\ / -1 1 f ^1. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/firsttwostuartspOOgard_0 1 Epochs of Modern History EDITED BY EDWARD E. MORRIS, M. A. & J. SURTEES PHILLPOTTS, R. C. L, THE EIRST TWO STUARTS AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION, S. R. GARDINER. EPOCHS OF ANCIENT HISTORY. Edited by Rev. G. W. Cox and Charles Sankey, M. A. Eleven volumes, i6mo, with 41 Maps and Plans. Price per vol., $1.00. The set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $11,00. Troy — Its Legend, History, and Literature. By S. G. W. Benjamin The Greeks and the Persians. By G. W. Cox. The Athenian Empire, By G. W. Cox. The Spartan and Theban Supremacies. By Charles Sankey. The Macedonian Emfire. By A. iNl. Curteis. Early Rome. By W. Ihne. Rome and Carthage. By R. Bosworth Smith. The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla. By A. H. Beesley. The Roman Triumvirates. By Charles Merivale. The Earlv Empire. By W. Wolfe Capes. The Age of the Antonines. By W. Wolfe Capes. EPOCHS OF MODERN HISTORY. Edited by Edward E. Morris. Eighteen volumes, i6mo, with 77 Maps, Plans, and Fables. Price per vol., $1.00. The set, Roxburgh style, gilt top, in box, $18.00. The Beginning of the Middle Ages. By R. W. Church. The Normans in Europe. By A. H. Johnson. The Crusades. By G. W. Cox. The Early Plantagenets. By Wm. Stubbs. Edward III. By W. Warburton. The Houses of Lancaster and York. By James Gairdner. The Era of the Protestant Revolution. By Frederic Seebohm. THr: Early Tudors. By C. E. Moberly. The Age of Elizabeth. By M. Creighton. The Thirty Years War, 1618-1648. By S. R. Gardiner. The Puritan Revolution. By S. R. Gardiner. The Fall of the Stuarts. By Rdwnrd Hale. The English Restoration and Louis XIV. By Osmond Airy. The Age of Anne. By Edward 1^. Morns. The Early Hanoverians. Bv Edward E. Morris. Frederick the Great. By F. W. Longman. The French Revolution and First Empire. By W. O'Cc nno* Morris. Appendix by Andrew D. White. The Epoch of Reform. 1830-1850. By Justin Macarthy- THE FIRST TWO STUARTS AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 1603 1660 BY SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER LATK STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, LECTURER ON MODERN HISTORY AT KING's COLLEGE, LONDON. WITH FOUR MAPS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1898 Q- T cS ' or PREFACE. un op o ^ The present volume is a companion to the one on '^^ the Thirty Years' War/' and it has therefore been unnecessary to break the course of the narrative by constant references to events passing on the Conti- nent, which will be easily brought before the reader who consults the chronological contents at the begin- ning of the two books. In England, happier than France or Germany, the problem of religious liberty was worked out in ciose connection with the problem of parliamentary govern- ment. England did not, even temporarily, cease to be a nation, as Germany did; nor did it, like France, surrender its power to control events into the hands : of a single man. The interest of its history in the ; seventeenth century lies in the efforts made to secure a double object — the control of the nation over its own destinies, and the liberty of the public expression of thought, without which parliamentary government is only a refined form of tyranny. The present volume only professes to recount a part vi Preface, of this struggle. The epoch comes to its proper end in the volume which is to follow it in the series. Even of this first part, too, I can only profess to tell a por- tion from the results of personal investigation. After the year 1634 I have to depend upon the researches of others, and I have very little doubt that in many cases the opinions expressed would be modified by fuller knowledge, and that even the facts would turn out not to be altogether in accordance with my state- ments. Those who wish to consult histories on a larger scale, will find by far the best general history of the period in Ranke's History of England principally in the Seventeenth Century," which has recently been translated. In even greater detail are Mr. Spedding's Letters and Life of Lord Bacon," Mr. Forster's Life of Sir John Eliot," his essays on The Grand Remonstrance," and the ^ ^Arrest of the Five Mem- bers," Professor Masson's ''Life of Milton," Mr. Sanford's ^' Studies of the Great Rebellion," and Mr. Carlyle's " Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell." Those who care to see what I may have to say on the earlier part of the period will find in three books — ''A History of England from the Accession of James I. to the Disgrace of Chief Justice Coke;" ''Prince Charles and the Spanish Marriage ;" and "A History of England under the Duke of Buckingham and Charles L" — a connected history from 1603 to 1628, which will, I hope, be carried on further, before any unreasonably long time elapses. Preface. vii The maps have been constructed from Clarendon and other familiar sources, and, though they may be incorrect in some points, I hope they will give a clearer idea of the course of the war than is to be gathered from any written narrative. The first will show how far the statement is true that the wealthiest portion of England attached itself to the Parliament, and brings out distinctly the enormous comparative wealth of London. The calculations on which it is founded are derived from a statement in Rushworth, corrected in the instance of the County of Durham, from the original entry in the Privy Council Register. The second map may be said to express the natural strength of the King's party ; for, though Oxford was not held by him at the actual commencement of the war, it took his side too vigorously to be counted as a mere enforced accession of strength. The third map shows the King's fortunes at their highest point, just before the Scottish army invaded England, and the fourth gives the position just before the New Model army set out to combat the King. The dates, unlike those in the volume on ^^The Thirty Years' War," are given according to the old style. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE PURITANS AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS^ Section I. — Reforvzers and Puritans. The English Reformation the work of two classes of men, wh( may be called Reformers and Puritans The former were favored by Elizabeth , Especially as Puritanism tended to Presbyterianism . General desire for compromise at the close of Elizabeth's reign ....... Tolerant character of the literature of the time — Hooker Bacon, Shakespeare ..... Why was there, after all, a Puritan Revolution ? Section \\—The Tudor Monarchy. Causes of revolutions ...... Modern constitutional arrangements aim at preventing revo- lutions ....... Circumstances which had modified the mediseval constitution in favor of the Royal power . . . , Instruments of the Royal power — the Court of Star Chamber, the Court of High Commission Elizabeth the centre of the national life Her dependence on popular support .... X Contents, Section III. — The Hampton Court CoJiference and the proposed Uyiion with Scotland. PAGE 1603 Accession of James I. . 13 1604 The Hampton Court Conference 13 The tloiise of Commons for concession to the Puri- tans ....... 15 The canons of 1604 ..... 16 I6II Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, relaxes their strict- ness in execution ..... 16 1607 The Commons receive coolly the King's proposal for a union with Scotland ..... 17 The Judges declare all Scotchmen born since the King's accession to the English throne to be natu- ralized in England ..... 17 Section IV. — The Nezv Impositions and the Great Contract. 1606 James' revenue does not meet his expenditure 17 The Judgment on Bate's case .... 18 1608 The New Impositions ..... 19 1610 The Great Contract ..... 19 Breach between the King and his first Parliament 19 1614 The Addled Parhament ..... 21 CHAPTER II. THE SPANISH ALLIANCE. Section I. — Gunpowder Plot. 1603 Condition of the Roman Catholics 21 James promises to relieve them, but does not keep his word ....... 22 1604 Formation of the Gunpowder Plot 22 1605 The plot betrayed ..... 23 Seizure and execution of the conspirators 23 Contents. XI Section II. — James /. and Spain. PAGB 1606 Spaniards unpopular in England . . .24 161 1 James proposes to marry his son to a Spanish Infanta . 24 1 617 Raleigh's voyage to Guiana . . . .25 1613 The Earl of Somerset becomes James' favorite . 26 1615 He is convicted of murder, and succeeded by George Villiers in the King's favor , . . .26 1616 View taken by James of his authority . . .28 1617 His contempt of popularity leads him to overlook the dangers of a Spanish marriage . , -30 Section III. — The Spaniards in the Palatinate. 1618 Outbreak of a revolution in Bohemia . . • 3° 1619 James' son-in-law Frederick is chosen King of Bohemia 31 1620 In spite of the arrival of English volunteers, the Palati- nate is invaded by the Spaniards, and Frederick is ejected from Bohemia . . . . '32 1621 Meeting of the third Parliament of the reign . . 32 The Commons attack the monopolies . . -33 And proceed to accuse Lord Chancellor Bacon of cor- ruption ..... . . 34 His sentence . . . . . • 3^ Revival, though in an incomplete form, of the prac- tice of impeachment . . . . • 3^ Section IV. — The Loss of the Palatinate. 1621 The Commons declare their resolution to support the King in defending the Palatinate . . -37 Digby, sent to Vienna to negotiate a peace, fails to stop the progress of hostilities, and the King calls upon Parliament to supply him with money to carry on the war. The Commons, however, wish him to break with Spain . . . . . .38 They also ask that he shall marry his son to a Protes- tant princess. James takes umbrage at this, and dis- solves Parliament . , . . .39 1622 Through want of money James is unable to support his son-in-law, and the Palatinate is lost . . .40 XII Contents. Section V. — The Journey to Madrid, PAGE 1623 Prince Charles, together with Buckingham, goes to Madrid to conclude his marriage with the Infanta Maria, and to urge the Spaniards to procure the restitution of the Palatinate. . . . .41 The Spaniards throw difficulties in his way , . 42 The marriage treaty is, however, signed; but when Charles finds that he will not be allowed to bring his bride home at once, and that the Spaniards will not go to war to recover the Palatinate for his brother- in-law, he returns to England. . . •44 CHAPTER III. THE ASCENDENCY OF BUCKINGHAM. Section I. — The last Parliament of James I. 1624 James summons Parliament, and agrees to break with Spain . . . . . . .46 But the declaration of war is postponed, in order to give time for negotiation with France and the German Protestants . . . . . '47 Lord-Treasurer Middlesex is impeached . . 48 A marriage treaty is agreed to between Prince Charles and the French Princess Henrietta Maria . . 48 1625 Mansfield's expedition sent to recover the Palatinate ends in failure . . . . . '49 Death of James I. . . . . '49 Section II. — The first Parliament of Charles I. Charles, in order to carry on the war for the recovery of the Palatinate, summons Parliament, which fails to support him through distrust of Buckingham . 50 He adjourns Parliament to Oxford, and then dissolves it 51 Sends a fleet to Cadiz, which fails to do anything . 52 Buckingham's diplomatic mission to Holland . . 53 Contents. XIII Section III. — The Impeachment of Buckingham, aitd the Expedi- tion to Rhe, PAGE Revolt of Rochelle against Louis XIII., who borrows English ships to overpower it . . . -54 1626 Charles' second Parliament meets, and impeaches Buck- ingham . . . . . . .56 Charles dissolves it, and demands a free gift, and then a forced loan . . . . . .56 War breaks out between England and France . . 57 1627 Buckingham leads an army to Rh6, and fails . .58 Section IV. — The Petition of Right and the Assassination of Buckingham. 1628 Charles summons a third Parliament . , . .59 The Petition of Right. . . . . .60 After the Parliament is prorogued Buckingham takes the command of an expeditibn for the reUef of Rochelle 62 But is assassinated at Portsmouth . * '63 CHAPTER IV. THE PERSONAL GOVERNMENT OF CHARLES I. Section I. — Taxation and Religion. Dispute about tonnage and poundage referred to Parlia- ment . . . . . . .64 Religious difficulties . . . . .65 The King's declaration on the Articles . . .67 Section II. — The Breach between the King and the Commons. 1629 The Commons postpone the subject of tonnage and poundage . . . . . .68 They take firm ground against religious innovations . 69 Summon the custom-house officers to answer for seizing a member's goods . . . . • 7^ Tumult in the House . . . . .71 Parliament dissolved . . . . .72 Punishment of Chambers, and imprisonment and death of Eliot . . . . . . .72 XIV Contents. Section III. — Beginnings of Unparliamentary Government. PAGE 1629 Constitutional question raised . . , •74 Charles' ministers — Weston, Laud, and Wentworth . 76 Section IV. — Ecclesiastical Parties. 1630 Star Chamber sentences . . , , .80 Laud enforces conformity to the Prayer Book . .81 1632 Contrast between George Herbert and Richard Sibbes . 82 ■I '^33 The feoffees for impropriations . , . .84 The estrangement between the two parties not yet com- plete . , . . . . .85 Section V. — New England. 1608 Emigration of a Separatist congregation to Holland 85 The colony of Virginia * . . .86 1620 The voyage of the " Mayflower " * . 86 1633 Religious character of the New England settlers . 87 CHAPTER V. THE REIGN OF THOROUGH. Section I. — General Enforcement of Conformity. 1633 Laud becomes Archbishop of Canterbury . . 88 Gives offence by the issue of the Declaration of Sports, and by removing the Communion tables to the east end of the churches . . . . .88 1034 Prynne punished by tlie Star Chamber for the publica- tion of " Histriomastix " . . . .90 The Inns of Court Masque, and Milton's Comus " . 91 1634-6 The metropolitical visitations . . . •93 Section II. — Ship-money. 1634 Forest courts held . . . . -94 The first ship-money writ issued to the port towns . 93 1635 The second ship-money writ issued to the whole of England . . . . •• '95 1637 The judges declare it to be legal, but Hampden resists the payment . . , . . .96 1638 Judgment given against him . . . .98 4 Contents, XV Section III. — Prynne, Bastwick, a?td Burton. PAGE 1637 Change of feeling since 1634 . . . .98 Sentences of Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton . . 98 General sympathy with the sufferers . . * 99 1638 Milton's "Lycidas" . . . . '99 Section IV. — Wentworth in Ireland. 1603 State of Ireland at the accession of James I. • . loi 1610 The plantation of Ulster ..... 102 1633 Arrival of Wentworth to be Lord-Deputy . . 103 1634 He holds a Parliament . * . . . 103 His activity ...... 104 1635 He proposes to colonize Connaught . . . 105 CHAPTER VI. RESISTANCE IN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. Section I. — The Downfall of Episcopacy in Scotland. Episcopacy in Scotland . . . . 106 1637 Introduction of the new Prayer Book, followed by a riot 107 1638 The Covenant is taken, and the General Assembly meets at Glasgow ..... 108 It throws off the authority of the King, and abolishes episcopacy ..... 109 Section II. — The Bishops Wars and the Short Parliament, 1639 Probability that the resistance in Scotland would be followed by resistance in England . . .111 The first war with Scotland followed by an agreement 112 1640 The Short Parliament summoned and dissolved . 112 Position taken by Wentworth at Court . .113 The second war with Scotland ends in the King's defeat and necessitates the calling of a Parliament . 114 XVI Contents. Section III. — The Meeting of the Long Parliament and the Executiofi of Strafford. PAGE 1640 The Long Parliament meets , . . • nS Impeachment of Strafford . . . • 115 1641 The impeachment is turned into an attainder . .117 His execution . . . . . * . 117 Section IY. — Demands of the Commons. 1641 The struggle for supremacy between the King and the House of Commons leads to a diminution of the powers of the Crown . . . . .118 The Scots return home . . . . .119 Church questions remain to be solved . . .120 The Moderates led by Falkland and Hyde . .121 Their weakness . . • . . .122 Section V. — The Grand Refno?tstrance and the Rupture with the King. 1641 Whilst the King is in Scotland news arrives of an Irish insurrection . . . . . .124 Excitement in England . , . . .125 The Grand Remonstrance drawn up and voted . 126 1642 Impeachment of members of the House by the King . 127 The King attempts to seize them . . . 128 The Commons take refuge in the City, and demand the control of the militia . . . .129 CHAPTER VII. THE DOWNFALL OF ROYALTY, Section I. — The Beginning of the Civil War. 1642 The Commons conservative in feehng . . .130 Various elements of the King's army . . • 13^ The King sets up his standard at Nottingham . .132 Indecisive battle fought at Edgehill • . . 133 The King turns back from Brentford . . 134 Contents. XVII PAGE Rise of Cromwell . . . . • ^35 1643 The King gains ground, but fails to take Gloucester . 136 Death of Falkland at the first battle of Newbury . 136 Section II. — Pj-esbyterians and Independents. Meeting of the Westminster Assembly. The Scots invited to join their forces to those of the English Parliament ...... 136 The Covenant taken^ and Presbyterianism adopted in England ...... 137 Death of Pym ...... 138 1644 Execution of Laud . * . . . 139 Rising strife between Presbyterians and Independents 139 Death of Chillingworth .... 140 Spread of ideas favorable to liberty of conscience and speech ...... 141 Section III. — Marston Moor and Naseby, 1643 Cromwell's success ..... 143 The Scotch cross the border, and, in conjunction with Cromwell and Fairfax, defeat the Royalists at Mars- ton Moor ...... 144 Essex's infantry surrender to the King in Cornwall . 145 The second battle of Newbury leads to a quarrel be - tween Cromwell and the Earl of Manchester . 145 1645 The Self-denying Ordinance . . . .146 Argument in favor of liberty in Milton's " Areopagitica" 146 Formation of the New Model .... 148 Montrose in Scotland . . . . .148 Defeat of the King at Naseby, and of Montrose at Philiphaugh . . * . . .149 Section IV. — The Army and the Parliament. ^646 The King takes refuge with the Scots . . .150 In spite of the feeling of the army in favor of toleration, Parliament rnakes proposals to the King which offer no guarantees for liberty of opinion , . . 151 1647 Charles, being surrendered by the Scots to the Parlia- ment, is lodged at Holmby House . . . 152 B XVIII Contents, PAGE He is carried off to the army, which overpowers the opposition to Parliament, excluding eleven members by force ...... 153 The army makes proposals to the King . . 155 Charles flies to the Isle of Wight, and is lodged at Carisbrooke Castle . . . . • i55 Section V. — The Second Civil War and the Execution of tht King. 1647 Dissatisfaction of the Scots at the predominance of the army ....... 156 1648 The news that a Scottish invasion is pending exasper- ates the English army . . . .156 The Scots are defeated by Cromwell at Preston . 157 The army secures the person of the King, bringing him to Hurst Castle ; they also overpower the House of Commons by Pride's Purge .... 158 1649 Trial and execution of the King . . . 160 CHAPTER VIII. THE COMMONWEALTH. Section I. — Cromwell' s Last Victories. Nature of the procedings against the King Establishment of a Commonwealth Cromwell subdues Ireland .... 1650 Montrose lands in Scotland, is taken and executed . Charles II. proclaimed in Scotland Cromwell defeats the Scots at Dunbar 1651 He again defeats them at Worcester . Charles II. escapes to France .... Section II.— The Dissolution of the Long Parliament. The negative work of the Revolution accomplished . 166 Ideas of the leaders of the Commonwealth . . 167 1652 Their scheme for a new Parliament objected to by Cromwell . , , . . .167 161 162 162 163 164 165 165 166 Contents. xix PAG^ The Navigation Act is followed by a war with the Dutch i68 Corruption in Parliament .... 169 1653 The Long Parliament dissolved by Cromwell . . 170 Section III. — The Assembly of Nominees. 1653 Meeting of the Assembly of Nominees . . 171 It resigns its powers into Cromwell's hands . . 172 CHAPTER IX. OLIVER'S PROTECTORATE. Section I. — Oliver s First Parliament. Constitutional difficulties of the situation . . 173 Oliver Cromwell declared Protector by the Instrument of Government ..... 174 1654 Character of Oliver's Government . . . 175 Meeting of Parliament, which begins by questioning the Protector's authority . . , .176 1655 Oliver dissolves the Parliament 178 S EC TION II. — The Major- Generals. 1655 Limits of the toleration granted by Oliver 178 After a Royalist rising, major-generals are appointed to place England under military control 180 Suppression of Episcopalian worship . 181 Oliver allies himself with France against Spain 181 Milton's sonnet on the " Massacre of the Vaudois " . i8a War with Spain . , . . . 183 Section III. — Oliver s Second Parliament. 1656 Oliver summons his second Parliament 183 Begins by excluding members whom he distrusts 185 1657 The Petition and Advice .... 186 Oliver refuses the title of King .... 186 1658 Dissolution of the second Parliament . 187 Section IV. — Death of Oliver, 1658 Oliver's system could not last .... 188 Military and naval successes .... 189 Kis death ...... 190 XX Contents. PAOB CHAPTER X. END OF THE REVOLUTION. Section \.— Anarchy. 1658 The Puritan revolution drawing to a close . .191 Richard Cromwell assumes the Protectorate and sum- mons a new Parliament .... 192 1659 The Parh'ament is dissolved, and the Protector ejected by the army ...... 193 The Rump, or survivors of the Long Parliament, re- stored by the army ..... 193 The army quarrels with the Rump and drives it out, afterwards again restoring it . . . . 194 Section 11. — The Restoration, 1660 Monk crosses the border with the army from Scotland, and is joined by Fairfax at York . . • 19.^ He reaches London, and declares for a free Parliament 196 The Long Parliament comes to an end, a new Parlia- ment meets, and restores Charles H. . . 197 Section nL-' -7">^^ Ecclesiastical Settlement of the Restoration. 1660 Principles of the Restoration .... 198 1660-5 Acts passed against the Nonconformists, who begin to be called Dissenters . , . . . 199 1661 The Corporation Act ..... 200 The doctrine of non-resistance adopted by Parliament 200 1667-71 Milton's "Paradise Lost" "Paradise Regained" 201 And " Samson Agonistes " .... 204 Section IV. — The Revival of Parliamentary Opposition, 1 66 1 The Parliamentary view of the Constitution . , 205 1664 Charles' financial difficulties, and war with the Dutch 206 1667 Fall of Lord Chancellor Clarendon . . , 207 Section V. — Revival of the Idea of Toleration. 1667 The policy of Toleration adopted by the King . 5208 He wishes to include Roman Catholics . . 208 1668 The Triple Alliance ..... 209 Contents. XXI PAGE 1670 The Treaty of Dover . . , . .210 1672 The Declaration of Indulgence . . . 210 1673 The declaration withdrawn .... 210 The Test Act followed by a Bill for the rehef of Dis- senters, which fails to pass the Lords . .211 Progress of Toleration . . . . .211 Section Yl. — The Revolution ^7/1688. 1688 Political results of the Revolution . , .212 Future prospects . . o o .214 ! MAPS, 1. England and Wales— showing the incidence of Ship-money in 1636 . . . . . To face title pagt 2. England and Wales — showing the districts held by the King and the Parliament on January i, 1643 . To face page 134 3. England and Wales — showing the districts held by the King and the Parliament on January i, 1644 . To face page 144 4. England and Wales — showing the districts held by the King and the Parliament on May i, 1645 . . To face page 149 i THE FIRST TWO STUARTS AND THE PURITAN REVOLUTION. CHAPTER I. THE PURITANS AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. Section I. — Reformers and Puritam. The English Reformation was brought about, as every other great change is brought about, by the co-opera- tion of two classes of men : the men ^ ^ g I. Two par- who are, on the whole, content with the ties to the principles by which they have hitherto formation, guided their lives, though they think that some changes ought to be made in matters of detail ; and those who start upon an entirely new principle, and who strive to realize an ideal society which commends itself to their own minds. They answer, in short, to the Whigs and Ra- dicals of modern political life, whilst the Conservatives are represented by a third class averse from all change whatever. The first class— the Reformers, as we may call them who, on the whole, controlled the movement, • 1 1111 1 ? 2, The Re- were content with gradual and slow change, formers. 2 Puritans and House of Commons. 155 8-1603. They were ready to examine every practice and doc- trine by the test of Scripture and the custom of the ear- ly Church, but they were willing to retain all that could not be so shown to be worthy of rejection. In this way they held that the white vestment of the minister, the kneeling attitude of the congregation at the administra- tion of the Communion, the observation of days set apart for fast and festival, were commendable obser- vances reaching the heart through the medium of the senses, and encouraging a habit of devotion by the use of bodily action. Alongside of these men were others who cared no- thing for ancient tradition or outward observances, and ^ 3. The who regarded those which had been re- Puntans. taiued as rags and relics of Popery. During their exile in the reign of Mary, the Puritans, as they afterwards came to be called, learned from the disciples of Calvin, the great French teacher of Geneva, a special system of doctrine and discipline ; a system in which the heart and soul were sustained by the intellectual appre- ciation of theological truths, rather than by the outward actions of the body. The Puritans were not likely to find a friend in Eliza- beth, when, after her sister's death, she mounted the ^ Ei zabeth' ^^^^^^ take up the conflict which her fa- feaning against ther had Waged before her. She herself t e uriians. jQyed the old forms, and scandalized her bishops by retaining the crucifix in her private chapel But she had another reason for bearing hardly on the Puritans. Her strength lay in her headship of the na- tional cause. She detested the Pope, not so much be- cause he taught the doctrine of transubstantiation and worshipped images, as because he claimed to meddle with the rules and laws to be observed by Englishmen. 155S-1603. Reformers and Puriians. 3 She was anxious to win over as many as possible of those whose behef was still the same as that of their fa- thers, and she therefore was glad to retain such ceremo- nies as might be welcome to this numerous class of her subjects. If Elizabeth had reasons of her own for maintaining the ceremonial forms of the Church, she had also rea- sons of her own for maintaining its Episcopal organiza- tion. The existence of bishops has been „ 25. Eliza- defended by ecclesiastical writers on various beth's support grounds; but it was not by ecclesiastical ^i^^^^op^^^y- reasoning that Elizabeth was convinced. She cared very little whether bishops were or were not the successors of the Apostles. She cared very much that they were ap- pointed by herself. They were instruments for keeping the clergy in order. Not that they were mere servile tools. Many of them were high-minded, devoted men, serving the queen all the better because they believed that they were serving God at the same time. To the thoroughgoing Puritan such a system was doubly obnoxious. With Calvin's aid he looked into his Bible, and he found nothing there of the , ^ . . g 6. Puritan rule of the queen over the beliefs and wor- opposition to ship of Christians. Presbyterianisin, so at ^P^^'^^P^^y- least the most energetic Puritans held, was the divinely appointed model of church government for all time. The clergy, assisted by lay elders chosen out of the con- gregation, were to be supreme over all ecclesiastical matters. Proud of her ancient crown, proud of her advocacy of the rights of the laity against Presbyter and Pope ahke, Elizabeth sternly resisted the Puritan flood. Year after year the tide, in spite of i7- .Growth of ••^ Puritanism all her efforts, seemed to mount. As long 4 Puritans and House of Commons. 15 58- 1603. as the struggle with Rome was hot, as long as plots for the assassination of the queen were matters of daily talk, and the presence of a Spanish fleet in English har- bors, and of Spanish veterans upon English soil, was regarded as within the limits of possibility, so long large numbers of men who were in earnest in the quarrel at- tached themselves to that form of Protestantism v/hich was most opposed to the system which they combated. During the last years of Elizabeth's reign the waves of external conflict lulled themselves to sleep. When once the Armada had been shattered by ^ 8. Pacific ten- ^ dencies in Eng- English cannon-shot and by the winds of heaven, a calmer, milder spirit prevailed amongst the conquerors. To combat Spain and the Pope ceased to be the first thought of Englishmen. The thought of internal reforms, of wise guidance of the na- tion which had been saved, came into the foremost place. Each party had learned something from the other. If the bishops continued to oppose Calvin's sys- tem of church government, they gave their warm ad- herence to his theology. Large numbers of Puritans abandoned their Presbyterian theories, and were ready to submit to the Episcopal constitution, if only they could be allowed to omit certain ceremonies which they re- garded as superstitious, of which the use of the surplice was the most important. These prognostics of peace with which Elizabeth's reign closed were not confined to England. An observer of p ^ ^ the course of continental politics might dencies on the have been excused for thinking that the Continent. days of rcligious wars were drawing to an end. In 1598 Spain, by the peace of Vervins, had with- drawn from its attempt to meddle in the affairs of France and had acknowledged the legitimacy of the tolerant 1 5 5 3 - 1 6o3 . Reformers and Puritans. 5 monarchy of Henry IV. The Dutch Netherlanders were still holding out in their noble struggle against Spanish oppression, and it seemed likely that here too Spain would retire exhausted from the contest. In Ger- many the existing settlement which assigned certain territories to one religion or the other had not been seri- ously contested. On the whole the prospects of the approach of peace after the long rehgious wars were brighter than they had been for many a weary year. In England, a broad and tolerant disposition made itself conspicuous in the highest literature of the day. No theological controversialist ever had so ^ To\&- wise a horror of strife as Hooker, the author ranee of litera- ^ . . , ture ; Hooker. of the Ecclesiastical Holity, or was so ready to teach that truth and wisdom must be sought in a reve- rent study of spiritual and moral laws, rather than in any form of words which might be upheld as a standard of party. He strikes up the swords of the combatants as the herald of peace. " This unhappy controversy," are the very first words which he utters, " about the received ceremonies and discipline of the Church of England, which hath so long time withdrawn so many of her ministers from their principal work, and employed their studies in contentious oppositions ; hath by the unnatural growth and dangerous fruits thereof, made known to the world, that it never received blessing from the Father of peace." The voice of Hooker was echoed by the voice of ^acon, statesman, philosopher, essay writer, all in one. Looking^ with eyes of pity on the lot of men, . . . . }^ \ , , g II. Bacon. striving, if so it might be, to make them happier and wiser by act or speech of his, he had his word of warning to utter on this point too : Therefore," he writes, "it is good we return unto the ancient bands 6 Puritans and House of Commons. 1 5 5 8- 1 603 . of unity in the Church of God, which was, one faith, one baptism, and not, one hierarchy, one disciphne, and that we observe the league of Christians, as it is penned by our Saviour Christ ; which is in substance of doctrine this. All that is not with us is against us ; but in things indif- ferent, and but of circumstance this, He that is not against us is with us ... as it is excellently alluded by that father that noted that Christ's garment was without seam, and yet the Church's garment was of divers colors, and thereupon set down for a rule. Let there be variety in the vesture but not a rent." Hooker's object is different from Bacon's object. Hooker counselled the Puritan to give way to the arrangements of the Church. Bacon counselled that the arrangements of the Church should be modified to suit the wishes of the Puritan. But the spirit of moderation was the same in both. One too there was, who kept himself aloof from the immediate questions of the hour, who had nothing directly to say about church worship or gi2. Shake- church ccrcmonies, who was teaching- men speare. ^ *^ the infinite value of truth and righteousness. When Elizabeth died Shakespeare had yet to do his highest work, to sink into the depths and rise to the heights of the soul of man, till he produced those perfect flowers of chastened calm forgiveness, Prospero and Hermione. Who that looked around them in the opening years of the 17th century would predict aught but the growth of peace and toleration ? Whv it was that \ 13. Decep- ^ . ' tive forecast the forccast was deceptive ; why there was of the future. ^ Puritan Revolution at all, it is the object of these pages to tell. 1 485-1 603. The Tudor Monarchy, 7 Section II. — The Tudor Monarchy. Political institutions, kings, parliaments, or law-courts do not come into existence by accident. They are there because they have been able 9^ ^ to do some good to the nation in previous stages of its history. As each generation is sure to want something done which the last generation did not want, there is always a possibility that the persons set in authority may resist the change, or may not be compe- tent to carry it out. Then some alteration has to be made in the institutions under which government is carried on ; and if this alteration is very great, and is effected by force, it is called a Revolution. In every government which does not either maintain itself, like an ancient Greek despotism, by the sole pos- session of arms amidst an unarmed popula- , ^ ^2. Governors tion, or like a modern Asiatic despotism, by and govern- the absolute indifference of governors and governed alike to any change at all, two things are re- quisite, if it is to maintain its existence. In the first place there must be some way in which the people who are gov- erned make their rulers understand what sort of changes they want, and what sort of changes they refuse to admit. In the second place there must be some man or some select body of men who have wisdom and practical skill to effect the changes desired in a right way. All the popular applause in the world will not save from ruin a foolish governor who disregards the laws of nature, and the most consummate wisdom will not save from ruin a governor who tries to force a people to changes which they detest. This is true even if there be no constitutional system in existence at all. In Russian history the Czar who 8 Puritans and House of Coninwns. 1 485-1 603, does not satisfy his subjects is assassinated. ^ 3. Modern con- ^j^^ object of our modern constitutional stituLionalism. ^ arrangements is that the influence of the popular wishes and the influence of practical ability in the governors should be brought to bear upon one another by argument and discussion and not by violence. In the Middle Ages violence was often appealed to. Edward II., Richard II., Henry VI. were dethroned and , , murdered. Still the rule was not violence \ 4. Mediseval constitution- but agreement. In every department of the state the co-operation of the king and his officials with the popular voice was regarded as the es- sential condition of what our ancestors well called the commonwealth, the word wealth then signifying general well-being, and not mere riches. King and Parliament must join in the making of new laws and in the raising of new taxes. A judge appointed by the king must join with a popular jury in the condemnation of a criminal or in the settlement of a quarrel about the rights of pro- perty. The king and officers appointed by the king commanded the armed force of the nation. But the armed force was not a standing army separate from the people, but a force composed of the able-bodied inhabi- tants of the country who would refuse to march on an unpopular service. Such in the main was the government of England till towards the end of the fifteenth century. Then special circumstances occurred which made it neces- g 5. Depression ^^^^ ^^^^ ^j^^ crown should be clothed for a of the nobihty. ^ time with extraordinary powers.. Under the feeble government of Henry VI. the great and powerful nobility preyed upon the weakness of their neighbors. Juries were bribed or bullied by the rich land-owner to give verdicts according to his pleasure. Men weremur- 1485-1603. The Tudor Monarchy. 9 dered in the public roads, and justice was not to be had. Peaceful homes were besieged and sacked by rival claimants to property. Legislation was decided not by the free vote of an elected Parhament, but by the victory or defeat of armies. The strong government of the Yorkist kings, succeeded by the far stronger government of the Tudors, was the answer to the national demand that the lawless nobility should be incapacitated from doing further mischief. Henry VIII., whatever his moral character may have been, did the work thoroughly, and left but little in this way to be accomplished by his daughter. Before the depression of the nobility was completely effected, the struggle with Rome was begun. Fresh powers were needed by the crown, if it was to avert the risk of foreign invasion, to de- Thestmg- ° ^ gle with Rome. tect plots at home, and to maintain order amongst a people large numbers of which were dis- affected. Thus a second reason was added for allowing the sovereign to act independently of those constitutional restraints which had hitherto counted for so much. In almost every department of government the crown was thus enabled to arrogate to itself powers unknown in earlier times. In taxation, though it was , , §7. Increasing Still understood to be a constitutional prin- powers of the ciple that Parliament alone could grant those direct payments of money which were called sub- sidies, means had been found by which the crown could evade the control of Parliament. People were asked sometimes to give money, sometimes to lend it, and sometimes the money thus lent was not repaid. Imposi- tions were also laid without the consent of Parliament on a few articles of commerce imported, though this was not done to any great extent. On the whole, however, g lo Puritans and House of Commons. 1485-1603. Elizabeth was much more careful to avoid giving offence to her subjects by irregular demands of money than her father and grandfather had been. The chief field in which the crown encroached upon the nation was in matters of judicature. The struggle against the nobles and the struggle against the papacy each left its mark on the judicial system in a court which judged without the intervention of a jury. The first produced the Court of Star Chamber. The second produced the Court of High Commission. The Court of Star Chamber was in Elizabeth's time composed of the whole of the Privy Council, together o « ^ with the two Chief Justices. Its rieht to 1 8. The Court ^ of Star Cham- judge was foundcd partly on old claims of the Privy Council, partly on an act of Parlia- ment made in the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. It could not adjudge any man to lose his life ; but it might fine and imprison, and in case of libels and other offences of the like kind, it asserted a right to put a man in the pillory and to cut off his ears. The court had done good service in punishing rich and powerful offen- ders whom juries would have been afraid to convict, and long after Elizabeth's reign, when it was no longer needed to keep down the nobility, it was much resorted to by persons whose cases were too intricate for an ordinary jury to unravel. There were those, too, who held it to be a good thing that there should be a court able to do justice against criminals who might not have sinned against the letter of the law, and who might con- sequently escape if they were brought before the ordinary courts. It may fairly be said to have served a useful purpose as long as the crown and the nation walked in harmony. But if the crown were to go one way, and the nation to go another, a court completely under the influ- 1 48 5-1603. The Tudor Monarchy, 1 1 ence of the crown might easily be used against the nation which it was intended to serve. The Court of High Commission was a kind of Eccle- siastical Star Chamber. It was founded by Elizabeth, partly on the strength of an Act of Parlia- „ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ § 9. The Court ment empowermg her to correct abuses m of High Com- the Church, partly on the strength of her claim to have reasserted for the royal authority the supreme governorship over the Church. It was com- posed of clergy and laymen appointed by the queen, and was able to fine and imprison as well as to degrade and suspend clergymen from their functions. Here too, as in the case of the Star Chamber, much would depend on the way in which the court exercised its powers. Parliament had intended that they should be used mainly against the spread of Roman Catholic doctrines. Eliza- beth, however, used them chiefly against the Puritans, and if Puritanism came to be really accepted by the people and to be opposed by the crown, it would find the Court of High Commission a real hindrance to its devel- opment. During the i6th century therefore, all the changes which had taken place in the institutions of the country had all been in favor of the crown. But the rise of the royal power cannot be measured merely by the change of courts and laws. Royalty had ^ "^^^ "^^y^ ° •' prerogative. come to be regarded as the centre of the national life, as the vindicator of the national rights against the injustice of the nobility at home and the aggression of the Pope and his allies from abroad. The personal flattery with which Elizabeth was surrounded was but the extravagant echo of the wiser judgment of her contemporaries. Nothing is more instructive on this head than the infinitely small part played by Parliament 12 Puritans and House of Commons. 1 485-1 603. in Shakespeare's historical dramas written during the closing years of EUzabeth's hfe. He narrates the for- tunes of King John without the sHghtest allusion to Magna Charta. What interests him is the personal struggle of men of various qualities and powers. In Richard 11. and Henry IV. he shows what misery and turmoil follow, if once the legal ground of hereditary succession is abandoned. He makes his Richard say that :— Not all the water in the rough rude sea Can wash the balm from an anointed king. But Shakespeare's loyalty is to England first, to the king only secondarily, for England's sake. He sees the mis- chief which Richard's fall had caused. But his sympa- thies go with Henry IV., the self-sustained practical ruler. Can we doubt that if he had lived half a century later, he would have mourned for Charles, but that his intelligence would have decided for Cromwell ? As long as Elizabeth lived she was the representative of the nation in the highest sense. With all her faults, and she had many, she sympathized with of Eiifabeth^^^ the people which she ruled. One day, we are told, she asked a lady how she contrived to retain the affection of her husband. The lady replied that " she had confidence in her husband's understand- ing and courage, well founded on her own steadfastness not to offend or thwart, but to cherish and obey, whereby she did persuade her husband of her own affection, and in so doing did command his." " Go to, go to, mistress," answered the queen ; " you are wisely bent, I find. After such sort do I keep the good-will of all my husbands, my good people ; for if they did not rest assured of some special love towards them, they would not readily yield me such good obedience." i6o4. The Hampton Court Conference. 13 Would Elizabeth's successor be able to do the same ? If he could not, the House of Commons was there to give voice to the national desires, and to claim that power which is the inevitable re- "^^^ suit of services rendered to the nation. Such a change could hardly be effected without a contest. The strength which had been imparted to the crown that it might accomplish the objects aimed at by the nation would, if their paths diverged, be an obstacle in the course of the nation which only force could overcome. Section III. — The Hampton Court Conference and the proposed Union with Scotland, The mere fact that Elizabeth's successor was a Scotch- man was against him. James I. was hneally descended from Henry VII. but he had not grown up in England, had not been surrounded by newKilg Englishmen and habituated to English ways of thinking. His own mental powers were by no means inconsiderable. He usually knew better than other peo- ple what sort of thing it was desirable to do. But he had a great aversion to taking trouble of any kind, and he shrank from the constant supervision of details which is absolutely necessary if the most promising plans are to ripen into fruit. At the same time he was most impa- tient of opposition. .He believed himself to be authorized to rule England, partly by his birth, partly by some divine right connected with his birth ; but infinitely more by his own superiority in wisdom. He liked to see ques- tions brought to the test of argument, but was apt to insult those who refused to see things in the light in which he saw them. His Scotch experience was espe- cially likely to bias him in any question in which Puritan- 14 Puritans and House of Commons, 1604. ism was concerned. Puritan ascendancy, which was an object of fear in England, had been a fact in Scotland, and James was not likely to forget the day when a Puri- tan minister had plucked him by the sleeve and had addressed him in public as " God's silly vassal." On January 14, 1604, nearly ten months after his ac- cession, James summoned the leading Puritan ministers to meet him at Hampton Court in the presence flampton principal bishops, in order that he Court Con- might learn what ecclesiastical changes were desired by the Puritans. Some of these changes proposed by them were so far adopted that they were referred to commissioners to put into shape for legislation in the coming Parliament. But on the main question James was obdurate. The rules and orders of the Church were to be observed without relaxation. It was not to be left open to any clergyman to decide whether he would wear a surplice or a black gown, whether he would make the sign of the cross in baptisra whether he would give the ring in marriage. It cannot be said that James' decision was entirely unreasonable. If every minister is to be allowed to take „ , his own course, he may possibly eive offence §3. Importance , j r j a of James' de- to his Congregation by omitting some cere- mony to which they are accustomed, as well as by adopting some ceremony to which they are unac- customed. But an argument which would deserve con- siderable weight where any dissatisfied members of a congregation are at liberty to withdraw from it, and to establish their own worship apart, is much less valid when it is applied to a state of things in which but one form of worship is allowed for a whole nation. The idea of separate religious bodies each worshipping as they thmk right would have been repelled by all parties in 1604. Proposed Union with Scotland. 15 James' reign, and the only question was whether an iron rule was to be laid down by which all preachers, how- ever persuasive they may have been in the cause of religion, were to be condemned to silence if they refused to conform to it. Unhappily James was not content with announcing his decision. Taking fire at the mention of the word *' pres- byter " he blazed up into anger. "A Scot- ^ tish presbytery," he said agreeth as well violent lan- with a monarchy as God and the devil. ^uage. Then Jack and Tom and Will and Dick shall meet, and at their pleasures censure me and my council, and all our proceedings. . . Stay, I pray you, for one seven years, before you demand that from me, and if then you find me pursy and fat, and my windpipes stuffed, I will per- haps hearken to you ; for let that government be once up, I am sure I shall be kept in breath ; then shall we all of us have work enough. . . . Until you find that I grow lazy, let that alone.'* If the Puritans were irritated by the king's language, the bishops were too well satisfied with the substance of his reply to quarrel with its form. One of their number went so far as to declare that 1 5- Effect of his language. his Majesty spoke by the inspiration of the Spirit of God ! The Puritans left his presence bitterly disappointed. The House of Commons which met on March 19 was no assembly of Puritans. But it wished that the conces- sions refused by James should be granted , , ^, ^ to the Puritans, m order that every possible liamentfor Christian influence might be brought to bear on the sin and vice around. The Church question was not the only seed of division between the King and the Commons. He was anxious 1 6 Puritans and House of Commons. 1610. „ _ J to brine about a close union between Ens:- ^ 7. Proposed ^ ° Union with land and Scotland, and he was deeply annoyed when he found that the House was so prejudiced and ignorant as to see all kinds of imagi- nary dangers in his beneficent design. A state of feeling grew up in which agreement on lesser matters was im- possible, and when Parliament was prorogued the schism between King and Commons had already begun. If the king had not Parliament on his side, he had Convocation. That clerical body was capable of mak- 4 r^^^ ing canons, that is to say, laws binding on Canons of the clergy though not on the laity, and it ^^"^^^ now enforced upon the clergy that unifor- mity of ceremonies which the king desired. After the prorogation the new canons were put in force. About three hundred clergymen were expelled from their liv- ings for refusing to conform, and a compulsory peace was imposed on the English Church. James had no immediate danger to fear. The Puri- tans formed but a minority amongst the clergy and laity. „ ^, and the ease with which so harsh a mea- g 9. The ... Puritans in sure was Carried out is strong evidence that opposition. existing ceremonies were at least tacitly accepted by the mass of the people. But there was a feel- ing abroad that the expulsion of these men was injurious to the cause of religion, and if events came to make the crown otherwise unpopular, Puritanism would be a force added to the side of its adversaries. For six years the work of enforcing conformity went on. In 1610 Abbot was appointed Archbishop of Can- terbury. He himself conformed to the ^ ^ uu^u^°^'-^ Church ceremonial, but he was a lax disci- archbishopnc. , plinarian, and he sympathized to some extent with the feelings of the Puritans. Under his manage- i6o6. The New Impositions, 17 ment the rule of the Church was less strictly exercised. Here and there the surplice was dropped, and portions of the service omitted at the discretion of the minister. But it was one thing to allow liberty within certain limits by a fixed law : it was another thing to allow liberty by the mere remissness of one who ought to have been the guardian of the law. What one archbishop allowed might easily be forbidden by another. Meanwhile the question of the union with Scotland dragged slowly on, and it was only in 1607 that the Com- mons made one or two unimportant conces- . A. D. 1607. sions. Though they professed their readi- g n. Settie- ness to examine the question at a future time, UnioiTques^- James preferred cutting the knot as far as he was able to do so. The Judges were either less amenable than the Commons to popular prejudice, or were ready, under any circumstances, to give effect to the doctrine of their law-books. They decided that all Scotchmen born since his accession to the English throne were natu- ralized Englishmen. All hopes of obtaining any closer union between the two nations were abandoned for the present. Section IV. — The New hnpositions and the Great Contract, Besides the great questions of conformity in the Church and of union with Scotland, others had been raised which might have been settled with- a.d. 1606. out difficulty if the crown and the House of Loney^diScul- Commons had been agreed on more im- portant matters. A feeling of irritation was daily grow- mg, and there was one way in which the irritation of viie Commons could easily find expression. The king was in want of a permanent supply of money, and un- 1 8 llie Puritans and House of Commons. 1606. less all the traditions of the English constitution were to be reversed, he could not have it without a grant from the House of Commons. It was not wholly his fault. Elizabeth had carried on an expensive war upon a miserably insufficient revenue, ^ . and even if James had been as parsimonious g 2 Condition ^ ofthefinan- as shc had been, he could hardly have avoided a large deficit. As a married man, his household expenses were certain to be more than those of an unmarried queen. At his first coming he had no notion that he had any reason to be parsimo- nious at all. After his experience of Scottish poverty, the resources of the English exchequer seemed to be boundless, and he flung pensions and gifts with an un- spaiing hand amongst his favorites. The result was that before he had been on the throne four years an expen- diture of about 500,000/. a year had to be provided for out of a revenue of about 320,000/. a year. Under these circumstances it was difficult to resist the temptation of getting money in any way which would not involve immediate risk. Just at this \ 3- Judgment on Bate's time the temptation was offered. At the be- ginning of every reign customs duties upon goods imported and exported were granted to the crown by Parliament under the name of tonnage and pound- age. But besides these Mary and Elizabeth had de- manded certain small payments called impositions with- out any Parliamentary grant. James had added further impositions on currants and tobacco. In 1606 a mer- chant named Bate refused to pay the imposition on cur- rants. The case was brought before the Court of Ex- chequer, and the Judges decided that the king had a right by law to set impositions on merchandise without any grant from the Parliament. It is generally allowed i6io. The New Impositions. 19 now that the Judges were wrong. But the fact that they had so decided was of the utmost importance. The king could always say that he might raise as much mo- ney in this way as he pleased, and would still be keep- ing within the law. In 1608 advantage was taken of this decision. New impositions were laid on merchandise to the amount of 70,000/. But even this would not fill up a ' ' . ^ A. D. 1608. yearly deficit of 180,000/., and in 1610 g 4. The new Parliament was asked to come to the aid of '"^p^^^^^^^s- the crown. A bargain was accordingly entered into — the Great Contract, as it was called — by which the king was to surrender certain harsh and antiquated ^ ^ f^r^^x rights, and was to receive in return a reve- Contract, nue equal to 200,000/. a year. But before the bargain was actually completed, the question of the new impositions was discussed, and the House of Com- mons had no difficulty in deciding them to be illegal. But a resolution of the Commons, without the assent of the king and the House of Lords, could not make that illegal which the Judges had pronounced to be legal. James voluntarily remitted some of the impositions to the value of 20,000/, and a little later he offered to surrender his right to raise any more, if Parliament would confirm his hold upon what he had already got. Before this agreement could be embodied in an Act of Parliament, the time for the summer vacation had ar- rived. It was resolved that there should be , , ^ .... f o- Breach another session m the wmter to carry out between the the arrangement. When the winter came, firsf Parlia-^ the temper of the two parties had altered for the worse. The members of Parliament had talked over the matter with their constituents, and had come 20 The Puritans and House of Commons. 1612. to the conclusion that they were asked to give too much. The king had talked over the matter with his ministers, and had come to the conclusion that he would receive too little. Under these circumstances no agreement was possible. The king dissolved his first Parliament m disgust. He retained a heavy debt and a large de- ficit. He retained, too, the right acknowledged to be his by the Judges, of levying any customs duties he chose by his sole will and pleasure. Good advice was not wanting to James. Bacon, who had told him plainly what he ought to do with the Puri- tans, told him plainly what he ought to do A. D. 1612. r J o 1 7. Bacon's with his financial difficulties. It was a mis- advice. \,2^^ Bacon- argued, to bargain with the House of Commons. If they were asked to take part in a bargain, they would naturally try to get as much as they could for themselves, and to give as little as they could to the king. The thing to be remembered was that the king and the Parliament were members of one body with common interests and common work. It was for the king to rule well and wisely, without bargaining for anything in return. If he did this, if he secured the love and esteem of his subjects, he would have no diffi- culty in obtaining from them all the money for which he could fitly wish. Bacon's advice was not taken. In 1614 another Par- liament was summoned, and another bargain was opened. The king did not offer to surrender ^ 8. The^Par- as much as he had offered before, and he i6iT"^ much money in return. But his principle of action was the same, and the result was the same. The House took the ques- tion of impositions into consideration before they would grant a penny, and again declared that the king had no 1 603 . Gunpowder Plot. 21 right to levy them. James at once dissolved Parliament after a sitting of a few weeks. It produced no statute, and was consequently known in history as the Addled Parliament. CHAPTER 11. THE SPANISH ALLIANCE. Section I. — Gunpowder Plot. The relations between James and the Puritans were to some extent modified after the appointment of Abbot to the archbishopric. Some connivance was ^ . A. D. 1603. extended to those of the nonconformists Relations who did not make themselves too obtrusive, jamesandthe The relations between James and the Ca- ^^^tholics. tholics, on the other hand, had some time before Ab- bot's appointment become harsher than they were at the beginning of the reign. By the Elizabethan legislation, the Recusants, as the Catholics who refused to go to church were called, were in evil case. The richest amongst them were liable to a fine of 20/. a month. Land- cusancy^ kws. owners who could not afford to pay this were deprived of two-thirds of their estates. Persons who had no lands might have the furniture of their houses seized and sold for the benefit of the exchequer. Any one of these men was liable to excommunication, and an excommunicated man could be sent to prison without any further formality. To say mass as a priest, or to assist a priest in doing so, was punishable with death. Of course, these harsh penalties were consider- 22 The Spanish Alliance. 1604. ably modified in practice. But every man who did not come to church knew that they were suspended over his head, perhaps to fall without a moment's warning. Before his accession, James, being anxious to secure adherents, had given hopes of lightening the burdens which pressed upon the Catholics. Not long after his arrival in Encrland he informed the principal g 3. James , promises to Catholics that, as long as they behaved as the Catholics. ^0^2! subjects, the fines would no longer be exacted. But he still had reason for disquietude. There had been plots and rumors of plots, and the number of the recusants had largely increased as soon as the legal penalties had been suspended. In February 1604 James banished all priests from England, though as yet he took no active measures against the laity. There were Catholics in England who were ready to dare anything for the triumph of their Church. As soon as the proclamation for the banishment of ^4^"Formation the pncsts appeared, Robert Catesby, a man der^1o^^"^°^" steeped in plots and conspiracies, proposed lo one or two friends to blow up King, Lords and Commons with gunpowder. Guy Fawkes, a cool and daring soldier, was sent for from Flanders to assist in the execution of the scheme. Others were by degrees admitted to the secret, and there can be little doubt that two or three priests were of the number. They took a house adjoining the House of Lords, and proceeded to dig through the wall, in order that they might place their barrels of powder under the floor before the opening of the next session. The wall was nine feet thick, and after some weeks' work they had made but little way. Water flowed in and hindered their operations. Superstitious fan- cies gathered thickly round hem, and they imagined that they were accompanied in their labors by unearthly sounds. Gunpowder Plot, 23 In the spring of 1605 James, frightened at the increase in the number of recusants, put the laws again in force against the Roman CathoHc laity. The conspirators felt a fresh spur to their enter- g s^ Enforce- prise. At the same time an accident relieved pen^anlw^ them from further trouble. An adjoining cellar, reaching under the House of Lords without any intervening wall, was found to be for hire. It was taken in the name of one of the conspirators. The powder which they needed was safely lodged in it, and was covered with fagots in order to conceal it from any chance visitant. All that remained was to prepare for the insurrection which was to follow after the fatal deed had been accomplished. To hire a cellar and to buy a few barrels of powder, was an exploit within the means of the conspirators. More money than they could command was needed to prepare for an insurrection. Three ? ^- "^^f P^°' ^ ^ betrayed. rich Catholics were informed of the project, and their purses were laid under contribution. One of them, anxious for the safety of a relative who was a member of the House of Lords, contrived that informa- tion should be given to the government in such a way that the conspirators might be themselves warned in time to fly. The conspirators received the warning, but they re- fused to believe it to be true. Parliament was to be opened on November 5. On the night of the 4th Fawkes was seized watching over f^/e pk)t^^^^^ the powder barrels. The next morning the other plotters were flying for their lives. Some were killed before they could be taken. Others were captured and died a traitor's death. The detected conspiracy was fatal to the hopes of the 24 The Spanish A lliarice. 1 6 1 ' Catholics. The laws against them were a 8. Result of ]-na,de harsher than ever, and the fines were the conspiracy. ' more unremittingly exacted. The door of mercy seemed closed against them for many a year. Section II. — Jajnes I. and Spain. The detection of the Gunpowder Plot rekindled the old feelings of antipathy against Spain as well as against the Catholics at home. James, if carried 1 1. Unpopu- away for a moment, did not fully share in larity of Spain. ^^^^^ feeUngs. If only he could be assured that his authority in England was in no danger, his natural aversion to cruelty would make him shrink from persecution, and he was inclined to look with favor upon a Spanish alliance which might help him to prevent a fresh outbreak of war in Europe. But he was not content with offering to join Spain in keeping the peace. In i6ii he proposed to marry his son to a Spanish infanta. In 1614, after the Spanish dissolution of Parliament, the proposal was p!fsed^^^ repeated. Money he must have, and if he could not get money from Parliament he would get it from the King of Spain as a daughter's por- tion. He imagined that he would not be pressed to give more to the English Catholics in return than a conni- vance at their worship in private houses, a concession which might be withdrawn at his pleasure if it became dangerous. In 161 7 the negotiation was formally opened, the Spaniards all the while intending to refuse the hand of their princess in the end unless they could obtain the conditions which they thought sufficient to secure the conversion of England. James' want of money led to another act which has weighed upon his memory even more deeply than his I6I7. James I. and Spain, 25 Spanish alliance. Sir Walter Raleigh, sea- rover, statesman, colonizer, and historian, ^3^' Raleigh's had entangled himself in an inexplicable way in a plot soon after James' accession, and had been condemned to death. Reprieved upon the scaffold, he had been left in the Tower for many years, where he had solaced himself by writing the History of the World. But his thoughts were far away across the Atlantic waves amidst the forests of America, and he had to tell of a * golden mine on the banks of the Orinoco rich enough to make the fortune of a king. James listened half in- credulously. But there were those about him who wished him to give ear to the tale, — men to whom the friendship of Spain was hateful, and who wished to cut loose the ties which were binding England to the Catholic king, and to see once more the rovers of Plymouth and Barn- staple bringing home rich prizes taken in Spanish seas. James had no wish to break with Spain ; but he had an eye to the gold. He made Raleigh promise not to go near Spanish territory, and explained to him that if he touched a Spaniard he must peditTon to'' answer for it with his head. Raleigh, freed ^^^i^na. from prison, hastened to the Orinoco. He firmly be- lieved that if he could only get the gold, he would not be held to his engagements. He sent his men up the river without distinct orders to avoid fighting. They seized and plundered a Spanish town. The golden mine eluded their search. Raleigh's eldest son was killed in the attack. Heart-broken at the failure, he proposed to his captains to lie in wait for the Spanish treasure ships, which would furnish gold enough to a bold assailant. His captains refused to follow him, and he had to come back to England with nothing in his hands. James sent D The Spanish Alliance, 1615. him to the scaffold for a fault which he ought never to have given him the chance of committing. Everything to which James put his hand was marred in the execution. His own life was virtuous and upright. drag him in ways in which he did not think fit to go, he hit upon the plan of educating some young man who would be his companion in amusements and his private * secretary in business, who would be the dispenser of his patronage, and would, above all, save him the thankless task of saying No, when favors were asked. The first whom he chose was Robert Carr, a young Scotchman^ who seemed to possess the needful qualities, and who finally became Earl of Somerset. Somerset assisted James in the negotiations with Spain which preceded the open avowal of the negotiations for the Spanish marriage. But Somerset's head was turned by his advancement. He fell in love with the wife of the Earl of Essex, and married her, after procuring a divorce under circum- stances which called down upon her the reprobation of honest men. Not long afterwards a murder which had been committed was traced to her contrivance, and her husband was vehemently suspected of assisting her. Both were brought to trial, and sentenced to death. Both received pardon from the king, though their position at court was ruined, Somerset was succeeded by George Villiers, soon after- wards created Earl, and then Marquis of Buckingham. A. D. 1615. ^ 6. Advance- ment of Bucking- ham. In natural ability and gentleness of disposi- tion Buckingham was far superior to Somer- set. It is possible that if he had risen by slow degrees he might have done good ser- i6i6. James I. and Spain, 27 vice to the commonwealth. But so sudden a rise was enough to spoil any one. It is true that for many a year James kept the decision of political questions in his own hands. But any one who wanted advancement at court must come to Buckingham. Gentlemen who wished to be made barons, and barons who wished to be made earls ; lawyers who aspired to be judges, and judges who aspired to a more lucrative employment in the adminis- tration of the finances or in the actual government of the state, must bow down to Buckingham and propitiate his favor. Wealth poured in to support his dignity, and in a year or two the youth who could at one time scarcely afford to buy himself a new suit of clothes, was with one exception the richest peer in England. No wonder his head was turned. No wonder he expected submission full and complete to every fancy which might pass through his brain. He had kinsmen, too, to be re- membered as well as himself, a mother to be made much of at court, brothers to be made peers, portionless nieces and cousins to be married to men who were aspirants for office. Foolishly compliant as James was in this, there was a method in it all. He wanted to shake himself loose from the trammels of the House of Lords, as he wanted to shake himself loose from the trammels of the House of Commons, and he hoped that the new peers who owed their exaltation to the good word of Bucking- ham, and sometimes to the sums of money which they paid over to Buckingham or to the king himself, would steadily give him their votes forever after. James' internal government in these years was better in intention than in its results. He wished to do right to all men. Case after case arose in which o t g 7. James some high officer of state was found eruilty internal go- o ^ vernment. of wrong-domg, and James made no attempt 28 T'he Spanish Alliance, 1616. to shelter any one from the consequences of his fault. But there were not a few who naturally thought that the remedy was as bad as the disease, and that the system which compelled the officers of state to hang upon the favor or the smile of an inexperienced youth was^ itself the hot-bed of corruption. James' conception of the limits of his own authority was in the main the same as that of Elizabeth. He had sworn, he said, in a speech which he deli- g^s.^His^ifew vcrcd on a solemn occasion in 1616, to do authority^ justicc and to maintain the law, "the com- mon law of the land, according to which the king governs, and by which the people are gov- erned." He had, he added, " as far as human frailty might permit him, or his knowledge inform him," kept his oath. If the law was uncertain, uncertainties must be removed by Parliament. But it was his business to see that the Judges did not introduce novelties out of their own heads. The prerogative of the crown was in this respect regarded by James as giving him authority to control the self-will of the Judges. ** This," he said, " is a thing regal and proper to a king, to keep every court within its true bounds." Then, waxing warm, he added words which seem rather startling at present : "As for the absolute prerogative of the crown, that is no sub- ject for the tongue of a lawyer, nor is it lawful to be disputed. It is atheism and blasphemy to dispute what God can do ; good Christians content themselves with His will revealed in His word ; so it is presumption and high contempt in a subject to dispute what a king can do, or say that a king cannot do this or that ; but rest in that which is the king's will revealed in his law." It is easy to look upon these words as a mere absurdity. Yet not only are they worthy of consideration, but they 1617. James I. and Spain, 29 will be found to furnish the key to much of , ^ ^ g 9. How far the subsequent history. The fact is that no was he in nation can be governed by general rules. the right? Those rules being the work of fallible human creatures, cannot possibly embrace all points of difficulty that may arise. When new difficulties come up for settlement there must be some living intelligence to meet them, to frame new rules, to enlarge the old ones, and to see that per- sons entrusted with carrying them out do not misuse their authority. With us this living intelHgence is looked for in Parliament, or in ministers acting in responsibility to Parliament. Under the Tudor constitution new rules could only be laid down by the combined operation of king and Parliament. But it was considered to be the king's business to keep the machine of government in working order, and to make special provision for tempo- rary emergencies, without responsibility to any one. James' vague language doubtless implied assumptions of a dangerous kind, but in the main he meant no more than that the limits to the exercise of this special power were in themselves indefinable. The power must be used when occasion called it out, and no one could say beforehand how it would be right for him to act in any given circumstances. So far, then, James was but carrying out the system of his predecessors. But he forgot that the success of every system depends upon the spirit in which it ^ ^ is worked. The Tudor sovereigns were 1 10. Woufd i_ c 1 1 J 1 1 r he be able to hungry for popularity, and drew back from keep his attempting to realize their dearest wishes if authority? they ran counter to the settled desire of the nation. James fancied himself above popularity. Puritanism, it is true, had for a time ceased to be dangerous. But James' foreign policy was such as to try the patience of 30 The Spanish Alliance, 1618. Englishmen. It would be bad enough to throw the force of England into the scale against Protestantism abroad, but a nearer and more appalling danger was imminent. A Spanish marriage for the Prince of Wales meant privileges for the English Catholics at home, it meant the chance of seeing their numbers so increase through the connivance of the court, that they would be able to force their will upon the consciences of Protestant Eng- lishmen. It possibly might mean that the future children of the Prince of Wales would be brought up as oppo- nents of the belief of Englishmen, and would some day be able to use the royal authority in favor of the Church of their mother. If Puritanism awoke again from its slumbers, and arrayed its powers in opposition to this royal authority which James valued so highly, the cause must primarily be sought in this unhappy Spanish mar- riage upon which he had set his heart. Section III. — The Spaniards iji the Palatinate, In 161 8, that which James had long striven to avert came to pass. The flames of war broke out in Bohemia, and there was every probability that they ^\ \he^^ would spread far before they were quenched. Bohemian The German States were divided by politi- Revolution. • 1 i 1 i- cal differences ; still more widely by reli- gious differences. Whatever form any dispute took in Germany was sure to settle down ultimately into a quarrel between Cathohcs and Protestants. This was precisely what James disliked, and he did his best to per- suade the combatants that they had better not fight about religion. He gave plenty of good advice, which those who received it never thought of taking. Yet after all, it must be remembered that James' ad- vice was good in itself. Nothing better could have 1 6 1 9 . The Spaniards in the Palatinate, 3 1 happened for Europe, then on the verge of ^ ^ the horrible Thirty Years' War, than that vice good on J the whole. the different powers should have allowed a well-meaning, disinterested man like James to settle what their rights were. But as there was not the least chance of this all that he had really to decide on was whether he would keep entirely aloof, or whether he ought to inter- fere on one side or the other. This was precisely what he could not do. He wavered from hour to hour. At one moment some violent and unreasonable action on the Cathohc side would make him think that he ought to un- f> dertake the defence of the German Protest- ants. At another moment some violent and unreasonable action on the Protestant side would make him think that he ought to leave the German Protestants to their fate. In 1619 his difficulties became still more distracting. His son in-law Frederick ruled, as Elector Palatine, over the pleasant lands which stretched in a strag- gling course from the Moselle to the frontier son- of Bohemia. Frederick, though incapaci- of' Bohemia tated by his weakness of character from taking a leading part in a great political struggle, was marked out by his high dignity as the natural leader of those German princes who believed a struggle with the Roman Catholic powers to be unavoidable. He was now chosen King of Bohemia by the Bohemian revolutionists in opposition to the Arch-duke Ferdinand, who was al- ready legally in posession of that crown. Two days later Ferdinand was chosen Emperor, and in both ca- pacities he called upon the Catholic states to assist him against Frederick, whom he naturally stigmatized as a mere usurper. With little hesitation James came to the conclusion that 32 The Spanish Alliance. 1620. Frederick had no right to Bohemia, and that he could give him no assistance there. But what was ^'-Jno\\x^- to do if the Spanish forces, setting out Pafatfnate^^ from the Netherlands, were to swoop down on the Palatinate and to keep it as a pledge for the surrender of Bohemia ? On the one hand, if his son-in-law had no right to Bohemia, all means were law- ful to make him let go his hold. If, on the other hand, the Spaniards once established themselves in the Palati- nate, it would be difficult to get them out again. The solution which called for the least action was always pre- ferred by James, and he contented himself with allowing a regiment of English volunteers to go to the Palatinate under Sir Horace Vere, to be supported by such means as Frederick had it in his power to give. In the summer of 1620 the blow fell. Whilst Bava- rians and Saxons and Imperialists were pouring into Bohemia, a well-appointed Spanish force IpanTa^rds marched up the Rhine and seized the in the Paia- Western Palatinate. James was for the mo- tinate. ment stung to resolution by the news. He summoned Parliament to enable him to defend the in- heritance of his daughter and her children. Before Parliament had time to meet, that daughter and her hus- band were flying from Bohemia after a crushing defeat on the White Hill, outside the walls of Prague. When Parliament met, James called upon it for sup- plies in order that he might be able to ne- I^V^Th?^ gotiate with a sword in his hand. But he 01^^62^^"^ did not propose to send troops immediately into Germany, and the House of Commons contented itself with voting a small supply, without bind- ing itself for the future. James talked of negotiating, and of fighting if negotiation proved useless. The Ger- i62i. The Spaniards in the Palatinate. 3-^ mans who were nearest the danger thought he ought to send an army first and negotiate afterwards. The princes aUied with Frederick were discouraged and submitted to the Emperor. The King of Denmark, Christian IV., who was preparing to come to their aid, was terrified when he heard of James' procrastination. " By God." he said to the English ambassador, " this business is gone too far to think it can be redressed with words only. 1 thank God we hope, with the help of his Majesty of Great Britain and the rest of our friends, to give unto the Count Palatine good conditions. If ever we do any good for the liberty of Germany and religion it is now time." James had but words to give, and Christian retired from the conflict to wait for better days. The House of Commons was out of humor. Its members had the feelinec that they were be- „ _ f ^8. Temper mg badly led, and yet they were powerless of the to secure another leader. They turned ^^"^"^^"s. fiercely upon domestic grievances. Foremost of these were the monopolies. Partly through a wish to encourage home manufactures, partly through a fondness for over-regulation of commerce, private persons were allowed by the govern- ^9- The ^ ^ . . monopolies. ment to possess the sole right of selling various articles of trade. One set of persons, for instance, was privileged to make all the glass used in England, because these persons entered into a compact not to use wood in their furnaces, and it was held that the con- sumption of wood would shorten the supply of timber for the navy. Another set of persons was allowed to make all the gold and silver thread used in England, because they promised to employ only foreign gold and silver in the manufacture, and as gold and silver were in those days believed exclusively to constitute wealth, it was thought 34 The Spanish Alliance. 1621. to be desirable that English wealth should not go into the melting-pot. Besides these monopolies there were regulations for the licensing of inns, and fees to be paid to the licensers. As these licensers and other persons engaged in keeping up the monopolies were always friends or dependants of Buckingham, there was a gen- eral impression that the courtiers and even the king himself made vast sums of money by these proceedings. In reality the amount obtained by the courtiers was grossly exaggerated, and the king obtained little or noth- ing. Still there can be no doubt that, even according to the theories of the day, many of these monopolies ought never to have been granted, and that, especially in the case of the gold and silver thread, very harsh means were taken of enforcing the provisions of the grant, some of which were undoubtedly in contradiction to the spirit, if not to the letter of the law. James yielded to the storm, and abandoned the mo- nopolies. But behind the feeling against the monopolies was an indignation at the traffic in place and 1 10. General power which was being: carried on under the corruption. ^ ° shadow of Buckingham's protection. The Chief Justice of England had recently retired from the bench, and had received a more lucrative office as Lord Treasurer. " Take care, my Lord," said Bacon to him, drily, as he was going down to Newmarket, to receive the staff which was the symbol of his new office ; *' wood is dearer at Newmarket than in any other place in Eng- land." He had in fact to pay 20,000/. for the office. The price of a peerage was as well known as the price of a commission in the army was known a few years ago. To the indignation thus aroused Bacon was the first victim. Raised to the highest dignity of the law, he was now Lord Chancellor of England. But the hope which l62I. The Spaniards in the Palatinate. 35 had been his when he had devoted himself to pohtics, if it remained at all, flickered with but a feeble ray. Once he had beheved that he g^.-.^^^on's ^ position. might do good service to the State. He lived to find his advice taken on legal details, but re jected on high matters of policy. In the building up of the royal authority he was of infinite service, and it was with his good-will, if not under his direct action, that a series of retrenchments, with the help of the growing commercial prosperity of the kingdom, had filled up the deficit, and had freed the king from the necessity of seeking aid in time of peace from the Commons, except so far as he needed money for the payment of debts in- curred in the past days of extravagance. But in the di- rection of the policy of England his word was of slight avail. The blow which struck him down reached him from an unexpected quarter. If there was one thing upon which he prided himself more than another it was upon the justice of his decisions as a ^ 12. Hisac- ^ ^ cusation. judge. Charge after charge was brought before the Commons accusing him of bribery, and these charges were by them sent up to the Lords. At first he fancied that the charges were invented to serve a politi- cal purpose. If this be to be a Chancellor," he said, mournfully, " I think if the great seal lay upon Hounslow Heath, nobody would take it up." But it soon became plain, even to him, that there was real ground for the accusation. In those days a judge received a merely nominal salary from the government, and was paid by suitors' fees. In Chancery a looser system prevailed, and the Lord Chancellor was in the habit of receiving presents from the winning party after a suit had been decided. As far as it is possible to ascertain the truth, it 36 The Spanish Alliance, 1621. does not seem that Bacon's judgments were affected by the money which he received. But there is no doubt that he took money when suits were still undecided, and under circumstances which deprived him of any valid excuse for the action. His own opinion of the case is probably, in the main, the true one. His sentence was "just, and for reformation sake fit," yet he was " the justest Chan- cellor " that had been since his father's time. His sentence was heavy. Stripped of his offices, fined and imprisoned, he owed the alleviation of his penalty to the favor of the king. He acknowledged ^13. His sen- j^jg fault. "My Lords," he said, "it is my tence. ' * ^ act, my hand, my heart. I beseech your lordships, be merciful unto a broken reed." Never again was any judge accused of corruption. The revival of impeachments — for, though Bacon's trial differed from an ordinary impeachment in some details, it may well be reckoned amongst 2 14, Revival ^, ^ r ^i i • i ^ of impeach- them— was an event 01 the highest consti- ments. tutional importance. In an impeachment the House of Commons, acting as the grand jury of the whole country, presented offenders against the common- wealth to be judged by the House of Lords, sitting as judge and jury combined. In English history impeach- ments are found in two distinct periods ; the first reach- ing from the reign of Edward III. to that of Henry VI., the other reaching from the reign of James I. to that of William III. This chronology speaks for itself. When the predominance either of King or Parliament was secured, it was felt to be better that political opponents should be dealt with by mere dismissal from office, and that criminal offences excepting during the reign of terror which marked the later times of Henry VIIL, should be tried before professional judges. But when Parliament l62I. The Loss of the Palatinate. 37 was engaged in a struggle with the kingly power, and had not the acknowledged right to dismiss the ministers of the crown, it seemed the best way to give a legal color to the charge, whilst the accused were sent before a tri- bunal which was strongly swayed by political feeling. In Bacon's case there can be no doubt that the indigna- tion was genuine and well-founded. But when once the system was recalled to life, it would be easy to exaggerate faults committed, and to demand punishment for a crime, when dismissal for political wrong-doing could not other- wise be obtained. Section IV. — The Loss of the Palatinate, Time was passing rapidly, and nothing serious had been done for the Palatinate. Before the House of Com- mons adjourned for the summer, it voted a , ^ , g I, Declara- declaration of sympathy with the German tionofthe Protestants, and protested that if his Majesty failed to secure peace by negotiation, they would be ready to the uttermost of their powers, " both with their lives and fortunes, to assist him.'' This declaration, said one who was present, "comes from heaven. It will do more for us than if we had ten thousand soldiers on the march." It was put and carried by acclamation. " It was entertained with much joy and a general consent of the whole House, and sounded forth with the voices of them all, withal lifting up their hats in their hands as high as they could hold them, as a visible testimony of their unanimous consent, in such sort that the like had scarce ever been seen in Parliament." The mediation in Germany was entrusted to Lord Digby, a wise and experienced diplomatist, who had 38 The Spanish Alliance, 1621. 1 2 Digby's t)efore represented the King of England at mission to Madrid. When he reached Vienna it was lenna. ^^^^ interpose. On the one hand Frederick's alhes had fallen rapidly from him and had made their peace with the Emperor. On the other hand he had entrusted the defence of the Upper Palatinate to Count Mansfeld, an adventurer who was quite accus- tomed to live upon plunder, and who being of necessity left without money or supplies, had no other means of supporting his army. Ferdinand expressed his readiness to forgive Frederick if he would abandon his claims, withdraw all resistance, and humbly acknowledge his offence. Frederick announced that he was ready, if the possession of his territories and honors were assured him, to relinquish his claims to the kingdom of Bohemia, and to make some formal acknowledgment of submis- sion. Before Digby could reconcile these conflicting views, war blazed up afresh. Mansfeld, unable to de- fend the Upper Palatinate, retreated hastily to the Lower, followed by Tilly at the head of the Imperial forces. When James heard the news he hastily summoned Par- liament to ask for money to enable him to keep Mans- feld's men on foot during the winter. The Commons agreed to give the money for which the king asked. But between their views and his there was a wide difference. The kinsc continued § 3. The Com- . , , , ^ it-, mens distrust to cntcrtam a hope that it he was obliged of Spain. break with the Emperor, he might still retain the good-will of Spain ; and he had never aband- oned the negotiations for the Prince's marriage with the Infanta. The Commons saw that Spain had been the first to occupy towns in the Palatinate. They believed even more than was really the case that Spain was the prime offender, and that if Spain were defeated all dan- l62I. The Loss of the Palatinate, 39 ger would be at an end. As Sir Robert Phelps, the most impetuous orator in the House, put it, there was the great wheel of Spain and the little wheel of the Ger- man princes. If the great wheel were stopped, the little wheel would stop of itself. James doubtless knew more than the Commons of Continental politics. But, as often happens, difference of opinion on one point is only the outcome of far wider differences in the background. With the Commons the Emperor was but a name and nothing more. ^ ^ ^he Com- Spain and not the Emperor had interfered gp "^^^^^^ in favor of the English Catholics. Spain marriage, and not the Emperor was trying by marrying the prin- cess to the heir of the English crown to get a footing within the fortress, and to subdue England by intrigue as it was subduing the Palatinate by force. As a matter of policy, James may very likely have been right in wanting to fight the Emperor without hav- ing to fight Spain as well. But in the main _ ^ ° ° ^ ^ ^ § 5. James can- the Commons were in the right. Such a not conciliate war as that which was being fought out on ^P^^"' the Continent was a war of opinion. The real question was whether Protestantism should extend its borders to the detriment of Catholicism, or Catholicism should ex- tend its borders to the detriment of Protestantism. James, wisely enough, wished for neither. But as the fight had begun, he must either leave it alone or throw himself on the Protestant side, trying to moderate his allies if they gained the victory. As both parties were thoroughly excited, it was no use to expect the Span- iards to join him in defending a Protestant prince against their own friends. The Commons therefore were consistent in telling James that he ought to break with Spain entirely. They 40 The Spanish Alliance, 1621. added that he ought to put himself at the the Commons, l^^ad of the Continental Protestants against Spain. He ought to enforce the penal laws against the Catholics at home. He ought to marry his son to a princess of his own religion. To this advice James refused even to listen. The Commons, he said, had no right to treat of business on I 7 Dissolution whicli he had not asked their opinion. They of Parliament, replied by a protestation of their right to treat of any business they pleased. James tore the pro- testation out of their Journal Book with his own hands, and dissolved Parliament. It may be that it would have been more prudent in the Commons to engage James in the war, and to wait g '^^j^^. of necessity brought on a quarrel with Spain, confidence in But it was hardly to be expected that they James, should rcpose confidence in the king. For four years everything that he had undertaken had gone wrong, and it was but too probable that everything would go wrong again. James did not consider the Palatinate as lost. There was an act of Parliament, in the reign of Richard III., by which kings were forbidden to levy mo- ^9°The1oss ^icy from their subjects under the name of ofthePaiati- ^ benevolencc But in 1614 the crown nate. ^ lawyers had interpreted this to mean only that nobody could be compelled to pay a benevolence, whilst there was nothing to prevent the king from ask- ing his subjects to give him money if they chose to do so. At that time therefore a benevolence had been de- manded and obtained. Another was now asked for, and James thus got together enough to pay Vere's vol- unteers for a few months. He tried diplomacy once more. But neither his diplomacy nor such arms as he 1623. The Journey to Madrid. 41 could command without Parliamentary aid were of any avail. Step by step the Palatinate was lost. Its de- fenders were defeated and its fortresses fell into the en- emy's hands. Spain was lavish of promises. But its promises were never fulfilled. Section V. — The Journey to Madrid. Whilst ambassadors were writing despatches, Buck- ingham allowed himself to be persuaded that there was still one path to success if every other failed. If he could take the Prince with him to court the Infanta at Madrid the Spaniards would hardly dare, in the „ r ^ 1- r . § 1. The idea face of such a compliment, to refuse to give of the Spanish him the Palatinate as a wedding present. J^^^^^^* Charles was easily persuaded, and the two young men told the king what they were going to do. The old man was much troubled. He fancied that he should never again see his son, — Baby Charles, as he playfully called him. But he had never been able to say no in his life to any one he Lformed^^ loved, and he could not do so now. With a heavy heart he gave the permission which had been asked only as a matter of form. Charles and Buckingham put on false beards, and started as Tom and John Smith. When they passed the ferry at Gravesend, the Prince gave the r 1 1 -1 A. D. 1023. boatman a purse of gold. Supposing them 1 3. The to be duellists intending to cross the sea to 3°^'""^^- fight, the man gave information to the magistrate, and a chase was ordered. But the picked horses of Buck- ingham's stable were not easily to be run down, and the party got clear off. At Canterbury they were taken for murderers escaping from justice, and Buckingham had E 42 The Spanish Alliance. 1623. to pull off his beard and show himself, inventing a story to account for his unexpected presence. After this there was no further difficulty. At Paris Charles saw his fu- ture wife, a child of thirteen, the Princess Henrietta Maria ; but he does not seem to have taken much no- tice of her. Arriving without further adventure at Ma- drid, he knocked at the door of the English ambassa- dor, the Lord Digby who had been employed at Vienna, and had recently been created Earl of Bristol. The King of Spain received the Prince with every demonstration of friendliness. In truth, be was in a sad dilemma. He had no objection to seeing the Palatinate given back, provided that he could do it without injuring his Church or offending his kinsman the Lrds^n\^^^"" Emperor. If it could be arranged that dilemma. Frederick's sons should be brought up at Vienna, no doubt they would be persuaded to become Catholics, and everything would be properly settled. Then again, there was the difficulty about the marriage of his sister the Infanta Maria. He had never meant that it should come to anything unless James would grant such complete liberty of worship to the English Catholics as to give them a chance — a certainty as ardent Span- iards thought — of reconverting England. And now the poor girl had been crying bitterly, and assuring him that even under such circumstances she could not possibly marry a heretic. Her confessor had worked her up to a pitch of despair. "What a comfortable bed-fellow you will have," he said to her; "he who lies by your side, and who will be the father of your children, is certain to go to hell. " At first, escape from these difficulties seemed not so very hard. Surely, thought the Spaniards, the Prince would never have come to Madrid if he had not meant 1623. The Journey to Madrid, 43 to be converted. Charles encouraged the ^ ^^^^ ^ notion by holding his tongue in his usual to convert silent way. They plied him with arguments and got up a religious conference in his presence. But he had no mind to pay attention to anything of the kind, and Buckingham behaved to the priests with special rudeness. If the Spaniards could not convert the Prince, the next best thing was to throw on some one else the blame of their refusal to allow him to marry the Infanta. There could be no marriage with that dfe^Pope^ a Protestant without the Pope's leave, and ^^^^ ^ ' marriage. as they knew that the Pope disliked the marriage, they hoped that he would refuse to allow it. But the Pope was too wary for that. He thought that if the marriage was broken off by him Charles and his father would take vengeance for their disappointment on the English Catholics. If it was broken off by the King of Spain, they would only be angry with the Span- iards. He granted the permission on condition that the King of Spain would swear that James and Charles would perform the promise which they were required to make in favor of the English Catholics. What was the king to do ? How could he possibly swear that James would fulfil his promise ? He referred his case of conscience to a council of theo- logians, and the theologians decided that of th? King" the best way to secure James' fulfilment of °^ Spam, his promises was to keep the Infanta in Spain for a year after the marriage had taken place. By that time it would be seen what had been really done in England. The advice thus given was adopted by Philip. Charles writhed under the pressure put upon him. At one time he bristled up in anger and declared that he 44 The Spanish Alliance, 1623. would go home to England. But he could fcA^e making ^^^^ himself away. Step by step he offered to do more and more for the English Catholics, hoping that he would be allowed in return for mere words to take his bride with him. It was all in vain. His attempts at making love, too, were singularly unfortunate. One day he jumped over the wall into a garden in which the Infanta was walking. The young lady, who thoroughly detested her heretic admirer, shrieked and fled. On another occasion he was allowed to pay a visit to his mistress in the presence of all the court, and some formal words -were set down which he was expected to utter. Unable to restrain himself he began to declare his affection in words of his own choice. At once the bystanders began to whisper to one another. The queen frowned, and the Infanta, though she was deeply annoyed, and had lately been heard to say that the only consolation which she could find in the marriage was that she should die a martyr, had sufficient self- possession to speak the words set down for her and to bring the interview to an end. In England the Infanta's feeling was fully reciprocated. Even James had never realized at all that he would be required to concede so much. "We are § 9. The mar- buildins^ a temple to the devil," he said, in nage treaty. ^ speaking of the chapel which he was re- quired to prepare for the Infanta. But he dared not risk his son's safety by refusing anything that was asked. He swore, and forced his council to swear, to the treaty as it was sent to him. The Infanta was to have her public church to which all Englishmen who chose might have access. She was to control the education of her children during the impressionable years of childhood. The Catholics were to be allowed liberty of worship in their private houses. 1623. The Journey to Madrid. 45 Much of this sounds innocent enough now. But it was not thought innocent then. The rehgion which was to be tolerated was backed by a vast organiza- tion with powerful fleets and armies at its po^puiaJi^^i^' back. The change was to be effected not because it was a good change, but because it was desi- rable to please the master of those fleets and armies. The marriage itself was an offence to England. The English kingship had been the centre of resistance to a foreign Church and a foreign enemy. Who could tell whether James' grandchildren would not be on the side of that foreign Church and of that foreign enemy ? It was no mere question of this theology or that theology. It was the whole framework of life, present and to come, which was threatened. The Spanish marriage treaty, it may fairly be said, threw back the cause ot toleration for half a century. It awoke again the old Protestant resist- ance, and gave new life to Puritanism- James had , drawn nearer to Spain, but had opened a gap between himself and England. At Madrid Charles promised all that his father had promised, and a little more. He hoped that his compli- ance would extract permission for the In- fanta to accompany him. But it could not ? Charles' ^ '' return. be. The theologians were resolute to the contrary, and their decision was final. Charles learned, too, how little hope there was of recovering the Palati- nate. In high dudgeon he left Madrid. As he was travelling, he was asked by a Spaniard who was accom- panying him whether he wished the carriage to be opened. " I should not dare," he replied ironically, " to give my assent without sending post to Madrid to consult the theologians." At Santander he found an English €eet awaiting him. On board he felt himself free at last. 46 The Ascendancy of Buckingham, 1624. He landed at Portsmouth with a resolute determination never to marry the Infanta. CHAPTER HI. THE ASCENDANCY OF BUCKINGHAM. Section I. — The last Parliament of James /. With Buckingham and Charles exasperated against Spain, it would have been hard for James, under any circumstances, to remain on friendly terms 3 1. James com- • , , . -r^ i • n veiled to break With that nation. But even if the influence with Spain. j^.g j^jg favorite had been re- moved, he could hardly have gone on much longer in his old course. It was quite plain that Spain would not help him to regain the Palatinate with the sword, and it was also quite plain that without the sword he was not likely to regain the Palatinate at all. He hesitated, doubted, changed his mind from day to day ; but unless he meant to give up his daughter and her children, there was nothing for it but to prepare for war. Parliament was accordingly summoned. It met on February 19, 1624. Lashed to anger against Spain by the events of the past years, the Commons §2. FeeHngs wcrc ready to join in Buckingham's vocifer- Parliament attempt of the King of Spain to make his daughter Queen of England exasperated them more than his attempt to place his ally in possession of Heidelberg. The very fact that the Spanish marriage treaty was at an end made them somewhat cooler about the Palatinate. No doubt they still cared about the fortunes of the German 1624. The last Parliament of Ja7nes I. 47 Protestants, but they no longer felt that their own for- tunes were so directly involved in the ruin of their neigh- bors. Nor were they well acquainted with German affairs, and when the king talked to them of the great expense of the war, they fancied that he was leading them into unnecessary and extravagant operations. But they voted only just enough money to strengthen the de- fences of England and Ireland, to set out a fleet, and to send help to the Dutch in their struggle against Spain. They were not ready to engage in war in Germany with- out further information. James knew that nothing but a great Continental alli- ance would win back the Palatinate. But he did not like to give up his plan of working together with some Catholic power. If he could not marry , 3- The \ ^ king s ideas. his son to the sister of the King of Spain, he would marry him to the sister of the King of France. England and France combined would settle the affairs of Germany. The plan did not please the Commons. They did not wish to have a Roman Catholic queen at all. They were afraid that the marriage treaty would ^ ^ Declara contain some fresh promise of toleration for tion of war the English Catholics. But Charles and Postponed. James solemnly declared that they would make no such promise. James accepted the supplies which had been already voted, on the understanding that the Houses were to meet again in the winter to vote more if it was needed. The king would have time to send ambassadors about Europe to see who would help him before he made any further demand upon the Commons. In the meantime work was found for Parliament. Lionel Cranfield, earl of Middlesex, was Lord High Treasurer. He had done more than any other man 48 The A scendancy of Buckingham . 1624. to rescue the finances from disorder. He inddlesex^ ^ careful guardian of the pubhc purse. But he disHked war with Spain because it would be expensive, and had done his best to keep the king's mind in a peaceful mood. Such conduct drew down upon him the displeasure of Buckingham and the Prince, as well as the displeasure of the House of Com- mons. It was easy to find an excuse for attacking him. In providing for the king's necessities he had not forgot- ten to heap up a fortune for himself. The Commons im- peached him for corruption, Buckingham and Charles hounding them on. Middlesex was stripped of his office and heavily fined. The shrewd old king warned his favorite and his son of the danger they were incurring by encouraging such attacks upon ministers of the crown. " You will live," he said, ''to have your bellyful of im- peachments." The French were not so easily won as the English government supposed. Lewis XIII. hated Spain and 5 rpj^e Emperor, and was ready to encourage French anybody who proposed to fight against his alliance. enemies. But he was a devoted Catholic, and had no idea of giving his sister in marriage unless something were done for the English Catholics. Buck- ingham, eager for war, young and sanguine as he was, fancied that it was worth while for the king to break his promise to secure the help of France. Buckingham per- suaded Charles, and Charles persuaded his father. The treaty was signed by the end of the year. The Princess Henrietta Maria was to be Queen of England. Buckingham dared not suffer James to meet Parlia- ment to vote money for the war, when Parliament was sure to upbraid the king with breach of pro- \ 7. Prepara- . ^ . , i i i , . tionsforwar. mise. But neither could he give up his 1624. The last Parliament of James /. 49 military designs. Money was promised freely in all directions. There was to be money for the Dutch Republic, money for the King of Denmark, money for an English fleet to sail against Spain, money for a joint expedition to be undertaken by France and England for the recovery of the Palatinate. The joint expedition was entrusted to Mansfeld. But the moment it was proposed to send him into Germany the French began to raise objections. They wanted the men to be used for purposes of ? ^- Mansfeid's ^ ^ expedition. their own, and insisted that Mansfeld should go, at least at first, to help the Dutch in their struggle with Spain. Twelve thousand Englishmen, torn from their homes by the king's command, were entrusted to Mansfeld. They gathered at Dover and passed over into Holland. James managed to give them "^ts^faaure a little money to begin with. But without a Parliament to vote supplies, he soon came to the bottom of his treasury. The men arrived in Holland without provisions and without money to buy any. Frost set in, and disease broke out. In a few weeks nine thousand out of the whole number were counted amongst the dead or dying. Such was Buckingham's first experience of making war without national support. In spite of all he pushed blindly on. New schemes of i Bucking- ^ nam s schemes. fighting filled his imagination, each one in succession more extensive and more costly than the last. Before any fresh disaster occurred, James died. With hesitation and reluctance he had followed , . March 27. Buckmgham m almost everythmg that he i n. Death proposed. The new king was ready to fol- J^mes. \ow him without either hesitation or reluctance. 5 o The Ascendancy of Buckingham. 1625. Section II. — The first Parliament of Charles /. In many respects Charles was the opposite of his father. He was stately and dignified, fond of outward form and ceremony. In dealing with the world James was apt to leave much to chance, believing andhisTather ^^^^ things would come right in the end if he left them alone. Charles had no such belief. If he thought that things ought to be done in a certain way, he could not endure that they should be done in any other way. But he had neither the energy nor the capacity required for the wise conduct of affairs, and he lived too much in a world of his own ideas to in- fluence men whose thoughts he was unable to compre- hend. In early life at least this confidence in his own judgment was accompanied by shyness. He did not like to be opposed, and fell back upon silence. Hence doubtless his attachment to Buckingham. Buckingham's fault was the very opposite to shyness. He took up Charles' notions and translated them into action before Charles knew what he was about. Charles wanted to get back the Palatinate for his sister, but he did not know how to do it. Before he could solve the riddle for him- self, Buckingham had engaged him in half a dozen plans for getting what he wanted. He clung to his favorite as a dumb man clings to him who understands his signs and interprets them to the bystanders. As soon as the new queen was safely in England and it was too late to forbid the banns, Parliament was sum- moned. Money was sorely needed. But first Parfia- how was Charlcs to ask for it? The last ment. Parliament had separated on the under- standing that it should meet again in the winter to 1625. The first Parliavient of Charles /. 51 arrange for the further prosecution of the war, and that no concessions should be made to the Enghsh Cathohcs. The Parhament which now met found that war had been undertaken without asking its advice, and that it had re- sulted in a terrible disaster. Though the concessions to the Catholics had been kept secret, it was shrewdly sus- pected that Charles had broken his promises. Charles accordingly simply asked for money to support the war, without naming any sum in particular. The Commons, after petitioning him to execute the laws against the Catholics, voted him a small sum of 140,000/. His en- gagements could not be covered by 1,000,000/. That the opposition of the Commons should have taken such a form is remarkable. It may be that they cared less for the war now that they were well rid of Spanish influence over the Eng- lositkm^of the lish government. But it was not their fault Commons, if they were fairly puzzled. They had not been told how much money was wanted or why it was wanted. All they knew was that the one expedition which had actually been sent out had ended in an utter failure, and that no excuse or explanation had been offered. They had no confidence in Buckingham, and when the king at last sent a message explaining for what purposes he wanted the money, they doubted the sincerity of all that was said to them. They declined to give a farthing more. The king could not understand the meaning of con- duct so strange. He ordered the Houses to meet again at Oxford, and directed his secretaries to give all necessary explanations. The Com- Lent\?°"^^" mons replied by expressing complete want of confidence in Buckingham. If they could be sure that the money would be spent under advice better than his they would give it, but not otherwise. U. OF lU. LSB. i 52 The Ascendancy of Buckingham. 1625. Charles had made so many promises that he could not keep them all. He had promised the King of France that he would not persecute the Catholics, can get^no^"^ He had promised his own Parliament that money. would not tolcrate them. He now made up his mind to do as his own subjects wished. But the Commons were not to be led astray. They believed that they might as well throw money into the sea as en- trust it to Buckingham, and they let Charles know as much. Charles felt instinctively that to abandon Buckingham was to put himself under the tutelage of the Commons. If they were to settle who were to be the tion?f Padia- ministers of the crown, they would be able to control ministers, who could only keep their places at the good pleasure of Parliament. The two Houses would thus become practically the sovereigns of England. Rather than submit to this Charles dis- solved the Parliament. He hoped to be able before many months were past to meet a new Parliament with all the prestige of a great victory. All the money on which he could \ r* CacTiz^^^^ hands was spent in fitting out a fleet with a large land force on board. Lord Wimbledon who commanded it was ordered to take some Spanish town, and then to lie in wait for the fleet which annually brought to Spain the produce ofthemines of America. To the end of his life it was always Charles' mistake to fancy that if he brought together a large fleet or a numerous army he might do anything he liked. It could not be so. Th,e greater part of the fleet was made up of merchant vessels pressed into the king's service with their crews. The landsmen !n Cadrz^Bay. had been torn from their homes by force. The Fleet for Cadiz, 53 A few officers in the king's service wished to succeed. But the greater part of the force only cared to escape with a whole skin. When Wimbledon sailed into Cadiz Bay and ordered an attack upon a fort which defended the harbor, the chief efforts of the masters of the pressed vessels were directed to keeping out of the way of the shot. If there was a want of devotion in the lower ranks there was a want of intelligence in the offi- cers. When the fort at last surrendered, Wimbledon led his men away from the town many miles in pursuit of an imaginary enemy. He forgot to take food with him, and after a long march on a hot summer's day the men were starving. Then he allowed them to drink wine, and as it turned out that there was plenty of wdne to be had, the whole army, with the exception of a hand- ful of officers, soon became helplessly drunk. A Spanish detachment might have slaughtered them all. When Wimbledon marched back the next day there was nothing to be done. Cadiz was too strong to be taken. Putting to sea, he began to look out for the treasure ships. But the treasure ships sailed into Cadiz Bay two days after Wimbledon left it, and after keeping watch in vain off the coast of Portugal, the English vessels hurried home with tattered sails and starving crews. Charles would not be able to appear before Parliament in the guise of a conqueror. Whilst Wimbledon was at Cadiz, Buckingham had gone to Holland to raise up a great confederacy against Spain and the allies of Spain. He had promised 30,000^. a month to the king of ^i?am?n^Hd- Denmark, and if Wimbledon had returned victorious he would probably have found little difficulty in persuading the Commons to grant the supplies he needed. But Wimbledon had done nothing, and there 5 4 The Ascendancy of Buckhigham . 1625. was little hope that a second Parliament would prove more compliant than the first. Section III. — The Impeachment of Buckingham^ and the Expedition to Rhe, Charles' position was the more dangerous as he was on the brink of a contest with France. Lewis XIII. had taken umbrage at Charles' renewed perse- fent to^thl^^^^ cution of the English Catholics in defiance French. j^-^ pj-Qmises, and Charles had been in- sensibly drawn on to interfere in the internal affairs of France. Before James died the Protestants of Rochelle had revolted against the French king, and James had hastily consented to lend an English squadron to assist Lewis to put down rebellion. In the spring of 1625 Charles and Buckingham wished to draw back, and not daring openly to break their engagements, sent secret orders to the commander of the fleet to get up a mutiny on board his own ships, that they might be brought back to England apparently against the wish of the king. The plan succeeded for a time. But news arrived that Lewis and his subjects were at peace, and Charles fancied that he might curry favor with him by sending the ships now that they would be of no real service. The news of peace turned out to be untrue, and Lewis kept Charles' ships without owing him any thanks, whilst Englishmen who knew nothing of all these manoeuvres blamed Charles for lending the ships at all, to be used against Protestants abroad. Other causes of dissatisfaction arose. Charles held that French ships had no right to carry the goods of his ^ ^ enemies, the Spaniards, seized the vessels 1 2. Further and sold the goods. Even Charles' efforts disputes. avert a breach were imprudent. In or- 1625. The Impeachment of Buckingham. 5 5 der that he might obtain the co-operation of France in the German war, he mediated a peace between Lewis and his subjects, and made himself morally responsible for the execution of its conditions, a responsibility which was sure to lead him sooner or later to give offence to Lewis. When Parliament met, many of the leaders of the last session were absent. Charles had been clever enou2[h to make them sheriffs, and as sher- ^ . § 3. Meeting iffs were wanted in their own counties, they of Parliament, could not be at Westminster at the same time. His cleverness about the sheriffs met with as little success as his cleverness about the ships. The House found in Sir John Eliot a leader even abler and far more vehement than those who had been kept away. EHot had already made himself a name as the first orator of the day. But he had not cared to lift up his voice much in the last Parliament. Person- ally attached to Buckingham, he had been lij^f^^-^^^" loth to admit the conviction to his mind that Buckingham was an incumbrance to his country. That thought once admitted, there were no bounds to Eliot's abhorrence. He loved England with all the passionate enthusiasm which Pericles felt for Athens^ and he trusted in the House of Commons as no man ever trusted before or since. It was for him in a very real sense the collective wisdom of the nation. Kings and rulers had but to consult the House of Commons, and they would find wisdom there. With this confi- dence in men whom he knew to be in earnest was joined a faith in all pure and noble deeds, and a contemptuous abhorrence of all things mean and base. In the follies of the splendid favorite he saw greed and selfishness, and deliberate treason to his beloved country. 56 The Ascendancy of Buckmgham. 1626. What wonder if Eliot called for inquiry into the mis- management which had led to so many disasters by . ^ , . sea and land. What wonder if he traced 6 5. Bucking- ham's impeach- the cause of all evil to the traitorous wicked- ness of Buckingham. Before long the Com- mons impeached the minister. The tale of crime, real and imaginary, was unrolled in the ears of men, and the Lords were called upon to visit with the severest penalties the man who had made himself all-powerful in order that he might ruin the State for selfish ends. Charles was deeply vexed. One day he heard that Eliot had branded Buckingham as Sejanus. of%?r\?a°men'r " is Scjanus," he muttered, " I must be Tiberius." If the Commons exaggerated the worst traits of Buckingham's character, Charles dwelt exclusively on his better qualities, his frank and open bearing, his undaunted courage, his devotion to his master's interests. Rather than abandon his minister he dissolved Parliament before it had voted a single sixpence. Charles' first hope was that the nation would give him what the Commons had refused. A demand for a I 7 The free ^^^^ ^^^^ support the war was made in gift. every county. But with few exceptions the inhabitants of the counties turned a deaf ear to the de- mand. Some one suggested that if men could not be forced to give money to the king, they had often been made to lend. The King of Denmark suffered a grievous de- feat at Lutter, mainly from want of the suc- l ^- cors which Charles had promised him. In lorced loan. ^ order that help might be sent him, Charles ordered the collection of a forced loan. Before the money came in it was evident that but little 1627. The Expedition to RhL 57 of it would be spent in sending aid to the King of Den- mark. The ill-feehng between France and , ^. . § 9. Dispute England was increasing. Lewis, now under between France the guidance of Richelieu, the great French England, statesman of the age, had made peace with his Protes- tant subjects in the hope that Charles would enter into active operations in Germany. Charles, who had no money to employ in fighting, haggled over the terms of the alliance, and put himself ostentatiously forward as the protector of the French Protestants. Lewis, who dared not embark in a war in Germany if there was a chance of Charles' coming to the assistance of any of his subjects who might choose to revolt, prepared to lay siege to the great Protestant seaport of Rochelle, which was entirely independent of his authority. Charles felt himself in honor bound to come to its defence. Other causes of dispute were not wanting. The French attendants of the queen taught her to regard herself as injured because Charles had broken his promises in favor of the English Catholics. dis^mS'sdof He could not, he said, count his wife his own h^useholJ as long as they were there, and, without thought of the engagements which pledged him to keep the queen's household as it was, he drove her attendants out of England. The natural result was war between France and Eng- land. The forced loan was driven on to . ^ . A. D. 1627. supply the means. Chief Justice Crewe, I II. War refusing to acknowledge its legality, was dis- ^^^^^ France, missed. Poor men who refused to pay were sent as soldiers into foreign service. Rich men were summoned before the council and committed to prison. By these harsh measures a considerable sum was scraped together. A handful of men was despatched to help the King of F 58 The Ascendancy of Buckingham. 1627. Denmark in Germany, and a stately fleet of a hundred sail, carrying a large force on board, was prepared to go under Buckingham's command to the relief of Rochelle. On July 12 the English troops, after a sharp contest with the enemy, landed on the Isle of Rhe, which, if it came into Buckingham's hands, would be an pedition^to^' admirable point of vantage for the defence of the neighboring Rochelle. On July 17 Buckingham commenced the siege of St. Martin's, its principal fortress. The ground was rocky, and the siege was soon converted into a blockade. On September 27 the garrison had but three days' provisions left, and opened negotiations for a surrender. In the night thirty- five boats, favored by a stiff breeze, dashed through the English blockading squadron, and revictualled the place. The besieged had respite for two months longer. If reinforcements could reach Buckingham to enable him to keep up the numbers which were thinned by dis- ease, all might yet go well. Charles at home 1 13. The ureed his ministers to the utmost. But retreat. ^ money and men were hard to find. Buck- ingham's rise had been too sudden, and his monopoly of the king's favor too complete, to give him much chance of a favorable judgment from the higher classes, and now no man who was not a creature of the court trusted Buckingham any longer. Before the reinforce- ments could reach him the end had come. A French force had landed on the island, and Buckingham, after one hopeless attempt to storm the fort, gave orders for a retreat. Mismanagement completed the ruin which an evil policy had begun. The French fell upon the invaders as they struggled to regain their ships, and of 6,800 Eng- lish troops less than 3,000, worn with hunger and sick- ness, were landed in England. i628. The Petition of Right, 59 Section IV. — The Petition of Right and the Assassina- tion of Buckingham, After the failure at Rhe Buckingham's unpopularity reached its highest pitch. " Since England ^ ^ ^^^^ was England," we find in a letter of the time, November. ** it received not so dishonorable a blow." faritJ^f^Buc'k- The fault that had occurred was laid upon ^"g^^'^- Buckingham. Five of the prisoners who were suffering for their re- fusal to pay the loan were inspirited to appeal to the Judges for a writ of habeas corpus, which would enable them to be fairly tried upon \lrp!^^l^- any charge which the king had to bring n^anded. against them. But the king had named no charge, and the Judges were of opinion that within some undefined limits it was for the king to decide whether prisoners should be tried or not. Neither Buckingham nor Charles had any thought oi stopping the war. A fleet was got ready under Bucking- ham's brother-in-law, the Earl of Denbigh, to carry provisions to Rochelle, which was ^'j.^charles' now besieged by the French, and a Parlia- J^^^^ Parlia- ment was summoned to grant supplies for the payment of the fleet. The leader who gave the tone to the opening debates was Sir Thomas Wentworth. Sprung from a wealthy and ancient house in Yorkshire, ? 4- Sir Thomas ^ Wentworth. he was inspired by a lofty consciousness of his own consummate abilities as a speaker and a states- man. In every point he was the very opposite of Eliot. He disbelieved entirely in the wisdom of the House of Commons, and thought it very unlikely that a large and heterogeneous body could ever undertake the govern- 6o The Ascendancy of Buckingham, 1628. ment of a great kingdom with advantage. Believing that important reforms and wise government were abso- lutely necessary for the well-being of England, and knowing that such a rule as he wished to see could only be evolved from the intellect of the few, he was apt to forget that without the support of the many, the few who were wise would be unable to get their wishes carried out, and that even if they succeeded for a time, it would only be by crushing that life and vigor in the body of the nation out of which alone any permanent order could be evolved. The contrast between Eliot and Wentworth, in short, may be best illustrated by an imaginary conflict between the heart and the brain to be considered the I ^•J^^y^^'^'^^^ chief organs of the human body. Eliot was with Eliot. ° ^ for the heart, Wentworth for the brain. Eliot was right in saying that government could not be carried on except in agreement with the representatives of the nation. Wentworth was right in saying that it could not be carried on except by men possessing qualities above those of the average member of the House of Com- mons. Around this conflict of opinion the course of the com- ing revolution, so far at least as it was a political revolu- ^6. Both op- tion, was to turn. For the present, the two p >sed to Buck- great men could work toe^ether. The rule ingham. *=• ^ ° of Buckingham was detestable, both to the intellect and to the feeling of the nation. Wentworth and Eliot could join in putting a stop to that. After much discussion, a Petition of Right, that is to say, a declaration that certain rights of the Petition of nation which had been violated must be ac- knowledged for the future, was presented to the king. To some of its demands Charles raised no ob- 1628. The Petition of Right. 61 jection. He was ready to promise never again to raise a forced loan, or to compel householders to receive soldiers against their will, or to give a commission to military officers to execute martial law in time of peace. But he shrank from promising that he would never send any one to prison without showing the cause for which he had done so. The concession, in fact, was of the utmost im- portance. Whatever the law may have been, the king had been in the habit of sending men to prison when he thought fit, and had sometimes left them there untried. If a cause was shown, the Judges could at once be appealed to by the prisoner to appoint a day for the trial, that it might be known whether the charge was true or not. The final decision on state offences would then be in the hands of a judicial court, and not in the hands of the king. Charles struggled long against this conclusion. But he needed money. Denbigh had come back from Rochelle, having completely failed to carry in the pro- visions with which he was charg-ed. A more ^^yai ° assent to it. powerful fleet must be fitted out. Yet, unless Charles assented to the Petition, the Commons would grant no supplies. He tried hard to get over the diffi- culty by an evasive answer. The Commons stood firm, and on June 7 the great Petition became the law of the land. The Petition of Right is memorable as the first Act which circumscribed the exuberant powers which the Tudors had bequeathed to the Stuarts. But „ ^ , , 1 , . . r 1 Further It was but the begmnmg of a great change. changes It decided that every prisoner should have a trial before the Judges, if he asked for it ; but it took no precautions that the trial should be a fair one. Unless a capital offence had been committed the case might be 62 The Ascendancy of Buckingham. 1628. brought before the Star Chamber, or the High Commis- sion, both of them under the immediate influence of the king, and punishing without the intervention of a jury. Even the ordinary Judges were much under the king's control. They were appointed to their places by him, and they might be dismissed by him. Without being con- sciously hypocritical, they were likely to take the same view of things which was taken at court. The alteration made by the petition could not be fully felt till the Judges became independent of the crown, as they did after the Revolution of 1688. It was not in this direction that the Commons imme- diately turned their attention. They wanted many things to be changed in Church and State. Above § 10. Proro- 2^ ^]^gy wanted to be rid of Buckingham. gallon. ' ^ ° Sooner than listen to the language which was uttered, Charles, having by this time got the money he needed, prorogued the Houses. Buckingham was to command the fleet which was going once more to Rochelle, and if Buckingham won a victory, the Com- mons would, perhaps, not take so harsh a view of his character when they reassembled. In August Buckingham was at Portsmouth, making ready for embarkation. He knew how widely dissatis- faction at his conduct had kindled into bitter fngham^at^" hatred to his person. But for assassination Portsmouth. prepared. A friend had begged him to wear a shirt of mail beneath his clothes. A shirt of mail," he answered, "would be but a silly defence against any popular fury. As for a single man's assault, I take myself to be in no danger. There are no Roman spirits left." He little knew that one gloomy fanatic was dogging his steps. John Felton had served as an officer in the Expedition to Rhe. He had been refused promo- 1628. The Petition of Right. 63 tion, and when he returned, he was left, hke most men in the king's service were, with his salary unpaid. In his misery, he caught eagerly at the tales of which the air was full, and fed his mind upon a declaration, pro- ceeding from ihe Commons, that the Duke was a public enemy. He bought a knife, in order, as he said, to avenge himself, his country, and his God. On the morning of August 23, Felton stationed him- self at the entrance of the room in which Buckingham was breakfasting. As the Duke stepped out, the murderer struck him heavily in the Murder of breast, saying, " God have mercy upon thy soul ! " as he dealt the blow. The man who till now had been the ruler of England fell dead to the ground. His wife, warned that something terrible had happened, rushed out with shrieks of agony in her night-dress from her bed-room into a gallery which overlooked the scene. Felton was seized, and after due trial met the fate which he deserved. The fleet was sent out under another commander. But there was no heart in the sailors, no resolution in the commanders. ^ ^^'f^^^^^^f^ England was weary of the war which had been entered on so recklessly and conducted with so little capacity. Rochelle surrendered to the French government. Charles was left alone to bear the weight of unpopularity which failure had caused. 6