault fell entirely upon the French and Sardinians ; and was repulsed on August 16 in what is known as the battle of the Tchernaya. ^tlh! This was the last attempt of the relieving force. On Sep- '^'^^^rnaya. tember 8 the French, under General Macmahon, stormed the MalakofF and little Redan, and though the British failed to retain the paii of Great Redan, into which they had penetrated at a terrible Sebastopoi. cost of life, it was evacuated the same evening by the Russians. The loss of these outposts made the other Russian works untenable ; and the same night, after destroying everything of value, the brave defenders of Sebastopoi withdrew across the harbour, leaving its blackened walls as a barren trophy to the victors. The fall of Sebastopoi brought to a close the active operations in the field. There was no other point where the allied forces could readily act against the Russians, and for the remainder of the war nothing but small naval expeditions were attempted ; and these were of slight importance. The only occurrence of note was the capture of Kars, in Armenia, by the Russians, after a stubborn defence, in which the chief honours fell to three Englishmen — General Williams, Dr. Sandwith, and Colonel Lake — whose presence encouraged the Turkish garrison to make a most heroic resistance. All parties were, therefore, desirous of peace ; and a congress was held at Conclusion Paris, at which it was agreed (1) that the Black Sea of Peace, should be regarded as neutral, and that all ships of war, except a few small ones needed for police, should be excluded from it ; (2) that Russia was not to refortify Sebastopoi ; (3) that Turkey should retain her suzerainty over the self-governing Danubian principalities ; (4) that the navigation of the Danube should be free ; (5) that the Turks should enforce a recent Firman, giving certain rights to the Christian popula- tion. These terms were only moderately satisfactory, but they seemed the best attainable unless Great Britain and Turkey were prepared to go on with the war by themselves. The most galling part to Russia of the Treaty of Paris was the neutralisation of the Black Sea ; and in 1870, when Mr. Gladstone was prime minister of England and France was engaged in war with Germany, she took the opportunity of declaring her intention of being bound by this clause no longer. In this the British ministry acquiesced, merely stipulating that Russia should ask leave formally from a European congress. Since then Sebastopoi has been completely rebuilt and fortified, and the Russian fleet on the Black Sea is one of the strongest in the world. Generally speaking, the Russian war 992 Victoria 1856 effected two great ends. First, it weakened Russia so much that for a considerable time she was unable to hold over Turkey the threat of immediate dissolution. Second, time was gained which the Turks might have used to set their house in order, and remove the evils in their administration which had given an excuse for Russian interference. In 1856 manypeo])le, especially Palmerston and Lord Stratford deRedcliffe, ambassador at Constantinople, believed that the Turks would use their respite well ; but subsequent experience has amply demonstrated the futility of any such expectations. Hardly was the Russian war over when we found ourselves involved in a quarrel wnth China. In this we were wholly in the wrong. A The second Chinese vessel, the Arrow^ of the class known as a Lorcha, China War. owned and manned by Chinamen, but flying, without authority, the British flag, was boarded by the Chinese marine police in order to arrest one of the crew for piracy. This they had a perfect right to do, for though the vessel had once held a licence to carry the British flag, it had expired before the seizure and had not been renewed. Nevertheless, the consul at Hong-Kong took up the matter as an insult to Great Britain, and persuaded Sir John Bowring, our representative in China, to support him. The Chinese government, of course, held to its rights ; and the quarrel having once begun, and other matters being- brought in, an amount of irritation was engendered which led to a declara- tion of war ; and in the summer of 1857 troops were despatched from this country to invade China. They were, however, needed for a more serious purpose ; and military operations against China were deferred till 1858. Besides the Chinese war, we were also involved in a quarrel with Persia, which led to an expedition under Sir James Outram and General Havelock being sent there in 1857. The afiair of the Lorcha Arroiv ofi'ered an excellent chance of attacking the government ; and, accordingly, Lord Palmerston was denounced by Gladstone on behalf of the Peelites, by Disraeli for the Conservatives, by Lord John Russell, and by Cobden, Bright, Milner-Gibson, and other representatives of the Manchester School, who disapproved of Lord Palmerston's vigorous assertion of British rights. This combination was very formidable, and though Palmerston did not spare his opponents in defending himself, he was beaten by 263 to 247. Instead of resigning, Palmerston appealed to the country. Ignoring the special grounds of censure, he practically asked it to say whether it believed in him or whether it did not. The answer was conclusive. Cobden, Bright, and Milner-Gibson all lost their seats ; and in the new parliament Palmerston's authority was for a time unquestioned. 1857 Palmerston 993 It was well we had a strong man in power, for in 1857 broke out the Indian Mutiny, the most serious crisis through which the empire has passed since the Napoleonic wars. Its causes were extremely various, and it is not easy to distinguish those which were The Indian general and those which were merely the sparks which ^"tiny. set fire to the pile. Our rule in India was a military occupation main- tained by a mixed army of British and Sepoys ; and the immediate cause of the mutiny was the discontent of the native soldiers, coupled with the circumstance that the proportion of native to British soldiers was so great as to give them a reasonable prospect of success. The special cause of grievance arose from a change of arms. The Russian war had shown the advantage of rifled muskets over the old smooth bores, and the new weapons were being served out to the native troops, when a fiilse rumour was circulated that the grease with which the new bullets were lubricated was made of a mixture of cow's fat and hog's lard. As the Hindoos reverenced the cow and the Mohammedans detested the hog, the rumour was invented with ingenious subtlety to excite the anger and apprehension of both the Hindoo and Mohammedan soldiers. Nevertheless, had there been no deeper causes of alarm, the difficulty might have passed over without serious consequences, as had been the case with several previous mutinies in the Indian army. As it was, the greased cartridges merely fired the train of rebellious feeling which had for some time been ready for explosion. One of the chief causes of this feeling of apprehension was the policy of Lord Dalhousie, who had been governor-general of India from 1848 to 1856. This nobleman had been a most energetic ruler, ^ ° . General who honestly believed that British rule was good for India, Causes of and was bent on using every opportunity to extend its area. In 1849 he extinguished the independence of the Sikhs (see page 967) ; he successively annexed Sattara, Nagpore, and Jhansi, the territories of Mahratta chieftains, on the failure of direct descendants ; and in 1855 he took over the government of the great kingdom of Oude. These annexa- tions, each of which, especially that of Oude which was grossly mis- governed by its native rulers, could readily be justified to Europeans, appeared very difierent in the eyes of natives, especially to the kinsmen of the late rulers and to the soldiers and hangers-on at the native courts, who lost directly by the change. Moreover, the introduction of the rail- way, of the telegraph, and, generally speaking, of Western civilisation, even the well-meant but not always judicious action of the missionaries, all tended to produce an impression that a revolution was in progress which must be fatal to the existing state of affairs, to the maintenance 3 R 994 Victoria 1857 of which large classes of natives were attached either by interest or seatiment. Moreover, there was a prophecy current that the company's rule would last one hundred years from the battle of Plassey, and that the year 1857 would see its overthrow accomj)lished. It was also believed that the Eussian war had sapped the strength of Great Britain, and that she had not the troops to deal with a widespread revolt. All these causes worked together to produce a feeling of unrest, and nowhere was this feeling stronger than among the Brahmin Sepoys of the Bengal army, most of whom were recruited from Oude. For many years acute observers had noticed the unsatisfactory state of this corps, and had pointed out the small proportion of European officers to natives, the strong class and family feeling in the ranks and the ignorance of the Europeans as to the real feelings of the soldiery ; but their words fell unheeded, and even when mutiny after mutiny broke out in the spring of 1857, the authorities were long in realising the real nature of the crisis with which they had to deal. At last, after a series of isolated outbreaks, the mutineers at Meerut succeeded in breaking away with their arms and marched in a body to Outbreak at Delhi. There they set up the old king who represented the Meerut. \[y^Q ^f ^^q Moguls, and endeavoured to give their mutiny the character of a national revolt. The news spread like wildfire, and presently every station in the upper basin of the Ganges was the scene of a military outbreak. The central points of the revolt were Delhi, Cawnpore, and Lucknow. At Delhi, the presence of the old king formed a rallying-point for the mutineers ; at Cawnpore, Nana Sahib, the Rajah of Bithoor, the adopted son of the last Peishwah (see page 964), furious with Lord Dalhousie's refusal to continue his pension, placed himself at the head of the movement ; and at Lucknow, though the ex-king himself was absent, being a prisoner at Calcutta, there were plenty of discontented nobles to take the lead against the British. At Delhi, the British were completely overpowered. At Cawnpore and Lucknow they held out under Sir Hugh Wheeler and Sir Massacre of Henry Lawrence respectively. The defence of Cawni^ore Cawnpore. ^^^g grievously ill-managed, and in spite of a most heroic struggle against overwhelming odds, the garrison was compelled to capitulate, and Nana Sahib disgraced himself by carrying out a horrid Siege of massacre of men, women, and children, from which only Lucknow. three men escaped to tell the tale. At Lucknow, on the other hand, the defence was admirably managed by Sir Henry Lawrence, and after his death by Brigadier-General Ingiis. The situation of the rebellion was favourable to the British. In 1857 Palmerston 995 the lower valley of the Gauges, from Calcutta to Benares, the British never lost their hold. The Ghoorkas of Nepal remained faithful. The Sikhs of the Punjab, though so recently conquered, gave the highest testimony to the skill of Henry and John Lawrence, by enlisting freely for service against the rebels. Scindia, the ruler at Gwalior"^ and Holkar at Indore, though they could not restrain their soldiery', remained true themselves. Consequently, the rebels were sur- rounded by loyal districts, and the government was free to concentrate against them the troops from Lower Bengal, Madras, Bombay, and the Punjab. The great difficulty was to secure sufficient British troops to form an active army, while leaving enough men in garrison in the different loyal districts to guard against fresh revolts. Fortunately, the small war with Persia being just over, Outram and Havelock were already on their way back to Calcutta ; and Sir George Grey, governor of the Cape Colony, had the public spirit and courage to take the responsibility of ordering the troops which reached the Cape on their way to the China war to go to India instead. Sir Colin Campbell, afterwards Lord Clyde, was sent out from England to take the general command. Before he arrived, however, the neck of the rebellion had been broken. Lord Canning, the governor-general, son of the former prime minister, was statesman enough to see that the real centre of the The Siege > revolt was Delhi, and he directed every nerve to be strained of Delhi, for its recapture. Fortunately, there were in the Punjab sufficient guns to form a siege train ; and, making the Punjab the basis of oijerations, an army attacked Delhi from the north-west. The siege was an arduous one, and lasted from the end of May till the middle of September. At times the British were themselves in great straits, but fortunately they were never obliged to relax their hold, and eventually, mainly through the energy of John Nicholson, an officer despatched by John Lawrence from the Punjab, it was carried to a successful conclusion. The walls were breached, and though Nicholson himself fell in the assault, the city was stormed, and the old king of Delhi, the nominal leader of the revolt, was among the prisoners. His life was spared, but his sons were sum- marily shot by Hodson, of Hod son's Horse. While the main British army had been engaged in the siege of Delhi, General Henry Havelock, with troops from Lower Bengal, had fought his way to Cawnpore and defeated the Nana. There he ^^^ ^^^^ had to wait reinforcements; but in September he and Relief of , , . r T 1 Lucknow. Outram again advanced and relieved the garrison ot Luck- now, after they had held out unassisted for eighty-seven days. Havelock, however, was not strong enough to fetch the garrison out, and it was not 996 Victoria 1857 till November th.'it Sir Colin Campbell, with the reinforcements from Eno-land, fought liis way through to Lucknow and brought out the whole garrison. He was, however, obliged to retreat to Cawnpore. By the second relief of Lucknow the capacity of the rebels Relief ot for doing serious mischief was destroyed, but it yet re- Luc now. jj^g^^jjg(j ^Q conquer them in detail. This was done in 1858, Aided by the Goorkhas, Sir Colin Campbell retook Lucknow in March. South of Cawnpore, Sir Hugh Rose, afterwards Lord Strathnairn, ad- vancing from Bombay by the line of the Nerbudda, carried out a brilliant campaign against Tantia Topee and the Ranee of Jhansi and put down the rebellion in Gwalior. These successes destroyed the coherency of the mutiny. For some little time isolated leaders held out, but by the close of the year the British rule was practically restored. The failure of the mutiny may be attributed chiefly (1) to the fact that it was a revolt of professional soldiers and not of any large section of the inhabitants of India ; (2) to the circumstance that the British the mutiny was confined to Bengal, so that the presidencies uccess, ^£ Madras and Bombay could spare troops to put it down ; (3) to the fidelity of the Sikhs and Goorkhas ; (4) to the accidental presence of the troops despatched to China ; and last, but not least, to the extraordinary heroism and devotion displayed by the army, and by the whole European population throughout that terrible time. Since the su^^pression of the mutiny, greater care has been taken in the management of the native troops. The proportion of British to native troops has been kept at a higher rate ; and almost the whole of the artillery service has been kept in European hands. Though the mutiny had been put down by the East India Company, there was a widespread _ ■ , . feeling that the time had come when the direct rule of India End of the ° East India should be placed in the hands of the crown. Accordingly, ^ ^' in 1858 an Act was passed to place the government of India in the hands of a secretary of state in London assisted by a council of experienced Indian ofiicers, and a viceroy or governor-general in India. The secretary of state for India is ahvays a member of the cabinet, and is responsible to parliament for the conduct of Indian afiairs. Though Lord Palmerston had gained such a large majority in the general election of 1857, he was overthrown a year later by a combination of ^ . . parties. This arose out of the Orsini afiair. Orsini was Ors.ini. *■ . an Italian gentleman, well known in English society, who in 1858 contrived a plot to murder the Emperor of the French on his 1858 Palmerston — Derby 997 way to the opera. The eraperor escaped unhurt, but ten persons were killed, and one hundred and fifty-six wounded by the explosion of Orsini's bomb. This diabolical crime excited the utmost horror, and as it was certain that the bomb had been manufactured and all Orsini's preparations made in England, the question naturally arose how far politi- cal refugees were at liberty to use England as a basis for murderous plots against continental governments. Accordingly Lord Palmerston brought in a Conspiracy to Murder Bill, making such plotting a penal action, punishable in the English Courts. There was little to be objected to in the bill itself; but the country was irritated by the vainglorious boasting of some French colonels who had talked about the emperor's leading them against the ' lair of assassins,' and many members of Parliament had a feeling that Lord Palmerston had in this matter shown too nmch deference to the wishes of the Emperor of the French. Accordingly, Lord Palmerston was placed in a minority of nineteen votes by a strange combination between the discontented Whigs, the Manchester School, the Peelites and the Conservatives, and his resignation at once followed. He was succeeded by Lord Derby, with Mr. Disraeli chancellor of the exchequer. Lord Derby also asked Mr. Gladstone to join him. That gentleman, though not yet a declared Liberal, refused to Lord take office ; but accepted instead the place of Commissioner ^^'"by's ' i ^ second to the Ionian Islands. On his arrival, he found that the Ministry, inhabitants were desirous of severing their connection with Great Britain and joining the kingdom of Greece. With this feeling Mr. Gladstone was in the fullest sympathy, and aided the inhabitants to put their views before the British government. Eventually, in 1865, the protectorate established by the Treaty of Vienna was terminated, and the islands became part of the Greek kingdom. The chief attention of the new government was given to the preparation of a Reform Bill. In this measure it was proposed to assimilate the a Reform • Bill county and borough franchises on the basis of giving votes to all ^10 householders. Besides this votes were to be given to all univer- sity graduates, to doctors, and lawyers, and to everyone who had i'lO in the funds or £60 in a savings bank. These additional provisions proved fatal to the bill. They were stigmatised by Mr. Bright as 'fency fran- chises,' and the government were defeated on the second reading by 330 to 291. On this the ministers appealed to the country, but at the opening of the new parliament they were defeated by 323 to 310, on an amendment to the address. Lord Palmerston therefore became prime minister, with Lord John 998 Victoria 1858 Eussell as foreign secretary. The most important event in the formation of the new ministry was the appearance of Mr. Gladstone as a Liberal. He became chancellor of the exchequer, and his reputation as the best Palmer- financier of the day was a tower of strength to the new ston's crovernment. Palmerston offered the post of president of second " ^ ^ Ministry, the Board of Trade to Cobden. It was, however, refused ; but Cobden gladly undertook the business of negotiating a commercial treaty with France. This treaty, which was modelled on French Commercial Pitt's famous treaty of 1786, was based on the principle '^^^*^" that each country should lower its existing customs duties on the goods of the other. In practice it was a step towards free trade. After the action of Lord Derby's government the ministers felt bound to bring in a Reform Bill ; but as the official leaders of parties cared little about it and there was no strong wave of public opinion at its back, it was soon dropped ; and it was several years before reform was again brought forward as a government question. In 1861 occurred an interesting struggle on the paper duties. Though the tax on newspapers had been abolished in 1855, there was still a heavy tax on the paper on which news was printed. In 1861 Mr. Gladstone, as chancellor of the exchequer, proposed to repeal this. His bill was accepted the Paper by the Commons, but thrown out by the Lords. Consider- " ^* able excitement was caused by this, as the bill was in fact, if not in form, a money bill. In 1861, however, the Lords were out- manoeuvred by making the repeal of the paper duty a part of the budget of the year, which could only be rejected at the price of throwing the whole government into confusion. In this form the repeal of the duty passed without difficulty. Though few events of importance marked the period of Lord Palmer- ston's administration, it was an exciting time in foreign affairs. Since 1849 Foreign events in Italy had been making in the direction of national Affairs. unity. Two great men — Cavoilr and Mazzini — the one prime minister of Victor Emmanuel, king of Sardinia, the other a free- lance who advocated by his pen a restoration of Italian unity under republican forms, were each in his own way pressing the matter forward. Cavour did much to increase the import- ance of Sardinia in the eyes of Europe by taking part in the Russian war ; and in 1859, at the price of ceding Savoy and Nice to France, he persuaded Louis Napoleon to join him in a campaign against Austria. The Austrians were defeated in the battles of Montebello, Magenta, and Solferino ; and were compelled to hand over Lombardy with its capital, Milan, to the Sardinians. At the same time Tuscany and Parma 1861 P aimer ston 999 declared for union with Sardinia. This formed the basis of an Italian kingdom, with its capital at Florence. In 1860 Garibaldi, an Italian who had distinguished himself in the wars of South America and had been associated with Mazzini at Rome in 1849, raised an insurrection in Sicily and Naples, succeeded in deposing the Bourbon king, Ferdinand 11. and offered the crown to Victor Emmanuel. By him it was accepted, and in March 1861 an Italian parliament declared Victor Emmanuel to be king of Italy. Eome, however, under the pope, and Venice under the Austrians, still remained detached from the rest of Italy. From this time forward, Italy, which for centuries had been a mere 'geographical expression,' began to be reckoned as one of the great powers of Europe. Two months after having thus achieved the object of his life, Cavour died. In 1861 a war broke out between the northern and southern sections of the United States. Such a quarrel had long been growing inevitable. The slave- owning states of the south viewed with apprehen- sion the rise of an Abolitionist party in the north, and when Anferican Abraham Lincoln, an Abolitionist, was elected president, ^'^'^ ^^^' they declared their intention of seceding from the union. The southerners had always laid great stress on the rights of individual states as against interference from the central government, and the natural corollary of this belief in state rights was that each state had a right to secede in case it had good reason to suppose that its private institutions were in danger. Accordingly, the two Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, and seven other states joined to form the Confederate States under the presidency of Jefferson Davis. Their right, however, to do this was not admitted by the Northerners, and the attempt of the Southerners to seize Fort Sumter, near Charleston, which belonged not to the state but to the Federal government, caused the outbreak of civil war. This struggle placed Great Britain in considerable difficulty. The first action of the Northerners was to blockade the southern ports and so stop the exportation of cotton, on which Lancashire depended for its livelihood. The result was the terrible cotton famine. Had Great Britain allied herself with the Southerners, the blockade might have been raised in a week, and the temptation to interfere was, therefore, enormous. More- over, a considerable section of English society was enthusiastically in f^ivour of the South ; and Mr. Gladstone, speaking at Newcastle with all the authority of a cabinet minister, declared that ' Jefferson Davis had created a nation.' Nevertheless, the Lancashire operatives were determined that whatever their miseries might be, they would never purchase cotton at the price of supporting slavery, and their noble disin- I 1000 Fictmia I86I terestedness kept the government true to its duty. In spite, however, of our neutrality, the negligence of the government permitted an armed cruiser, the Alabama, to be built and launched at Birken- The ' Ala- head. Thence she sailed as a Confederate warship, and did bama.' much damage to the shipping of the Northerners before she was sunk by one of their men-of-war. Naturally her ravages caused great exasperation against Great Britain, and in 1872, long after the conclusion of the war, Mr. Gladstone was obliged to submit the matter to arbitration, with the result that Great Britain had to pay no less than £3,000,000 damages to the United States for the negligence of Lord Palmerston's government and the action of the shipbuilders. In the end the Northerners defeated the Southerners owing to their greater num- bers, their greater wealth, and their ability to establish a navy which gave them the command of the sea, which enabled them to paralyse the commerce of the Southerners, and to use the sea-coast as a basis for military operations, advantages of which full use was made by the dogged determination of President Lincoln and the military skill of General Grant. During the war the slaves of the southern states were declared by the Federal Congress to be free, and since then the negroes of the United States have had in law the same rights as their fellow-citizens. In some states they even form the majority of the population, and the future relation of the negroes and whites is a problem that will some day require solution at the hands of the United States. Lord Palmerston's last ministry also saw a distinct step taken in the direction of German unity. The Napoleonic wars had given a great stimulus to the idea of a united Germany, partly by Germany. • i /-< i • accustoming the Germans to act together m great con- federations, partly by the national feeling excited by the Avar of liberation, partly by impressing on men's minds that, so long as Germany was disunited, she was in constant danger of French inter- ference. Accordingly, ever since 1814, many of the best statesmen of Germany, and an increasing number of the most energetic and intellectual minds in the country, had earnestly wished to see the Germans united into one political community instead of being divided into a number of small and often hostile states. The spirit of the Holy Alliance, how- ever, which was dominant in the small courts, was bitterly hostile to the movement ; and the independent advocates of German unity had almost as much persecution to undergo as the followers of Mazzini in Italy. Nevertheless, in 1834, a move in the direction of unity was made by uniting all Germany into a Zollverein, or customs union ; and 1865 Palmer ston \00\ the revolutionary year of 1848, when the king of Prussia was actually invited to take the title of German emperor, gave a further impetus to the movement. So long, however, as Austria was the dominant state, little could be done ; and France naturally viewed with jealousy any change which was likely to make Germany stronger. The position, however, of Austria was now disputed by Prussia. Since the death of Frederick ii., the personal feebleness of the kings of Prussia had been a great bar to the progress of that state ; but in 1861 William i., a really strong man, succeeded his brother as king of Prussia ; and he immedi- ately chose Bismarck, a man of great strength of character and of enor- mous energy, for his chief adviser. These great men saw that the true road to German unity lay in making Prussia the leading state, and they steadily worked for that purpose. On his side the king devoted immense attention to the army. He was the first European sovereign to arm his troops with the breechloader, and he endeavoured to give the Prussian army not only the fullest benefit of modern scientific appliances, but also of the most advanced ideas on the art of war. In this he was assisted by Count von Moltke, an admirable general. Meanwhile, Bismarck devoted himself to diplomacy and to trying to accustom the small states to look up to Prussia and not to Austria as the leader of German opinion. The result of the joint eff'orts of William, Bismarck, and Moltke was seen in 1864, when Prussia appeared as the colleague of Austria in enforcing the claims of Germany to the duchies of Holstein and Schles- ^he Danish wick, which had long been in the hands of Denmark. In War. this quarrel Denmark was in the wrong ; but much enthusiasm was excited in England by the stout resistance made by the Danes, especially as the Prince of Wales had the year before married the Princess Alexandra, a daughter of the king of Denmark. There was, however, no legitimate ground for interference. The Danish war showed careful observers how great was the improvement made by the Prussian army ; and when, in 1866, the Austrians, Bavarians, Hanoverians, and other German states attacked Prussia, the Prussians, with their ^^^ Austro- breechloaders and modern methods, not only beat the brave Prussian War. but out-generalled Austrians in the campaign which ended at the battle of Sadowa or Koniggratz, but also defeated the Hanoverians and Bavarians. The result of this war was to make the Prussians the undisputed leaders of a new German confederation, from which Austria was excluded ; while so great was their military efficiency that the Emperor of the French did not dare to interfere till he had armed his soldiers with breechloading rifles. While the Austrians were at war with the Prussians they were also attacked by the Italians ; and though 1002 Victoria 1865 they were victorious in the battle of Custozza, so serious were their defeats in Germany that they purchased peace in Italy by the virtual surrender of Venetia to Victor Emmanuel. These European wars had the effect of causing a considerable feeling of anxiety in England. It was known that our regular army was very ,pj^g small in comparison with the huge armies of the great Volunteers, continental states. Accordingly some patriotic men set on foot a movement for supplementing the regular army and militia by increasing the number of volunteer soldiers, who, without giving up their ordinary avocations, should be regularly drilled, armed, and disciplined to act as an additional force in case of invasion. The proposal proved to be extremely popular. Though at first looked on somewhat askance by the regular soldiers, it gradually secured greater recognition ; and in time the volunteer regiments have come to be regarded as a very impor- tant element in our system of defence, and as a valuable means of moral discipline and physical training for the young men of our great cities and towns. In 1865 a general election had been held. It produced no great excitement ; and its chief incident was the defeat of Mr. Gladstone for ^^ ^ , the University of Oxford, and his election for South The General Election Lancashire. This event, which is generally regarded as the turning-point in Mr. Gladstone's career, marks the close of the first thirty-three years of his political history, during twenty-seven of which, as a Conservative and a Peelite, he had been regarded as a strong supporter of what were thought to be the interests of the Church, and of Conservative principles in all other matters than Free-trade. During six years he had been a member of Lord Palmerston's govern- ment ; and his defeat for Oxford and return for a popular constituency mark definitely the beginning of a second period of nearly twenty years, during which he acted as the recognised leader of a united Liberal party. In October 1865 Lord Palmerston died ; and as his death had been preceded by those of Cobden, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Sir James Graham, and Lord Herbert of Lea (formerly Sidney Death of ' ^ ^^ ■ \ Lord Herbert), room was made for new actors on the political stage, and an era of greater activity began. The death of Lord Palmerston brings to a close a period which may be said to have begun in 1841 with the first ministry of Sir Robert Peel. It was a period when many useful measures were passed, and had witnessed an immense change in our national life. At home, the establishment on a large scale of our railway and steamboat systems, the introduction of the 1865 Palmerston ^ 1003 penny post and electric telegraph, the advance of all forms of education, the multiplication of cheap newspapers, had led to a widening of the area of intelligent thought that went to form pubhc opinion. Abroad, the same period had seen the completion of our Indian empire, the grant of self-government to our distant colonies, which tends to make them the colleagues rather than the pupils of Great Britain in the government of the empire ; while the increased facilities of communication helped to check the tendency to separation which distance created, and fostered a sentiment of common interest and common aspirations, which were necessary for the maintenance of the unity of the empire. CHIEF DA TES. A.D. Penny Postage adopted, 1839 Great Secession from the Scottish Church, 1843 Corn Laws repealed, 1846 Annexation of the Punjab, 1849 Australian Colonies become self-governing, . 1850 Russian War, 1854-1856 Indian Mutiny, 1857 Death of the Prince Consort, .... 1861 CHAPTER VI VICTORIA: 1865- PART II CHIEF CONTEMPORARY PRINCES AND GOVERNMENTS France. Germany. Italy. Napoleon iir., William (King of Prussia, Victor Emmanuel, deposed 1870. 1861-1871), German Em- d. 1878. Republic, 1870- peror, 1871-1889. Humbert, 1878- Frederick, d. 1889. William ii., 1889- House Suffrage granted to the Towns — Great Legislative Activity under Glad- stone—The Russo-Turkish War- Gladstone's Ministry of 1880 to 1885— The Irish Question — The Occupation of Egypt — Lowering of the County Franchise — Home Rule adopted by Mr. Gladstone — Unsuccessful Attempts to carry his Views into Effect — Extension of Popular Government to Counties and Parishes — Problems of the Future — Conclusion. On Lord Palmerston's death the post of First Lord of the Treasury was taken by Earl (formerly Lord John) Eussell. He made no important changes in the cabinet, but places in the government were found for W. E. Forster and G. J. Goschen, both of whom lived to play a con- siderable part in the history of the country ; and the appearance of Mr. Gladstone as the recognised leader of strong Liberal opinion in the House of Commons showed that a new era was beginning. For some time the attention of the ministers was engrossed by the Jamaica agitation. This movement arose out of the extraordinary The Jamaica severity and contempt for legality Avith which the Jamaica Agitation, authorities, under Governor Eyre, had punished a negro riot in that country. The colonial ofl&ce at once suspended Mr. Eyre ; but the attempt of a private association to convict him of murder failed ; and eventually the expenses he had incurred in defending himself were paid in 1872 by Mr. Gladstone's government. 1004 1867 Russell — Derby 1005 Lord Palmerston had never been an ardent advocate of parliamentary reform ; and so long as he lived, the government had been content to leave the matter to the advocacy of private members of par- liament ; but the election of 1865 had revealed the existence second of a strong feeling in favour of an extension of the franchise ; '^'"^^^''^ • and in 1866 the government measure of reform was introduced by Mr. Gladstone. The bill, which proposed to lower the county The Whig franchise to <£14 and the borough franchise to £7, was a Reform Bill, moderate measure, based on no definite principle, and therefore it pleased nobody. It was disliked by John Bright and the Radicals because it did not go far enough, and by the Conservatives and moderate Whigs because it went too far. The Whig opposition was led by Mr. Robert Lowe, who had been vice-president of the council under Lord Palmerston. He collected round him a small but able band of followers, who were likened by Mr. Bright to the discontented persons whom David gathered together in the cave of Adullam, and were hence called the Adullamites. This band numbered about thirty ; and in the committee stage of the bill the government was defeated on a motion brought forward by one of them. Lord Dunkellin, that rating valuation, not rental, should be taken as the basis for the franchise. This was in June 1866 ; and on the resignation of the government Lord . . " . ° Lord Derby's Derby again took office, with Mr. Disraeli as chancellor of third the exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. As '"'^ ^^' yet no special enthusiasm for reform had been shown, but during the autunm two events gave a marked impetus to the progress of the reform movement. One of these was the holding of a large meeting in Hyde Park in favour of reform, which ended in a riot in which many hundred yards of railings were torn down. The other was a speech by Mr. Gladstone, in which he asked the pertinent question — 'Are not they (the non-voters) our own flesh and blood*?' The phrase spread like wildfire, and undoubtedly had great effect in determining the views of the country. Accordingly, when parliament met in 1867, there was a strong feeling that the question ought to be settled as soon as possible. Mr. Disraeli had himself made up his mind to go a long way, and, as he ^^^ ^^^ said, had been ' educating his party for the effort.' After servative 1 • . ,^ -r.. 1- • . 1 1 v-n 1 • T, ^. Reform Bill. some hesitation, Mr. Disraeli introduced a bill which went a step farther than that of the late government, lowering the franchise to £10 and £6 respectively. Mr. Disraeli had not secured its acceptance without difficulty, and Lord Cranborne (afterwards marquess of Salis- bury) and Lord Carnarvon resigned their posts rather than agree to it. ] 006 Victoria 1867 Nevertheless, Mr. Disraeli persevered, aud when he found that his bill did not give satisfaction, decided to ' dish the Whigs ' once for all by Household proposing household suffrage in the towns, and <£12 in the Suffrage, counties. Household suffrage having been proposed by the Conservatives, it was impossible for the Whigs to resist it, and the measure passed by large majorities in the Commons. In the Lords, Earl Derby described it ' a leap in the dark,' but his followers accepted the plan without much demur. A Distribution of Seats Bill followed, by which, following the precedent of 1832, eleven boroughs were dis- franchised, and one member taken from thirty-five others having less than 10,000 inhabitants. By this means additional members were given to large towns and to populous counties. While the attention of Great Britain was concentrated on parliamentary reform, an act was passed through parliament which was to have the most far-reaching consequences in the future. This was Canadian ^he Canadian Federation Act, which enabled the scattered Federation British colonies of North America to form themselves into a federation under the title of the Dominion of Canada. This was based on the principle that the local affairs of each colony were to be under the management of its own local assembly, but that the affairs which touched the general interests of the colonies should be managed by a Dominion parliament at Ottawa, to which a Dominion cabinet should be responsible. The new Dominion included Canada proper. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, to which were subsequently added the old Hudson's Bay Territory, now known as Manitoba, and British Columbia. This great change has had enormous influence in Canada. The necessity for wide views, and the consideration of conflicting interests, has almost eradicated in Canada the provincial spirit, the existence of which has such a dangerous tendency to make small and distant communities prefer their petty interests to the good of the greater community of which they form a part, and has already produced several Canadian statesmen, such as the late Sir John Macdonald, of whom any country might be proud. Its success has encouraged other parts of the empire to consider the advisability of taking a similar step. Already proposals are under consideration for the federation of the Australian colonies, and at no distant day the South African colonies will follow suit, to the great advantage of the whole empire. As is usual with great events, the Canadian Federation Act attracted, at the time, less interest than a petty war which Lord Derby's government were forced to undertake against King Theodore of Abyssinia, who had imprisoned certain missionaries and travellers at his capital, 1869 Disraeli — Gladstone 1007 INIagdala. An expedition composed of British and Indian troops was sent, under the command of Sir Kobert Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala), and, after a difficult march, Theodore's army was defeated, and Magdak stormed. Theodore died by Abyssinian his own hand, and was succeeded by his relative John, ^^P^'i't^o"- The British brought away King Theodore's only legitimate son, Alamayu, and he lived in England till his death in 1879. Meanwhile the state of Ireland had again begun to attract attention. After the failure of the insurrection of 1848 there was a cessation of plotting for some years ; but, in 1859, the Phoenix Club was founded by O'Donovan Kossa and Stephens. This became the nucleus of Fenianism, a name taken from the semi-mythical followers of an Irish king. At first this movement was unimportant, and though Rossa was tried for plotting and convicted, he was released ; but after the close of the American Civil War it became much more serious. Irishmen had taken a distinguished part on both sides, and when the armies were disbanded the Fenian leaders hoped to enlist the services of the Irish-American soldiers for service against the British government. During 1866 and 1867 there was considerable danger of this being effected ; but, in the sx)ring of 1867, a feeble attempt at rising in Ireland showed the hopeless weakness of the insurgents. Plotting, however, did not stop, and in December of the same year some Fenians, hoping to rescue an imprisoned comrade, blew up the wall of Clerkenwell Prison with gunpowder, and caused an explosion which destroyed no less than twelve lives. On this Mr. Gladstone, who described the Clerkenwell explosion as the ' ringing of the chapel bell,' which summoned the atten- tion of the people, decided to take up the cause of Ireland. The first grievance he proposed to deal with was the Irish Church. This body had been reformed in 1833, but it was as unpopular as ever with the Roman Catholics, especially with the j)riests, who The Irish regarded its existence as a state establishment as an insult Church, to their creed and nation. When Pitt had had to consider this grievance, he had proposed to settle it by a system of concurrent endowment, which should not only amount to a state recognition of the work of the Roman Catholic priests, but should also do away with the somewhat sordid, if natural, jealousy with which the poor church of the majority must regard the highly endowed church of the minority. Mr. Gladstone's plan was different. He proposed to produce equality by disestablishing the Pro- testant Episcopal Church of Ireland and depriving her of the greater part of her endowments ; by depriving the Irish Presbyterians of the Regium Donum, a state grant they had enjoyed since the time of ] Q08 Victoria 1869 William in. and by taking away from the Roman Catholics the state grant to their college of Maynooth. This plan was in accordance with a feelino- that had grown up since Pitt's time in the minds of many Liberals and of most Nonconformists, that the maintenance of any church by public money was undesirable. Accordingly Mr. Gladstone's plan was accepted by the Liberal party ; and, in 1868, he carried against the government a resolution in favour of the disestablishment of the Irish Church. Mr. Disraeli, who had become prime minister in February 1868, when the ill-health of Lord Derby forced him to resign, imme- diately tendered his resignation, but was persuaded to remain in office till the impending general election should show the views of the country. The election of 1868 was fought mainly on the Irish Church question. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Liberals, who carried 393 seats A General against 265 held by the Conservatives, and Mr. Disraeli Election. ^^ ^j-^^g resigned. His place was taken by Mr. Gladstone, who became first lord of the treasury, surrounded by a band of re- markably able colleagues. Among them were Lord Gran- Gladstone's .■,-, n • . '' /-( T 11 1 Ti nr /-Nl 1 i first viile, foreign secretary ; Cardwell, who like Mr. Gladstone inis ry. ^^^ heen a Conservative and a Peelite, secretary for war ; Robert Lowe, chancellor of the exchequer ; John Bright, president of the Board of Trade ; W. E. Forster, vice-president of the council and practically minister of education ; G. J. Goschen, president of the Poor Law Board, afterwards first lord of the admiralty, and others. When parliament met in 1869 the government at once brought in a bill for the disestablishment of the Irish Church, based on Mr. Irish Gladstone's proposals. By this the Irish Church became a c urch Act. £j.gg Episcopal Church, and its bishops ceased to sit in the House of Lords. The fabrics of the churches and cathedrals, and all private endowments given since 1660, were allowed to be retained by the new Church. After compensation to the clergy and church officials for their life-interest, the remaining funds were to be applied, at the dis- cretion of the government of the day, to the relief of unavoidable sufler- ing. The bill passed the House of Commons easily, and though vigorously contested in the Lords, its second reading was passed there by 179 to 146, and the bill became law. The year 1870 was chiefly given to legislating on another Irish grievance, which, in the opinion of many acute observers, occupied a The ir" h ^^^g^r Space in the minds of the Irish people than that to Land which Mr. Gladstone had given his first attention. This was the land question. To understand this most difficult and thorny subject, it is absolutely necessary to bear in mind two 1870 Gladstone 1009 essential points : first, that from time immemorial it has been the oeneral practice in Ireland that land should be let, not as in England, properly fenced, drained, and provided with farm buildings at the expense of the landlord (see page 260), but in its natural state— buildings, fencing, and draining being done subsequently by the tenant, by his own labour' or at his own expense. The second point is that, whereas in England farming is one among a number of other industries, in the greater part of Ireland it is practically the only industry, and also that the Irish have inbred in them a keen desire to occupy land to which there is hardly anything analogous in England, though it exists to some extent in the agricultural parts of Wales. The consequence is that an Irish peasant is more prone than an Englishman or Scotsman to offer a rent which he cannot reasonably expect to pay. Another peculiarity of the Irish farmers was a widespread desire to break up their farms by giving sections to their sons during the lifetime of the father, and so to create tenancies too small to support a family in reasonable com- fort. These peculiarities of the Irish land question had been com- ]3aratively unimportant till the operation of the Encumbered Estates Act (see page 972) had replaced many of the old Irish landlords — who, with all their faults, had understood and sympathised with the ideas of their tenants — by a new class of landholders, accustomed to English ideas of rent and farming, who had often been induced to purchase the pro- perty by the statement that the present rents were too low and could easily be raised. Both the virtues and faults of the new-comers led to trouble. Their attempts to introduce a higher standard of cultivation and improved methods of using land were resented, and their attempts to raise rents to what seemed to them the commercial value of the land, and the evictions to which these led, sometimes produced bloody reprisals. In Ulster, however, the presence of manufactures, and the thrifty and independent character of the farmers of Scotch and English descent, had introduced a modification of great value, called the Ulster custom of tenant-right, by which the interest of the farmer in the farm, caused by his having made or paid for improvements, was recognised, and a tenant, on leaving his property, received the value of his tenant-right. The plan, however, though customary, was not recognised by law ; and an attempt to get it legalised, made by Mr. Harman Crawford in 1852, was defeated. In 1860 Lord Palmerston's government took a step in exactly the opposite direction, by endeavouring to assimilate the Irish to the English system. Palmerston himself had declared that, in his opinion, * tenant-right meant landlord's wrong,' and an act was passed by which for the future the relations between landlord and tenant were to be based, 3 s ;[010 Victoria 1870 not on custom or common law, but on contract. From an Irish point of view this made matters worse than ever ; and in 1870 Mr. Gladstone's government repealed Lord Palmerston's act, and passed another by which An Irish the Ulster tenant-right, and similar customs in other parts Land Act. ^^ Ireland, received a legal status. New rights were given to tenants with reference to compensation for disturbance for other causes than non-payment of rents, and on the termination of a tenancy compensation was given for improvements. In deference to the opinion of Mr. Bright, who believed that the real solution of the Irish land question was to be found in the creation of peasant-proprietors, a clause was added by which the government could advance money on loan to tenants who, with the consent of their landlords, were desirous of pur- chasing their farms. The weak point of Mr. Gladstone's act was that it made no provision to prevent a landlord raising the rent as the tenant's improvements made his holding more valuable, and ultimately of evicting the tenant if he could not pay — in which case, by Mr. Gladstone's arrange- ment, the tenant lost the whole value of his interest in his holding. This omission went far to destroy the value of the act, and to falsify Mr. Gladstone's confident assurances that the Church and Land Acts between them would settle the Irish question. While Mr. Gladstone was legislating for Ireland, Mr. Forster had passed through parliament the Elementary Education Act, the import- ance of w^hich it is difficult to over-estimate, as it set on foot a Elementary . Education national system of elementary national education. Since the Act first education grant was made in 1833, it became increas- ingly evident that, if the work of education was to be carried on efiec- tively, especially in populous districts, some system of state schools would have to be introduced. The prospect, however, excited a great deal of opposition— partly from Dissenters, who feared that in some way or other the new schools would be used to further the interests of the church ; partly from those who thought that the provision of educa- tion formed no part of the functions of government. Nevertheless, the work of the education committee steadily grew. Between 1833 and 1839 the education grant had been administered by the Treasury, but in the latter year it was placed in the hands of a committee of the Privy Council, presided over by the vice-president. At the same time it was enacted that the grant might be used, not only to aid in the erection of new schools, to which it had been limited in 1833, but also to the main- tenance of existing schools, it being stipulated, however, that such schools were to be subject to government inspection. In 1846 one of its minutes defined their grants as of three kinds : (1) to training colleges ; 1871 Gladstone 101 1 (2) for the building of new schools ; (3) annual grants for the mainten- ance of existing schools. In practice the maintenance grants were paid in teachers' salaries. This practice proved more expensive than efficient. In 1839 the parliamentary grant was £30,000. In 1859-GO it was over a million ; while a commission held in that year reported that the teach- ing was often very bad. Consequently, in 18G2 Mr. Robert Lowe, when vice-president of the council, issued a revised code of instruction, and also devised the policy of making the annual grant depend on the success of the scholars in the annual inspection — a method defined by him as ' payment by results.' This had the efi^ect of checking the rapidity of the increase, and in 1870 the grant had only increased to £1,225,000. Mr. Forster's plan was to allow any district to elect a school board, which should have the power to levy a rate, and to spend it either in aiding existing schools, or in erecting and managing The Eie- schools of their own. In these Board Schools it was n?5"tary fc-ducation enacted by the Cowper-Temple clause, that no ' catechisms Act. or distinctive dogmatic formularies ' were to be taught. For the pro- tection of Dissenters, it was also enacted that in all state-aided schools where religious instruction was given, such instruction must be placed at a definite time, at the beginning or end of school hours ; and that no child should sufter any disability from being withdrawn by its parent from such religious instruction. The bill was strongly opposed in detail by the Birmingham League — a body of Dissenters who held that all religious teaching should be excluded from Board Schools ; 1 1 11-, • 1 i • p , 1 University but on the whole, it was received as a satisiactory settle- Tests aboi- ment of a very diflicult question. By an act passed in '^ ^ • 1871, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were thrown open to Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters by the abolition of all religious tests. Meanwhile the reforming zeal, which, as in 1832, had followed a loweriug of the franchise, showed itself in a variety of ways. In 1870 the majority of appointments in the civil service were thrown open to competition. In 1871 the Ballot Act was passed to protect voters from intimidation and to discourage bribery, by enabling them to vote secretly by using an unsigned voting paper instead of giving their votes verbally as heretofore. This had been one of the demands of the Chartists, and ])ills to establish it had several times been passed by the Commons, but hitherto had been rejected by the Lords. In 1858 another of the Chartist demands had been granted by the abolition of the property qualification for members of parlia- ment. 1012 Victoria I87i Ever since the Crimean war a strong feeling had been growing up that the purchase system, by which commissions in the army were bought and sold was unsatisfactory. By this plan a man who held a Army ' ••it ^ • ^ • • Purchase, lieutenant's commission had, on becoming by seniority entitled to a captain's commission, to purchase it at a price, the minimum of which was fixed, but the maximum varied in different regiments^ The system worked as a hindrance to poor men either entering the army or risino- in it ; while rich officers not only bought their commissions with ease but by a system of purchasing exchanges from one regiment to another, were able to secure rapid promotion^ Wellington, for example, was a lieutenant- colonel at twenty-three, a rank only reached by Sir Colin Campbell after twenty-seven years of distinguished service. The system, however, had many defenders, mainly on the ground that, having not worked so badly in practice as might be expected in theory, it was inad- visable to change it for some untried plan. Nevertheless, in 1871 Mr. Cardwell passed a bill through the House of Commons for the reo-ulation of the army, of which the abolition of purchase formed part. The purchase section was, however, thrown out by the Lords, upon which Mr. Gladstone advised the cpieen to cancel the royal warrant which authorised the purchase of commissions. This the queen did, and the Lords then agreed to the bill, which contained a provision for the compensation of those officers who lost by the measure. The abolition of purchase formed only one part of a general system of army reform initiated by Mr. Gladstone's government In 1870 an Army Enlistment Act was passed, by which men, instead of pledging themselves to twenty- Short ^^^ years' actual service, were allowed to offer themselves for Service. j^ term of six years' regimental service, and a further period of six years in the reserve. The same year, by an order in council, the commander-in-chief was placed under the authority of the secretary of state for war, a regulation which did away with the division of authority between the Horse Guards, as the commander-in-chiefs department was generally called, and the War Office, which on many occasions had been found fruitful of trouble. In 1871 the crown re-assumed direct control over the militia and volunteers, which had been vested in the lords-lieutenant of counties. This made possible a scheme for the organisation of the regular infantry, militia, and volunteers on a terri- torial basis, by which the regiments of the regular infantry became known by territorial titles, such as the Dorsetshire or East Stafibrdshire regiments, and the militia and volunteers of each county became bat- talions of the regiment named from their districts. The advantages of this plan were seriously diminished by the abolition of the old 1873 Gladstone 1013 regimental numbers, under which many regiments had gained distinction in former wars, and whose loss was regarded with regret not only by soldiers but by the country at large. The abolition of purchase, the in- troduction of short service, and the beginning of the territorial system, make Mr. Curdwell's management of the War Office a critical period in the history of the British army. Mr. Gladstone's government also carried out an important reform in our judicial arrangements. The gradual development from the old curia regis of the courts of Exchequer, Common Pleas, King's Bench, and Chancery, had resulted in a hard and fast line Court of being drawn between them, which often resulted in con- J"^***^^- siderable inconvenience to judges, barristers, and suitors. It was de- termined, therefore, to unite them in one Supreme Court of Judicature, of which the four courts were to be regarded merely as divisions. For the accommodation of the new court, it was also decided to build a com- pletely new set of buildings, known as the New Law Courts. These were placed between Lincoln's Inn and the Temple, just outside Temjjle Bar ; and the concentration of all the civil courts under one roof has proved a great convenience to everybody. After the church and the land, the great Irish difficulty was the question of higher education. The Roman Catholic clergy have always held very strong views as to the undesirability of Roman ^.^^ r ■ ^ Catholic students attending not only colleges or universities University where Protestant teaching in religious subjects formed part of the course, but also those from whose curriculum religious education was altogether excluded. What they wanted was a Catholic university, where definite teaching of religion on Roman Catholic lines should form part of the ordinary curriculum ; and in this view the great majority of Irish Roman Catholics shared. No such university existed in Ireland. Trinity College was definitely Protestant ; Maynooth was merely a training college for priests, and had just been deprived of its grant. In 1845 Peel had tried the experiment of founding university colleges at Belfast, Cork, and Galway, under the title of Queen's Colleges. In these the education was to be purely secular. Unluckily, they were at once branded as ' Godless Colleges,' and the success they achieved was not great. In 1873 Mr. Gladstone brought forward his solution of the question. This was the foundation of a national univer- sity for Ireland, from which the teaching of theology, moral philosophy, and history was to be excluded. The plan pleased nobody. It was not what the Irish Roman Catholics wanted. A university which had no place for either theology, moral philosophy, or history, was laughed at by 1014 Victoria . 1873 the Protestants ; and, on the second reading of the bill, the government was defeated by two hundred and eighty-seven to two hundred and eio-hty-four. On this Mr. Gladstone resigned ; but, as Mr. Disraeli had no majority in parliament, he declined to take office ; and, after some readjustment of his cabinet, Mr. Gladstone resumed the reins. A general election, however, could not be long deferred. Mr. Gladstone's government had lost twenty-three seats since the last election ; it had brought forward or passed almost all the Gladstone measures that had then been before the country ; and Mr. Disraeli had jocularly described the occupants of the Treasury bench as 'a row of extinct volcanoes.' Accordingly, in January 1874, Mr. Gladstone dissolved parliament, announcing in his election manifesto that, if he were returned to office, the income tax should be abolished. The country, however, appeared to be tired of the heroic legislation of the last five years ; the extreme Nonconformists took little pains to support the government, which had offended them by its compromise on the education question ; while what Mr. Disraeli had once described as the ' harassed interests ' rallied vigorously round the Conservative banner. The result was that Mr. Disraeli came to parliament with three hundred and fifty followers, and Mr. Gladstone at once resigned. He was succeeded by Mr. Disraeli as prime minister, with Lord Derby foreign secretary, Lord Salisbury secretary for India, and Sir Staftbrd Northcote chancellor of the exchequer. During Mr. Gladstone's ministry several events of first-rate importance had occurred on the continent. In 1870 the Emperor of the French, ^, ^ having armed his troops with the Chassepot breechloader, The Franco- ^ ^ ^ ^ ' German which had a longer range than the Prussian needle-gun, War. . & ' thought himself strong enough to enter on a war with Prussia, hoping that, in face of his attack, the German confederation of which Prussia was the head would fall in pieces. Bismarck was at least as eager as Napoleon to fight, and with better reason, for the German states — even including Bavaria, and the other states which had fought against her in 1866 — remained true to Prussia ; and Napoleon found that he had to do not merely with Prussia, but Avith the whole German nation outside Austria. Austria also remained neutral. Instead, therefore, of invading Prussia, he had to stand on the defensive. Even this did not save him. The imperial rule, Avhich had been based on a system of corruption and intimidation, proved to have sapped the mili- tary power of France. The Germans, admirably led l3y King William and Moltke, won victory after victory, and eventually forced the Emperor to surrender at Sedan. Upon this the French proclaimed a republic ; but this 1874 Gladstone — Disraeli 1015 failed to stay the German march. Metz fell ; Paris was l:»esieged, and after a defence of more than fonr months, it capitulated to the Germans. Such a glorious termination of a war— in which for the first time for centuries all Germans, outside the Austrian empire, had fought shoulder to shoulder — seemed a favourable opportunity for putting the key- stone to the slowly-wrought edifice of German unity. Accordingly, at the request of the other princes. King William took the title of German emperor ; and the German confederation was changed into the German empire. At the same time France was compelled to surrender the ancient German provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, and to pay ^200,000,000 in gold as an indenmity to Germany. During the war the Italians had taken advantage of the weakness of the French to occupy Rome, which henceforth became the capital of a united Italy, and the temporal power of the pope came to an end. The unification of Germany and Italy are de- cidedly the two greatest European events of modern times, and have completely changed the character of continental j)olitics. During the war the neutrality of Belgium, which had been guaranteed in 1839, was in great danger of being violated ; but Mr. Gladstone's government, by a vigorous assertion of Great Britain's intention to maintain it, xhe Black obtained a declaration of its inviolability from both the • contending parties. Mr. Gladstone, however, was unable to prevent Russia decla.ring the neutrality of the Black Sea at an end (see page 991). Out of the war, also, arose a financial change, which has since proved of great consequence. For ages the commerce of the civilised world has been carried on in gold and silver, some nations using gold as their standard, some silver, and some both. Great Currency Britain, for example, uses gold as a standard, and has done so since 1816, the silver coins being merely tokens. France, since 1785, had used both gold and silver, and Germany had used silver. In this way it happened that a practical equilibrium had been maintained between the purchasing power of gold and that of silver. In 1872 Germany took advantage of the French indemnity to issue a gold coinage, and to make gold her standard ; and in 1873 France also ceased, as heretofore, to coin gold and silver indiscriminately, and began to coin gold only. The result was to increase the demand for gold and to diminish that for silver. That is, more goods had to be given for gold than formerly— or, in other words, a steady fall in prices set in. This was advantageous for all persons with fixed incomes, or who had interest to be paid to them in gold ; but it had a most serious eft'ect on ;dl manufacturers, because, in dealing with silver countries, the silver prices 2015 Victoria 1874 they had to charge for their goods were higher in order to get the same amount of gold in return : and also because manufacturers or producers in silver-usint'' countries, such as India, could afford to sell their goods at a lower rate in gold than formerly, thereby underselling British farmers in the home market and British manufacturers in the markets of other countries. The difficulty was further aggravated by the opening up about this time of immense silver mines in America and Australia, which of course tended still further to lower the price of silver. This fall in the value of silver as compared to gold has proved a most serious matter. It affects the whole relations between India, China, Japan, and the old countries of Europe, and how to deal with it is one of the most pressing problems of the day. The reforming zeal of the nation had spent itself during the five years of ]\Ir. Gladstone's administration, and under Mr. Disraeli little was Mr. done in the way of domestic legislation. In 1875 an Artisans' Seccmd'^ Dwellings Act was passed. This act, though not very far- Ministry, going in itself, is important because it may be taken as initiating a series of social legislation in the interest of the industrial classes, which is, perhaps, the most striking feature of modern legislation. It should be coupled with acts passed in 1871 and 1876, which removed the last vestiges of the law by which trades' unions were regarded as in themselves illegal combinations. In 1875 an important step wns taken in determining the relation of landlords and agricultural tenants, by which arrangements were njade for the compensation of out-going tenants for unexhausted improvements, in cases Avhere neither landlord nor tenant objected to coming under the act. This measitre was merely tentative and permissive, but it formed the starting-point for further changes. The real interest of the day was given to foreign afiairs. In 1875 an insurrection of the Christian population of European Turkey broke out ^, in Herzegovina. This created a ferment of excitement The ® Eastern throughout the wliole Turkish empire, and it became clear that if the Turks did not quickly carry out such reforms as the Christians demanded, there would be a general insurrection, supported in all probability by such emancipated provinces as Servia, Montenegro, and Roumania, and possibly by Russia. For Great Britain, the diffi- culty of the situation lay in the facts that it was not easy to coerce Turkey without giving a free hand to Russia, which might result in the complete overthrow of the Turkish empire and the establishment of the Russians at Constantinople ; and on the other hand, that it was not easy to keep back the Russians without seeming to condone the evil govern- 1876 Disraeli 1017 ment of the Turks. At first the best plan seemed to be to secure the co-operation of all the great powers in enforcing reform on the Turks ; but in 1876 Mr. Disraeli refused to agree to what was called the Berlin note, which was presented to Turkey in the name of the great powers, and which urged on her the necessity of carrying out her promises of reform. In this way Great Britain retained a free hand, and avoided committing herself to any definite line of action. Unfortunately, almost at the same moment, the Turks roused a wave of indignation throughout Europe by the diabolical cruelty with which they put down an insurrec- tion of the Christians in the province of Bulgaria. This made it even more difficult, not only to hold back Russia from independent action, but also to take any steps at all without seeming to condone the action of the Turks. Probably the only really satisfactory course would have been to have sent an armed force to Constantinople and anticipated the designs of Russia by ourselves compelling the Turks to reform. Instead of doing this, however, Mr. Disraeli reverted to the idea of joint action, and a conference was held at Constantinople to again urge reform upon the Turks. The Sultan ajjparently acquiesced, and even granted a j^arlia- mentary constitution to his subjects, but had no real intention of doing anything. The opportunity of advocating the cause of the eastern Christians, in whom he had always been interested, coupled with the hope of discredit- ing the Conservative government, brought Mr. Gladstone Mr. into the field. Little more than a year before he had declared Gladstone, his intention of retiring from politics and had abandoned the leadership of the Liberal party ; but in September 1876 he again came forward, and addressing a great meeting on Blackheath denounced the Turks with all the resources of his eloquence and advocated the grant of autonomy to the Christian provinces of Turkey. Hitherto, Mr. Gladstone's power had been chiefly exercised in parliament ; but he now appeared as a platform orator, and men probably realised for the first time what an extraordinary magnetic influence his personality and eloquence exercised over a large body of his countrymen. Meanwhile, to add to Mr. Disraeli's difficulties, the Servians and Montenegrins, largely aided by Russian officers, declared war against Turkey in June 1876. The Turks, however, were excellent ^^^ soldiers, and had no difficulty in defeating them in the open oj?^^^^^ field, but the victories of the Turks roused still further the ° ^^''' indignation of the Russians and the Czar was implored to lead a crusade against the Turks. Accordingly, the Russian army was embodied and the Turks were requested to grant an armistice to the Servians and Monte- 1018 Victoria 1876 neorins. This was done, and it was during the armistice that the conference was held at Constantinople ; but as nothing came of it, the Kussians, in April 1877, crossed the Pruth, and passing Russians through Roumania invaded Turkey. Fur a time the Turks mvade were successful, especially at the great earthworks of Plevna, in checking the Russian advance, but in December Plevna was stormed, and the Russians, pouring over the Balkans, threatened to talie Constantinople itself. To stop this appeared essential to Mr. Disraeli, who had lately become Lord Beaconsfield, and therefore, in spite of the protests of Mr. Gladstone and the resignation of Lord Derby and Lord Carnarvon, two of his own cabinet, he sent a British fleet to Constantinople, called out the reserves, and brought a contingent of Indian troops to Malta. Meanwhile, the Russians had compelled the Turks to agree to the Treaty of San Stefano, the chief points of which were that Bulgaria should be made an autonomous province, with a port on the ^gean Sea, and that Russia should have a large slice of Turkish territory in Asia Minor, Lord Beaconsfield was under the impression that the new Bulgaria would, in practice, prove to be merely an outlying Treaty of province of Russia, which would be thrust like a wedge San Stefano. jjetween Constantinople and the rest of European Turkey. He therefore continued his preparations for war in spite of the protests of the opposition in parliament and Mr. Gladstone's agitation in the country. Seeing that the British government was in earnest, the Russians agreed to submit the treaty to be revised at a European Congress. Before this met at Berlin they entered into an agreement with Great Britain, by which they gave up the idea of what was called the 'big Bulgaria,' and allowed it to be divided into two parts — one wholly, one only partially, independent of the authority of the Sultan. Servia and Roumania were to be wholly independent ; Russia was to have Kars and Batoum, but was not to fortify the latter. Turkey was to at once' carry out reforms which should secure the good government of Armenia. These provisions formed the gist of the great Treaty of Berlin, The Berlin which was negotiated by Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salis- ^^^ ^' bury in person, and which was described by Lord Beacons- field on his return as 'peace with honour.' On the whole, the treaty effected a great deal. It secured the autonomy of the most important portions of the Christian population of European Turkey ; on the other hand, Russia had not established herself at Constantinople. The subse- quent history of the treaty has falsified many of the hopes and fears of both sides. The autonomous provinces did not prove so subservient to Russia as the Czar hoped and Lord Beaconsfield feared, and in 1885 the 1879 Beaconsfield 1019 two Biilgarias, with the goodwill of Great Britain, were practically united ; Batoum has been fortified by the Russians, while the Turks have not yet carried out their promised reforms in Armenia. Just before the Berlin Congress Great Britain entered into a treaty with Turkey, occupation by which, in consideration of being allowed to occupy and of Cyprus, administer the island of Cyprus, Great Britain guaranteed the integrity of the Asiatic dominions of the Porte. The check which Lord Beaconsfield's government had given to the forward policy of the Russians in Europe received its natural counter- blow in Asia, where it was easy for Russia to threaten the safety of British rule in India by entering into friendly relations with the ruler of Afghanistan. Accordingly, in the summer of 1878, the Russians persuaded the Ameer to receive a Russian envoy. As this was certain to be rumoured throughout India in the form that the Afghans were in alliance with the Russians, Lord Lytton, Lord Beaconsfield's viceroy of India, demanded that the Ameer should also receive a British envoy. The mission, however, was stopped on the frontier, and the Indian government immediately ordered an invasion of Afghanistan. The military operations were carried out without difficulty ; tlie Ameer fled, and shortly afterwards died. In these circumstances the British set up a new Ameer, Yakoob Khan, who, on consideration of receiving J60,000 a year, agreed, by the Treaty of Gundamak, to receive an English envoy at Cabul, and to surrender the Kurum, Pishin, and Sibi valleys, which opened out into the valley of the Indus. Unfor- tunately, the Afghans showed themselves just as bitterly opposed to the idea of receiving a resident envoy as they had been in 1841, and in Sep- tember 1879 the British envoy. Sir Louis Cavagnari, was murdered in a popular outbreak. A second invasion followed. Cabul was again occupied, and Yakoob Khan imprisoned in India (see page 1021). Simultaneously with the fighting in Afghanistan we were also engaged in military operations in South Africa. Ever since we had taken over the Cape of Good Hope our relations both with the former south Dutch colonists and with the natives had been a constant source of trouble. The Dutch farmers, or Boers, did not like the ways of the British settlers and resented the interference of the government in their own dealings with their native servants. Accordingly, in 1837, a body of Dutchmen left Cape Colony and settled north of it in the district of Natal. They were not long alloAved to remain independent, but were again brought under British rule in 1844. However, the steady influx of British settlers into South Africa remained a constant source of irrita- tion, and another migration of Boers established the Orange Free State. 1020 Victoria 1879 This too, was annexed by Great Britain in 1848 ; but in 1853 it was thouo-ht better to allow the Dutch to have an independent territory, and British rule was withdrawn. Nevertheless, in 1861, another body of Boers pushed on into native territory and founded the Transvaal, which also remained independent till 1876. The expansion of a European colony must, in the nature of things, lead to fighting with the natives if they are strong enough to attempt resistance, and this led to the Kaffir wars of 1835 and 1853, in which, not without some difficulty, the natives were defeated. In 1876 an even more formidable danger threatened both the Dutch and British settlements. This was the rise of the Zulu power. The Zulus were a race of warriors, probably superior to any other African race, who, under a certain Chaka and his son Cetewayo, had been organised on a military basis which made them a terror to all their neio-hbours. One result of this was that in 1876 a considerable number of the Transvaal Boers were willing to accept the sovereignty of Great Britain. It is, however, an open question whether Cetewayo would not have left the Europeans alone had he been allowed a free hand to extend his dominions among the native states. Sir Bartle Frere, the Lord High Commissioner, thought otherwise, and in 1879 it was detennined to attack Cetewayo, and put a stop to his military power. The invasion was badly managed, and the British suffered a disastrous reverse at Isandhlwana ; though the courage of a handful of men, Avho held a post at Rorke's Drift against the whole Zulu army, somewhat redeemed the disgrace to our arms. Eventually an overwhelming force was collected. Cetewayo was defeated at the battle of Ulundi and afterwards taken prisoner, and the power of the Zulus was irretrievably broken. So soon as the danger from the Zulus was gone, the Boers of the Transvaal wished again to be independent, and received some countenance from Mr. Glad- stone and other members of the Liberal party. At home, the latter years of Lord Beaconsfield's administration were times of marked depression, both in manufactures and agriculture. This Depression was due to a series of causes, the effects of which are not of Trade. ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ly developed. Chief of these were : (1) the immense development of foreign and colonial competition in raw materials, such as corn, wool, and the like, which had the effect of lowering the price of British produe to a point far below that contemplated when Cobden and Bright advocated the system of free imports ; (2) the growth of foreign manufactures, stimulated by the system of protection which is in use in almost all countries except Great Britain, which enabled foreigners both to supply their own wants and to compete with us in neutral markets ; (3) the derangement of currency which set in 1880 Beaconsfield — Gladstone 1021 in 1873, and which had steadily oiven an advantage to our silver-using competitors, such as the Japanese, in all the markets of the world. The depression of trade, and the many vulnerable points in Lord Beaconsfield's foreign policy, enabled Mr. Gladstone to make out a strong case against the government, which he exhibited with won- a General derful energy and eloquence in a series of speeches in Scot- Election, land, known as the ' Midlothian Tour ' ; and in the general election of 1880 the Liberal leader carried all before him. No less than 349 Liberals were returned against 243 Conservatives second°"^ ^ and 60 Home Rulers, and Mr. Gladstone again became '^^"^^^'^y- prime minister, with Lord Granville as foreign secretary, SirW. Harcourt home secretary. Lord Hartington war secretary, John Brioht chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, W. E. Forster chief secretary to the lord- lieutenant of Ireland. Joseph Chamberlain, whose admirable work in connection with the local government of Birmingham had o-ained him a wide reputation, became president of the Board of Trade. His first attention was devoted to foreign aflairs. On coming into power, Mr. Gladstone's design was to reverse as far as possible the policy of Lord Beaconsfield. He emphasised his hostility to the Turks by inducing the Great Powers to bring armed ^ *' " => Foreign pressure to bear upon them to compel them to give up Affairs. Dulcigno to the Montenegrins, and to give an improved ^' frontier to the Greeks ; while, on the other hand, he did not compel them to grant the improved government to the Armenians, which had been stipulated for by the Treaty of Berlin. He decided to withdraw from further interference in the afluirs of Afghanistan. , .,. Afghanistan, However, the energy of the Afghans prolonged military operations for some time. A British force was defeated at Maiwand ; but the prestige of our arms was restored by General Roberts, who, after a brilliant march from Cabul to Candahar, defeated the enemy at Pir Paimal. Eventually, Abdurrahman Khan was recognised as the sole ruler of Afghanistan, and Candahar was handed over to him. The British then withdrew from the country, and have since been on most friendly terms with the Afghan authorities. Meanwhile, war had broken out in South Africa. The Boers of the Transvaal, disap- The Trans- pointel to find that the accession to jwwer of Mr. Gladstone ^^^'• was not immediately followed by the restoration of their independence, broke into rebellion, and invaded the colony of Natal. The British troops available for service proved unequal to the task of dislodging them, and the handling of our men compared most unfavourably with the practical skill shown by the Boers in irregular warfare. After sufi'ering several 1022 Victoria I88O reverses our commander, Sir George Colley, was killed, and a portion of the British force cut to pieces at Majuba Hill. By this time Mr. Gladstone was convinced that the Boers had right on their side, and thou oh an overwhelming force had been collected under Sir Evelyn Wood he aranted their demand for independence, merely retaining for Great Britain a nominal suzerainty over the Transvaal. The presence in the House of Commons of sixty Home Rulers mnrked a new stao-e in the history of the Irish question. In spite of Mr. Glad- stone's Irish reforms there was still a great deal of discon- tent. This arranged itself under two heads. First, there was a recrudescence of the sentiment of Irish nationality, which had always regarded with dislike the legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland. Second, the grievances of the farmers, mainly due to the same fall in the gold value of agricultural produce that had caused de- pression in England and which made rents increasingly difficult to pay. This led to evictions ; and as Mr. Gladstone's Land Act of 1871 had expressly denied to the tenant any right to compensation for disturbance in case of non-payment of rent, very great hardship resulted. Evictions were numerous, and, as is always the case in Ireland, under such provo- cation outrages multiplied. The revival of a Nationalist agitation took the form of a demand for Home Rule, by which was meant the estal^lishment of a subordinate Irish parliament, able to deal with exclusively Irish affiiirs, Home Rule. , , . , ' „ . . , , . . ' but leavmg all matters of imperial concern to the imperial parliament at Westminster. The desire for Home Rule was connected partly with the wave of national feeling, which during this century has played such an important part in European politics, partly with the feeling of dislike towards a highly centralised government, which is always more or less present in large and scattered states. To Englishmen the establishment of Home Rule appeared impossible on several grounds : (I) that if granted it would only be a step towards a demand for Irish independence ; (2) that without making a complete change in our system of government it was impossible to design a scheme of Home Rule that could be fair to both Great Britain and Ireland ; and (3) that a large part of the population of Ireland was utterly averse to anything of the kind. For many years these objections were regarded as insuperable by men of all political parties in Great Britain. The Home Government Association, afterwards the Home Rule League, was founded in 1870 ; and at the election of 1874 it succeeded in returning fifty-eight members to the House of Commons. These were led first by Mr. Isaac Butt, and afterwards by Mr. Shaw ; but the general 1880 Gladstone 1023 estiinate of Home Rule held at that time is shown by the fact that in 1874 a motion of Mr. Butt's on the subject was defeated by 458 to 61 ; and one of Mr. Shaw's, in 1877, by 417 to 67. In 1877, however, a new phase of the question was introduced by of HomI Mr. C. S. Parnell, a young member of the Home Rule ^''^^" party, who, in concert Avith Mr. J. Biggar, began a course of ' obstruc- tion,' the object of which was to make the conduct of parliamentary business so difficult that either the Liberals or the Conservatives would have to come to terms with the Home Rulers. This policy, in spite of the passing of more stringent rules for the conduct of debate than had hitherto been necessary, had been steadily persevered in by its in- ventors, and though it made the Home Rulers detested in England, had certainly the effect of raising their consequence and popularity in Ireland. Hitherto the weak part of the Nationalist movement had been that it was almost confined to the town population, and received little support among the farmers. However, in 1879, Michael Davitt, The Land a Home Ruler, but not a member of parliament, saAv his ^^^gue. way to rectify this. It was a time of acute distress in Ireland. The steady fall in the price of produce made rents more difficult to pay, while a partial failure of the potato crop brought some districts to the verge of famine. Of this state of affairs Mr. Davitt took advantage to form a Land League, the great object of which was to obtain for the farmers a reduction of rent ; and by allying the agitation for diminished rents with the agitation for Home Rule, he succeeded in giving to both movements a strength which neither would have had by itself. The result was seen in the election of 1880, when sixty members were sent from Ireland explicitly pledged to support Parnell and Biggar, and bent on pressing forward land reform and Home Rule side by side. The importance of the new aspect of Irish affairs had been pointed out by Lord Beaconsfield in his election address and Mr. Gladstone found that his chief attention would have to be given to the afi'airs of that country. Accordingly he chose for chief secretary Mr. W. E. Forster, a statesman of the first rank in England, who was also recom- mended to the Irish by the prominent share he had taken, as a young man, in relieving Irish distress during the famine of 1846. The first object of the government was to terminate the land agitation by striking at the roots of discontent, and in bringing for- Mr. Glad- ward a measure for the relief of distress they introduced a j J?s"h ^ proviso known as the Compensation for Disturbance Clause, Policy, suspending, during 1880 and 1881, the clause in Mr. Gladstone's act 1024 Victoria 1880 which deprived tenants evicted for non-payment of rent of compensation for disturbance. The clause, however, was rejected in the House of Lords. Instead of insisting on the passing of a provision which he rec^arded as necessary for the preservation of peace, Mr. Gladstone accepted the rebuff. Then, as the agitation was growing more pro- nounced, and many outrages were taking place, Mr. Parnell and others were prosecuted for inciting to lawlessness ; but as the jury did not ao-ree, this abortive attempt only added to the popularity of the Irish leaders. When parliament met in 1881 a new departure was announced. In 1880 Mr. Gladstone had somewhat ostentatiously announced that the o-overnment would not renew the Peace Preservation Act, a measure passed by the late parliament to strengthen the hands of the Irish Execu- tive ; but he now came forward and persuaded parliament to pass a Protection for Life and Property Act, amounting to a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, by which the chief secretary was authorised to arrest and detain in prison, without trial, any one whose liberty he regarded as dangerous to the peace of the country. At the same time a Land Act was passed, by which a tribunal called a Land Court was set up in Ireland, Avith power to fix a judicial rent for any farm, the tenant of which made an application to the court. In spite, however, of the fact that the price of agricultural produce was steadily falling, Mr. Gladstone, instead of making judicial rents vary in proportion to the price of produce as was the case with the tithe, arranged that the judicial rents should be unalterable for a term of fifteen years, and so made it certain that any further fall of prices would result in an agitation against the judicial rents themselves. Moreover, he excluded leaseholders from the benefit of the act, though their rents, fixed when prices were higher, were often actually more unjust than those of ordinary farmers. Naturally the Home Rule leaders did not wish the Land Act to check the ardour of their new supporters, and did all they could to discredit it. On this, Mr. Gladstone denounced them as ' marching through rapine to the disintegration of the empire,' and declaring that the 'resources of civilisation were not yet exhausted,' used the powers given by the recent Act of Parliament to shut up Mr. Parnell, Mr. Dillon, and other Home Eulers in Kilmainham Gaol. The Home Rulers replied by issuing a manifesto, in which they altogether forbade the payment of rent ; and on this the Land League was pro- claimed to be an ' illegal and criminal association.' However, in 1882, Mr. Gladstone again altered his tactics, and in spite of the remonstrances of Mr. Forster, released Mr. Parnell, it being understood at the same time that the Home Rulers would for the future support the government in the 1882 Gladstone 1025 passing of Liberal measures. This arrangement, subsequently known as the Kilmainham Treaty, was strongly condenmed by Mr. Forstei-, who re- signed his place in the government, and sternly denounced Mr. Parnell as the prime mover in outrage and violence. Upon Mr. Forster's resignation, Mr. Gladstone sent Lord Spencer as lord-lieutenant, and Lord Frederick Cavendish as chief secretary. It was understood that they were to carry out a conciliatory policy, but almost immediately on arriving in Dublin, Lord Frederick Cavendish was murdered by a ring of desperadoes, who called themselves the Invincibles, and the excitement was so fierce that Mr. Gladstone again fell back on a policy of coercion, and carried through parliament a Prevention of Crimes Act, the chief point of which was to enable the government to hold secret investigations into crimes and to facilitate convictions by trying prisoners before special juries. This Act was of course vigorously resisted by the Home Rulers, and was only passed after twenty-five of them had been 'suspended' under the new rules of the House of Commons. At the same time an Arrears Act was passed, by which money was voted to aid in paying ofi" the arrears of rent which had accumulated during the period of distress. Lord Frederick Cavendish liad been succeeded by Mr. (now Sir) G. Trevelyan, and under him and Lord Spencer, partly owing to the operation of the Land Act, partly to the energetic application of the new Crimes Act, the condition of Ireland steadily improved, though the Home Rulers in no way relaxed their effbrts either in parliament or in the country. In spite of the time taken up by Ireland, Mr. Gladstone's government contrived to pass a number of important English and Scottish measures. In 1880 an act known as the Hares and Rabbits Act was ^, ,. , English and passed, by which farmers were given an indefeasible right Scottish to kill ground-game on land in their occupation ; and in 1883 an Agricultural Holdings Act was passed to entitle tenants to receive compensation from landlords for certain kinds of improvements on the termination of their tenancies. An improved Bankruptcy Act, introduced by Mr. Chamberlain, also became law ; a tax on beer was substituted for the malt-tax ; a Burials Bill was passed for the relief of Nonconformists ; and an Employers' Liability Bill, to make employers liable to damages in case of certain accidents happening to their work- people. The system of organising the land forces of the country on a territorial basis was also carried a step further. During the earlier part of Mr. Gladstone's ministry, he met with com- paratively little energetic opposition from the ofiicial leaders xhe Fourth of the Conservative party, who were disheartened by the ^^^^v- collapse of 1880, and the task of criticising his measures was left 3t 1026 Victoria 1882 chiefly to Lord Randolph Churchill and his allies, Mr. A. J. Balfour, Mr. Gorst, and Sir Henry Drummond Woltf. The activity of these men and their independence of the official Conservatives, gained for them the name of the Fourth Party. This legislative activity, however, was thrown into the shade not only by the excitement engendered by Irish affairs but by a most difficult problem which had arisen in connection with Egyj^t. The causes of this dated much further back than Mr. Gladstone's accession to power. The opening of the Suez Canal, built chiefly with French capital in 1869, had given Great Britain a vital interest in Egypt, as holding the key of the shortest route to India, and in 1875 Lord Beaconsfield's government had secured Great Britain a powerful voice in the management of the canal, by purchasing from the Khedive of Egypt a number of Suez Canal shares. Besides this, the Egyptian government had borrowed very large sums from European capitalists, chiefly Englishmen and Frenchmen, and the payment of the interests on these loans was therefore a matter of importance to a large and influential class. Moreover, the facilities offered by Egypt as a place of trade had led to the settlement of a large number of European merchants, whose rights and safety were secured by a series of ' Capitu- lations ' or agreements between various European powers and the Egyptian and Turkish governments, some dating from so far back as the sixteenth century. The existence of these various interests and rights gave the British and French governments great weight in Egyp- tian aflairs, and they had given Tewfik, the viceroy of Egypt, a sort of guarantee against deposition, so long as he followed their advice. The interference of foreigners was most distasteful to many Egyptians, especially to the official class, which felt wronged by the viceroy's practice of employing British and French officers both in the army and civil service. Accordingly Arabi Pasha, an Egyptian soldier, organised an insurrection, and took possession of the fortifications which com- manded the harbour of Alexandria. As his revolt threatened the throne of the viceroy and had led to riots and murders in Alexandria itself, the British government called on the French to make a joint interference. The French, however, refused ; so the British fleet was ordered to bombard the fortifications. This was done most effectively ; but as no troops were landed to keep order, the fugitives set the city on fire, and a great destruction of life and property followed. Mr. Gladstone's government, therefore, found it necessary to send troops ; and in September 1882, a British army, under General Wolseley, completely defeated Arabi at Tel-el- Kebir, and restored Tewfik's authority. These 1884 Gladstone 1027 events practically established a British protectorate in Egypt ; but Mr. Gladstone's policy was to limit British interference to a minimum. This proved, however, very difficult. Some time previously there had appeared in the upper valley of the Nile a religious fanatic, styling himself the Mahdi, who aimed at collecting an army of disciples and leading them to the conquest of Egypt, The disorders in Egypt had, of course, weakened the Egyptian hold over the Soudan or basin of the Upper Nile, of which Khartoum was the capital, which had long been under Egyptian rule. Hardly were the British established in Cairo, when it became known that the Mahdi was threatening to overwhelm the Egyptian garrisons and to conquer Khartoum. Accord- ing to Mr. Gladstone's theory, the action of the Egyptians in the Soudan was no concern of the British government ; and so when a miserably inadequate force of Egyptian soldiers under Hicks Pasha was sent by the Egyptian government to save the Soudanese garrisons, no remon- strance was made. As might have been expected, Hicks' force was annihilated, and the exultant Mahdists pressed on more fiercely than ever. This danger broke down the theory of non-intervention. The Egyptians were peremptorily ordered to abandon the Soudan, and in January 1883 the British government despatched to the Soudan a British officer. General Gordon, well known for his exploits in China, who had formerly served in the Soudan under the Egyptian government, with orders to make arrangements for the retreat of the Egyptian garrisons and officials. No troops, however, were sent with Gordon, and he was expressly told that no troops would be sent to his assistance. With curious inconsistency, however, an Egyptian army, under General Baker, was sent to Suakim, on the Red Sea, to rescue other Egyptian garrisons by force. Baker's army, however, being hope- lessly inefficient, was cut to pieces; while the Madhi's forces closed round Khartoum and compelled Gordon to take his choice between leaving the Egyptian garrisons and officials to the vengeance of their enemies standing a siege. Of course he chose the latter. Mr. Gladstone, therefore, was driven to further interference, and sent a British force, under General Graham, to rescue the garrisons near Suakim ; but he held to the plan of giving no aid to Gordon, declaring in parliament that, 'though hemmed in, he was not surrounded.' In February and March Graham's force, after some fighting, cleared the district round Suakim, and it was then proposed to send a fiying column across the desert to aid Gordon. The government, however, still held back, till public opinion insisted that Gordon should not be left to his fate, but it was not till August that an expedition was sent 1Q28 Victoria 1884 up the Nile. The advanced column of this, after the loss of many lives, fought its way to the Upper Nile in January 1885, only to find that it was unhappily too late ; for Khartoum fell, and Gordon was killed only two days before the first British soldier arrived within sight of the town. Upon this, further military operations were abandoned, and the British confined themselves to holding Wadi Halfii, on the confines of Egypt proper, and Suakim, on the Red Sea. The circumstance that the British were occupied in Egypt seemed to the Russians a favourable opportunity for improving their position in Asia. In 1884 they crossed the desert and occupied the Frontier oasis of Mcrv, which constitutes the military basis for opera- Question, tions against Afghanistan, and soon afterwards Russian troops appeared on the borders of that state. It became, therefore, necessary to have a clear understanding as to the exact frontier. Accord- intdy, a joint Russian and British commission was appointed for the purpose ; but as the Russians seemed to proceed on the principle of seizing any place they wished for and then declaring that it was on their side of the frontier, considerable friction followed. Eventually Britain and Russia were brought to the verge of war by a Russian attack upon an Afghan force at Penjdeh. The matter, however, was presently arranged, chiefly by granting all Russian demands ; and the frontier so settled was guaranteed by the British government to the Ameer. For some time there had been growing up a feeling in favour of further parliamentary reform. The spread of education since 1870 had removed Parliament- the chief argument against the extension of the franchise to ary Reform. ^|^g agricultural labourers, and in 1884 the government brought forward a measure for giving household sufirage to the counties. The principle of this, as applied to England and Scotland, was accepted by both political parties, but there was much difference of opinion as to the advisability of extending it to Ireland. It was, however, decided to do so. The government proposed to pass the Franchise Bill in 1884, but to postpone the Redistribution of Seats Bill, which was the natural corollary of such a measure, till 1885. When the bill reached the House of Lords, it was pointed out that if this were done, it might be possible to have a general election on the new franchise but with the old constitu- encies, in which case there would be the grossest anomalies in the relative value of votes between one constituency and another. The Lords conse- quently passed a resolution postponing the consideration of the Franchise Bill till the Redistribution Bill was also before them. At this there was considerable agitation in the country, many meetings being held to condemn or approve the action of the peers. Opinion being thus divided 1885 Gladstone — Salkhury 1029 Mr. Gladstone, though he held an autumn session to again pass the bill, decided to accept the view of the peers, and a Redistribution Bill having been drafted by the heads of both parties in consultation, the Franchise Bill was passed at the close of 1884 and the Redistribution Bill in the session of 1885. The same session saw the close of Mr. Gladstone's administration. The firm rule of Lord Spencer in Ireland, and Mr. Gladstone's uncompro- mising opposition to Home Rule, had so deeply offended the Nationalist members, that in 1885 they determined to take the^Govern- the first eligible opportunity to transfer their votes to the "^^"*^- Conservatives, in hopes of reaping their reward in obtaining from them a more favourable consideration for their proposals than they seemed at all likely to ol^tain from Mr. Gladstone and the Liberal party. LTnder our system of party government no party is likely to put any unnecessary obstacle in the way of receiving votes which will place it in power, and when Mr. Gladstone exasperated the Home Rulers by declaring that he meant to re-enact some of the most important clauses of the Crimes Act, they retaliated by voting with the Conservatives against a clause in the budget which imposed additional beer, spirit and death duties. In conse- quence, Mr. Gladstone was beaten by eleven votes, and at once resigned. His place was taken by Lord Salisbury. Though Lord Salisbury did nothing for Home Rule, he decided to drop the Crimes Act, and a large sum was voted to enable the Irish farmers to ])urchase their 1 • 1 T 1 * 1 1 Lord Salis- holdmgs under what is known as Lord Ashbourne s Act. bury's first Accordingly, when the general election began in November ' '^ ly. of the same year, the Home Rulers gave orders that all Irish voters in England and Scotland were to vote for Conservative candidates. Their object in doing this was to create as nearly as possible a balance of parties ; and Mr. Gladstone endeavoured to counteract their action by imploring the voters to give him such a majority as would make him independent of the Irish vote. In the election, the towns, influenced to some extent by the Irish votes, returned a much larger number of Conservatives than before, but the Liberals had a majority of supporters among the newly a General enfranchised labourers ; and when the results were counted, Election, it was found that the Liberals numbered 335 against 249 Conservatives. In Ireland the lowering of the franchise proved, as was generally expected, most fiivourable to the Home Rulers. Eighty-six of them were returned ; and it was at once evident that as the Conservatives and Home Rulers together exactly balanced the Liberals, the Home Rulers held the key of the situation. 1030 Victoria 1886 Hardly were these results known when the whole country was electri- fied by a rumour that Mr. Gladstone had become a convert to Home Rule ; and, though the accuracy of the story was indignantly m'^'dstone denied by leading Liberals and by the Liberal papers, it was accepts found before long to be true. Meanwhile the amount of lawlessness in Ireland had seriously alarmed the government, and when parliament met it was announced that a bill would be brought in to suppress the National League, which had taken the place of the Land League. Indignant at the action of their recent allies, and delighted with Mr. Gladstone's rumoured conversion, the Home Rulers now voted with the Liberals, and in the debate on the queen's speech the government was defeated by 331 to 252 on an amendment 'regretting that no measure was promised dealing with allotments.' Up to this time it had not been authoritatively stated that the rumour about Mr. Gladstone was true, but so strong suspicion of its truth existed that Lord Harting- ton, Mr. Goschen, and sixteen other Liberals declined to vote for the overthrow of Lord Salisbury's government. Even after the defeat of Lord Salisbury, it was uncertain how far Mr. Gladstone meant to go ; and though Lord Hartington and Mr. Goschen were, of course, omitted from the government, Mr. Chamberlain, who was one of the most thoroughgoing Radicals in the country, took office under him, in hopes that Mr. Gladstone's genius might prove capable of surmounting what seemed to be the insuperable difficulties in the way of constructing a workable scheme. Besides Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Gladstone's chief colleagues were Lord Herschell, Lord Rosebery, Sir William Harcourt, Lord Spencer, Mr. Trevelyan, and Mr. John Morley. The latter, who was one of a very small band of Liberals who had advo- cated the granting of Home Rule at the recent election, was made chief secretarj'^ for Ireland. Having accepted the principle of Home Rule, Mr. Gladstone had before him two courses. He might either have requested the Nationalists to bring in a bill of their owuj in order to show exactly what it was they wanted and how the}'^ thought it could be secured in practice ; or he might devise a scheme himself, and try to persuade parliament to accept it. He chose the latter. However, when the details of his scheme were laid before the Cabinet, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Trevelyan, and other members of the o 1-. • .L government sent in their resignations. The result was a Splxt in the .... Liberal division in the old Liberal party, the majority of whom followed Mr. Gladstone in accepting Home Rule ; but a considerable minority, headed by Lord Hartington, Mr. John Bright, Mr. Goschen, Mr. Chamberlain, Sir Henry James, and Mr. Trevelyan, 1887 Salisburi/— Gladstone 1031 preferred to adhere to the old Liberal policy of regarding the main- tenance of the Legislative Union as a fundamental principle, but at the same time of persevering in the remedial legislation initiated by Mr. Gladstone, in the hope that, by removing all reasonable causes of grievance, the Irish people might be won over to accept the Union as the Scotch had been before them. The minority adopted the name of Liberal Unionists to distinguish them at once from the Conservatives and from the followers of Mr. Gladstone. It was obvious to everybody that one great difficulty in devising any Home Rule scheme lay in the question, Should or should Mr. Glad- not members for Ireland sit in the imperial parliament ? and 5t°"e's first . , , Home Rule there was great anxiety to know how Mr. Gladstone would ^iU- deal with the question. When he introduced his plan, it was found to consist of the creation of an Irish legislature at Dublin, capable of dealing with exclusively Irish subjects only. The legislature was to consist of two orders : one representing the householders, the other the propertied classes paying a rental of not less than £25. The legislature was pro- hibited from endowing any religious body or creating any religious disability. It was to have power to enrol a body of police. The repre- sentation question Mr. Gladstone proposed to solve by excluding any Irish representatives from sitting in the imperial parliament, but requir- ing Ireland to pay her quota towards imperial expenses. In introducing the bill, Mr. Gladstone made a powerful appeal to the British to grant the request of the Irish majority and expressed the profoundest belief in the efficacy of his bill to promote good feeling between the two countries. A few days later Mr. Gladstone brought in a Land Purchase Bill, by which £50,000,000 was to be advanced to the new Irish government to carry on the purchases begun under Lord Ashbourne's Act. In spite of Mr. Gladstone's appeal, his bill was severely criticised even by those who accepted the general principle of Home Rule. The special points attacked were the exclusion of the Irish members from the imperial parliament, which seemed not only to court separation but to violate the constitutional principle that those who pay taxes should have a voice in their expenditure. Radicals disliked his 'two orders'; Irish Pro- testants and anti-Home Rulers cried out that their rights were not sufficiently secured, while Home Rulers regarded the checks and balances contained by the bill as unnecessary, and as insulting to the Irish majority. The Land Purchase Bill was also severely attacked, chiefly on the ground that the security for the repayment of so large a sum seemed insufficient. In face of these objections, Mr. Gladstone offered to make great modifications in committee if only the principle of the 1032 Vicimia 1886 bill was adopted ; but at the second reading the bill was thrown out by 341 votes to 311, 93 Liberals voting in the majority. Upon this, Mr. Gladstone appealed to the country, and issued a powerful manifesto, in which he declared that the opponents of his The General measure consisted of ' class and the dependants of class,' Election. while his friends represented ' the upright sense of the nation,' Lord Salisbury, on the other hand, appealed for support on the ground that 'what Ireland wanted was government — government that does not flincli, that does not vary ; government that she cannot hope to beat down by agitations at Westminster ; government that is not altered in its resolutions or its temperature by the party changes that take place at Westminster.' The Liberal Unionists, on the other hand, while sidino- with the Conservatives on the fundamental question of Home Rule, laid stress in their addresses on the need for steady perseverance in the work of removing Irish grievances. The elections took place amidst great excitement, and resulted in the defeat of Mr, Gladstone, who came back to Westminster with only 191 Home Rule Liberals, against 316 Conservatives and 78 Liberal U^nionists, while the Irish Home Rulers numbered 85, Accordingly Mr. Gladstone resigned. There was then some talk of a coalition ministry composed of Conservatives and Liberal Unionists ; Lord Salis- l>ut eventually a purely Conservative administration was bury's formed, with Lord Salisbury as prime minister, and Lord Ministry. Randolph Churchill as chancellor of the exchequer and leader of the House" of Commons, This arrangement, however, did not last long. Before the close of the year Lord Randolph Churchill, finding himself unable to get his own way in regard to the reduction of the army and navy estimates, threw up his post. His place was taken by Mr. Goschen, who had the reputation of being, next to Mr. Gladstone, the greatest financier of his time, and who had held cabinet office in Mr. Gladstone's government of 1868-1874. Mr. Goschen, however, had opposed the lowering of the county franchise, and had not been included in the ministry of 1880-1885. At the same time, Mr. A, J. Balfour became chief secretary for Ireland. Naturally the chief attention of the new ministry was attracted to Ireland. The difficulty of governing that country had been much increased by the disappointment caused by the rejection of the Home Rule Bill, and the Nationalist leaders declared it their policy to prove that to govern Ireland under the legislative union was 'impossible.' Moreover, the ill effects of Mr. Gladstone's method of fixing rents in 1881 were beginning to show themselves. The judicial 1887 Glachtone — Salisbury 1033 rents being fixed in money were leally to be estimated at the amount of produce, the sale of which would produce that sum. If, for example, a farmer could reckon that tlie sale of one pig would in 1882 produce his rent, and if the price of pigs went down 50 per cent., then he would have to feed and sell two pigs in order to produce the same sum. As prices had steadily decreased since 1881, and were still decreasing, the real pressure of the judicial rents was therefore steadily increasing. Rents, therefore, which had formerly been fair now became impossible, and the position of the leaseholders, whom Mr. Gladstone had excluded from the act of 1881, was even more distressing than that of the ordinary farmers. Fairness demanded that Mr. Gladstone's mistake should be set right, but when Mr. Parnell brought in a bill for the abatement of rents fixed before 1885, it was rejected by 297 to 202. The Home Rulers retaliated by devising the Plan of Campaign, by The Plan of which all the tenants on certain estates acted together, paid Campaign, such rent as they said they could into a common fund, and used it to maintain a struggle agninst tlie landlords. This caused an embittered contest between the landlord and tenant class, and evictions on one side and outrages on the other did infinite harm to the prospects of peace. At the same time the disturl)ed state of the country aff'orded the Govern- ment an excuse for postponing the grant of local government to Ireland, on which the Liberal Unionists had always laid stress, and which in August 188G the government had officially promised to bring The Crimes before parliament in the spring of 1887. Instead of this, ^'^*- ministers brought forAvard a Crimes Act. Previous acts of this nature had been passed for a short term of years and this had aftbrded a con- stant temptation to politicians to buy Irish votes by allowing them to drop. To this both parties had fallen victims. It was, therefore, pro- posed to make the act perpetual, but to make its provisions applicable to any district only on the proclamation of the lord-lieutenant. The chief point of the bill was to avoid the risk and delay of jury trials, which ex- perience had shown to be most uncertain, by enabling resident magistrates to try prisoners accused of certain classes of crime by summary jurisdiction. Secret inquiries also might be held, and venue of trials changed with a view to finding a fairer jury. The act was opposed by the Irish Home Rulers and by Mr. Gladstone and his followers ; and so prolonged was the debate that a time having been fixed when it must cease, fourteen out of twenty clauses in the bill were passed without any discussion at all. The same session another Irish Land Act was passed. Tiiough Mr. Parnell's bill had been rejected so lately as the autumn l^efore, the government had now been convinced that justice demanded an immediate 1034 Vidmia 1887 revision of Mr. Gladstone's Act of 1881. Accordingly, by the new act leaseholders who had been excluded in 1881 were, on the strong An Irish representation of the Liberal Unionists, admitted to its Land Act. ^^enefits ; and judicial rents fixed before 1886 were to be revised in accordance with the change in the price of agricultural produce. At the same time further provisions to facilitate purchase were introduced. The effects of this act were admirable, and might have been even better had the arrears, which had accumulated under the pressure of the old rents, been vigorously dealt with. Unfortunately, the omission to deal with these, the trouble on the Plan of Campaign estates and the existence of a large body of tenants who had been evicted from their holdings through being unable or unwilling to pay the old rents, militated against the res- toration of peace, and brought about a bitter conflict between Mr. Balfour and the Irish leaders, many of whom were convicted of conspiracy and sent to prison by the resident magistrates. In 1888 a further sum of ten millions was voted for Irish land purchase on the lines of the Ash- bourne Act, and in 1889 money was voted to develop the drainage of _, Ireland, and to facilitate trade and locomotion by the intro- The Par- ' . . . ^ neii Com- duction of light railways. In 1888, m consequence of some facsimile letters having appeared in the Times pur- porting to have been signed by Mr. Parnell and other Irish leaders, inciting to the murder of Mr. Forster and approving that of Lord Frederick Cavendish, a commission was appointed by parliament to inquire into the whole question of the connection of the Home Rulers with crime. It was stoutly resisted by the Home Rulers ; but in the event it was shown conclusively that the letters were forgeries, and though, as was to be expected in such an extensive organisation, some of the Nationalists had compromised themselves with the committers of crime and outrage, the parliamentary leaders came well out of the ordeal. At the close of 1890 the revelations with regard to the private character of Mr. Parnell, made in the O'Shea divorce case, led to a split in the Irish party ; and a majority of the members of parliament, encouraged by Mr. Gladstone, declined to act any longer under his leadership. He was, however, supported by an energetic minority, and the strife between the two factions became so acute as to seriously mjure the Home Rule cause. From one cause or another an un- deniable improvement in the condition of Ireland took place under Mr. Balfour ; but no attempt was made to deal with the local govern- ment question till 1892, when a bill creating a limited foim of county government was introduced. It was, however, not popular with the Conservatives, especially the Ulsteimen ; and as it was scouted by the 1892 Salisbury 1035 Nationalists and severely criticised by the Gladstonians, it was soon withdrawn. Besides their Irish legislation, the government passed a great deal of legislation for Great Britain, much of which, owing to the alliance with the Liberal Unionists, was of a decidedly Liberal British character. In 1887 were passed an Allotments Act, ad- legislation, mitting the principle of the compulsory purchase of land for this purpose, a Coal Mines Regulation Act, and the Merchandise Marks Act. In 1888 Mr. Goschen carried out a plan for reducing the interest on much of the National Debt from 3 to 2f per cent., and afterwards to '21 per cent., whereby a great saving was effected for the nation. In 1889, owing to a widespread feeling that the country was not paying so much towards the navy as the magnitude of our empire and commerce demanded, an expenditure of £21,500,000 was authorised on the building of seventy more vessels of war. In 1890 a new Education Code was issued, abolish- ing Mr. Lowe's system of ' payment by results,' as estimated by the examination of individual pupils, and the goveriuuent grant based for the future on the general condition of the school. In 1891 pree Edu- a bill was passed creating free education, with certain '^^^'O"- modifications, in elementary schools in England and Wales. In 1888 a most imjjortant bill was carried by the consent of all parties for the estab- lishment of an elective county government. The bill was . . County based on the lines of the Corporation Bill of 1835, and con- Councils Act tained provisions for the creation of a class of aldermen elected by the councillors (see page 951). In 1890 a sum of money arising from a spirit duty, which had been designed to be Technical used for the extinction of licences, was given, to the councils Education, of counties and county boroughs for the purpose, if they so chose, of pro- moting technical and intermediate education. The period of Lord Salisbury's administration is also remarkable for the holding of a Colonial Conference in London for the purpose of dis- cussing matters of common interest. This conference was ^he the outcome of a great change that had taken place in Colonies, regard to the feeling of the home country towards the colonies. At the time when the right of self-government was granted to the Australian colonies, there is no doubt that most British statesmen expected the change to work in the direction of independence, and expected that when the time was ripe the colonies would, without objection from the mother- country, declare their wish to be independent states ; and a bill was actually drafted, but not presented to parliament, to facilitate the pro- cess. In time, however, opinion on this subject underwent a complete 1036 Victoria 1892 transformation, partly owing to the increased communication and enormous orowth of trade with our colonies, and also between the colonies tliemselves, partly owing to the protection policy of the European nations and of the United States, partly also to a higher conception of the possibilities of the British Empire as a great agency for good and especially for the preservation of peace. Not only was the value of the colonies much better understood, but the importance of the empire as a whole much better appreciated, and a new class of statesmen arose, con- spicuous among whom were Mr. Forster in this country. Sir John Mac- donald in Canada, and Sir Henry Parkes in Australia, who set a high value on national unity, and wished to see the integrity of the Empire preserved intact. Mr. Forster devoted much energy to pushing his views ; and after his death in 1886, his place was taken by Lord Rosebery. In 1884 their efforts were much aided by the publication of Professor John Seeley's great work on The Expansion of England. In 1885 a strong impetus was given to the movement when New South Wales sent a contingent to Suakim, and Canadian boatmen were employed in the Nile Expedition ; in 1886 by the holding of a Colonial and Indian Exhibition, which was itself an object lesson in the value of the colonies ; and in 1887 by the heartiness with which the queen's jubilee was cele- brated in every part of the Empire. Seizing on this favourable moment for promoting common action, INIr. Stanhope, the colonial secretary, summoned the first colonial conference ; and another was, in 1894, held at Ottawa, in Canada. In 1889 an important forward step was taken in African affairs by the granting of a charter to the British South Africa Company, When the present queen came to the throne our knowledge of the interior of Africa and of the courses of the Elvers Zambesi, Congo, and the upper waters of the Nile was almost a blank ; l)ut by the efforts of a number of great Englishmen, of whom the names of Livingstone for the Zambesi, Burton, Speke, Grant, and Baker for the Nile valley, and Stanley for the Congo, will always be remembered, the interior was explored in every direction, and, much of it being found suitable for colonisation, settlements of British, Germans, and Belgians were founded in various parts. The formation of the South African Company was mainly due to a great Englishman, Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who had become prime minister of Cape Colony, and under his energetic direction it has already pushed far into the interior, and extended British influence in South Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to the shores of Lake Tanganyika. On the other hand, the East African Company, starting from near Zanzibar, has occu- pied the lands explored by Burton, Speke, and Grant. Its territory 1892 Salisbury 1037 reaches inland to the Victoria Nyanza, and the carrying of a railway from the coast to the lake is expected to open up a most valuable terri- tory to the energy of British commerce and colonisation. In foreign affairs, the period of Lord Salisbury's ministry was very quiet. An oflensive and defensive alliance between Germany, Austria, and Italy, tended much to the preservation of peace. A yot&i small war with Bulgaria and Servia was happily prevented Affairs, from developing into a European conflict ; and in India and the colonies there was profound peace. The British occupation of Egypt still con- tinued ; and in spite of the manifold difficulties created by the extra- ordinary system of Egyptian government, the good work done by British officials in the army, the finance, the administration of justice, and in developing the material resources of the country, has become a source of pride to their countrymen. The split in the Home Kule party, the improving fortunes of the Irish farmers, couj)led with the popularity of much of the legislation of Lord Salisbury, militated against the success of the Gladstonian Liberals at the next election ; and though Mr. castle Pro- Gladstone was convinced that ' the flowing tide was with S'"^""'"^^- him,' some of his ablest followers saw that the cry of ' Home Rule,' by itself, would never carry the country. Accordingly a manifesto, known as the Newcastle Programme, was formulated, to embody the whole policy of the Gladstonian Liberals. It included Home Rule for Ireland, the disestablishment of the Episcopal Church in Wales, greater powers for the London county council, the establish- ment of District and Parish Councils, the direct Popular Veto on the liquor traffic, the ' ending or mending ' of the House of Lords, payment of members, ' one man one vote,' and other proposals. Accordingly, in the general election of 1892, the Gladstonians laid stress on the Newcastle Programme as a whole ; the Unionists on the maintenance of the legislative union with Ireland and ^ General the general success of Lord Salisbury's administration at Election, home and abroad. The voting gave Mr. Gladstone a majority of 40— made up of 274 British Home Rulers, 72 Anti-Parnellites, and 9 Parnell- ites, as against 269 Conservatives, and 46 Liberal Unionists. Mr. Glad- On the meeting of parliament, a vote of want of confidence, 1,°^^^ proposed by Mr. Asquith, was carried by 350 to 310. Lord Ministry. Salisbury resigned ; and Mr. Gladstone came back to power with Lord Rosebery as foreign secretary. Sir William Harcourt chancellor of the exchequer, Mr. Asquith home secretary, and Mr. John Morley as secretary for Ireland. 1038 Victoria 1892 A Home Eule Bill was soon introduced. When it appeared, it was found that the chief change in it was that the Irish members, instead of being excluded from all share in imperial affairs as in the Home Rule bill of 1886, were to sit in the Imperial Parliament but ^'^^' only to vote on imj)erial matters. This proposal, however, created much opposition among Mr. Gladstone's followers, on the ground that it would throw the working of the Imperial Parliament into com- plete confusion, and on that ground a similar proposal had been ridiculed by Lord Rosebery in 1886. Accordingly, Mr. Gladstone reversed his policy, and accepted a proposal that Ireland should be represented in the Imperial Parliament by eighty members, whose votes should be of equal value with those of English and Scottish members, not only in imperial affairs but also in exclusively English and Scottish matters as well. The new proposal was inserted in the bill by 327 votes to 300. With this alteration the Home Rule Bill was carried through the House of Commons after no less than eighty-two days' discussion ; but when it reached the House of Lords, it was thrown out on the second reading by 419 to 41. On this, two courses presented themselves to the government — either to dissolve, as Lord Grey had done in 1831, or to carry the remainder of the _ . , Newcastle Programme. The latter was preferred ; and in The Parish ° • i ^ • • Councils an autumn session, a Parish Councils Bill, the prospect of which had proved most popular in the rural districts, was passed through both Houses. This act, which established parish councils in the larger parishes, and parish meetings in the smaller, and also district councils to stand between the parish councils and the county councils, completed the process of re-creating the self-government of the country, which had been begun by the Reform Act of 1832, the Corporation Act of 1835, and the Act creating County Councils in 1888. Its passing effected little less than a revolution in rural life, in which its effects, both for good and evil, have still to be developed. Besides passing the Parish Councils Bill, the government also passed an Employers' Liability Bill, but dropped it because the House of Lords _ , , introduced a ' contracting-out clause,' giving liberty to any Employers ° j to )-> j j Liability body of workmen to form an insurance society of their own, if certified as satisfoctory by the Board of Trade. A Liquor Traflfic Bill was also introduced, giving facilities for the entire prohibi- Local Veto ^i^n of 'public-liouses' in limited areas by a popular vote. The bill, however, was not carried to a second reading. In the spring of 1 894 Mr. Gladstone, being then in his eighty-fifth year, and having sat in parliament almost continuously since 1832, decided finally to retue 1895 Gladstone — Rosebery —Salisbury 1039 from politics. He therefore resigned, and his place was taken by Lord Rosebery, with practically the same cabinet as before. After Mr. Gladstone's resignation Lord Rosebery's government fol- lowed his policy of abandoning Home Rule for the moment and devoting their attention to British legislation. In 1894 the great achievement of the Session was the passing of Sir William °"^ "sion. Harcourt's budget, in which he largely increased the death duties on large properties as a substitute for a gi-aduated income-tax. In 1895 the government, as their chief measures, brought forward a Welsh Church Disestablishment Bill and a Liquor Traffic Bill, and announced their intention of carrying in the House of Commons a resohition condemning the right of the House of Lords to reject bills passed by the House of Commons. All this time, however, their majority was steadily diminish- ing. The nine Parnellite members had voted against them ever since Home Rule had been allowed to fall into the background ; they lost many seats at by-elections ; and by June 1895 their normal majority was reduced to less than ten. In these circumstances they were defeated by a majority of seven in a vote connected with the administration of the army and immediately resigned. Lord Rosebery's place as Prime Minister was then taken by Lord Salisbury, at the head of a cabinet composed not only of Conservatives, but also of Liberal Unionists. He himself became prime minister and secretary of state for foreign affairs. Mr. Balfour was made first lord of the treasury and leader of the House of Commons, the Duke of Devonshire, formerly Lord Hartington, became president of the council, Mr. Goschen, first lord of the admiralty, Mr. Chamberlain colonial secretary, and Sir Henry James (now Lord Aylestone), chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. As parties were so evenly balanced in the House of Commons, a dissolution was absolutely necessary, if the affairs of tlie country were to be managed efficiently, and the new government imme- diately announced their intention of appealing to the country. No lack of questions for solution await this and future governments. Among others there are such world-wide questions as the future organisa- tion of the British Empire, *the greatest secular agency for good now known to the world,' as Lord Rosebery has called it, and the dislocation of trade, caused by the financial changes which set in in 1873 ; while, among merely local problems, there are the proper amount of local government which shall best accord Avith the best interests of Ireland and of Great Britain ; the proper relations of church and state ; the education of the people ; the tremendous questions involved in the relations between employers and employed ; and the discovery of the 1040 Victoria 1895 organisation of society which shall give the best results in promoting the moral and material condition of the public. Such are the problems Avhich await solution at their hands, and on these every self-respecting man will be obliged to form an opinion. In the past, the British people have shown themselves well able to cope with the problems of their own day. It remains to be seen whether their descendants will prove worthy of the inheritance bequeathed to them, and be able to hand on to their children as worthy a record of noble ideal and successful per- formance as their ancestors have left to them. CHIEF DA TES. Household Suffrage in towns, Irish Church disestablished, Elementary Education Act, First Irish Land Act, Ballot established. Treaty of Berlin, Second Irish Land Act, Occupation of Egypt, Death of Gordon, Household Suffrage in counties, Mr. Gladstone accepts Home Rule, First Home Rule Bill rejected, First Colonial Conference, County Councils established, . Second Home Rule Bill rejected, Parish Councils established, A.D. 1867 1869 1870 1870 1872 1878 1881 1882 1885 1885 1885 1886 1887 1888 1893 1894 INDEX Abel, 420 Abercromby, 795 Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, 375 Abei'deeii, battle of, 573 , Lord, 950, 963, 981, 982, 988, 989 Abernethy, 96 Aberystwith, 216 'Abhorrers,' 637 Absalom and AcMtopJiel, 640 Abdurrahman Khan, 1021 Achard, 165 Acolytes, 140 Acre, capture of, 160, 161 Acre, siege of, 872, 873 Act against Occasional Conformity, 742 of Explanation, 625 of Indemnity and Oblivion, 614 of Settlement of Charles ii., 625 (English), 699 (Irish), 676 of the Six Articles, 420 of Union, 717 of Louvain, 111, 123, 125. Addington, 880, 882, 889 (see Sldmouth, Lord) Addison, 734, 742 Adela of France, 155 Adelaide, 962 Aden, 962 Adjutators, the, 578 Adrian iv., 147 Adrianople, Treaty of, 933 Adventurers, the Irish, 553, 603, 624 ' Adullam, Cave of,' 1005 Advowsons, 141 Adwalton Moor, 562 iElfgar, 79 ^Ifgifu, 74 iEthelings, 47 Afghanistan, 964, 965, 1019, 1021, 1028 Agilbert, 32 Agincourt, battle of, 318-320 Agnes of Meran, 168 Agricola, 14, 15 Agricola's Forts, 15 Agricultui'al Holdings Act, 1025 Aquinas, Thomas, 188 Aidan, St., 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 Aids, 177 Ailmar, 192 Aislabie, 742, 744, 746, 748 . Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 785 Akbar Khan, 965 Alabama, The, 1000 Alamayu, 1007 Albany, Duke of, 301, 308, 359, 368 Albemarle, George Monk, Duke of, 614, 615, 616, 622, 625 Alberoni, 739, 740 Albert the Great, 188 Albion, 7 Albuera, battle of, 900 Alcantara, 900 Alcuin, 38 Aldermen, 952, 1035 AlenQon, Count of, 255 , Francis, Duke of, 462, 467 (see Anjou) Alexander ii., 180, 217 II., Pope, 91 III., 217 III., Pope, 135 Bishop, 126 Alexandria, battle of, 875 Bombardment of Alexius Comnenus, 109 Alfonso of Castille, 209 Alfred the Great, 53-60, 74 , the Atheling, 81 Alfred's Translations, 58 Algiers, bombardment of, 910 Allegiance, 269 Allen, William, 463 ' Allibone, Judge, 658 Allotments Act, 1035 Alma, battle of, 984 Almanza, battle of, 720 Almarez, 900 Almeida, 899, 900 Almenara, battle of, 721 Alnwick, 106, 151 Alod, 48 Alphonzo of Navarre, 168 Attainder, Acts of, 344 Althorp, Lord, 932, 939, 948, 949, 950, 952 Alva, 459 Amboyna, 596 American Colonies, 811 Amherst, Jeflrey, 794, 795, 796 Amiens, Mise of, 196 Treaty of, 875 Ammianus Marcellinus, 21 Andre, Major, 831 Angles, 21, 23 Anglesea, 137, 214 Anglia, 23 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 121 Anjou, 118, 135, 138, 167, 170 _— Francis, Duke of, 467 (see AlenQon) Margaret of, 332, 338, 341, 342, 345, 346, 347, 348, 350, 353, 356, 357, 358 U 1042 An Advanced Histm-y of England Anlaf, 64 Annates, 410, 411 Anne, daughter of James ii., 620, 662, 673, 686 , reign of, 705, 730 Annual Register, 820 Anselm, 108, 112, 113, 114,^115^ Anson, Commodore, 767, 771, 772, 785 Ante-nati, the, 491 Anti-Corn Law League, 958 Antioch, siege of, 109 Appledore, 59 Apprenticeship Act, 480 Aquitaine, Duchy of, 264 Arabi Pasha, 1026 Arcot, siege of, 799 Arden, Forest of, 41 Ardriagh, 147 Argaum, battle of, 887 Argyll, John Campbell, Duke of, 729, 734, 738 , Archibald Campbell, Earl of, 533, 546, 573, 582, 590, 623 , Archibald Campbell, Earl of, the younger, 641, 647, 673, 674 , George Douglas, Duke of, 981 Arkwright, Richard, 851 Arietta of Falaise, 77 Arlington, Lord, 625, 626, 627, 629, 630, 631 Armada, the, 470, 471 Armagh, 147 Armagnacs, 308 Arms Act, 972 Army Pay, 316 Plot, the, 543 Arnold, Benedict, 825, 831 Arragon, Katharine of, 388, 393, 402, 413 Arran, Earl of, 454 Arras, Congress of, 328 Array, Commission of, 555 Arrow, the Lorcha, 992 Arsuf, battle of, 161 Artevelde, James van, 248, 252 Arthur of Brittany, 154, 167, 168, 169, 170 , son of Henry vii., 376, 388 Articles of Religion, the, 450 Articuli super cartas, 209 Artisans' Dwellings Act, 1016 Arundel, 461 , Archbishop, 290, 291, 292 , Castle, 104 , Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of, 285, 287, 290 , Sir Humphrey, 430 Aryans, 4, 5 Aschaifenburg, 770 Ascue, 595 Ashbourne's, Lord, Act, 1029 Ashburton, Lord {see Dunning), 833, 836 Ashdown, battle of, 54 Ashley, Baron, 614, 615 (see Shaftesbury). , Lord, 625, 627 Aske, Robert, 416 Askew, Anne, 424 , Bishop of Salisbury, 337 Asquith, H„ 1037 Assandun, battle of, 71 Assaye, battle of, 887 Asser, 57 Assiento, the, 726 Assize of Arms, 153, 211 Astley, Sir Jacob, 575 Aston, Sir Arthur, 588 Atheluey, 55 Athelstan, 39, 63 Athlone, capture of, 679 , Ginkell, Lord, 697 Atterbury, 728, 729, 749 Auberoche, battle of, 252 Auchterarder Case, 968, Audley, Lord, 343 , Lord (another), 380 Aughrim, battle of, 680 Augustine, 27, 28, 29, 35 Augustinians, 187, 273 Auldearn, battle of, 573 Aulus Plautius, 13 Aumale, William of, 184 Aurelius, 22 Austerlitz battle of, 888 Austin Canons, 120 Australia, 849, 961, 975 , South, 961 Australian Colonies, 975 Austria, Don John of, 462 Austrian Netherlands, 864, 937 Aidohiograpliy of a Radical, 917 Auverquerque, 697 Avice of Gloucester, 169 Avranche, Hugh of, 82 Axtel, 615 Aymer de Valence, 229 Babington, Anthony, 469, 695 Bacon, Sir Francis, 479, 500, 501, 502, 505 , Nicholas, 449 , Roger, 188, 273 Badajos, 899, 900 Badby, John, 303 Badlesmere, Lady, 237 , Lord, 237 Bagnal, Sir Henry, 478 Bagot, Sir William, 290 Bailiff, 43 Baillie, 566, 581 Baird, Sir David, 875, 886, 887 Baker, Major, 677 , Sir Samuel, 1036 , General, 1027 Balaclava, battle of, 986, 987 Baldwin, Archbishop, 160, 169 I., 155 of Flanders, 77, 81, 118 Balfour, Arthur James, 1026, 1032, 1034, 1039 of Burley, 573 , Sir William, 549, 560 Ball, John, 280 Ballingarry, 974 Balliol, Edward, 245, 264 , John (the elder), 195 , 217, 218, 220 Ballot, the, 957, 1011 Balmerino, Lord, 776, 781 Baltimore, Lord, 531 Bamford, Samuel, 917 Bamborough, 70, 106, 137 Banaster, Ralph, 367 Banbury, 559 Bancroft, Bishop of London, 489, 491 Bangor, 28 in Ireland, 147 Bank of England, 688, 689 Index 1043 Bankruptcy Act, 1025 Barbadoes, 498 Barbarians, 19, 24 Barbarossa, Frederick, 123, 142, 155, 160 Barbon, Praise-God, 599 Barcelona, 712 Barclay, Sir George, 694, 695 Bardolph, Lord, 307 Barillon, 646 Barlow, Bishop, 451 Barnard, Sir John, 765 Barnes, Dr., 420 Barnet, battle of, 355 Barnveldt, the Dutchman, 495 Barons, conspiracy of, 149 Barre, Colonel, 811, 812, 815, 817, 818, 823, 832, 844 Barrier Treaty, 735 Barrows, 4 Barton, Andrew, 379 , Elizabeth, 415 , Robert, 379 Basing, battle of, 54 Basques, 5, 6 Bastille, the, 858 Bastwick, John, 527, 528, 541 Bate's Case, 494 Bath, John Granville, Earl of, 647 , Lord (see Pulteney), 768, 784 Batoum, 1018, 1019 Batten, Vice-Admiral, 571 Battle, town of, 84 Bayeux, Odo of, 82, 92, 95, 98 Baylen, 894 Bavaria, 1001, 1014 , Louis of, 248, 252 , Maximilian of, 707, 708, 709 Baxter, Richard, 602, 618, 647, 654 Beachy Head, battle off, 681 Beaconsfield, Earl of (see Disraeli), 1018, 1019, 1021 Bearroc Wood, 41 Beaton, Cardinal, 423 Beauchamp, Anne, 540 Beaufort, Cardinal Henry, 311, 313, 320, 324, 328, 331, 333 , Duke of, 776 , Edmund, 330, 333, 338, 339, 341, 342 , John, 290, 800, 311, 356 , Jane, 325. , Henry, Duke of Somerset, 345 , Margaret, Countess of Stanley, 331, 332, 366 , Thomas, 311, 321 Beauforts, the, 289 Beaumaris, 216 Beauge, battle of, 322 Beaumont, Lieutenant-Colonel, 660 Bee, Monastery of, 108 Becket, Gilbert, 136 , (see Thomas, Archbishop) Beckford, Alderman, 766 Bedchamber Question 959, 960 Bede, 18, 22,23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 3() Bedford, 62 , John, Duke of, 306, 324, 328, 329 , Duke of, 769, 809 , Earl of, 535, 539 , John Russell, Duke of, 813, 818 , siege of, 185 Whigs, the, 809 Bedloe, William, 635 Beer Riots, 760 Begums, the, 841, 845 Behar, 839 Bek Antony, 206 Belgte, 9, 11 Belgium, 937 Neutrality of, 1015 Bell, Andrew, 945 Bellingham, John, 902 Benedict Biscop, 33, 34 X., 81 Benedictines, 120, 121 Benefit of Clergy, 408 Benevolences, 385 Bengal, 800, 839 Bennet, Henry (see Arlington), 625 Bensington, battle of, 38 Bentham, Jeremy, 940 Bentinck, 697, 702 , Lord George, 971, 976 , William the younger, 697 Beornwulf, 39 Berengaria of Navarre, 160 Bergen-op-Zoom, siege of, 784 Berkeley, Judge, 530, 541 Berkhampstead, 87 Berlin Note, 1017 Treaty, 1018, 1021 Bernicia, 47, 56 Bertrand of Born, 154 Berwick Castle, 152 , capture of, 220 , Duke of, 660, 684, 694, 720 Bessieres, 900 Bhurtpore, 964 Bible, Wyclifs, 311 , Authorised Version, 489 , Matthew's, 420 , 'the Great,' 420 , Tyndal's, 419 Bidasoa, 903 Biddle, 604 Biggar, J., 1023 Bigod, Roger, 176, 179, 221 Bill of Security, 716 Billings, Sir Richard, 626 Birch, Colonel, 630 Birinus, 31 Birkbeck, Doctor, 924 Birmingham, 940, 942, 943 League, the, 1011 Bishop's Court, 140 War, first, 534 , second, 536 Bismarck, Count, 1001, 1014 Bithoor, 963, 994 Black Death, 257 ' Black Fridav.' 777 Hole of Calcutta, 800 Prince, 266, 275, 276 Blackheath, battle of, 380 Bladensburg, battle of, 904 Blake, Robert, Admiral, 506, 587, 590, 595, 596, 597, 599, 605, 606 Blakeney, General, 778, 791 Blanche of England, 168 ofCastille, 168, 183 of Lancaster, 272 Taque, 253 ' Blanketeers,' 910 1044 An Advanced History of England Blenheim, battle of, 70S Bloody Assize, the, 649 Blore Heath, battle of, 343 Bliicher, Marshal, 906 Blunt, Sir John, 744 Boadicea, 14 Board of Control, the, 844 Bocland, 48 Bohemia, Anne of, 284, 289 Bohemia, John of, 255 Boheraund of Taranto, 109 Bohun, Henry of, 176, 179 , Humplirey de, 221, 229 Bohuns, pedigree of, 229 Bois-le-Dixc, battle of, 865 Boleyn, Anne, 403, 405, 409, 410, 413. Bolingbroke, Henry of, Earl of Derby, 284, 286 (see Henry iv.) , Henry St. John, Viscount, 727, 729, 735, 736, 748, 749, 753, 786 Bolivar, 927 Bolton, Dulce of, 759 Bombay, 620, 797 Bonaparte, Joseph, 894, 897 , Louis Napoleon, 979, 982, 996, 999, 1014 , Napoleon, 865, 870, 873, 874, 882, 896, 902, 903, 905, 910 Bond, Oliver, 877 Boniface, 34 of Savoy, 191 VIII., 221, 224, 225 IX., 284 Bonner, Bishop of London, 419, 433, 442 Book of Common Prayer, 429, 434, 601, 605, 618 Booth, Sir George, 610 (see Lord Delamere) Boroughbridge, battle of, 237 ,567 Boscawen, Admiral, 801 Boston, 821, 822 Bos worth, battle of, 371 Bothwell Brigg, 637 Bothwell, James Hepburn, Earl of, 455, 456 Boucher, Joan, 434 Boufflers, Marshal, 686, 719 Boulogne, Eustace of, 82 Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, 342, 343, 347, 364 , Lord, 342, 343, 345, 355 , Robert, 251 Bourkes, the, 381 Bouvines, battle of, 175 Bowring, Sir John, 992 ' Boys, The,' 765, 768 Brackenbury, Sir Robert, 371 Braddock, General, 790, 794 Bradshaw, John, 584, 598, 600, 609, 010, 611, 614 Braniliam Moor, battle of, 307 Brandon, 4 Breadalbane, John Campbell, Earl of, 675 Breakspear, Nicholas (Adrian iv.), 147 Brember, Sir Nicholas, 285, 286 Brentford, battle of, 71 Brenville, battle of, 118 Breteuil, Roger of, Bretiguy, Peace of, 264 Brett, Lieutenant, 771, 773 Bretwalda, 29 Brian Boru, 147 Brian, Fitz-Count, 127, 129 Bridgenorth, 62 , siege of, 113 Bridgwater, 698 canal, 852 Brigantes, 15 Brigham, treaty of, 217 Bright, John, 959, 963, 909, 973, 992, 997, 1005, 1010, 1021, 1030 Brihuega, battle of, 721 Brihtnoth, 70 Brindley, James, 852 Bristol, 74, 92, 562 , Digby, Earl of, 507, 539, 548 British and Foreign School Society, 945 Colonial Empire, 961 Britons, 7 Brittany, 252 , John of, 206, 226 , Alan of, 82 , Anne of, 386 Broad-bottomed Ministry, 769 Broe, Ralf de, 143, 144 Broi, Philip de, 141 Brooklyn, 825 Brooke, George, 488 Brook, Robert Greville, Lord, 535, 539, 547, 562 Brougham, Henry, Lord, 912, 915, 923, 931, 938, 939, 940, 941, 945, 951, 956 Brown, Robert, 464 Browne, Sir Anthony, 426 Browning, Micaiah, 678 Bruce, Edward, 235 , Robert, 217, 218 (the younger), 226, 232, 233, 234, 243 Brueys, Admiral, 872 Brunanburh, battle of, 63 Brunswick, Caroline of, 921, 922 Brydon, Dr., 966 Brynglas, battle of, 304 Brythons, 7, 9, 11, 25 Buckingham, Humphrey Stafford, Duke of, 342, 345 , Henry Stafford, Duke of, 362 , George Villiers, Duke of, 506, 510, 513, 514, 515, 516, 518 , George Villiers the younger, Duke of, 580, 625, 627, 629, 630, 631, 632. , George Grenville, Duke of, 925 Bulgaria, 1017, 1018, 1037 Bunker's Hill, battle of, 824 Buonaparte, Napoleon, 865, 870, 873, 874, 882, 896, 902, 903, 905, 910 Burdett, Sir Francis, 917, 930 Burford, battles of, 37, 588 Burgh-on-the-Sands, 226 Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, 250 Burgos, siege of, 901, 902 Burgoyne, Sir John, 825 Burgundians, 308 Burgundy, Anne of, 325, 327 , Charles, Duke of, 352, 353, 357 , Margaret of York, Duchess of, 352, 379 , Philip, Duke of, 322, 325, 330 Burh, 43 Burh-ed, 54 Burhgerifa, 43 Burials Bill, 1025 Index 1045 Burke, Edmund, 814, 817, 818, 820, 823, 829, 832, 833, 835, 836, 838, 840, 841, 845, 846, 861, 863, 874 Burleigh, William Cecil, Lord, 469, 472 Bui-ley, Sir Simon, 284, 285 Burmah, 964 Burnell, Robert, 206, 209, 218 Burnes, Alexander, 964, 966 Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, 644, 659, 660, 661, 670, 671, 683, 713 Burns, 852, 924 Burrard, Sir Harry, 896 Burton, Henrv, 527, 541, 547, 671 , Sir R. F., 1036 Busaco, battle of, 899 Bussy, or Bushy, Sir John, 290, 292 Bute, John Stuart, Earl of, 805, 806, 807, 808 Butt, Isaac, 1022, 1023 Butler, Lady Eleanor, 364 Butlers, the, 381 Buttington, battle of, 59 Buxar, battle of, 839 Bury St. Edmunds, Parliament at, 221 ' By,' 56 Bydel, 42 Byland, Abbey, 238 Byng, Admiral Sir George, 709, 71S John, 791 Byron, Loi-d, 924 , Sir John, 558, 564 Cabot, John, 390 , Sebastian, 390 Cabul, 964, 965, 1019, 1021 Caedmon, 34 Caen, 95 Cade, Jack, 336, 337 Cadiz, 511 Cadoudal, Georges, 883 CadoL'an, General, 719 Cadwallon, 25, 30, 31 Calais, 330 , loss of, 446 , siege of, 255 , surrender of, 256, 257 Calamy, Edward, 545, 618 Calcutta, 797 Calder, Sir Robert, 884 Calicut, 475 Calvin, 452 Cam bray. League of, 394 Cambridge, 54, 62, 92, 557 , Richard, Earl of, 316 Camden, battle of, 831 , Lord, 815, 836, 843 Cameron of Lochiel, 774 , Dr., 781 Cameronian Regiment, 674 Canierons, the, 673 'Campaign, Plan of,' 1033 Campbell, Captain, of Glenlyon, 675 , Sir Colin, afterwards Lord Clyde, 986, 995, 996 Campbells, the, 673, 675 Campeachy Bay, 766 Campeggio, Cardinal, 403, 404 Camperdown, battle of, 866 Campion, 463 Camulodunum, 13, 14 Canada, 790, 797, 911, 955, 956, 1006, 1036 Canals, 852 Candahar, 964, 965, 96G, 1021 Canning, 882, 883, 892, 898, 912, 917, 925, 926, 927, 928, 931, 932, 940 , Lord, 995 Cannon, 674 , General, 990 Canon Law, 140 Canterbury Tales, 289 Cantreds, the four, 213, 216 Canute of Denmark, 99 , 71, 72-74 Cape Colony, 911, 1019, 1036 Capel, Lord, 581 Cape Passaro, battle of, 740 Cape of Good Hope, 869, 905 Cape St. Vincent, first battle of, 834 , second battle of, 866 Caractacus, 13 Carberry Hill, 456 Carbisdale, battle of, 590 Cardiff Castle, 114 Cardigan, Lord, 987 Cardwell, E., 977, 1008, 1012, 1013 Carew, Sir Peter, 430, 440 Carey, John, 947 Carlsbrook, 580 Carlisle, 106, 137, 457 Carmartlien, Marquess of, 629, 672 (see Danby), 683 Carmelites, 187, 273 Carnarvon, 216 , Earl, 1005, 1018 Carpenter, General, 738 Carolina, 788, 999 Caroline of Anspach, 756, 757, 765 Carr, Robert, 500, 501 Carstares, William, 674 Carteret, Lord, 748, 750, 752, 757, 768, 770, 771, 782 Cartwright, 577, 851 , Thomas, 464 Carucate, 163 Cashel, 147 Casket Letters, the, 457 Cassivellaunus, 10, 13 Castile, Constance of, 273, 289 Castillon, battle of, 339 Castlebar, 878 Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Lord, 879, 883, 892, 898, 902, 910, 912, 917, 920, 925 Castles, 154. Cateau Cambresis, Treaty of, 453 Catesby, 479 Robert 492 ' Sir William, 367, 369, 371 Cathcart, Lord, 892 Catherine ii. of Russia, 848 Catholic Emancipation carried, 934 Cato Street Plot, 920 Catuvelauni, 10 Cavagnari, Sir Louis, 1019 Cavalier, 550 Cavendish, Lord, 630, 634 , Lord Frederick, ]025 , Lord John, 809, 833, 836, 838 Cavemen, 4 Cavour, Count, 998, 999 Cawnpore, 994 Caxton, William, 390 Ceawlin, 23, 24, 29, 37, 38 1046 An Advanced History of England Cecil, Sir Edward, 512 , Sir Robert, 48(5 , Robert, 472 , William, 449, 465 (see Burleigh) Celtic invasion, 4 Celts, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 Ceorls, 47 Cetewayo, 1020, 1025, 1030, 1039 Ceylon, 8C9, 905 Chad, St., 33 Chaderton, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 489 Chalgrove Field, 561 Chalmers, Thomas, 968 Chalon, the little battle of, 206 Chains, 165 Chamberlain, Joseph, 1021, 1025, 1030, 1039 Chambers, Alderman, 518, 526, 541 Chancery Court, 212 Chandernagore, 797 'Chandos Clause,' 943, 949 Channel Islands, 170 Charlemont, Lord, 836 Charles the Great, 38, 39 the Simple, 64 Charles i., 506, 507 , reign of, 509-585 , Prince, Charles ii., 552, 588, 590, 591, 594, 611 II., reign of, 613-643 Edward, Prince, 772, 773, 779 , Archduke, 707, 726 VIII. of France, 358, 369, 879, 387 v., Emperor, 400, 401, 415, 423, 439, 440, 443 XII. of Sweden, 740 Albert, 973 Charlotte, Princess, 921 Charnock, Sir Robert, 694, 695 Charter of Forests, 184 of the Forest, 222 of Henry i., referred to, 175 of Liberties, 112 -, The People's, 957 Charters, Confirmation of, 223 to towns, 164 Chartists, the, 957, 974 Chateau Gaillard, 163, 170 Chatham, Earl of (see Pitt), 815, 816, 818, 827, 828 , Earl of, son of above, 897 Chatrys, William, 302 Chaucer, 259, 288, 289 Chesapeake, the, 903 Cheshire, 69 Chester, 62, 74, 93 , battle of, 24, 25, 26, 37 Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of, 750, 759, 768, 769, 783, 784, 786, 798, 809, 835, 857 Cheriton, battle of, 565 Cheyte Singh, 845 Chichele, Henry, 315 Chichester, Arthur, 496, 497 Chillian wallah, battle of, 967 Chiltern Hills, 41 China War, first, 960 , second, 992 Chinon, 150 Chippenham, 55 election, 768, 819 Christianity, introduction of, 17 Roman, 26 Christina, 79 Chronicle, Anglo-Saxon, 58, 67 Church, influence of, on national life, 35 Churchill, Admiral, 722 , Arabella, 660 , John, Lord, afterwards Marlborough, 628, 648 659, 661, 671, 672, 681, 686, 696, 698 , Lord Randolph, 1026, 1032 , the Poet, 810 Cider Tax, the, 808 Cinque Ports, 196 Circuits, 145 Cistercians, 120 Ciudad Rodrigo, 899, 900 Civil jury, 145 Clare election, the, 933 , Richard de, 148 , Thomas of, 199 Clarence, George, Duke of, 352, 353, 355, 356, 358 , Lionel, Duke of, 272 , Thomas, Duke of, 312, 322 Clarendon, Assize of, 145 , Constitutions of, 141, 145 , Council of, 141 , Edward Hyde, Earl of, 614, 622 , Henry Hyde, 645, 664 , G. W. Villiers, 972 Clark, Anne, 898 Clarkson, Thomas, 847, 890, 945 Claypole, Elizabeth, 608 Clement vii., Pope, 403 Clericis laicos, 221 Clerkenwell Explosion, 1007 Clermont, Council of, 109 Cleveland, 83 Cleves, Anne of, 421 Clifford, Lord, 342, 345, 346 , Sir Thomas, afterwards Lord, 625, 626, 627, 630 Clifton, skirmish at, 778 Clinton, General, 825, 831 Clive, Robert, 799, 839, 840 Clonmacnoise, 147 Cloumel, 589 Clontarf, battle of, 147 , meeting at, 967 Clugniacs, 120 Clugny, 67 Coa, combat of, 899 Coal Mines'Regulation Act, 1035 Cobbett, William, 914, 917, 944 Cobden, Richard, 958, 959, 963, 969, 970, 973, 978, 992, 998 Cobham, Eleanor, 332 , Lord, 479, 487, 488, 759 Coehorn, 682 Cochrane, Admiral, 927 Code Napoleon, 874 Codriugton, Sir Edward, 982 Coffee Houses, 632 Coifi, 30 Coinage, debasing of, 423 Coke, Edward, 501, 502, 504, 506, 510, 512, 515 , American Methodist, 763 Colbert, 626, 627 Colborne, Sir Thomas, 908 Index 1047 Colchester, 13 Coldstream Guards, 616 Coleman, 635 Colepepper, William, 702 Coleridge, 852, 924 Colet, John, 389 Coligny, Admiral, 458 College, Stephen, 640 Colley, Sir George, 1022 CoUiugwood, Admiral, 884, 885 Colman, 32, 33 Colonial Conference, 1035, 1036 Colonies, 473, 497, 788, 812, 816 Columba, St., 26, 27, 33 Coluniban, St., 27 Combermere, Viscount, 964 Comines, Philip de, 357 , Robert of, 93 Common Pleas, Court of, 153 Communa, 164 Companies, trading, 499 Comprehension Bill, 626 Compton, Bishop of London. 651, 652, 659, 662 , Sir Spencer, 756, 768 Compurgation, 145 Compurgators, 49 Comyn, John, 225, 226 Concord, 823 Conde, Prince of, 458 ' Confederates,' 564, 566, 575 Confederate States, the, 999, 1000 Congregation, Lords of the, 454 Congress of Vienna, 905 Connaught, 147 Connecticut, 788 Conrad of Montferrat, 161 Conservatives, numbers of, 944, 950, 96-i, 1008, 1014, 1021, 1029, 1032, 1037 Consillt, battle of, 137 Conspiracy to Murder Bill, 997 Constable, Sir John, 416 Constance of Brittany, 135, 167 Constantine, 17, 63 Continental War, Frederick's, 802 Contract, the Great, 494 Conventicle Act, 619 Convention, the, of 1660, 611 , the, of 1688, 663 Convocation of Canterbury, Constitution of, 302, 303 , discontinued, 762 Conway, 216 , General, 809, 812, 813, 815, 817, 832 Cony, 605 Conyers, Sir John, 352 Cook, 615 Cooke, Captain, 849 Cooper, Sir Antony Ashley, 599, 600, 614 (see Shaftesbury) Coote, Colonel Eyre, 800, 841 Cope, Sir John, 774, 775, 776 Cork, 147, 679 , Robert Boyle, Earl of, 523 Cornbury, Lord, 662 Corn Laws, the, 915, 957, 963, 970 Coruwallis, Lord, 831, 832, 888 Cornwall, Richard, Earl of, 193, 194, 197 , Henry, Earl of, 195 Corporations, 619 Act, 671, 863 Corunna, battle of, 896 Cosin, Bishop of Durham, 517 Cottenham, Lord, 951 Cotton, Sir John Hynde, 769 Council of the North, 417, 422, 544 Counter Reformation, 463 ' Country Party,' the, 630 County Councils, 1035 Coupland, 256 Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury, 283 , Edward, Earl of Devon, 439, 440, 441 Court of Chancery, 602 of Common Pleas, 178 of High Commission, 451 Courtrai, battle of, 225 Coventry, 558 Coverdale, Miles, Bishop of Exeter, 419, 433 444, 451 Cowper, 734, 764 Cowper-Tomple Clause, 1011 Craft Guilds, 165 Craftsman, the, 753 Craggs, 746, 748 Cranborne, Lord (see Salisbury) Cranfield, Lionel, 508 Cranmer, Thomias, 409, 410, 419, 420, 426, 429, 442, 444 Crauford, Robert, 899 Crawford, Earl of, 546 Crecy, battle of, 253 Crefeld, battle of, 802 Cressinghain, 224 Crevant, battle of, 325 Crew, Chief- Justice, 513 Cricklade, 61 Crimea, 983-991 Crimes Act, Gladstone's, 1025 , Salisbury's, 1033 Criminal Code, the, 919 ' Criminous clerks,' 140, 141 The Crisis, 728 Croke, Judge, 530 Croker, J. W., 941 Crompton, 851 Cropredy Bridge, battle of, 566 Cromwell, Henry, G02, 609 , Lord, 335 , Richard, 609, 610 , Thomas, 412, 415, 416, 419, 421 , Oliver, 539, 542, 545, 557, 558, 560, 561, 562, 563, 565, 566, 568, 569, 570, 572, 578, 582, 583, 584, .587, 588, 590, 591, 598, 599, 600, 607, 608, 609, 614 Crowland, 53, 67 Crowmer, 336 Crown Point, 790 Crusade, causes of, 108 , the tirst, 108 , the third, 160, 161 Cuesta, General, 897 Culloden, 779 ; battle of, 780 Culpepper, 550 Cumberland, William, Duke of, 771, 772, 778, 779, 791, 792, 793, 811, 813 , William, Duke of (another), 953 Cunedda, 23, 26 Cunningham, Colonel, 677 Cunobelinus, 13 Cur Deus Homo, 108 Curia Regis, 116, 117, 152, 177, 185 1048 Jn Advanced History of England Currency question, 1015, 1020 , state of, 690 Curtis, Captain, 834 Customary service, 139 Customs duty, 271 Custom, tlie great, 223 Custozza, battle of, 1002 Cuthbert, 34 Cutts, General Lord, 686, 709 Cyprus, Isle of, 160, 161 D'Alembert, 857 Dalhousie, Lord, 993 Dalrymple, Sir John, 674, 675 , Sir Hugh, 896 Damme, 174 Danby, Earl of (see Latimer), 629, 631, 632, 633, 646, 656, 659, 662, 664, 668, 672 (see Leeds) Danegeld, 73 Danes, 51 Danelaw, 56, 64, 69 Dangerfield, 635, 646 Danish boroughs, 62, 64 Danton, 859, 869 d'Arcon, 834 Dare, Jeanne, 327 Darey, Lord, 416 Dare of Taunton, 048 Darien Scheme, 714 Darnley, Henry, 455, 456 Darrein lyrcsentvunt, 178 Dashwood, Sir Francis, 808, 820 Dauphin, 264 David, King of Scotland, 98, 111, 123, 124, 128 — , Prince of Wales, 214, 216 of Scotland, 256, 264 , St., 26 Davis, Jefferson, 999 Davis, John, 466 Davison, 469 Davitt, M., 1023 Dawstone, battle of, 24, 25 Deane, Admiral, 587, 596 , Archbishop of Canterburj', 395 De donis conditionalihus Statute, 209, 210 d'Enghien, Duke, 883 d'Estaing, Admiral, 827 d'Estrees, Admiral, 628 d'Ewes. Sir Simon, 539 Declaration of the Army, 579 of Breda, 614 of Indulgence of Charles ii., 627, 629 , the first, of James ii., 654 , the second, of James ii., 656 of Right, English, 664 , Irish, 836 Defoe, Daniel, 697, 702 De Hceretico Combiirendo, 302 Deira, 24 De la Clue, Admiral, 801 Delamere, Booth, Lord, 614 , Lord, 662, 672 Delaval, 684 Delaware, 789 Delhi, 994, 995 Denewulf, 57 Denham, Judge, 530 Denissburn, 31 Den man, 928 Denmark, Prince George of, 662, 722 Derby, 62 , Henry, Earl of, and Duke of Lancas- ter, 248, 252, 257 , Stanley, Earl of, 488 , Earl of, 593, 594, 595 De religiosis, 209 Dermot Macarthy, 149 Macmorrough, 148 De Ruyter, 596, 621, 622, 628 Derwentwater, Lord, 739 Desborough, 598, 599, 600, 607, 610 Desmonds, the, 478 Desmoulins, Camille, 858 Despenser, Hugh le, 195 , elder, 236, 238, 239 , younger, 236, 238, 239 , Bishop of Norwich, 281 Lord, 300 De Tcdlagio non Concedendo, 223, 515 Dettingen, battle of, 771 De viris religiosis, statute of, 209 Devonshire, William Cavendish, Earl of, 651, 655, 662, 742 , Duke of, 808, 809 , 1039 (see Hartington) Devorgil, 148 De Witt, 596, 621, 628 Dhuleep Singh, 967 Diderot, 857 Dieskau, 790 Digges, Sir Dudley, 513 Digby, Lord, 539, 541, 545, 551, 652, 572 Dighton, 366 ' Directory,' 601 ' Disinherited,' the, 199, 200 Dispensing power, the, 651 Disraeli, 971, 978, 980, 997, 1005, 1006, 1014, 1016, 1017, 1018 (see Beaconsfield) Distraint of knighthood, 211 , 521 ' Disturbance, Compensation for,' Clause, 1023, 1024 Division lists published, 953 Doddington, Bubb, 769 Dodwell, 669 Dol, castle of, 151 Dominicans, 188, 272 Dom Pantaleone Sa, 604 Donauwerth, battle of, 708 Donell, O'Brien, 149 Doomsday Book, 99 Dorchester Heights, 825 Dore, 62 Dorislaus, 696 Dorset, Earl of, 549 , Marquis of, 394 Douai, College at, 463 Douglas, 243, 245 , Earl of, 303, 305 , Margaret, 455 , Andrew, 678 Douro, passage of the, 897 Dover, 77, 87, 92 , battle of, 183 , treaty of, 626 Drapier's Letters, the, 751 Drake, Sir Francis, 466, 469, 470, 473 Drogheda, siege of, 588 ' Drop Shuttle,' 851 Druids, 11, 14 Index 1049 Drumclog, 637 Drnraniond, Sir John, 777, 778 ; Lord, 780, 781 Dryden, 682 Dublin, 147, 149 Dubois, Abbe, 739 Dudley, Sir Edmund, 385, 393 , Lord Guildford, 436, 439 , Lord Robert, 437, 438 , Dud, 851 Duffy, C. G., 973 Dulcigno, 1021 Duleek, 679 Dunbar, battles of, 220, 591 , George of, Earl of March, 301 Duncan, Admiral, 866, 867 Dundalk, 588 Dundas, Henry, 843, 844 Dundee, Viscount, 673, 674 Dunes, battle of the, 608 Dunkeld, 674 Dunkellin, Lord, 1005 Dunkirk, 470, 608, 620 Dunmail, 64 Dunning, 829, 833 Dunois, Count, 326 Duns Scotus, 188 Dunstan, 33, 65-70 Dupleix, 799 Dui^plin Moor, battle of, 245 Dutch, wars with, 596, 628, 827, 806 Durham, 93, 151 , Earl of, 95(3 Dyckveldt, 656 Dyrham, battle of, 24, 25, 26 Eadric, Streona, 70, 71, 72, 73 the Wild, 92 Ealdorman, 44 Ealdred, SO Ealdgyth, 81 Earldoms, 95 East Angles, 23 India Company, 474, 499 Retford, 933 Saxons, 23 Eaton, Sir John. 530 Ecclesiastical Commission, the, 652 Courts, 140, 408 Holdings, 107 Polity, the, 465 Eddington, battle of, 55 Eddisbury, 62 Edgar, 66 Atheling, 79, 81, 86, 87, 92, 93, 96 Edgecote, battle of, 352 , 559 Edgehill, battle of, 559 Edinburgh, Castle of, 152, 220, 232, 775 Letter, 970 Edith, 76, 77, 78 Edmund, 63, 64 , Archbishop, 193 , Ironside, 71, 72 , Crouchback, 229 , of Lancaster, 206 Edred, 65 Education, Elementary, 945, 961, 1010, 1011, 1035 Edward the Confessor, 74, 76, 81 Edward i., 196, 197, 198, 199, 200 ; reign oif, 205-227; character of, 205 ; compared with Henry ii., 205 the Elder, 61, 62, 63 II., 217, 222 ; reign of, 228-241 II. and Richard ii. compared, 293 III., 239 ; reign of, 242-277 IV,, 343, 346, 847 ; reign of, 348-360 v., reign of, 361-364 VI., reign of, 426-436 of Hungary, 79, 81 the Martyr, 67 Prince, 340, 341, 345, 357, 366 son of Malcolm in., 106 Edwards, 920 Edwin of Northumbria, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, 39 , Earl, 79, 83, 84, 87, 91, 92, 93 Edwy, 66, 72 Effingham, Lord Howard of, 469, 470, 473 Egbert, 38, 39, 40 Egfrith, 34, 37 Egremont, Thomas Percy, Earl of, 345 , Lord, 807, 809, 810 Eikon Basilike, 585 Eikonoklastes, 585 Elcho, Lord, 573 Eleanor of Acquitaine, 128, 135, 151, 157, 167, 168, 169 of Brittany, 162 de Montfort, 214 of Provence, 191 Elfric, 70 Eldon, Lord, 880, 892, 911, 931, 934 Eliot, Sir John, 510, 512, 513, 515, 519, 520 Elliott, Governor, 833, 834 , Captain, 960 Elizabeth, 410, 430, 441 ; reign of, 448-481, 405 Ella, 29 EUandun, battle of, 39 Ellenborough, Lord, 889 Elmete, 41 Elphinstone, General, 965 Elswitha, 53 Ely, 67, 75 , Isle of, 93 , Thomas, Bishop of, 285 Emma, 70, 73, 74, 97 Emmett, Robert, 880 Employers' Liability Acts, 1025 Bill, 1038 Empson, Sir Richard, 385, 393 Encumbered Estates Court, 972 Encyclopaedists, the, 856 Engagement, the, 580, 601 ' Engagers,' 590, 593 Enniskillen, 676 Entail, 210 Eorls, 47 Erasmus, 389 Eric, 73 Ennine Street, 16 Erskine, Sir Thomas, 487 , Lord, 862 Esnes, 47 Essex, Countess of, 500 , Robert Devereux, Earl of, 4r2, 47o, 478 479 1 , the younger, 500, 512, 535, 539, 543, 551, 559, 561, 563, 566, 569, 570 1050 An Advanced History of England Essex, Arthur Capel, Earl of, C33, 634, 639, 641 Estates General, the, 858 Etaples, Treaty of, 386 Ethelbald, 37, 53 Ethelbert, 53 , of Kent, 23, 27, 28, 29 Ethelburga, 29, 30, 31 Ethelfleda, 57. 61 Ethelfrith, 24, 28, 31, 32, 37, 38 Ethelmar, 192 Ethelred of Kent, 37 I., 53, 54 , Ealdormau, 57, 59 the Unready, 69, 71 Ethelwald, 61 Ethelwold, 65, 67 Ethel wulf, 39, 53 , Ealdormau, 52, 54 Eugene, Prince of Savoy, 707, 709, 712, 718, 719, 720, 726 Eugenius iv., 328 Eustace, son of Stephen, 129 of Boulogne, 77, 92, 104 the Monk, 183 de Vesci, 176, 179 Eva, 148 Evangelical Party, 764 EveljTi, Sir John, 644, 650, 661, 746 Evertsen, Admiral, 681 Exchequer, Court of, 117, 152, 178, 212 , stop of, 617 Excise Scheme, 758 Exclusion Bill, the, 638 Exeter, 55, 63, 92, 562, 563, 661 , George Neville, Bishop of, 345, 347 , Duke of, 341, 345 , Henry Courtenay, Marquess of, 419 Exhibition, the Great, 976 Exmouth, Lord, 910, 911 Exorcists, 140 Expansion of England, The, 1036 Eylau, battle of, 890 Eyre, Governor, 1004 Factory Acts, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 946 -, Fielden's, 972 Paddiley, battle of, 24 Fagher, battle of, 235 Fairfax, Ferdinand, Lord, 509, 539, 561, 568, 593, 614 , Sir Thomas, 561, 565, 566, 568, 569, 571, 572, 578, 680, 582, 583, 584, 587, 591, 611 Fairs, 260 Falaise, Treaty of, 152, 158, 216 Falkes de Breaute, 176, 179, 184, 185 Falkirk, battles of, 225, 778 Falconbridge, William, Lord, 340, 347, 348, 349 Falkland, Henry Carey, Lord, 522 , Lucius Carey, Lord, 539, 541, 544, 545, 550, 556, 563 Family Compact, the, 806 Famine of 1315, 235 Farmer, Anthony, 653 Fastolf, Sir John, 326 Faversham, 663 Fawkes, Guy, 492 Fealty, 269 " Fee, knight's, 138 Fenwick, Sir John, 696 Felix, 31 Fell, Dr. , Dean of Christchurch, 651 Ferdinand of Brunswick, 802 of Styrla, 504 Ferguson, 647, 648, 662 Ferozeshah, battle of, 967 Ferrand, Count of Flanders, 175 Fenn, the, 164 Ferrar, Bishop of St. David's, 443 Featherstone, 420 Feudal array, 153 Feudalism, 100 Feudal dues, 107, 177, 494 commuted, 615 Feversham, Earl of, 648, 659 Field of the Cloth of Gold, 401 Fiennes, Lord, 584 , Nathaniel, 555, 557, 558, 562, 607 Fifth Monarchy, 597 Finch, Judge, 541 , Lord, 539 First-fruits, 410, 411 ' P'irst tonsure,' 140 Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, 411, 412 Fitzalan, Richard. Earl of Arundel, 285, 287, 290, 301 Fitz-Geralds, the, 422 Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 877, 878 , Maurice, 148 , Vesey, 933 Fitzherbert, Mrs., 921 Fitz-Nigel, Richard, 158 Fitz-Osbern, William, 82, 92, 95, 97 Fitz-Osbert, William, 164 Fitz-Stephen, Robert, 148 Fitz-Urse, Reginald, 143 Fitz-Walter, Robert, 176, 179, 183 Fitz-William, Earl, 882 Five-Mile Act, 619 Flammock, Thomas, 380 Flanders, Philip of, 150 , Count of, 96, 221 Fleet, Alfred's, 57, 58 Fleetwood, Charles, 591, 593, 598, 599, 602, 607, 610 Flemings, 114 (see Netherlands) Fletcher, Colonel, 899 , Andrew, of Salton, 647, 674 Flodden, battle of, 397 Florida, 790 Flushing, 898 'Fly Shuttle,' 850 Flood, Henry, 835 Folkland, 46, 48 Fontenoy, battle of, 772 Forbin, 718 Forbes, Duncan, 775, 781, 795 Fornham, battle of, 151 Forest, 366, 521 , the New, 101, 110 Forster, Thomas, 738, 739 W. E., 1004, 1008, 1010, 1011, 1023, 1024, 1025, 1036 Fort Augustus, 676, 774 Duquesne, 790 Fortescue, John, 357 , Sir John, 490 Fort William, 676, 774 Fosseway, 16, 24 Fotheringay, 469 Index 1051 Fouclie, 874 'Fourth Party, The,' 1025 Fox, Richard, 360, 393, 395 , Henry, 7S2, 783, 784, 787, 788, 791, 792, 808, 810 , Charles James, 820, 823, 828, 829, 832, 833, 835, 836, 837, 838, 842, 843, 844, 845 , 846, 847, 849, 850, 860, 861, 863, 882, 889, 890, 955 Fox's India Bill, 841 Libel Act, 819 Franchises, 43 Francis i., 398, 410 ; policy of, 399 II. of France, 453 Alban, 652, 653 , Sir Philip, 840, 841, 845 Franciscans, 188, 273 Framlinghani, 151 Frank almoign, 139 Franklin, Benjamin, 814, 822 Frank pledge, 145, 270 Frederic i.. Emperor, 135 II., Emperor, ISO, 209 , Prince of Wales, 765, 768, 786 the Great, 769, 794, 802 , Elector Palatine, 495, 504 William iv., 973 Free Socage, 139 French language, use of, 232 Revolution of 17S9, 854, 869 1830, 937 Frere, Sir Bartle, 1020 Friedland, battle of, 890 Friedlingen, 707 Frobisher, Sir Martin, 466, 470, 473 Frontinus, 14 Frost, Mr., 958 Fuentes De Ofioro, battle of, 90O Fulford, battle of, 83 Fulk of Anjou, 118, 119, 155 Fyrd, 44, 58, 153 Gaedels, 7 Gaels, 7 Gage, General, 823, 824 Gainsborough, 53, 502 Gall, St., 27 Gallic Invasion, The, 682 Galloway, 152 Galway, Lord, 712 Gambler, Admiral, 892 Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, 409, 419, 421, 433, 439, 440, 441, 442, 444 , Colonel, 775, 776 Garibaldi, 999 Gascony, 195, 257, 267 Gascoigne, General, 941 Gatton, 940 Gaultier, Abbe, 726 Gaunt, Elizabeth, 649 , John of, 267, 272, 275, 277, 282, 286 Gaveston, Piers. 230, 231 Gay, John, 745, 757 'General Wan-ants,' 814 Geoffrey of Anjou, 81, 118, 119, 127, 128, 155 , the younger, 138 Fitzpeter, 163, 165, 175 , son of Henry ir,, 135, 150, 154, 155, 160, 162 George i., reign of, 734-755 II., 742, 745, 754 ; reign of, 756, 803 George iii., reign of, 804-919 IV., 849 ; reign of, 920-935 - — , Prince of Wales (George iv.), 849 Georgia, 789 Gerald the Welshman, 18, 171, 172, 273 Gerard, 420 Germaine, Lord George (see Sackville), 827 Geraldines, the, 381 Gerberoi, Castle of, 98 Ghuznee, 9d4, 965 Gibraltar, 726, 755, 832, 911 Gibbon, E., 852 Giffard, Bonaventura, 653 Gilbert Foliot, 139, 142, 143 of Sempringham, 129 , Sir Humphrey, 473 Gildas, 22, 23 Ginkell, 679, 680, 697 (see Lord Athloiic) Gladstone, W. E., 945, 950, 961, 963, 970, 977, 978, 980, 981, 982, 989, 991, 992, 997, 998, 999, 1000, 1002, 1004, 1005, 1007, 1008, 1010, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1017, 1018, 1020, 1021, 1022, 1024, 1025, 1026, 1027, 1029, 1030, 1031, 1032, 1033, 1034, 1037, 1038 Glamorgan, Edward Somerset, Earl of (see Worcester), 575 Glastonbury, 65 Glanville, Ralf, 150, 158, 160 Glenshiel, 740 Gloucester, 55, 557, 562, 563 , Henry Stuart, Duke of, 620 , Earl Gilbert of, 227, 230, 231, 233, 234 , Gilbert de Clare, Earl of, 196, 199 , Humphrey, Duke of, 325, 326, 328, 331, 332, 333 , Margaret of, 230 , Richard de Clare, Earl of, 195, 196 , Richard, Duke of, 354, 356, 359, 362, 363 , Thomas of, 284, 286, 290 , William, Duke of, 698 Goderich, Lord (see Robinson), 931, 932, 939 Godfrey of Bouillon, 109 , Sir Edmund Berry, 634 , Michael, 689 Godolphin, Sidney, Lord, 645, 063, 669, 096, 698, 706, 721, 722, 724, 748 Godwin, 73, 74, 76, 77-79, 92 Goidels, 7, 11, 12, 25, 26 Gondomar, 506, 507 Goodman, 696 Goodwin, John, 576 , Sir Francis, 490 Goojerat, battle of, 967 Goorkas, the, 995, 996 Gordon, Lord George, 830 , Katharine, 379, 380 , General C. G., 1027, 1028 Goree, 800 Goring, General, 557, 568, 572 Gorst, Sir John, 1026 Goschen, G. J., 1004, 1008, 1030, 1032, 1039 Gough, Lord, 967 , Matthew, 336 Gower, Earl. 809 Grafton, Duke of, 813, 815, 816, 817, 818, 833, 836, 843 Graham, General Sir Gerald, 1027 , Sir James, 948, 963, 981 , John, 637 (see Dundee) , Sir Thomas, 902 1052 An Advanced History of England Grammont, Duke of, 770 Grampound, 924 Granby, Marquess of, 802, 807 Grand Jury, 145 Remonstrance, 548, 549 Grandval, 694 , General Ulysses, 1000 Granville, 784,1792 (see Carteret) , Earl George, 1008, 1021 Grasse, Count de, 832, 833 Grattan, Henry, 835, 836, 924 Graves, Admiral, 832 Gray, John de, 172, 173 Great Charter, 176, 184, 222, 636 Council, 116, 118 Fire, 622 Meadow, 790 Mogul or Padishah, 799 Plague, 622 Scutage, 138 Greeks, the, 927, 931, 932, 1021 Green, General, 831 Sir Thomas, 290, 202 Gregory vn., Pope, 81, 91, 96 VIII., Pope, 155 IX,, Pope, 186 X., Pope, 206 xni,, Pope, 786 the Great, 27, 28, 34 Grenville, Sir Bevil, 561 , George, 769, 792, 806, 807, 810, 812, 813, 817, 818 — -, W. W., Lord, 882, 889, 890, 911, 912 , Sir Richard, 473, 474 Whigs, 890 Grey, Mr. (see Earl Grey), 863, 882, 889, 898, 911 (see Howick) , Earl (see Howick) 931, 938, 939, 941, 942, 943, 948 , Earl, son of above, 970, 972 , Sir George, 995 , Lady Jane, 398, 436, 437, 439, 440, 441 , John of Groby, 351 , Katharine, 436, 449, 455, 485 , Lord, of Wark, 647, 648 , Sir Richard, 362, 363 , de Ruthin, Lord, 304 , Sir Thomas, 316 Thomas, Earl of Dorset, 362, 363, 367, 369 , Lord William. 446 de Wilton, William, Lord, 429, 430, 488 Griffith (son of Llewelyn), 79, 80, 81 Grindal, 450, 464 Grim, Edward, 144 Grimbald the Frank, 57 Groby, Lord Grey of, 583, 584, 604 Grocyn, 389 Grossetete, Robert, 187, 193, 259 Grouchy, 866 Grove, a Jesuit, 635 Gruffydd, 80 Guadaloupe, 800 Gualo, 184 Guesclin, Bertrand de, 266 Guienne, Duke of, 110 , 394 Guildfort Court-house, battle of, 831 Guilds, disendowment of, 428 Guiscard, Robert, 78, 109 , Roger, 109 Guise, Francis, Duke of, 458 , Mary of, 423 Guises, the, 472 Guinegaste, battle of, 395 Gundamak, Treaty of, 1019 Gunpowder, introduction of, 390 Plot, 492 Gurthrigernus, 22 Guthrie, 624 Guthrum, 52, 54, 55, 56 Guy of Lusignan, 155, 160, 161 Gwynne. Nell, 620 Gyrth, 79, 84, 86 Gytha, 73, 92 Gwalior, 995 Habeas Corpus Act, 178, 631, 636, 917, 1024 Hacker, Colonel, 615 Haddington, 429 Hadrian, 15, 17, 19 , Pope, 38 IV., Pope, 135 Hadrian's Wall, 15 Hadwisa of Gloucester, 169 Hainault, Jacqueline of, 326 , Philippa of, 239, 256, 275 , William of, 248 Hales, Sir Edward, 651, 654, 663, 672 , Sir Robert, 281 Halfdene, 54, 56 ' Half-Timers.' 946 Halidon Hill, battle of, 245 Halifax, Charles Montagu, Earl of, 699, 707, 724, 734 , George Savile, Marquis of, 634, 645, 650, 651, 656, 659, 662, 664, 669, 672 , George Montagu, Earl of, 809, 810 , town, 785 Hall, Bishop of Exeter, 545 Hallam, Robert, Bishop of Salisbury, 320 Hamilton, Marquess of, 533, 546, 580, 581, 594, 595, 678 , Richard, 678 Hamiltons, the, 457 Hammond, 580 Hampden, John, 529, 539, 543, 548, 550, 555, 557, 559, 561, 564 , John, the younger, 630 Hampton Court, 579 Hanau, 770 Handel, 757 Hanover, Treaty of, 755 Hansard, Messrs., 962 Harclay, Sir' Andrew, 237, 238 Harcourt, 724 , Sir W. v., 1021, 1030, 1037, 1039 Hardlcanute, 74, 75 Harding, Stephen, 120 Hardinge, Colonel, 900 Hardmcke, Lord Chancellor, 768, 787 Hardy, Thomas, 863 Hares and Rabbits Act, 1025 Harfleur, capture of, 317 Hargreaves, 851 Harlech, 216 Harley, Robert, 689, 713, 714, 721, 722, 724, 725, 726 (see Oxford) Harold i, 74, 75 ; reign, 79, 86 , Godwin's son, 77, 78, 79, 80 ; reign of, 80-86 Index 1053 Harold Hardrada, 78, 82, 83 Harris, General, 886 Harrison, General, 584, 591, 597, 598, 599, 615 Harrowby, Lord, 883, 920, 942 Harthacnut, 74, 75 Hartington, Lord (see Devonshire), 1021, 1030 Hastenbeck, battle of, 793 Hastings, 59, 60, 92, 105, 106, 114 , battle of, 84, 86 , John, 217, 218 , Lord, 354, 356, 358, 362, 363, 364 , Warren, 839, 841 Havelock, General H., 992, 995 Haviland, 796 Havre, 458 Hawarden Castle, 216 Hawke, Sir Edward, 785, 801 Hawkesbury, Lord, 883, 892 (see Liverpool) Hawkins, Sir John, 466, 470, 473 Hawley, General, 778 Haxey, Sir Tliomas, 290 Hazelrig, Sir Arthur, 539, 542, 545, 550, 587, 598, 604, 606, 607, 609, 610, 611, 615 Heads of the Proposals, 579 Hebert, 869 Hedgeley Moor, battle of, 350 Hedges, Sir Charles, 707, 713 Hein, Peter, 606 Heinsius, 707 Heligoland, 892, 905 Henderson, Alexander, 532, 533, 516, 571 Hengist's Down, 52 Henrietta Maria, 508, 510, 511, 512, 543, 562 Henry i., 101, 103 ; reign of, 111-122 II., 119, 127, 128, 129; reign of, 135- 156 , of France, 452, 458 III., reign of, 182-200 , of France, 461, 472 ■ IV., Emperor, 91, 103, 111 , 279 ; reign of, 299-312 , King of Navarre, 467, 472, 475 v., Emperor, 111, 117 , 302, 303 ; reign of, 313-323 VI., reign of, 324-347, 348, 350, 354 , Emperor, 162, 163 VII., 350, 357, 367, 369, 370, 371 ; reign of, 376-391 VIII., reign of, 392-425 , of Huntingdon, 36, 121 , the Lion of Saxony, 163 . Patrick, 812 , son of Henry ii., 143, 150, 154 , Prince, son of James i., 495, 496 of Winchester, 125, 126, 127, 139 Herat, 964 Herbert, Admiral, 659, 668, 681 , Chief Justice, 651, 652, 672 , Lord (see Earl of Glamorgan), 436, 455, 555 , Sir Edward, 551 — , Sidney (afterwards Lord Herbert of Lea), 990, 1002 Hereford, 79 , Humphrey, Earl of, 227, 231, 233, 234 , Duke of, 291, 292 , Roger of, 137 Hereward the Wake, 93 Heriot, 107 Herleva of Falaise, 77 Herries, J. C, 932 Herschell, Lord, 1030 Hertford, 62 , Edward Seymour, Earl of, 423, 426 , Lord, 455 Hesse-Darmstadt, Prince of, 709 Hetherington, H., 958 Hexham, battle of, 350 Hides, 99 High Commission, 544 Highlanders, 573, 676, 730, 774, 782 Hildebrand, 81, 96 Hill, General, 902 • , Abigail, 721 , Rowland, 960 History of the Great Rebellion, 623, 737 Hoadley, Bishop of Bangor, 762 Hoche, 865, 869 Hodson, of Hodson's Horse, 995 Hohenlinden, battle of, 874 Holbein, 389 Holborne, 529 Holkar, 887, 995 Holland, Lord, 580 , Henry Fox, Lord, 809 (see Fox) , Richard, Lord, 544 Hollands, the, 290, 291, 300 Holies, Denzel, 519, 520, 539, 550, 555, 557, 565, 570, 579, 582, 584, 614, 615 , Lord, 630 Holloway, Judge, 658 Holmby House, 578, 579 Holmes, Sir Robert, 621, 028 Holy Alliance, 910 Homage, 269 Home, Earl of, 397 Home Rule League, 1022 Rule Bill (1886), 1031 ; (1893), 1038 Homildon Hill, battle of, 303 Hone, William, 917 , 641 Hong Kong, 960 Hooker, Richard, 465 Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, 433, 443 Hopton, Sir Ralph, 539, 561 Horner, Francis, 912, 915 Horrocks, 851 Horton, Colonel, 581, 590 Hospitallers, Knights, 240, 241 Hotham, Sir John, 554, 562 Hough, John, Bishop of Oxford, 653, 661, 669 House-carls, 73 Howard, Sir Edmund, 422 , Sir Edward, 395, 397 , John, 358, 362, 365 (see Norfolk) , Katharine, 422 , Lord, 641 , Lord Thomas, 473 , Thomas, 393, 395 (see Duke of Norfolk), 397 Howe, Captain, 790 , Commodore, 801 (see Admiral), 834 , General, 824, 825 , Jack, 707 , Lord, 795 Howick, Lord (see Grey), 890 Hozier, Captain, 755 Hubba, 55 1054 An Advanced History of England Hubert de Burgh, 180, 183, 184, 185, 186, 189, 191, 193 , Walter, 158, 1(31, 163, 164, 165, 168, 172 Huddleston, John, 642 Hudson's Bay, 726 Hugh of Avalon, 165 Hugh of Avranches, 95 Hugh Bigod, 149, 150, 151 Hugh the Brown, 169 Hugh of Chester, 149, 150, 151 of Durham (see Puiset), 151, 158, 162 the Great, 64 de la Marche, 191 Mortimer, 137 de Morville, 143 de Puiset, 150 Hughes, Admiral, 841 Huguenots, 458 Huldyard, Robert, 352 Hull, 546, 554, 555, 557, 562 Humbert, General, 878 Humble Petition and Advice, 607 Hume, David, 754 Humphrey de Bohun, 151 Hundred, 43, 163 , Court of the, 116 Huut, Henry, 918, 944 Huntly, Earl of, 397 Hurst Castle, 583 Hutchinson, Colonel, 557, 587 , General, 875 , Governor, 822, 823 Huntingdon, John Holland, Earl of, 284, 300 Huskisson, 892, 928, 929, 931, 932, 933, 937, 938, 940 Hutton, Sir Christopher, 465, 472 , Judge, 530 Hyde, Anne, 620 , Edward, 539, 541, 545, 550, 554, 571 (see Clarendon) Hyder Ali, 841 Hyderabad, battle of, 966 Iberians, 5 Iceni, 14 Icknield Street, 16, 41 Ictis, 8 Iden, Alexander, 337 Impey, Chief-Justice, 841 Inchiquin, Lord, 588, 590 Income Tax, 903, 981, 1014 Indemnity Act, 933 Independence, Declaration of, 825 India, 797, 801 Indian Mutiny, 992, 993, 994, 995, 996 Ingeborga of Denmark, 168 Inglis, Sir R., 934, 943 , Brigadier, 994 Ingoldsby, General, 773 Inkerman, battle of, 987, 988 Innocent iii., 146, 173, 175, 179 IV., 186 Inquest, Sworn, 145 Instrument of Government, 600 Intelligence Domestic and Foreign, 693 Inveraray, 675 Inverlochy, battle of, 573 Inverness, 676, 774 Investiture Question, 114 Ionian Islands, 905 Ireland, 235, 635 , conquest of, 146 at the Restoration, 624 in 1782, 835 • under Cromwell, 602 Ireton, Henry, 572, 583, 584, 587, 590, 614 Irish Brigade, 680, 773 Irish Church, 773, 948, 1007, 1008 Irish Famine, 961, 971 Land System, 477 Acts, 1860, 1009 , 1870, 1010 , 188], 1024 Rebellion, 1641, 547 ; 1798, 877, 878 ; 1848, 974 University Question, 1018, 1014 ' Ironside,' 570 Isaac of Cyprus, 162 Comnenus, 160 Isabella, daughter of Charles vi., 289 of Angouleme, 169, 191 of France, 224, 230 Isandlwana, battle of, 1020 Isla, Earl of, 760 Ismail, 848 Ivernians, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 25 Ivo, of Grantmesnil, 113 Ivry, battle of, 475 Jackson, General, 904 Jacobites, 698, 749 Jacobitism, 737 Jamaica, 605, 911, 959, 1004 James of Scotland, 308 IV. of Scotland, 379 V. of Scotland, 397 VI. of Scotland, 485 I., reign of, 485-508 , Duke of York, afterwards James ii., 614, 617, 620, 621, 625, 626, 628, 629, 633, 641 ; reign of, 644-665, 676, 685, 694 the Deacon, 32 , Sir Henry, 1030 (afterwards Lord Aylestone), 1039 Jane of England, 243 Jargeau, battle of, 327 Jarl, 47 Jassy, treaty of, 849 Jedburgh, 220 Castle, 152 Jeffrey, Lord, 928 Jeffreys, Judge, 641, 642, 647, 649, 652, 663 672 Jellalabad, 966 Jena, battle of, 890 Jenkins' Ear, 766 Jennings, Sarah, 705 Jermyn, Henry, 649 Jerome, 420 Jervis, Admiral, 866 Jersey, Lord, 698 Jerusalem, 161 , capture of, 109 Jesuits, 463 Jews, expulsion of, 212 • , persecution of, 159 Jhansi, Ranee of,. 993, 996 Jocelyn, Bishop of Salisbury, 143 Joan, 217 John, son of Henry n., 150, 159, 102, 163 ; reign of, 167-181 Index 1055 John, the Old Saxon, 57 — I. of France, 246 — II. of France, 257, 261 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 819, 852 Johnstone of Warriston, 532, 533, 546, 565, 624 Jones, Michael, 588, 590 Joseph, Michael, 380 Joyce, Cornet, 579 Judicature, Supreme Court of, 1013 Judith, 97 JugduUuk Pass, 966 Julius Csesar, 9, 10, 18 Julius II., Pope, 394 'Junius,' 817 Junto, the, 687 Jury, civil, 146 , petty, 146 of Presentment, 146 Justice, administration of, 48 Justice, Lord Chief, 116 Justices-in-eyre, 144, 145, 163 Jutes, 23 Juxon, Bishop of London, 517, 527, 539 Kars, 991 Katharine, 419 of Braganza, 620 of France, 322 Keble, John, 968, 969 Kemp, Cardinal, 833, 337 Ken, Bishop of Bath and "Wells, 657, 669 Kendal, Duchess of, 749 Kenmure, Lord, 738, 739 Kent, Edmund, Earl of, 227, 229, 242, 243, 244 , Joan of, 280 , Thomas, Earl of, 284, 800 — , Earl of, 469 Kentish Petition, the, 553 , another, 702 Kenwulf, 88 Keppel, 697 , Admiral, 832, 833, 836, 838 Keroualle, Louise de, 620 Ket, Robert, 431, 432 , William, 431, 432 Keymis, Captain Lawrence, 474, 503 Khartoum, 1027, 1028 Kidd, Captain, 702 Kildare, Earl of, 382 , Earls of, 475 Kilkenny, 589 , Statute of, 381 Killiecrankie, battle of, 674 Kilmarnock, Lord, 776 Kilsyth, battle of, 573 Kimbolton, Edward Montagu, Lord, 539 (see Manchester), 550 Kineton, 559 King, the, 46 King's Bench, Court of, 152, 178, 212 Council, 116 County, 477 Friends, 809, 814 Horse Guards, 616 peace, 46, 145 revenue, 46 (see Feudal dues, Customs, Income-tax) thegns, 46. Kinsale, 676 Kirkby, John, 206 Kirke, Colonel, 649, 659, 678 Klosterseven, Convention at, 793 Knight service, 94, 139 Knights of St. John, 129 Hospitallers, 240, 241 Templars, 129, 240, 241 Knox, John, 442, 454 Koniggnitz, battle of, 1001 Koord Cabul Pass, 966 Kossuth, Louis, 973 Kutchuck Kainardji, Treaty of, 982 Kymri, 25 Kyriel, Sir Thomas, 337 Labourdonnais, 797 Lacy, Roger de, 170 Lafayette, 831 Lagos, battle off, 801 La Hogue, battle of, 683 Lake, Bishop of Chichester, 657 , Colonel, 991. , General, 878, 887 Lally, Count, 800 Lamb, 988, 949 (see Melbourne, Lord) Lambert, General, 588, 591, 592, 593, 599, 600, 607, 610, 611, 615 Lambeth, Treaty of, 184 L'Ambigu, 881 Lanark, 546 Lancaster Castle, 158 — , Edmund, Earl of, 192, 219. 220 , Henry of, 242, 244, 292, 293 , Joseph, 945 — , Thomas of, 229, 230, 231, 236 (see Bolingbroke, Derby, Hereford, Henry iv.) Land League, the, 1023, 1024 Purchase Acts, 1029, 1034 Gladstone's Bill, 1031 Landen, battle of, 684 Landlessmen, 48 Lanfranc, 95, 96, 98, 103, 106, 108 Langdale, Sir Marmaduke, 572, 581 Langland, William, 288, 289 Langport, battle of, 575 Langside, battle of, 457 Langton, Simon, 180 , Stephen, 173, 174, 176, 179, 184, 186 , Walter, 206 Lansdown, battle of, 561 La Rochelle, 511, 512, 514 , battle of, 267, 275 Laswaree, battle of, 887 Lateran Council, 146 Lathom House, siege of, 567 Latimer, Hugh, 413, 419, 420, 430, 442, 444 , Lord, 275, 276, 277 , Lord, 629 (see Danby) Laud, Bishop, 516, 517, 519, 520, 526, 527, 529, 530, 581, 539, 540, 541, 576 Lauderdale, Maitland, Earl of, 565, 571, 594, 595, 623, 625, 627, 629, 631 Lauffeld, battle of, 784 Lauzun, General, 679 Lawrence, Bishop of Canterbury, 29 , Sir Henry, 967, 994 , Sir John, afterwards Lord, 967 Lawson, Admiral, 621 Leake, John, Captain, 678, 724 1056 An Advanced Histm'ij of England Leeds, 924 , Castle of, 237 , Duke of, 688 (see Carmarthen) Legion Memoricd, 703 Lennox, Earl of, 456 Leicester, 62 , Robert of Ferrers, Earl of, 136 , Robert of Ferrers, Earl of, son of above, 149, 150, 151 , Robert Dudley, Earl of (see Dudley), 455, 468, 469, 470, 472 House, 754 Leighton, Dr., 526 Leinster, 147 Leipzig, battle of, 903 Lenthal, William, 551, 615 Leo IV., Pope, 53 X., Pope, 398 Leofric, 76, 77, 79, 81 Leofwine, 73 , Godwin's son, 79, 84, 86 Leopold, Duke of Austria, 162 Lepanto, battle of, 462 Leslie, Alexander, 533, 534, 536 (see Leven) , David, 566, 568, 573, 591, 594, 595 Leuthen, battle of, 794 Letters on the Present State of Ireland, 478 Leven, Alexander Leslie, Earl of, 546, 566, 568, 591 (see Leslie) Levis, Count de, 796 Lewes, battle of, 197 , Mise of, 197 Lewis, Sir George Cornwall, 1002 Lexington, 824 Libel Act, Fox's, 863, 917 Liberals, numbers of, 944, 950, 962, 1008, 1014, 1021, 1029 Gladstonian, numbers of, 1032, 1037 Liberal Unionists, numbers of, 1031, 1032, 1037 Liberties, 43 Light Railways, 1034 Ligny, battle of, 906 Ligonier, Marshal, 772 Lilburne, John, 541, 587, 588 Lille, 683 , siege of, 719 Limerick, 147 , first siege of, 679 , second siege of, 680 Limoges, massacre at, 266, 267 Linacre, 389 Lincoln, 62, 92 , Abraham, 999, 1000 , Earl of, 221, 223 Fair, 183 , John de la Pole, Earl of, 362, 367, 378 Lindisfarne, 52 Lisle, Alicia, 649, 671 , John Dudley, Lord, 423, 426 , Sir George, 581, 607 ' Little Parliament,' 600 Littleport, 916 Littleton, 948 Liverpool, Lord, 898, 902, 91 1 and Manchester Railway, 937 Livery, 383 Livingstone, David, 1036 Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, 173 ap-Gruffydd, 197, 200, 214, 216 Llewelyn ap-Iorwerth, 214 Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, 657 Local Veto Bill, 1037, 1038 Lochiel, Cameron of, 781 Lochleven Castle, 457 Locke, John, 691 Lockhart, ambassador, 608 Lollards, meaning of, 284 Lombards, 213 London, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 178, 347, 428, 522, 563, 585, 640, 663, 777, 843, 953 Corresponding Society, 862 Lord Mayor of, 164 — — rebuilt, 58 University, 923 Londonderry, 676, 677 , siege of, 677 , Marquess of (see Castlereagh), 951 Longchamp, William, 158, 159, 160 Long Island, 825 Loosecoat Field, battle of, 353 Lords Appellant, 285 , House of, 1039 Lieutenant, 553 Lostwithiel, 566 Lothian, 152 , Earldom of, 96 Loudon, Lord, 779, 794 Loughborough, Lord, 879 (see Wedderburn) Louis VI., Ill, lis, 123 VII., 123, 128, 135, 150 VIII., 180, 182 IX., 209 X., 246 XI., 353, 357, 358 XII., 388 XIV., 621, 660, 676, 701 XV., 726 XVIII., 904 Philippe, 937, 973 Louisbourg, 785, 794 Louisiana, 790 Lovat, Simon Eraser, Lord, 781 Lovel, Francis, Lord, 371, 378 Lovett, 958 Lowe, Robert, afterwards Lord Sherbrooke, 1005, 1008 Lucan, Lord, 987 Lucas, Sir Charles, 581 Lucknow, 994 Lucy, Richard de, 136 Ludd, 913 Luddites, the, 918 Ludlow, 672. , Edmund, 590, 598, 604, 606, 609, 610, 611, 614 Luggershall Castle, 168 Lumley, Lord, 659, 662 Luneville, Treaty of, 874 Lundy, Colonel, 677 Lunsford, 549, 5.50, 556 Luttrell, Colonel, 817 Luxembourg, Jacquetta of, 327 , Marshal, 682, 684, 686 Lyme, 648 Lyndhurst, Lord, 950 Lynn, 180 Lyons, Council of, 187 , Richard, 275, 276 Lytton, Lord, 1019 Macarthy, General' 678 Index 1057 Macaulay, T. B., 941, 964, 968, 972 , Zachary, 945 M 'Donalds, the, 673, 675, 774, 780 Macdonald, Alister, 573 , Flora, 780 , Sir John, 1006, 1036 Macduff, 218 Machiavelli, 649 Mackay, General, 673, 674, 679 Mackays, the, 775 Mackintosh, Brigadier-General, 738, 739 , Sir James, 861 881, 924 Macnaughten, Sir W., 965, 966 Madoc, 219, 220 j\Iadras, 797 Magenta, battle of, 998 Magna Carta, 515 Magnum Concilium, 116, 117, 537 Magnus, 74 Maguire, Lord, 548 Mahdi, 1027 Mahomet Ali, 931 Mahrattas, the, 798, 887, 963 Maida, battle of, 892 Maidstone, battle of, 580 Maine, county of, 81, 101, 103, 135, 138, 170 Maintenance, 383 Mainwaring, 517, 539 Maitland, General, 908 Majuba Hill, 1022 Malcolm, King of Scots, 64, 72 III., 91, 93, 96, 103, 106 IV., 123, 135, 137 Malet, William, 92 Mallory, 506 Malmesbury, Lord, 870 , son of above, 980 , William of, 121 Malplaquet, battle of, 719 Malta, 871, 876, 881, 905, 911 Malthus, T. R., 853 Maltote duty, 222, 223 Maltravers, Sir John, 240 Malvoisin, 106 Jlanchester, 62, 776, 918, 943 School, the, 992, 997 , Edward Montagu, Earl of, 557 Kimbolton), 562, 565, 566, 568, 569, 607, 611, 614, 615 MandeviUe, William, 150, 158 Manila, 807 Manny, Sir Walter, 247, 257 Manor, 42, 101 Manorial system, 258 Mansfeld, Count, .508 Mansfield, Chief- Justice, 818, 830 Mantes 253 Mar, John Earl of, 728, 737, 738, 739 Marat, 859 March, Roger, Earl of, 284, 287 , Edmund, Earl of, 304, 316, 321 Marchmont, Earl of, 759 Marches of Wales, 213, 216 Marden, battle of, 54 Mardyke, 608 Mare, Peter de la, 276, 280 Marengo, battle of, 874 Margaret, 79, 96 , daughter of Henry in., 217 , daughter of Henry vii., 388, 485 16'? (see 570, Margaret of France, 151 of France (another), 224 , Maid of Norway, 217 Margrave Louis of Baden, 707 Maria Theresa, 769 Marie Antoinette, 857 Marignauo, battle of, 399 Marlborough, John, Duke of, 706, 709, 710, 718, 719, 720, 722, 724, 725, 729, 734, 748 , castle of, 158 , Duchess of, 721, 724, 768 , statute of, 200 Marniont, 901 Mar-Prelate Tracts, 466 Marriage, 107 Act, 787 Marseilles, 78 Marshall, Earl Richard, 191 , William (see Earl of Pembroke), 155, 157, 168 , the younger, 190 Marsin, Marshal, 708, 709 Marston Moor, battle of, 567 Marten, Henry, 583, 584, 586, 587, 596, 598, 604, 606, 614 Martyr, Peter, 442 Mary of England, 398 ; reign of, 437-447 , Queen of Scots, 440, 441, 448, 452, 454, 457, 459, 461, 462, 468 , daughter of James ii., 620, 632, 640, 659 ; reign of, 667-668 IT., 685 , daughter of Charles i., 552 Maryborough, 477 Maryland, 531 Maserfield, battle of, 31, 37 Masham, Francis, 721 - — , Lady, 729 , Mrs., 724 Massachusetts, 788 Massena, 869, 873, 898, 899, 900 Massey, 651 IVTissilia 7 Matilda of Flanders, 81, 91, 98, 99 - — ; daughter of Henry ii., 163 , Empress, 117, 118, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127 of Boulogne, 123, 127 of Scotland, 111, 113, 117 Matthew of Boulogne, 150, 151 Maudelyn, 300, 301 Maurice, Prince, 562 Mauritius, 893, 905, 911 Maximilian of Austria, 386, 387, 395, 400 Mayflower, 498 Maynard, Sir John, 651, 669 Maynooth Grant, 968, 1008 Mazzini, G., 973, 998, 999 Meaux, fortress of, 322 Meagher, T. F., 973, 974 ^ Melbourne, Lord (see Lamb), 939, 955, 9o6, 959, 960, 962, 970 Mechanics' Institutes, 924 Medici, Katharine de, 458 Medina Sidonia, 470, 471 Meeanee, battle of, 966 Meerut, 994 Meldrum, 561 Melville, Lord (see Dundas), 883, bbb Mendoza, 468 Menschikov, Prince, 986, 988 3x 1058 An Advanced History of England Menteith, Sir John, 225 Meonwaras, 40 Mercadier, 167 Merchandise INFarks' Act, 1035 Merchants, 178 Merchant Guild, 165 Mercia, 66 Mercians, 23, 91 Merke, Thomas, Bishop of Carlisle, 300 Merton, Walter de, 206, 273, 274 Merv, 1028 Mesne tenants, 100, 179 Metcalfe, John, 853 Methodists, 761 Methuen, John, 710 , Paul, 710 Miehell, Sir Francis, 505 Middlesex, Earl of, 508 Mitldleton, General, 603 ; afterwards Earl of, 623 Midland-Angles, 23 Midlothian Tour (Gladstone's), 1022 Miles of Hereford, 124, 125, 126 Milicent, 155 Military roads, 15 Militia, 153 Acts, 792, 079, 980 Bill, the, 553 Millenary Petition, 488 Miller, 819 Milner-Gibson, 992 Milton, John, 526, 545, 576, 587, 615 , Lord, 943 Minden, battle of, 802 Minorca, 720, 726, 791, 832, 837, 911 Mirabeau, Count, 858, 859 Miranda, General, 927 Mir Cassim, 838 Jaffier, 838, 839 Mirebcau, castle of, 150, 169 Mitchel, J., 973, 974 Model Parliament of 1295, 219, 220 Modest Proposal, 752 Mogul, Great, 790, 839, 963, 994, 995 Moleyns, Bishop, 333, 335 Moltke, Count, 1001, 1014 Molhvitz, battle of, 769 Mompesson, Sir Giles, 505 Monasteries, 67, 120, 398, 414 , Alfred's, 59 , lesser, dissolved, 414 , surrender of the greater, 417 Money grants, 360 Monk, George, 588, 591, 592, 593, 596, 597, 598, 599, 603, 607, 610, 611, 612, 614 (see Albemarle) Monmouth, Duke of, 628, 639, 641, 640, 647, 648 Monopolies, 480, 505, 508 . Mons, 683 Graupius, battle of, 15 , siege of, 720 Montagu, John of, 352 , Charles, 687, 688, 689, 691, 702, 744 (see Halifax) Montague, Bishop of Chichester, 511, 517, 519, 539 , Edward (afterwards Earl of Sandwich), 599, 600, 611 , Henry Pole, Lord, 419 - — , John, Earl of Salisbury, 300 Montague, Sir R., 632 , Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, 325, 326 Montcalm, Count, 794, 795, 796, 802 Monteagle, Lord, 479 Montebello, battle of, 998 Montereau-faut-Yonne, 321 Montfort, Hugh of, 82 ■, Simon de, 195, 196, 198, 199,214, 219 Montgomery, General, 825 , castle of, 105 , Robert of, 82 , Roger of, 95, 104, 105 Montreal, 795 Montrose, Earl of, 532 , Marquess of, 573, 574, 590 , Duke of, 759 Moodkee, battle of, 967 Moore, Sir John, 806 Morcar, 80, 81, 83, 84, 87, 91, 92, 93 Mordaunt (afterwards Earl of Peterbor- ough),651, m'i*, 672 More, Hannah, 764 , Roger, 547 , Sir Thomas, 405, 408, 409, 411, 412 Moreau, General, 869, 874, 883 Morgan, Colonel, 603, 608 Morley, John, 1030, 1037 Mornington, Lord {see Wellesley), 886 Mortain, William of, 113 Mortimer, Anne, 316 -, Elizabeth, 305 , Hugh, 137 , Sir Edmund, Earl of March, 304, 305 , Roger, elder, 236 , younger, 236, 239, 242, 244 (another), 279, 292 Mortimer's Cross, battle j3f, 346 Mortmain, statute of, 209, 210 Morton, James Douglas, Earl of, 457 , John, Bishop of Ely, 357, 362, 364, 366, 367, 377, 382, 385 Morton's Fork, 385 Mortuaries, 408 Mount Badon, battle of, 22, 23 Mountjoy, Lord, 479, 481, 496 Mountmorris, Lord, 525 Mousehold Hill, 431 Mowbray, John, Earl of Norfolk, 340, 341, 347, 348, 349 , Sir Philip, 233 , Robert, 149, 150, 151 * , Thomas, Earl of Nottingham, 306, 307 Muir, Thomas, 862 Municipal Reform Act (English), 951 (Irish), 962 Munro, 564 , Major, 830 Munster, 147 Murphy, John, 878 Murray, Sir Andrew, 224 -, Caiitain, 677 , Douglas, Earl of, 235 , Earl of, 457 , Lord George, 775, 777, 778, 780, 781 , John, of Broughton, 774, 781 — — , General, 796 Murtogh O'Lochlainn, 148 Mutiny Act, 670 at the Nore, 867 at Spithead, 866 Myton-on-Swale, battle of, 235 Index 1059 'Nabobs,' 840 Nagpore, 993 Namur, (383 , capture of, 686 Nana Sahib, 994 Nanfaii, Sir Richard, 395 Nantes, 101, 138 , Edict of, 475, 650 Nantwich, battle of, 565 Nanuk, 966 ^ Napier, Admiral Sir Charles, 983 , General Sir Charles, 966 Naseby, battle of, 572 Natal, 962, 1019 Nation, The, 973 National Debt, 688, 744, 785, 847, 868, 1035 Society, 945 Navarette, battle of, 265 Navarino, battle of, 932 Navigation Acts, 596, 928, 975 Naylor, a Quaker, 604 Necker, 858 Nectansmere, 37 Neerwinden, battle of, 684 Neill, Bishop of Winchester, 517, 527 Nelson, Horatio, 866, 870, 875, 884, 885 Nennius, 22, 23 Neolithic men, 4, 5, 6 Nesbit Moor, battle of, 303 Netherlands, 462 , I'cvolt of, 459 , trade Avith, 207 Neville, Anne, 358 , Archbishop, 285, 286 , George, Bishop of Exeter, 345 , Isabel, 352 — — , John, Lord, 275, 276, 277 -, Lord Montagu, 341, 345, 350, 354, 355, 356 , Ralph, 256, 307 , Earl of Westmoreland, 340 , Richard (the elder), 340 (the younger), Earl of Warwick, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 350, 351, 352, 353, 355, 356 Neville's Cross, battle of, 256 New Amsterdam, 499, 788 Newark, 181, 567 Newburgh, William of, 171 Newbury, first battle of, 563 , second battle of, 569 Newcastle, 98, 137 , Henry Pelham-Clinton, Duke of, 942, 944 , Duke of, (sou of above), 981, 990 , Thomas Pelham, Duke of, 767, 768, 787, 792, 794, 806, 807, 811, 813 , William Cavendish, Earl of, 554, 561, 564, 566, 567, 569 Programme, the, 1037 Newcomen, 851 'New Model," the, 571, 577 New England, 498, 499 Newfoundland, 726 New Jersey, 788 Law Courts, 178 Plymouth, 498 Salem, 530, 822 South Wales, 849, 911 Zealand, 849, 962 Newman, J. H,, 968, 969 Newport, 958 Newspaper duty, 952 Newspapers, 693 Newton, Isaac, 691, 751 , John, 764 Newtown Butler, battle of, 678 New York State, 788 Zealand, 849 Ney, Marshal, 899 Niagara, 790 Nicaja, battle of, 109 Nicholas, Czar, 982, 990 Nicholson, John, 995 Nigel-le-poer, 124, 136, 171 Nightingale, Miss Florence, 990 Nile, battle of, 871, 872 Ninias, 26 Nisi prius. Court of, 212 Noailles, Marshal, 770 Nolan, Captain, 987 Nonconformists, 452 (see Puritans) Nonjurors, 669 Nootka Sound, 848 Norfolk, John Howard, Duke of, 365, 371 , Thomas, Duke of, 416, 421, 424, 433, 439, 441 , Howard, Duke of, 457, 459, 461 Mowbray, Duke of, 291, 292 , Earl of, 227, 229, 242, 243 Norham, 151 Normandy, 92, 170 Norris, Sir John, 473, 478 North, Lord, 815, 816, 818, 820, 821, 832 836, 837, 838, 849 , Roger, 640 , Sherifi", 640 North's Regulating Act, 840 Northallerton, 151 , battle of, 125 Northampton, 62, 558 , Assize of, 146, 152 , Council of, 142 , George Compton, Earl of, 655 , treaty of, 243 North Briton, 810 Northcote, Sir Stafford, 1014 Northern Star, 958 Northmen, 51 Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl of, 301, 305 , Earl of, Hotspur's son, 321, 342, 345 , son of above, 355, 362, 371, 385 , Thomas Percy, Earl of, 460 , John Dudley, Duke of, 436, 437, 439, 459 Northumbria, 93 Northumbrians, 23, 91 Norwegians, 51 Norwich, 92, 98 , George Goring, Earl of, 581 Nott, General, 966 Nottingham, 62, 92, 556 Castle 158 , Daniel Finch, Earl of, 651, 656, 659, 662, 664, 669, 682, 683, 688, 706, 713, 725, 734, 742 , Thomas Mowbray, Earl of, 285, 287. 290 Noureddin, 154 Nova Scotia, 726 1060 An Advanced History of England Novara, battle of, 973 Novel disseisin, 178 Noy, Attorney-General, 528, 529 Nuncomar, 840 Nun of Kent, 415 Nye, Philip, 576 Gates, Titus, 646 Oath of Non-resistance, 631 O'Brien Smith, 973, 974 O'Briens, the, 292, 381 'Occasional Conformity,' 713 Occasional Conformity Bills, 725 Ockham, William of, 188 Ockley, 52 O'Coigley, 877 O'Connell, Daniel, 930, 933,934, 948, 95/, 961, 967, 968 O'Connor, Arthur, 877 , Feargus, 958, 974 , Roderic, 148 Octennial Bill, Irish, 835 Odo, Archbishop, 66 of Bayeux, 82, 92, 95, 98, 99, 104, 105 O'Donnell, 496 Offa. 37, 38, 39, 52 Offa's Dyke, 38 Oglethorpe, General, 789 Olaf, 70 the Saint, 83 Oldcastle, Sir John, 314 Oliver, 916 O'Neal, Hugh, 478, 496 , Sir Phelim, 547 O'Neals, the, 381 O'Neil, Owen Roe, 590 Opdam, 621 Orange, William of, 467 Free State, 1019 Ordeal, 145, 146 Ordeals, 49 Ordinary Council, 153 Ordovices, 14 Orford, Edward Russell, Lord, 699, 707, 722, 724 , Walpole, Earl of, 768 Orissa, 839 Orkney, Elizabeth Villiers, Lady, 697 Orleans, siege of, 326 , Henrietta, Duchess of, 626 , Maid of, 327 , Duke of, 331 Orleton, Adam, Bishop of Hereford, 239, 240, 242, 250 Orniesby, 224 Orinond, Earl of, 564, 566, 574, 588, 590, 624, 662 , Duke of, 684, 724, 725, 727, 736, 740 Ormonds, the, 478 Ornaments Rubric, 450 Orsini, G., 996, 997 O'Ruarc, 148 Osborne, Sir Thomas, 029 (see Leeds) O'Shea case, 1034 Osric, 52 Ostiarii, 140 Ostmen, 147 Ostoriui Scapula, 13 Osulf, 6-'; Oswald, Bishop 67 Oswald, 31, 37 Oswin, 32 Oswy, 31, 32, 33, 35, 37 Otford, battles of, 37, 71 Othere, 57, 58 Otho, Cardinal, 187 O'Tooles, 292 Ottoi., 64,66 IV., 163, 16^,. 175' Oijde, 841, 845, 99.3, 994, 995', , Nabob of, 846 Oudenarde, 719 Outram, Sir James, 992, 995 Overbury, Sir Tltomas, 501 Owen Glendower, 302, 306, 307 , Prince of North Wales, 137 Oxford, 74, 557, 561, 566, 572, 640, 737 , Vere, Earl of, 263 , Robert de Vere, Earl of, 284, LifS '• , John de Vere, Earl of, 354, 355,.36l\'383. ' , Robert Harley, Earl of, 727, Z§i>, 736 Parliament, 639 , University of, 121, 273,274,652, 653, 934, 1002, 1.011 Paget, Sir William, afterwards Lord, 426, 442 Paine, Thomas, 861, 862 Pains and Penalties, Bill of, 922 Paita, 771 Pakenham, Sir John, 901, 904 Pale, the, 381 Palmer, 852 , Barbara, 620 Palmerston, Lord, 898, 912, 931, 932, 939, 970, 972, 977, 978, 979, 980, 981, 983, 989, 990, 992, 996, 997, 998, 1002 Paleolithic men, 3, 4 Pampeluna, 902, 903 Pandulf, 179, 184 Paniput, battle of, 838 Papacy, tribute to, John's, repudiated, 269 Papineau, 955 Paraphrase of the New Testament, 047 Parliament, Addled, 501 of Bury St. Edmunds, 332 — — of Coventry, 344 -, the Good, 276 -, Long, 537 , Mad, 194 , Short, 534 of 1265, 197 , Constitution of, in 1295, 219 , Constitution of, in 1304, 249 ^ , Condition of, under Henry vii., 384 , Constitutiun of, in 1529, 406 , Elections regulated, 329 , private grants forbidden, 270 , Petitions of the Commons, 315 Parliamentary grants, Henry v.'s, 316 Reform, 828, 846, 917, 924, 939, 940, 957, 977, 997, 1005, 1006, 1028 Paris, George van, 434 Treaty of 1259, 206 ; 1856, 991, 992 Parish Councils Act, 1038 Registers, 416 Parker, Dr., Bishop of Oxford, 651, 653 , Sir Hyde, 875 , Matthew, 431, 449, 450, 451, 455, 463 , Richard, 867 Parkes, Sir Henry, 1036 Index 1061 Parkhiirst, Bishop, 464 Parma, Alexander Farnese, Duke of, 462, 468, 470, 471, 475 Parnell, C. S., 1023, 1024, 1025, 1033, 1034 , Sir Henry, 938 Parning, Sir Robert, 251 Parochial Schools Act, 760 Parr, Katharine, 422, 430 Parret, river of, 55 Partition Treaties, 701 Paston, John, 334, 359 Patay, battle of, 327 Paterson, William, 689, 714, 715 Patrick, 26 ' Patriot King; 805 Paulinas, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34 Pavia, battle of, 401 Paxton, Joseph, 976 Peachell, Dr., 652 Peckham, Archbishop, 209, 213 Pecocke, Bishop of Chichester, 315 Pedro the Cruel, 265 Peel, Sir Robert, elder, 946 , the younger, 898, 925, 931, 932, 933, 934, 941, 943, 949, 950, 951, 955, 959, 960, 961, 962, 963, 968, 969, 972, 976 Peerage Bill, the, 743 Peishwah, the, 963 Pelham, Henry, 768, 769, 785, 786, 787 Peltier, Jean Joseph, 881 Pembroke, Earl of, 230, 231 , Jasper Tudor, Earl of, 367, 370 , Earl of, 170, 176, 179, 182, 183, 184 {see William Marshall) , Herbert, Earl of, 352 , William Herbert, Earl of, 43:!, 438 , Earl of, 192 {see. William of Valance) Penjdeh, 1028 Penda, 30, 31, 32, 37 Pen Selwood, battle of, 71 Penn, Admiral, 605, 654 ■ , William, 654, 788 Pennsylvania, 788 Penruddock, 604, 605 Peoiyle, Agreement of the, 587, 600 Peuryn, 933 Pepys, Sir Charles, Lord Cottenham, 951 , Samuel, 617 Perceval, 881, 892, 898, 902 Perch, Count of, 1831 Percies, rebellion of, 304 Percy, Henry Lord, 256 , Henry, Earl of Nortlmmberland, 277, 287 292 , ' , Hotspur, 302, 305, 306 , Thomas, 492 Perpetuation Bill, the, 597 Perrers, Alice, 275, 276, 277 Persian War, 992, 995 Perth, Articles of, 532 , Duke of, 781 Peter the Hermit, 109 de Rivallis, 190 of Savoy, 191 of Wakefield, 173 Peter's Pence, 407, 410 Peterborough, 53, 67 , Charles Mordaunt, Earl of, 712, 720 , chronicle of, 99 Peterloo Massacre, 91 7 Peters, Hugh, 615 Petition of Right, 223, 515 ' Petitioners,' 637 Petitions to parliament, 828 Pett, 617 Petre, Edward, 649, 654, 661, 668, 672 Pevensey, S3 Peveril of the Peak, William, 137 Phelips, 506, 510, 512, 513, 515 Philip Augustus, 135, 154, 155, 157, 160, 162. 167, 169, 173, 175, 180 II. of Spain, 440, 441, 443, 445, 452, 465, 475 III. of Spain, 475 IV., the Fair, 219, 221, 224, 246 v., 246, 257 I. of France, 91, 101, 103, 105, 111 of Valois, 246 Philiphaugh, battle of, 573 Philip's Norton, 648f Philipstown, 477 Philipot, John, 280 Phillips, Mr., 958 , Pichegru, 865 Pickering, 035 Picquigny, treaty of, 358 Picts, 19, 20, 22 Piers Ploughman, Vision of, 272, 289 Pindarrees, the, 963 Pinkie, battle of, 429 ' Pious Fraud,' the, 808 Pir Paimal, battle of, 1021 Pitsligo, Lord, 776 Pitt, William, 768, 782, 784, 788, 792, 800, 808, 811, 813, 814, 815 {see Chatham) , the younger, 835, 836, 842, 844, 846, 847, 848, 850, 863, 864, 867, 882, 940 Pitt's India Bill, 844 war policy, 864 Pius v., 460 Plantagenet, Edward, 367, 378 Plassey, battle of, 800 Plegmund, 57 Plevna, siege of, 1018 Plot, the Bye, 487 , the Main, 487 Ploughlands, 99 Plunket, 925 Pluralities, 408 Plymouth, 562, 563 Pocahontas, 498 Poitiers, battle of, 262 Pole, Michael de la, 284 , GeofiYey, 419 , Reginald, 418, 439, 442, 443, 444, 447 , Sir Richard, 402 , William de la, 251 Pollock, General, 966 Pomeroy, SirT., 430 Pompadour, Madame de, 79 Pondicherry, 797 Ponthieu, county of, 81, 207, 264, 26( Ponsonby, General William, 908 , George, 913 Pontefract, 581 Poor Law, 481 the new, 946 Board, 947 Pope, Alexander, 745 Pophani, Admiral, 587 , Sir Hl!, S69 , Edward, 362, 363, 367, 2,m , Richard, 351, 362 Worcester, 558 , battle of, 593 ; Marquess of, 556 , Thomas Percy, Earl of, 305 Wordsworth, William, 852, 924 Workington, 457 111, 403, Workmen's combinations, 929 Wren, Bishop of Norwich, 527, 539 , Sir Christopher, 628. Wright, Judge, 658 Wriothesley, Rachel, 630 Wulfhere, 32, 37 Wulfstan, Arclibishop, 65 , Bishop, 98 Wtirtemberg, Duke of, 679 Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 440, 441 Wyclif, John, 273, 274, 277, 282, 283, 288, 302 Wykeham, William of, 275, 276, 285, 287 Wyndham, Sir William, 737 Wynendale, battle of, 719 Wynn, Sir Watkin. 776 Yakoob Khan, 1019 York, 83, 92, 93, 566 , Elizabeth of, 366, 369, 376, 388 , Margaret of, 379 , Richard, Duke of, 317, 333, 337, 339, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 363 , Frederick, Duke of, 873, 898, 930 Yorktown, 831 Ypres, William of, 126, 127 ZoRNDOEF, battle of, 802 Zulus, the, 1020 Zurich, battle of, 873 Zutphen, battle of, 468 BY THE SAME AUTHOR Small Fcap. Sw. With Maps and Plans. Is. M. net. AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND FOR THE USE OF THE LOWER FORMS OF SCHOOLS 'After careful examination, we are glad to say that, in our opinion, the Professor lias discharged his task in a practically faultless manner.' Aberdeen Journal. ' The maps, which are creditably exe- cuted considering the price of the book, form a useful feature in it, and the plans of battlefields are good.' Guardian. ' A capital little Elementary History of England.' Scottish Leader. ' Sijnplicity, conciseness, and perspicuity are the characteristics of tlie style he has adopted.' Education. 'The book is carefully and well com- piled to the very last page, and has some useful maps and plans. ' Manchester Examiner. ' In 250 small-sized pages, Mr. Ransome fully succeeds in carrying out his aim.' University Correspondent. ' But few faults, however, can be found with a book wliicli has almost innumer- able excellences, and which, in spite of the numerous works of a scholastico-historical kind that are- printed nowac'ays, is dis- tinctly original,' Spectator. 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