YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

THE

HISTORY OF ENGLAND

UNDER THE

HOUSE OF STUART,
INCLUDING THE COMMONWEALTH.
[A.D. 1603— 1688.]
PART I.
JAMES I.— CHARLES I.

UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.

LONDON:
BALDWIN AND CRADOCK, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1840.

LONDON:
Printed ljy William Clowes and Sons,
Stunifurd Street.

PREFACE.

Thk condition of England under the House of Stuart exhibits
that point in our progress as a nation, toward which all the
previous changes in English history converged, and from Avhich
the leading events of subsequent times have derived their com
plexion. If well understood it leaves little to be explained in
relation either to the past or the present. The interval from
TDl>&-to~1.688 was marked by the appearance of great men, by
great events, and above all by a. protracted struggle in the
cause of groat principles. It, has been my aim that the present
publication should not be deficient in any matter properly belong
ing to a complete history of that period ; but my special attention
has been directed to the . history of political and religious parties,
and to the progress of affairs as affecting the settlement of order,
law, and liberty at the Revolution. It is hoav more than ten
years since I began the study of this subject Avith a vieAv to
authorship. In committing the result, of my labour to the
judgment of the public, I should have less anxiety if I could
feel as satisfied Avith the execution of the Avork, as with the
extent of my efforts to acquaint nryself with the best sources
of information, and the sincerity of my solicitude to make a
candid and a Avise use of the knowledge thus obtained. No
attempt has been made to conceal my own vieAVs Avith respect to
the great questions at isguo in those times; but in defending
principles which I believe to be of the greatest importance to our
social Avelfare, I have been anxious to avoid all unfairness toAvard
the parties by Avhom those principles have been assailed. In
this spirit my labour has been prosecuted, — not Avitlvthc expecta-
A 2 .

iv ruurACK.
tion of giving entire satisfaction to thorough partisans of any
class, but in the hope of producing a work Avhich might contri
bute, however imperfectly, toAvard a more general diffusion of
sound views with regard to the great facts in our national
history. Robert Vauqhan.
Notting Hill, May 30, 1810.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

OF

CONTENTS.

JAMES I.
A.l).
1603. Accession of James I. the result of popular feeling, 1 ; the elevation of James
regarded with some apprehension by all parties, 3 ; the Catholics, ib. ; the prelates
and court clergy, 4 ; the Puritans, 5 ; correspondence of James with persons in
the English court before his accession, 6 ; James proclaimed the successor of
Elizabeth (March 24), 7 ; the progress of the king from Edinburgh to London,
8 ; council formed, 9 ; a proclamation issued for correction of abuses, 10 ; dis
tribution of honours, ib, ; arrival of ambassadors, ib. ; state of Europe, 11 ; peace
concluded with Spain, 12 ; State of Protestantism in Europe, 13 ; effect of the
ecclesiastical and political condition of Europe on the spirit and conduct of the
house of Stuart, ib. ; court intrigues — Raleigh plot, 14 ; Markham's plot to seize
the person of the king, 15 ; the conspirators apprehended, ib. ; trial of Cobham
and Grey, 16 ; and of Raleigh, 17—20 ; petition of the Puritans (April), 20 ;
conduct of the universities, 21
1604. Conference at Hampton Court (Jan.), 22 — 25 ; effect of this conference, 26 ;
meeting of parliament (March 1 9), 27 ; the king's speech, ib. ; address of the
commons, 28; they claim the sole authority of judging with respect to elections,
29 ; union with Scotland — case of the Bishop of Bristol, 30; the revenue, 31 ;
dispute respecting the exemption of members from arrest, ib. ; necessities of the
government, ib. ; subsidy delayed, and parliament prorogued (Feb. 7), 32;
conduct of the commons at this juncture examined, ib. ; civil grievances, 33 ;
religion, ib. ; strong prejudice of James against the Puritans, 34; conduct of
the Puritans, how far censurable, 35, 36 ; proceedings in the houses of con
vocation, 37 ; relation subsisting between the civil and ecclesiastical states in
the English constitution, ib. ; theory of Elizabeth on this subject — how regarded
by the commons, and by her ministers, 38 ; ground on which the Puritans com
plained of their grievances as being contrary to law, 39 ; attempt of James to
augment the power of the convocation, 40 ; proceedings of the convocation on
the accession of Elizabeth and James compared, ib. ; severity of the regulations
adopted in the convocation of 1604, ib.; enlightened sentiments of the Bishop
of St. David's, 41 ; James obtains unconstitutional aid from the judges and his
council, ib. ; character of the Puritans according to the tolerant Archbishop of
York, 42 ; persecution of the Puritans, 43 — 45 ; importance of correct vieAvs
with regard to the Puritan controversy, 45 ; case of Pound, a Catholic, 46 ;
state of the English Catholics, 47 ; the gunpowder conspiracy — Catesby, 49 ;
the plot disclosed to Winter (March), 50 ; and to Fawkes, Percy, and Wright,
ib.; house taken in the name of Percy (Dec. 11), 51
1605. Parliament prorogued (from Oct. 3 to Nov. 5), 53 ; Sir Everard Digby and
Francis Tresham, ib. ; ulterior plans of the conspirators, ib. ; Fawkes and Catesby
(Oct. 11—26), 54; letter to Lord Monteagle (Oct. 26), 54—56; 5th of Nov.,
seizure of Fawkes, 56 ; flight of the conspirators, ib. ; trial and execution, 57 ;
case of the Je'snit missionaries, ib.; meeting of parliament (Nov. 9), 58; Im
pression made by the king's speech, 59 ; parliament prorogued, 60

vi CONTENTS.
A.D.
1606. Re-assembled Jan. 21, ib; the penal laws against Catholics made more severe,
ib. ; the justice of these penal laws considered, 61; death of Henry IV. of
France (May 4, 1610), 62
1607. Necessities of the government (Jan. 21), 63; connexion between the granting
of supplies and the redress of grievances, ib. ; a supply obtained, 64 ; .parlia
ment prorogued (May 27), 65 ; re-assembled — the king's speech, ib.; question
of the union with Scotland — motives of the king in urging it, 66 ; difficulties of
the measure, ib; report of the commissioners, ib. ; the proposal resisted by the
commons, 67 ; mixed motives of the commons in this matter, 68 ; failure of the
project, ib. ; question of naturalization agitated, ib. ; conduct of James — parti
cularly adverse to an indulgence of his arbitrary temper, 69 ; his' inclination to
favouritism, ib. ; Philip Herbert, the favourite (1604), 71 ; extravagant gifts to
royal favourites, 72
1610. Cecil — his character and difficulties, ib.; necessity of re-assembling the parlia
ment (Feb. 15), 73; proposal of the government with regard to the revenue,
74 ; disputes between the common lawyers and the civilians, ib. ; a publication
by Dr. Cowell, the civilian, censured by the commons, 75 ; dispute respecting
imposts, 76 ; extravagant maxims of James with regard to his prerogative, ib.;
spirited conduct of the commons, ib. ; the question as argued by both parties,
77 ; proposed abolition of some feudal burdens, ib. ; James displeased, and the
parliament dissolved (Oct. 16), 78
1612. Death of Cecil (May24), ib.; his, condition as a statesman and courtier —
described by himself, 79
1610-14. interval between James's first and second parliament, 80
1 G 1 1 . James's theological disputes — Oath of allegiance, ib. ; altercation with the States-
General respecting Vorstius, 81, 82 ; synod of Dort (1619), 82
1612. Death of Prince Henry (Nov. 6), 83
1613. Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth (Feb. 14), 84; rise of Carr, the new favourite,
ib.; his connexion with the Countess of Essex, 86 ; perplexities of the govern
ment, 87
1614. The king's second parliament convened, 88; Attempt of the " undertakers," ib. ;
speculation of the king on the impolicy of religious persecution, 89 ; arbitrary
language of the king's speech (April 5), ib.; debate on the question of imposi
tions resumed, 90; parliament dissolved (June 7), 91 ; opposition between the
spirit of the court and the nation, ib. ; tyrannical conduct of the king (June 8),
ib.; rise of Villiers, ib.; fall of Somerset, 92 ; arrest of Somerset and the Coun
tess, ib. ; and of their accomplices, 93 ; trial and fate of these persons, ib. ; Arch
bishop Abbot's advice to Villiers — progress of the favourite, 94 ; conduct of
James and Somerset towards Raleigh, 95
1616. Raleigh liberated through the influence of Villiers, 96 ; indulges the project of a
voyage to Guiana, ib. ; conduct of the Spanish ambassador, 97 ; aggression of
1618. the Spaniards at St. Thomas's, 98; failure of the enterprise, ib. ; arrest of
Raleigh, 99; proceedings against him, ib.; put to death as a peace-offering to
Spain, 100, and note; his character and demeanour in his last moments, 101 — 103 ;
government of James in Ireland, 103; state of the Irish Catholics, 104; great
improvement in the laws respecting offences and property, ib.; plantation of
Ulster, 105; evils attending subsequent proceedings, 106
1615. Ecclesiastical affairs in Scotland, 107;, small progress of episcopacy in Scot
land, ib.'; James visits that kingdom, ii.; impolicy of the king's proceedings
with regard to religion in Scotland, 108 ; ecclesiastical affairs in England, 109 ;
Catholics, ib.; progress of the controversy between the Puritans and the court
clergy, ib.
1610. The primacy of Bancroft, 110; attack on the high commission court, 111; ori
gin and constitution of the high commission court, 112; the parliament of 1610

CONTENTS. vii
A.n. complain against it, 1 14 ; progress of separation from the established church, 115;
1614. the Puritans consist of two "classes at this time, ib. ; doctrine of the Puri
tans respecting the province of the magistrate in regard to religion, 118; death
1610. of Bancroft — primacy of Abbot, 120; new translation of the Scriptures com-
1618. pleted, 121 ; Legate and Wightman put to death on a charge of heresy, ib.; The
1622. Book of Sports, 122; passive obedience inculcated by the University of Oxford,
and by the king, 123; Calvinistic tenets discountenanced at court, ib. ; rise of
the doctrinal Puritans, ib.; origin of the Brownists, 124; their tenets with re
gard to church polity, ib. ; their opinion respecting the church of England, 125 ;
their loyalty, ib.; notice of Robert Brown, 126 ; number of the Brownists, 127 ;
their confession of faith, and vindication of their conduct, 127 — 129; some of
the exiled Brownists transport themselves to America, 129; origin of the Inde-
1G1G. pendents, 130; rivalry of Coke and Bacon, 131—133; case of Peacham, 133;
1614. case of Owen, 134; court of chancery, ib.; dispute between Coke and the sove-
1615. reign relative to a proceeding in the king's bench, 135 ; Coke is suspended from
1617. his office as chief-justice, 136 ; admitted to a place in the privy council, ib.
1621. The fall of Bacon, 136; the parliament of (Jan. 30), after nearly ten years'
interval, 137 ; case of the Elector Palatine, ib.; opinion and conduct of James
respecting it, 138 — 141; proceedings, in parliament (Jan. 30), 141 ; question of
the imprisonment of members, 141 ; and of monopolies, 142 ; impeachment of
Mompesson and Mitchell, 143 ; prosecution of Yelverton, ib. ; conduct of Buck
ingham towards the Earls of Dorset and Southampton (March), 144 ; the ques
tion of imposition, 145; great excitemeut at this time, 146 — 148; parliament
re-assembled, 148 ; dispute between James and the commons respecting the
privileges of parliament, 148 — 150 ; protest of the commons concerning their
rights, 150
1622. Parliament dissolved (Jan. 6), 151; object of James in these proceedings, ib.;
imprisonment of members — popular discontent, ib. ; Digby's negotiations with
Spain, 152 ; policy of Buckingham at this juncture, 153; his project of a journey
with the prince to Spain, ib. ; obtains the concurrence of James, 155; advan
tage taken of Charles's presence at Madrid, 157; offence given to Buckingham,
who employs himself to prevent the match, ib. ; Charles concurs in this policy,
158 ; James induced to be a party to it, ib. ; the match is abandoned, 159 ; new
1623. policy of Buckingham, ib. ; a neAv parliament (Feb. 12), ib. ; duplicity of James,
160; statement of Buckingham to the parliament, ib.; Bristol is silenced —
war is declared against Spain, 161 ; proceedings in parliament — impeachment
1624. of Cranfield, Earl of Middlesex, 162; failure of the enterprise under Count
Mansfield, 163 ; Negotiation concerning the marriage of Charles to Henrietta,
16?5. ib.; death of James (March 27), 164; character of James I., 164—167;
leading principles of the English constitution, 168 ; its provision Avith respect to
the imposing of taxes sometimes infringed, by the exaction of loans and bene
volences, ib. ; conduct of Elizabeth with regard to loans and benevolences, 169 ;
legislative power of parliament sometimes infringed by means of proclamations,
171 ; freedom of debate in parliament imperfect, 172 ; administration of justice,
173 — 176; liberty of the subject, 176; court of star-chamber, 177 — 180;
court of high commission, 180 ; dispensing power, 181 ; testimonies of Aylmer,
Hooker, and Sir Thomas Smith to the nature of the English constitution and
government, 182 — 184; commerce, 185; manners of the court, 188 — 193;
state of manners and society in London, 193; society in the country, 197;
state of literature, 198; the arts, 201 ; architecture, ib.; science, 202.
CHARLES I.
1625. Character .of Charles I. on his accession, 204,205; a new parliament, 206;
state of parties — the lords, ib. ; the commons, ib. ; the court party, 207 ; the

viii CONTENTS.
a.d. country party, including the Puritans and patriots, ib. ; Puritans and patriots,
207—209 ; proceedings of parliament (June 21 ), 209 ; petition against Catholics
—Dr. Montague, 210 ; cautious temper of the commons, 210—212 ; the reces*
—proceedings at Oxford (Aug. 1), 212; English ships employed against
Rochelle, 213 ; delays in the commons— impatience of the king, ib. ; parliament
dissolved (Aug. 12)— conduct of this parliament considered, 214; armament
against Cadiz, 215 ; disagreement with respect to the queen's attendants, ib. ;
1626. negotiations with foreign poivers, 216 ; preparations for assembling a second
parliament, 217 ; March, July, conduct of Charles towards Arundel, 218 ; and
Bristol, 219; impolicy of these proceedings, 220; the commons (March 27),
221 ; impeachment of Buckingham (May),*.; parliament dissolved (June 15),
223; nature of the dispute between Charles and the commons, ib.— 225 ; expe
dients of the government to raise money, 225 ; misfortunes of the Elector Pala-
1627. tine— hopes of the court (Sept.), 226 ; a forced loan, 227 ; oppressive conduct
of the government, ib.; the liberty of the subject argued before the judges
(Nov- 7—27), 228 ; unconstitutional decision of the judges (Nov. 27), 229 ;
1628, war with France, 230; financial difficulties — third parliament, 231; Charles
anxious to put an end to a free government, 232 ; excitement at the elections,
233 ; meeting of parliament (March 17), ib. ; proceedings in the commons, 234 ;
petition of right, 235 ; difficulty and insincerity of the king respecting it, ib. ;
perseverance of the commons (June 5), 236 ; the royal assent obtained (June 7),
237; further measures of the commons, ib. ; parliament prorogued (June 26),
238 ; importance of the petition of right, ib.; fall of Rochelle, 239 ; death of
Buckingham _by an assassin, ib. ; means employed to corrupt the opponents of
1629. the court, 241 ; apostacy of Wentworth, 242 ; proceedings in parliament (Jan.
20), 243; religious grievances — case of Manwaring, ib; rise of Laud, 245;
objects of the Laudian clergy, ib. ; dispute concerning the poAver to~decree rites
and ceremonies (Jan. 27), 246; complaints of the increase of Popery, 247;
duplicity of Charles with respect to the printed copies of the petition of right,
ib. ; disputes between the king and the commons, 248 ; proceedings in the
commons on the 2nd of March, 249 ; parliament dissolved, 250 ; conduct of the
commons towards Charles considered, ib. ; policy of Charles at this juncture,
252; his proclamation, ib.; members of the commons jmprisoned, 253 ; death
of Sir John Eliot] 255
1629-40. Natural division of the reign of Charles I., 253
1629. Peace Avith France and Spain (May). 259 ; illegal methods of raising money,
1630. 260; compulsory knighthood, 261 ; the forest-laws revived, 262; monopolies, ib. ;
1634. abuse of proclamations, 263 ; ship-money, 264
1637. John Hampden, 266
1630. Proceedings in the star-chamber — Leighton, 26S
1 632. Case of Prynne, 269
1635. Case of Bastwick, 270; case of Burton, ii.
1637. Different sentiments of the people and the government in regard to these
prosecutions, 271
1628. Proceedings in the star-chamber against Bishop Williams protracted to the year
1639,272
i629. Prosecutions in the court of high commission, 273; case of Bernard (Jan. 28),
274 ; Smart and others, ib.
1629-40. Emigration to the New World, 275 ; checked by the government, ib. ; intole
rant conduct of the government towards the foreign Protestants settled in Eng
land, 276 ; disputes Avith respect to religious ceremonies, 277 ; disputes respect-
1633. ing the. place of the communion-table, 278
1630, Ceremonies used in the consecration of St. Catharine's church, 279; the case of
Sherfield, 280

CONTENTS. ix
A.D. "
1632. Hostility of the ruling clergy to the common law, 281 ; controversy respecting the
observance of the Babbath, ib.
1634. Restraints laid upon preaching, 282 — 284
1629-40. Prevalent fears with regard to another Catholic ascendancy, 284; project of
an accommodation with the church of Rome, ?86 — 288; the universities, 288;
general state of the country (from 1629 to 1640), 288—290
1625. Change of religious feeling in Scotland, 290
1626-28. Revocation of tithes and benefices, 291
1633. The king's visit to Scotland (June), 293; a parliament (June 19-27), 294 ; arbi
trary and unjust conduct of the monarch, ib.; discontent excited among the
Scotch nobility, clergy, and others, ib.
1634-35. Case of Lord Balmeriuo, 295 ; conduct of the Scottish bishops, 296
1636. The book of canons, 297
1637. The liturgy, 297, 298 ; disturbances at Edinburgh on the reading of the liturgy
(July 23), 299, 300 ; protest against the king's proclamation— institution of the
tables, 301
1638. The covenant (March 1), 301; concessions at length made by the king, ib.;
these concessions made without success — and ivhy, 303 ; the Scotch parliament
refuse to separate (Dec. 4J, ib.; preparations for Avar, 304 — 306 ; pacification of
Berwick, 306
1639. Acts of the new general assembly (Aug. 12), ib.; meeting and prorogation of
parliament (Aug. 31), 307; resolution to call u, parliament in England, ib.;
proceedings in parliament, 309; speech of Grimstone, ib. ; speech of Pym, 310;
interference of Charles and the lords, 311; parliament dissolved (May 5), ib. ;
object of Charles and of the commons, ib. ; the king returns to arbitrary mea
sures, 312; the Scots enter England — dispersion of the English at Newburn
(Aug. 29), 313; council of peers at York — treaty of Ripon, ib.
1640. Feeling of the nation on the meeting of the long parliament, 314; proceedings
in parliament — the king's speech (Nov. 3), 315; choice of the speaker, ib.;
speeches of the members — Rudyard, ib.; speeches in parliament printed for the
first time, 317 ; restoration of silenced ministers, ii.; committee for proceeding
against scandalous clergymen, 318; prosecution of the Bishops Wren, Peirce,
and Dr. Cosins, 319; case of Cosins, ib.; impeachment of Strafford, 320 ; im
peachment of Laud (Dec. 18), 321 ; Windebanke, 322; Finch (Dec. 23), ib.;
release of Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton (Nov. 28), ib. ; important measures
adopted by the commons, 323; bill for triennial parliaments (Jan. 19), 324 ;
courts of star chamber and high commission abolished (March 10), ib. ; attack
on the hierarchy (Jan.), 325; the Covenanters had no just notion of religious
toleration, ib. ; the Independents, 326
1629-40. Revieiv of these proceedings, 328—332; conduct of Strafford, 332—335;
Strafford's impeachment and trial (1639), 335—340
1641. His execution (May 12), 340 ; observations on his case, 341 — 344; character of
proceedings in the long parliament from this period, 344; the king's visit to
Scotland, 345 ; massacre in Ireland (Oct), ib.; the "incident," 346; affairs in
England during the absence of the king, 347; schism among the parliamentary
leaders,- 348 ; the king entertained by the citizens (Nov. 25), ib.; Remonstrance
of the parliament, 349 ; distrust of the king, 350 ; impeachment of the bishops,
ib.; impeachment of the five members, 351 ; the king comes to the house to
seize them, 352
1642. Triumph of the parliament, 353; claim of the parliament to have command of
the militia (Jan. 20), 354 ; attempt of the king to seize Hull and its magazine
(April 24), 356 ; the nineteen articles (June 2), 357 ; petitions, ib. ; conduct of
the queen, 359 ; declaration of Charles and the peers at York, 361 ; nine royalist
peers impeached (June 15), 363 ; ihe great seal removed to York, ib. ; siege of

x CONTENTS.
a.d. Portsmouth, 364;" the king raises the standard at Nottingham (Aug. 22), ib. ;
the justice of civil war considered, ib.; moderate professions of the royalists,
365 ; views of the parliament, 366 ; state of the kingdom, 369 ; the royalists,
ib. ; the parliamentarians, 370 ; connexion of the controversy with religion,
371 ; battle of Edge-hill, 372 ; negotiation at Colnbfook, 374 ; action at Brent
ford, ib. ; negotiation at Oxford, 375 ; arrival and impeachment of the queen,
ib. ; Edmund Waller's plot, 376
1643. Military occurrences, 376; death and character of Hampden, 377; first
1644. battle of Newbury, 379 ; death [and character of Falkland, 380 ; treaty be
tween the parliament and the Scots, 382 ; the Scots insist on the adoption of
their covenant, 383 ; evil consequences of this treaty, 384 ; death and character
of Pvm, ib. ; Charles obtains assistance from Ireland, 385 ; the Scots enter
England, 38o ; parliament at Oxford, ib.; battle of Marston Moor (July 1),
387j capitulation of the army under Essex (Aug.), ib.; third battle of Newbury
(Nov. 9), 388 ; dissensions in the army of the parliament, ib. ; Oliver Cromwell
— some account of him, ib. ; intrigue against Cromwell, 390 ; power of the
1645. Independents, ib. ; self-denying ordinance, 391; the army new modelled, ib. ;
Cromwell becomes exempted from the self-denying ordinance, ib. ; battle of
Naseby (July 14), 393 ; disunion among the leaders of both parties, 394.
1642-45. Character of Ruthen, the commander-in-chief, 395 ; Prince Rupert, ib.; Lord
Wilmot, 396 ; Sir Ralph Hopton, ib.; Sir Jacob Astley, 397; Lord Digby, ib.;
Sir John Colepeper, 398 ; Duke of Richmond, ib. ; Marquis of Hertford, 399 ;
Earl of Southampton, ii.; Earl of Leicester, 400; Earl of Bristol, ib. ; Earl of
Newcastle, ib. ; Lords Dunsmore, Seymour, and Saville, Secretary Nicholas, 401 ;
Parliamentarians — the Earl of Northumberland, 402; Earl of Pembroke, ib.;
Earl of Essex, 403 ; Earl of Salisbury, 404 ; Earl of Warwick, ib.; Earl of Hol
land, ib. ; Earl of Manchester, 405 ; Lord Say, 406 ; Sir Harry Vane, ib. ; diver
sity of character everywhere called forth by the conflict, ib.; methods of raising
money, 407 ; ecclesiastical affairs — relative position of the civil and ecclesiastical
power, 408 ; assembly of divines, ib. ; the Erastians, 409 ; the Presbyterians,
410; the Independents, ib. ; new directory, 412; proceedings with respect to
the Episcopalian clergy, ib.
1643. Trial of Laud, 413
1645. Execution of Laud (10 Jan.), 414; treaty of Uxbridge, ib. ; depressed state of
the royalists, 415 ; publication of the king's letters, 416 ; propositions for peace,
417 ; change in the state of parties, ib ; messages from the king, 418
1646. Commission of Glamorgan, 419 — 421 ; neiv overture from the king,422; escape
of Charles from Oxford, 423 ; he surrenders himself to the Scots (5th May),
424; general view of affairs at this period, 425 ; passive conduct of the king,
426 ; be adheres to episcopacy, 427 ; his dispute with Henderson, ib. ; position
of the king with respect to the two great parties, 428 ; he rejects the propositions,
ib. ; Charles meditates an escape from the Scots, 430 ; comparative strength of
the Presbyterians and Independents in the commons, ib.; Presbyterian form of
church government established, ii. ; modifications imposed by the Independents,
431; dissatisfaction of the Presbyterian clergy, ib.; their intolerance, 432-
several of the rejected propositions passed as ordinances, ib.
1647. Scots surrender the king to the English parliament, 432; relative position of
parties in England from this time, 433 ; confidence of the Presbyterians, ib. •
complaints of the army, 435 ; its first advance towards the capital, ib. ; depu
tation from the parliament (20th March), ib. ; violent conduct of the Pres
byterians, 436 ; second deputation, ib.; the officers interdicted from acting
for the men in regard to their grievances, 437 ; rise of the agitators, ib. ;
letter presented by them to the generals and the commons, 438 ; a third de
putation, ib. ; votes to disband the army (25th May), 439; further advance

CONTENTS. xi
a.d. of the army — refusal to disband, ib. ; conciliatory votes of the two houses
(3rd June), 440 ; the army obtain possession of the king's person, ib. ; en
gagement adopted by the army, ib. ; another deputation from the parliament
— determination of the army to proceed to London, 441; submission of the
city and parliament (June 12), 442 ; declaration of the arm)' — accusation
of eleven members, ib.; the army at Uxbridge (June 25), 443; excitement in
the city (July 20), 444; votes extorted from the parliament by tumult, ib. ;
scheme for the settlement of the constitution proposed by the army (August 2),
445 ; submitted to the king, and rejected (July 24 — 26), 446 ; the speaker and
many members from both houses withdraw to the army, 447 ; unfavourable po
sition of the king after rejecting the proposals of the army, 448 ; negotiations
renewed, ib. ; intrigues of the king against the army (Oct.), 449 ; revolutionary
temper of the army — the levellers, 450 ; check given to them, 451 ; rendezvous
at Ware — mutiny suppressed (Nov. 16), 452 ; the king escapes from Hamp
ton-court, 453; hostility of the army to him (Nov. 17), 454 ; four bills pro
posed as preliminary to a settlement (Dec. 14), 455 ; rejected by the king,
(Dec. 28), 456 ; his hope of escape frustrated, ib.
1648. Vote of non-addresses (Jan. 3), 456 ; popular feeling in favour of the king, ib.;
war declared in Scotland, 457 ; rising of the royalists in England, ib. ; defeat
of the Scots at Preston, 458; surrender of Colchester, ib. ; death of Lucas and
Lisle, 459; Cromwell in Edinburgh, ib. ; state of parties in England, ib.;
treaty of Newport, 460 ; menacing language against the king (Sept. 11), 461 ;
Charles accepts the Newport propositions, 462 ; he is conducted to Hurst castle,
ib.; members excluded by the military, (Dec. 6), 463 ; Cromwell returns from
Scotland, ib; conduct of the army in proceeding against the king considered,
464
1649. Trial of the king, 466; judgment pronounced against him (Jan. 27), 467; his
preparation for death, 468; his execution, 469; his character, 469 — 472

THE COMMONWEALTH.
1649. Commonwealth established (Feb. 6), 473; its defective authority and diffi
culties, ib. ; severities against the royalists, 474 ; execution of Holland, Capel,
and Hamilton, ib. ; character of these persons, 475 ; discontent in the army,
476; conduct of John Lilburne, ib. ; Cromwell's expedition to Ireland, 477 ;
his policy in that enterprise, ib. ; siege of Drogheda and Wexford, ib. ; cruelty
and rapidity of his conquests, 478
1650. Proceedings in Scotland — landing of Charles II., ib.
1651. Scotland invaded, 479; the victory of Dunbar, 480; Cromwell debates Avith
the Scots on points of theology, 481 ; Charles begins his march toward England,
482 ; the battle of Worcester, ib. ; escape of the king, 483 ; conduct of Lilbume,
481; State of public feeling, ib.
1650. Arbitrary conduct of the government, 486
1619-1651. Disaffection of the Presbyterians, 487
1651. Execution of Love (Aug. 22), 488
1649-1653. State of religion under the commonwealth, 489; state of the universities,
490; Ireland, ib.
1651. State of Scotland, 491
1650-1652. Transactions with foreign powers— Portugal, 492; Spain, 493; United
Provinces — causes of disagreement between the States and the Common
wealth, 494
1651. Letters of marque issued — the navigation act, 495
1652. Commencement of hostilities (May), 495

xii CONTENTS.
a.d. War declared— victory of Blake, 496; victory of Van Tromp (Nov. 29), ib. ;
1653. defeat of Van Tromp, i6.; change in the apparent character of the English at
this period, 497 ; excess of its spirit, ib. ; conduct of Cromwell, 498 ; proceed
ings with regard to a new parliament, 499 ; character of the parliament at this
time, 500; power of Cromwell — his views respecting the character of the govern
ment best adapted to the English people, 501 ; his difficulties — conferences with
the officers, ib.; clause in favour of the Presb3'terians, 501; stratagem of the
parliament, 502 ; Cromwell proceeds to the house attended by soldiers, ib. ;
his speech — he forces the members to depart, 503 ; puts an end to the Council
of State, 504; his conduct considered, i6. ; Cromwell convenes the " Little
Parliament," 506; its character and proceedings (July 5), 507 ; hostility called
forth by its measures, 508 ; its dissolution (Dec. 12.)

THE PROTECTORATE.
1654. Cromwell lord protector — the instrument of government, 509 ; Cromwell's
1655. second parliament — its proceedings — hostile to him (Sept. 3), 510; parliament
dissolved, 512
1656. Unsettled state of the country, 513; conspiracy of the republicans, ib. ; of the
royalists, ib. ; third parliament assembled (Sept. 17), 514; members rejected
by the council, 515; Cromwell is urged to assume the title of king, 516; it is
opposed by the council of officers, 517; hesitation of Cromwell, ib.; conference
on the subject. 518; Cromwell inclines to accept, but finally rejects the title,
ib.; the u[per house restored, 519; excluded members restored to the lower
house, 520; hostility of the commons to the upper house, and the protector,
ib. ; Cromwell dissolves the parliament, ib.; conduct of Cromwell in relation to
the parties of his time considered, 521 ; character of his government, 522; in
stitution of major-generals, 523; legislative power of the protector and council
questioned, 524 ; difficult situation of Cromwell, 525 ; his transactions Avith
foreign powers — United Provinces, ib. ; Portugal, 526; execution of Don
Pantaleon Si, ib. ; France and Spain — their relative positions, ib.; Richelieu
and Mazarin, 527, Mazarin and Charles — parties to a plot to assassinate
Cromwell, 528 ; his treaty Avith France, ib. ; his peremptory language to the
-French government, i6.; complimentary deputation from Cromwell to Louis,
529 ; siege and victory of Dunkirk, ib. ; keys of Dunkirk presented to the pro
tector, 530 ; decline of the Spanish power in the Netherlands, ib. ; maritime
power of England during the 'protectorate, ib. ; Cromwell's interference in
behalf of the persecuted Vaudois, 531 ; their sufferings, 532 ; effect of the
protector's interference, 533 ; state of religious toleration during the protecto
rate, ib. ; institution of the triers — their office, 534; general effect of their
labours, 535 ; increase of religious sects, 536 ; rise of the Quakers — notice of
Fox, i6. ; James Nayler, 538 ; the Ranters and Muggletonians, 539 ; fifth-
K57. monarchy-men, 540; the Unitarians— John Biddle, 541; state of the Pres
byterians, ib. ; the Independents — national convention of that body at the
Savoy, 542
1658. Cromwell contemplates assembling another parliament, ib. ; death of his daugh
ter lady Claypole, 543 ; illness of Cromwell, 544 ; his death, i6. ; his charac
ter, 545—549
1659. Accession ofRichard as protector, 549; difficulties of his situation, io;aparliament
(June 27), 550 ; its proceedings, 55 1 ; divided state of the army, 552 ; disagreement
between the army and the parliament, ib.; parliament dissolved (April 22), i6.;
the long parliament recalled, 553; conspiracies and risings of the royalists, ib. ;
disputes renewed between the army and the parliament, 554 ; the parliament

CONTENTS. xiii
a.d. prevented from assembling by the military, ib. ; policy of General Monk, 555 ;
perplexities of the committee of safety; ib. ; the long parliament recalled, 556 ;
Monk arrives in London, i6. ; is employed against the city, 557; declares in its
favour, ib. ; the excluded members restored, ib. ; proceedings in parliament,
558 ; Monk confers with Sir John Granville concerning the restoration of the
king, ii.; artful condition attached to the king's promises, 559; meeting of the
convention parliament, i6.; continued duplicity of Monk, ib.
1660. The restoration, 560
Reflections, 560; state of manners, 563; parliamentarians and cavaliers, ib. ;
the revenue, 564; the army, ib. ; commerce, ib. ;tho arts, 565; literature, 565
—570. CHARLES II.
1660. Addresses from the lords and commons to the king at Whitehall, 571 ; cha-
rater of the king, 572 ; the council, 575 ; bill of indemnity — punishment of
delinquents, 578 ; execution uf the regicides. 579; proceedings against Colonel
Lambert and Sir Harry Vane, 582 ; adjustment of property, 583 ; settlement of
the revenue, 585; army disbanded, ib. ; ecclesiastical affairs; 586; policy of
the court, i6. ; negotiations betAveen the Presbyterians and the Bishops, 589 ;
debate in the commons — the king's declaration (July 9), ib.
1661. New parliament (May 8), 590; its proceedings, 591 ; corporation-act, ib.;
Vernier's conspiracy, 592
1662. Savoy conference (March.25), 593; proceedings in the houses of convocation
(May), 594; act of uniformity, 595; the act enforced, 596; conduct of the
nonconformist clergy considered, i6. ; Independents and Quakers, 597 ; Eng
lish Cathulics, 598
1661. Change of the national sentiment in relation to the established church, 598 ; its
causes, 599; Charles meditates a suspension of the act of uniformity, 600
1663. King's declaration concerning his dispensing power, 600
1664. Enforcement of penal laws against Catholics (July 25), 602; the conventicle
act, ib.
1665. The five-mile act, 603 ;
1660. Proceedings in Scotland, 604
1661. A parliament, 605; its proceedings — episcopacy restored, 606; prosecution and
death of Argyle and Guthrie, ii. ; duplicity of Sharp — episcopacy restored,
608
1662. Affairs of Ireland, 609; groAvth of discontent, 6 1 0 ; necessities of the govern
ment, ib.; effect of the vices of the coiut on the ultimate liberty of the nat;on,
611 ; the king's marriage, ib.; scheme to make him independent of parliaments,
612; sale of Dunkirk, ii.
1663. The commons claim the right of inspecting the public expenditure, 613
1664. Call for war with the Dutch — large supplies voted, 614 ; change in the mode of
taxation, ii. ; its effect on the political power of the clergy
1665- The commons establish their right to appropriate supplies and to inspect public
1666. accounts, 615 ; origin of the war with Holland, 616 ; defeat of the Dutch on the
3rd of June, 619 ; produces no decided effect, 620 ; immoral aspect of the war,
ib.; sea-fight of four days, 621 ; defeat of De Ruyter by Monk and Prince Ru
pert, 622
1666- Mistaken policy of the English government, 623; the Dutch on the Thames
1667. and Medway, ib. ; end of the war, 624; general discontent, ib. ; the plague —
its course and extent, 625 ; its symptoms, 627 ; means employed to counteract
it, ib. ; its effect on the conduct of the people, 628 ; fire of London, its origin,
631 ; its progress and extent, 632; distress and consternation of the people, 634;

xiv CONTENTS.
a.d. conduct of the king and the court, 635 ; effect of the conclusion of the Avar on
the popular feeling, ii. ; unpopularity of Clarendon, ib. ; death of Southampton,
636 ; fall of Clarendon unavoidable, ib. ; abandoned by" the king, 637 ; im
peached by the commons, ib.; leaves the kingdom, 638; remainder of his days,
ib. ; change of the national feeling, 639 ; Louis invades the Netherlands, 640 ;
secret treaty between Charles and Louis, 641
1668. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 642 ; the new ministry, 643; parliament — its into
lerance, ib. ; conduct of Buckingham, 646 ; great secret treaty between Charles
and Louis, 647—649
1669- Parliament, 650 ; impeachment of the Earl of Orrery, ib. ; the judicial power of
1670. the lords restricted, ib.; sufferings of the nonconformists, 651; the " Cabal,"
653
1670. Parliament (October 24), 655; assault upon Sir John Coventry, ib. ; the lords
not to alter a money-bill, 656 : the exchequer closed, 658
1672. Attack on the Smyrna fleet, 658; declaration of indulgence, ib.; second Dutch
war, 659; naval proceedings, ib.; battle of .Southwold Bay (May), 661; pro
gress of the French army under Louis, 663
1673. Parliament (Feb. 4), ib.; the commons oppose the king's declaration of indul
gence, 664; the king consents to cancel it, ib. ; origin of the Test-Act, 665;
bill to relieve the nonconformists — its fate, 666; character and policy of the
country party, ii.; resignations produced by the Test-Act, 668 ; character and
administration of Danby, ib.; the war, 669 ; parliament opposed to the marriage
of the Duke of York, 669; the commons petition for a fast, 670; parliament
prorogued, 671; Shaftesbury's conduct as chancellor, 672; marriage of the
Duke of York, 673 ; the commons renew their address for a fast, 674
1674. Proceedings against Lauderdale, Buckingham, and Arlington, 674-675 ; effect
of these proceedings, 675 ; peace between England and Holland, 677 ; aspect
of the French war, ib.; Charles obtains pecuniary aid from Louis, ib.; projects
concerning the succession, 678
1675. Parliament— -strength of the opposition in the commons, 680; address and de
bate on the recall of the English troops in the service of France, 684 ; debate on
the non-resisting test, ib. ; dispute between the lords and commons, 689
](§76. New secret treaty between Charles and Louis, 690
1677. Long recess — shutting up the coffee-houses, 691 ; parliament — questions raised
as to its legality, ii. ; bill for the security of the church, 692; the progress of
the war, 693 ; duplicity and perplexities of the king, 696
1678. Marriage between the Prince of Orange and the Princess Mary, 698; peace of
Nimeguen, 704 ; intrigues of Louis, 706 ; extended to the country party — cha
racter of that proceeding, ib. ; the popish plot, 708 ; Kirby's warning to the king,
ib. ; Tonge's information, 709 ; the subject taken up by Danby, ii. ; and laid be
fore the council, 710 ; Titus Oates, ib.; his depositions, 711; Coleman's letters,
712 ; murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, 713 ; conduct of the court, and of the
-country party, in relation to the plot, 714; parliament (October 21), 715; the
Catholic Test Bill, 716; Bedloe comes forward as a witness, 717; Oates and
Bedloe accuse the queen, 718 ; dispute on the question of the militia, ib.
1679. Parliament dissolved — its history and character, 720 ; trial and execution of
Coleman and others, 721 ; new parliament, 722; dispute on the appointment of
a speaker, 723; impeachment and fall of Danby, 724; the plot, 725 ; the exclu
sion bill, 728 ; the Habeas Corpus Act, 730
1662- Affairs of Scotland, 730; court of ecclesiastical commission, 732; military ty-
1679. ranny, ib.; insurrection — the insurgents defeated at Pentland— executions, ib.;
change in the policy of Lauderdale — his severities and extortions, 735 ; letters of
intercommuning (1679), 738; policy of the English court in relation to Scotland,
ii. ; battle of Loudon-hiU — insurrection, 741 ; affairs of Ireland, 742 — 745

CONTENTS. xv
A.D.
1679. General state of affairs in England at the prorogation of parliament (in May),
746 ; Monmouth sent to quell the insurrection in Scotland, 747 ; his conference
with the covenanters, 748 ; battle of Bothwell Bridge, 749 : conference between
the Scotch nobility and the government, 750 ; the plot — trial and execution of
the five Jesuits, 751 ; Langhorn, ib. ; Wakeman — change in the disposition of
the judges (July 18), 752; the triumvirate, 753; parliament dissolved, ib. ;
* great excitement, 754 ; illness of the king, ib. ; return of the Duke of York, 755 :
disgrace of Monmouth, ib.; parliament prorogued for more than twelve months,
756; the Meal-tub plot, 757; Essex and Halifax leave the court, 758; new mi
nistry, 759; Lawrence Hyde, ib.; meeting of the parliament deferred — and of
the council formed by Sir W. Temple, 760 ; origin of the petitioners and abhor-
rers, and of the names Whig and Tory, 761 — 763 ; story of the black box, 763 ;
Monmouth's progress — state of the government, 764
1680. The Duke of York presented as a recusant, 765 ; he leaves the kingdom, 766;
meeting of parliament, ib.; the commons resume the question of the succession,
767; their proceeding [against the abhorrers, ib. ; the Exclusion Bill, 769 ; de-
bebate upon it in the lords — the bill is lost, 771 ; the commons refuse supplies,
ii. ; trial and execution of Lord Stafford (Dec. 29), 773 ; king's speech to the
commons, ib. ; reply of the house, 774 ; parliament prorogued and dissolved,
775
1681. New parliament summoned (Jan. 18), 776; petition of the sixteen peers, ib. ;
proceedings in the city and in the court, 776, 777; case of Fitzbarris, 777;
meeting of parliament at Oxford (March 21), 778 ; policy of the king — his speech,
ii. ; proceedings in the commons, 779 ; debate on the Exclusion Bill, 780; par
liament dissolved, 782 ; conduct of the king, ii. ; reply of the exclusionists, 784 ;
addresses to the king, 786 ; trial of Fitzharris, 787 ; election of sheriffs, 788 ;
proceedings against College and Shaftesbury, 789 ; trial of College — acquitted
in Middlesex (July 8), 791 ; condemned and executed at Oxford, 792 ; noncon
formists excluded from serving on juries, 793 ; trial of Shaftesbury — he is acquit
ted, 794, 795 ; plan of seizing the city charters, 795 ; Charles renews his nego
tiations with Louis, 796 ; persecution of the nonconformists, ib. ; prosecution of
Argyle, 797
1682. Struggle on the election 'of the city sheriffs, 798; prosecution of Pilkington and
1683. Ward, 801; election of a mayor by the influence of the court, 802; arrest of
Monmouth, ib. ; changes at court, ii. ; flight and death of Shaftesbury, 803 ;
seizure of the city charter, 804 ; Rye-house plot — parties engaged in it, 806 ;
its object discovered, ii.; arrests, 807 ; arrest of Lord Russell, ii.; trial of Wal-
cot, Rouse, and Hone, 809 ; death of Lord Essex, ib. ; trial of Lord Russell, ib. ;
he is condemned, 813; his execution (July 21), 814; the Oxford decree, 815;
trial of Algernon Sidney, 817—822 ; his execution, 823
1684. Other trials, 823 — 826 ; correspondence between Charles and Monmouth, 826 ;
foreign affairs, 827
1685. Illness and death of Charles, 827 ;
JAMES II.
1685. King's declaration, 829; its effect, ib.; revenue collected without consent of par
liament, 830 ; the cabinet, ib. ; a parliament summoned, ib. ; the king obtains
pecuniary aid from Louis, 831 ; spirit in which it was received — policy of Louis,
ib. ; foreign relations— Spain, Portugal, 832 ; designs of the king, 833 ; penal
laws concerning religion partially suspended, ib.; meeting of the Scottish parlia
ment (April 23), 834; the king's letter, ib.; tyranny and cruelty of proceedings
in Scotland, 835 ; origin of the insurrection under Argyle, 836 ; meeting of the
English parliament (May 19), 837 ; the king's speech, 838 ; spirit and proceed-

xvi CONTENTS.
A.D. ings of the two houses, ii. ; jealousy still concerning the safety of the church,
839 ; character of the party in ascendancy, 840 ; fate of the expedition under
Argyle, 841 ; the earl made prisoner and executed, 842 ; landing of Monmouth,
844; his progress, 845— 849; battle of Sedgemoor (July 5), 849; Monmouth
and Grey made prisoners, 851 ; Monmouth's execution, 853 ; his character, 854;
military executions by Faversham and Kirke, 854—856 ; commission of the
judges, 856 ; trial of Mrs. Lisle, ii. ; proceedings of Jefferies and the commis
sion, 860 ; terror diffused by them, 861 ; these severities approved and encou-
raged^by the king, ib: ; trial of Cornish — his death — perjury of Rumsey, 863;
trial, of Mrs. Gaunt, 864; her execution, 865; case of Mr. Hampden, ii.;
punishment by fines, 866 ; effei ; of the king's successes on his policy — Halifax
dismissed, 868 ; meeting of pal liament (Nov. 9), 869 ; declaration of the king
on the test-laws, ib. ; debate concerning the standing army, 870 ; the commons
petition for the enforcement of the tests, 870, 871 ; debate concerning a supply,
871; the king's reply concerning the test-laAvs, ib. ; animated discussion in the
lords, 872; parliament prorogued, 873; Countess of Dorchester, 874
1686. James obtains the opinion of the judges on the dispensing power (Jan. 21), 875 ;
court of high commission instituted, 876 ; controversial preaching forbid, ii. ;
prosecution of the Bishop of London, 877 ; attempts to make converts to the
Catholic faith, ii.
1687. Affairs of Scotland and Ireland, 880; attacks on the church and the Universi
ties, 881; resistance at the Charter-house, ii. ; resistance at Cambridge, 883;
case of Magdalen College, Oxford, ib.; the courts 885; revocation of the edict
of Nantes, 886; .declaration for liberty of conscience, 888; disappointment of
the king — his appeal to the nonconformists, 889; their conduct, ib.; more de
cisive measures of the king, 890 ; seizure of charters — puuishment of the no'n-
compliants, 891; difficulties and determination of the king, 892; progress of
affairs towards a crisis, 893 ; declaration of indulgence, 894 ; clergy required
to read it from the pulpit, 895 ; petition of the bishops, ii. ; the clergy in ge
neral refuse to read the declaration, 897 ; the bishop3 prosecuted and sent to the
Tower, 898 ; bishops enlarged on their own recognisance, 900 ; their trial, 901 ;
defence, ii.; reply, 904 ; opinion of the judges, ii. ; the bishops acquitted, 905 ;
birth of the Prince of Wales — conversion of Sunderland, 906 ; doubts concern
ing the birth of the Prince of Wales, ii. ; attempt to gain the Dissenters,- 907 ;
appearances of disaffection in the army and navy, ii. ; Prince of Orange — his
connexion with English affairs, 908; league of Augsburg, 910; mission of
Dykvelt, 911 ; invitation to William, 912 ; he puts to sea, and lands at Torbay,
913; conciliatory measures of the king, 914; the prince's declaration, ii.;
feeling in his favour, 915; desperate state of the king's affairs, 916; flight of
the queen — terms offered by the prince, ii. ; flight of the king— his detention at
Feversham, ib.; consequences of that event, 917; the king escapes to France,
ii.; the convention parliament, 918; elevation of William and Mary to the
throne, 919; character of the revolution of 1688, ii.

HISTOEY OF ENGLAND.

JAMES THE FIRST.
Chapter I.

Accession of James I. the result of popular feeling — It is anticipated Avith some
apprehension by all parties — Catholics — the Prelates — Puritans — Correspondence
of James with persons in the court of Elizabeth — He is proclaimed Elizabeth's
successor — Progress from Edinburgh to London — Council formed — Proclamation
against certain abuses — Distribution of honours — Arrival of ambassadors — State
of Europe — Peace concluded with Spain — State of Protestantism in Europe —
Effect of the political and ecclesiastical state of Europe on the spirit and conduct
of the Stuart princes.
James VI. of Scotland, afterwards James I. of England, was the son of
Henry Lord Darnley and of Mary queen of Scots. His
claim to the sceptre of England was founded on the mar- f^ss'j nJjf
riage of James IV. of Scotland with Margaret, eldest result of popu-
daughter of Henry VII. The accession, however, of the j™!661"1^
first Stuart sovereign to the English throne was the result
of circumstances more than of any strictly just pretension. The branch
of the Tudor line on which the croAvn was settled by authority of par
liament existed then, as it now does, in the house of Suffolk, but was
passed over, partly from a preference on the part of the English queen,
and still more from that of her subjects in favour of the Scottish king *.
* The claim of the house of Suffolk rested on the following propositions : — 1st.
That Henry VIII., as king of England, with the advice and consent of parliament,
might make statutes to limit the inheritance of the crown. 2illy. That a statute of
the 35th year of that monarch empowered him to dispose of the succession by his last
will, signed with his own hand. 3dly. That Henry executed such a will, by Avhich,
in default of issue from his children, the crown was entailed upon the issue of his
younger sister, Mary duchess of Suffolk, before those of Margaret queen of Scots.
4thly. That such descendants of Mary were living at the decease of Elizabeth. The
two first and the last of these propositions are indisputable. With respect to the
third, a question was raised by the ministers of the Scottish queen, who insisted
that the king being in the article of death did not sign the will Avith his own band,
as ivas required by the statute, but that some one put a stamp for him to the docu
ment. But the will itself, now to be seen in the Chapter House of Westminster,
shows the falsehood of this allegation, as the two signatures attached to it are in
writing, and in the opinion of some of the most competent judges are not feigned,
but merely illegible in parts from being ''¦ drawn by a weak and trembling hand."
There were descendants of Mary duchess of Suffolk, by her daughter Frances the
second duchess of Suffolk, and by her younger daughter Eleanor countess of Cum-
B

HISTORY Of ENGLAND.

[CH. 1.

Elizabeth had left the question of a successor in a great degree un
settled to her last moments, and her intimations on that subject even
then were so equivocal, that little can be inferred from them, except
that the. aversion to all thought of transmitting her power to other hands,
which had been so observable in her conduct through life, was not to be
subdued by the too certain approach of death*. As far as her inclina
tion could be ascertained, it no doubt pointed towards her kinsman of
Scotland. It is a fact, however, worthy of distinct notice, that the ele
vation of the house of Stuart to the throne of these realms followed
much less from descent, or from any nomination on the part of the last
of the Tudors, than from the choice of the people. Hence grounds were
not wanting on which to have represented the accession of the Stuart
family as an act of usurpation, had not the voice of the nation been
Stronger than the voice of the law. It should be remembered, moreover,
that the terms on which James became possessed of the throne of Scot
land are liable to a similar imputation ; the popular feeling, in contra
vention of what was called the divine right, having deposed his mother
in favour of himself. It is true this state of things in Scotland com
menced when James was a minor, but it continued to exist when he
had ceased to be suchf.
berland. The only room for dispute here is as to which of the daughters may be
regarded as supplying the hereditary stock ; if the eldest be taken, the right will be
in the present dui'.hess of Buckingham ; if the younger, in the present marquis of
Stafford. The reader desirous of prosecuting this rather curious inquiry will be
assisted in doing so by Luder's Essay on the Right of Succession to the Crown in
the reign of Elizabeth ; by Bedford's Hereditary Right Asserted ; an-1 Hallam's
Constitutional History of England, i. 307 — 317 The " Will" of Henry may be
seen in Nicolas's Testamenta Vetusta, i. 37 — 44- The topic is one that would be
merely curious, but for its marked opposition to the reigning feeling of the House
of Stuart — a hatred of all depeudance on popular suffrage.
* Hume says that * Elizabeth with her dying breath recognised the undouhted
title of her kinsman." (c. xiv.) But an eye witness speaks with much less decision.
u She was speechless Avhen the council proposed the King of Scots to succeed her,
but put her hand to her head as if in token of appiobation." Karl of Monmouth's
Memoirs, p 176. and Pref. xi xii. D'lsraeli's Curiosities of Literature, second
series, iii 107,109. Birch's Memoirs, ii. 506, 508. The above account is that also
of Beaumont the French ambassador. See extracts from his manuscript despatches
in Raumer's History of the XV 1* and XVIllh Centuries, illustrated by Original
Documents, ii. 188, 189, 194. The statement of Cecil in the page of Raumer's
Illustrations last cited, as to what Elizabeth had said to him in confidence on this
subject some days before, deserves little confidence.
f Coke's Detection of the Court and State of England, i. 37-48. On this question
of hereditary right to the crown it may be well to cite the judgment of Montesquieu.
" When a certain order of succession in a kingdom, determined by statute," says this
ivriter, " becomes destructive^ the body politic for whose sake it was established,
there is not the least room to doubt but another political laAv may be made to change
this order ; and so far would this law be from opposing the first, it would in the
main be entirely conformable to it, since both would depend on this principle, that the
safety of the people is the supreme law." (Spirit of Laws. ii. 218.) And precisely
to this effect had the course of things been in this country from the earliest times,
the claim of blood being allowed to constitute the rule, but a rule which was made
to give place whenever snmestronger claim — or the supreme law of the public
good was supposed to require it. James, however, Avas careful to place his right to
the English sceptre on the sole ground of his being " lineally descended from both

A. D. 1603.] JAMES I. 3
It was then the voice of the nation principally which called the Stuart
princes to the English throne. It must not be concluded, The elevation
however, from this circumstance, that the event was anti- of James re-
cipated without apprehension. On the contrary, it was fomeea,,pre_ -
regarded with a mixture of hope and fear by the nation at hension by
large, and by each of the great parties into which the nation a11 Partles'
was divided. During the long reign of Elizabeth, the predictions enter
tained as to the probable consequences of her decease were many and
various ; but some time before her death the Scottish king was gene
rally viewed as the person to whom her power would be transferred.
This was the course of affairs to be anticipated with least alarm, though
it was one by no means without its difficulties. Strictly speaking, there
was no political party at this time, all the elements of party feeling in
this age being mainly of a religious origin and complexion.
During the later years of Elizabeth, James had been frequently en
gaged in secret correspondence with the Catholic powers, _,. „ , ,.
a -.a. ¦ e ^ ». j: -c 1 a The Catholics.
and with emissaries ot that communion from .hnglana,
and had not been scrupulous either in his professions or promises on
such occasions, in the hope of conciliating parties who were naturally
viewed as jealous of his pretensions. The expectations of the English
Catholics were raised considerably from this source; at the same time
the Protestant prepossessions of James were so far indicated as to create
perplexity, while those of his Scottish subjects, and of the great majority
of the people of England, were known to be of the most determined and
even turbulent character. There was room accordingly to fear that the
new king of England would be wanting both in the energy and the
means requisite to effect any great improvement in the condition of his
subjects professing what was called the ancient faith. The utmost that
could have been reasonably expected by this party was some mitigation
of the severe penal code which the temper and occurrences of the past
reign had called into existence against them, though it is highly pro
bable that the promises of James warranted a larger anticipation. Since
the death of the Queen of Scots, and the fate of the Spanish Armada,
none but the most fanatical could have looked to the return of a Catholic
sovereign as at all probable*.
crowns.'' His flatterers did much to strengthen him in this delusion ; and one
of the first acts of his first parliament was to make themselves parties to it. It is
from this last source that Hume has adopted his account of the king's " undoubted
succession." King James's Works, pp. 485, 488. Stat. Jac. c. i.
* Birch's Historical View of the Negotiations between the Courts of England,
France, and Brussels, p. 177, 8vo. Winwood's Memorials, i. 1, 15, 52, 108. D'Ossat's
Lettres, i. 221, 224, 293. Birch's Memoirs, i. 109, 215, 216, 263, 407, 418, 420,
ii. 306. Camden's Elizabeth, 656, 669. Strype, iv. 111. See the letter from James
to the pontiff, in RushAvorth, i. 166. Upon the whole, there Avere times Avhen the
Protestants, both of Scotland and England, strongly suspected the king of an in
clination towards Popery ; while Catholics, both at home and abroad, Avere evidently
impressed with the umvelcome conviction that he was not to be trusted in such
matters. And there was enough, as the above documents show, toAvarrant the su>
B 2

4- HISTORY Of EKOLAND. [CH- *'
Notwithstanding these somewhat favourable circumstances, the bishops
The prelates of the Anglican church, and the court clergy generally,
and court were not without much painful suspicion with respect to
clergy, the possible preferences of their future sovereign on the
matters both of doctrine and discipline. That James had not embraced
the religion of his mother was generally believed ; but it was as much
feared by the party adverted to that he had failed to discern the excel
lencies of a middle course ; in other words that, avoiding Popery, he had
become in some degree infected with Puritanism. So late as the year
1 590, the king, standing uncovered in the presence of the General As
sembly at Edinburgh, and with hands lifted up to heaven, exclaimed
that " He thanked the Almighty that he was born in the time of the
light of the gospel, and in such a place as to be king of such a church,
the sincerest kirk in the world. The church of Geneva keep Pascha
and Yule (Easter and Christmas), what have they for them? They
have no institution. As for our neighbour kirk of England, their service
is an evil said mass in English ; they want nothing of the mass but the
liftings. I charge you, my good ministers, doctors, elders, nobles,
gentlemen, and barons, to stand to your purity, and to exhort the people
to do the same ; and I, forsooth, as long as I brook my life, shall main
tain the same*." Even in the year 1598 his majesty speaks of " Pa
pistical and Anglicane bishops " as evils he was far from wishing to
introduce ; and within twelve months of Elizabeth's decease he pledged
himself to the general assembly as determined to " stand by the church,"
of which he was then the sovereign, and prove " the advocate of its
ministry f."
These professions are so far explicit and emphatic, that no one placing
the least confidence in them could well expect a very cordial patron of
the Anglican church in the Scottish king. There was much, however,
in the private sentiments, and even in the public conduct of James on
this subject, directly at issue with declarations of this nature; and much
in the kind of collision Avhich had frequently taken place between him
and the kirk ministers, which rendered it nearly certain that the un-
avowed preferences of the monarch would prove to be the guide of his-
policy at a future day, and that James I. of England would be found a
different person from James VI. of Scotland. One of these kirk minis
ters did not hesitate to tell the king " that he had detected the treachery
of his heart ; that all kings were the devil's bairns, and that the devil
picions of both parties. The French ambassador, Beaumont, describes the queen as
declaring herself (Depeches, Mai, 1 603) a Catholic in her heart, and as having
tried, but in vain, to convert the king. Monsieur de Villeroi, in a diplomatic re
port of August 15, 1603, says, " the queen seeks quietly to serve the poor distressed
Catholics." Raumer, ii. 192. "The Catholics look on her as their refuge, the king
having forgotten his promise, his signature, and all gratitude for their fidelity."
Beaumont's Despatches, June 13, and July 10, 17, 1603. Raumer, ii. 198.
* Calderwood's Church History of Scotland, p. 256. Ed. 1680.
f Ibid. 418. Spotswood's Hist. 468. Ed. 1668.

A. D. 1603.] JAMES I. 5
was in the court, and in the guiders of it." Another personage of this
class exclaimed in the high church of Edinburgh, " that the king was
possessed with a devil, and that one devil being put out, seven worse had
entered in his place*." There was much in the then state of affairs, as
we shall presently see, somewhat to extenuate these coarse liberties ; but
the effect likely to be produced by them on the vain temper of the mo
narch was to be duly considered when forming any conception as to the
probabilities of his future conduct. That James had introduced a spu
rious order of bishops into Scotland before making his appearance in
England is a material fact in this connexion t.
Whitgift, the archbishop of Canterbury at this crisis, was not unob
servant of facts of this nature, and shared in the hopes as well as the
fears of his brethren. But the anxiety with which the aged primate
looked forward to the changes that could hardly fail to take place is
supposed to have shortened his days. The strong hand of Elizabeth had
been scarcely sufficient to restrain the puritanical and reforming spirit of
the commons ; and the character of James, whatever might be his in
clinations, did not promise the same degree of support to the dominant
spirit of the hierarchy. In addition to which, Elizabeth possessed
claims on the homage of her subjects that could not be transmitted to
another ; claims arising from a reign characterized by great ability, by
unusual duration, and equally memorable from its dangers and its
triumphs. It will be obvious, from the particulars we have mentioned, that the
Puritan party in England had much to expect from the .
new sovereign if .the smallest value was to be attached to
his most public and solemn declarations. Consistency required that the
appearances, at least, of a most friendly consideration should be given
to their claims ; and Avhat they could not look to as the result of
principle, they might expect as a matter of policy. But they were men
much too shrewd in their attention to character, and in judging of
times and seasons, not to be aware that their success depended much
less on the personal feeling of the monarch, than on the force of expe
diency, and the shoAV of strength which it might be in their power to
make*. * Spotswood, 423, 430. Calderwood, 256. f K'nS James's Works, 305.
I James published his Basilicon Doron in 1599, the year following that in which
he had avowed himself opposed to " Anglicane Bishops," and the " advocate of the
ministry of the Scottish Kirk;" but after his accession, it became his boast, that in
this work he had spoken ten times more bitterly of the Puritans than of the Papists,
adding that the preface, which, as King of England, he had attached to the second
edition, was written altogether in odium puritanorum. It should be added, that of
this work, which the king designed for the instruction of Prince Henry, only seven.
copies Avere printed in 1599, the printer being sworn to secrecy. This secrecy, how
ever, did not prevent thework becoming public; and a passage in it, in which James
states that the only steady friends he found in Scotland Avere those Avho had dis
tinguished themselves as the friends of his mother, was loudly censured by a synod
at St. Andrews, as an eulogy on Papists at the cost of what was due to their enemies.

6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
Upon the whole, looking to the character of the king and of the
times, we may say of the Puritans at this juncture, that their hopes
might reasonably have been stronger than their fears, while the reverse
was probably the general feeling with their opponents, — the court clergy.
With respect to the Catholics, we may repeat that circumstances, upon
the whole, did not authorize their expecting any thing more than a
partial removal of their grievances, with some connivance in the admi
nistration of such laws as should remain in force against them*.
It will be proper to remember in this place, that, while the dissent of
the Catholic had respect to the established religion as a whole, that Of
the Puritan referred almost exclusively to certain points of discipline,
and to the use of certain ceremonies regarded as so many popish cor
ruptions of Christianity.
When the preceding facts are considered, it will appear to have been
with much reason that our ancestors were accustomed to
enceoT James speak of the anticipated accession of Janles I. as the ap-
with persons proach of " a Scotch mist." The persons of most infiu-
coun^tOTe811 ence in the coUrt of EllzaDetn nacl lol)S Deen in private cor-
his accession, respondence with their future sovereign, and were careful to
assure him that their respective partizans were deeply inte
rested in his favour. Sir Robert Cecil, secretary of state, was at the head
of the most powerful of these parties, and by his wily management he not
only concealed his frequent communications with Scotland from the
queen, but procured the separate pledges of a large portion of the
nobility in favour of the king, each being kept in ignorance of what the
rest had done. It should be added that, in Cecil, James found a cor
respondent who evinced little reluctance in ministering to his favourite
passions. In his work entitled " The Trew Law of Free Monarchy,''
the royal author had not hesitated to describe the king as " above the
law," and all obedience to it as left to his own pleasure, or as binding
only " for good example-giving." James had employed similar language
in his Basilicon Doron very recently made public ; and Writing to Cecil
King James's Works, 139, 1 42, 158. Spotswood, 456. The Basilicon Doron was
publicly printed the year of the king's accession, and Avent through three editions
in twelve months.
* But, in fact, such Avas "the levity and want of thought" in the king, to use the
language of Henry IV., that in his dealings with all parties, each, in its turn, found
it " difficult to build upon him." Beaumont Depeches, Mar. 13, 1603, in Raumer.
" As soon as the news of Elizabeth's death reached Madrid, the Jesuits waited on
Philip III., and three or four were despatched to England, disguised as soldiers or
merchants." (Ibid ii. 195.) Of this fraternity, and of their party among the
English Catholics, the French ambassador had written in 1602 : " It is not neces
sary to be a bad suhject in order to be a good Christian. Obstinacy, bad disposiiion,
indiscreet zeal for the Catholic religion, have brought that sect in England to de
struction. They not merely refused to acknowledge and obey the queen, but entered
into conspiracies of all kinds against her person, and into alliances with the enemies
of the kingdom to effect its downfall. Thus instead of earning from her indulgence
protection and support, they have provoked the queen in such fashion, that she Avas
compelled, on behalf of her own security, to practice severity, and to take from them
all liberty." Ibid, ii, 183, 184.

A, D. 1603.] JAMES I. *l
on one occasion, he says, " For my part, I hold it the office of a king, as
sitting upon the throne of God, to imitate the primum mobile, and by
his steady and ever constant course to govern all the other changeable
and uncertain motions of the inferior planets*." Sir Henry Wotton men
tions an occurrence in connexion with this system of secret intelligence
which on several accounts is worthy of notice. " The queen," he
observes, " having for a good while not heard anything from Scotland,
and being thirsty of news, it fell out that her majesty going to take the
air towards the heath (the court being then at Greenwich), and master
secretary Cecil then attending her, a post came crossing by, and blew
his horn ; the queen out of curiosity asked him from whence the dis
patch Came ; and being answered from Scotland, she stops the coach,
and calleth for the packet. The secretary, though he knew there were
in it some letters from his correspondents, which to discover were as so
many serpents, yet made more shew of diligence than of doubt to obey ;
and asks some that stood by (forsooth in great haste) for a knife to cut
up the packet, (for otherwise perhaps he might have awaked a little
apprehension,) but in the meantime approaching with the packet in his
hand, at a pretty distance from the queen, he telleth her it looked and
smelled ill favouredly, coming out of a filthy budget, and that it should
be fit first to open and air it, because he knew she was averse from ill
scents. And so being dismissed home, he got leisure, by this seasonable
shift, to sever what he would not have seen." The earls of Essex and
Northumberland, and some others, were also actively employed in in
trigues of this nature. But their influence was less considerable than
that of the secretary, and the principal return in some instances was the
more vigilant enmity of Cecil and his adherents f.
Elizabeth breathed her last on the twenty-fourth of March, 1603,
about three o'clock in the morning; by six Cecil had
assembled his colleagues, and at Whitehall and Cheapside claimed the
proclaimed James VI. of Scotland her successor, in the successor of
presence of the populace. The people testified their joy lza e '
by acclamations, bonfires, and ringing of bells. The first tidings that
reached the ears of the king simply announced the death of Elizabeth,
the effect of which was to call up " a concourse of doubts and questions."
But the next messenger brought the news that the new sovereign had
been proclaimed, and not only acknowledged without opposition, but
* Birch's Memoirs, ii. 315. Weldon's Court and Character of James I., 11, 12.
f Reliquiae Wottoniana?, 168, 8vo. 1672. Birch's Historical View, 21. James
" was careful to secure to himself the body of the English nation. Cecil, afterwards
Earl of Salisbury, secretary to Queen Elizabeth, entered into a particular confidence
with him ; and this Avas managed by his ambassador Bruce, who carried the matter
with such address and secrecy, that all the great men of England, without knowing
of one another's doing it, and without the queen suspecting anything concerningit,
signed in writing an engagement to assert the King of Scots' right of, succession."
Burnet's Own Times, i, 6, Osborn's Memorials, 447, 448.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

[CH. I.

Avith every demonstration of loyalty and affection*. This announcement
removed distrust, and James, in the fulness of his joy, congratulated him
self and his favourites on the speedy fruition of their long-cherished
hopes. Nobles who had acted as an unwelcome check on the royal
authority, now vied with each other in preparing the richest entertain
ment for their sovereign, while James hastened to exchange the restraints
which the nobility, the clergy, and the poverty of his native country had
concurred to impose on his strongest propensities, for the large means of
indulgence always present to his view in his future dominions.
In making his public progress towards London, James was the sub-
_,, ject of much attention and observation, and there were
The progress ... , , .
of the king occurrences which served to lessen his popularity very
from Edin- considerably before reaching the capital. On such occa-
don? ° °a si°ns Elizabeth had always encouraged the familiar ap
proaches of her subjects, aware of the favourable impres
sion generally made by the most trivial instances of condescension in the
conduct of persons of rank. But James seems to have possessed a
natural dread of crowds, and on the pretence that such assemblages
would raise the price of provisions he forbid the flocking of the people to
meet him in the manner to which the different conduct of his pre
decessor had given the force of custom f. Added to this feeling was his
jealousy of the fame of that princess, which discovered itself in the ex
pressions used with respect to her, and in discountenancing whatever
bespoke a regard for her memory J. During this journey James in
dulged in degrading language with regard to the female sex in general,
and in the presence of large companies at his table. He not only cen
sured the conduct of Henry IV. of France in relation to females, but was
understood to condemn sexual passions altogether, and suffered ladies to
present themselves to him on their knees. The effect of such impru
dence may be readily conceived §. Another circumstance which attracted
much notice at this time, was the conduct of the king in ordering a man
accused of theft to immediate execution without even the form of trial.
* Earl of Monmouth's Memoirs. Osberne's Memorials of the Reign of King
James, 423. Bymer, Foedera, xvi. 493. Strype, iv. 370.
f " She did not seldom fetch an entertainment at such grandees' houses as Avere
understood to be most popular, by which she removed her subjects' eyes from these
inferior stars, and fixed them on the greater splendour of her own : besides her out
doing them in the art of popularity, acting to the life the pageant of the people
(Avhich all princes really are and the Avisest the most gaudy), from whence it is far
more endearing to throw flowers than wildfire." Osberne, 381 . " The people having
been habituated to see Elizabeth in public, to give her applause and to receive her
thanks, it appears to them strange that this king should despise them and live in
complete retirement." Beaumont, May 24, 28, 1603. in Raumer, ii. 197.
I Stowe, Chron.821. Somers,ii. 147. Sully's Memoirs, l.xiv. xv. Sully, as French
ambassador, would have appeared at the court of the new king in mourning, but Avas
informed that his doing so Avould be taken as an offence. James, however, professed
himself Avilling to attend the queen's funeral, if deemed necessary, as a mark of
respect to her memory. Ellis, Original Letters, iii. 65.
§ Depeches de Beaumont, Mai, 1603. Raumer, ii. Birch's Memoirs, ii. 510.

A. D.I 603.] JAMES I. 9
A contemporary in relating the occurrence observed, " It is strangely
done ; now if the wind bloAveth thus, why may not a man be tried before
he is offended*?"
In the appearance and general manner of the sovereign there was
nothing to redeem these faults. " He was of middle stature," says a
writer of the time, " more corpulent through his clothes than in his
body, yet fat enough ; his clothes being made large and easy, the doublet
quilted for stiletto proof ; his breeches in plaits, and full stuffed. He
was naturally of a timorous disposition, which was the reason of his
quilted doublets. His eye large, ever rolling after any stranger that
came in his presence, insomuch as many for shame have left the room,
as being out of countenance. His beard was very thin ; his tongue too
large for his mouth, and made him drink very unseemly, as if eating his
drink, which came out into the cup of each side his mouth. His skin
was as soft as taffeta sarsenet ; which felt so, because he never washed
his hands, only rubbed his fingers'-end slightly with the wet end of a
napkin. His legs were very weak, having had, as some thought, some
foul play in his youth, or rather before he was born, that he was not
able to stand at seven years of age ; that weakness made him ever lean
ing on other men's shoulders. His walk was circular f."
At the close of this progress James became the guest of his secretary,
under whose roof the monarch formed his council, in
cluding twelve persons, six being of each nation. The Council
English portion consisted of the earls of Northumberland
and Cumberland, Lord Henry and Lord Thomas Howard, and the
Barons Bourrough and Zouch : — the Scotch men were the duke of
Lennox, the Earl of Marr, Lord Hume, Sir George Hume (afterwards
Earl of Dunbar), Lord Bruce, and Secretary Elphinstone. The govern
ment in relation to England remained for the most part in the hands of
the English members of the council J.
Among the abuses which had risen to an alarming height in the last
* Harrington's Nuga? AntiquaB, i. 1 80. There was a statute which gave the king
a summary power of this nature against theft committed within the bounds of the
court : 33rd Henry VI 1 1, c. 12. But a usage so obsolete as to have been wholly un
known to so old a courtier as Harrington, could hardly have guided the conduct of
the king in this instance. It may be worth while to add that the offender was
seized at Newark, to which place he had followed the court from Berwick in the garb
of a gentleman.
t Weldon, 177 — 179- " I shall leave him dressed for posterityin the colours I saw
him in the next progress after his inauguration, which was as green as the grass
he trod on, with a feather in his cap, and a horn instead of a SAvord at his side."
Osborn, 444.
1 Stow, 816 — 822. "King James is governed by a small number of favourites,
generally mere Scottish gentlemen of no great quality, Avho are always about him,
and see and hear Avhatever passes — most of them are under his thumb, at least Avith
respect to matters which he takes to heart. The courtiers are divided into two par
ties. The one is led by the Earl of Mar, and favoured by all who are devoted to the
pretended reformed religion. At the head of the second party stands the queen."
Villeroi, Aug. 15, 1603. Raumer, ii. 192. Cecil Avas the head of a third party.

10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. I.
reign was the manner of conferring privileged licenses, and the power
A , of monopoly, on certain merchants and tradesmen. When
tion issued for the king arrived in London, a proclamation was issued
the correction suspending all grants of this nature, until examined
by the members of his majesty's council. Another
pernicious usage— or one at least which like the former became perni
cious from the frequency of its abuse — consisted in the granting pro
tections from the crown for the purpose of delaying the decisioh of
questions in the courts of law. It was required that such of these
as still existed should be revoked. It was also an immemorial custom
that the subject should be obliged to supply the royal household with
commedities on certain terms, and the abuses connected with this
system of " perveyatice " as it was called, had been a ceaseless topic df
complaint in every reign through many centuries. Some of the more
fraudulent and unjust practices carried on under cover of this usage were
prohibited*. The matters contained in this proclamation were meant to prove the
king's love of justice, and his solicitude in relation to the
Distribution conlmerce and general prosperity of his people. As a
further method of expressing his affection toward his sub
jects, titles of honour were showered upon them, until the value of such
distinctions became of small amount. It happened also that these
cheap marks of the royal favour were bestowed on the English aspirants
in less proportion than on the Scots, and this circumstance may have led
to the fixing of a pasquinade upon St. Paul's, which professed to teach a
new art of memory, in the hope that it might hot be found impossible to
remember the titles of the new race of nobles f.
The arrival of ambassadors from the different powers, soon called the
attention of the king from such employments to more im-
r^Tsadorf &m' Portant matters. The states of Holland dispatched Fre
deric, Prince of Nassau, With three able colleagues. The
Count Aremberg appeared on the part of Austria; and the French
monarch intrusted his affairs to the celebrated Rosny, afterwards
Duke of Sully. The mission of the latter was to obtain a renewal of the
* Lodge's Illustrations, iii. 159 — 162. The evils of " purveyance " Avent with the
court in all its " progresses " through the land. The distinguished persons whose
residences were honoured with the presence of royalty had to bear the whole expense
of such visits. Elizabeth paid her minister Burleigh twelve visits of this descrip
tion, each of which cost him some two or three thousand pounds. James was so far
from lessening this evil, that five years after his accession his approach to a neigh
bourhood is described as a signal to the wealthy to vacate their mansions, as the only
means of escaping these costly favours. "The progress holds on towards Northamp
tonshire, as unwelcome to those parts as rain in harvest, so as the great ones begin
a retnuer menage, and to dislodge, the Lord Spencer to his daughter Vane in Kent,
and divers other gentlemen devise other errands otherways." Nichols's Progresses
and Court of James I., ii. 20. But we shall find this evil weigh much more heavily
on the middle classes than on the rich.
| Stow, 816—827. Osborn, 469, 470.

A.D. 1603.] JAMES I. 11
secret alliance between France and England in favour of the Dutch pro
vinces, who had long since cast off the odious yoke of Spain. The
policy of Aremberg was to prevent this course of things : but he does
not appear to have possessed instructions from the Spanish cabi
net sufficient to allow of his prosecuting any serious negotiation ; and
James, though he questioned the right of the Hollanders to resist the
authority of Spain, and sometimes spoke of them As rebels, dismissed the
French ambassador with the pledge of a sincere compliance with the
wishes of his master*.
At this time the Spanish monarchy was regarded as the most formi
dable in Europe, but without its really being such. On
the accession of Philip II., its immense territories and re- * e ° u'
sources seemed to justify the deep and general alarm with
regard to his power. When that monarch became the successor of
Charles V., Spain, with an army the most disciplined and powerful in
Europe, had been made subservient to the maxims of absolute power,
and as yet had participated only to a small degree in the common evils of
despotism. The Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sicily were among the
dependencies of the Spanish crown, as were the rich provinces of Mexico
and Peru. Genoa, and the Catholic cantoris of Switzerland, Were allied
with Philip ; Venice was constrained to do him homage, and the Pope to
appear in his support. Philip moreover had been the husband of the
Queen of England ; was uncle to Sebastian of Portugal, then a child ;
and nephew to the Emperor of Germany, whose authority extended over
Bohemia, Hungary, and the dominions of Austria. France at the same
time was much disordered and Aveakened; and the Turkish empire, hav
ing reached the zenith of its splendour, had fallen into feeble hands.
But rarely have prospects so brilliant been followed by results so
humiliating ; and as these results — affecting as they did the fate of mil
lions — flowed immediately from the personal character of the sovereign,
they teach a salutary lesson on the folly and baseness of allowing com
munities to be dependent on the Will of an individual, who is not cohtrolled
by some legalized check on his power. In Philip, the leading elements
of the Spanish character were all embodied. Grave, cautious, patient,
laborious, he seemed a man singularly qualified for his singular position.
But his gravity was without wisdom, his caution was the ally of deceit,
and of a deceit so ill concealed that it rarely imposed on any man, while
his patient effort was not of a kind to deserve the name of enterprise. It
soon also became manifest, that with Philip, as with the Spanish mind
generally, Catholicism was everything, man was nothing, all nations
being as nothing if not included in the pale of the church. From this
source sprung his intolerance, and his assurance in the midst of the
greatest atrocities that the end would justify the means !
* Sully's Memoirs, xiv. xv. xvi.

12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
Philip III., a weak prince, succeeded Philip II. in the year 1598,
and with bis minister, the odious and feeble Duke of Lerma, saw, in the
territories which within half a century had rendered the Spanish name so
imposing, so many depopulated regions, or scenes of successful revolt, of
disorganization, indolence, and discontent. Throughout the dominions
of the House of Austria (for such was the designation given to the power
of Spain and of the German emperors) there were the signs of a state
which " decayeth and waxeth old." But such was the impression which
that power had once made, that men, even the shrewdest, were far from
being duly observant of these changes. Hence, though France had in
fact become sufficiently powerful to preserve the balance of influence in
European affairs, the leading object of its policy continued to be, to assist
the United Provinces in their struggle for independence, and to unite as
many of the states of Europe as possible, either secretly or openly, in the
old enterprise of humbling the pride and authority of Spain. James
assured the Duke of Sully of his concurrence with this policy, so far at
least as to render secret aid to the Hollanders. But we shall presently
find, that whatever the English monarch promised on the subject of war,
ended in his acting (often, no doubt, to the great benefit of his subjects)
on the maxims of peace ; and that one of the foibles which involved him
in difficulty to the end of his reign, was his vulgar estimate of Spanish
greatness, and the deference which, as a vain man, he was disposed to
render to it.
Sully had no sooner withdrawn from the English court, than James
Peace con- began to listen to overtures from Spain, and a peace was
eluded Avith concluded with that power, which showed the king's
Spain. great want of capacity with respect to such questions. Sir
Charles Cornwallis was dispatched as ambassador to Madrid, where he
found the short-sighted conduct of the English monarch the topic of
general astonishment. " By these collections," he writes, " that I have
made, and the relations of others well practised in this state, I find that
England never lost such an opportunity of winning honour and wealth,
as by relinquishing the war with Spain *."
The condition of the Protestant religion on the continent, at this
* Winwood, ii, 1—7, 28, 75, 84, 229, 230. Somers' Tracts, i. 410—421. Sully's
Memoirs, passim. The rumours of the time attributed this peace to the influence of
Spanish gold over certain of the English ministers. Winwood, ii. 25, 26. Elizabeth
was not insensible, towards the close of her reign, as to the decline of the Spanish
power, and Henry IV. saw it still more clearly ; but the queen was restrained by her
constant fear of expense, and Henry by a variety of considerations. Beaumont's
Despatches, May, June, and August, 1602, and May 27, July 12, 1605. Raumer, ii.
1 80, 1 84. As to the influence of money in deciding negotiations at this juncture, it
appears that even the queen was an expectant of such inducements to the exertion of
her influence. "The queen complains that she obtains no more money; I suggest
to your majesty, in confidence, to supply her in secret." Beaumont, August, 1603.
Henry did not deem it prudent to folloAv this advice, and whether from this causeor
not, her majesty made no scruple of avowing her hostility to France, and her wish
to serve Spain. Ibid. May, June, 1C04.

A.b. 1603.] JAMES 1. 13
period, Avas one of much difficulty and danger. In Denmark, Sweden
and some lesser states, it was almost uncontrolled; in state of Pro-
Germany, and Switzerland, it prevailed, but less generally, testantism in
In Holland, it had called into existence the United Pro-Kurope-
vinces, and continued to live, only as the long and perilous warfare in
which those provinces were engaged was crowned with success. In
France it was the religion of a large and powerful minority ; but still a
minority, and one which Avas to be crushed, and almost destroyed before
the close of the present century. The superiority of numbers accord
ingly was still with the professors of the Catholic faith ; and if industry,
commerce, enterprise, and devotedness to their common interest, were
with the disciples of the reformed doctrine, their safety depended much
less on their own strength, than on the rivalry of the two great Catholic
powers, — Spain and France.
A little reflection on this general state of affairs, will suffice to show
its probable effect on the temper and maxims of such Effect of the
princes as James I. and his successor. In the sovereigns ecclesiastical
of Europe with whom they would claim equality they saw c^oft"^1 C<>f
monarchs who governed large kingdoms without the in- Europe on the
tervention of any popular legislature. In Spain nothing of Xct'of'the0011"
the kind had existed for some generations ; in France the house of
shadow that remained was about Avholly to disappear, until Stuart-
it should be summoned as from the tomb in 1189. The princes in
those countries, if they were checked at all in the exercise of their
large powers, were restrained by nobles only, or by that class of their
subjects who, in learning to question the authority of popes, began to
see it important and just that certain limits should be imposed on that
of kings. There was accordingly much room to fear lest parliaments
should be looked upon as a needless, and, in fact, as a degrading
restraint on monarchy *. There was much room also to fear that if the
reformed doctrine should be retained at all, it would be in a shape more
in agreement with the popery than with the protestantism of the con
tinent. Not to be quite as uncontrolled as their brethren of Spain and
France, was almost sure to be regarded by minds like those of James
and Charles as a mark of inferiority — and as so much wanting with
respect to their proper dignity as independent, or, as James would have
expressed it, absolute sovereigns. These facts have not been suffi
ciently considered by our historians. The theory of James I., which
is so commonly said to have ruined his descendants, was taken in
great part from the practice of the powerful monarchies of the continent,
* "James said to me,- — Your majesty (Henry IV.) and he were absolute monarchs
in their dominions, and in no respect dependant on the councils or consent of their
subjects." Beaumont, May, 1603. Raumer, ii. 197. James added, that for a cen
tury at least two such kings had not been given to the world. Ibid. 199.

14 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. II.
and was all along nourished from that quarter. The Stuart princes
were not Englishmen. They rarely looked abroad without becoming
disgusted with home *.

Chapter II.
Court intrigues — Markham's Plpt to seize the King's person — the Conspirators ap
prehended — T'-ia's of Cobham, Grey, and Raleigh — Petition of the Puritans—
Conduct of the Universities — Conference at Hampton Court — its effect.
James became aAvare within a few months after his accession, and
before the ceremony of his coronation had been performed,
that his subjects were not so awed by his presence or
his claims as to be deterred from entering into conspiracies against
him. The Earl of Northumberland and Sir Walter Raleigh were
not ignorant of having a vigilant and powerful adversary in Cecil, and
as the conduct of his party was such as to make them daily feel the
effects of his enmity, they soon began to meditate revenge. Raleigh
was in frequent intercourse with Lord Cobham, a weak man, who
was too willing to engage in designs the extent or danger of which
he was not often likely to comprehend. The first attempt of these
persons was in offering their services to the king of France. What
was the nature, or what the extent, of the services proposed is un
known. The scheme probably embraced nothing more than the exercise
of their influence with a view to the interests of France at the English
court, and in this mariner they might hope to displace individuals who
were most opposed to their own advancement!. The French monarch
declined the doubtful aid thus proffered to him, and it does not appear
that Northumberland proceeded further. But it is said that Cobham
now made a similar offer to the court of Spain, and Raleigh, who was
accused of being privy to this overture, probably hoped to obtain a sum
of money as the price of his political services ; and thus far any courtier
of the time would have proceeded without any apprehension of danger or
disgrace. He was accused indeed of meaning to set up the claim of
* " The king fears the dangers arising from them (the Spaniards) more than those
which may come from his people, whom he at once hates and despises," Letter of
Count Tillieres, March, 1624. Raumer, ii. 286.
f "It is said that Cecil is doubtful as to his position, finding the king partly better
informed, partly more obstinate than he thought. Cobham calls Cecil no other than
traitor. Raleigh is hated throughout the kingdom. The new queen is enterprising,
and affairs are embroiled. I will not conceal from you, that I have acquaintances
and intelligences enough to enable me to sow and cultivate dissensions, so far as
your majesty may intrust me to do so." Beaumont, May, 1603.

A.D. 1603.] JAMES I. 15
Arabella Stuart in opposition to that of James, but this absurd charge
may be safely regarded as an invention of his enemies*.
While these intrigues were in progress, an enterprise of a graver
description was devised. It contemplated the seizure ,, , ,
/..,,., . , • , , ,. • Markham's
ot the king's person, with a vieAv to the removal or certain pi„t t0 se;ze
of his ministers, and the accomplishment of some im- t'»e person of
portant changes in the complexion of the government. e "ng'
This scheme originated with Sir Griffin Markham, and George Brooke,
the brother of Lord Cobham, persons without means themselves, but
who looked both to Catholics and Puritans as hopeful auxiliaries, aware
that both these parties had much reason to be dissatisfied with the pre
sent appearance of things, and concluding that however much they might
be at issue on other points, they would not be unwilling to act together
for a redress of their common grievances. Watson and Clarke, two
Catholic priests, readily entered into the design, as did Anthony Copley,
Sir Edward Parham, and Lord Grey. The last was a young nobleman
of unusual courage and ability, who is supposed to have made himself
obnoxious to the court by the zeal with which he favoured the views of
the Puritans. It was to have been expected that an undertaking of so
little promise would not be long entertained, and that a party made up
of such opposite elements would soon be disunited. It happened
accordingly that when the crisis of the enterprise arrived it was aban
doned as hopeless.
Cecil, who had been apprized of these proceedings by the Jesuit faction
among the English Catholics, regretted this abrupt termi
nation of them, as the easier method of crushing his op- The conspi-
ponents would have been to have seized them in the act hendedT1"^"
of treason. But enough was ascertained to call for the ex
ercise of his authority. Anthony Copley was the first conspirator
secured, and his confession led to the immediate apprehension of his
accomplices. Northumberland and Raleigh were also summoned to
appear before the council. But as neither of these were parties to
Markham's plot, the attempt to implicate them failed, and they were
dismissed. Raleigh however could not forbear writing to Lord Cobham,
* Nugae Antiquae, i. 340. Birch's Memoirs, ii. 514. Cayley's Life of Raleigh,
passim. Sully's Memoirs. Criminal Trials, vol. i., in the Library of Entertaining
Knowledge, pp. 393 — 398. Raleigh and Cobham were charged with a design to kill
the king, as a preliminary to the advancement of Arabella to the throne, " but both
these imputed objects were supported by evidence of too vague and uncertain a descrip
tion to be entitled to credit." James Avas accustomed to speak of the ill-fated Earl of
Essex as a martyr to his cause, and of the principal enemies of that nobleman, viz.
Northumberland, Cobham, Raleigh, and Cecil, the last only Avas able to overcome
the resentment of the new sovereign. Cobham and Raleigh were informed thattbey
were not to approach the royal presence Cecil spared no pains to depress his old
associates, and to raise himself at their expense. Howard, one of his active parti
sans, assured James that the three individuals first-named were " persons of no
principles in morals or religion, calling them a triplicity that deny the Trinity."
Ibid.

18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [di. II.
to place him on his guard ; his letter was intercepted, and he deemed it
prudent to confess that Cobham had sought and obtained some private
conferences with Aremberg, the minister of the archduke. When the
confession was reported to Cobham, he regarded it as an act'of treachery,
and indignantly exclaimed, that whatever he had done of that nature had
been at the instigation of his accuser. In this manner these persons
became evidences against each other, and both were committed to the
Tower *.
There was enough in the confessions of several who were engaged in
Markham's plot to render their condemnation unavoidable. Sir Edward
Parham urged that his only share in the conspiracy consisted in a
pledge to rescue the king from a threatened captivity, which he main
tained could not amount to treason, and his ingenuity procured his
acquittal. The Lords Grey and Cobham were reserved to be judged by their
peers. Of the latter it is related, that " never was seen
ham and Grey. s0 aDJect &n& P00r a spirit" as was betrayed by him on
this occasion. He sought his life by repeating the meanest
entreaties, making a merit of the confessions by which he had convicted
himself, and implicated his friends. " Grey, quite in another key," says
a contemporary, " began with great assurance and alacrity ; spake a long
and eloquent speech, first to the lords and then to the judges, and lastly
to the king's counsel, and told them each of their charges, and spake
effectually for himself. He held them the whole day, from eight in the
morning till eight at night, in subtle traverses and scapes ; but the evi
dence was too conspicuous, both by Brooke's and Markham's confessions,
that he was acquainted with the intended surprise. Yet the lords were
long ere they could all agree, and loth to come out with so hard a cen
sure against him ; for though he had some heavy enemies (as his old
antagonist, Southampton, who was mute before his face, but spake very
unnobly against him), yet most of them strove with themselves, and
would fain, as it seemed, have dispensed with their consciences to have
showed him favour. At the pronouncing of the opinion of the lords, and
the demand whether he had any thing to say why sentence of death
should not be given against him, these only were his words : ' I have
nothing to say ; ' there he paused long ; ' and yet a word of Tacitus
comes in my mind, — Non eadem omnibus decora; the house of the
Wiltons have spent many lives in their prince's service, and Grey cannot
beg his.'
" After sentence given, he only desired to have one Travers, a divine,
'I * " Cohham's conspiracy gives the king uncommon anxiety, but still more labour
and vexation to Cecil. I recognize so many seeds of unsoundness in England, so
much is brewing in silence, and so many events appear to be inscrutable, as to in
duce me to maintain that for a hundred years to come this kingdom will hardly
misuse its prosperity to any other purpose than its own injury." Beaumont, August
13,16,21,1603. Winwood, ii". 8.

a. n. 1603.] James i. 17
sent for to come to him, if he might live two days. If he were to die
before that, then he might have one Field, whom he thought to be near.
There was great compassion had of this gallant young lord, for so clear
and fiery a spirit had not been seen by any that had been present at the
like trials. Yet the lord-steward condemned his manner much, terming
it Lucifer's pride, and preached much humiliation; and the judges liked
him as little, because he disputed Avith them against their laws. We
cannot yet judge what will become of him or the rest*."
But if the case of Grey perplexed his judges, that of Raleigh was less
easy to be dealt with. The indictment charged him with
an attempt to excite sedition in the kingdom, to induce TT ? ¦ „of
foreign enemies to invade it, and to deprive the king of
his government. It accused him moreover of having published a book
impeaching the king's title, and of intending to raise the lady Arabella
Stuart to the throne. The only available evidence to be produced
against him was that of Cobham, whose verbal and written depositions
were so contradictory as to be the manifest effect of his resentment or his
fears, and not of any regard to truth. Sir Edward Coke, the attorney-
general, opened the case for the prosecution ; and aware, apparently, of
the worthlessness of the only evidence at his command, he endeavoured
to prejudice the court by assailing the accused with the most bitter and
degrading invectives.
Raleigh opposed himself to this treatment Avith calmness and dignity.
When reproached as " a damnable atheist," as " a spider of hell," and
as " the most vile and execrable of traitors," he was content to answer,
" You speak indiscreetly, barbarously, uncivilly." " I want words,"
exclaimed his assailant, "to express thy viperous treasons." "True,"
was the reply, " for you have spoken the same thing half-a-dozen times
already." While evincing this moderation and self-possession, Raleigh
was not insensible to the barbarous laxity of the existing laws against
treason, and well knew the ease with which they had always been made
to serve the purposes of oppression and cruelty. Every thing that
could be adduced in his defence he urged with extraordinary eloquence
and skill ; but his fate was to be determined by the passions of his ene
mies, much more than by questions of evidence or law. He insisted that
the law required the evidence of two witnesses against the accused. This
course, which he described as that provided by the law and statutes of
the realm, he also claimed as no less explicitly enjoined by the law of
God ; and at length he even declared himself willing to forego all further
defence, if Cobham, on being brought into his presence, should affirm
his having advised any dealings with Spain.
In reply, it was said that to bring an accomplice into court as a wit
ness was not lawful, that the different statutes appealed to Avere either
* Sir Dudley Carlton, in the Hardwicke Papers, i. 378—383. C

18 HISTORY Of ENGLAND. [CH. tl,
no longer in force, or not applicable to the purpose for which they were
cited, and that in trials for treason, when before a jury, a written depo
sition might serve in the place of a witness. Raleigh now produced a
letter from Cobham, in which, that he might discharge his conscience,
and free himself from blood, he declared that he never practised with
Spain through the procurement of Raleigh. To the astonishment of the
prisoner, Coke immediately produced another declaration from the same
person, bearing the date of the preceding evening, in which he directly
affirmed what his paper to Raleigh had so clearly denied. On this evi
dence, and on this evidence alone, the jury, though with some hesitation
found Sir Walter Raleigh guilty of high treason.
The conduct of Raleigh on his trial, and the treatment which he re*
ceived, produced a marked change in the public opinion concerning him.
A writer of the time remarks, " he answered with that temper, wit,
learning, courage, and judgment, that, save that it went with the hazard
of his life, it was the happiest day that he ever spent." One of the per
sons who announced the decision of the jury to the king was constrained
to say, " Never man spoke so well before, or would again."* Another
declared, that before entering the court he would have travelled a hun
dred miles to have seen the prisoner hanged, but that he left it willing
to travel a thousand if he might then be the means of saving his life.
The people Avho heard the decision of the jury, expressed their sense of
its injustice; and multitudes, who rarely adverted to the name of Ra
leigh but with abhorrence in consequence of his unpopular conduct with
regard to the Earl of Essex, were now among his warmest admirers
and his most zealous friends. The history of our earlier state trials is
almost uniformly revolting to every feeling of justice and humanity ;
but on no such occasion were these feelings more outraged than in
this attempt to dispose of a man whose genius rendered him one of the
brightest ornaments of his country. It is not pretended that he was
faultless ; but in this matter he suffered less from his own misconduct,
than from the envy and malevolence of Cecil f.
* Sir Dudley Carlton's Letter, Hardwicke Papers, i. 379.
t We could wish, for the honour of our country, that the course pursued by
Coke, so manifestly unjust, had been illegal. But, upon the whole, this does not
appear to have been the fact. A writer who has treated this subject with learning
and judgment remarks, " At the period of Raleigh's trial there was perhaps no point
of law more completely settled than that the statute of the 1st and 2nd of Philip and
Mary, c. x. had repealed the provisions of the statute of the 5th of Edward VI. re
specting the production of two witnesses in cases of treason. Gross and monstrous
violations of all just principles of evidence no doubt occurred in every part of this
proceeding; hearsay, rumour, conjecture, suspicion, were all thrown before the jury
in a mass, Avithout scruple and without question ; but all this was the fault of the
times, not the injustice of individuals. The law of evidence, familiar as it is to us
in the present day, Avas at that time — we will not say in its infancy, it was not even
born ; nor was it until fifty years afterwards, Avhen the Commonwealth judges had
applied their minds to the subject, that just and rational principles of evidence in
criminal cases began to appear." Criminal Trials, i. 514, 515. Whatever may be
our judgment as to the degree of exculpation supplied by these facts with respect
to the conduct of Coke, the facts themselves are important to be remembered by

A.D. 1603.] JAMES I. 19
On Raleigh's supposed irreligion, Avhich Coke so malignantly urged
against him, an intelligent and impartial observer remarks, " I wist not
that he hath any evil design in matters of faith or religion, as he hath
often discoursed to me Avith much learning, wisdom, and freedom. I
knoAv he doth someAvhat differ in opinion from some others ; but I think
also his heart is well fixed in every honest thing, as far as I can look into
him. He seems wonderfully fitted both by art and nature to serve the
state, especially as he is versed in foreign matters. In religion he hath
shown (in private talk) great depth and good reading, as I once expe
rienced at his house before many learned men. In good troth, I pity
his state; and doubt the dice not fairly thrown if his life be the losing
stake*." It appears, therefore, that Hume has been misled by vulgar
slander in describing Raleigh as a sceptic or free-thinker.
A circumstance which contributed, we may believe, more than any
other to give this hard complexion to the fate of Raleigh, was his having
been one of a small party who had shown a wise solicitude that the ac
cession of the house of Stuart should be delayed until James should have
agreed to certain articles securing the liberty of the subject. Cecil well
knew the light in which any such proposal would be regarded by the
monarch, and in crushing the project, acquired a new claim on the gra
titude of his future master. It was easy at any time to make the abet
tors of such a scheme particularly odious to the kingf.
The sentence of the law was executed on Brooke, and on the two
priests, Watson and Clarke. Much influence was employed in favour
of Markham, Grey, and Cobham, but the king seemed inexorable, and
the day for their execution was appointed. When that" day arrived,
Markham was first called to the scaffold. He lamented that hopes of
life should have been held out to him which now proved to be vain ; but
when the napkin used on such occasions was offered him, he declined its
aid, observing, that he could " look death in the face without blushing."
He had begun to prepare himself for the block, when a stranger drew
the sheriff aside, who, returning to Markham, said, that as the solemn
scene before him had taken him somewhat by surprise, he should be al
lowed two hours more for preparation. Markham being removed, Grey
was summoned, whose approach showed that his circumstances had not
much affected his state of mind or general manners. A number of young
gentlemen preceded him, and two of his most intimate friends appeared
as his supporters, his countenance and attire being observed to resemble
those of a bridegroom rather than of a man at the place of execution.
Prayers were offered by the minister in attendance, in which Grey joined
the student of English history at this period ; and the more so as they are facts Avhich
have been overlooked by some high legal authorities Avhen touching on these
matters. * Harrington's Nugse Antiqua?, i. 740. Sir Dudley Carlton's Letters in Hard-
wicke's State Papers, i.
f Osborn, 423.
C2

20 HISTORY OF EHGLAND. [cH. II.
with an utterance that bespoke his unfaltering courage and fervent
piety. He then confessed the truth of the charge preferred against him,
and again fell upon his knees, and commended the king and the royal
family to the favour of heaven, in an extemporaneous prayer of consider
able length, and which the by-standers remarked as strongly imbued
with the sentiments and phraseology of puritanism. When he had con
cluded, the sheriff informed him that a mistake had taken place, that,
according to his instructions, Cobham should die first. Grey was in con
sequence returned to his apartment, and Cobham appeared, and, to the
astonishment of the spectators, looked round on the instruments of death
with a self-possession foreign to his character. When he had confessed
his own guilt, and with his last breath had re-asserted that of Raleigh,
Markham and Grey were conducted from different points to the scaffold,
and the offenders, each of whom had supposed his companions to be no
more, gazed upon each other in strange amazement. The sheriff now
proclaimed to the breathless multitude that the king, of his graciousness,
had deputed a messenger to declare it as his pleasure that the lives of
the culprits should be spared. The announcement called forth loud
acclamations*. In reflecting on these proceedings, it is difficult to avoid the suspicion
that Cobham had been in some degree initiated into this mystery. His
affirmation concerning the guilt of Raleigh, supposed to have been made
in the immediate prospect of death, Avould have its uses ; while the scene,
as a whole, would be too readily applauded as a proof of the royal wis
dom and clemency. Raleigh was spared for the present, in common
with the rest. Markham was banished the kingdom, with two of his
associates. Lord Cobham obtained his liberty, but it was to pass the
remaining sixteen years of his life in contempt and the lowest poverty!.
The devout and high-spirited Lord Grey ended his days in the ToAver,
after suffering eleven years' confinement, lost to the religious party whose
cause he had conscientiously espoused, and to the country he was fitted
to serve and adorn. Raleigh was detained a prisoner in the same
edifice. As soon as the decease of Elizabeth became known, the Puritans, sus
picious of the new monarch's intentions, became active in
Petition of procuring signatures to their " millenary petition," so called,
April, 1603. because more than a thousand names from among the
clergy were expected to be attached to it. It had been
partially circulated through about half the counties of the kingdom, and
had obtained upwards of eight hundred signatures, when it Avas deemed
* Carlton's second Letter in the Hardwicke State Papers, i. 377 — 393. Lodge,
iii. 215. Winwood, ii. 1 1. Stoive, 828, 832. State Trials, ii. 65—70. Cayley's
Life of Raleigh, ii. 5—84.
f " He died in a room ascended by a ladder, at a poor woman's house in the
Minories, formerly his laundress, rather of hunger than of any more natural dis
ease." Osborn, 426. _

A. D. 1603.] JAMES I. 21
expedient, without further delay, to present it to the sovereign. James
received the petition with respect, and promised that a day should be
fixed, Avhen deputations from the parties at issue on the points to which
the petition referred should be convened, and the whole subject duly
considered. In this memorable document the petitioners commence with declaring
their sincere affection for their sovereign, and the church of which they
were ministers, rejecting the charge of schism or faction as a calumny.
It AA-as admitted that they had formerly submitted to these very matters
from which they noAV sought to be relieved. But it was urged that, in
some instances, this conformity had taken place when the parties were
less fully instructed, while in others it had been accompanied at the time
by explanations, and even by protests. At present, they were perfectly
agreed in entreating the reform of certain evils affecting the Avorship and
discipline of the church, the manner of appointing its ministers to their
livings, and the qualifications of such persons. With regard to baptism,
it was implored that it should no longer be administered in any case by
women, and that the sign of the cross, and the questions usually put to
the infant, should be dispensed Avith. It was further matter of petition,
that the ring might be no longer used in the ceremony of marriage, that
the entire rite of confirmation might be abolished, and that the lessons
from the Apocrypha might be no longer a part of the public service ; that
ministers should not be obliged to wear the cap and surplice, to en
courage their people in an observance of holidays, or in bowing at the
name of Jesus ; that the sanctity of the Lord's day might be more strictly
enforced, the church service abridged, and certain improvements at
tempted in its psalmody. It was, moreover, prayed that all clergymen
should be persons residing on their cures, capable of preaching, and so
employed at least once on the sabbath ; and that the subscriptions ex
acted from candidates for ordination should have respect to the doc
trines of religion only, together with the article of the king's supremacy.
In conclusion, some reforms were noticed as highly expedient in the laws
and usages of the ecclesiastical courts*.
Copies of this petition were soon made public, and excited no small
displeasure and alarm in both Universities. At Cambridge,
a resolution was passed which deprived every person Avho r,0" uct-"- ' e
should impugn any matter of doctrine or discipline in the
church, of whatever degree he might have obtained, declaring the incor
rigible offender for ever incapable of acquiring such a distinction. With
a magnanimous consistency, these disputants called on their opponents to
answer the numberless works in which the errors of the enemies of the
church were exposed before attempting to dispute in the presence of so
wise a king ; and in the same breath denounced the man who should
essay such a labour by pointing to the penalty, (the only one in their
* Neal's History of the Puritans, ii. 5, 6.

22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [<3H. JI«
power) which they were prepared to inflict as the consequence. The
press, they well knew, was in the hands of their sect ; and that the man
who dared to use it against them would do so at more serious costs than
the loss of university honours.
While Cambridge proclaimed its zeal thus loudly, it will not be
supposed that Oxford was silent. The document put forth under the
name of the Vice-Chancellor and others in that university Avas shrewdly
devised. Its great drift was to exhibit the Puritans as the patrons of
misrule, and to commend the church in its present form to the royal
protection, as especially adapted to give stability to the throne, and
to sustain " the supereminent authority always pertaining to the regal
person of a king."*
Somewhat more than six months had intervened, since the petition of
p . the Puritan clergy was presented, when James issued
Hampton ' a proclamation, which prohibited all writing or petitioning
Court, Jan. on the subject of reforms in religion, on pain of his
displeasure. In this document the king spoke of the
established church as formed after the model of the best times, but
observed, that as there were usages to which exception had been taken,
a meeting of learned men would be very speedily arranged for the pur
pose of examining such particulars, and of adjusting such changes as
should appear desirable. When the time for holding this long-promised
conference arrived, the first day was occupied by the king and the
prelates in discussions preliminary to the meeting of the Puritan minis
ters. It should be remembered in this place, that James had already
signalized himself as a theologian, and that next to his vanity of being
thought an absolute king, was that of being esteemed a profound divine.
Owing to this last circumstance, the bishops found themselves in a
situation of considerable difficulty in their private conference with the
sovereign. We are told that James chose " to play the Puritan " on that
occasion, and indulged this humour so far that the prelates cast them
selves on their knees before him, entreating " with great earnestness that
nothing might be altered, lest Popish recusants punished by penal statutes
for their disobedience, and the Puritans, punished by deprivation from
their callings and livings for nonconformity, should say that they had just
cause to insult upon them as men who had travelled to bind them to that
which, by their own mouths, Avas now confessed to be erroneous •)-." This
reasoning, whether thus avowed or not, is always in operation in such
cases, it being difficult for men to believe that the alteration of their
course for the future will not seem to give a character of injustice,
insincerity, or imbecility to the past. Other grounds of objection to
change are of course more generally urged, but in this plea we have
a conservator of the abuses of society, next in power to what is supplied
• Neal, ii. 6-8. Strype's Annals, iv. 327. f Calderwood's Hist, 474.

a. d. 1604.] james i. 23
by the more direct selfishness of such as are particularly interested in
their preservation. In the issue it was seen that the conceit which
recommended itself to the monarch on the occasion adverted to, was
taken up purely for the purpose of displaying his learning and Avisdom
on such subjects, and not Avith a vieAv to present any material impedi
ment to the original plans of the court clergy.
On the following day, four Puritan ministers, selected by the
sovereign, were opposed to nearly twenty prelates or other dignitaries,
beside the members of the council, atid a crowd of courtiers, the king
being seated as moderator. The discussion Avhich ensued has been
variously, and at best but very partially reported. The account pub
lished by Dean Barlow, which is the principal authority on the subject,
has evidently — to use the language of Fuller — " a sharp edge on one
Bide." It limits the complaints of the Puritans to a few comparatively
trivial particulars, and fails to convey any adequate impression of the
nature of the reasoning with which the leaders among those people were
always prepared to advocate those principles. A dignitary, who was
present, wrote on the following day to a female relative in the country,
and stated among other things that the Puritan representatives " made
much stir about the book of Common Prayer, and subscription to it;"
objecting to " all the ceremonies, and every point in it*." This
account, which is no doubt in substance the true one, contains much
more than is conveyed by that of Barlow. There are also some addi
tional particulars in a narrative prepared by Galloway, a Scottish
clergyman, who was present ; but this document did not become public
until improved by the recollection and taste of the sovereign. That the
Puritan ministers were abashed in so unusual a presence, and on such
unequal terms, so as not to have acquitted themselves with their accus
tomed ability and courage, may be supposed. But this circumstance
should have taught their enemies to award them the more scrupulously
whatever credit they had really deserved. The Puritans might easily
have supplied the deficiencies, or corrected the mistakes of the accounts
of this conference which emanated from the court ; but to have done so
would have been to exasperate the king, and must have involved the
ministers principally concerned in difficulties which in our better times
are happily little understood. It was deemed better, therefore, to leave
his majesty in possession of his fancied triumph, aud the prelates to
reap the fruits of the pitiable sycophancy and impiety in which, accord
ing to the narrative of Barlow himself, it was their pleasure to indulge-)-,
James, in a subsequent allusion to this dispute, and speaking of the
Puritans, observed, " I peppered them soundly. They fled me from
* Winwood, ii. 13, 14.
t Neal, ii. 12. It ivas the bad fashion of these times for the government to issue
their official versions of public proceedings on questions of general interest. The
gunpowder conspiracy, and the fate of Sir Walter Raleigh, called forth treacherous
(documents of this description, On this subject see Criminal Trials, ii, 3 — 7>

24 HISTORY OF ENGLANT. [c'H. II..
argument to argument. I Avas forced at last to say unto them, that if
any of their disciples had answered them in that sort, they would have
fetched them up in place of a reply*," the logic of the rod being well.
suited to such stupidity. A few passages from Barlow's narrative will
suffice to show the manner in which this debate was conducted, and
will enable us to judge whether the review of it furnished any just cause
of self-gratulation to the monarch.
In the last reign there were certain meetings of the clergy for confe-L
rence on religious subjects called prophecyings, which Elizabeth, with her
wonted jealousy of freedom, had seen it expedient to suppress, but which,
as exercises admirably adapted to train the clergy to proficiency in their
vocation, found a strenuous advocate in no less a personage than the wise
and cautious Sir Francis Bacon f. The matter however was no sooner
broached than James exclaimed, " If you aim at a Scottish Presbytery, it
agrees as well with monarchy as God and the devil. Then Jack and
Tom, and Will and Dick shall meet, and at their pleasure censure me and
my council. Therefore I reiterate my former speech, Le roi s'avisera.
Stay, I pray you, seven years before you demand that of me; and then if
you find me grow pursy and fat, I may perchance hearken unto you, for
that government will keep me in breath, and give me work enough."
Having thus informed his auditory, Avith more freedom probably than
was intended, of the devout motives which had induced the preference of
an Episcopal to a Presbyterian church, the king diverged to the question
of the supremacy of the crown in ecclesiastical affairs, and for reasons
which the folloAving extract will sufficiently state : " After Queen Mary
had overthrown the reformation in England, we in Scotland felt the
effect of it. For thereupon Mr. Knox writes to the Queen Regent,
a virtuous and moderate lady, telling her she was the supreme head of
* Hearne's Titus Livius, 197.
f " The ministers Avithin a precinct," says Bacon, '* did meet upon a week day, in
some principal town, where there was some ancient grave minister who was presi
dent, and an auditory admitted of gentlemen and other persons of leisure. Then
every minister successively, beginning with the youngest, did handle one and the
same part of scripture, spending severally some quarter of an hour or better, and in
the whole some two hours, and so the exercise being begun and concluded Avith
prayer, and thejiresident giving a text for the next meeting, the assembly was dis
solved ; and~fhis was, as I take it, a fortnight's exercise, which, in my opinion,
was the best way to frame and train up preachers to handle the word of God, as it
ought to be handled, that hath yet been practised. For we see orators have their decla
mations, lawyers have their moots, logicians their sophisms, and every practice
of science hath an exercise of erudition and imitation before men come to the life ;
only preaching, which is the Avorthiest, and wherein it is more danger to do amiss,
wanteth an introduction, and is ventured and rushed upon at first." Certain con
siderations concerning the better Pacification and Edification of the Church of
England. Works, vi. 61—97. Ed. Montagu. This admirable paper, and another
on the same subject, intitled "An Advertisement touching the Controversies of the
Church of England," (Works, vii. 28—60) was presented to the king soon after his
accession. Both abound in the most weighty and valuable observations, and strongly
urge a policy in regard to the Puritans, the reverse of that which it had been the
pleasure of Elizabeth to adopt, and which, as we shall see, it was the pleasure of
James to continue.

A. D. 1604.] JAMES I. 25.
the church, and charged her, as she would answer it at God's tribunal,
to take care of Christ's evangil, in suppressing the. Popish prelates, who
withstood the same. But hoAV long, troAv ye, did this continue? Even
till by her authority the Popish prelates were repressed, and Knox Avith
his adherents being brought in were made strong enough. Then they
began to make small account of her supremacy, when, according to that
more light wherewith they were illuminated, they made a further re
formation of themselves. How they used the poor lady, my mother, is
not unknoAvn, and how they dealt with me in my minority. I thus
apply it. My lords the bishops, (this he said putting his hand to his hat)
I may thank you that these men plead thus for my supremacy. They
think they cannot make their party good against you but by appealing to
it ; but if once you are out and they in, I know what would become of
my supremacy, for no bishop no king. I have learned of what cut they
have been, who, preaching before me since my coming into England,
passed over with silence my being supreme governor in causes eccle
siastical *." It Avas not without reason, that Sir John Harrington, himself
no Puritan, described the king as using " upbraidings " rather than
arguments. " He told them," says that writer, " that they wanted to
strip Christ again, and bid them away with their snivelling. The
bishops seemed much pleased, and said his majesty spoke by the power
of inspiration. I wist not what they mean, but the spirit was rather
foul-mouthed f." In conclusion the king, turning to Dr. Reynolds, the
most considerable of the Puritan clergy present, said, " If this be all your
party has to say, I will make them conform themselves, or else harry them
out of the land, or do worse."
It will be observed that in this discussion the royal moderator was
chief speaker, and singular was the impression which the ribaldry
uttered by him seemed to produce on the venerable ecclesiastics and
grave statesmen who listened to it. Bancroft, bishop of London, cast
ing himself at the feet of his sovereign, exclaimed, " I protest my heart
melteth for joy, that Almighty God of his singular mercy has given us
such a king as since Christ's time hath not been." Whitgift, Arch
bishop of Canterbury, on hearing his majesty declare himself favourable
to using the oath ex-officio, which, by requiring the accused to convict
himself, was contrary to law and humanity, protested in his turn that
his majesty had certainly spoken from the Spirit of God. Chancellor
Egerton, that the lay courtiers might contribute something to this
stream of eulogy, professed his belief that the king and the priest had
never been so wonderfully united in the same person +.
* Barlow. +• Nugae Antiquae, i. 181.
J Barlow's Account of the Conference at Hampton Court in the Phoenix Britan.
nicus, i. Dr. Reynolds having made it an objection against the Apocrypha, that the
author of the book of Ecclesiasticus held the same opinion Avith the Jews at this
day, viz. that Elias in person Avas to come before Christ ; and therefore as yet Christ,
by that reason, has not come in the flesh ; I say Dr, Reynolds having made this ob<

26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. Hi
But the end of this proceeding was not yet. It was no small matter to
tell the Puritan body that their religion was incompatible
Effect of this wit}j i0yaity • and that their sovereign regarded them as
a people harbouring disaffection toward himself under the
pretence of conscience toward their Maker. Men who are really con
scientious in religion, whether wisely so or not, do not often become less
so because made to suffer on that account ; — the opposite result follows
almost with the regularity of a law of nature, the enemy of their con
scientiousness being generally viewed as the enemy of the object of their
adoration, as well as of themselves. It was perilous to assure myriads
of men that the only course by which the favour of their sovereign could
be obtained, was one which they were persuaded would expose them to
the displeasure of their God. In this state of things it was inevitable
that the attention of the Puritans should be directed from the court to the
parliament. Their weight was thus thrown into the popular scale,
whether they would or not ; and the king would have to lay his account
with meeting the spirit of Puritanism in the halls of legislation, and in a
temper much less manageable than in the mock conference at Hampton
Court. Nor should it be forgotten that the claims and the conduct of the
Puritans in that conference were characterised by unusual moderation.
The schemes of the more violent among them during the past reign had
been frequently liable to objection as going beyond the circumstances and
spirit of the times. The changes now sought would have contributed to
the stability rather than the injury of the church. But while the plans
of the former class were resisted as presumptuous and revolutionary, those
of the latter were to be discarded, to use the royal language, as " a snivel
ling about imaginary evils." But such are the artifices by which the
powerful generally endeavour to retain their ascendancy — to ask much is
to deserve punishment in the place of concession— to ask little is to
become the precisian, complaining of trifles unworthy of notice*.
jeotion, his majesty calling for a Bible, first showed the author of that book ; who he
was, then the cause why he wrote that book ; next analysed the chapter itself, show
ing the precedents and consequences thereof; lastly unfolded the sum of that place,
arguing and demonstrating, that Avhatsoever Ben Sirach had said there of Elias,
Elias had in his own person performed and accomplished." Ibid. pp. 162, 163. This
Avriter has not favoured us with the five hours' discourse on topics of this nature, Avith
Avhich his majesty favoured the prelates on the first day of his meeting them. Neal,
ii. 12.
* It was in January, 1604, that the Hampton Court Conference Avasheld. On the
following July the French ambassador thus writes : " The king is for ever following
the chase in order to divert his spirit, saddened and discomposed by innumerable
secret vexations, caused him by the queen ; as also to rid himself of a portion of the
wrath which he entertains against the lower house and the clergy. A Puritanical
priest compared him to Jeroboam, and told him to his face, he had too little love and
care for his subjects, to whom be oived so much. That instead of ruling with Avis-
dom and dignity, be let himself be governed by a few, who bytheirintrigues seduced
him to evil resolutions and abused his kindness. For proof, this preacher cited an
endless list of individual traits, relating to ohurch and state, which irritated the

a.d. 1604.] jamks i. 27

Chapter III.
Meeting of Parliament— the King's Speeoh — Address of the Commons— Dispute
respecting Elections — Union Avith Scotland, and case of the Bishop of Bristol —
the Revenue — Exemption of Members from Arrest — Necessities of the Govern.
ment — Subsidy delayed, and Parliament prorogued — Causes of this course of pro
ceeding in the Commons — Civil Grievances — Religion — Strong prejudice of
James against the Puritans — Conduct of the Puritans — how far censurable ?
A few weeks subsequent to the meeting at Hampton Court, James
summoned his first parliament. This measure had been .
so long delayed in consequence of an alarming pestilence, Parlianfent
which from the time of the king's accession had not March 19,
ceased to ravage the metropolis and its neighbourhood. To
avoid the infection the court had been removed to different places
during this interval. Iu the proclamation issued to convene the Great
Assembly of the nation, the monarch betrayed the same arbitrary tem
per, and the same imprudence that were so observable in his conduct in
the recent conference. It showed that James was solicitous to attach
the authority peculiar to statutes of the realm to royal proclamations,
and that he was not only disposed to assume the office of political in
structor to his untaught subjects, but to assert a right of judging on cer
tain questious connected with the return of members, Avhich the Com
mons of the last reign had been careful to secure as privileges necessary
to their independence. But the character of the persons returned at this
juncture was felt to be the great point. " We admonish," said the
monarch, " that there be great care taken to avoid the choice of persons
either noted for their superstitious blindness one Avay, or for their turbu-
leut humours other ways, because their disorderly and unquiet spirits
will disturb all the discreet and modest proceedings in that greatest and
gravest council."*
When the two houses assembled James congratulated them on the
pacific relations of the country with regard to the states of
the continent, on the domestic tranquillity which resulted speech"^ S
from the unanimity and affection so manifest on his acces
sion, and on the prospect afforded by his appearance among them of a
much nearer connexion between England and Scotland. But the great
king to-the utmost, so that he caused the preacher to be arrested, and declared he
had never in Scotland heard so scandalous a preacher." Beaumont. Depeches.
July 8. About six months later the same writer reports, " the Puritans are furious
and speak very irreverently of the king's person, on account of which he, as Iknow,
is in great anxiety." Jan. 12, Feb. 3.
* Rymer's Fcedera, xvi. 561. Parliamentary History, ii. 968. Ed. 1807. It was
required in the proclamation, that the sheriffs should not return members for the
decayed boroughs.

28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
element of prosperity would be found in concord with respect to religion,
and in approacliing this topic there was matter for complaint. '\At my
first coming in," said the king, " although I found but one religion,
and that the one which by myself is professed, — publicly allowed and by
law maintained ; yet found I another sort of religion, besides a private
sect, lurking within the bowels of this nation. The first is the true reli
gion, which by me is professed, and by law is established ; the second is
those they falsely call Catholics, but truly Papists ; the third, which I
call a sect rather than a religion, is the Puritans and Novelists, who do
not so far differ from us in points of religion, as in their confused form of
policy and purity — being ever discontented with the present government,
and impatient to suffer any superiority, which maketh their sect insuffer
able in any well-governed commonwealth*."
But while the Puritans were thus denounced as a sect not to be suf
fered, the church of Rome was described as our mother church, though
defiled with some infirmities and corruptions, and his majesty was willing
— even anxious, to meet its members in the midway, " so that all
novelties might be removed on either side." In conclusion it was signi
ficantly intimated, that the new parliament would be much more profit
ably employed in looking to the due execution of old laws than in devising
new ones.
From the complexion of this speech, we must suppose that the king
was still labouring under much misconception with regard to the real
strength of the Puritans — notwithstanding the number of clerical signa
tures that had been attached to the millenary petition. The sort of com
parison instituted between this party and the Catholics, and the bare
hint at a possible pacification with Rome, must have filled every genuine
Puritan with indignation and alarm. They were men who had given
proof under Elizabeth that when employed in checking the encroachments
of tyranny, or in extorting concessions deemed necessary to the protection
of their country against popery and oppression, they were not to be awed
by the wrath of the powerful. In the present possessor of the throne
they saw one to whom England owed no debt, and one whom none could
fear, and feAV could respect, either at home or abroad.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the address of the Commons by their
Speaker was studiously framed so as to declare the proper
Address of the auth0rity of parliament, and to point out the limits im-
Commons. , , , •¦ , ,., ,, -r,
posed by the constitution oil the power of the crown. By
the power of his majesty's great and high court of parliament only," said
that officer to the monarch, " new laws are to be instituted, imperfect laws
reformed, and inconvenient laws abrogated, whose power therein is such
and so absolute that no such laAvs can either be instituted, reformed, or
abrogated, but by the unity of the Commons' agreement, the Lords'
accord, and your majesty's royal and regal assent — for that this court
* Pari, Hist. ii. 977—988.

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 29
standeth compounded of two powers, the one ordinary, the other abso
lute; ordinary in the Lords' and Commons' proceedings, but in your
highness absolute either negatively to frustrate, or affirmatively to con
firm ; but not to institute. The body of which court, or council of
state, consisteth of two houses, the one the lower house of parliament,
the members Avhereof are the knights of the shire, and burgesses of
towns and corporations ; the other the higher house, formed of the lords
spiritual and temporal*."
In such language did the first English parliament assembled under
the house of Stuart address its sovereign. That such statements would
not be acceptable to the monarch was Avell understood, and that was the
reason for making them the more distinct and emphatic ; and it is to be
especially observed, that the declarations thus made on the subject of
parliamentary authority have respect — not to theories, but laws, — not to
what it might be wise and just to do, but to what had been long since
determined and established. Thus the struggle between the crown and
the people under the Stuart family had its beginning from the moment
they were brought together, and is to be marked, we must repeat, as one
relating from its commencement to what should be retained, more than
to what should be introduced ; the innovation meditated being on
the part of the sovereign, and not of the subject. The commons
were not ignorant that the practice of the English government,
and down even to very recent times, had been frequently arbitrary and
tyrannical. But they were no less sensible that such practices Avere
generally violations of the law, and their great maxim from this juncture
was to resist all such outbreaks of power by a more vigorous appeal to
the statutes which had been framed to prevent them.
The first point of formal dispute betAveen the commons and the croAvn
related to the right of the house to judge exclusively on all
questions pertaining to the election and eligibility of its soi^uthm-Uv6
members. The king, in his recent proclamation con- of judging
vening the parliament, had seen it proper to declare, w ' "-f!iect
among other novel matters of instruction, that no outlaw
could be returned. Sir Francis Godwin, member for the county of
Buckingham, was rejected on this plea by the clerk of the croAvn,
and a neAV writ being issued, Sir John Fortescue, a member of the coun
cil, Avas returned in his roomf. But the commons insisted that the
* Pari. Hist. ii. 989.
¦f- The following entry of proceedings in the loAver house in 1562 Avill show the
usage of parliament in such instances at that period. " John Smith, returned bur
gess for Camelford, upon a declaration by Mr. Marsh that he had come to this house
being outlawed, and also had deceived divers merchants in London, taking Avares
of them to the sum of 300/., minding to defraud them of the same, under colour of
the privilege of this house. The examination hereof, committed to Sir John Mason
and others of this house, was found and reported to he true.;' But though the fact
of outlaw, and the intention to defraud, Avere " reported to be true," John Smith
retained his seat by a majority of 112 to 107. (Pari. Hist. i. 677-) In the interA'al

3° HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. III.
decision in such cases rested Avith the house alone, and having examined
the case of Godwin, declared him eligible, and duly chosen. James fled
to the judges, as the interpreters of the law ; but as those functionaries
held their office during the royal pleasure only, their authority in such a
case was naturally viewed with suspicion by the house ; the members
accordingly protested against any appeal from the makers of the law to
those whose office Avas to administer it. * After much altercation, it was
agreed that both Sir Francis Godwin and Sir John Fortescue should be
passed by, and a new writ granted. But as the king conceded, by Sir
Francis Bacon, that the commons were " a court of record, and a judge
of returns ; " and as the new writ was issued by the house, and not by
the king, the result was a victory on the side of the people. From this
time, the right of the commons to be the sole judge in disputed elections
has never been questioned. The court affected to look on the affair as
of small moment, but it was well known that much importance was
attached to it by the popular party, both on its own account, and as
having supplied occasion for a trial of strength with respect to similar
questions.f The king's favourite project of an union with Scotland was coldly
entertained. Commissioners were appointed, but a book,
Scotland— published in its favour by the bishop of Bristol, was de*
Case of the] nounced as containing " sundry slanderous passages, tend-
Bristol ° *n^ t0 murmurs> distraction, and sedition," and as intended
to produce a prejudgment of the question. The author,
who probably meant little more than to commend himself to his sovereign^
was obliged to appear at the bar of the house, and to confess himself
penitent for his offence. We shall have frequent occasion to notice the
interference of parliament in such matters, as also the practice of the
court in appealing to the opinion of the judges. But with respect to the
former usage, it is to be observed that it embraced the only means pos
sessed by the Puritan and popular party of exercising any control over
the press, the licensing of publications being in the hands of the court.
And with regard to the latter custom, it is to be remarked that the legal
from 1562 to 1604, the popular feeling had gained much ground in the constitution,;
and with these facts in his recollection, the reader may consult Hume on this par
ticular. * In defending their conduct on this point, the house stated, " In the memorable
case of Sharp, which happened 31st of Henry VI., the judges being asked their
opinions by the lords, ansAvered in these Avords: ' It has not been used beforetime,
nor becomes it us to determine matters concerning the high court of parliament,
which is so high and mighty in its nature, that it is judge of the law, and makes
that to be law which was no laAv, and that to be no law Avhich is, and the determi
nation of its privileges belongs to the lords in parliament, and not to the justices.' "
Pari. Hist. i. 1037. The reader will find, that notAvithstanding such assertions of
its illegality, the Stuart princes never ceased to turn from the decisions of par
liament, Avhen opposed to their Avishes, to the more pliable verdicts of the judges.
t It was found that Godwin had been outlawed, but it was urged that, admitting
the validity of the objection, the sentence had been remitted by his majesty's gene
ral pardon at his inauguration. Winwood, ii, 19, Pari. Hist. i. 998 — 1017.

A.D. 1604.] JAMES t. 31
erudition discovered by the popular advocates in the commons was often
such as to leave the partisans of the prerogative without refuge, except
by obtaining a corrupt decision from the bench, where men might be
placed and replaced at the pleasure of the crown. Still the conduct of the
house toward the bishop of Bristol must be characterized, from the little
we knoAv of it, as intolerant and severe.
But the great object of James in assembling a parliament was to re
plenish the exchequer, and, after much unwelcome delay, _
, i • • , The revenue.
the treasurer began to press this subject more seriously on
the attention of the house. The important branch of revenue arising
from duties levied on merchandise at the ports, then known by the name
of tonnage and poundage, was voted to the crown in the manner usual
on the accession of a new sovereign. Cecil then applied for the grant of
a subsidy, which was a kind of property-tax voted from time to time by
parliament. These subsidies, of which constant notice occurs in this
period of English history, were reserved to meet those exigencies of
government which were not supposed to be provided for by the perma
nent revenue.
But the house hesitated on this point, and allowed itself to be drawn
aside during several days in prosecuting a question of privi-
lege. A member had been committed to the Fleet prison sp'^nt'he
on some matter of debt, and the serjeant-at-arms was in- exemption of
structed to see him set at liberty Avithout delay; but, to ™^ers from
the surprise of the house, the warden of the prison refused,
and with an obstinacy which justified the suspicion that his conduct was
governed by those Avho sought to deprive the commons of that freedom
from arrest which had been obtained with so much solicitude and effort
under Elizabeth. After three examinations, and the punishment of very
inconvenient accommodations in the Tower, the delinquent warden ap
peared on his knees at the bar, confessing his error and presumption,
and his unfeigned sorrow that he had so offended that honourable house.
The absent member appeared in his place. The penitence of his keeper
was attributed to a private message from the king.
The debate on the subsidy was now resumed. During nine months,
the house had managed to evade this question, while the
difficulties of Cecil had multiplied daily. A courtier, in a Necessities of
• i ¦ • ¦ ,,„ the govern-
letter dated two months prior to this time, writes, My ment.
lord treasurer is much disquieted how to find money to
supply the king's necessities, and protested to some of us poor men that
were suitors to him for relief, that he knoweth not hoAV to procure money
to pay for the king's diet. We do here all apprehend that the penury
will more and more increase, and all means be shut up for yielding any
relief." These forebodings it seems were not groundless, for even now, the

32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
long-anticipated, and we may perhaps say the deeply-mortgaged subsidy,
Subsidy de- appeared to be more remote than ever. Judging from
layed, and par- the temper of the house, James began to fear the mor-
liamentpro- tification of a direct refusal, even to so moderate a demand,
rogued. l'eb.7- , . , ,
and from this his first parliament ; an event which he
would have looked upon as degrading him in the sight of all Europe. It
was to avoid this catastrophe, that his majesty professed to have dis
covered reasons for not wishing to press just now on the means of his
subjects, and requested that the application for a subsidy might he
withdrawn. In less than a fortnight after making this communication,
James prorogued the parliament. The session had lasted twelve months
within a few days*.
It is no doubt true that the monarch needed the lesson which this
Cond t f th seemmS parsimony could not but convey. Even his apo-
Commonsat logists must admit that his habits of expense, though re-
this juncture suiting from a facility of disposition towards those who
obtained his favour more than from any other cause, were
such as required a vigorous check. But when every allowance of this
nature shall have been made, something more than we have yet seen
is necessary to account for this cautious, this seemingly ungenerous
course of proceeding on the part of the commons. The king, supposing
him to have shown any reasonable consideration of the wishes and
claims of his subjects, was surely entitled to the limited pecuniary
* Pari. Hist. 1028, 1030, 1044, 1045. One effect of this session was to show
James that he had greatly underrated the strength of the Puritans. Writing to
Lord Howard while the question of a subsidy was pending, he says, " My faith
ful 3 ; such is now my misfortune, as I must be lor this time secretary to the
devil in answering your letters directed unto him. That the entering now into the
matter of the subsidy should be deferred until the council's next meeting with me,
I think no ways convenient, especially for three reasons : first, you see it has al
ready been longest delayed of any thing, and yet you see the longer and further
from it, and (as in every thing that concerns me) delay of time does never turn
them toward me, but, by the contrary, every hour breedeth a new trick of contra
diction amongst them, and every day produces new matter of sedition, so fertile
are their brains in ever uttering forth venom ; next, the parliament is now so
very near an end, as this matter can suffer no longer delay ; and thirdly, if this
be not granted unto before they receive my answer to their petition, it needs never
to be moved, for the will of man or angel cannot devise a pleasing answer to their
proposition, except I should pull the crown not only from my own head, but also
from the head of all those who shall succeed unto me, and lay it doAvn at their feet.
And that freedom of littering my thoughts, which no extremity, nor strait, nor
peril of my life, could ever bereave me of in times past, shall now remain with me
as long as the soul shall with the body. And as for the reservations of the bill of
tonnage and poundage, ye of the upper house must, out of your love and discretion,
help it again, or otherwise they will in this, as in all things else that concerns me,
wrack both me and all my posterity. Ye may impart this to little 10 and bigg
Suffolk. And so far well from my wilderness, which I had rather live in (as God
shall judge me) like a hermit than be a king over such a. people as the pack of
Puritans are that overrules the lower house." Printed from the MS. in Hallam's
Constitutional History of England, i. 331, 332. In the secret correspondence between
James and Cecil, 30 stood for the King, 10 for Cecil, and 3 for Lord Henry Howard.
Birch's Memoirs, ii. 514.

A. D. 1604.] JAMES I. S3
aid which his servants solicited in his name. But no men could be more
sensible than were the members of the lower house, that to judge pro
perly of the relation in which they stood with respect to the sovereign
at the close of this their first session, required attention to the Avhole of
the occurrences forming the history of that session. Accordingly, as if
looking forward to a sudden prorogation, they appointed a committee to
draw up a succinct statement of what had passed ; that, for their own
vindication, and the instruction of posterity, the reasons of their conduct
might be matter of full and permanent record*.
When accused of meddling Avith wardships, marriages, and purvey
ance, for the purpose of impairing the revenue of the
crown, they replied, with justice and becoming indigna- Cl.vi1
.. ., ,J • , , . , , . ° grievances.
tion, that their sole object was to release the subject from
those old and prolific sources of oppression ; presuming, that, as with
the proposal to abolish all such exactions they were careful to annex
the offer of a permanent equivalent in another shape, the change was
one that would commend itself to the patriotism of the monarch, no less
than to that of the subject.
But what especially contributed to this umbrage of the Commons
was the discouragement'with which the king and his advi
sers had met every attempt toward the reformation of the e 1S'°n'
Church. In fact, James, as though resolved not to credit the strength
of the Puritans in that assembly, had applied himself to the govern
ment of the nation in a manner so independent of their aid, that it as
sumed the character of defiance. This they could not fail to see, and
they acted accordingly. They extorted from the servants of the crown
the appointment of a committee of both houses for the purpose of a
conference on this important subject, though the sovereign had declared
by proclamation that no further change was to be admitted. The par
ticulars enumerated by the Commons committee, as those requiring deli-
* Sir Thomas Ridgway presented this paper to the house as the production of " a
select committee." Hume, who describes it as the work of Sir Francis Bacon and
Sir Edwin Sandys, states that its spirit of freedom was "much beyond the prin
ciples of the age," and that it failed to be adopted on that account, no trace of it
appearing in the Journals. But the truth is, we find the first paragraph of it in
the Journals ; and from the debates of the loAver house in 1621 it is manifest that
the document Avas not only read, but adopted, its non-appearance in the Journals
being matter of astonishment to those senior members Avho had been parties to the
adoption of it. Nor Avill its having been presented to the king appear at all im
probable, if it be remembered that all its great principles Avere embodied in the
Speaker's address on the meeting of parliament. There is an allusion to the paper
in " Truth brought to Light." Pref. It was first printed by Sir Matthew Hale,
and maybe seen in Petyt's " Jus Parliamentarium." Pari. Hist. i. 1030, 1042, 1335,
et seq. We are not aAvare that the allusion to this document in the debates of the
Commons in 1621 has been noticed by any preceding writer; and since we be
came acquainted with that reference, we find the following notice of it in one of
Beaumont's unpublished despatches : — On the 10th of June, this writer remarks
that the king made a speech to the house "full of anger," Avhich was heard in
silence, but Avas followed by "a justification of themselves in uriting agaiiist all
his imputations," Depeches, June 12. D

34 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
beration, were in substance the same with those inserted in the petition
of the Puritan clergy, and which led to the meeting at Hampton Court.
They especially regret the " pressing the use of certain rites and ceremo
nies of the Church ; as the cross in baptism, the wearing of the surplice
jn ordinary parish churches, and the subscription required of ministers,
further than is commanded by the laws of the realm ; things which, by
loug experience, have been found the occasions of such difference, trouble,
and contention in the Church, as thereby divers profitable and painful
ministers, not in contempt of authority, or desire of novelty, as they
sincerely profess, and we are verily persuaded, hut from conscience toward
God refusing the same, some of good desert have been deprived, others
of good expectation withheld from entering into the ministry, and way
given to ignorant and unable men, to the great prejudice of the free
course and fruitful success of the gospel, to the dangerous advantage of
the common adversaries of true religion, and to the great grief and dis
comfort of many of your majesty's most faithful and loyal subjects.*"
But all reasoning and entreaty on this subject was without effect ;
and as the sovereign had determined not to grant the reasonable wishes
of the subject, the subject in his turn had determined not to comply
with the otherwise reasonable wishes of the sovereign.-)-
And even when matters had manifestly come to this pass, the pre-
Strone' nreiu- Juuices °f the monarch only seemed to gather strength,
dice of James and his passions to become more excited. " As God shall
against the judge me !" he exclaimed in the ear of favourites, " I
had rather live like an hermit, than be a king over such
a people as the pack of Puritans are that over-rules the lower house."J
This state of mind, indeed, had now acquired the force of habit ; and
gloomy, in many directions, was the prospect which it boded. Five years
had now passed since his majesty had penned the advice to his son,
which found its way abroad under the title of ' Basilicon Doron,' and it
is after this manner that he there speaks of the Puritans of Scotland.
** There never rose faction in the time of my minority, nor trouble since,
• * Pari. Hist. i. 1023— 1026.
¦J- Of the impression Avhich the conduct of the king at this time was adapted to
make on the mind of the by-stander, some judgment may be formed from the fol-
loAving report of the French ambassador : — " James has written to the lower house
a letter full of reproaches, and in a style which I submit privately to your majesty,
only to remark that this mode of proceeding is very unusual and very prejudicial to
the prince. The letter has also been very ill taken ; great complaints have been
raised of it, and very bitter and hostile judgments fallen upon it. The king, there
fore, determined to tell the lower house, in a second letter, that he had not in
tended to offend them, but only to gain them over to reason. They, however, are
by no means satisfied ; and if they were more angry, and spoke more bitterly of the
first letter, they scoff more at the second. King James, in spite of all this, lives in
the conviction that he is wiser than all his councillors; and is able, in spite of all
complications, to remain neuter, and enjoy peace and repose. J, on the other
hand, contemplate the approach of much misfortune and confusion ; and can assure
your majesty, that you have rather reason to reflect on and compassionate his per
versity and its ruinous results, than to fear his power." Beaumont, Depeches,
Mai 13, 26, 1604.
J See note, p. 32, book ii. passim.

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 35
but they that were upon that factious part were ever careful to persuade
and allure these unruly spirits among the ministry to spouse that quarrel
as their oavia; where through I was often calumniated in their popular
sermons, not for any evil or vice in me, but because I Avas a king, which
they thought the highest evil. And yet for all their cunning, whereby
they pretended to distinguish the lawfulness of the office from the vice
of the person, some of them would sometimes snapper out well grossly
with the truth of their intentions ; informing the people that all kings
and princes were naturally enemies to the liberty of the Church, and
could never bear patiently the yoke of Christ : — with such sound doctrine
fed they their flocks. And because the learned, grave, and honest men
of the ministry were ever ashamed and offended with their temerity and
presumption, there could be no Avay found out so meet in their conceit
for maintaining their plots, as parity in the Church — parity, the mother
of confusion. Take heed, therefore, my son, to such Puritans, very pests
in the Church and commonwealth ; whom no deserts can oblige, neither
oaths nor promises bind ; breathing nothing but seditions and calumnies,
aspiring without measure, railing without reason, and making their own
imaginations (without any warrant of the word) the square t of their
conscience. I protest before the great Gou> and as I am here upon my
testament it is no place for me to lie in, that ye shall never find with any
highland or border-thieves greater ingratitude and more lies and vile
perjuries than with these fanatic spirits. And suffer not the principal
of them to brook your land, if you like to sit at rest." The remedy for
these inveterate evils, it is added, would be found in the reinstatement
of bishops, not only in the Church, but in the parliament.
It is not easy to. read the above extract without supposing that James
had seen instances of base and violent conduct in the party
to which it refers. Some were, probably, as he describes Conduct of the
them, " fanatic spirits," and more scrupulous in regard to ^ "" f^"s—
the points of their sectarianism, than about some weightier censurable.
matters. But no dispassionate man will believe that
such was their general character, or that in the disorders adverted to
the king had been so free from "evil or vice" as he seems to have
supposed. With respect to the Puritans of England, it may be safely
affirmed, that while not altogether devoid of the elements of character
with which James had been so deeply offended in Scotland, their temper
and conduct were such as should h.ave secured his respect and sym
pathy. So far were they from manifesting the artifice and turbulence
imputed to the Scots, that [their manners as a body during the Avhole of
this reign were characterized by a wise admixture of the devout and
the moral virtues; and by a deference to authority, which, coupled
as it was with an ardent love of freedom, erred on the side of patient de
corum, rather than on that of rudeness or violence. Let attention be given
to the following passage from a document in which the Commons de-
d2

36 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
fended their conduct as the advocates of these people, and then let the
question be asked, whether the men who so express themselves, or the
party which they represent, or, at least, whose cause they were always
willing to plead, could deserve to be confounded with the class of per
sons set forth in such odious colours by the passions of the monarch.
" For matter of religion, it will appear by examination of truth and
right, that your majesty should be misinformed, if any man should de
liver that the kings of England have any absolute power in themselves
either to alter religion, (which God defend should be in the power of
any mortal man whatsoever) or to make any laws concerning the same,
otherwise, than, as in temporal causes, by consent of parliament. We
have, and shall at all times by our oaths, acknowledge, that your majesty
is sovereign lord and supreme governor in both. Touching our OAvn
desires and proceedings therein, they have not been a little miscon
ceived and misreported. We have not come in any Puritan or Brownish
spirit to introduce their party, or to work the subversion of the state
ecclesiastical as now it standeth, things so far and so clearly from our
meaning, as that with uniform consent, in the beginning of this parlia
ment, we committed to the Tower a man who out of that humour, in a
petition exhibited to our house, had slandered the bishops. We dis
puted not of matters of faith and doctrine ; our desire was peace only,
and our device of unity ; how this lamentable and long-lurking dissen
sion among the ministers, from which both atheism, sects, and all ill
life have received such encouragement, and such dangerous increase,
might at length, before help came too late, be extinguished. And for
the ways of this peace we are not at all addicted to our own inventions,
but ready to embrace any fit way that may be offered ; neither desire
we so much that any man in regard of weakness of conscience may be
exempted after parliament from obedience unto laws established, as that
in this parliament such laws may be enacted, as by the relinquishment
of some few ceremonies of small importance, or by any better way, a
perpetual uniformity may be enjoined and observed. Our desire hath
also been to reform certain abuses crept into the ecclesiastical state even
as ioto the temporal : and, lastly, that the land might be furnished with
a learned, religious, and godly ministry ; for the maintenance of whom
we would have granted no small contributions, had we found that cor
respondency from others which was expected."*
It must be admitted that the spirit of the Puritans, goaded by the
tyranny of Elizabeth's government, was not always so moderate 'and
decorous as that of their advocates in the House of Commons. Of
the Brownists, mentioned in the above passage, Ave shall have occa
sion to speak in another place. They were a sect distinguished from
the Puritans as being opposed to any official interference of the magis
trate in religious matters; and were the opponents, in consequence,
of all civil establishments of Christianity.
* Pari. Hist. i. 1039.

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 37

Chapter IV.
Proceedings in the Houses of Convocation— Relation subsisting between the civil
and ecclesiastical states in the English constitution— Theory of Elizabeth on this
subject — How regarded by the Commons and her ministers— Ground on which
the Puritans complained of their grievances as being contrary to law — Attempt
of James to increase the power of the Houses of Convocatian — Proceedings of
these houses on the accession of Elizabeth and James compared — Severity of the
regulations adopted in the Convocation of 1604 — Enlightened sentiments of the
bishop of St. David's — James obtains unconstitutional aid from the judges and
the council — Character of the Puritans according to the Archbishop of York — The
Puritans persecuted — Importance of correct views with regard to the Puritan
controversy.
While the court was thus employed in a vain attempt to subdue the
strength of the Puritans in the Commons, the majority of
the clergy in their Houses of Convocation were acting on ^e Houses of
the same policy. These houses were composed of the pre
lates and dignified churchmen, forming what was called the upper house ;
and of the representatives of the inferior clergy, as the lower house ; and
both assemblies were now convened, as Avas usual on the meeting of a
new parliament, by the call of the monarch. These ecclesiastical
parliaments, if we may so describe them, were common to all the states
of Christendom during the middle ages ; and were not only the autho
rity with which it rested to decide on most ecclesiastical matters, but the
only channel through which the property of the clergy could be taxed
for the service of the state. The popes had always exercised a general
controul over these representative bodies in matters spiritual and tem
poral. But in England, from the time of the Reformation, the power of
these clerical assemblies had been strictly subject to that of the crown,
the assent of the monarch being in all cases necessary to the validity
of their decisions.
It may not appear to be the most natural relation of things that the
wisdom of an ecclesiastical body should be made to bow to
that of a lay tribunal, and this with regard to the most t,yeen10the 6"
perplexing questions of theology. But such is the relative civil and eccle-
position of the civil and ecclesiastical states in the Eng- s'astical states
lish constitution. The taught are assumed to be better constitution.
guides than their teachers, and upon the very topics
which are the matter of instruction between them. Experience, how
ever, has shoAvn, that what has so inverted an appearance in theory, is
the most salutary arrangement in practice ; and both experience and
reflection teach, that the only condition on which the Church could he

38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH- iv-
justified in aspiring to an independence of the state, would be that of
resolving not to rest upon its bounty. Equity demands that it should
be controlled by the state so long as it is supported by it.
Elizabeth was desirous it should be understood that the function of
the civil power in relation to the Church resided in herself
Theory of Eli- aione or at most in herself with certain ecclesiastical
zabeth on this '. .' '. ,, n. „ , ... , ,
subject;  how commissioners appointed by parliament. J3ut nothing naa
regarded by been more common in English history, especially since
and by her°n tne aSe °f Wycliffe, than the interference of both Lords
ministers. and Commons in such matters, whether as relating to the
claims of the pontiff or of the crown ; and through the
long reign of the last Tudor sovereign, the Commons had contended that
the authority of the monarch in regard to the affairs of the Church, in
common with those of the state, could only be exercised through the
medium of parliament, the ecclesiastical commissioners being persons
delegated by that power, and always liable to be recalled by it. The
circumstances of Elizabeth with regard to the Catholic states of
Europe, and with respect to such of her subjects as were professors
of the Catholic^ faith, did not allow of her manifesting all the repug
nance to this doctrine which she really felt ; for as a matter of policy
it was often found expedient to lay the real or supposed guilt of sup
pressing Catholicism on the English parliament, whose laws were
appealed to "as the instruments which had given existence to Protes
tantism in England, and occasioned the course adopted. On this subject
the language of the great Lord Burleigh, writing to his son, afterwards
Sir Robert Cecil, is Worthy of notice. " The allegation of the popish
ministers at Paris, noting that her majesty did promise favour, and
afterwards did show extremities to the Catholics, is false. For her
majesty at her entry prohibited all change in the form of religion, as she
found it by law ; and when by law it was otherwise ordered by parlia
ment, she did command the observation of the law newly established,
punishing only the offenders according to law. And afterwards when
offenders of the Church did become rebels and traitors, and compassed
her majesty's death, and procured invasion of the realm by strange
forces, the realm by parliament provided more sharp laws against such
rebels and traitors, and so her majesty's actions are justifiable at all
times, having never punished any evil subject but by warrant of law."*
Thus the odium of persecution was transferred from the personal incli
nation of the sovereign, and made to rest with the great national as
sembly, the government in the exercise of its highest functions being
no more than the minister of its will.
The reader must bear this state of things in mind, if he would under
stand the language of the Puritans when they describe many of the
* Murdln's State Papers, p. 666.

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 39
injunctions laid on them, not only as grievous, but as unlawful. For it
was their uniform doctrine, that the decrees of convocations _
, _ i • ,. , , , "round on
could not possess the authority of laws, unless sanctioned which the Pu-
by a vote of parliament. The royal assent, it Avas contended, ritans com-
was not sufficient for this purpose without an act of the \-^\r gl°e7.
legislature. Noav this sanction of parliament had never ances as being
been attached to the decisions with respect to church au- contrary to
thority and religious ceremonies, which, so much to the
umbrage of the Puritans, had been adopted in the first Convocation
under Elizabeth. The doctrinal articles set forth in the name of
that body, and called " The Articles of Religion," were approved ; but
what remained became the subject of fierce dispute, and passed even
in the Houses of Convocation by a single vote only. Had the prelates
been content with the service-book as left by Edward VI., the general
laAv, which soon after the accession of Elizabeth restored the protestant
church as it had existed under that prince, might have been pleaded as a
sufficient warrant for coercing nonconformists. But the Convocation
which then met was led to attempt a revision of that book ; and by pro
ducing it in an amended form, made it necessary, in order to its being
legally enforced, that it should receive a new confirmation from the
legislature. Through the influence of the Puritans in the lower house
this confirmation was refused, and the design of the refusal Avas, that
the odium of enforcing the obnoxious ceremonies should not attach to
the law, but to the queen and her favourite clergy.
On this subject a characteristic anecdote was repeated by Wentworth
in the parliament of 1595. " I have heard from old parliament men,"
said that patriotic senator, " that the banishment of the pope and
popery, and the restoring of true religion, had their beginning from this
house, and not from the bishops ; and I have heard that few laws for
religion had their foundation from them. I was, amongst others, in the
last parliament sent unto the bishop of Canterbury for the articles of reli
gion that then passed this house. He asked us why we did put out of the
book the articles for the homilies, consecrating of bishops, and such like ?
' Surely, sir,' said I, ' because we were so occupied in other matters that
we had not time to examine them how they agreed with the word of
God.' — 'What!' said he, ' surely you mistook the matter; you will
refer yourselves wholly to us therein ?'¦ — ' No, by the faith I bear to
God,' said I, ' we Avill pass nothing before Ave understand Avhat it is,
for that were but to make you popes; make you popes who list,' said I,
' for we will make you none.' And surely, Mr. Speaker, the speech
seemed to me to be a pope-like speech ; and I fear, lest Our bishops do
attribute this of the pope's canons unto themselves — 'Papa non
potest errare ('the pope may not err'); for surely if they did not
they would reform things amiss* "
* Pari. Hist. 790.

40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. IV.
Such were the settled views of the Puritans as to the power of the
, Convocation ; and the motives which disposed them to limit
James to aug- tne authority of that assembly as much as possible were
mem the precisely those which taught James to seek its enlarge-
Convocation ment- It wasj therefore, in pursuance of his general po
licy that the king endeavoured to prevent the houses of
parliament from concerning themselves with ecclesiastical affairs, except
in connexion with the clerical body in convocation. But this method
of proceeding was no sooner named than rejected, not only as being a
novelty, but as opposed to the rights of parliament, the supreme court
of the nation in all affairs, as well ecclesiastical as civil. The prelates,
indeed, possessed seats in parliament, and with them, as lords of par
liament, the Commons Avere not unwilling to confer.
It has been necessary to take notice of these particulars thus distinctly,
as they relate to points that will frequently occur in our
tbe"convora-° future narrative, and especially as the circumstances and
tions on the effects which marked the proceedings of the Houses of
EClizSb°th°f d Convocation on the accession of Elizabeth were very much
James com- tne same with those which attended the assembling of
pared. those houses on the accession of James I. The enact
ments of both assemblies were sufficiently numerous and
formidable to afford much perplexity to tender consciences; both
laboured under the same deficiency, being denied the sanction of par
liament; the decrees of both were nevertheless enforced, and with
much severity, through the aid of the court, and this in the face of the
loudest protests as to the illegality of such proceedings.
In the memorable Convocation of 1604, nearly a hundred and fifty
regulations on church matters were agreed to, almost
regulations * 6 without the appearance of deliberation. All these enact-
adopted in the ments breathed more or less of the spirit of intolerance ;
Convocation of ^j, what is more, all are unrepealed to this day. Every
man who should presume to question the authority of this
assembly as representing the Church of England, or who should affirm
the exemption of clergy or laity from its control; the man who
should describe that Church as not "apostolical;" or the book, of
common prayer as containing " anything repugnant to scripture;" who
should dare to separate from the Established Church, or assert that any
assembly so separated could be a lawful Church ; — if convicted of these,
or of many similar offences, had sentence of excommunication pro
nounced against him — a sentence, be it remembered, which not only
excluded the delinquent from the communion of the Church, but made
him incapable of sueing for his lands Jor for debts, of serving on juries,
or of giving evidence as a witness. Having harassed their victim through
life, the authors of these canons denied him christian burial, and con
signed him in form to the keeping of the powers of darkness !

A. D. 1604.] JAMES I, 41
It was not without reason, therefore, that the popular party in the
Commons looked Avith much suspicion on the measures of convocations.
The spirit of the times taught the courts of law to regard the canons
published in 1604 as binding on the clergy only, and to issue frequent
prohibitions, as had been often done in the last reign, for the purpose of
securing the laity against the civil disabilities to which the fact of ex
communication exposed them. The ruling clergy however, insensible
to the changes that Avere forcing their way on either hand, did their
utmost to prevent this humane interference, and with so much success
Avas this policy pursued, that the Puritan ministers, as we shall pre
sently find, were left almost entirely at the mercy of their ecclesiastical
superiors and of the court.
Among the higher clergy, one voice only seems to have been raised
on the side of moderation and forbearance ; — it was that
of Dr. Rudd, bishop of St. David's. A' petition was pre- Enlightened
sented to the Convocation from some Puritan ministers, that ^.'i"1^'8 °e
certain parts of the book of common prayer might be re- St. David's.
vised ; and the answer speedily returned Avas, that the al
ternative soon to be placed before the petitioners was — conformity or
deprivation. Dr. Rudd professed himself incapable of seeing either the
wisdom or justice of such a course, and did not hesitate to affirm that
the labourers whom his brethren were about to expel from the too much
neglected vineyard of the Church, Avere men Avhose places could not be
soon supplied by others equally qualified. The prelate further ad
monished his auditory, that the expulsion of those persons must go forth
as the act of the bishops, and could not fail to exasperate a large portion
of the people against them ; Avhile on all occasions it would behove them
to remember that reason and persuasion were much the more legitimate
weapons with which to assail misguided consciences. " To conclude,"
said the friend of justice and humanity, " I wish that if by petitions
made to the king's majesty there cannot be obtained a complete removal
of the premises which seem too grievous to divers, nor yet a toleration
for them that are of the more staid and temperate carriage, yet at least
there might be procured a mitigation of the penalty, if they cannot be
drawn by our reasons to a conformity Avith us.*" This was not solicit
ing much, but several of the bishops opposed themselves to this advice,
and even this was refused.
The prorogation of parliament left James to become daily more sen
sible of the inconvenience to which the " pack of Puritans ''
in the Commons had exposed him by withholding the ex- ^n™^?'"3
pected subsidy, and he now resolved to annoy his oppo- tional aid from
nents bv enforcina: the new canons against their favour- ,. J'ldSe.a ;an<1
J . . . _ ° . his council,
ites, — the nonconformist clergy. But that these Convo-
* Peirce's Vindication of the Dissenters, 158 — 164, in which the speech was first
printed. There is also a MS, of it in the LansdoAvne , collection in the British
Museum.

42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. tfcH- Iv"-
cation enactments were not of the nature of laws, until confirmed by
parliament, was understood by some, and suspected by others.
For the purpose of removing this difficulty, the judges and law officers
were summoned to meet the sovereign in the Star-chamber, where several
questions bearing on the point were submitted to them. The lbrds of the
privy council, it appears, felt no scruple in raising the prerogative to
almost any height on such matters. The judges, and still more strenu
ously Coke the attorney-general, ventured to urge the opposing claims of
the law. But in the end the majority were pleased to affirm that the
king might give the force of law to regulations for the government of
the Church without waiting for the consent of parliament, and that the
royal commissioners might be empowered to see them administered. It
was also declared that persons framing petitions to the king, procuring
to them numerous signatures, and stating therein that many thousands
of his majesty's subjects would be discontented if the suit of such peti*
tions should be denied, were guilty of an offence apprdaching very near
to felony and treason, and might be fined at discretion. Armed with
this spurious authority, James resolved to deprive the nonconformist
clergy of their livings, and at the same time to preclude the expression
of any popular sentiment in their favour. Tyranny has made alarming
progress, when it not only has the power to inflict wrong, but to prevent
all expression of complaint under it*.
It is a relief to turn from these instances of intolerance supplied by
the ministers of religion, and' of corruption and subser-
S^Puritans viency afforded by the guardians of the law, to the in-
according to telligence and humane integrity of the following passage
th eArchbishop from a ietter of Dr Hutton, at this time Archbishop of
York. Writing to lord Cranbourne, the venerable pre
late remarks, — " I have received letters from your lordship, and others
of his majesty's most honourable privy council, containing two points.
First, that the Puritans be proceeded against according to law, except
they conform themselves. Secondly, that good care be had unto greedy
patrons, that none be admitted in their places but such as are con
formable, and otherwise worthy for their virtue and learning. I have
written to the three bishops of the province, and, in their absence, to
their chancellors, to have a special care of this service ; and therein
have sent copies of your letters, and will take present order Avithin my
own diocese. I wish with all my heart that the like order were taken
and given, not only to all bishops, but to all magistrates and justices,
&c, to proceed against papists and recusants, who of late, partly by this
round dealing against Puritans, and partly by reason of this extraordi
nary favour, have grown mightily in number, courage, and influence.
" The Puritans, whose fanatical zeal I dislike, though they differ in
ceremonies and accidents, yet they agree with us in substance of religion;
and I think all, or the most part of them, love his majesty and the pre-
* Neal, ii. 35—37. Winwood, ii, 44. Dalrymple's Memorials, i. 22—25,

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 43
sent estate, and I hope will yield to conformity. But "the Papists are
opposite and contrary in very substantial points of religion, and cannot
but wish the pope's authority and popish religion to be established. I
assure your lordship 'tis high time to look unto them ; very many are
gone from all places to London, and some are come down to this coun
try in great jollity, almost triumphantly. But his majesty, as he hath
been brought up in the gospel, and understands religion exceeding well,
so he will protect, maintain, and advance it even unto the end ; so that
if the gospel shall quail and popery prevail, it will be imputed principally
to your great counsellors, who either procure or yield to grant toleration
to some. Good my lord Cranbourne,' let me put you in mind that you
were born and brought up in true religion. Your worthy father was a
worthy instrument to banish superstition and to advance the gospel :
imitate him in this service especially. As for other things, I confess I
have not to deal in state matters; yet, as one that honoureth and loveth
his most excellent majesty with all my heart, I wish less wasting of the
treasure of the realm, and more moderation of the lawful exercise of
hunting, both that the poor men's corn may be less spoiled, and other
his majesty's subjects more spared*."
What renders the candour of this judgment with regard to the Puri
tans the more creditable to them and its author is, that the writer had
been a close observer of the spirit and conduct of that party from the
early part of the last reign ; and in another paper, which still exists, has
presented a vigorous outline of the Puritan controversy, and of the
changes it underwent, from the accession of Elizabeth to the times of
which we are now treating.
But timidity often leads to cruelty, the inordinate fear of evil pro
ducing a readiness to employ inordinate means of protec
tion against it ; and thus the fears of James, Avhich con- tife Puritans
nected puritanism with every attribute of disloyalty and
rebellion, taught him to provide for his own safety by shutting his ears
against every plea that might be urged in favour of his supposed ene
mies. "The Puritans," said an observer at this time, "go down on all
sides ; and though our new bishop of London proceeds but slowly, yet
at last he hath deprived, silenced, or suspended all that continue dis
obedient; in Avhich course he hath won himself great commendations of
gravity, wisdom, learning, mildness, and temperance, even among that
faction ; and indeed is held every way the most efficient man of that coat :
yet those that are deprived wrangle, and will not be put down, but ap
peal to the parliament, and seek prohibitions by law; but the judges
have all given their opinions that the proceedings against them are law
ful, aiid so they cannot be relieved that way. Then they take another
course, to ply the king with petitions, the ringleaders whereof were Sir
Richard and Sir Valentine Knightley, Sir Edward Montague, with some
* Winwood, ii. 40.

44 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. IV.
three or four score of gentlemen more, that joined in a petition for the
ministers of Northamptonshire last week, which Avas so ill taken, that
divers of them were convened before the council, and told what danger
they had put themselves in by these associations, and that thus combin
ing themselves in a cause against which the king had his mislike, both
by public act and proclamation, was little less than treason ; that the
subscribing with so many names were armatce preces, and tended to
sedition, as had been manifestly seen heretofore both in Scotland,
France, and Flanders, in the beginning of those troubles*." Another
contemporary remarks, " The poor Puritan ministers have been ferreted
out of all corners, and some of them suspended, others deprived of their
livings. Certain lecturers are silenced, and a crew of gentlemen of North
amptonshire who put up a petition to the king on their behalf, told
roundly of their boldness both at the council-table and star-chamber;
and Sir Francis Hastings, for drawing the petition and standing to it
when he had done, is put from his lieutenancy and justiceship of the
peace in his shire. Sir Edward Montague and Sir Valentine Knightley,
for refusing to subscribe to a submission, have the like sentence. The
rest, upon an acknowledgment of a fault, have no more said to themf."
Again Ave find — " The Puritans about Royston, to the number of about
seven or eight-and-twenty, presented to the king, as he was hunting
there, a petition in favour of their ministers, a copy thereof I shall be
able to send you by the next. The king took in ill part this disorderly
proceeding, commanded them presently to depart, and to depute ten of
the Avisest among them to declare their grievances, which ten were sent
to the council, who, after examination, gave them their mittimus. Upon
their bail they are bound over to be ready to answer the matter before
the lords when they shall be summoned J."
These indications of sympathy Avith the cause of the Puritans, and
shoAvn by persous of high local influence, are in accordance with Avhat
we have seen in the conduct of the parliament, and serve to place the
weakness of the court policy in a still stronger light. Considerable diffi
culty now arose both from the number of the ministers who proved non
conformists, and from the number and Aveight of the persons who con
tinued to appear as their advocates. According to a writer, whose work §
was known to James aud deemed unanswerable, not less than three
hundred nonconforming ministers were sufferers by the proceedings now
* Winwood, ii. 49. f- Ibid. 48. J Ibid. 36.
§ Calderwood's Altare Damascenum. " Anno secundo post adventum Regis in
Angliam 300 ministri, vel libertate conscionandi mulctati, vel beneficio privati, vel
excommunicationis fulmine icti, vel in carcerem conjecti, vel solum vertere coacti;
et restauratse Papatus reliquiae, quarum usus plerisque locis ante obitum felicissimaB
Elizabetha? obsoleverat." Pref. James, after reading this book, was observed to he
" somewhat pensive," and a prelate inquiring the reason, the king " fold him he
had read such a book ; on Avhich the prelate, not willing that such an affair should
trouble his majesty, said they would answer it ; he replied, not Avithout some pas
sion, ' What will you answer, man ? There is nothinghere than scripture, reason,

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 45
instituted. " It is hard," observes a contemporary courtier, " to say
Avhat course Avere best to take ; for that more shoAV themselves opposite
than was suspected ; and the bishops themselves are loth to proceed too
rigorously in casting out and depriving so many Avell-reputed of for life
and learning, only the king is constant to have all come to conformity.
Though he seek to be very private and retired where he is, yet he is
much importuned with petitions on their behalf, and with foolish pro
phecies of danger to ensue." In order to meet this perplexity, the court
descended in some measure from the high ground it had taken, consent
ing that men should " be pressed (for the time only) to conformity ;
and it being discerned that the number of refusers would still be great,
they have since fallen yet loAveT, accepting of some the use of the cross
and surplice only, of others only a promise to use them, and of some
the profession of their judgment only that they may be used, without
pressing them to the use of them at all*."
We have dwelt the longer on the circumstances and the exact nature
of the controversy between the court and the Puritans at
this crisis, as a distinct acquaintance with their particulars c™.]??!,.^6
is strictly necessary to an accurate knowledge of English with regard to
history under the house of Stuart. It is the confession of tne Purltan
their enemies that to this people we " owe the whole free
dom of our constitution;" and the character of that religious struggle,
which has given this secular importance to their history, is but very par
tially and imperfectly exhibited in our most popular histories. The
principles which made them Protestants made them Puritans, teaching
them to regard oppression as an evil to be resisted, whether practised
by popes, by princes, or by a Protestant clergy. Animated by these
principles, and persecuted by the crown and the court clergy, the
Puritans not only became connected Avith every popular movement,
but gave to every such movement the peculiar energy of religious mo
tives. The interests of religion and of civil freedom were seen to be
every where interwoven, so that to forsake either would be to give an
ascendancy to the enemies of both ; and, what affected the Puritans
greatly more was, that by such conduct they would expose themselves
to those penalties in a future world, which they feared much beyond any
that could be inflicted by man. It is confessed that their views of
freedom, especially in regard to religion, were not in all respects
equally enlightened; but they 'Avere views sufficiently just to render
these persons the great conservators of English liberty as then secured
and fathers.' " Pref. ed. 1708. James would hardly have said this, if Calderwood
had magnified the number of sufferers among the Puritan clergy from some fifty to
three hundred, as affirmed by Heylin. Aer. Rediviv. p. 367-
* " A short dialogue, proving that the ceremonies, and some other corruptions
now in question, are defended by none other arguments than such as the papists
have heretofore used and our Protestant writers have long since answered." 1605.
Pari. Hist, ii, 1136. Neal, ii. 38, 39.

46 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
by law, and the means of transmitting it to future generations in a form
still more safe and ample. At this time, the alternative placed before
them was to forego the public worship of their Maker, or to conform to
usages which they believed to be contrary to his will. Had their per
secutors allowed them to form separate assemblies, much of their just
ground of complaint would have been removed ; but from any separa
tion they were prohibited by the sternest interdicts. These interdicts
show it to have been well understood, that not a few were ready to avail
themselves of such a liberty had it been conceded ; and a small space
would probably have sufficed to remove the scruples of such as might
not at once have seen the propriety of following so untried a course;
for it must be remembered that hitherto liberty and uniformity had been
the watchwords of the reformed churches hardly less than of the Romish,
the only difference being that the creed and the formularies were de
scribed as of a Protestant, and not of a Catholic origin. The existence
of a national church allowing the operation of a vigorous dissent was
unknown, except where the two great bodies of Protestants and Catho
lics were so considerable as to make some such adjustment unavoidable.
This was long the state of things in France.

Chapter V.
Case of Pound, a Catholic— Stateof the English Catholics — The Gunpowder con
spiracy — Character of the conspirators, and progress of their enterprise — Their
ulterior plans — Letter to lord Mounteagle — Failure of the plot — Apprehension
and fate of the conspirators — Case of the Jesuit missionaries — Garnet — Meeting
of parliament — King's speech — New penal laws against Catholics — Justice of
these enactments considered.
The penal laws against Catholics were on the whole less rigorously en
forced than at some intervals during the last reign. We
C^thor ' ^n(^' no'wever, that these enactments were not so far al
lowed to sleep but that cases of hardship occurred ; and
these instances were deemed the more grievous by the Christians of that
communion, as being contrary to the indulgence with which they had
flattered themselves on the king's accession. One case of this nature
which occurred at this juncture served to mark but too vivjdly the spirit
of the times. It is thus mentioned in a letter to Winwood. " This Star-
chamber day was determined the case of one Pound, a gentleman who
accused serjeant Philips of injustice for condemning to death a neigh
bour of his only for entertaining a Jesuit. The lords by their sentence
declared the condemnation to be lawful, condemned Pound to lose one
of his ears here in London, and the other in the country where he

a.'d. 1604.] james i. 47
dwelleth, to fine 1000/., and to endure perpetual imprisonment if he im
peach not those Avho advised him to commence his suit; and, if he
would confess, this sentence should be revoked, and their lordships
would otherwise determine according to reason. In the meantime,
Pound lieth close prisqner in the Tower*." Further mention is made of
this sufferer by Father Parsons in his subsequent controversy with
James concerning the oath of allegiance. " I pass over," he observes,
" the cruel sentence of cutting off the ears of so ancient and venerable a
gentleman as is Mr. Thomas Pound, that had lived above thirty years
in sundry prisons, only for being a Catholic, and now last in his old age,
that had honour from God, as to be sentenced to lose his ears, and stand
in the pillory in divers markets, for complaining of hard measure and
unjust execution used against Catholics, contrary, as he presumed, to
his majesty's intention." Admitting Pound to have been, as indeed
this extract itself shoAvs, a notorious recusant, and probably no very
faithful subject, the above proceeding should not be remembered without
indignation. But the court of Star-chamber Avas a tribunal Avhere many
a lawless and merciless judgment had been pronounced. When the
question of its extinction comes to be agitated, we shall have occasion
to examine its character and history.
The fanatical excess to Avhich the spirit of disaffection had in some
instances attained, even in the early part of this reign, be- State of ^g
came manifest in the gunpowder conspiracy. We have English
seen that the English Catholics had confided in the new Catnc,llcs-
monarch to grant a toleration of their worship, or at least some relax
ation of the laws proscribing their religion. In the place of such im
provement in their condition, they now found themselves greater sufferers
than under Elizabeth. James, indeed, was not personally disposed to
such a course of proceeding ; but his fixed purpose of dealing severely
with the Puritans made it necessary that a similar course should be pur
sued toward this second and more obnoxious class of religious malcon
tents ; added to which, the fines imposed by the law on Catholic recu
sants, — a name given to all persons refusing conformity Avith the worship
of the Established Church, — were coveted by the king's Scotch depend
ants, and were transferred in many instances as means of satisfying such
claimants on the royal bounty. The Commons, while sufficiently hostile
to these foreign cormorants (as they were deemed), were loud in their
demands for a strict execution of the laws against Catholics, and were
disposed to increase rather than diminish the number of such laAvs.
That those people should be despoiled by Scotsmen Avas not a gratifying
circumstance, but it was much more endurable than that their sup
posed plots and heresies should go unpunished. It is no matter of
wonder, therefore, that the sufferers complained with much bitterness of
their injuries. They not only found themselves exposed to a system of
* Winwood, ii. 36,

48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
spoliation on account of their religion, but saw themselves impoverished
to meet the rapacity of the stranger. By the existing laws, " Catholics
were not only forbidden to use the rites and ceremonies of their own
faith, but were required to attend upon the services of a Church which,
if conscientious and consistent, they were bound to abhor as heretical
and damnable. If they refused or forbore to come to a Protestant church,
they were liable to a penalty of 20/- for every lunar month during which
they absented themselves. The public exercise of the social rites of
their own Church was virtually interdicted, for it was enacted, ' that
every priest saying mass was punishable by a forfeiture of two hundred
marks, and every person hearing it, by a forfeiture of one hundred marks,
and both were to be imprisoned a year, and the priest until his fine was
paid.' The ministers of their religion, without whose presence they
were precluded from the exercise of the sacraments and other rites, were
in effect proscribed and banished; for by an act passed in 1585 (27th
of Eliz. c. 2.), it was enacted, 'that all Jesuits, seminary and other
priests, ordained since the beginning of the queen's reign, should depart
out of the realm within forty days after the end of that session of parlia
ment; and that all such priests ordained since the same time should not
come into England or remain there under the pain of suffering death,
as in case of treason.' It was also enacted by the same statute, ' that
all persons receiving or assisting such priests should be guilty of a capi
tal felony.' When a person confessing the popish religion was convicted
in a court of law of absenting himself from the established church,
he was termed a ' Popish Recusant convict ; ' such a person was liable,
by the 35th of Eliz. c. 1, to be committed to prison without bail until he
conformed and made submission ; if he did not within three months
after couviction submit and repair to the established church, he must
abjure the realm ; and if he refused to swear, or did not depart upon his
abjuration, or if he returned without licence, he was guilty of felony,
and might suffer death as a felon without benefit of clergy. No doubt
these rigorous laws were not at all times enforced to their utmost
extent ; but they placed the Avhole body of the Catholics at the mercy
of the Protestant government, Avho were enabled to crush or spare them
at their discretion or caprice; for them, therefore, there was no liberty,
personal or religious, but such as the privy council thought proper to
allow ; and with reference to their religion, the law gave them no rights,
and afforded them no protection*." Such Avas the state of the English
Catholics when the many real or imaginary schemes of disloyalty, which
they Avere believed to have devised and promoted, and which had given
the appearance, if not the reality, of justice to the severe laws enacted
against them, were thrown into comparative oblivion by a discovery of
their great mystery of iniquity, the gunpowder treason f.
* Jardine's Criminal Trials, ii. 7—9 5 published in the Library of Entertaining
Knowledge. + The principal authority, as to the facts of this conspiracy, for a long time was

A. D. 1604.] JAMES I. 49
This atrocious project embraced an attempt to destroy the king and
the two houses of parliament, by an explosion from a vault m,
r ' j l j he gunpow-
beneath, at the moment of their assembling. It originated der conspiracy
with Robert Catesby, a gentleman of some rank and for- Catesby.
tune, residing on an estate at Ashby St. Legers, in Northamptonshire,
Avhich had descended to him with his name from Catesby, the well-
known favourite of Richard III. His father, Sir William Catesby,
had been a frequent sufferer on account of his religion, but the son failed
to discover any strong attachment to the creed of his ancestors until his
youth had been spent in frivolity and dissipation. In the year 1588
the known zeal of Sir William Catesby in the cause of the Catholic
faith led to his imprisonment, with others, as a measure of precaution
during the alarm existing when the Spanish Armada threatened our
shores. Ten years later we find Robert Catesby among those who were
Avounded and committed to prison as partizans of the earl of Essex — his
stipulation in that enterprise, in common with some of his brethren who
were parties to it, being liberty of conscience to the English Catholics.
To Catesby one of the consequences of that ill-fated insurrection was
a fine of 3000/. Subsequently, his ruling passion, which was to pro
mote the interests of his hereditary faith, led him to connect himself
with the Jesuit party in this country, and his zeal and talent contributed
to those intrigues with Spain, the great object of which Avas to transfer
the sceptre of Elizabeth to the hands of a Catholic.
But now these intrigues had all failed, James had possession of the
throne, and the toleration, or more lenient treatment which had been
anticipated was far from being realised. The past was disappointment,
and the question remained, hoAV to be avenged, and to speed better in the
future. The papal court and the Catholic princes had proved broken reeds,
and from their present professions with regard to the English monarch
no direct assistance was to be expected from them. At the same time
the English Catholics were not only a constantly decreasing minority,
but one so long weakened by division that any attempt in the form of
open insurrection would be assuredly ruinous. It was in this exigency
the ' Discourse of the manner of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot.' Dr. Lin-
gard has supplied some important corrections and additions to the statements con
tained in this ' Discourse,' from two manuscript narratives by the Jesuit mission
aries, Gerard and Greenaway, who were the familiar acquaintance of the conspira
tors, and regarded by the government as privy to the plot. But by far the most
ample and satisfactory account of this occurrence is in the second volume of the
Criminal Trials, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,
and referred to in the preceding page. Mr. Jardine has there shown that the
' Discourse,' put forth by the government, is " a narrative of no historical authority,"
but one framed by means of suppressions, and by interlineating and altering the
original documents, "for the express purpose of leading the public mind in a par
ticular direction." pp. 3 — 7- There were men at the time who were not ignorant
of these frauds. Osborne, 437. The account in the text is the result of attention
to all these sources of information, And see also Winwood, ii. 170 — 173. E

50- HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
that the inhuman purpose of destroying the monarch arid the whole
legislature by means of gunpowder was entertained. Its revolting tur
pitude was overlooked in its many recommendations ; it required com
paratively small means, and could be effected with the fairest prospect
of security to the agents, while it promised to annihilate their enemies
as with a single blow.
Thomas Winter, a soldier of fortune, and an old agent of the Spanish
The plot dis- faction among his countrymen, was the first to whom
closed to Win- Catesby made known his meditated deed. Winter is said
ter. March. to kave keen g^cked a^ fljg mention of a scheme so atro
cious ; but his humanity was at length subdued by the casuistry of his
friend, who, to the proposed infliction on their enemies, contrasted an
elaborate picture of the past and probable sufferings of his brethren.
Winter was the intimate friend of Guy Fawkes, who had served with
him as a soldier in the recent wars, and had been his companion in his
practices with the court of Madrid : to him the secret was in part dis-
April 22 closed, and much was expected from his known character
and experience.
While Winter employed himself in a fruitless attempt to prevail with
—And to tne Spanish ambassador to insist on certain terms in behalf
Fawkes,Percy, of the English Catholics, and in securing the assistance of
and Wright. Fawites, — Catesby had ventured to mention his object to
Thomas Percy, a distant relation of the earl of Northumberland, who
then held the office of steward to that nobleman; and also to John
Wright, an expert swordsman, who had shared in the insurrection under
the earl of Essex, and whose disposition to such enterprises was well
known. Percy, who had likewise been a party to that insurrection , became
from that time a friend to the claims of the king of Scotland, and,, as the
agent of Northumberland, and of the English Catholics generally, had
visited Edinburgh with the view of inducing the monarch to hold out
" good hopes " to that class of his future subjects. The promises of
the king were deemed satisfactory, and were duly reported by Percy on
his return. But from the different course pursued by the court, and
the monarch's positive denial of the intimations attributed to him, Percy
found himself exposed to the taunts and suspicions of his brethren;
and so bitter was his mortification and resentment, that before he was
apprised of the more comprehensive vengeance devised by Catesby*,
he had meditated nothing less than an assassination of the sovereign.
This larger scheme of vengeance was noAV adopted by five persons, who
pledged themselves anew to each other by privately receiving the
sacrament from the hands of Gerard, a Jesuit missionary,
Mav 1 ' Gerard, it is said, and with probable truth, was not yet
informed as to the object of the conspirators. But he must have seen
* In the earl of Northumberland's examination the following passage occurs on
this point : — " When Percy came out of Scotland from the king (his lordship having

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 51
enough to assure him that some very doubtful service Avas about to be
entered upon.
About three months later the English and Spanish ministers concluded
their deliberations, and the terms of peace between their
. i ¦ i. i , . Aug. 18.
respected sovereigns were adjusted, but no mention oc
curred in them as to any removal of Catholic disabilities ; a circum
stance Avhich contributed to render the feeling of the conspirators more
intense and pitiless*. Three months passed from this time before a
house for the purpose could be procured. The one then
obtained Avas taken in the name of Percy, who spoke of it
as a desirable residence, in consequence of his frequent attendance at
court in the capacity of gentleman pensioner. At the end of the garden
attached to it Avas another building, which joined the wall of the edifice
allotted to destruction. In this building the day Avas given to the work
of excavation : at night the material accumulated was „Dec. 24.
taken out, and concealed under the mould of the garden. - -
A fortnight had been thus occupied, when the expected meeting of par
liament on the seventh of February, was postponed to so distant a
day as the third of October.
The conspirators now suspended their labours, and separated, not to
meet again until after Christmas, during which interval no communi
cation Avas to be hazarded between them, either by letters or messengers.
Further space was thus given for reflection ; and it appears that at their
written to the king, where his advice was to give good hopes to the Catholics, that
he might the more easily come without impediment to the croAvn), he said that the
king's pleasure Avas, that his lordship should give the Catholics hopes that they
should be well dealt withal, or to that effect." — State Paper Office, cited in Criminal
Trials, ii. 18. But James went farther than this, for the letter to which the earl
alluded on his examination, and which may be seen in Miss Aikin's James I., p. 253,
contains the following passage : — " I will dare to say no more ; but it were pity to
lose so good a kingdom for not tolerating mass in a corner, if upon that it resteth."
James, indeed, denied having so expressed himself; but his most solemn protesta
tions on such a matter cannot have the slightest Aveight with those who know his
character. The lines and forfeitures of the Catholics in the last year of Elizabeth exceeded
ten thousand pounds, in the first year of James they were reduced to three hundred,
in the second to a less sum, but in the third, or the year of the conspiracy, they
suddenly rose to six thousand. Criminal Trials, ii. 19, 20. The account which
James gave of this matter is as follows : " He never had any intention of granting
¦a toleration to the Catholics ; that if he thought his son would condescend to any
such course, he would wish the kingdom translated to his daughter; that the miti
gation of the payments of the recusant Catholics was in consideration that not any
one of them had lifted up his hand against him at his coming in, and so he gave
them a year of probation to conform themselves, Avhich seeing it had not wrought
that effect, he had fortified all the laws that were against them, and made them
stronger (saving from blood, from which he had a natural aversion), and com
manded that they should be put into execution to the uttermost." Winwood, ii. 49.
But what reason had the king to expect that the mere remittance of fines would
make the Catholics conformists, that is, make them renounce their religion ? It
Avas just in connexion with the king's open declaration of these sentiments that the
gunpowder conspiracy was formed — in the spring and summer of 1604.
¦ * Rymer, xvi. 585, 617-
E 2

52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V,
next meeting Catesby found his colleagues in some doubt as to the law
fulness of his much-cherished undertaking. The heretical and more
intolerant portion of the parliament might deserve the fate with which
they were threatened, but could it be allowable for their sakes to destroy
the good Catholics in that assembly, or the men who, if Protestants, were
slow in the work of persecution compared with their colleagues ? Catesby
reasoned against the impression indicated by such questions, but lost no
time in looking for the aid of authority, aware that much more was to
be expected from that source, in such a case, than from argument.
Garnet, the provincial of the Jesuits, was frequently at his table ; and
the almost baffled conspirator availed himself of an opportunity to put
the following question to his guest : " Whether it were lawful, in a just
and good cause, to adopt measures, which, though framed only for the
guilty, would sometimes include the innocent?" Garnet at once de
clared such case to be lawful, and Catesby so employed this judgment
as to remove the hesitation of his companions.
When their labours were resumed, they were joined by Christopher
Wright and Robert Winter, brothers to the persons of the same names
already mentioned. But the breaking in of water now destroyed all
hope of effecting a passage below the foundation of the building. No
thing remained but to make a way through a wall nine feet in thickness.
Even this was nearly accomplished, when sounds were heard as from an
apartment immediately over them. These, upon inquiry, were found
to proceed from a cellar under the House of Lords, which in a few days
would be empty, and to let. Fawkes, under the name of Johnson, and
giving himself out as the servant of Percy, obtained it for
Jj, 9. his master, and there the gunpowder was at once depo
sited, the hogsheads and barrels containing it being con
cealed by articles of furniture and a quantity of firewood loosely thrown
to prevent suspicion.
Six months had still to pass before the meeting of parliament, and
through this interval the penal laws were enforced with much severity.
This was matter of gratification to Catesby and his companions, who
looked on the feeling Avhich such proceedings tended to produce as the
best promise that their brethren would not be slow to join them when
the crisis should arrive. It was during this interval that the name of
Bates, the tried servant of Catesby, of Keys, his familiar friend, and of
Grant of Norbrook, and Rockwood of Stanningfield, Avere added to the
rest, all of whom had services which they could render. At the
same time Fawkes returned to the continent to procure military stores,
and to intrigue with the English officers in the army of the Archduke,
intimating the probability of their beiug soon called upon to serve their
country by their swords, and urging their prompt compliance when the
call should be addressed to them. These dark sayings were rumoured

A. D. 1605.] JAMES I. 53
about, and Cecil received warning both from Flanders and France that
some evil was gathering, but what it imported, or Avho were the actors,
could not be ascertained.
As September approached the several parties began to assemble.
Their first conference led to some surprise and apprehension
that parliament should have been again prorogued from nrorosi^ed '
the third of October to the fifth of November. It Avas almost
suspected that these successive postponements had resulted from some
dangerous intelligence obtained by the government. The ceremony of
proroguing the parliament required the presence of certain lords com
missioners in the upper house, and Winter accepted the office to observe
the countenance and manner of those persons on the occasion. But as
they performed their parts on the very spot under which the elements
of destruction were accumulated without betraying the slightest sense of
danger, it Avas concluded that general circumstances only had led to a
delay AA'hich fear had attributed to another cause.
This last delay afforded further space for conference on the course to
be adopted Avhen the catastrophe became knoAvn, and
led to the enlistment of Sir Everard Digby of Drystoke Digby and
in Rutlandshire, and of Francis Tresham, both persons Francis
whose influence and property were deemed necessary to
the adoption of those ultimate plans which the conspirators had learnt
to expect Avith growing confidence. Digby was a young man of ability
and courage, but so devoted to the Catholic faith, that his mind was
completely governed by his spiritual guides. The reluctance which he
at first expressed was gradually subdued by the representations of
Catesby, and the neAv colleague promised to furnish 1500/., and, as the
day approached, would collect some of his Catholic friends in Warwick
shire, under pretence of hunting with him. Francis Tresham was a
notorious recusant, and his father, Sir Thomas Tresham, had suffered
repeated fine and imprisonment during the reign of Elizabeth, for his
adherence to the Catholic faith. Francis had been a party to the in
trigues Avith Spain, and to the Essex insurrection, and he had published
a Latin book in which he endeavoured to show that heretical princes,
and such as tolerated heresy, might be lawfully dethroned. This man,
whose recklessness of principle had always betrayed him into enterprises
to Avhich he was in other respects unequal, concurred without hesitation
in the proposed work of destruction, and promised the sum of 2000/.
Time now demanded that the final arrangement of the conspirators
should be made. Accordingly, a list of such members of rjiter;or pians
both houses as it was deemed proper to save was agreed of the con-
upon, all of whom were to receive messages a short space sPlrators'
only before the hour of assembly, which should prevent their being pre
sent. Fawkes, having lighted the fatal train, was to escape by means of
a vessel awaiting him in the Thames into Flanders, to put forth a mani-

54 HISTORY 01? ENGLAND. [CH. V.
festo, calling upon the Catholic powers for support, and to return with
all speed, bringing stores, and as many volunteers as possible from among
his military acquaintance in that country. Percy, as knovs-n to the court,
was to seize the person of prince Charles, and to bear him in a carriage
to a place of meeting. Digby, Tresham, and others, were to do the same
with the princess Elizabeth, then under the protection of lord Harring
ton. Catesby undertook to proclaim Charles as heir-apparent at Charing
Cross; and during the minority of the sovereign some unnamed person
age was to be called to the regency of the kingdom*.
The weakness manifest in these calculations is in singular contrast
with the courage, the perseverance, and the secrecy Avhich the conspira
tors had hitherto maintained. Instead of being able to accomplish these
after schemes to Avhich their attention was directed, their fate would
have been to perish in an explosion of popular feeling hardly less sudden
or resistless than that which had overwhelmed the victims of their fiend
ish cruelty. But the bigotry which rendered them so insensible to the
murderous character of the deed they were about to perpetrate, blinded
them to the obvious difficulty and rum in which even their success must
necessarily involve them.
As early as the month of July, Catesby had disclosed his whole pur
pose to GreenAvay, a Jesuit, and through him to Garnet his superior.
Both professed to discountenance the undertaking, but neither made
any adequate effort to prevent its accomplishment. It was at this junc-
ture that Fawkes and Catesby, while in conference with
Winter at a house near Enfield Chase, Avere joined unex
pectedly by Tresham. His confused manner strengthened the suspi
cions concerning him which had for some time haunted the mind of
Catesby; and his present object, which was to plead that his relative lord
Mounteagle might be spared, and to urge that the execution of the plot
should be deferred from the beginning to the end of the session, added
to this misgiving. But all appearance of distrust Avas for the present
suppressed, and the parties affected to concur with this new proposal.
Within a week of the end of October lord Mounteagle arranged to sup
. ,. . with his household at a house some distance from town.
Letter to
Mounteagle. This was so much a departure from his lordship's custom,
Oct. 26. tnat jj- occasioned observation at the time. While at supper,
a servant presented him with a letter, received from a tall man whose
features were concealed by the darkness of the night. The letter proved
to be without date or signature, and appeared to be written in a dis
guised hand. His lordship passed it to a gentleman near him to read it
aloud. The following were its contents : — " My lord, out of the love I
have to some of your friends, I have a care of your preservation ; there
fore I Avould advise you, as you tender your life, to devise some excuse
¦* Winter's Confession and Digby's Letter in the Gunpowder Treason, and
Greenway's MS., p. 39, in Lingard.

A. D. 1605.] JAMES I. £5
to shift off your attendance at this parliament, for God and man have
concurred to punish the wickedness of this time. And think not slightly
of this advertisement, but retire into your oavii country, where you may
expect the event in safety ; for though there be no appearance of any
stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible bloAv this parliament, and yet
they shall not see Avho hurts them. This counsel is not to be contemned,
because it may do you good, and can do you no harm, for the danger is
past as soon as you have burnt the letter; and I hope God Avill give you
the grace to make good use of it, to Avhose holy protection I commend
you*." On the next day, the gentleman who had been requested to read the
above document called upon Winter, for the purpose of apprising Jiim
of what had happened ; he stated moreover that the letter was in the
hands of Cecil, the secretary of state. The gentleman proceeded so
far as to admonish the conspirator to lose no time in consulting his
safety if at all a party to the supposed plot. Winter, after the first
feeling of alarm, affected to look on the Avhole as a jest, but seized the
earliest moment to communicate his fears to Catesby. Together they
.procured a second intervieAV with Tresham on Enfield Chase, and would
there have dispatched the suspected traitor, had he not disarmed them
of their purpose by the explicitness and firmness with which he an
swered their searching questions. Fawkes, ignorant of Avhat had hap
pened, was sent to examine the cellar, and reported that his secret
marks all remained undisturbed. It was now confidently hoped that
the obscurity of the letter to lord Mounteagle had baffled the ingenuity
of the secretary, and that the " blow " might yet be struck. Fawkes,
when apprised of what had happened, expressed his determination to
visit the cellar daily until the fifth of November. On the first of that
month the king and his council examined and re-examined the myste
rious letter, but nothing further became known, except that Tresham, on
being sought out by Winter, assured him that the mine was discovered.
* Archaeologia, xii. 200. " It may be asked," says Dr. Lingard, " who was the
writer of this letter? Instead of enumerating the different conjectures of others, Ave
will relate what seems, from Greenway's manuscript, to have been the opinion of
the conspirators themselves. They attributed it to Tresham, and suspected a secret
understanding between him and lord Mounteagle, or at least the gentleman who was
.employed to read the letter at table. They were convinced that Tresham had no
sooner given his consent than he repented of it, and sought to break up the plot
'without betraying his associates.1 His first expedient was to persuade them to retire
to Flanders in the ship Avhich he had hired in the river. He next wrote the letter,
and took care to inform them on the following day that it had been carried to the
secretary, in hope that the danger of discovery would induce them to make use of
the opportunity of escape. In this he would have undoubtedly succeeded, had not
his cunning been defeated by the superior cunning of Cecil, Avho allowed no search
to be made in the cellar. From that moment Tresham avoided all participation in
their councils ; and when they fled, he remained in London and shewed himself
.openly. He was afterwards apprehended on the confession of some of the prisoners,
and died in the Tower before the end of the month." Bishop Goodman, in his an-
"swer to Weldon's Court of King James, says "that Tresham sent the letter."
iSomers' Tracts, ii. 104. . . . _

56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
Such of the conspirators as believed this declaration would have fled the
kingdom at once, but others questioned Tresham's veracity, whom all
had learnt by this time to regard as a man anxious to produce a failure
of the plot though unwilling to betray his confederates. Percy himself,
little sensible to danger, appealed to the hopes and fears of his com
panions, and succeeded in bringing the waverers to the side of perse
verance. The conspirators met together so late as the. day preceding the ex
pected opening of parliament. It was toward the evening of this day
that the lord chamberlain, in pursuance of his office, passed through
the different apartments of the parliament house, to see that the usual
preparations were made for the session to commence on the morrow, and
in company with lord Mounteagle, he entered the cellar, where Fawkes
was exposed to the searching gaze of the chamberlain, but encountered
it without dismay. His lordship glanced with seeming indifference round
the place, and observing to the supposed servant of Percy that his master
had provided a large supply of fuel, retired. Fawkes informed Percy
of what had passed, and returned to his post, determined to light the
train and involve himself and his assailants in a common ruin should
danger approach.
At length the morning of the fifth of November arrived. It was about
two o'clock when Fawkes, opening the door of the cellar,
5th Nov. made his appearance in the street, and was instantly seized
Fawkes. Dy Sir Thomas Knevet, a magistrate, who with a feAv
chosen attendants was in waiting for him. Two hours only
had elapsed when James and his council assembled, and every question
was urged adapted to elicit from the prisoner disclosures with respect
to his accomplices, but Avithout effect. Nor was the torture resorted to
in the Tower more successful, until the offender learnt that his compa
nions had given evidence against themselves by appearing in arms.
These, on learning that FaAvkes had been apprehended,
Flight of the fje(j to gir Everard Digby, and his hunting party at Dun-
conspirators. church_ The guests of sir Everard becoming aware gene
rally of the circumstances which had brought so many strangers to his
residence, soon began to disperse ; and the fugitive conspirators, pursued
from all points by enemies, took refuge with their attendants in Hol-
beach House in Worcestershire. Digby, Rockwood, Grant, Keys,
Littleton, and the two Winters, were made prisoners ; Catesby, Percy,
and the Wrights, courted death from the weapons of their assailants,
and died of their wounds. Tresham remained in London without con
cealment, but was implicated by the confessions of his brethren, and
lodged in the Tower, where he died a few weeks after his commitment.
Tavo months were allowed to pass before the prisoners were brought
to trial — a space employed by the government in attempting to ascertain
the further ramifications of the plot. Digby and .Jus associates, when

A. D. 1605.] JAMES I. 57
put on their trial, admitted the general charge preferred against them,
but denied that the conspiracy had originated with the
Jesuits, as Avas affirmed by their' accusers, or that it had "* *"
been at all sanctioned by them. They also attempted
to vindicate their own conduct by referring to the sufferings of them
selves and their brethren ; to the king's forgetfulness of the promises
which he had made on their behalf; and to the great improbability of
their obtaining any release from the intolerance that oppressed them,
except by the means which they had resolved to employ. Such was
their demeanor at the trial, and in the same state of mind they appeared
on the scaffold, and met their fate as traitors.
The Jesuits who were ascertained to have been in frequent intercourse
with the conspirators, and Avho Avere with much reason
suspected of having been parties to the treason, were the Case of the
three whose names have already occurred — Gerard, Green- sionaries.
way, and Garnet. Of these, the tAvo former escaped to the
continent : Garnet, after a search of many days, Avas found secreted in a
house at Henlip, in Worcestershire, the residence of the brother-in-law
of lord Mounteagle. That both Greenway and Garnet knew of the
conspiracy is unquestionable ; and that they might and ought to have
prevented its progress is as little open to reasonable dispute. Garnet
himself at length confessed that he had been privy to the plot ; but
pleaded that he became possessed of the fatal secret under the seal of
confession, which, according to the law of the Catholic church, did not
allow of disclosure, even in such a case. It was, however, his further
confession as to the lawfulness of equivocation which, as it served to take
from his^own affirmations and those of his disciples nearly all their
value, contributed most to determine his sentence and its execution.
Concerning " lawful equivocation," Garnet stated, "that the speech, by
equivocation, being saved from a lie, the same speech may be without
perjury confirmed by oath, or by any other usual way, though it were by
receiving the sacrament, if just necessity so require." An historian,
whose sympathy is never wanting when the Catholic priesthood are the
sufferers, is constrained to remark on this passage, that " the man who
maintained such opinions could not reasonably complain if the king
refused credit to his asseverations of innocence, and permitted the law
to take its course*." From Garnet wc see that false views of religion
may reconcile a connivance with treason and murder in their worst
forms, with the highest pretensions to sanctity. It is ever the work of
fanaticism to plead the supposed will of the Almighty as enjoining acts
of inhumanity ; but it is the province of true religion to inculcate the
lessons of social justice as in perpetual harmony with the lessons of
piety, as partaking of the same nature, and as enforced by the same
sanctions. What is morally wrong can never be religiously right.
* Lingard, ix. 87.

•58

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. Y.

The historian just adverted to remarks with respect to Garnet, that
" his pious and constant demeanour excited the sympathy of the crowd;
their vociferations checked the impatience of the executioner, and the
cruel operation of quartering was deferred until he Avas fully dead."
Yes, and he might have added that such Avas the nature of the supersti
tion which these men laboured so much, and hazarded so much to pro
pagate, that its votaries spoke of miracles wrought by the influence of
this distinguished saint, contending that on the straw stained by his
blood the impress of his celestial countenance could be traced* .
The meeting of parliament was deferred from the 5th of November
Meeting of to ^e 9th, when the king congratulated the two houses
Parliament, on the detection of the gunpowder conspiracy, as being
Nov- 9- little less than the prevention of a second deluge ; and
on their escape from a destruction, which, as inflicted by unconscious
elements, was more to be dreaded than as proceeding from the worst
passions of men, as from the rage of the most ferocious among brute
creatures. The parties concerned in the great treason were described
as meditating the accomplishment of their direful purpose without any
real provocation ; and the intelligence which had led to such a construe- ,
tion of lord Mounteagle's letter, as rendered it the clue to so dark a
labyrinth, was noticed as approaching the miraculousf. But the danger
being so happily passed, it would behove the great council of the nation
to deliberate without passion on the course best to be adopted with re
gard to that religious body which not a few perhaps would be disposed
to look upon as more or less implicated in this enormity. In any dis
cussion on this subject it would be manifestly proper to avoid all reflec
tion on the great Catholic powers, as though they were capable of re
garding such a deed with any measure of approval. Nor should it be
forgotten that there were more religious parties than one against which
the charge of cruelty might be proved. The Puritan, who declared the
Papist excluded from salvation, was so far the creature of intolerance, in
* Osborne, 436. The folloAving anecdote will indicate how much the most deter
mined of the conspirators were under the influence of superstitious impressions.
" Greenway relates an incident which occurred while they Avere at work, and Avhich
perhaps is Avorth repeating as an instance of the gross superstition of the times, and
also as evincing the Avorkings of conscience on the minds of the conspirators as they
proceeded with their design. They were one day surprised by the sound of the
tolling of a bell, which seemed to proceed from the middle of the wall under the
parliament house; all suspended their labour, and listened with alarm and uneasi
ness to the mysterious sound. Fawkes Avas sent for from his station above ; the
tolling still continued, and was distinctly heard by him as well as the others. Much
wondering at this prodigy, they sprinkled the Avail with holy water, when the sound
instantly ceased. Upon this they resumed their labour, and after a short time the
tolling commenced again, and again was silenced by the application of huly water.
This process was repeated frequently for several days, till at length the unearthly
sound ivus heard no more ! " Criminal Trials, ii. 45.
t The courtiers gave the credit of this miracle to the king, though it no doubt
Jbelonged to Cecil.-* Winwood, it, 171;

.A. D. 1605,] JAMKS I, 59
his majesty's opinion, as to be " worthy of fire." In judging, therefore,
of the connexion between the recent plot, and the great body of Catho
lics, care should be taken not to punish the whole for the delinquency
of a part ; and a distinction was to be observed between the character
of a system, and certain extravagant speculations entertained by a few
only among the many by whom that system might have been embraced.
In conclusion, the monarch would avail himself of the opportunity
before him to deliver his sentiments on the design of parliaments. On
this subject he had not spoken sufficiently in his former address. It is
true the topic was always familiar to the mind of kings, and espe
cially to one Avho had long sAvayed the sceptre of a state where a popular
legislature, and constituted much as in England, had long existed. But
the last three years had afforded the means of closer inspection, and the
monarch Avas now fully apprised that the high court of parliament in
his new dominions consisted of the lords temporal and spiritual, and of
gentlemen and burgesses representing the shires and towns of the king
dom ; that these existed as the king's great council, assembled by him
for the purpose of enacting new laws, or of interpreting or abrogating the
old. From such assemblies all private resentment was to be excluded;
nor were they the place for the exhibition of a vain eloquence, or for the
indulgence of a censorious wit. It was the grave national assembly,
where laws might be instituted, either at the suggestion of the monarch,
or in independence of him, but was far from being the place where every
rash novelist might obtrude his crude conceptions at pleasure. " Nay,
rather could I wish," said the monarch, " that those busy heads should
remember that law of the Lacedemonians, that whosoever came to pro
pose a new law to the people, behoved publicly to present himself with
a rope about his neck, that in case the law were not allowed, he should
be hanged thereAvith*."
Widely different were the impressions made by this speech. The
court saw in it the proofs of extraordinary wisdom, and a
moderation, which, under such circumstances, rose to mag- Impression
nanimity. The Puritans, on the other hand, were not able kjngS Speech.
to conceal their astonishment and displeasure, on being
told, and at such a moment, that their religion was in a nearer alliance
with cruelty than that of the Papist. They needed no further evidence
to disclose to them the alarming fact, that the king himself was much
more a Papist than a Protestant.
This conclusion was not at all weakened when it became known that
even at this time James was meditating a union between the heir appa
rent to the crown of England and the infanta of Spain. The treaty
at length adjusted on this matter, promised, with the wife of prince
Henry, the annual pension of a million of ducats, and a considerable
portion of Flanders. It also flattered the vanity of the English monarch
* Pari. Hist. i. 1053—1062.

60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
by devolving on him the office of arbitrator with respect to such theolo
gical grounds of dissension as should arise among the nations of Europe.
In return it was stipulated that the king should aid his Catholic majesty
in his efforts to subdue the protestant states of Holland. Such were the
conditions of the Spanish match— so prominent a topic in the history of
this reign. It was the error of James to suppose that the union of his
son with any princess in the families of the lesser potentates of Europe
would be an event detracting necessarily from the dignity of his crown.
Hence, notwithstanding the exceedingly unpopular character of the pro
posed alliance with Spain, and the constant artifice of the Spanish court,
James continued to cherish the hope of seeing such a union between the
two crowns ; — and it is to the fondness with which this hope was already
indulged that we must look for the main cause of the solicitude evinced
by the king to restrain the threatened outbreak of protestant feeling at
this juncture.
But hoAvever strong or various the feeling with which the king's speech
was listened to, it happened that time was allowed for
prorotueT. tne str0I1gest feelings to become tempered by reflection
before any public opportunity was afforded for giving ex
pression to them. James announced, as soon as he had delivered his
speech, the prorogation of parliament to the 21st of January.
The first object of the two houses on their being re-assembled was to
a.d. 1606 enact that the 5th of November should be observed for ever
Jan. 21. as a rjay 0f public thanksgiving. This act was introduc
tory to a revision of the penal laws against the professors of the Catholic
faith; and while some additions were made to the existing statutes,
means were adopted with a view to secure a better enforcement of the
whole. On this amended code a Catholic historian re-
^gZltcltho- marks, that " It repealed none of the laws then in force,
lies made more but added to their severity by two new bills, containing
severe. morg tjian seventy articles, inflicting penalties on the
Catholics in all their several capacities of masters, servants, husbands,
parents, children, heirs, executors, patrons, barristers, and physicians.
First— Catholic recusants were forbidden under particular penalties to
appear at court, to dwell within the boundaries, or ten miles of the boun
daries of the City of London ; or to remove on any occasion more than
five miles from their homes, without a special license under the signa
tures of four neighbouring magistrates. Second— They were made in
capable of practising in surgery or physic, or in the common or civil
law; of acting as judges, clerks, or officers in any court or corporation ;
of presenting to the livings, schools, or hospitals in their gift ; or of per
forming the offices of administrators, executors, or guardians. Third—
Unless they were married by a Protestant minister, each party was
made to forfeit every benefit to which he or she might otherwise be
entitled from the property of the other; unless their children were hap-

A.D. 1606.] JAMES I. 61
tized by a Protestant minister within a month after the birth, each omis
sion subjected them to a fine of 100/. ; and if after death they Avere not
buried in a Protestant cemetery, their executors Avere liable to pay for
each corpse the sum of 20/. Fourth — Every child sent for education
beyond the sea was from that moment debarred from taking any benefit
by devise, descent, or gift, until he should return and conform to the
Established Church; all such benefit being assigned by law to the Pro
testant next of kin. Fifth — Every recusant Avas placed in the same
situation as if he had been excommunicated by name : his house might
be searched, his books and furniture, having or thought to have any
relation to his worship or religion, might be burnt, and his horses and
arms might be taken from him at any time by the order of neighbouring
magistrates. Sixth — All the existing penalties for absence from church
were continued, but with two improvements: 1. It was made optional
in the king, whether he would take the fine of 20/. per lunar month, or
in lieu of it all the personal and two-thirds of the real estate ; and 2.
Every householder, of whatever religion, receiving Catholic visitors, or
keeping Catholic servants, was liable to pay for each individual 10/. per
lunar month. Seventh — A new oath of allegiance was devised for the
avowed purpose of drawing a distinction between those Catholics Avho
denied, and those who admitted the temporal pretensions of the pontiffs.
The former, who it was supposed would take the oath, were liable by
law to no other penalties than those which have been enumerated : the
latter were subject to perpetual imprisonment, and the forfeiture of their
personal property, and of the rents of their lands during life; or if they
were married women, to imprisonment in the common gaol, until they
shouldjepent of their obstinacy, and submit to take the oath*."
Concerning these laws, it is to be observed that they must be viewed
in connexion with all the circumstances to Avhich they in „,, . .
... , - . . The justice of
great part OAve Ineir existence, before we attempt to judge these penal
of their expediency or justice. If not so regarded, they laws corl-
SlnPl'Prl
Avill lead us into conclusions Avith respect to the character of
Englishmen in the seventeenth century much at variance with the truth.
In practice, the new code existed more as a machinery to be applied Avhen
occasion should require, than as a body of enactments to be generally
enforced ; and to account for the number and severity of its provisions,
we have not only to bear in mind the terror and resentment excited by
the late conspiracy, but to recall the cruel intolerance of the English
Catholics under Philip and Mary ; and the endless intrigues to Avhich
they had resorted during the long reign of Elizabeth, evidently with a
view to the return of such timesf. Much also of the rigour which some
times marked the administration of these statutes must be ascribed to the
* Lingard, ix. 94 — 97-
f James confessed to his parliament in 1614, that there were whole counties in
which not more than two or three magistrates were to be found who could be in
duced to proceed against recusants, — Pari. Hist. i. 1150,

rid"* HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [ciT. V*i
1610 ¦ sensation produced about this time by the death of Henry
May 4. ¦*¦ » • °f France — that great monarch having been cut off by
the hand of a fanatic of the Catholic communion.
We feel no hesitation in denying the abstract right of one class of
religionists thus to control and repress another ; nor can we doubt the
mischievous tendency of any penal code which, generally dormant, can
be occasionally called into action to serve a sinister, purpose, as well as
to meet a foreseen emergency. But such was the state of feeling and
of parties in England at this period, that we feel as little difficulty in
• affirming that laws of a repressive character had been rendered not
only expedient but necessary to the safety of the state, and that to
the strong Protestant zeal of the men who framed these enactments
the nation owes the entire fabric of its civil and religious freedom.
Admitting the English Catholics at this time to have been much fewer
than the Protestants, their connexion with the great powers of the con
tinent, always ready to abet the schemes of the treasonable among
them, must have continued to render their unrestrained machinations
not a little formidable. The Spanish Armada was as little likely to be
forgotten as the Gunpowder Treason. There can be no doubt that the
men who most loudly demanded the suppression of Papists by means
of statutes and penalties, were persuaded that this course was one
made strictly necessary by the great law of self-preservation. Nor
was this view of their circumstances so unreasonable as modern im
pressions may lead us to suppose.
It is matter, however, for the sincerest gratitude, that the great prin
ciples of social justice are now so far separated from the control of
any religious creed, and the rights of conscience so far understood, as to
make a policy, which was not Avithout its apparent justice and necessity
in the seventeenth century, altogether unsuited to our times. Dispas
sionate reflection on this momentous subject must suggest, that the
social atmosphere may be charged to such a pitch of fanaticism, either
civil or religious, as would render laws partaking strongly of the
nature of intolerance both patriotic and humane ; while, on the other
hand, there may be such an absence of this element of mischief, as to
make the slightest interference with the religious preference of our
neighbour an act manifestly iniquitous. The former state of things was in
no small degree that which existed in this country on the accession of the
House of Stuart ; the latter is that by which our oavh times are happily
distinguished. The extent to which we allow our moral principles and
natural sympathies to be perverted by our religious peculiarities, is the
measure in which we are incapable of rightly using religious liberty,
and in Avhich our title to such liberty must be defective. The man
must resolve to be just who will deserve to be free. He must give
lucid proof that he is a friend to humanity, before he can safely be
intrusted with a power that may be employed to its injury.

A.D. l6ll.] . JAMES I.

63

Chapter VI.
Necessities of the government — Connexion between granting supplies and redress
of grievances — Parliament prorogued — Re-assembled — The king's speech — Ques
tion of the union Avith Scotland — Difficulties of that measure — Report of the
commissioners — The project resisted by the Commons — Mixed motives of that
assembly in this proceeding — Question of naturalization litigated — Conduct of
James adverse to his arbitrary policy — His favouritism — Wealth lavished on
such persons — Cecil, his character, and embarrassments — Parliament assembled —
Proposed adjustment of the revenue — Disputes between the common lawyers and
the civilians — Dr. Cowell — Extravagant maxims avowed by the king — Spirited
conduct of the Commons — The question of imposts as argued by both parties —
Feudal burdens — Dissolution of the king's first parliament — Death of Cecil — His
condition as a successful courtier described.
But the object of the king in assembling his parliament was less to
obtain its assistance in suppressing the Catholic faith, than
to procure means of escape from pecuniary embarrass- ^ecessities of
r . J the govern
ment — a species of difficulty from which James was never ment, Jan. 21.
free, but which had now become such as to be no longer
supportable. Nor did the Commons seem insensible to the necessities
of the monarch ; and so acceptable was their conduct in this respect, that
James could not forbear sending a message to the House for the purpose
of expressing his gratification. But it soon became evident that if
the Commons were disposed to exercise an unwonted liberality with
regard to the money of the people, it was on the assumption that a
similar temper would be evinced by the sovereign with regard to a
redress of the popular grievances.
In the history of the grants of money to the crown by our parliaments
conditions of this nature were of constant occurrence.
The king was accustomed to state his necessities, when the Connexion be-
parliament dwelt on those matters by which the subject felt granting of
himself aggrieved, the promise to replenish the royal trea- supplies and
sury being generally accompanied with a provision that sr^a^gS °
the evils which had formed the topic of complaint should
be lessened or removed. In this manner, much more than in any, or
than in all others, were the liberties of Englishmen obtained and per
petuated — being more the price of the treasure, and of the political wis
dom of our ancestors, than of their blood. From the favourable course
which the deUberations of the lower house had taken, James began to
flatter himself that no such condition would be attached to the present

"4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
grant — a Conclusion equally agreeable to his love of ease, and his no
tions of regal independence; but the monarch was not long in disco
vering his mistake. The Commons were so far from seeking the
favour of the king in heedlessness of popular grievances, that the
numerous evils of this nature now complained of led James to say the
malcontents must have sent an 0 yes ! (a crier) through the land in
search of them. Among the matters stated as demanding immediate
attention, particular mention is made of the evils of purveyance, of the
conduct of the ruling clergy in silencing so many godly ministers, and
of various abuses in the courts of law, both civil and ecclesiastical.
But the bishops and temporal peers vied with each other in aid of the
prerogative ; and so much to the satisfaction of the mq-
obtaine!. narch, that [a. royal message announced the pleasure with
which the sovereign witnessed those expressions of their
loyalty and affection. A sum which, added to that voted by the clergy
ih Convocation, reached the unusual amount of 450,000/., Avas ob
tained by the government without any remedy being secured for those
numerous grievances to which the more patriotic numbers had called
its attention. It should be added that this vote, which much artifice
and some faithless promises were employed to procure, was determined
by a majority of seven only in a house of two hundred and thirty-four;
and that large as the sum was, it fell 50,000/. short of what were said
to be the existing debts of the croAvn, — debts described as resulting in
great part from deficiencies at the decease of Elizabeth, and from the
expenses attending the journey of the king and the royal family to
England. Another circumstance, which contributed not a little to this
success of the court party, was the delight experienced by the house on
learning the falsehood of a report affirming his majesty to have been assas
sinated at some distance from London. So general was the apprehen
sion excited, and the joy to which it gave place, that " as the king ap
proached the metropolis on the same day, the whole court went to meet
him. The parliament sent Sir Maurice Berkeley, with four knights
more, to welcome him. The speaker, with his mace, vrent beyond the
Park corner to bring him in ; and the Lord Mayor and his brethren
went to him after supper, to congratulate his safety. To all which he
made several harangues, as likeAvise to the people's acclamations the
next day as he went to the sermon ; telling them that he took these
demonstrations more kindly than if they had won a battle for him.
That a better king they might have, but a more loving and careful one
for their good they could not. That these signs were the more welcome
to him, for that foreign ambassadors might see the vanity of those reports
that were spread abroad in other countries of mislike and distaste be
tween him and his people*."
James having succeeded in the great object for which he ever con-
* Pari, Hist, i, 1063—1071 ; Winivood, ii. 204.

A.D. 1601.] JAMES I. 65
vened such assemblies — a supply of money — prorogued the Parliament
parliament, and, which was rarely to be heard from a Stuart Mav°27e '
sovereign on such occasions, in terms of commendation.
But the parliament prorogued in May was assembled again in the
following November, when the king betrayed his fore- Re-assembled.
bodings of a stormy session in a lengthened admonitory —The king's
address. There was room to fear that the time had come 5J)e
when the various matters which the people had learnt to denominate
grievances would be urged on the notice of the ministers of the crown
in a manner not to be evaded. James commenced accordingly by
praising " the moderation and discretion " which, in the end, had cha
racterised the proceedings of the last session, but could not abstain
from expressing his regret that some restless persons should have taken
so much pains to bring together all possible matters of complaint. He
had observed also that some of the questions broached on that occasion
were more popular than profitable, either for that council or the com
monwealth; and that there were some tribunes of the people whose
mouths could not be stopped from matters respecting the Puritans and
purveyance. As to the Puritans, they were the parents of every disorder
in the church and the state — the great patrons of schism — and the king
had ever esteemed schismatics and heretics as subject to the same curse.
Such as were prepared to renew the late complaints on the subject of
purveyance were informed that monarchs are accountable to God only;
but that the dissolution of parliaments might bring with it the retri
butions of a sort of doomsday, the sovereign being then empowered to
visit the sins of the members of parliament on the person of the ordinary
subject. That all necessity for resorting to the exercise of his irrespon
sible supremacy in this respect might be prevented, James condescended
to advise that should any of the plebeian tribunes presume to soar, like
Icarus with his wings of wax, into regions above their proper element,
the discretion of the house might be employed to check such sallies of
impertinence, lest so honourable a body should be made to suffer for the
petulant excesses of a few only among its members.
This speech, it will be observed, embraced a twofold attack ; first, on
the character of the Puritans, and secondly, on the independence of par
liament. The former was a species of misrepresentation in which the
king had so often indulged, that it had lost both its novelty and effect.
The latter was a threat more suited to the air of Turkey than to that of
the English constitution, and pointed to a course of policy which after
wards did much more to loosen the foundations of the throne, than to
extinguish freedom of debate among the representatives of the people.
Thus instructed and warned by the monarch, the commons addressed
themselves to business ; and at the command of the sovereign, the first
question submitted to their consideration was the union with Scotland.
James professed to cherish the most impartial solicitude for the interests

66

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.

of his old and new subjects, and made no effort to conceal his anxiety
Question of that they might become in all respects the same people.
Srotlandir1'11 Tllis union accomplished, James persuaded himself that
Motives of the tne stubborn kirk of the north might be assimilated to the
king in urging more obsequious establishment he had found in the south ;
the power of the crown with respect to ecclesiastical affairs,
so ample in the one, being extended to the other ; while in the general
laws of the two kingdoms, once submitted to revision in order to their
nearer assimilation, many inconvenient provisions might possibly be
modified so as to cause the whole to approach more nearly to the court
standard. But these and similar designs, which, amid much good
intention, furnished the king with his most powerful motives in pressing
this question, exerted no such influence, or Tather produced a directly
opposite impression on the more enlightened and patriotic of his people.
The prejudices which had so long divided Scotland and England were
tv^ i • ,. °f tne most inveterate description, and had been in no
Difficulties of „ , ,,;,.,,,
the measure. smaI1 degree strengthened on both sides by the conscious
ness of each as to wrongs inflicted and sustained. If the
invasion of Edward I. was a war of power against right, it must be
remembered that during several centuries no state at war with England
had found it difficult to enlist the sword of Scotland against her either
at home or abroad. By these means, the northern counties of England
were rendered insecure and comparatively desert through many gene
rations. James, moreover, had been so lavish of his bounty towards his
countrymen since his accession, that no man could place confidence in
his professions of impartiality where such persons were concerned. It
was well known also, that if the English were indisposed to confess them
selves as no more than the equals of their neighbours, there was as little
disposition in their neighbours to brook the slightest mark of inferiority.
The commissioners who had been appointed three years since to
deliberate on this subject were now called upon for their
commissioners rePort- Their recommendations were, that all hostile laws
between the two kingdoms should be repealed ; that the
border courts should be abolished ; that both nations should be subject
to the same commercial regulations ; and that all persons naturalized in
the one kingdom should be deemed naturalized in the other. These
provisions were far from comprehending the whole of the scheme which
frequently passed before the imagination of the sovereign as that which
might be realized in connexion with this great question. But James
was no'sooner apprized of this report, than he assumed the new title of
king of Great Britain, and scrupled not to quarter the arms of England
with those of Scotland. This was nothing less than to usurp the
whole power of the legislature ; for though the commissioners had re
ceived their appointment from parliament, their recommendation pos
sessed not the slightest authority until sanctioned by parliament. This

A.D. 1601.] JAMES I. 61
one proceeding, during the existing feeling on the subject, was enough
to have prejudiced the Avhole scheme irrecoverably.
When the matters recommended by the commissioners came under
the notice of the commons, it was resolved that the hostile xhe proposal
laws adverted to should be repealed, and that the border resisted by the
courts should be at once abolished ; but the proposal to "n™0"8'
equalize the commercial advantages of the two countries, and the power
of naturalization, were points to which many objections were taken.
James addressed the house by letter and in person, in the hope of sub
duing an opposition which no doubt appeared to him unreasonable, and
even factious. But the effect of his zeal was only to exasperate the
dissentients, and to call forth reflections with respect to himself and his
countrymen, which rendered it probable that the commons would rather
appeal to the sword than submit to adopt the measure before them.
One member remarked that Sicily, Naples, and Milan, though included
in the dominions of his Catholic majesty, had no more power on that
account to trade with Castile. Another speaker observed that the
Romans were far from lavishing the privileges of their citizenship on
all the colonies or cities belonging to their empire, that dictinction being
" communicable as a special favour, and only at the benevolence of the
senate." Some, like Paul, might be born to this immunity; others,
like Lysias, were " fain to obtain it for a great sum." An equalized
-trade with the French, said another senator, might be equitable, as from
them wine and other commodities were obtained in lieu of our wool and
xloth. But the Scots — what had they to offer ? Their most valuable
productions were eggs and barnacles, and it might be a few drugs to
cure the jaundice. " Nature," said another of these dispassionate orators,
" has taught every nation a particular ingenuity to provide for its OAvn
necessities, which, upon the access of another, must be either exceeded,
and so undone, or go beyond the new comer and ruin him. Therefore,
since we had no want of inhabitants of our own, such a beggarly addition
must needs be destructive. The Scot, like the poor Swiss (yet better
provided for and nearer the sun than he), finds a more commodious
abiding under every climate than at home, which, as it makes the Swiss
to venture their lives in the quarrel of any prince for money, so this
northern people aTe known to do, or turn pedlars, being become so cun
ning through necessity, that they ruin all about them ; as is manifest in
Ireland, where they usually say, — None of any other country can prosper
that comes to live within the kenning of a Scot." " It is not meet,
therefore," added another of these opponents, " to take the children's
bread and cast it to the dogs, nor to share the fruits of England with
the sons of the locust and the daughters of the horse-leech." Nor was
this the worst. The king had spoken of his residence in England as
proceeding from his great affection for its inhabitants ; and one member
was bold enough to remark, that it would be no small advantage if his
f2

^ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
majesty would adopt the same method of showing his affection for the
Scots*. We may believe that in the motives by which these enemies of
Mixed mot" equality between the two nations were influenced, there
of the Com- was quite as much selfishness as patriotism. Whatever
mons in this may De thought of country gentlemen, the burgesses in
that assembly were by no means uninterested parties on
such a question ; and there is enough of the merchant in their harangues
to indicate where the leading point of this difficulty might be found.
The privy council of Scotland was soon informed of these proceedings,
and in a letter to the king complaining of the language in which then-
country had been traduced by the English house of commons, its
members are careful to state that the union " so greatly hated " by the
one party, was " little affected " by the other. James, before the meet
ing of parliament, had " endeavoured to suborn by large promises all the
popular and principal speakers " in favour of this measure, " hoping,"
according to a quaint contemporary, that " the vowels being at his de
votion," the consonants might be made to " comply with any voice, in
what sense he was pleased to put upon them, or to lose themselves in
insignificant clamours." The individuals, however, whose voices were
to be thus obtained proved few and inefficient; and James, seeing little
prospect of success, consented to withdraw his favourite
project6 ° 6 ProJect fr°m tue consideration of parliamentin both king
doms f.
But though the question of commercial privileges was one to be ap-
Question of proached only through the medium of parliament, the
naturalization naturalizing of the subjects of one kingdom in the other
'Sa e • was presumed to be within the power of the king, by
means of a decision to that effect in the courts of law. The earl of
Dunbar accordingly applied himself to the great law authorities, and,
after some difficulty, ten out of eleven judges were induced to declare
that all persons born as subjects to the crown of England were natural
ized by that circumstance in all places to which the dominion of the said
crown extended. By this decision, all persons born in England or Scot
land since the king's accession to the English throne were declared to
be thereby naturalized in both kingdoms, and all difference in this respect
was doomed to be extinct in the lapse of a single generation. The com
mons, however, were not satisfied with this method of adjusting so im
portant a matter, and it was brought into the courts of Chancery and
King's Bench, from which, being adjourned into the Exchequer chamber,
it was solemnly argued by the greatest lawyers of the day, and decided
* Sir Christopher Pigott was sent to the Tower for indulging in some free ex
pressions in the above debate. Journals, 333 — 335. Osborne, 465—468.
f Pari. Hist., i. 1075—1119. Dalrymple's Memorials, i. 7. Memoires de la
Boderie, ii. 223. J

A.D. 160*1.] JAMES I. 69
by all the judges*. As might have been expected, the result was to
the same effect. In this manner the question of naturalization was
determined, though the ablest laAvyers continued from time to time to
dispute its legality t-
But this partial success afforded small satisfaction to the king. The
passions of all who had approached this subject had been con(juct 0f
much excited; and to this cause we must attribute the James particu-
abrupt prorogation of parliament before any attempt had la ? adverse
been made to ascertain the feeling of the lower house on gence of his
the matter of a supply. James greatly needed such assist- arbitrary
ance, but seems to have resolved on trying almost any
expedient rather than submit to the delays and freedoms which had been
found attendant on his applications to parliament. Elizabeth had felt a
similar repugnance to any thing like a dependence on the pleasure of
the commons, but she exercised her wise forethought to render such
dependence unnecessary. It was with this view that she restricted her
expenditure, both in peace and war, to the smallest possible amount,
and that she Avas careful to avoid any war that might prove unpopular,
and thus, it may be, create public burdens without supplying the dispo
sition to bear them. But it was the manner of James to encircle him
self with the difficulties of war, though placed amid all the advantages
of peace ; his almost incredible thoughtlessness as to the value of money
creating that necessity of urgent appeals to parliament which had re
sulted in the case of many among his predecessors from the wars in
which it was their pleasure to be engaged. As things had stood in
England for many centuries, the great secret of power in the sovereign
was to avoid all unnecessary demands on the property of the subject.
To bring the representatives of the people together in national con
ference was to add to their intelligence, to their sense of justice, to their
feeling of importance, and, as a necessary consequence, to their efficiency
in the cause of popular freedom. James was no lover of such confe
rences, and was not altogether ignorant that the effect now mentioned
generally resulted from them ; but his habits were too much confirmed
to be resisted, and constantly placed him in the unwelcome state of an
applicant to such assemblies.
The little harmony of feeling between James and public bodies of
men, both in Scotland and England, served to strengthen
that disposition to favouritism which was observable in him tofe"^^^
through life. It was a relief to turn from the checks pre
sented by such bodies to the individuals with whom his will was, or
seemed to be, the only law. Released from his minority by the weak
ness or policy of others at the early age of twelve years, James made an
immediate choice of Esme Stuart, afterwards duke of Lenox, and of
Captain James Stuart, afterwards earl of Arran, as his most intimate
* Lord Coke's Reports, iv. 1. f Howell's State Trials, ii. 559—636. Osborne, 465.

70

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI,

friepds arid advisers,' The former was a young nobleman distinguished
by the handsomeness of his person and his courtly address ; but while
free from any gross blemish in his private conduct, he Avas by no means
equal to the responsibilities which now devolved upon him ; and was
moreover suspected by the Scottish people of attachment to the Romish
faith, and of being in correspondence Avith the house of Guise — th&
object of special abhorrence with the Protestant party. James Stuart
was bold and profligate, possessing more talent than his colleague, and
less native scruple in abusing it.
The first object of these parties, on acquiring the affections of the
monarch, was to dispose of Morton, the late regent, who, after a mock
trial, was slaughtered on a scaffold, under the pretence of being concerned
in the fate of Darnley. The king and Scotland owed much to the
wisdom and energy of that nobleman, and Elizabeth interceded earnestly
for his life, but her solicitude only served to hasten his destruction.
Having thus removed their great impediment, the favourites began to
exercise the royal power in a manner well adapted to illustrate their
cardinal maxims — which taught that kings were persons much too sacred
to be bound by the vulgar restrictions of law. Their attempt to revive
episcopacy, and their known leaning toward Rome, made the Scottish
clergy, to a man, their enemies ; while their general exorbitancy and
injustice in civil affairs filled the land with disaffection. The king was
virtually the prisoner of these minions, constantly passing his time at
the country residence of the one or the other of them. It was to free
their country from this odious servitude that the combination of the
Scottish nobility called the raid of Ruthven was formed, which led to
the seizure of the king's person, the exile of Lenox, and the imprison
ment of Arran. About twelve months later, a general amnesty being
passed in favour of all persons concerned in the seizure at Ruthven
castle, the government was entrusted to Sir James Melville, and others
of the same honourable character. James professed himself delighted
with the improved aspect of affairs, but entreated that he might now
be permitted to see Arran, if it were but for a single day. Unhappily,
his importunity prevailed, and the result was an immediate restoration
of Arran to his former ascendency. The Lords whose conduct had led to
his imprisonment were called upon, in contempt of the royal amnesty,
to surrender themselves, and, failing to do so, Avere pronounced traitors.,
A subsequent attempt of the confederate nobles to expel the favourite
was not only a failure, but served to strengthen the court party, so that
James found himself in circumstances to humble the pride of the clergy,
who not content with often denouncing Lenox and Arran as " the Popish
Lords," AA-ho were endeavouring to bring the greatest possible evils on their
country, had sometimes extended their censures to the conduct of the
king as their infatuated patron. It was in these circumstances, he it
remembered, that the pulpit reflections of the Scotch ministers partook.

A.D. 1604.] JAMES I. 11
of that freedom which we have noticed elsewhere, and which is so often
cited as a proof of their sectarian turbulence and insolence.
It was natural that Arran should become intoxicated with this tide of
success, and equally natural that his ill-regulated confidence should lead
to his ruin. His wife, who became his by means of a scandalous divorce,
was permitted to make a sale of the justice of the country with scarcely
the slightest disguise ; and while her husband attached to himself the
highest offices, the estates of the nobility were continually falling into his
hands, under a variety of pretexts. That his enemies might be kept in
subjection, he filled the land with spies and informers, and plots were
sometimes feigned which brought the innocent to ruin. James could not
be ignorant that such was the general character of his favourite's admi
nistration. These, however, were matters little considered, so he might
" have quietness, and hunt and hawk in security," or be allowed to pro
secute studies little more useful. But in this state of affairs the mal
content nobles again appeared in Scotland, a large army presently
flocked to their standard, and Arran, stripped of his wealth and offices,
and even of his title, owed his life to the contempt of his enemies.
It is to be observed, however, that these Scotch favourites did not lose
their power until they had done irreparable injury to the character and
reputation of the monarch. It was generally believed that their influence
had taught the king to parley with the papacy in a manner unbecoming
a sincere Protestant. From them he certainly learned much of his ex
travagant theory concerning the prerogative of kings, and much of that
" craft" of ruling, which, opposed as it often was to every honourable
sense of truth and justice, James could sometimes allude to as his most
valued accomplishment. It was from Arran especially that the Scottish
monarch derived the habit of profane swearing, which became so much
a practice of his own, that it attended him to the end of his days, to the
great scandal of the better class of his subjects.
The first indication of the king's disposition to favouritism in England
appeared in his thoughtless liberality to Philip Herbert, brother to the
Earl of Pembroke, and afterwards Earl of Montgomery. Of Herbert,
Lord Clarendon relates, that " being a young man scarce of age at the
entrance of the king, he had the good fortune, by the comeliness of his
person, his skill and indefatigable industry in hunting, to be the first
who drew the king's eyes to him with affection, which was quickly so
far improved, that he had the reputation of a favourite : and before the
end of the first or second year, he was made gentleman of the king's bed
chamber, and Earl of Montgomery, which did the king no harm ; for
besides that he received the king's bounty with more moderation than
other men who succeeded him, he was generally known, and as generally
esteemed — being the son of one Earl of Pembroke, and younger brother
to another, who liberally supplied his expense, beyond what his annuity
from his father would bear.

72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
" He pretended to no other qualifications than to understand horses and
dogs very well, which his master loved him for the better (being, at his
first coming into England, very jealous of those who had the reputation
of great parts) , and to be believed honest and generous, which made him
many friends, and left him no enemy*." Osborne, who knew this per
son well, presents him in a less favourable light, but apparently with
some prejudice. He remarks, however, with strict justice, that "the
setting up of these golden calves cost England more than Elizabeth
spent in all her wars t." It is evident that the character of Herbert
was of that feeble texture which rarely fails to be materially injured by
unexpected elevation ; and in later life, the violence of his temper, and
the impurity of his manners, rendered him generally despised, leaving
him but few of the many friends who were about him during the season
of his prosperity.
James conferred both money and land on this transient favourite with
great freedom, especially at the time of his marriage with
Extravagant £,ar]y Susan Vere. A similar scene was exhibited on the
favourites. marriage of Ramsay, afterwards Viscount Haddington, with
Lady Elizabeth Ratcliff. The king paid the debts of the
bridegroom, which were not less than 10,000/., and conferred on himself
and the bride a grant of lands to the value of 1600/. a year; nor was the
royal bounty stayed until more than 30,000/. had been thus expended.
His majesty's presents at different times to the Earl of Dunbar exceeded
15,000/.; and on the Earl of Mar sums were bestowed which together
exceeded that amount. These are noticed only as instances of the man
ner in which the king allowed himself to be impoverished from day to
day ; and this profusion was moderation compared with what ensued
when Somerset and Buckingham obtained their successive ascendency
over him. At the same time the separate establishments of the sovereign,
the queen, and the royal children, were on a scale of expense which could
not but create perpetual embarrassment ; especially as in the enter
tainments of his court, and in his treatment of ambassadors, James was
particularly anxious that no expense should be spared which might serve
to indicate his rank and opulence as being in no respect below those of
the greatest potentate in Europe J.
To extricate the sovereign from the perplexities which these causes
served to produce devolved on Cecil. This minister pos-
Cecil— his sessed the helm of the state on the king's accession; and
atfficulttles!nd PartlY as the result of his own far-sighted policy, but still
more on account of his transcendent fitness for his great
trust, he Avas confirmed in all his honours by the new monarch, and
obtained the royal confidence to an extent that must have equalled his
* History of the Rebellion, i. 104, 105. + Memoirs, 425.
t Birch's Life of Prince Henry, 35. Archseologia, xii. 85. Winwood, ii. 43. 49.
217;iii. 117. Lodge's Illustrations, iii. 182,254, 336. Boderie, iii. 129. Abstract
of his Majesty's Revenue in ' Truth brought to Light.' _

A. D. 1610.] JAMES I. 73
largest expectations. Nothing could be more suited to the temper of
James than the sobriety and caution which characterized the movements
of his favourite minister. The ingenuity with which he concealed his
more important projects until it was deemed safe to avow them, and the
sagacity evinced by him in detecting and unravelling the intentions of
others, whether relating to the intrigues of the court, the workings of
conspiracy, or the designs of foreign cabinets, were the evidences of a
superior capacity, which every day must have rendered more and more
manifest *.
But the lord treasurer was soon to learn that the cares of government
under the late queen were few and light compared with those which
awaited him under his new sovereign. It was his lot to find the ex
chequer constantly drained in supplying the channels of expense already
enumerated, until purveyors began to refuse furnishing the royal house
hold with provisions, and the care-worn minister scarcely dared appear
abroad in his carriage on account of the clamorous demands that were
made upon him by the servants of the court whose salaries had been so
long running in arrear. With the most elaborate economy on his own
part, and the utmost exercise of his ingenuity, the treasurer had suc
ceeded in reducing the king's debts to somewhat less than a third of their
amount two years previously. But to accomplish this he had en
couraged the exaction of loans of money from the more wealthy classes
by means of privy seals ; and besides demanding the payment of twenty
shillings from every knight's fee in the kingdom, as the feudal acknow
ledgment on the knighting of the king's son, he had presumed to lay
a tax without consent of parliament on most of the articles imported
from foreign states, endeavouring to justify his conduct in this particular
by pleading the spurious authority of the barons of the exchequer-)-.
These proceedings may have added to the convenience of the monarch,
but they had not contributed to the popularity of his
minister. And as the assistance derived from these sources re-assembling
was not such as to enable the treasurer longer to carry on theparliament,
the government, without returning to the less doubtful e " '
course of raising money through the medium of parliament, the best
method in which to propitiate that body became a question of some
anxiety with the king, and a difficulty of serious magnitude with Cecil.
During two years, parliament had been from time to time prorogued ;
* Boderie describes the king as governed for some years after his accession solely
by the adviceof Cecil. Memoires ii. 356 ; iii. 225,302. Beaumont and Villeroi, in their
unpublished Despatches, speak frequently to the same effect. Raumer ii. 198, 201,
217, 220, 221. Beaumont remarks, in a despatch of July, 1604, " Cecil, through the
power and adroitness of his mind, keeps to himself the rudder of the state, and
might be able to sail in every direction, but his courage falls short of his capacit y
and his influence, ibid. 208.
f Boderie, ii. 16, 413, 427, 440; iii. 70, 72, 103, 189, 342, 421 ; iv. 37,9. Win
wood, iii. 123, 155. Howell's State Trials, ii. 382, et sen.

14 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. Vi
and when assembled, James betrayed the reluctance with which he had
assented, in the present instance, to its meeting, by abstaining, for the.
first time, from opening the session with a speech from the throne. At
the commencement of the last session the king had warned the popular
members that their want of a due regard to the royal pleasure in the
business before them would probably be followed by some of those
modes of punishment which were always at the command of the sove
reign when refractory individuals ceased to appear in their parliamentary
character. Accordingly, when that session had closed, several members
who had not profited sufficiently by the royal admonition, were deprived
of their office as justices of the peace. This petulant proceeding was not
overlooked by the friends of the obnoxious parties ; but the offenders,
in prospect of the new session, were solicited by the court to accept
their former trust.
With this attempt towards conciliation, others of more importance
were connected. It is true the claim which the treasurer
Proposal of the ventured to make was of alarming amount — it was for no
w^thTegard to less a sum than 600>000^ to meet tne existing exigencies of
the revenue, the crown and for an annual grant of 200,000/. in addi
tion to the present revenue, as the means of preventing a
recurrence of those embarrassments which had so much impaired the
efficiency of the government. But in return, the commons were invited
to state their grievances freely, and were informed that the king was not
more desirous of experiencing the liberality of the commons, than of
proving himself the father of his people. James himself proceeded so
far on this occasion as to profess himself anxious that such provisions
might be made, that should future kings " have will to grieve the people,
they might not have the power." It may be true, as affirmed by a con
temporary, that " James shared so largely in the folly of princes, that
he never gratified the subject but upon urgent necessity, or by way of
barter, which made the commons consider him at best but in the rela
tion of a merchant, and themselves as countrymen brought up only to he
cozened * ." But there is room to believe that his promises at this junc
ture were not without sincerity ; and various matters which had fre
quently produced angry discussion between the crown and the represen
tatives of the people Avere never in so fair a prospect of amicable
adjustment f.
But the attention of the house was diverted for a short time from the
business immediately before it, to a dispute involving those
Disputes abstract principles of government from which so much of the
common difficulty now generally felt had arisen. Much dissension had
lawyers and iorlg subsisted between two classes of lawyers in this country
— the one distinguished by their attachment to the common
* Osborne, 405,
' f Pari. Hist. i. 1121, et sen. Winwood, iii, 123, 124. Boderie, v. 187.,'

A.D. 1610.] JAMES I. 75
law, or the law of the land, the other by a preference to Avhat was called
the civil law, being the old laAv of the Roman Empire, especially as
existing in the code of Justinian, Avhich in the progress of European
society had been variously incorporated with the jurisprudence of modern
nations. Lawyers of the former class generally breathed the element of
their favourite study, and were commonly knoAvn by their disposition to
place the prerogative of the crown under the wholesome restriction of a
popular legislature. Civilians, on the contrary, were remarkable for
their leaning in an opposite direction, vesting the sovereigns of modern
Europe Avith much of that despotic power which so many ages of cor
ruption had served to place in the hands of the Roman emperors. What
brought these parties most into collision in England was, the practice of
the common law courts in issuing "prohibitions" of proceedings in
the courts of their opponents. In this controversy, the ruling clergy
took part with the civilians. The civil law had assumed its ultimate com
plexion in alliance with that form of ecclesiastical power Avhich it was the
solicitude of those persons to maintain ; and as the friends of the English
hierarchy founded their hopes much more on the will of the sovereign
than on the affection of the people, — a system which depressed the
power of the latter, and elevated that of the former, was vieAved as
eminently suited to the present exigency of affairs.
It happened that at this time Dr. Cowell, a learned civilian, pub
lished a work expository of the nature and claims of the
civil laAv ; in the course of which the writer professed to A publication
regard the king of England as free from any of the obliga- (Jnsurred''0ye
tions said to be imposed by the laws of the realm ; and as the Commons.
possessing the right, purely in virtue of his prerogative, to
make, or unmake laws, and to exact money from his subjects Avithout
consent of parliament; — all the authority usually regarded as proper to
such assemblies being matter of sufferance on the part of the crown.
These base dogmas, it was well understood, had been put forth at the insti
gation of Bancroft, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and with the concur
rence of the king. The commons, who Avould not probably have over
looked the conduct of this author under less suspicious circumstances,
were now influenced by feelings both of alarm and resentment, and called
on the upper house to assist them in suppressing doctrines so subversive
of their long chartered immunities. Any hesitation on the part of the
court to concur in a proceeding of this nature Avould have been fatal to
that course of the public business which James was concerned to see
realized during the present session. The king listened accordingly to
the first remonstrance of the tAvo houses, and assured them that so far
was the obnoxious publication from expressing his sentiments, that he
should consider the man his personal enemy who should venture to speak
of it with approbation. The book was in consequence condemned by

"76 HISTORT OF ENGLAND. [cH. VI.
proclamation. Its author was sentenced to imprisonment, but his con
finement was of short duration*.
The next subject that came under consideration was the conduct of the
government in taxing articles of merchandize at the ports
respecting without consent of parliament. As the commons ap-
imposts. proached this much-litigated question, James addressed
them in language which taught them to doubt the sincerity
of his late professions concerning the maxims inculcated by Dr. Cowell.
His majesty did not scruple to assure them that, in many respects, kings
are strictly the vicegerents and images of the supreme
maxirrTof11'' Poteiltate- As such, they could raise up or bring down,
James with award life or death, create or destroy ; were the judges of
regard to his ayi an(j ^0 De iudged by none, and entitled to the services
prerogative. both of the bodies and souls of their people. Whatever
might be said to the contrary, this was the abstract and proper dignity
of a king. To deny this was not less than sedition, as to question the
power of the Almighty was no less than blasphemy. It might be true
that the laws of England did not recognize this power in the sovereign,
and as king of England he should be observant of the laws ; but while
the house would be permitted to inquire as to the fact of any violation of
law in the matter of imposts, the royal interdict was pronounced against
any questioning of the proper right of the monarch to make such exac
tions at pleasure t.
The religious members of the lower house were shocked at the impiety,
as it appeared to them, of the comparisons in which his
Spirited con- majesty had chosen to indulge ; and concurred with their
Commons. colleagues in general in reprobating the political maxims to
which they had listened, as being most alien from the
spirit of those good laws which had descended to them from their fathers,
and which they were resolved, come what might, to transmit unimpaired
to their children. Heedless therefore of the prohibition so imperiously
laid upon them, a committee was immediately appointed to ascertain the
laAv of the case, and the practice of the government in past times ; and
* Pari. Hist. i. 1122—1124. Coke's Detection,!. 59. The following passage is
from a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury, dated November, 1 608, in Lodge's Illus
trations. " On Sunday before the king's going to Newmarket, my Lord Coke, and
all the judges of the common law were before his majesty, to answer some com
plaints of the civil lawyers for the general granting of prohibitions. I heard that
my Lord Coke, amongst other offensive speech, should say to his majesty, that his
highness Avas defended by his laws ; at which saying, Avith other speech then used
by the Lord Coke, his majesty was very much offended, and told him he spake
foolishly, and said, that he was not defended by his laws, but by God ; and so gave
the Loril Coke, in other Avords, a very sharp reprehension," iii. 364. Wilson,
ubi supra. CoweH's book Avas dedicated to Bancroft. Winwood, iii. 125, 129, 131.
It should be added, as affording some further explanation of the predilection of
James in this particular, that the maxims of the civil law are much more freely in
corporated with the laws of Scotland than with those of England.
•f King James's Works, 529—531.

A. D. 1610.] JAMES I. 71
not only the question whether the king had violated the laAv, but whether
he had a right so to do, became the matter of warm and protracted
discussions. The advocates of the prerogative, among whom Sir Francis Bacon,
the attorney-general, was most conspicuous, maintained
that the levying of rates on exports and imports in the Tlie question
¦ niii ,. i • ,. as argued by
name of the king only had been common from the reign of both parties.
Edward I. to the accession of Richard II., and that an in
stance of the kind had been submitted to under Mary, and adopted by
Elizabeth. To this it was replied, that precedents belonging to reigns more
than two centuries since, which had occurred under peculiar circumstances,
and which even then were almost invariably followed by remonstrance and
redress, were scarcely applicable to the present case ; while the solitary
instance adduced from the reign of Mary was of still more doubtful au
thority, since it consisted simply of a provision made to counteract a
policy by which certain parties contrived to evade a tax which the law
had imposed. To precedents thus remote and questionable the popular
advocates opposed the well-known provision of Magna Charta, the often-
cited statute de tallagio non concedendo, and twelve subsequent enact
ments in different parliaments to the same effect. In fact the only part
of the argument in favour of the croAvn at all plausible, related to the
mere increase of the old rates, on the ground that they had not varied
as they should have done with the increased value of the articles. But
even here it was natural to inquire whether to impose such payments, and
to regulate them, should not belong to the same power ? Upon the whole
nothing could be more manifest than the defeat of the court on this vital
question. A popular historian indeed remarks that in this struggle the
commons laboured not so much to maintain the old constitution, as to
establish a new one*. But their reasoning and their language make it
evident that they were strangers to the remotest suspicion of being thus
employed. Their general complaint was, that if the king's novel doc
trine were unchecked, " they should not leave to their successors that
freedom they received from their forefathers ; nor make account of any
thing they had, longer than they listed that governed t-"
A further object with the commons was to obtain the removal of various
feudal burdens, which, as sources of revenue or advantage
to the crown, still pressed heavily, and sometimes very Proposed abo-
unjustly on the subject. The plan proposed was one of jeu(jai bur-
commutation. Some of the usages mentioned, James in- dens.
sisted were too valuable or sacred to be disturbed; but he
consented that the custom of purveyance, and that the power of the king
* Hume, ubi supra. A comparison of Hume's account of this session, with Avhat
is supplied by the authorities relating to it, will enable the reader to judge of the
degree of confidence to be generally placed in that writer.
t Wrinwood, iii. 175. Pari. Hist. i. 1121, 1122, 1132, 1133. Howell's State
Trials, ii. 407—519. Bacon's Works, ii. 223. Birch's Negociations, 320. Boderie,
v._27 1—355,

**8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
•with regard to wardships, the marriage of infants and widows, and some
other matters deemed unnecessary and grievous, should be abolished. In
lieu of this surrender, it was required that the sum of 300,000/. per
annum should be settled on the crown. The commons halted at a third
of that amount, but rose at length to two-thirds, when a difficulty in
fixing on the source from which this sum should be derived brought the
house to the end of the session, and the temporary aid of a subsidy, and
a tenth and fifteenth was voted until opportunity should occur for re
suming the subject*.
We possess only imperfect notices of what passed in the next session.
t ,• I' appears, however, that affairs took a course so little
James dis- , . T
pleased, and agreeable to James, that after repeated menaces he first
the parliament prorogued, and then dissolved the parliament. If it be
Oct. 16. ' true t^lat *-^e commons rose in their demands, it does not
appear to have been wisely and reasonably done. The
king sent for a deputation from the lower house on this occasion, and
demanded of them in much anger whether they were not bound in duty
as subjects to relieve the necessities of their sovereign. Sir Henry
Neville replied, " Where your expenses grow by the commonwealth we
are, otherwise notf : " an observation in which we may no doubt perceive
something of the temper of the popular members generally, and which
clearly points to those habits of extravagance on the part of the king
which formed one of their leading topics of complaint. On the meet
ing of this session of parliament, says an old writer, " The members
were Avilling to renew their allegiance to the king, out of piety ; yet they
were so strict, even in these youthful days, which he called obstinacy,
that they would not obey him in his encroachments upon the public
liberty, which he began then to practise. For being now seasoned with
seven years' knowledge in his profession here, he thought he might set
him up for himself, and not be still journeyman to the lavish tongues of
•men that pryed too narrowly into the secrets of bis prerogative, which are
mysteries too high for them, being arcana imperii, fitter to be admired
than questioned. But the parliaments were apprehensive enough that
these hidden mysteries made many dark steps into the people's liberties;
'and they were willing, by the light of law and reason, to discover what
was the king's — what was theirs, which the king unwilling to have
searched into, after five sessions in six years' time, dis
solved the parliament by proclamation J."
Thus ended a session from which so much had been expected. Such
a result must have been vexatious to the king and the par
liament, and something of blame attached probably to both
parties ; but on the mind and heart of Cecil it pressed with the weight
of a dismal foreboding, as the frustration of plans on which all his hopes
* Pari. Hist. i. 1124, 1127, 1131, 1147. Winwood, iii. 124— 129. The king was
unsteady in his purpose on this subject, listening to " whisperings and dissuasions,'
ibid. 131. For some interesting details on this matter, see Winwood, iii. 145, 153,
155,193,201. f IWd., ;;i *>™ t Wilson's Court ot James I.

A.D. 1612.] JAMES I. ?9
had been founded. Before him was an exhausted treasury — debts accu
mulating in every quarter, and no means of assistance save those which
were supposed to have been tried to the utmost. Some of the remaining
crown lands were exposed to sale ; and privy seals Avere sent forth with
a trembling hand to solicit loans for the sovereign. But the anxious
minister finished his course before the result could be ascer
tained. Cecil died at Marlborough, on his way from Bath, A;D' 1G,12,
May 24.
whose waters had failed to reach his malady *.
It was at the commencement of the present reign that this statesman
Avrote the folloAving characteristic and instructive letter to
a brother courtier. " My noble knight, my thanks come IIis condition
¦I o > J as a statesman
with your papers, and wholesome statutes for your father's and courtier
household ; I shall, as far as in me lieth, pattern the same, ?? scribed by
, . ,,,,., , , ,. • himself.
and give good heed for due observance thereof in my own
state. Your father did muoh affect such prudence, nor doth his son
less follow his fair sample of worth, learning, and honour. I shall not
fail to keep your grace and favour quick and lively in the king's breast,
as far as good discretion guideth me, so as not to hazard my own repu
tation for humble sueing, rather than bold and forward entreaties. You
know all my former steps, good knight ; rest content, and give heed to
one that hath sorrowed in the bright lustre of a court, and gone heavily
over the best seeming fair ground. It is a great task to prove one's
honesty, and yet not spoil one's fortune. You have tasted a little hereof
in our blessed queen's time, who was more than a man, and in truth
sometimes less than a woman. I wish I waited now in her presence-
chamber, with ease at my food and rest in my bed. I am pushed from
the shore of comfort, and know not where the winds and waves of a
court will bear me ; I know it bringeth little comfort on earth ; and he
is, I reckon, no wise man that looketh this Avay to heaven. We have
much stir about councils, and more about honours. Many knights were
made at Theobalds during the king's stay at my house, and more to be
made in the city. My father had much wisdom in directing the state,
and I wish I could bear my part so discreetly as he did. Farewell,
good knight, but never come near London till I call you. Too much
crowding doth not well for a cripple ; and the king doth find scant room
to sit himself, he hath so many friends, as they choose to be called, and
heaven prove they lie not in the end. In trouble, hurrying, feigning,
sueing, and such like matters, I now rest your true friend f." If such was
the unenviable state of Cecil's mind in the comparatively easy circum
stances of 1 604, what must it have been amid the far greater difficulties
* Winwood, iii. 235, 239, 301, 309. " What is worst of all, he is melancholy
and heavy spirited ; so it is on all hands concluded, that his lordship must shortly
leave this world, or at least disburden himself of a great part of his affairs." Ibid.
332, 338.
f Harrington's Nugaj Antiquae, i. 344 — 346.

80 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH.'VII.
of 1612* ? - In that interval the minister had been the patron of every
unpatriotic measure that had come under the notice of parliament ; often,
we may believe, " parting with his honesty to save his fortune," and
was thus deserted by fortune at the last. Of all sorrowers, those who
" sorrow in the bright lustre of a court, and go heavily over the best
seeming fair ground," are the most pitiable, their lot being to reap envy
rather than sympathy in their bitterest hours.

Chapter VII.
James's theological disputes — The oath of allegiance— Altercation with the States-
General respecting Vorstius — Death of prince Henry — Marriage of the princess
Elizabeth — Rise of Carr — -His connexion with the countess of Essex — Perplex
ities of the government — The king's second parliament convened — Attempt of
the " undertakers " — Speculative doctrines of James on the impolicy of religious
persecution— Despotic maxims addressed to his second parliament — Debate re
specting imposts resumed — Parliament dissolved — Opposition between the spirit
of the court and of the nation — Tyrannical proceeding of the king — Rise of
Villiers — Fall of Somerset — Arrest of that favourite, of the countess, and of their
accomplices in the murder of Overbury — Trial and fate of those persons — Progress
of Villiers.

More than three years passed before James ventured to assemble his
second parliament. During this period, the attention of
ti!14 tne km£> was chiefly occupied with a public dispute on the
abstruse speculations connected with predestination and
free will, and with the affairs of his family and his favourites.
Among the means adopted after the detection of the gunpowder con-
, spiracy as -a further protection against the Catholics, was
logical dis- a new oath of allegiance, which exacted of all suck persons
putes— Oath a renunciation of the pope's temporal power, on pain of
o a egiance. perpetual imprisonment and of a confiscation of their
entire property during their lives. Among the writers Avho attempted
to expose the injustice of this new test Avere father Parsons and the
great controversialist Bellarmine ; and James, who was with difficulty
prevailed upon to forego his amusements for the cares of empire, applied
himself with the utmost ardour to the species of warfare which was thus
* " All consideration, and the burden of all employments, rests on the shoulders
of Cecil ; but his burden, and the jealousy which attends it, both increase to such
a degree, that I in fact fear he will no longer be able to avoid sinking under it. A
few days back some one said to him, he must find himself much relieved under this
reign, in that he Avas no longer compelled to address his sovereign kneeling, as in
the time of the deceased queen ; he replied, however, Would to God that 1 yet
spoke on my knees. Many wise persons are struck Avith this expression, as indi
cating either that Cecil does not trust his fortune, or that he fears some general
calamity of the kingdom." Beaumont. .Aug. 1608. Raumer, ii. 200, 201.

A.D. 1611.] JAMES I. 81
provoked. More than one "papal brief described the oath as unlawful,
and as containing things contrary to faith and salvation ; and the ma
jority of the English catholics, stimulated by theologians who wrote
from the shelter of the Vatican, refused compliance Avith it. But the
minority, with Blackwell the arch-priest at their head, made up in
station and intelligence what they wanted in numbers. James sent
copies1 of his elaborate "Apology for the Oath of Allegiance " to the
monarchs of Europe. His Catholic majesty and the arch-duke mani
fested their estimate both of the king and the author by declining its
acceptance*. Undismayed by the very limited success of this attempt, the theo
logical zeal of the English monarch constrained him to Altercation
take part in the controversy carried on between the Ar- Avith the
minians and Gomarists of Holland. Arminius, preacher ^pectin's61 *
in the great church of Amsterdam, and professor in the Vorstius.
university of Leyden, presumed to dissent from the great 161]l
body of his countrymen with respect to the leading doctrines of Calvin
ism. He maintained that the death of Christ had respect to all men,
not to the elect only ; that predestination, though founded on the merits
of Christ, was connected with the virtue of perseverance ; that the only
subjects of reprobation were such as had been foreseen in the character
of obstinate unbelievers ; that the impressions of divine grace might be
resisted ; and that the subject of such impressions might be finally lost,
being overcome by depravity f. These particulars are] not opposed in
all respects to modern Calvinism, but as avowed by Arminius they
gave existence to a powerful party, which became known by the name
of remonstrants, from the language in which they approached the civil
power, deprecating the persecutions to which their new faith had exposed
them. Their opponents gained the name of contra-remonstrants ; and
a little time served to show that each party was sufficiently willing to
employ the sword of the magistrate against the other.
It rarely happens that men become marshalled into strong parties by
* Boderie in the fourth volume, and Winwood in the third, furnish almost con
tinual allusions to this controversy. Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 692 — 696. James's
Works, passim. " Many wish that King James would not Avrite these books, but no
one ventures to tell him so. Some believe he feels himself impelled by certain
predictions, having become king of England, to destroy the power of the pope, and
drive him out of Rome. The queen, who spoke of this to me, makes herself merry
upon it, and asserts that divers of the council (especially Salisbury) urge him to
ward this, because they know that he will be involved thereby in interminable em
barrassments, and must leave the government to them in the mean Avhile. The
main origin of it, however, is certainly his presumption, in that he believes himself
to understand more of theology than all the doctors in the world; and if any other
motive is mixed up ivith this, it is the desire to obtain more consideration among
the Lutherans and Calvinists, and to play the part of mediator between them."
Villeroi to Beaumont, May, 1609. In 1605 the pontiff had the confidence to
Avrite to the kinir, urging lhat, if not prepared to become a Catholic himself, he
Avould at least allow his eldest sun to be educated in that faith." Raumer, ii. 212.
f Acta Synod. Dordr. 126, 129. G

82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
religion, without theiir soon becoming instruments in the hands of poli
ticians for the accomplishment of mere political purposes. Nothing is
more natural than that rival statesmen should thus avail themselves of
the passions of rival religionists, their professing themselves favourable
or otherwise to the matters in immediate dispute being a cheap method
of obtaining the assistance of so active a body of partizans. Such was
the course of events in the history of the controversy between the Ar-
minians and the Calvinists of Holland. Barnevelt placed himself at the
head of the remonstrants, and his political rival, Maurice of Nassau, did
the same with the contra-remonstrants. On the death of Arminius, his
chair at Leyden was offered to Vorstius, a divine of acknowledged learn
ing and capacity. The Calvinists impeached bis orthodoxy, but that he
so far vindicated before the States, as to be admitted to the vacant office.
His success was regarded by the Arminians as a triumph ; and it was
at this juncture that the English monarch, who had not been unobserv
ant of these proceedings, deemed it proper to interpose.
James, though he had learnt to wage a deadly war against the dis
cipline inculcated by the Genevan reformer, was still the disciple of that
powerful intellect on points of theology. In his view the tenets of Ar
minius were novelties opposed to the genuine doctrines of the reformed
churches ; and his majesty professed himself shocked to learn that the
opinions of Vorstius were still more repugnant to the most acknowledged
standards of the Protestant faith. These opinions the monarch described
as opposed directly or by implication to some of the essential attributes
of Deity, while they were accompanied by intimations which seemed to
make the divinity of the Saviour a doubtful article of faith. The States
were accordingly admonished that their encouragement of a professor
who diffused such " pestilent heresies " was an enormity which, if not
speedily corrected, must call for the interference of Protestant Christen
dom, that the power might not be wanting that should " remand such
abominable doctrines " to the region whence they came.
The States would have spurned this meddling with their domestic affairs,
but circumstances disposed them to try several expedients in the hope
of calming the spirit of the royal theologian ; and finding these without
effect, they at length consented to a removal of the obnoxious professor,
imposing on him the task of publicly refuting the infamous speculations
laid to his charge. The credit of being the first state in Europe to abo
lish the barbarous custom of burning men on account of their religion
belongs to the people of Holland ; but James was humane enough to
assure the judges of Vorstius that should he be suffered to escape that
doom, on recanting his errors, it was by no means because such a penalty
was greater than his offence had deserved. These discussions prepared
„„,„ the way for the famous Synod of Dort, but that assembly
a.d. 1619. J , •!,,.., ,. , « ¦ ¦
was not convened until the political power of the Arminians
had been completely broken. It was followed by the execution of Barne-

A.D. 1612.] JAMES I. 83
velt, after trial by a court against the jurisdiction "of Avhich both he
and Grotius protested; and several hundred Arminian families were
driven into exile*.
While James was employed in directing the weapons of learning and
authority against Vorstius, England was called to mourn
the loss of the presumptive heir to the throne. Henry Prince pre£,ce°Henrv.
of Wales was now in the seventeenth year of his age, and
his excellent capacity, together with his manliness and courage, his pa
triotism, activity, and contempt of indulgence, had for some time en
deared him to the people, who naturally dwelt in anticipation on the nobler
position of their country under such a sovereign. His admirers of one
class saw in him another Henry V., and pleased themselves with the pro
spect of what thoughtless men regard as national glory ; while his known
attachment to the reformed faith was to the more religious portion of the
community the best pledge that his various abilities would be exercised in
a manner conducive to the best interests of Christendom t- What added
much to the charm of these features in his character was the direct con
trast which they supplied to the dispositions of the reigning prince. An
ambassador of the French monarch presenting himself to take leave of
the prince, found him exercising himself with the pike, and on inquiring
if the heir- apparent had any commands for France, received as answer,
"Tell your king in what occupation you left me %." The brave and
enterprising Raleigh, still suffering in the Tower, was a favourite of
Prince Henry. " Sure, no king but my father," he once said, " would
keep such a bird in a cage." The death of this prince appears to have
resulted from fever, brought on by imprudent exercises, and allowed to
take its fatal course by the timidity of attendants, who feared the impu
tations usually cast on " those physicians who meet with patients that
do not recover after opening a vein." On the people, the v
effect of this unexpected bereavement was such, that their
imagination was not to be diverted from suspicions of poison, especially
as the carriage of the prince towards his father was known to have been
sometimes so far incautious, and we may say improper, as to have con
verted the affection of his weak temper into a feeling of awe not unmixed
with jealousy §. But while we acquit James of the atrocious act which
* The despatches in Winwood's third volume abound in references to this contest.
t Osborne, 264. The following lines, we are told, were common among the
people : Henry VIII. pulled down the abbeys and cells,
But Henry IX. shall pull down bishops and bells. — Nugte Antiques.
X Boderie.
§ Somers' Tracts, ii. 231 — 252. Aulicus Coquinarise, 239 — 251. " I hold the
death of Prince Henry to have been natural." Spifame to Puysieuse, Dec. 1612.
Raumer, ii. 222. " The queen endeavours hourly to corrupt the spirit and dispo
sition of the Prince of Wales by nattering his little passions. She seeks, moreover,
to excite his youthful soul in favour of Spain. She has also carried the point with
the king of having the prince in future resident in her court, and said to me, with
g2

84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. tCH- VIIi.
the regrets and disaffection of many among his subjects imputed to him,
the circulation of injurious rumours will hardly appear surprising, if we
remember, with other circumstances, that Carr, the rising favourite with
the monarch, was at this time in a state of enmity with the prince ; that
not more than three days after his death that favourite wrote to Paris,
giving instructions that a negotiation in progress for the marriage of
Prince Henry should proceed, only substituting the name of Charles;
and that the king himself not only forbade persons approaching him in
mourning, but gave orders that the preparations for the Christmas revel
ries should proceed without interruption*.
About this time a marriage was agreed upon between Elizabeth, the
only daughter of the king, and Frederic, Count Palatine
the'princess °^ ^ie Rhine- The royal nuptials were celebrated with a
Elizabeth. pomp and expense unexampled in English history. But,
F 'h 14 as we Bna^ s00n learn> the history of this marriage was to
be fraught with misfortune to Frederic, and to his beau
tiful bride, who had not passed the sixteenth year of her age. The
king also was to find a source of continued vexation, and of diminished
popularity, in the circumstances that attended this union f.
But the refuge, as we have before observed, to which the king had
Rise of Carr keen a^waYs disposed to look in his difficulties, was the con
fidence of favourites ; and at this time there was an indi
vidual in the court on whom James had for some time looked with this
kind of fondness. " About the end of the year 1609, Robert Carr, a
youth of twenty years of age, and of a good family in Scotland, arrived
in London, after having passed some time in his travels. All his natural
accomplishments consisted in good looks ; all his acquired abilities in an
easy air and graceful demeanour. He had letters of recommendation to
his countryman Lord Hay, and that nobleman no sooner cast his eyes
upon him, than he discovered talents sufficient to entitle him imme
diately to make a great figure in the government. Apprized of the
king's passion for youth and beauty and exterior appearance, he studied
how matters might be so managed that this new object should make the
strongest impression upon him. Without mentioning him at court, he
assigned him the office, at a match at tilting, of presenting to the king
his buckler and device, and hoped that he would attract the attention of
as much impudence as imprudence, ' It is time that I should have possession of the
prince, for the king drinks so much, and conducts himself so ill in every respect,
that I expect an early and evil result.' I know that she grounds herself in this, —
that, according to her expressions, the men of the house of Lenox have generally
died, in consequence of excessive drinking, in their fortieth year, or become quite
imbecile. The king growing daily more weak and contemptible, the consideration
of the queen increases in proportion.''. Beaumont, Oct. 1604. Birch's Life of Prince
Henry. Winwood, iii. 410. Wilson, 55. Osborne, 470 — 475.
* Birdie's Prince Henry, 405.
j- Winwood, iii. 403, 434, 435. Somers' Tracts, iii. 40. Abstract of his Majesty's
Revenue, 11, 14. Wilson, 690. Osborne, 470—485.

A.D, 1613.] JAMES T. 85
the monarch. Fortune proved favourable to his design, by an accident
which bore at first a contrary aspect. When Carr was advancing to
execute his office his unruly horse flung him, and broke his leg in the
king's presence. James approached him with pity and concern : love
and affection arose on the sight of his beauty and tender years, and the
prince ordered him immediately to be lodged in the palace, and to be
carefully attended. He himself, after the tilting, paid him a visit in his
chamber, and frequently returned during his confinement. The igno
rance and simplicity of the boy finished the conquest, begun by his ex
terior graces and accomplishments. Other princes have been fond of
choosing their favourites from among the lower ranks of their subjects,
and have reposed themselves on them with the more unreserved confi
dence and affection, because the object has been beholden to their bounty
for every honour and acquisition. James was desirous that his favourite
should also derive from him all his sense, experience, and knowledge.
Highly conceited of his own wisdom, he pleased himself with the fancy
that this raw youth, by his lessons and instructions, would in a little
time be equal to his sagest ministers, and be initiated into all the pro
found mysteries of government, on which he set so high a value. And
as this kind of creation was more perfectly his own work than any other,
he seems to have indulged an unlimited fondness for his minion beyond
even that which he bore to his own children. He soon knighted him,
created him Viscount Rochester, gave him the garter, brought him into
the privy council, and though, at first, without assigning him any par
ticular office, bestowed on him the supreme direction of all his business
and political concerns. Agreeable to this rapid advancement in confi
dence and honour were the riches heaped upon the needy favourite ;
and while Salisbury and all the wisest ministers could scarcely find ex
pedients sufficient to keep in motion the over-burthened machine of
government, James, with unsparing hand, loaded with treasures this
insignificant and useless pageant*."
The writer, who thus describes the early fortunes of Rochester has
justly remarked, that history appears to fall from her dignity when
necessitated to dwell on such frivolous events and ignoble personages.
But the later occurrences in the career of this personage merit attention
as connecting themselves not only with the character of the king, but
with that of the court and the times. By adopting the advice of Sir
Thomas Overbury, who was his counsellor from his first appearance at
court, the young favourite Avas enabled to obtain a growing influence
over the affections of the monarch without exposing himself to the aver
sion of the people. The older courtiers indeed looked on with envy, and
resorted to intrigue ; but, by exercising more modesty and discretion
than is usual with such creatures of fortune, and especially by avoiding
any partiality toward his countrymen, and performing kind offices for a
* Hume's Hist., vi. 46, 47.

'86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. Vlt.
large number of persons possessing means more or less of supporting his
ascendency, nothing appeared more secure than the splendid elevation of
Viscount Rochester. His fall was the consequence of an illicit passion
for Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the earl of Suffolk.
At the age of thirteen, this lady was married to the Earl of Essex,
„. . whose age exceeded her own by one year only. It was the
His connexion . ° . J J J
with the Wlsn of James by this means to unite two families which
Countess of had suffered much in the cause of his mother, and the
union accomplished, the parties separated until the age of
puberty, the earl repairing to the university, the countess being entrusted
to the care of her mother. But in this interval the countess and the
favourite conceived a violent passion for each other, and secretly became
as husband and wife in all things save the marriage ceremony. When
the Earl of Essex returned, his bride received him with coldness, and at
•length with every manifestation of dislike. In the issue, it proved to
have been the inexorable purpose of the countess, that the man whom
the ceremony of marriage had made her husband should be such in no
other sense. Her persuasion was, that so long as this was the case, her
marriage with Essex must be defective, and might be made to give place
to her union with Rochester.
No pains were spared to interest her lover in this course of policy,
and her lover deemed it proper to consult Overbury as to the best means
of carrying it into effect. But while that faithful friend had considered
his patron's attachment to the Countess of Essex merely as an affair of
gallantry, he had favoured its progress ; and it was partly owing to the
ingenious and passionate letters which he dictated, that Rochester had
met with such success in his addresses. Like an experienced courtier,
he thought that a conquest of this nature would throw a lustre on the
young favourite, and would tend still further to endear him to James,
who was charmed to hear of the amours of his court, and listened with
attention to every affair of gallantry. But, on the mention of marriage,
Overbury professed himself astonished at the folly of the favourite, and,
in the true spirit of his vocation, he called upon him to despise the
¦woman whom his own arts had enabled him to seduce, adding, that the
baseness of her character must occasion his immediate ruin.
Rochester was weak enough to make known the substance of this
conversation to the countess, whose spirit of vengeance began to thirst
for nothing less than the life of the offender, nor was it found difficult
to inflame her paramour with the same feelings. Her first device was to
offer a thousand pounds to Sir John Wood to dispatch the object of her
resentment under the show of a duel. But this scheme was frustrated
by a proposal to obtain his appointment on a mock embassy to France
or Russia — a virtual exile, which he should be secretly urged to refuse,
and on refusing, he might be charged with contempt of the royal pleasure
and committed to the Tower. This snare was successful. During six

A. D.. 1613.] JAMES I. 81
months the prisoner was separated from all communication with his
friends, and kept under the strict guardianship of a lieutenant newly
appointed by Rochester for the purpose. At the close of that period,
the Avretched man died of poison, but not until several attempts to put
him out of the way by that means had been ineffectual.
In the mean time proceedings were instituted to obtain a divorce
between the Countess and the Earl of Essex, on the plea of the earl's
physical incapacity for the duties of matrimony. Decency forbids that
Ave should enter into the investigations which now occupied several
months, and called forth all the authority and influence both of the
king and his minion ; suffice it to say, as the effect of much disorderly
interference and menacing on the part of the monarch, and of Rochester,
seven out of the twelve judges were induced to decide in favour of the
divorce. Their decision was generally viewed as given purely to gratify
the king. In prospect of the new marriage, James created Rochester
Earl of Somerset. The ceremony took place in the royal chapel, in the
presence of the king and a large company of nobles, with their wives
and daughters, the queen appearing at the altar in white satin, and the
bride with her hair in curls doAvn to her waist — the virgin costume *
James had several reasons for becoming thus zealous in the cause of
a divorce, where, he had been the principal agent in bring
ing about the marriage ; but what chiefly weighed with Pe''P'exlties
him was that the intended union would be acceptable to Government.
his ministers, the father and uncle of the countess : a cir
cumstance which taught him to look on the marriage as likely to extin
guish a rivalry which subsisted between these persons and the favourite.
But the king always found that to manage the courts of law was less
difficult than to manage the house of commons ; the most unconstitu
tional decisions from the former being much more easily obtained than
any adequate supply from the latter. Yet without a large supply from
that source, it now seemed impossible that the machinery of government
should be continued in action. While the question of the divorce was
pending, Somerset had relieved the necessities of his sovereign by a
personal present of 25,000/. But the king's wants soon became as
pressing as before, and no course presented itself to the favourite, or to
his father-in-law, the Earl of Suffolk, now lord treasurer, and the king's
principal adviser, except the assembling of a parliament. Various ex
pedients had been tried, but with only a partial measure of success. The
Most of the documents relating to the divorce of the countess, and an account of
what followed are in ' Truth brought to Light.' Disgusting as are their disclosures in
many particulars, they afford an instructive picture of the state of society in this reign.
pp.1 — 23, et seq. AulicusCoquinariae, 261. Reliq. Wotton, 408— 410. Nuga^Antiqua?,
i. 390. Winwood, iii. 447, 453, 479. Howell's State Trials, ii. 785—862. Wilson)
693. An account, given by Raumer, from a contemporary Paris MS., agrees in
substance with that of our oivn Avriters, ii. 222 — 233. This writer, indeed, states
that the king gave the married couple effects worth a million of gold ; that the
countess wore a coronet valued at 400,000 dollars !

88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
new title of baronet had ^been sold for the fee of 1000/. to as many as
Avere disposed to become purchasers, until the number of names enrolled
amounted to about two hundred. All the gradations of rank had their
price in like manner affixed to them, as though the monarch had deter
mined to employ the vanity of one portion of his subjects in the way of
counterpoise to the parsimony or patriotism of another. The trade in
monopolies also was reneAved ; but the hazard which now attached to
such contracts did not allow of its becoming considerable. Two hun
dred thousand pounds av ere. obtained on the credit of the privy seals
issued a little before the death of Cecil, to be repaid from the next
supplies voted by parliament, and about a fourth of that amount was
secured as a benevolence.
It was to defer, and if possible to prevent the necessity of looking to
parliament that James had applied himself to the dif-
The king's ferent methods now enumerated for replenishing his trea
tment, con- "a" smT > an<* ** was not without painful misgiving that he
vened. listened to those who were at length constrained to advise
that a return should be made to the more regular course
of obtaining the needed assistance by once more convening the great
council of the nation. What prevailed most with the perplexed mo
narch was the assurance of Somerset and others that they would under
take to influence the elections through the kingdom, so that the house
of commons in the king's second parliament should be much more com
pliant than the one Avhich had preceded it.
But these persons, who, from their proffered services obtained the
name of " undertakers," soon ascertained that their ob-
Attempt ¦ cj jjad become generally known, and that their instances
of the " nn- J ' , ..... .
dertakers." of success were few compared with those in which the sus
picion excited by their interference had led to a result
much adverse to their policy. In past ages the character of the mem
bers returned to the lower house was generally, determined by the
pleasure of the sheriff, who in nearly all cases would be a person readily
secured to the service of the court. But other times had now come : —
a spirit of independence was found to pervade the constituency of the
country, so much so, that, in the face of the utmost influence on the
part of the king and his ministers, a house of commons was returned
even more uncourtly than was that which three years since had been
dissolved as wholly unmanageable.
James had not to wait until the meeting of the two houses to ascer
tain that the undertaking of his ministers had proved a
a.d. 1614, failure. On the meeting of parliament accordingly the
pU J' king was careful to disclaim all connexion with proceed
ings so much beneath the dignity of a sovereign as the influencing of
elections, and his speech throughout was characterized by a tone of con
ciliation which sufficiently bespoke his apprehension as to the probable

A.D. 1614.] JAMES I. 89
course of the new house of commons. His majesty assured the two
houses that " his natural affections were like the redness of his heart,
his integrity like the whiteness of his robe ; his purity like the metal of
gold on his crown ; and his firmness and clearness like the precious
stones he wore*;" and the truth of assurances thus fantastically ex
pressed was affirmed in the usual manner by an appeal to the Almighty.
Many grievances were now to be redressed with as little delay as pos
sible; and the king would henceforth show himself " contrary to all
tyrants, who love not advising with their subjects, but hate parliaments :"
nor should it be the fault of the monarch if the history of the present par
liament were not such as to entitle it to the name of the parliament of love.
The king also delivered some admirable sentiments on the impolicy of
religious persecution ; but sentiments not a little at va
riance with the conduct of the royal orator, and even with of'the'k'in11 on
those portions of it that were manifestly the result of his the impolicy of
own choice. " No state," says the monarch, " can evi- rellg'pU8 Per-
, , ... , . , . secution.
dence that any religion or heresy was ever extirpated by
the sword, or by violence, nor have I ever judged it a Avay of planting the
truth. An example of this I take where, when many rigorous counsels
were propounded, Gamaliel stood up and advised, that ' if that religion
were of God, it would prosper ; if of man, it would finish of itself.'
Besides, men are so prone to glory in defending and sealing their opinions
with their blood, that the primitive church in one age declined into an
affectation of martyrdom. And many heresies have had their martyrs,
which have gone with the same alacrity, and desire, and assurance to the
fire, as those who have witnessed for the truth have done f." But the
monarch who could indulge in this style of enlightened disquisition is the
same who on his way from Scotland proclaimed a gaol delivery in every
town through which he passed, excepting such offenders as were charged
with " murder or papistry ;" and the same who not only told the Puri
tans he would make them conform, or harass them out of the land, but
Avho was now acting in accordance with that threat to the full extent of
his ability.
The great point of solicitude with the commons was the redress
of grievances, and on this subject, though the promises of
the king were lara;e, his conduct Avas sufficiently ambigu- Arbitrary lan-
. 8 . ° ' . . , , . . ' r°. guageofthe
ous to occasion strong suspicion as to his sincerity. The king's speech.
members were admonished by the sovereign himself, that
he would no more treat with them " like a merchant by way of exchange,"
and which was more, that it was the royal pleasure that they should make
the voting a supply their first business, leaving all matters of grievance
to a future session. The history of the last house of commons, and the
character of the present, should have sufficed to prevent the slightest
expectation that such a course would be followed, in Avhatever manner
* Pari. Hist. i. 1150. f Ibid., i. 1151, 1152.

90 HISTOR.Y OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
enjoined ', and in fact it is to this interdict on the subject of grievances
that the total failure of the court policy in relation to this parliament
must be attributed.
The commons, instead of obeying the royal mandate, proposed a con
ference of the two houses on the matter of impositions ; —
Debate on the a measure known to be particularly unacceptable to the
impositions ^mgj an(l which as such was successfully opposed by the
resumed. prelates and courtiers in the upper house. It was on this
occasion that Neile, bishop of Lincoln, declared the right
of levying those imposts on the property of the subject to be a matter
pertaining solely to the will of the sovereign, adding that no man could
question this principle without assailing the only proper foundation of
monarchy, and betraying a temper hardly distinguishable from sedition.
The commons urged loud complaints against this slanderer of their
loyalty, nor were the lords slow in bringing the offender to their bar,
where he confessed his delinquency on his knees, and it is said with
tears. Not content with thus far humbling their adversary, the lower
house indulged in some strong censures on the servile Conduct of the
ruling clergy generally.
Even in the commons, more than one of the servants of the crown
was bold enough to assert that taxes might be justly imposed by royal
authority alone, and, in the absence of better precedents, appeals were
made in support of this doctrine to the practice of France, Spain, Ger
many, and Italy. But to this abstract notion of monarchy it was
replied, that the princes in those countries possessed the power of making
laws, as well as that of levying contributions on property ; and the ad
vocates of despotism were reminded, that by contending for one of these
points without the other, they seemed to have acquired but half their les
son. As usual, on such questions, the opinion of the judges was sought,
and contrary to the general conduct of that body, they had in this in
stance the courage to refuse the sort of decision which was virtually
demanded by the court.
The king's debts at this time amounted to twelve hundred thousand
pounds, two-thirds of which had accumulated since the dissolution of
the last parliament. Weakness characterised every plan devised by
the government, and it was consistent with this general imbecility to
expect that a supply at all adequate to such a state of embarrassment
would be voted on the bare promise that there should be some future
adjustment of the great matters at issue between the crown and the
people. Secretary Herbert spoke of these pecuniary difficulties as ren
dering the kingdom " a contempt and scorn in all other parts ;" and
the chancellor offered the particulars of the royal debts to the private
inspection of the members ; but the house occupied itself with no less
than fifty bills on a variety of subjects, to the neglect of the great ques
tion of a supply. When two months had thus passed, James sent a

•A. D. 1614.] • JAMES I. 91
message threatening to dissolve the parliament, if his Avishes Avere any
longer slighted. The house immediately formed itself into
a committee, and bearan to deliberate on the best means Parliament
.,,.,., ., . dissolved,
of meeting the claims of the government Avithout sacri- june 7.
firing those of the people, when, on the following day, the
king carried his threat into execution, and the parliament was dissolved
by commission*.
All prospect of an agreement between the crown and the nation now
¦seemed to be further removed than ever. The maxims
of the court, and those which from becoming prevalent be^veen0the
with the people were embodied in the character and con- spirit of the
duct of their representatives, proved to be directly at court and the
issue, and both parties deemed themselves committed
to a conflict, the result of which no man could readily predict.
A circumstance which promised to render this struggle still more
desperate, was the conduct of James in subjecting several
members, immediately after the dissolution, to imprison- Tyrannical
ment, on the pretence that they had used improper liberties kmo. june g.
of speech during the discussions in parliament. Had this
been the fact, the correction of such improprieties belonged to the house
itself, and not to the monarch. But the real delinquency of these per
sons was the popular character of their principles and conduct. Sir
Edwin Sandys in opposing the slavish doctrines of the ministers of the
crown, had not hesitated to declare " that all kings were originally elec
tive, except such as came in by the sword : whom for that reason it Avas
lawful to expel by the 'sword, whenever the people had the power to
do it J."
In dealing with [the embarrassments which now opened before him,
James resigned himself to the influence of a new favourite.
Somerset, since his marriage, had declined much in those y'-ir0
superficial qualities which had served to recommend him
to his sovereign. The bloom and gaiety of youth gave place with rapi
dity to different appearances and manners, and the king beginning to
feel a want of the amusement for which such objects Avere chosen by
him, was left Avith his mind open to the new impression which about this
time AA'as made on it by George Villiers, son of Sir Edward Villiers of
Leicestershire. This young man, who had not passed his one-and-
twentieth year, was distinguished by his handsome person, and the taste
of his clothes. His address also had been improved by recent travel, and
a short stay at the court of Paris. Those who kneAV the king Avere aware
that from his first interview with Villiers so much had been done, as to
make it probable that the old favourite would soon prove an incumbrance
rather than an object of affection. " Ashamed of his sudden attach-
* Journals, 471. Reliquse Wottonianae, 43.
t Pari. Hist. i. 1149—1 167. Reliquae Wottonianae, 433.

S2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, \CB. VII,
ment, the king endeavoured, but in vain, to conceal the partiality which
he felt for the handsome stranger ; and he employed all his profound
politics to fix him in his service without seeming to desire it. He de
clared his resolution not to confer any office on him, unless entreated by
the queen ; and he pretended, that it should only be in complaisance to
her choice he would agree to admit him near his person. The queen
was immediately applied to, but she, well knowing the extreme to which
the king carried these attachments, refused at first to lend her counte
nance to this new passion. It Avas not till entreated by Abbot, Arch
bishop of Canterbury, a decent prelate, and one much prejudiced against
Somerset, that she could condescend to oblige her husband by asking
this favour of him. And the king thinking noAV that all appearances
were fully saved, no longer constrained his affection, but immediately
bestowed the office of cup-bearer on young Villiers*."
From this time the overthrow of Somerset became a leading object
Avith a daily increasing party in the court ; and his part
Somerset. *u tne mi<luitous treatment of Overbury, which had em
bittered his marriage, was to occasion his fall. James is
said to have urged upon the younger favourite that he should profess
himself willing to do good service to the elder ; but Somerset replied
with the reckless asperity which had become common to him, — " I will
none of your service, and you shall none of my favour. I will, if I
can, break your neck, and of that be confidentf." While Somerset
pursued this haughty course, the old rumour with respect to the murder
of Overbury became more loud and general, so much so, that James was
led to question certain suspected parties on the subject, and the result
was a strong persuasion as to the guilt both of the countess and the
favourite. Arrangements were accordingly made for the arrest of both,
and of various other persons as their accomplices.
Somerset was ignorant of these proceedings until the moment of his
being apprehended. The following is a description of the
Arrest of iast interview between James and this once pampered
the countess, object of his affection. " The king took his farewell for
a time of London, and was accompanied with Somerset to
Royston, where no sooner he brought him, but instantly took leave,
little imagining what viper lay amongst the herbs ; nor must I forget to
let you know how perfect the king was in the art of dissimulation, or to
give it his own phrase — king-craft. The Earl of Somerset never parted
from him with more seeming affection than at this time, when he knew
Somerset should never see him more; and had you seen that seeming
affection (as the author himself did), you would rather have believed
he was in his rising than setting. The earl, Avhen he kissed his hand,
* Hume, Hist. vi. 54. We have selected this passage, and a preceding one on tie
rise of Somerset, from the pages of Hume, that the conduct of James in this respect
may have the advantage of being described by his panegyrist.

A. D. 1614.] JAMES I. 93
the king hung about his neck slabbering his cheeks, saying, ' For God's
sake, Avhen shall I see thee again ! On my soul, 1 shall neither eat nor
sleep until you come again !' The earl told him, on Monday (this being on
the Friday) ; ' For God's sake let me!' said the king : ' Shall I, shall I ?'
then lolled about his neck : — ' Then, for God's sake, give thy lady this
kiss for me!' in the same manner at the stayre's head, at the middle of
the stayres, and at the stayre's foot. The earl was not in his coach
Avhen the king used these very words, in the bearing of four servants, of
Avhom one was Somerset's great creature, and of the bed-chamber, who
reported it instantly to the author of this history, — / shall never see his
face more." To this it must be added, that before the earl had reached
London, " his countess was apprehended — himself on his arrival*."
James now spoke more freely, complaining that Somerset and his
wife had made him an assistant in the crimes of adultery and murder ;
and in consigning the further investigation of the affair to the vigilance
of Chief Justice Coke, he pronounced a solemn curse on the head of that
functionary and his posterity " if he spared any of them ; and upon
himself and his, if he pardoned any." We shall presently see Iioav far
it was safe in the monarch thus to expose himself and his descendants
to malediction in this matter.
The progress of this odious investigation led to the conviction of El-
ways, lieutenant of the Tower, and of Weston its warden ;
of Mrs. Turner, a superior sort of fortune-teller, and of and of then-
„ ... . ., _ . , accomplices.
b ranklm an apothecary, all as being more or less con
cerned iu the poisoning, and all suffered the penalty of the law. Sir
Thomas Monson, the king's falconer, Avas also arraigned as having
exercised much severity towards Overbury, and as being probably
acquainted with his end. But, from some mysterious cause, this person
was suddenly reconducted from the bar to the Tower by order of the
sovereign ; from which place, after a short interval, he was liberated
without further process.
Some time was suffered to elapse before the chief culprits were brought
to trial. The countess pleaded guilty, and the sentence of
the laAv was pronounced. Somerset shared the same fate ^,rla' an<* ^ate
by an unanimous verdict of the peers, though he laboured persons.
strenuously for the space of eleven hours in the assertion
of his innocence. The king, hoAvever, notwithstanding his solemn im
precation, soon conferred his pardon on the countess, and the earl's
sentence, after being suspended for several years, was at length reversed.
In 1621 both were released from the Tower, and banished to a country-
seat, with an allowance of 4000/. a year from their forfeited property. In
that obscurity they passed the remainder of their days, hated of man
kind, and hating each other. The countess died in 1632, Somerset
lived to 1645. , * Weldon, 10T, 102, Coke's Detection, i. 87.

^4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
That James should have hesitated to shed the blood of persons with
AA'hom he had been on such terms of intimacy is not strange, and hardly
censurable. But unfortunately there is room to suspect that this lenity
was the effect of fear more than of clemency. The circumstance of
Monson's being forced from the bar in the manner already noticed, and
that in consequence of a hint received by the king only the previous
evening, intimating the probability that the culprit would play an un
welcome card upon his trial; the haughty and even menacing demeanour
of Somerset, both before and after his conviction, and the mysterious
terms in which he expressed his purposes of revenge ; the solicitude of
the king to have him assured that his life should not be taken, and to
have him brought to trial in a more submissive state of mind than he
had generally evinced in his present circumstances ; and the character
of the letters addressed to the monarch by Sir Thomas More, the lieu
tenant of the Tower, on this subject — all are matters which show that
Somerset was possessed of some secret which gave him a power that he
was not slow to exercise over the fears of the king. It was to prevent
the threatened disclosure that James promised all he could promise with
any regard to decency. It should be added that there were menaces
used by Overbury towards Somerset of the same nature with those now
used by Somerset towards James, and the close confinement to which
that person was subject'from the time of his commitment provokes the
conclusion that he also was a depository of some dangerous secret, pro
bably the same which was more successfully employed by his patron*.
In what the secret of Somerset consisted a future day must disclose.
That it related to some iniquitous matter is beyond doubt : nothing short
of this could have produced the confidence of the one party, or the ap
prehension of the other.
When Archbishop Abbot had succeeded in placing George Villiers
near the person of the king, the considerate prelate, aware
Abbot's advice 0f tne probable course awaiting the favoured youth, endea-
progress of the voured to impress his mind with the value of three maxims :
favourite. — these were, that he should offer daily supplication to
God for grace to serve the king faithfully ; that he should
study to do all good offices between the king, the queen, and Prince
Charles ; and that he should address nothing but truth to the ear of
the sovereign. The young man learnt these precepts by rote, " indif
ferently well," and his monitor with characteric gravity professed himself
much gratified when assured by the monarch that such were the coun
sels which it became a bishop to bestow. But the giddy height to which
the new minion was speedily raised left him little inclination or capa
city to profit by the weighty advice of his reverend instructor. Within
* Bacon, iv. 90, 447, 465, 470 ; vi. 89, 90, 101, 103. Cabala, 33, 38, 221. Truth
brought to Light, pp. 24 — 136. Coke's Detection, i. 84 — 88. Archseologia, xviii.
355—358. Howell's State Trials, ii. 951, et seq.

.A.D. 1614.] JAMES I. 95
a few years, George Villiers became Viscount Villiers, Earl, Marquis,
and Duke of Buckingham, and Knight of the Order of the Garter ;
adding to this succession of titles places of trust not less considerable ;
as the mastership of the horse, and of the King's Bench office, and the
wardenship of the Cinque Ports ; Avith the offices of the chief justice in
Eyre, steward of Westminster, constable of Windsor, and lord high
admiral of England. At the same time the mother of this fortunate
adventurer became a countess, his brother a viscount, and not a few of
his needy kindred were drawn in various ways from their obscurity to
opulence and power. In the early stages of his advancement, Villiers
promised to remember the archbishop as a father; but Abbot soon
found himself a sufferer, in common with others, from the heedless con
ceit^ which this ill-judged profusion tended necessarily to produce.

Chapter VIII.
Conduct of James and Somerset toward Sir Walter Raleigh — He is released
through the influence of Villiers — Projects a voyage to Guiana — Obtains the
king's commission — Aggression of the Spaniards at St. Thomas — Failure of the
enterprize — Arrest of Raleigh — Proceedings against him — Is condemned as a
peace-offering to Spain — His charaoter, and his demeanour in his last moments —
Government of Ireland — State of the Irish Catholics — Plantation of Ulster — Evils
of subsequent proceedings.
It was long the boast of Somerset, that whatever may have been his
gains during the three years he was in power, he had
always declined gratuities, and discouraged proposals that james'and
would have tended to diminish the hereditary possessions Somerset
or the permanent revenue and influence of the crown ; and „0,!a.1 ,
1111 ¦ Raleigh.
that he had pursued this course at the certain cost of
making himself numerous enemies. But, allowing such to have been
his practice, it may have originated in nothing better than a selfish
foresight. His conduct towards Sir Walter Raleigh, in the matter of the
estate and castle of Sherbourne, affords sufficient proof that there was
scarcely any injustice to which he could not descend in order to enrich
himself. Raleigh had conveyed the castle and adjoining property at
Sherbourne to his eldest son some time before the decease of Elizabeth,
and it was thus saved from the wreck which befell his other possessions
on his being declared a traitor ; but it Avas afterwards ascertained that
in the deed of conveyance a word had been omitted, through the heed
lessness of a transcriber, and this omission, according to the chief justice
Popham, an enemy of Raleigh, rendered the document invalid. Carr

96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
seized the occasion to pray the king that the castle and its demesnes
might be bestOAved on himself. Raleigh had now passed some years in
the confinement of the Tower, where, together with the Earl of North
umberland, he had nobly occupied himself in the pursuits of literature
and science. He had suffered much, but hitherto poverty had not been
among the evils of which he had to complain ; and it was to prevent the
adding of this affliction to the many which oppressed him, that he now
addressed a dignified and pathetic expostulation to the favourite, ap
prising him of the bitter sorrow that would be brought on an imprisoned
parent, and on those whose condition was really that of the widow and
the orphan, by the meditated wrong. But the man whom the king
delighted to honour had no pity ; and when lady Raleigh and her chil
dren threw themselves at the feet of the monarch himself, entreating
that their last reliance might not be torn from them, the only answer
obtained from the royal clemency was — " / mun ha' the land, I mun
ha' it for Carr."
It is true James granted lady Raleigh the sum of 8000/. as a pro-
Raleigh liber- fessed compensation ; but only a feAv months later more
ated through than three times that amount was necessary to purchase
ofVilliers"06 tne alienated property. The death of Prince Henry,
which happened at this juncture, threw the deepest gloom
over the prospects of Raleigh. Cecil, indeed, his most powerful adver
sary, was no more; but Carr had injured him much too seriously not to
prove an enemy fully as relentless. But the time was at hand in which
the course of this later opponent was to reach its close ; and Villiers,
his successful rival, not having the same motives to enmity, listened to
certain bribed connexions, and procured the liberation of Raleigh after
he had suffered imprisonment thirteen years.
Elizabeth had conferred her sanction on Raleigh in prosecuting
several voyages of discovery, and in 1595 had encouraged his attempt
to reach the great empire of Guiana, as it was called, situated, as was
then supposed, on the banks of the Oronoko. This expedition was so
far successful, that the Englishman penetrated large territories unex
plored by Europeans, and took formal possession of them in the name of
his sovereign. Raleigh had found means to continue his correspondence
with the chiefs of those distant regions from the walls of the Tower, and
while a prisoner had solicited permission to visit them, but in vain.
When restored to liberty, the project of such a voyage increasingly
Indulges the 0CCUP'e(l lns mul<l i and James, partly from the advice of
project of a persons of influence, but chiefly in the hope that a gold
voyage to mine, said to have been discovered, might afford a season-
Guiana. 1616. ,,..,. . . . ' , °
able aid to his necessities, was induced to confer a reluctant
sanction on the enterprise. Among the friends of Raleigh in this un
dertaking were the earls of Pembroke and Arundel, and secretary Win
wood. The latter, Avho AA'as perhaps the most honest-minded man about

A.D. 1616.] JAMES I. 97
the king's person, mentions the pleasure with which he a.d; 1616.
obtained the royal signature to the requisite commission. Aug- 20-
The great perplexity of James on this subject arose from the fear
of exciting jealousy in the Spanish cabinet, and thus Conduct of the
of frustrating the match which hevras increasingly anxious Spanish ambas-
should be accomplished between the Prince of Wales and saioT'
the Infanta. Gondomar, the present Spanish ambassador in the
English court, was eminently qualified for the service to which he
was appointed, which' was to dupe the monarch by every available
artifice, and to bribe his ministers in any amount that should be
necessary. With such a sovereign this policy was found to be much
more advantageous than the fomenting of domestic treasons, or the
fitting out of armadas. Every man knew that the influence of this
dangerous person over the king Avas considerable. His wit, his gaiety,
and his refined mode of flattery, made him a welcome guest at the table
of the English monarch, and introduced him to an acquaintance with
whatever it was important he should know, — or rather that he should
not have known. Gondomar obtained all the particulars of the intended
voyage from James, and through the Spanish cabinet called upon the
Spaniards in the neighbourhood of the supposed mine to put them
selves in readiness, that a summary punishment might be inflicted on
men who, under pretence of a mining adventure, meditated nothing
better than acts of piracy and rapine.
Nearly twelve months had passed since the grant of this commission,
when Raleigh sailed with a fleet of fourteen armed vessels from
Plymouth, and, after an unfavourable voyage of four months, came
within sight of the coast of Trinidad. Two vessels had foundered, and
Raleigh, in common vrith many of his followers, was wholly disabled
by sickness. Five boats, each containing fifty armed men, were sent
up the Oronoko, under the command of Raleigh's nephew, and the
conduct of Captain Keymis, — an officer who professed to have discovered
the alleged gold mine by the assistance of a native in a former voyage^*.
* In this enterprise Raleigh embarked the 8000/. which he had obtained as an
alleged compensation for the estate of Sherborne ; also the sum of 2500/. furnished
by Lady Raleigh as the price of an estate which she disposed of at Micham. In
deed, the preparations altogether were of a kind to refute the assertion of Hume,
that plunder, not settlement, was the object of the undertaking. The following
instructions were delivered by Raleigh to the commanders of the several vessels on
their leaving Plymouth : — " Because no action or enterprise can prosper (be it sea
or land) without the favour or assistance of Almighty God, the strength of hosts and
armies, you shall not fail to cause divine service to be read in your ship morning
and evening ; or, at least, if there be interruption by foul weather, once in the day ;
praising God every night with singing a psalm at the setting of the Avatch. Se.
condly, you shall take special care that God be not blasphemed in your ship, but
that after admonition given, if the offenders do not refrain themselves, you shall
cause them of the better sort to be fined out of their adventures ; by which course
if no amendment be found, you shall acquaint me withal ; for if it be threatened in
the Scripture that the curse shall not depart from the house of the swearer, much
less from the ship of the swearer." Tytler's Life of Raleigh, p. 361

98 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VHIt
It is now to be observed, that near the spot of this supposed mine the
Agression of Spaniards, since the territory had been taken possession of
the Spaniards by Raleigh, had built the small town of St. Thomas.
at St.Thomas. -y^e instructions given to his nephew and Keymis were,
that they should proceed directly to the mine, and that they should not
in any [way molest the Spaniards unless hostilities should be commenced
by them. The Spaniards, faithful to the orders which had been issued by
his Catholic majesty, paid no regard to the pretensions of the English
as the discoverers of that portion of the country, but commenced a mer
ciless attack on the strangers during the night. The courage of the
officers saved the greatest part of their followers, and pursuing their
assailants to St. Thomas, the town was captured. But in this conflict,
and by means of a subsequent ambuscade, considerable losses had been
sustained ; while the Spaniards, disposed with advantage at the different
points of the road, seemed to render all further advance in the country
impracticable. The town was in consequence destroyed, and Keymis
returned to Raleigh, not only to announce the failure of the undertaking,
but the death of his son, who had fallen in the taking of St. Thomas.
Raleigh's feelings of sorrow and wounded pride, on receiving these
melancholy tidings, were hardly to be described. All sub-
enterprise ordination was soon at an end among his followers, and
nothing at length remained but that he should direct
his foreboding course towards England. Before his arrival Gondomar
had informed the king of what had been done at St. Thomas, and
pronouncing the whole proceeding as grossly fraudulent and piratical,
gave his majesty to understand that the King of Spain was not likely to
make any future appeal to his justice if the present should be made in
vain*. James was shaken in every nerve by the fear that his long and anx
ious negociations with regard to the Spanish match would be rendered
abortive by this event ; and without waiting for the return of the accused
party, a proclamation was issued, declaring in the strongest terms that
the attack upon St. Thomas was unauthorized and detestable f. Lord
Carew, who shared not in the pusillanimous weakness which this
conduct betrayed, threw himself at the feet of the monarch, and urged
much in behalf of Raleigh ; — " and they say," adds the writer who has
* Bacon's Letters, by Birch, 178.
f Buckingham's letter, sent to Gondomar at this moment, stated that the king
of England held himself more aggrieved by the conduct of Raleigh than the king
of Spain could do. It assured Philip that all kinds of property found in Raleigh's
possession belonging to the subjects of Spain should be forthwith restored, and that
though the offenders could not be capitally punished without process of law, the
king would take some summary course with them, punishing their conduct not less
severely than he would have done if St. Thomas had been a city of England.
Whether the punishment should be inflicted in England or Spain was left to the
pleasure of the Spanish monarch, and Gondomar was urged to despatch some one
into Spain immediately with amessage to this effect. A copy of this letter is iu the
State Paper Office, bearing date 6th July, 1618. Criminal Trials, i. 483.

A.D. 1618.] JAMES I, Q9
recorded this fact, " his majesty's answer waB, that as good hang him as
deliver him to the King of Spain, who assuredly would; and one of
these two he must ; at least if the case Avere so as the Spanish ambas
sador had represented it. And when my lord yet pressed him, ' Why the
most thou canst expect,' said the king, ' is, that I would give him the
hearing;' and so dismissed him. And indeed, a legal hearing is all Sir
Walter's well-wishers desire, for then they make no doubt but he will
make his cause good against all accusations in this kind whatsoever *."
On reaching Plymouth, Raleigh immediately commenced his journey
toward London, confident it seems that he should be able Arrest of
to justify his conduct. But he had not proceeded far Raleigh.
when his arrest, and the language in which the particulars of the enter-
prize had been described in the royal proclamation, filled him with
alarm. His first intention at this juncture was to effect an escape to
France, where he was encouraged to expect more generous treatment
than in his own country. This object he might have accomplished, but
he began to hesitate, and again determined to meet the accusations of
his enemies. At Salisbury he feigned sickness, and thus gained time to
prepare his defence ; but still distrusting the issue, the spies of the
government who were placed about succeeded in persuading him to
resume his purpose of flight ; and this purpose he was allowed so far to
realize as to pass Woolwich in his way toward a vessel, said to have
been prepared to convey him to France. It was at this place that Sir
Lewis Stukely, his kinsman, threw off the mask of the villain by betray
ing him into the hands of his enemies, who speedily conducted him to
the Tower. Raleigh had been put on this attempt purely that matter of
accusation might be accumulated against him ; and with this view it had
him also been contrived that some intercourse should take place between
and an agent of France f.
That the attack on St. Thomas was regarded by the crown lawyers as
susceptible of a plausible, if not of a triumphant defence, is Proceedings
manifest from the fact that, after resorting to the most against him. ]
unscrupulous artifice in the hope of finding proofs of delinquency against
him in that respect, and after a formal examination and much deli-
* Calcy's Life of Raleigh, ii. 137.
t That Raleigh should have returned to England at all, under such circum
stances, was a matter of surprise to many of his contemporaries. It is the state
ment of his son, and we have no reason to suspect its truth, that the earls of Pem
broke and Arundel had become bound for the return of Sir Walter, and his safe
deliverance into the king's hands ; and that for this cause Raleigh placed himself in
the hands of his enemies, well kuowing what Avas likely to follow. " An act," says
a writer of the time, " which may be not unjustly compared to the conduct of
Regtilus, who to keep his promise and faith, returned to his enemies with whom he
had been prisoner, though he knew he went to an inevitable death." Howell's
Familiar Letters, p. 383. Having once delivered himself, Sir Walter considered
this obligation as discharged, and deemed himself at liberty to employ any subse
quent means for his escape.
H2

100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. f_CH. VIII.
beration on the subject, it was deemed inexpedient to put Raleigh on his
trial upon that charge.* Odious as such conduct must have appeared
to every one, it was resolved to proceed against him by calling for the
execution of a sentence which had been suspended fifteen years. That
this execution might be " granted," Raleigh was made to appear in the
Court of King's Bench, where he was called upon to show why this sen
tence should not now be enforced. In his defence he dwelt on the
injustice of the proceedings against him in 1603, on which this sen
tence was founded; and urged strongly, that his late commission,
conferring on him a power of life and death over those subject to his
command must have amounted to a rescinding of his former sentence.
But all objections of this nature were overruled by the authority of
the chief justice, and the prisoner was admonished to prepare without
delay for the doom aAvaiting him f.
James was not an uninterested spectator of these iniquitous proceed-
Puttodeathas *nSs- The marriage between his son and the Infanta he
a peace-offer- noAV viewed as nearly secured. But he had been officially
ing to Spain, informed that any hesitation in disposing of Raleigh
" would serve for materials of future and final discontentments;" and
when this threat was complied with, the court of Spain were duly ap-
* After Raleigh's commitment to the Tower, one Sir Thomas Wilson was
appointed by the king as his special keeper, with instructions to obtain from him, by
every means that could be devised, whatever might serve to inculpate him in the
matter of the Guiana voyage. But though Raleigh himself Avas completely
deceived by that adept in treachery, the government gained nothing by this stra
tagem. The manner, in which the reports from this man were received by
the king and the court is evident in the folloAving note on the subject from Sir
liobert Naunton : — " Sir, I read most of both your letters to his majesty, who allows
Avell of your care and discretion. I hope you will every day get ground of that
hypocrite, that is so desirous to die, mortified man as he is." (Raleigh was suffering
from several kinds of indisposition, and had expressed himself as weary of life.) " His
majesty was Avell pleased with your past services ; he will think long for the ripening
and mellowing of the obsen'ations and conferences by which you are to work on
that cripple." Criminal Trials, i. 492. Raleigh was encouraged in a correspondence
Avirh his Avife, and the letters of both Avere regularly intercepted and examined by
the king. But none of these many snares availed.
f The commissioners in this case had submitted two forms of proceeding ; one of
which was, that a warrant should be sent to the Lieutenant of the ToAver, calling at
once for the execution of Raleigh, and that a narrative of his alleged offences
should at the same time be printed and circulated. The other form required
that the accused should be brought before a council of state, including the judges,
where accusation might be made against him and his defence heard ; and that the
council might then be called upon to say, Avhether the king might not with justice
and honour give warrant for his execution. But the judges were not capable of
agreeing to the manifest injustice of either of these suggestions, and it was their
act to require that the prisoner should be brought into the Court of King's Bench,
Avhere the execution was "granted " according to the forms prescribed by the law,
though the assumption of the justice of the sentence by Popham, the chief justice,
was a piece of hypocricy which might have been spared. Cayley, ii. 147 — 150- Hut-
ton's Reports, p. ,21. Howell's State Trials, ii. 33 — 35. Dr. Lingard's account of
the conduct of Raleigh is partial and defective. The taking of St. Thomas, for ex
ample, is mentioned Avithout the slightest notice of the previous attack of the Spa
niards.

D. 1618.] JAMES I. 101
prized that Sir Walter had been thus dealt with " chiefly for giving them
satisfaction *." That no Spaniard would have suffered at Madrid under
similar circumstances is certain.
Not that Raleigh was a faultless man. He had been among the most
forward in repaying his obligations to the late queen in the
language of flattery, and by the most obsequious deport- ana demeanor
ment ; and in his eager pursuit of wealth and poAver he in his last mo-
had sometimes manifested a haughty demeanour towards
those below him, and had not always scrupled to sacrifice principle to
intrigue. But his various and commanding talents Avere never so
honourably exerted as during his imprisonment. In that school of
adversity also the moral elements of his character underwent a marked
improvement, and the claims of religion there became an object of grave
attention with him, as well as the cultivation of his mental powers. An
indecent haste, contrary to his own earnest solicitation, summoned him
to the scaffold the day after the Court of King' s Bench had awarded
execution of his sentence. But this affected him not. To some of his
friends who expressed their sorrow on his behalf, he remarked, " The
world itself is but a larger prison, out of which some are daily chosen for
execution." The clergyman who attended him records f, " he was the
most fearless of death that was ever known, and the most resolute and con
fident, yet with reverence and conscience. When I began to encourage him
against the fear of death, he made so light of it, that I wondered at him.
And when I told him that the dear servants of God, in better causes than
his, had shrunk back and trembled a little, he denied not, but yet gave
God thanks he never feared death, and much less then : for it was but an
opinion and imagination ; and the manner of death, though to others it
might seem grievous, yet he had rather die so than of a burning fever.
He said that he was persuaded that no man that knew God and feared
him could die Avith cheerfulness and courage except he were assured of
the love and favour of God unto him ; that other men might make shows
outwardly, but they felt no joy within; with much more to that effect,
very Christianly ; so that he satisfied me then, as I think he did all his
spectators at his death. After he had received the communion in the
morning, he was very cheerful and merry, and hoped to persuade all the
world that he died an innocent man, as he said. I put him in mind of
the death of my lord of Essex, how it was generally reported that he
was a great instrument of his death ; to which he made answer as in the
former relation; and said moreover that my lord of Essex was fetched off
by a trick, which he privately told me of. He was very cheerful the
morning he died, ate his breakfast, and took tobacco, and made no more
of death than if he had been to take a journey ; and he left a great
impression on the minds of those that beheld him."
* Rushworth, i. 9.
f This passage forms part of the account of Raleigh's last hours, furnished by his
biographer Caley.

102 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
Another eye-witness of the last moments of this injured man has stated,
that every one " who saw Sir Walter Raleigh die, said it was impos
sible for any man to show more decorum, courage, or piety ; and that
his death would do more hurt to the faction that sought it, than ever his
life could have done *."
On the scaffold Raleigh was sustained by the same elevated courage.
In a dispassionate address he vindicated or explained several points of
his conduct, especially in the enterprize for which, though not ostensibly,
he was now called to suffer. Of the matters charged upon him in 1603
he said nothing, as every one knew that the real causes of his death
were of a much more recent date. Among the friends who attended
him were the Earls of Pembroke, Arundel, and Northampton. Having
taken leave of these persons he inquired for the axe, and feeling its keen
edge, observed with a smile, " It is a sharp medicine, but a cure for all
ills." He then laid his head upon the block, his last words being those
addressed to the dilatory headsman, as he said " Why dost thou not
strike ? Strike, man !" His body continued unmoved, while, with two
blows, the head was separated from it.
Raleigh had reached the sixty-sixth year of his age. He left one son,
who some years after was presented at court, but the conscience of the
king described him as the ghost of his father, and the young man passed
his time on the continent until the next reign.
The " declaration " with respect to the case of Raleigh, subsequently
issued with the sanction of the monarch, was altogether an ex-parte
statement, put forth solely with a view to lessen the odium which the
transaction had brought on the sovereign and on all concerned in it.
Nothing had occurred to show that Raleigh would have conducted him
self otherwise than peaceably, had the Spaniards abstained from
becoming the aggressors. What folloAved was no matter for punishment.
That he sincerely hoped to obtain access to the precious metals in
Guiana is highly probable ; and his policy appears to have been, to leave
this country in circumstances, that, in case of failure on that point, it
might be in his power to give existence to an English settlement in
those regions. This he was entitled to do by the right of discovery — the
Spaniards of St. Thomas being in fact the real intruders — unless we
admit a special authority in the pope to cede the known or the unknown
territories of the earth to his spiritual children at pleasure t<
* Criminal Trials, i. 511 — from a letter in the State Paper Office.
t Hume's elaborate defence of the conduct of James in this disgraceful trans
action is founded on the allegations of the declaration referred to, which the his
torian represents as a document of " undoubted credit," and as " subscribed by six
privy councillors." Upon inquiry, however, it appears that no one of the privy
council signed this paper, nor is there any evidence that it obtained their sanction.
The declaration is preserved in the Harleian Miscellany, vol. iii. n. 2, and consists of
nothing more than an argument artfully managed in favour of the king, and which
was published by royal authority. Concerning the general character of such docu
ments, see pp. 48, 49, note.

A. D. 1618.] JAMES I. 103
On the whole we must place the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh
among the many occurrences in the reign of James the First, which at
tach so much disgrace to the character of that monarch, and render the
period during which he swayed the sceptre of England the most disho
nourable in its history. No one can pretend, with any ingenuousness,
that Raleigh Avas brought to the scaffold on account of the charges said
to have been proved against him in 1603, or in consequence of the ac
cusations, still more vague and contemptible, which were preferred against
him in 1 618. He was feared and hated by the King of Spain, and for that
cause he was put to death. This, as we have seen, was admitted by the
minister of the English monarch, Avho pleaded it as a merit in his mas
ter, that he had deprived himself of as useful a man as served any prince
in Christendom, and one whose preservation would have been highly
acceptable to his subjects, simply as a means of perpetuating his friend
ship with the King of Spain. Fifteen years had passed since the verdict
now to be enforced against Raleigh wa3 pronounced, and nothing but a
sense of its gross injustice had prevented its being acted upon before. And
what is remarkable, that verdict referred to alleged acts of collusion and
friendly dealings with Spain, while the execution of the sentence to which
it exposed the accused party was now called for on the pretence of an
act of hostility against that country. Raleigh indeed is not the first Eng
lish subject whose life must be regarded as sacrificed to political objects ;
but in his case there was a surrender of the sword of English justice into
¦the hands of a foreign prince, which, in its meanness and pusillanimity,
was without precedent. There was enough assuredly in these proceedings
to warrant the language of Mr. Justice Gawdy, when affirming that " the
justice of England had never been so degraded and injured as by the
condemnation of Sir Walter Raleigh *."
From the death of Raleigh, the most unpopular event in the reign of
James I., we may turn to the policy of this monarch with (jov.ernment
regard to Ireland, the part of his conduct in which there is of James in
most to approve, though not so much perhaps as is some- ^re'and'
times represented. Until the accession of Elizabeth, the wars between
the natives of Ireland and the English, had resulted altogether from
a desire of ascendency on the one side, and from a love of independence
on the other. But under the last Tudor sovereign this struggle became
one of religion as well as of general freedom. The pope had been long
acknowledged by the chiefs and vassals of Ireland as lord paramount of
that kingdom, with respect both to its spiritual and temporal affairs.
But Elizabeth, who sought to impose the protestant faith on that tributary
* Criminal Trials, i. 519, 520. In 1620 one Roger North and others contemplated
a settlement in the part of Guiana bordering on the Amazon river, and obtained a
charter of incorporation for the purpose. But James, again influenced by the fear of
Spain, revoked the commission ; and as North still prosecuted his object, a procla
mation was issued, calling upon all persons to treat the adventurer and his followers
as culprits, and to bring them to justice. Anderson's Hist, Commerce, ii. 5.

04 HISTOE,T OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIH.
country, was a princess whom the papal power had excommunicated.
To retain the Irish catholics in any semblance of allegiance to a sove
reign so circumstanced, must naturally have required the utmost watch
fulness and vigour.
On the accession of James, the minds of the people had become
State of the somewhat familiar with the notion that civil obedience
Irish Catho- might be a duty, even though the sceptre should be swayed
11CS" by a heretic ; and the new monarch, moreover, against whom
no sentence of deposition or excommunication had gone forth, Avas a
descendant, through the line of Fergus, from the ancient kings of
Erin. ri
During the reign of Elizabeth, the laws against the Catholic worship
had been of necessity but very partially enforced ; nor was it without
considerable policy and spirit that Mountjoy, the lord deputy, suc
ceeded in crushing the beginning of violent measures in its favour, on
the death of that princess. There were weekly fines that might he
imposed on all who failed to attend the Protestant worship on the
Lord's day. And there was an oath recognizing the king as supreme in
all matters ecclesiastical as well as civil, that might be tended before
any person could hold the office of magistrate, sue out the livery of his
lands, plead at the bar, or acquire literary honours. But these oppressive
statutes belonged to a rude system of government, which left the
execution of them to be regulated by circumstances, and more com
monly by the temper or caprice of individuals. This, as we have seen,
was the case, in a great degree, with such enactments in England, but
it was much more so in Ireland.
This practical lenity of the English government taught the Catholics
of Ireland to petition the new monarch for a toleration of their worship,
and they were much surprised on hearing that the king had described
their customs as idolatrous, and contrary to his conscience ; and that
four of their deputies were sent to the Tower, that they might learn to
be less presumptuous. A similar fate awaited Sir Patrick Barnewell,
who, a little later, appeared in the same character, deprecating the
severities introduced during the alarm which followed the detection of
the Gunpowder Conspiracy. But James was an unwilling actor in
these proceedings, and soon issued his " commission of graces," which,
by mitigating the previous severities, served to lessen the feeling of dis
content. These graces were meant to prepare the way for some important
Great im- changes in the laAvs of Ireland, with a view to their nearer
provement in assimilation to those of England. Almost the only penalty
soectine attached to offences by the customs of that island, consisted
offences and in mulcts or fines, regulated by the supposed nature of the
property. offence, and the station of the offender. Even the mur
derer might secure himself by means of these pecuniary compensations.

A.D. 1618.] JAMES I. 105
In the distribution of property, the usage known by the name of gavel
kind prevailed, which required that at the death of a parent his sub
stance should be divided in equal portions among the male children of
his sept or family, whether legitimate or not. It also vested the chief
with so much power of re-distribution with respect to the possessions of
families on other deaths, that all individual property in the soil was
destroyed, each man being left to no better motive in labouring to im
prove his lands or buildings than what arose from a regard to his clan,
scarcely anything being really at his own disposal. This pernicious
custom was connected with a kindred usage known by the name of
Tanistry, according to which the Irish chieftains exacted a sort of
revenue from the members of their clan in the shape of produce, called
casherings, sessings, rents'of butter and oatmeal, and the like, the pro
portions of Avhich were determined much more by the power or pleasure
of the chieftain or landlord than by any known law. James abolished
these rude customs, and introduced laws which connected more adequate
penalties with offences, which empowered the possessors of property to
dispose of it more according to the usage of England, and substituted a
fixed payment in rent in the place of the irregular exactions of the
Tanists. In this manner vice was more Effectively checked ; the in
fluence of the chiefs and the ties of clanship were broken ; while each
man experienced the stimulus to exertion which can only result from
a consciousness of being secured in possession of its legitimate fruits.
That these measures did not remove all the old evils of Ireland, and that
they produced others before unknown, is but too certain ; the benefits,
however, which resulted from them were many and considerable, and
much credit is due to the intelligence and feeling in which they origin
ated*. Another project which occupied the attention of the monarch was the
colonization of Ulster, a large province, nearly the whole
of which, in consequence of the attainder of certain rebel Ulster tlon °f
lords, had fallen to the crown. The lands were accord
ingly divided into lots of a thousand, fifteen hundred, and two thousand
acres each. The larger lots were disposed of to such settlers as came
from England or Scotland, and who were persons of capital ; the smaller
were open to be possessed by them or by the natives. But it was so
ordered that the hills and fastnesses should be secured to the neAv
colonists, the natives being situated in the plains. By this means the
most turbulent province in Ireland was converted into the most peace
ful and prosperous, and made to operate as a permanent check on the
tendencies to disorder through a considerable portion of the kingdom f.
The success of this experiment induced James to attempt extending
* Sir John Davis's Discovery, 166—278.
t Davis, 280. Desirata curiosa Hiberniae. Address, ii. 290.

106 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX,
Evils attend- '* to otner provinces. But these subsequent measures fell
ing subsequent into the hands of a rapacious and unprincipled agency,
proceedings. an(j prove(j injurious rather than beneficial. Inquiries
were instituted as to the titles on which lands were held, which served
to show that if the forms of law were insisted on, the possessions of the
most established natives of Ireland would be found, with very rare ex
ceptions, to be wholly at the mercy of the crown. The immediate effect
of this discovery was, a demand that these defective titles should be
surrendered in order that the occupiers might receive more valid docu
ments in their room ; and it was enjoined by the king that this import
ant exchange should not be allowed to occasion a loss to any proprietor
of more than one fourth of the lands so possessed. But many were
sufferers much beyond that extent, even to their last acre ; and so nu
merous, and often so flagrant, were the cases of hardship, that the benefit
conferred on Ireland by what had been done in Ulster was perhaps more
than outweighed in that bitter sense of wrong which was spread over a
much wider space by these later innovations. Between the strangers
thus introduced and the older inhabitants, nothing better was to be ex
pected than the feud and bloodshed which followed*.

Chapter IX.
Ecclesiastical 'affairs — Proceedings in Scotland — Small progress of episcopacy-
James visits that kingdom — impolicy of his proceedings — England — the Ca
tholics — the Puritans — primacy of Bancroft — attack on the High Commission
Court — nature of that court — Progress of separation from the Established
Church — tivo classes of Puritans — their doctrine respecting the province of the
magistrate in regard to religion — Primacy of Abbots-New translation of the
Scriptures — Legate and Wightman put to death on a charge of heresy — The
Book of Sports — Passive obedience — Calvinistic tenets discountenance dat court
— Rise of the doctrinal Puritans — Origin of the Brownists — their notions con
cerning ecclesiastical polity — the Church of England — their loyalty — Notice of
Robert BroAvn — Number of the Brownists — their confession of faith — they
become exiles — Origin of the Independents.
Our last notice of ecclesiastical affairs related to the proceedings imme
diately consequent on the debate at Hampton Court, and on the dis
covery of the Gunpowder Conspiracy. It will now be proper to review
the state of religion, and of religions parties, from that period to the close
of the present reign.
* The reader may compare the account given of these transactions by Hume
with the more circumstantial one furnished by Dr. Lingard (ix. 187 — 212), and by
making some allowance fur the prejudices of both, he will probably arrive at the
substantial truth.

A.D. 1615.] JAMES I, 107
We have noticed the popular jealousy and the rude censures to which
James exposed himself in Scotland, partly by his ill- Ecclesiasti • 1 '
directed favouritism, and partly by his zeal in the cause of affairs in
episcopacy. As the effect of much artifice and violence, Scotland.
the monarch had succeeded in imposing a nominal order of bishops on
his reluctant subjects in that kingdom. In 1606 the thirteen ancient
bishoprics, which certain ministers had been selected to occupy, were
all endowed from the old church lands ; and, at the pleasure of the sove
reign, two courts of high commission were instituted, which vested the
new prelates with powers such as no popular legislature in England or
Scotland would have conferred on them. But to this period the Scottish
bishops owed their existence wholly to the civil power ; nor did they
receive their ordination as prelates until James had been seven years on
the English throne. Two years later the Scottish parliament was in
duced to pass enactments which declared the bishops of the church of
Scotland possessed of nearly the same powers with their brethren in the
church of England, and which in form gave to the crown the same
ecclesiastical supremacy in Scotland which it possessed in England.
But this progress of episcopalianism, and of encroachment on the
liberties of the Scottish kirk, was more apparent than real. gmau Bro
The measures which sanctioned these innovations had been of episcopacy
carried on in the face of loud opposition, and by means of ln Scotland-
every sort of menace and intrigue. The conduct of some of the leading
clergy in resisting them was such as to be pronounced treasonable, and
several escaped the doom of traitors only by submitting to banishment.
But what was branded by the law as treason, was lauded by the people
as the virtue of the confessor and the martyr, and the preaching and
public prayers of their ministers, which often contained pathetic allu
sions to the wrongs of their suffering brethren, served to augment the
general feeling of discontent.
It was not until 1616 that James paid his first visit to his native land
as king of England. Certain towns in Holland, which had
been long in the power of English garrisons as a security James-'i vlslt
•for large sums of money due from the States to Elizabeth,
were now given up, — a considerable payment, though much below the
amount for which the towns were pledged, being made to the English
monarch*. This seasonable aid enabled the king to satisfy some of the
more urgent of his creditors, and to accomplish his long-meditated pur
pose of making a progress into Scotland. Hitherto the work of eccle
siastical innovation in that kingdom had been carried on by the influence
and authority of the earl of Dunbar. James was not without hope that
his presence would suffice to complete the reformation of the kirk, now
so far advanced ; and the arts usual on such occasions were employed
to render the Scottish parliament subservient to his pleasure. But an
* Rymer, xiv. 783—787.

108 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
attempt to confer the power of legislating in ecclesiastical affairs on the
king assisted by certain clerical commissioners, called forth so for
midable a remonstrance, that James deemed it prudent to withdraw the
proposal, under the pretext, that small importance was to be. attached to
an act of parliament in favour of a right which every one must know
was inherent in his crown.
At a subsequent meeting of the clergy, the monarch directed his re
forming zeal to some matters of detail. It was required that the festi
vals of the church of England should be observed in the church, of
Scotland ; that the Eucharist should be received kneeling at an] altar,
and not sitting at a table ; that this sacrament, together with that of
baptism, should be administered, when death was expected, in private
houses ; and that the young should receive the benefit of confirmation
from the hands of the bishops. The clergy petitioned that these mat
ters should not be pressed until sanctioned by a general assembly ;
and James, having so referred them, with an understanding that they
were not to be opposed, returned to England. But when that assembly
met, the whole, with one partial exception only, were rejected. The
king was not a little indignant on finding himself thus over-reached;
but another assembly and another parliament were convened, and both
were so managed as to force upon a turbulent people a number of trivial
customs which they were almost unanimous in regarding as idolatrous
or superstitious*.
Through every step of this affair, in the parliament as well as in all
Impolicy of ^e general assemblies, says the apologist for the house of
the king's pro- Stuart, " the nation betrayed the utmost reluctance to all
ceedmgs with fj^gg innovations, and nothing but James's importunity
regard to re- ' ° r . J
ligion in and authority had extorted a seeming consent, which was
Scotland. belied by the inward sentiments of all ranks of people.
Even the few over whom religious prejudices were not prevalent, thought
national honour sacrificed by a servile imitation of the modes of worship
practised in England ; and every prudent man agreed in condemning
the measures of the king, who, by an ill-timed zeal for insignificant
ceremonies, had betrayed, though in an opposite manner, equal narrow
ness of mind with the persons whom he had treated with such contempt.
It was judged, that had not these dangerous humours been irritated by
opposition, had they been allowed peaceably to evaporate, they would at
last have subsided within the limits of law and civil authority; and
that, as all fanatical religions naturally circumscribe to very narrow
bounds the numbers and riches of the ecclesiastics, no sooner is their
fire spent, than they lose their credit over the people, and leave them
under the natural and beneficent influence of their civil and moral obli-
gationsf-" * Spotswood's Hist. 3375 et seq. Dalrymple,' i. 84—93. f Hume, vi. 90, 91.

A.D. 1615.] JAMES I. 109
In England, the three religious parties into which the kingdom Avas
divided under Elizabeth continued, the court and the hier- Ecc]es;astjcai
archy forming the most poAverful, but often perplexed to affairs in
the utmost as to the best mode of dealing with the Ca- England.
tholics on the one hand and the Puritans on the other.
The hostility with regard to the professors of the Catholic faith, which
the occurrences of the two last reigns had served to pro- „ , ,.
. , .,...,,., Catholics.
duce, was constantly manifesting itseit in the commons ;
and had the laws which obtained the sanction of that assembly been
generally and rigidly acted upon, persons professing any sort of alle
giance to the bishop of Rome must have ceased to be known in the
country. Instances of capital punishment were not wanting in the case
of priests, and many of the laity were justified in complaining of hard
treatment. But it is certain that a strict enforcement of these caution
ary regulations formed the exceptions rather than the rule. When the
alarm produced by Catesby's conspiracy had somewhat subsided, the
disposition which prevailed in the administration of these laws, not only
in the court but through the land, was to restrict them to such instances
of recusancy as were the most notorious, and considered the most dan
gerous. James confessed to his first parliament that his OAvn practice
in this respect had been to " lay on the reins," or to use " the'spur,"
as occasion required ; and so general was this policy, that to his second
parliament the king observed, " A lieutenant of mine in one county hath
informed me he could not procure three justices of the peace, except some
of his own friends and servants, that would assist him in due execution of
these laAvs*." Towards the close of this reign the projected Spanish match,
and the disasters which attended the efforts of the Protestant states in fa
vour of the palatinate, gave new strength to the popular apprehension
with regard to Popery, and occasioned its being frequently demanded that
the hopes and boldness of the English Catholics might be checked by
more vigorous conduct on the part of the government. But these com
plaints were so much matters of course 'as to be little] regarded. The
king heeded them not, expecting that his good brother of Spain would
be thereby rendered the more favourable to the proposed matrimonial
connexion ; and the people, on the other hand, uttered their discontent
the more vehemently, meaning that the sovereign should thereby per
ceive how far his subjects were from sympathizing with him in regard
to the intended alliance.
The controversy between the Puritans and the hierarchy not only
continued to exist, but became more formidable, the topics pr0gress of
of complaint being multiplied, as well as the number of the contro-
those who either secretly or openly were disposed to adopt thrpurUan6"
them. The conduct of James in appointing Bancroft, the and the court
most intolerant and secular churchman of the age, to the cierSY-
* Pari. Hist. i. 1150, 1375.

1 10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. lXy
see of Canterbury, tended to this result. The history and the writings
of that prelate had shown him to be a Protestant purely from circum-,
stances, and in relation to a few almost unimportant particulars, while
his political creed embraced some of the most servile doctrines ever
broached by a partisan of arbitrary power. The motives of James in.
this instance of preferment are thus touched upon by Sir John Harring
ton : — " His majesty had long since understood of his writing against
the Genevising and Scottising ministers ; and though some imagined he
had therein given the king some distaste, yet finding him, in the dis
putations at Hampton Court, both learned and stout, he did more and
more increase his liking to him ; so that, although in the common ru
mour, Toby Matthews, then bishop of Durham, was likest to have carried
that, yet his majesty in his learning knowing, and in his wisdom weigh
ing, that this same strict charge, pasce oves mei, feed my sheep, requires
as well a pastoral courage of driving in the stray sheep and driving out
the infectious, as of feeding the sound, made especial choice of the
bishop of London, as a man more exercised in affairs of the state. I
will add also my own conjecture out of some of his majesty's own
speeches, that in respect he was a single man, he supposed him the
fitter, according to Queen Elizabeth's principles of state *."
One effect of intrusting power to such men in such circumstances is
_, . to exasperate rather than convince the obnoxious parties :
The primacy * , . „ . *
of Bancroft. and another, which as commonly follows, is to produce a
sympathy with the sufferers in many dispassionate minds
that would otherwise have felt little interested about them. In this man
ner Bancroft increased the spirit of Puritanism, while he seemed to have
been in a great degree successful in opposing it, and taught many who
were not Puritans to look with favour on any course of affairs which
promised such persons a reasonable exemption from the injuries of which
they complained.
* Harrington's Nuga? Antiquae, i. 11, 12. The works of Bancroft which thns fa
voured his promotion, were his " Dangerous Positions and Proceedings published
and practiced within this Island of Britaine under Pretence of Reformation, and for
the Presbyterall Discipline," and his " Survey of the pretended Holy Discipline,
containing the beginnings, success, parts, proceedings, authority, and doctrine of it,
with some of the manifold and materiel repugnances, varieties, and uncertainties in
that behalf; faithfully gathered by way of Historical Narration out of the books
and writings of the principal favourers of that Platform." In the judgment of this
arbitrary primate the Scottish Reformers did more harm to their country within
thirty years than had been done to it by Popery for five hundred. Dangerous
Positions, p. 30. Queen Mary is described as "of nature aud disposition very mild
and pitiful ; and yet because she suffered such cruelty and superstition to be prac
tised and maintained in her days, you have heard what ivas resolved by Goodman,
Whitingham, Gilby, and the rest of the Genevans, against her ; which fact is a
matter that shuuld be Avell considered of, and in time provided for accordingly,
considering that these our home-bred sycophants, men of the Geneva mould, as
proud and presumptuous as any that ever lived, do charge the present state under
her majesty (Elizabeth) with such great impiety, corruption, idolatry, superstition,:
and barbarous persecution, which may touch her highness as nearly (by their doc
trine) for maintaining her present state, as Queen Mary was for defending of
Popery." Ibid. 63, 64. This passage presents a fair specimen of the mildness, can
dour, aud Protestant zeal of the new primate.

A.D.'1610.] JAMES I. Ill
Some judgment of the spirit which animated this favoured prelate
may be formed from his conduct towards a clergyman and Attack on the
a merchant of Yarmouth, and particularly towards the High Commis-
person who appeared as their advocate. It was ascer- slon Court-
tained that the clergyman and the merchant adverted to, had been pre
sent, after attending morning service at church, at a private service
conducted by a minister who had submitted to the loss of his living as
a nonconformist. Both were summoned to appear before the Court of
High Commission, by whose authority, after enduring much studied
annoyance, they were committed to prison, and denied the privilege of
bail. The prisoners, by securing their writ of habeas corpus, extorted
the justice of an open trial, when Nicholas Fuller, a bencher of Gray's
Inn, presented himself as their counsel. In his address, Fuller did not
hesitate to demand that the accused should be immediately discharged,
urging that the usage of the High Commission Court in fining and im
prisoning his majesty's subjects, and in administering the oath ex officio,
was chargeable with usurpation, and with acting contrary to the good laws
of the realm. Bancroft, who, according to an honest historian of these
times, was " driving on conformity very fiercely throughout all his pro
vince," was not a little indignant at the boldness of this " unexpected
rub*," and spared no pains in magnifying the importance of inflicting
a signal punishment on the man who had dared thus openly to impugn
the authority of a tribunal constituting the only means by which the
cause of the church could be sustained against the perverseness and
maliguity of its enemies. James concurred in these view^, and Fuller
was imprisoned. Much effort was made to procure his enlargement,
but care was taken that the noble-hearted sufferer should make no
second attack on the strong hold of the oppressor. The confinement of
Fuller ended only with his life f-
But the primate lived to find the question which Fuller had the bold
ness to move, discussed with equal freedom in the English parliament.
In the closing session of the first parliament under the
present monarch it was matter of loud complaint that the A' D'
prelates should have " deprived, disgraced, silenced, and imprisoned " so
many of the Puritan clergy, who were described as " God's messengers,"
and as eminent benefactors to their country. These measures were par
ticularly censured as taking place in contempt of the efforts made in
the lower house to prevent them, and as having respect to a conformity
which the legislature had never enjoined, and which could not in con
sequence be legally enforced. It was further stated, that much had been
done to limit and define the authority of the ecclesiastical commission
ers ; to put an end to the use of the oath ex officio ; to prevent the
intrusion of the churchman on the province of the magistrate ; to pro
vide especially that the canons made in the late convocation, or in any
* Fuller's Church Hist. 56. \ Neal, ii 39.

112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. IX".
other, should not be suffered to impair the civil rights of Englishmen ;
and to affirm most explicitly that the validity of all such regulations must
be derived from the authority of parliament. All these wholesome mea
sures, however, the court had resisted, and by so doing had justified the
parliament in its reluctance to part with the money of the subject.
As the commons assumed this bolder tone of remonstrance, James
became more extravagant in his assertions as to the power of kings ; and
his conduct led to the framing of a protest, in which the commons
claimed to be free and undisturbed in their deliberations to whatever
matter of grievance or question of prerogative those deliberations might
relate. This protest was accompanied by a petition, which stated that,
" Whereas divers learned and painful pastors that have long travailed
in the work of the ministry, with good fruit and blessing of their labour,
who were ever ready to perform the legal subscription, appointed by the
thirteenth of Elizabeth, which only concerneth the confession of the true
Christian faith, and doctrine af the sacraments, yet, for not conforming
in some points of ceremonies, and for refusing subscription to the late
canons, have been removed from their ecclesiastical livings, being their
freehold, and debarred from all means of maintenance, to the great grief
of your majesty's subjects, seeing the whole people that want instruction
lie open to the seducement of Popish and ill-affected persons ; we there
fore most humbly beseech your majesty that such deprived and silenced
ministers may, by licence or permission of the reverend fathers in their
several dioceses, instruct] and preach unto their people in such parishes
and places where they may be employed, so as they apply themselves in
their ministry to wholesome doctrine and exhortation, and live quietly
and peaceably in their calling, and shall not, by writing or preaching,
impugn things established by public authority."
The commissioners further complained of pluralities and non-resi
dence, and that " excommunication was exercised upon an incredible
number of the common people, by the subordinate officers of the eccle
siastical jurisdiction, for small causes, and by the sole information of a
base apparitor, so that the poor were driven to excessive expenses for
matters of small moment, while the rich escaped by a commutation of
penance." These particulars are enumerated .as calling for speedy
reformation *.
But the complaints made by the members of this parliament with
respect to the practice of the High Commission Court be-
conftftution BP°ke their intelligence and love of justice more strongly
of the High than any other part of their conduct, and must have been
Commission regarded by the ruling clergy witn the greatest alarm.
The origin and nature of this court should be distinctly
understood. In the Act of Uniformity, passed on the accession of
Elizabeth, was the following clause : — " The queen and her successors
* Howell's State Trials, ii. 522—527. Neal, ii. 68—74.

A. D; 1610. JAMES I. 1 13
shall have power, by their letters patent under the great seal, to assign,
name, and authorise, as often as they shall think meet, and for as long
time as they shall please, persons, being natural-born subjects, to use,
occupy, and exercise, under her and them, all manner of jurisdiction,
privileges, and pre-eminences, touching any spiritual or ecclesiastical
jurisdiction vrithin the realms of England and Ireland, &c. ; to visit,
reform, redress, order, correct, and amend all errors, 'heresies, schisms,
abuses, contempts, offences, and enormities Avhatsoever. Provided that
they have no poAver to determine any thing to be heresy, but what has
been adjudged to be so by the authority of the canonical Scripture, or
by the first four general councils, or any of them, or by any other
general council wherein the same was declared heresy by the express
and plain words of canonical Scripture, or such as shall hereafter be
declared to be heresy by the high court of parliament with the assent
of the clergy in convocation*." It was further provided, " that the
queen's majesty, by advice of her ecclesiastical commissioners, or of her
metropolitan, may ordain and publish such ceremonies or rites as be
most for the advancement of God's glory and the edifying of the
church f."
On this authority Elizabeth instituted her Court of High Commission,
in which certain civil and ecclesiastical functionaries of her own nomi
nation were not only empowered to enforce the existing laws on the
subject of religion, but to assume on all occasions indirectly, and on
many occasions directly, a legislative character. It was left with these
commissioners to decide on all alleged errors and offences in ecclesias
tical matters; and if the power of interpreting the law must ahvays ap
proach very nearly to that of making it, such Avas particularly the case in
this instance, where the judges might extend their appeal beyond the sta
tutes of the realm, to the obscurities and subtleties of the ecclesiastical
canons. The judgment of any three commissioners sufficed; and in
the place of proceeding by witnesses in an open court, a power was as
sumed to oblige the accused to answer all questions that might be put to
him, however prejudicial to his defence. On his refusal to do this, and
to do it on oath, he exposed himself to imprisonment for contempt, while
the effect of his compliance was generally to convict himself. This was
the nature of the oath ex officio, so strenuously insisted on by one party,
and so indignantly reprobated by another during the whole period
through which the High Commission Court was allowed to exist. The
IaAV had provided that all ecclesiastical courts should be subject to pro
hibitions from the courts of Westminster, by which a cause might be at
any time withdraAvn from the cognizance of the ecclesiastical to that of
the civil judge, but the commissioners seldom allowed their proceedings
to be interrupted by these prohibitions. It is also to be particularly
* Neal, i.109. f Id. ibid., 113,

114 HISTORY. OF ENGLAND. [<JH. 1%,
remarked, that the act on which their authority was founded, large as were
the powers it conferred, gave no sanction to what became the frequent
practice of the commissioners — the adjudging men to fines, imprison
ments, and corporeal punishments, for mere nonconformity. Such per
sons might be suspended from their livings, and, after warning, deprived
of them ; but this was the severest penalty the law had allowed the
commissioners to inflict. It was natural, however, when the Court of
High Commission was made to embrace all the matters usually brought
within the cognizance of the bishops' courts, that its penalties and
methods of proceeding should become so far secular in their character
as to awaken the, jealousy of the courts of law. In these courts the
oath ex officio was declared to be against the law of nature and of
the land ; the imprisonments which took place by order of the com
missioners were also generally held to be contrary to law ; their right
to enact any thing beyond the nature of bye-laws was denied ; and while
some questioned their authority to impose fines of any sort, all were
agreed in reprobating the language which left the amount to be deter
mined by the pleasure of the judge rather than by the estate or ability
of the sufferer; nor were there wanting those who rejected the authority
of the court altogether, on the ground that supposing such acts to have
the sanction of the queen, it was not in the power of the sovereign to
delegate the supremacy of the crown in such a manner to others.
But notwithstanding these remonstrances on the part of lawyers, and
of the Puritans, the nonconforming clergy were exposed to much
annoyance and suffering, by the usurpations and activity of this court ;
and these evils, which continued to increase under Elizabeth, became
more than ever oppressive under her successor. The parliament of
1610 renewed the complaints which had often been made, and the com
mons sent the following bill no less than three several times to the
upper house. " Forasmuch as divers inconveniences have grown and
happened to your majesty's subjects of this realm of England, by the
multiplicity of canons, constitutions, and ordinances ecclesiastical, here
tofore made, whereof sundry, varying from the common laws and
statutes of this your highness's realm, have already grown, and are
likely daily to grow more grievous and burdensome to your majesty's
subjects, unless some restraint and provision be made to the contrary;
may it therefore please your most excellent majesty, the lords spiritual and
temporal, and the commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by
the authority of the same decree, that no canon, constitution, or ordi
nance ecclesiastical, heretofore made, constituted or ordained, shall be of
any force or effect, by any means whatsoever, to impeach or hurt any
person or persons, in his or their life, liberty, lands, or goods, until the
same be confirmed by act of parliament." All this Avas apparently
without effect. But in conclusion the house proceeded so far as to
pray, not only that the inquisitorial encroachments of this court might

115
A.D. 1610.] JAMES I. X1-H
be checked, but that the tribunal itself might be wholly abolished as " a
very great grievance*."
The small measure of success which seemed to be attendant on
these spirited efforts in the commons, and the persevering Progress of
t i i 4.1. separation
intolerance of the ruling churchmen, did not lessen the from the E„.
number or the disaffection of the Puritans. On the con- tablished
trary, the sympathy which existed in their favour became churc '
more widely diffused; and while such as had separated themselves
from'the established church became more satisfied as to the propriety
of their conduct in that particular, many who had hitherto regarded such
a course as involving the guilt of schism, began to view it as the path of
Christian liberty and duty. The separatists from the church of England
during this reign, who adopted the leading principles of the Brownists,
and gave rise to the sect afterwards so conspicuous under the name of
Independents, were accustomed to speak of the established church as a
mere creation of the civil power. They were no believers in the doctrine
held forth by their persecutors with respect to the nature of schism, and
as far as their own impressions were concerned, all the spiritual censures
of the hiererchy were as empty sounds f.
But the majority of the Puritans had not yet learned to deem them
selves secure against such anathemas. In their judgment ^e pur;tans
the doctrines and the sacraments of the church were apo- consist of two
stolic ; it was in her discipline and ceremonies only that °!^s at this
further reformation was needed. The doctrines and sacra-
* Dalrymple's Memorials, i. 24, 25. Bancroft watched these proceedings in the
commons with the closest attention, and laboured much to counteract them.
With this view he procured the payment of a subsidy voted some time since by the
Convocation, and the vote of a further supply from that quarter. To silence the
demands of the Puritans for a nearer equalization of livings, and on the subject of
pluralities and non-residence, the primate would have them reminded, that a more
legitimate exercise of their professed zeal for the good of the church would be in a
surrender of their own lay impropriations. Ibid., i. 18 — 27- The exiled Puritan,
Dr. Ames, makes repeated allusion in his " Fresh Suit against Ceremonies," to the
bold efforts of the commons during the session of 1610, in the cause of the proscribed
Puritans and of general liberty. He dwells especially on the illegality of depriving
the clergy on account of their nonconformity Avith respect to ceremonies which had
never obtained the sanction of parliament, c. x xi. Hume's account of this session
is, that " the commons contented themselves with remonstrating against the pro-,
ceedings of the High Commission Court." See p. 74-78 of this volume. Bancroft
devised a project at this juncture for the better maintenance of the clergy, which is
printed, from the copy in the State Paper Office, in the Biog. Britan., i. 468.
f Bacon ventured to address James in the following terms, on the necessity of
frequent ecclesiastical reforms : — " 1 Avould ask why the civil state should be purged
and restored by good and wholesome laws, made everv third or fourth year in par
liament assembled, devising remedies as fast as time breedeth nn\ehief, and contra-
riwise the ecclesiastical state should continue upon the dregs of time, and receive no
alteration now for these five and forty years and more ? 11 an) man shall object,
that, if the like intermission had been used in civil causes also, the error had not
been great, surely the wisdom of ihe kingdom hath been otherwise in experience for
three hundred years space, at least. But if it be said to me, that there is a difference
between civil causes and ecclesiastical, they may as well tell me that churches and
chapels need no reparation, though castles and houses do." Considerations
concerning the Pacification of the Church. Works, vi. 61—97.
i2

Il6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
ments of the church made her a true church, and made the act of
separation from her inseparable from the guilt of schism ; but this mate
rial fact did not release her members from their obligation to seek the
improvement of her discipline, and the exclusion of superstition from her
worship. There were others, however, even in this class of persons, to whom
the general reasoning of the separatists appeared much more sound, and
who, had the law permitted, would not have hesitated to establish sepa
rate congregations. These two parties constituted, in the language of
that age, the conforming and nonconforming Puritans ; and their disputes
with each other, which Avere sometimes conducted with' much warmth,
tended to enlarge their vieAvs, and to advance the great principles of reli
gious liberty, though their enemies saw nothing in them but a source of
weakness over which they never failed to rejoice.
The more moderate of these parties were accustomed to plead, that as
their complaints related to such things only as they deemed contrary to
the word of God, there was nothing in their conduct of the nature of
schism, or at variance with a due regard to the supremacy of the crown
in ecclesiastical affairs. They accordingly challenged their opponents to
public discussion on the points in debate, and even on the question
respecting the laAvfulness of imposing religious ceremonies as matters of
necessity in any case. But the court clergy, entrenched by means of the
royal inclination and prerogative, and by ecclesiastical usage, were not
disposed to place matters on such an issue. The clergy of several
counties, particularly of Cornwall, Devon, and Lincoln, presented peti
tions to the king, explaining the motives of their conduct in objecting to
the disputed ceremonies. The clergy of Lincolnshire commenced by
professing to acknowledge the authority of the sovereign as the head of
the church ; but they venture to state that there were injunctions with
which, though proceeding from his majesty in this character, their con
sciences would not alloAV them to comply. They make particular
mention of the lessons from the Apocrypha as said to be taken from
Holy Scripture, and as more numerous in proportion than those from the
canonical books ; and with respect to the reading lessons generally, they
complain that the selection was by no means the most judicious that
might be made, while the translation was such, that in the judgment of
many learned men it often obscured, and sometimes destroyed the mean
ing of the original. On the subject of ceremonies, they state it to be the
doctrine of the wisest men in ancient and modern times, that such as
tended to idolatry or superstition should be suppressed, and they professed
to see tendencies of this nature in the sign of the cross in baptism, the
practice of kneeling at the sacrament, the use of the surplice, and some
other matters. Many authorities are adduced in support of these state
ments, and the particulars enumerated are said to have occasioned much
grief and suffering; to the greater part of the preaching clergy through

A.D. 1610.] JAMES I. Ill
the kingdom. The petitioners conclude their notice of these proceedings
by observing, " God is the only appointer of his oavii Avorship, and con
demns all human inventions, so far forth as they are made parts of it.
Now all the ceremonies in question aTe thus imposed, for divine service
is not supposed to be rightly performed Avithout the surplice; nor bap
tism to be rightly administered without the cross ; nor the Lord's Sup
per, except to such as kneel; — and therefore they are unlawful."
Such were the opinions of the more moderate Puritans, between whom
and the court clergy a spirited controversy Avas maintained during this
reign. In practice both these parties were conformists, and the only-
means by which it was found possible to dislodge the conforming Puri
tans from their place in the church, was by requiring a neAV act of sub
scription to the lawfulness and expediency of the ceremonies which had
been the matters of debate. This demand was accordingly made, and
it led to a further secession from the church. The ministers who now
withdrew, and Avho did so with the greatest reluctance, were called the
brethren of the second separation *.
At the same time, the Puritans, who were described as of " the rigidest
sort," were not sIoav in publishing their opinions, and their arguments
in support of them. Bradshaw, one of their leaders, was the author of
a treatise on this controversy, of considerable historical value. It com
mences with asserting the sufficiency of scripture on all questions of
faith and Avorship, condemning all ceremonies in religion which were
not manifestly in accordance with the examples and spirit of the New
Testament, and especially such as tended to superstition and idolatry.
The second chapter inculcates that every assembly of Christians is a
church, and that all such assemblies are the equals of each other. It
also affirms the right of the people to choose their OAvn minister, and the
duty of the magistrate to see that they are not deprived of that right. It
next treats of " ministers of the word," describing the pastor of a
christian congregation as a functionary having in reality no superior;
as bound in his official exercises by the law of the New Testament only ,
and as free to decline any service not agreeable to that authoritv,
whether enjoined by the magistrate, the clergy, or the people. Elders
* The following passage will show the judgment of Bacon with regard to this
course of proceeding. " He seeketh not unity but division, who exacteth that in
words which men are content -to yield in action. And it is true there are some,
which as I am persuaded will not easily offend by inconformity, who notwith
standing make some conscience to subscribe ; for they knoAv this note of inconstancy
and defection from that which they have long held shall disable them to do that
good which otherwise they might do ; for such is the Aveakness of many, that their
ministry should be thereby discredited. As for the easy silencing of them, in such
great scarcity of preachers, that is to punish the people and not them."— Advertise
ment touching the Controversies of the Church. This profound observer adds in
connexion : — " I dislike that laws should not be continued, or disturbers be un
punished ; but laws are likened to the grape, that being too much pressed, yield
a hard and unwholesome wine. Of these things, I say, ' the Acrath of man worketh,
not the righteousness of God. — On the Pacification of the Church.

118 HISTORYTOF ENGLAND. [CH." IX
were to be chosen by the people from among themselves, to aid the
pastor in watching over the manners of the congregation, and in the
exercise of discipline ; and it was required that every minister should be
separated from all secular occupation, and be capable, not only of reading
publicly, but of preaching, and of leading the devotions of the people.
But while the exercise of discipline was thus placed in the hands of
the pastor and elders in every church, it was carefully provided that
they should not proceed against their brethren on the ground of mere
Suspicion, or uncertain rumour. The object in such cases was the
restoration of the delinquent, and that was to be accomplished by
tenderness rather than by authority. Should the offender continue
impenitent, and should the offence be such as to require it, the pastor
and the elders, with the consent of the congregation, were to exclude the'
disorderly person from their fellowship : beyond this they had no
power in any instance to proceed. Should the offender be a person of
high civil rank, his improper conduct with respect to religion was not to
prevent his receiving all the marks of respect due to his civil station;
the voluntary withdrawment of such a person from the communion
being sufficient to preclude all further proceeding. The oath ex officio;
the great instrument of discipline in the High Commission Court, is
described as " most damnable and tyrannous, against the very law of
nature, and devised by antichrist through the inspiration of the devil."
In the concluding chapter the author treats more fully of the topic
n ' fthe whi^h formed the great hinge of this controversy — the
Puritans re- authority of the magistrate in relation to the church. The
specting the kjng js said to have supreme jurisdiction over the churches
magistrate in in his dominions. With the sovereign it rested to ap-
regard to reli- point or remove all ecclesiastical personages above the
glon" rank of ordinary pastors. To oppose this regulation was
to deny the king's supremacy, and the same offence was said to be
involved in pleading for the toleration of the Catholics, so long as the
pontiff should be regarded by them as possessing an authority superior
to that of secular princes. But the marked limitation which always
accompanied these professions of dependence on the power of the crown
in religious matters was generally fatal to them, for in the issue it
appeared that the obedience promised in this respect was an obedience
limited to such things as should be enjoined " agreeably to the will of
God," and of the things which were of that nature each man claimed the
right to be sole judge in his own case. The enemies of the Puritans
Seized with eagerness on this exception, and failed not to describe the
submission thus limited as a matter to be determined by individual
caprice, rather than by the authority of the monarch.
It was with a view to roll away this reproach, and some others, that
these parties presented an address to the king, entitled " A Protestation
of the king's supremacy, made in the name of the afflicted ministers)

A.D. 1614.] JAMES I. 119
and opposed to the shameful calumniations of the prelates." But in
this document the same exception occurs with reBpect to things contrary
to the word of God : and so long as this remained, the more distinct and
emphatic statements of this paper relative to the power of the crown in
some other respects would be of small avail. The intelligence, and the
spirit of freedom which distinguished this party, are indicated in some
measure in the following passage with which this address concluded.
" Therefore all that we crave of his majesty and the state is, that, with
his and their permission, it may be lawful for us to worship God
according to his revealed will ; and that we may not be forced to the
observance of any human rites and ceremonies. We are ready to make
an open confession of our faith and form of worship, and desire that we
may not be obliged to worship God in corners, but that our religious and
civil behaviour may be open to the observation and censure of the civil
government, to whom we profess all due subjection. So long as it shall
please the king and parliament to maintain the hierarchy or prelacy in
this kingdom, we are content that they enjoy their state and dignity ; and
we will live as brethren among those ministers that acknowledge spiritual
homage to their spiritual lordships, paying to them all temporal duties of
tithes, &c, and joining with them in the service and Avorship of God, so
far as we may without our own particular communicating in those human
traditions which we judge unlawful. Only we pray that the prelates
and their ecclesiastical officers may not be our judges, but that we may
both of us stand at the bar of the civil magistrate ; and that if we shall
be Openly vilified and slandered, it may be lawful for us, without fear of
punishment, to justify ourselves to the world ; and then we shall think
our lives, and all that we have, too little to spend in the service of our
king and country *."
The court clergy acted on the assumption, that the only form of
worship which should be tolerated in the land was that which had been
provided, and provided even to its minutest particular, by royal autho
rity. The great body of the Puritans demurred to the necessity of
this scrupulous uniformity, and pleaded earnestly that certain things
not affecting the essentials of religion, or of religious worship, should
be left to the option of every minister and congregation, or, in the
language of the time, should be left indifferent f. This is the course
* Neal, ii. 47—62.
t The early opponents of the Puritans were content to describe the disputed
ceremonies as " indifferent ;" their successors learnt to insist on them as necessary.
On the other hand, the older Puritans limited their complaints to matters of
ceremony, but their successors became in many instances foes to the hierarchy, and
strenuous advocates for a Presbyterian platform of polity, so that there came to be
" almost as great a distance of either side from itself, as was at first of one from the
other." Bacon, who describes and laments this progress of the dispute, adds con
cerning such things as the cap and surplice : — " Since they be in their nature
ihdifFerent, and yet by some held Superstitious, it seems to fall within the apostles'
rule, Avhich is, that the stronger do descend and yield to the Aveaker; only thft

120 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX..
which Lord Bacon had ventured to recommend to the monarch some
years since. " It is good," said that far-sighted man, " that we return,
to the ancient bounds of unity in the Church of God, which was one
faith, one baptism, and not one hierarchy, one discipline; and that
we observe the league of Christians, as it is penned by our Saviour ;
which is in substance of doctrine this : — ' He that is not with us is
against us ;' but in things indifferent and only of circumstance, ' He
that is not against us is with us*,"
But such Avas not the judgment of the monarch, nor of Bancroft,
who in these things was his principal adviser. During the first seven
years of this reign, the sovereign and the primate spared no exercise
of their power in the hope of completing the destruction of Puritanism.
At the close of this period, however, the advocates of the Puritans in
parliament had increased in numbers and boldness ; and the evil of non
conformity, which it was found expedient to tolerate in some instances
within the pale of the church, manifested itself more frequently beyond
that circle, and in a temper increasingly hostile to any compromise with
the pretensions of the hierarchy.
It was at this juncture that the life of Bancroft, which had been one
Death of Ban- °^ ceaseless activity, reached its close. Abbot, bishop of
croft ; primacy London, became his successor, through the influence of the
of Abbot. eari 0f punbar -with the sovereign. The ruling passion
of Bancroft had always been a hatred of the Puritans : his successor saw
more to fear in the Catholics than in any class of Protestants. Clarendon
describes the death of the former as " never enough to be lamented," and
complains of the latter, that " he inquired but little after the strict observ-
difference is, that it may be materially said, that the rule holdeth between private
man and private man, but not between the conscience of a private man and the
order of a church. But yet, since the question at this time is of a toleration, not by
connivance, Avhich may encourage disobedience, but by laAv, Avhich may give a
liberty ; it is good again to be advised whether it fall not within the equity of the
former rule. For, howsoever politic considerations and reasons of state mayrequire
uniformity, yet Christian and divine grounds look chiefly upon unity of faith." — On
the Pacification of the Church.
* Works, viii. 69. This writer has shown, in the papers more than once cited by
us, that the opinions and conduct of the Puritans were most grossly misrepresented
by their opponents, and that there were occasions in which the zeal of the latter
was more conspicuous than their candour or their accuracy. Strype will not be
suspected of any want of friendliness toward the ruling clergy — but the following
description of the state of the Anglican church under Elizabeth is from the pen of
that writer. " The churchmen neaped up many benefices upon themselves, and
resided upon none, neglecting their cures ; many of them alienated their lands,
made unreasonable leases, and Avaste of their woods ; granted reversions and
advoAvsons to their wives and children, or to others for their use." As the effect,
" Churches ran greatly into dilapidations and decays, and were kept nasty and
filthy, and indecent for God's Avorship. Among the laity there was little devotion.
The Lord's day was greatly profaned, and little observed. The common prayers not
frequented. Some lived without any service of God at all. Many were Heathens
and Atheists. Which things made good men fear some sad judgments impending
over the nation." Life of Parker, p. 395. It Avas this state of things which taught
Bacon, and the wise men about Elizabeth, so much to deplore the silencing of the
Puritan ministers, who Avere almost the only preachers.

A.D. 1610.] JAMES I. 121
ance of the discipline of the Church, or conformity to the articles or canons
established ; but if men prudently forbore a reviling at the hierarchy and
ecclesiastical government, they were secure from any inquisition from
him, and Avere equally preferred*." The new primate did not hesitate to
license the Avritings of the Puritans within certain limits, and there were
individuals of that party Avho were admitted openly to his friendship.
The effect of this altered policy is said to have been the increase of puri-
tanism— it is certain that from this timeitwas less amatter of concealment.-f-
It Avas in the year of Abbot's elevation to the see of Canterbury that
our present translation of the scriptures was completed. .iNsw trsnslfir
This important undertaking OAved its origin to the com- tion of the
plaints of the Puritans at Hampton Court. During five Scriptures
years, more than forty of the most learned men in both uni- comp e e '
versities were employed in this labour, and the result was not only an
improved rendering of many passages, but the production of an acknow
ledged standard of the English tongue, which may be said to have formed
an epoch in the history of our language and literature. Care was no
doubt exercised that the version of certain texts should be as little popish
or puritanical as possible, and the lights of biblical criticism in general
were then comparatively feAv and imperfect, but Avhatever it was reason
able to expect from the character and circumstances of the translators
was accomplished J.
While the sacred scriptures were thus placed in the hands of the people,
there were not wanting instances in which the exercise of Legate and
private judgment as to their meaning was visited with severe Wightman
... . , , , t. i i T , put to death on
penalties, even with death. Bartholomew Legate and Ed- a charge of
Avard Wightman were committed to the flames, the former heresy.
in London, the latter in Lichfield, as persons who denied the trinity,
and held other heterodox opinions. Legate was a man of capacity, and
of a blameless life ; Wightman Avas a visionary, who should have been
placed in the hands of a keeper rather than in those of an executioner.
* Hist. i. 156, 157.
t Ibid, i, 167. Among the puritan clergy forced into exile by the intolerance
of Bancroft Avas Dr. Ames, Avho Avas chosen by the English Church at the Hague
as their pastor. James instructed Abbot to Avrite to the English ambassador re
quiring that so obnoxious a person should be removed, "as privately and cleanly" as
might be from a station of so much importance. The new primate states that the
manner in Avhich Ames had expressed himself concerning the state and church of
England would have brought upon him " exemplary punishment" in this country
It was ascertained also that there were certain preachers of the same class in Zealand'
respecting whom a similar " remedy" was to be provided in convenient time. Win
wood in. 340. This is not the only document showing that the tolerant spirit of
Abbot with regard to the Puritans was by no means so considerable as the language
of Clarendon, and of nonconformist writers, would lead us to suppose. Dr Amis
Avas educated at Cambridge, and died professor of divinity in the university of Fra-
neker. His works show him to have been a man of sound understanding and high
moral culture, and a scholar of various and even elegant attainments.
t Collier's Ecqles. Hist. ii. 692-694 Lewis's History of Translation, passim.

122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IXf.
The people manifested their sympathy with the sufferers, and the govern
ment perceiving that such barbarous exhibitions could be no longer politic,
abstained from executing a similar sentence passed on two other persons
charged with similar offences. It was not, however, until after the
Restoration that the law which doomed heretics to be burnt was erased
from our statute-book*.
From this period the conduct of the government in relation to the
Church presents little worthy of notice, except the proclamation of the
monarch as to the observance of the Lord's day ; and the ecclesiastical
regulations subsequently issued with respect to the tenets of Arminius
and the king's prerogative.
The puritan clergy, and such of the magistrates as were attached to
The Book of their doctrine, had employed themselves for some time in
Sports. enforcing a more religious observance of the sabbath. Their
success over a great part of the kingdom was such as to attract the notice
of the court ; and on the pretence that the Catholics had taken occasion
from such conduct to censure the reformed faith as being gloomy and
unsocial ; and that the people might not be deprived of their proper season
for recreation, James announced by proclamation, that when divine service
had closed, persons should not " be disturbed, letted, or dis-
ay ' ' couraged from any lawful recreations, such as dancing,
either of men or women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any such
harmless recreations, nor having of May games, Whitsun-ales, or morris-
dances, or setting up of Maypoles, or other sports therewith used, so as
the same may be had in due and convenient time, without impediment or
let of divine service ; and that women should have leave to carry rushes
to the church, for the decorating of it according to old custom."
These sports are enumerated as lawful ; — among the unlawful were
bear-baiting and bull-baiting, and interludes and bowling are noticed as
to be at no time the exercise of " the meanest sort." No man was to be
admitted to these sports in the evening, who had not attended the whole
service at his parish church in the morning. The effect of this royal
licence was to render the king still more unpopular, and to extend and
embitter the existing dissensions on the matters of religion generallyj-.
* A True Relation, &c. at the end of Truth brought to Light. The memorable John
Hales of Eton, in a sermon delivered at St. Paul's cross during this reign, observed,
" I could wish that it might be said of the Church, as was sometimes observed of
Augustus, — He had been angry with, and severely punished many of his kin, but he
could never endure to cut any of them off by death." And he adds — " The crown of
martyrdom sets not only on the head of those who have lost their lives, rather than
they would cease to profess the name of Christ, but on the head of every one who
suffers for a good conscience". — Works, i. 71, 98.
+ Collier, Eccles. Hist.ii. 7H-712. So far were the gloomy excesses, astheywere
called, of the Puritans from being lessened by this proceeding, that in the parliament
assembled two years later, a member who presumed to vindicate these sabbath sports
was expelled the lower house, his offence being described as " exorbitant and unpa
ralleled." The lords did not sympathize with the commons on this matter, and pro-

a", d. 1622.] james i. 123
The same may be said of those new ecclesiastical regulations to Avhich
reference has been made. A puritan divine had ventured Passive obedi-
to affirm before the university of Oxford, that resistance to ence inculcated
a sovereign should not be indiscriminately branded as ne- si^ of Oxford
cessarily unlawful, particularly if the poAver of the monarch and by the
should be employed so as to endanger the property or the lng' '
lives of subjects, to deprive them of liberty of conscience, to lay on them
intolerable burdens, to oblige their assent to blasphemous opinions, or
their concurrence with idolatrous practices. These statements were pro
nounced highly dangerous, and the preacher was commanded to state on
what authority he had dared to give publicity to such tenets. His answer
was that such were the statements of the celebrated divine Pareus in his
commentary on the epistle to the Romans ; but that his chief authority
was derived from the conduct of the king of England himself, Avho had
not scrupled to aid the people of Rochelle in opposing the tyrannical
measures to which their prince would have subjected them. This attempt
of the preacher to vindicate himself, by an impeachment of the monarch,
was deemed an aggravation of his offence. He was accordingly thrown
into prison ; the commentary of Pareus was publicly burnt in London,
and Oxford ; and the University, in full convocation, vindicated its purity
by declaring it to be unlawful for subjects to take arms against their
prince under any pretence whatsoever. Every graduate was called upon
to swear assent to this doctrine, and not only so, but to swear that this
should be his politcal creed to the end of his days. By a royal edict,
preachersof every degree were interdicted from attempting " to declare,
limit, or set bounds to the prerogative, power, or jurisdiction of princes*."
In connexion with this article of instruction was another which betrayed
the entire change that a few years had produced in the „ , . . .
. , .. , „ ,. , . J , r . „ Calvimstic
mind ot tne Jinglisn monarch on some important topics of tenets discoun-
Christian theology. It now became manifest that James tenanced at
Was no longer a Calvinist, and the theological creed of the
Genevan reformer was, from this time, a mark of puritanism, hardly less
obnoxious to the court than the old objections with regard to discipline
and modes of worship.
¦ It is to this course of affairs that we must trace the rise of the party
bearing the name of doctrinal Puritans — men^who were pjse 0f tj,e
distinguished from the court clergy principally as being doctrinal
Calvinists. About three years since, the synod of Dort had Pumans'
p bsed that the day should not henceforth be called the sabbath, as among the ancient
Jews, but the Lord's . day .—Journals, Feb. 15, 16,1620. May 28, 1621. Kennet, 709.
The spirit of the Puritans in relation to this matter may have needed some correction
but the good resulting from.it was assuredly far greater than the evil, and there can
be but one opinion as to the manner of opposing it which their enemies were pleased
to adopt.
**Neal,u. 115—118.

124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
been convened, and James instructed his delegates in that assembly to
confirm its decrees in all points, as far as they were condemnatory of the
creed of Arminius. But zeal against the doctrine as well as the discipline
of Calvin now became an indispensable preliminary to preferment in the
Anglican church. It was this change which made way for the elevation
of such men as Neile and Laud.
It has been intimated that besides the Puritans, whose object was the
„ . . ,. „ reformation of the church, rather than separation from it.
Origin of the , ' * . *
Brownists. there Avere persons, both in this and the preceding reign,
who were opposed to the principles from which every state-
church must derive its existence. In fact, this extreme religious party,
as it was then considered, which became known during the reign of Eli
zabeth by the name of Brownists, had made its appearance so early as
the time of Edward VI., though we possess little information respecting
it until some twenty or thirty years later. It was not until toward the
middle of the reign of Elizabeth that the principles of these people be
came defined and understood*.
The leading doctrine of this sect was, that every properly-constituted
Their tenets church is a strictly voluntary association, instituted for
with regard to purely religious purposes, and regulated by laws and sane-
church polity. tiong ait0getner religious. Its members should be limited,
it was maintained, to persons making a credible profession of the christian
faith, while its proceedings, as being moral and religious only, should be
exempt from any control of the civil magistrate on the one hand, or of
the secular power committed to the ruling clergy on the other. To the
magistrate these persons professed to look for security from any civil
wrong on account of their religious opinions and practices, so long as
these were not maintained in a manner inconsistent with what was in
cumbent upon them with regard to civil society. From the bearer of the
civil sword they sought nothing beyond this amount of protection, and to
be freed from all subjection to the jurisdiction of the prelates was their
great solicitude. The persons who officiated as their teachers and pastors
were chosen from among themselves, as were the deacons or elders who
were intrusted with the management of the small pecuniary affairs of
their little commonwealth. They abandoned the use of forms of prayer.
Brotherly reproof, or exclusion from communion in the case of the irre
claimable, were their only church censures. The sacred scriptures were
their sufficient rule of faith or practice, and they professed themselves ali
ways ready to show that their peculiarities were those which had distin
guished the early disciples of the gospel, that they were adapted to every
conceivable state of the church on earth, and sanctioned in all material
points by the recorded example of inspired men, by their direct statements,
or by the manifest genius of Christianity.
?Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches, vol. i. passim, and Neal, i. passim, ¦

A. D. 1622.] JAMES I. 125
Such were the general principles of the BroAvnists — principles which
taught them to affirm, that the connexion of the ecclesias- Their „,,;„;„„
tical hierarchy Avith the state, and the many laws and respecting the
usages which cave to it so much of a secular character, were Church of
,, . _.,... , England.
contrary to holy scripture. But in describing the esta
blished church as removed in many respects from the standard of a pure
Christianity, these injured sectaries were far from meaning to say — as
their enemies Avere pleased to represent — that the members of that church
were not to be regarded as Christians*.
With this charge of uncharitableness, that of disloyalty Avas commonly
associated, and on aground partaking of the same disinge- _,, . . .
nuousness. This latter charge, hoAvever, was one frequently
preferred in these times, not only against the Catholics, and against the
sectaries, but against every class of Puritans; the occasion of Avhich was,
that both Elizabeth and James regarded the ecclesiastical power of the
croAvn as the most important branch of their authority — and both accord
ingly were used to insist on obedience to their ecclesiastical regulations,
no less than to the statutes of the realm ; the man who should refuse to
acknowledge the king as the head of the church being in truth as much
a traitor as the man who would depose him from the sovereignty of the
state. But to this ecclesiastical treason, if we may use the expression,
the tenets of all the parties now mentioned constantly led them, for a
principle of divided allegiance had its place in them all. Each- party in
its own form and measure gave " to Cajsar the things that are Csesar's,
and to God the things that are God's;" obeying the king in civil mat
ters, but having their own views as to the extent in which his authority
should be acknowledged with respect to matters of religion. The Catholic
spoke of a power distinct from that of the monarch, and superior to it,
as residing in the pontiff, or in the Catholic church ; Avhile the Puiitan
and the Brownist recognized their supreme authority in the scriptures.
But this partial allegiance to the ecclesiastical sovereignty, which the
crown had assumed, was deemed as much a delinquency as a partial obe
dience to its civil authority would have been. It was, in the language of
James , to give the body only to the prince, the soul to another. It was
* On this point, one of their leaders in replying to an opponent says, " The next
calumny whereby Mr. Gifford endeavoureth to bring us into hatred with the whole
land is — that we condemn all the persons, both men and women of England, Avhich
are not of our mind, and pluck them up as tares. Wherein, methinks, he doth us
open Avrong, if not against his own conscience, yet against our express writings
everywhere. Have Ave not commended the faith of the English martyrs, and
deemed them saved, notwithstanding the false offices and great corruptions in the
Worship they exercised ; not doubting but the mercy of God, through their sincere
faith in Jesus Christ, extended and superabounded above all their sins seen and
unseen ? And what now should let that Ave should not have the same hope, when
the same precious faith in sincerity and simplicity is found." This is the language
of Barrow, who was so much a leader among these people that during the age
of Elizabeth they were called indifferently Barrowists and Brownists. — See An
Apologie and Defense of such true Christians as are commonly, but unjustly, called
Broivnists. 1604. p. 96.

126 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [OH.IX,
in vain therefore that the Brownist and the Puritan repeated their ela
borate professions of submission to the throne in all civil affairs ; — not to
profess the creed or to observe the discipline enjoined by the law, or, in
many cases, by the clergy, or the ecclesiastical commissioners only,
was to proclaim hostility to the most favoured branch of the king's
prerogative, and to incur the reproach of disloyalty. It is in this am
bition to rule the minds, no less than the bodies of men, that we have
the secret of the zeal so often manifested in favour of the most trivial
things connected with religion. It is not in reality about such things,
considered in themselves, that the solicitude evinced is cherished, but
about the right to give law on the momentous class of matters to which
such things belong.
On this subject, a clear view of which is strictly necessary to a just
conception of English history during this period, the Brownists, writing
from their place of exile in the Netherlands, express themselves in terms
the most distinct. But their professions were of small effect in lessening
their sufferings ; and the facts just now adverted to make us acquainted
with the circumstances and feelings which led to their being treated with
so much severity *-
. The small religious societies who separated themselves from the
established church in the reign of Mary, and during the
Notice of eari„ part 0f tjje rej„n 0f Elizabeth, appear to have
RobertBrown. . J * . , , . ° ,. , . . Ti
existed without bearing any peculiar designation. It was
in 1580 that the zeal of Robert Brown served to place him so promi
nently in connexion with these separatists, as to confer on them the
name by which they were generally known for some time afterwards.
Brown was descended from an old and respectable family in Rutland
shire, and was nearly related to Cecil, the lord treasurer. In Cambridge,
where he received his education, he became popular as a preacher, and
still more so in Norwich, to which place he removed in 1 581. Here his
invectives against the established church made it expedient that he
should consult his safety by leaving the country. In Zealand, his place
of exile, where he not only obtained disciples, but formed them into.
a church, BroAvn published a treatise on Reformation, which called
upon the dissatisfied religionists of England to act on their own prin-
* " First," they say, " we desire thee, good reader, to understand and mind that
we have not in any dislike of the civil estate in that commonwealth England, which
we much like and love, separated ourselves from that church. Neither have we
shaken off our allegiance and dutiful obedience to our sovereign princess Elizabeth!
her honourable counsellors, and other magistrates set over us, but have always, and
still do reverence, love, and obey them every one in the Lord, opposing ourselves
against all enemies foreign ur domestic, against nil invasions, insurrections, treasons,
or conspiracies, by whomsoever intended against her majesty and the state, and are
ready to adventure our lives in their defence, if need require. K either have our
greatest adversaries ever been able to attaint us of the least disloyalty in this regard.
And although hoav we be exiled, yet do we daily pray, and will, for the preservation;
peace, and prosperity of her majesty and tall her dominions." Apologie and De
fense. Pref. vii.

A.D. 1622.] JAMES I. 127
ciples, without waiting for any sanction from the magistrate. In 1585
the new apostle resumed his labours in this country, and his zeal lasted
until 1590, when he accepted a living, and spent the remaining forty
years of his life in contempt and disgrace. With all his zeal it is very
doubtful whether he ever possessed any true feeling of religion, and the
separatists with whom he connected himself learnt to protest against
being called by his name; their enemies however, from whom they received
it, persisted in the use of it, and evidently for the purpose of identifying
the jfollies and the vices of the individual with the community so
designated *.
Several leaders of this sect were put to death as traitors, purely
on account of their opposition to the ecclesiastical supre
macy of the crown, and many died in prisons ; but in Nurnber 0f
.-„„. . , .. , , . ln the Brownists.
1592 it was supposed, that it search were made, it would
be found that the land contained not less than twenty thousand men,
exclusive of their families, who had embraced these doctrines. From
this period, to the close of Elizabeth's reign, concealment or exile
afforded the only means of safety to these persons ; and it is to the zeal
and learning of the exiles in 1596 that we are indebted for that con-r
fession of their faith which presents the best exposition of Their confes-
their doctrine, and the best defence of their conduct. " It slon °.f fiutn —
, „, . . . ,, , ,, . and vindica-
may seem strange to thee, Christian reader, say they, "that tion of their
any of the English nation should be forced to forsake their conduct.
native country, and live in exile, for the truth of the Gospel, especially
in these days when the Gospel seems to have free passage, and to flou
rish in that land. And for this cause has our exile been hardly thought
of by many, and evil spoken of by some, who know not, as it seems,
either the true state of the church of England, or our causes of forsaking
or separating from the same ; but hearing this sect, as they call it, to be
every where spoken against, have, without further search, accounted and
divulged us as heretics, or schismatics at the least. Yea, some, and
such as least might, have sought the increase of our afflictions, even
here, both secretly and openly. This hath Satan added unto all our
former sorrows, envying that we should have rest in any part of the
inhabited world ; and though we could, for our parts, well have borne
this rebuke of Christ in silence, and have left our cause to him who
judgeth justly all the children of men, yet for the manifestation and
clearing of the truth of God from reproach, and for the bringing of
others, together with ourselves, to the knowledge and fellowship of the
Gospel, we have thought it needful, and our duty, to make known to the
world our unfeigned faith in God, and loyal obedience toward our prince,
and all governors set over us in the Lord, together with the reason of our
leaving the ministry, worship, and church of England."
* Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches, i. 14 — 16. Life of Ainsworth pre
fixed to his two Treatises. Ed. 1789.

128 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
It Avas further stated, that so far from allowing trivial things to pro
duce their separation from the English church, it was to the prin
ciples on which that church was founded that their objections referred*.
Complaint is next made that the prayer-book should have been so
little different from the mass-book ; that the greater part of the paro
chial clergy Avere so scandalously incompetent both as teachers and
examples to the people ; and that good men were obliged to attend their
parish church whatever might be the character of its minister, and
to receive the sacrament from his hands at least tAvice a year on pain of
excommunication and imprisonments. " Thus thou seest briefly, good
Christian reader, the things which we mislike in the Church of
England, for which we have separated ourselves as God commandeth.
To all these, if Ave Avere among them, should we be forced to submit our
bodies and souls, or else suffer violence at the hands of the prelates,
and end our lives by a violent death, or by the miseries of imprisonment,
as many of our brethren before us have done. Hoav many souls have
perished in their prisons through miserable usage ; how many have
been put to death ; and how many banished, though we could to their
eternal infamy relate to all the world, yet will Ave not blaze abroad their
acts, (for we take no delight in laying open their shame,) but mourn for
them in secret, committing our cause to God that judgeth justly, knovv-
ing that he which maketh inquisition for blood remembereth it, and will
not forget the complaint of the poor. And thou, Christian reader,
vouchsafe to remember before God in thy prayers such as yet remain in
* " First," they observe, " in the planting and constituting of that church, at
the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, they received at once, as members, the
whole land, which then generally stood for the most part professed Papists, Avho
had revolted from the profession which they made in the days of king EdAvard, of
happy memory, and shed the blood of many Christian martyrs in the days of queen
Mary. The people, yet standing in this sinful state, in idolatry, blindness, super
stition, and all manner of wickedness, without any professed repentance, and with
out the means thereof, viz. the preaching of the word going before, Avere by the
force and authority of law compelled and together received into the bosom and body
of the church ; their seed baptized, themselves compelled to take the Lord's Supper,
having this ministry and service which they now use set over them, and ever since
they and their seed remain in this state, being all but one bodv, commonly called
the church of England. There are none exempt or excluded, be they never so pro
fane or wretched. Now let the law of God be looked into, and it will be found that
such persons are not fit stones for the Lord's spiritual house ; no meet members for
Christ's glorious body. None of years may be received into the church without pro
fessed faith, repentance, and submission unto the Gospel of Christ and his heavenly
ordinances. Neither may any continue therein longer than they bring forth the
fruits of faith, Avalking as becoming the Gospel of Christ. Christ Jesus hath called
and severed his servants out of and from the world. How then should this confused
aud mixed people be esteemed the orderly gathered, truly planted, and rightly con
stituted church of God ?
" Secondly, as they have received the whole route of the Popish multitude, with
out any distinction, for members of their church, so have they set over them, as
reason was, the same Popish clergy and prelacy Avhich they received from the Romish
apostacy, and Avhich is this day to be found in Popish churches, — these have both
ecclesiastical and civil authority to reign as princes in the church, and live as lords
in the commonAvealth, to punish, imprison, and persecute, even to death, all that
dare but once mutter against their unlaAvful proceedings."

A. D. 1620.] JAMES I. 129
bonds or in prison amongst them for the testimony of Jesus, enduring a
hard fight of afflictions, and, haA'ing the sentence of death in themselves,
are like, if the Lord send not unexpected deliverance, there to end their
days. Concerning ourselves, who through the mercy of God have found
a° place of rest in this land, for which we are always and every where
humbly thankful, we desire thy charitable and Christian opinion of us,
and holy prayers unto God for us, whose kingdom we seek, whose ordi
nances we desire to establish and obey, protesting, with good consciences,
that it is the truth of his Gospel only for which Ave strive against those
cursed relics of Antichristian apostasy unto which we dare in no wise
submit ourselves — no not for a moment. For if it be not lawful for
Christians at this day to retain the ceremonies of Moses with the
Gospel, as the passover, circumcision, the priesthood and sacrifices,
which yet were once commanded by God himself, hoAV can we think it
tolerable to observe the odious ceremonies of Antichrist, or submit our
selves to his laws, priesthood, hierarchy, and traditions, which the Lord
never allowed, which never entered into his heart— yea, AA'hich he hath
so severely forbidden ?"
These extracts will not be. deemed uninstructive if it be borne in
mind that the reasoning and opinions which they exhibit are in sub
stance those of the principal sects during the time of the civil war and
the commonAvealth, and of the greater portion of dissenters from our
Established Church to the present day. These passages are also
valuable as affording just views of the peculiarities of a people con
cerning whom little is recorded by our historians, and who, while they
were to exert a powerful influence on the complexion of English history
in the next age, have been subject to every sort of misrepresentation.
Religious sects have often made their appearance and passed away with
out producing any impression on their own or future times. But such
was not the case with these parties. ItAvas in 1598 that they first pub
lished this " Defence," and it was republished in 1604 in a translation
from its original Latin, and addressed to the divines of Oxford and
Cambridge, in answer to some recent censures made public by that body.
It is a document which in itself is sufficient to show that the people
whose vieAvs it represents were by no means so unlettered as they are
often said to have been. Ainsworth and Canne — names still honoured
by biblical students — were among their instructors.
Most of these exiles fixed their residence, during the early part of the
reign of James, in Amsterdam. Here, they were weak- 0 , ,
° ... J Some of the
ened by divisions. In the year 1609 another Church was exiled Brown-
formed at Leyden by the labours of Mr. John Robinson, "ts transport
a clergyman who, after resigning a benefice near Yarmouth, America.
and exercising his ministry in secret for some years in that ad. 1620.
city and its neighbourhood, found himself compelled to abandon his
country. Robinson had been pastor of the Church at Leyden tAvelve
K

130 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. - tCH- lX-
years, when a great part of his flock resolved on transporting themselves
to English America, in the hope of giving perpetuity to their principles in
that country, and of forming an asylum there to which the persecuted in
England might at any time escape. Two vessels were procured to bear
the exiles and their stores to the place of their destination, and some
English merchants became adventurers in the project. The new colo
nists amounted to about one hundred and twenty persons, and after
receiving much valuable advice, and the tenderest expressions of regard
from the lips of their pastor, and having spent a whole night in prayer,
they committed themselves to their voyage. Robinson, and such of the
Church as remained, knelt on the beach, and, as their former com
panions passed over the distant waters, commended them, with a fervour
which such circumstances only could have produced, to Him who in his
time will " execute righteousness and judgment for all that are op
pressed." Robinson died in 1626, in the fiftieth year of his age. He was a man
of solid learning, of excellent judgment, and, though a
I 'deDendents Sreat sufferer from persecution, which not unfrequently
gives a turbulence and severity to the best regulated
minds, he lived and died beloved as much for his amiableness, as he was
respected for his integrity. Some of the most learned men in the
university of Leyden received him to their friendship, and appeared,
with many of the Dutch clergy, as attendants at his funeral *.

* In his parting address to those who became pilgrim-fathers in the New World,
this excellent man lamented that Protestants in general so little understood their
principles, the Lutherans halting with Luther, and the Calvinists with Calvin.
" This," he proceeds to say, " is a misery much to be lamented, for though they
were burning and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not into the
whole counsel of God, but were they noAV living would be as willing to embrace
farther light as that which they first received. I beseech you remember it is an
article of your Church covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever truth shall
be made known to you from the written word of God. But I must herewithal exhort
you to take care what you receive as truth ; for it is not possible the Christian
world should come so lately out of such thick Antichristian darkness, and that
perfection of knowledge should break forth at once." Neal, ii. 111. This complete
independence of authority may be safely trusted when accompanied with so much
good sense and reflexion. It is to be regretted that there Avere instances in which
the settlers in the NeAv World failed to imbibe the whole of this spirit ; but when
some exceptions are made, the candid mind will see a picture of no ordinary interest
in the history of these devout colonists during some forty or fifty years from the
earliest emigration. " The circumstances of the settlement," says an American
writer, " were favourable to the growth of piety. The voyages of the emigrants
Avere conducted essentially as religious expeditions. Remarkable deliverances were
often experienced. A solemn and inward sense of a protecting Providence Avas a
striking characteristic of the fathers. When they landed on these shores, the lone
liness which they felt, the longing for the 'loved and left behind,' to which some
of them were not strangers, the landing on an unknoAvn continent three thousand
miles from home, the artificial and the real terrors of savage life by which they
were surrounded, the threatened withdrawment of chartered rights by the parent
government — all these things tended to develope a solemn and peculiar piety. Like
the outcast primitive Christians, the sense of danger made them cling to their own
families, and churches, and God " American Biblical Repository, No. XIX. 21 }.

A.D. 1616.] JAMES I. 131
Such was the character of the man to whom the Independents of a
later period were accustomed to look as to their father : — but it Avas his
disciple Mr. Henry Jacob who gave existence to the first church of this
description in England. This was in the year 1616. In that year the
persons forming this society ventured to petition the King for a toleration
of their Avorship, and a document was published containing a statement
and defence of their principles ; but from this period to the commence
ment of the civil wars, these professors were indebted for their safety to
the secrecy of their movements and to the unsettled nature of public
affairs *.

Chapter X.
Rivalry of Coke and Bacon — Case of Peacham, of Owen, and in the Court of Chan
cery — Dispute concerning proceedings in the King's Bench — Coke suspended
from his office — Fall of Bacon — Parliament of 1621 — Case of the Elector Pala
tine — Conduct and Opinions of the king in regard to him — Proceedings in Par
liament — Question of the Imprisonment of Members — and of Monopolies —
Impeachment of Mompesson and Mitchell — Conduct of Buckingham with regard
to Yelverton, and the Earls of Dorset and Southampton — Question of imposing
Taxes without consent of Parliament — Parliament adjourned — Great excite
ment — Parliament reassembled — Dispute between James and the Commons
respecting the Privileges of Parliament — Protest of the Commons on that sub
ject — Parliament dissolved — Object of the king in such proceedings — Imprison
ment of Members — Popular discontents.
Before proceeding to the history of the parliament assembled in 1621,
it will be proper to direct our attention to the character ^ivalrv of
and labours of Bacon and Coke — the lives of these dis- Coke and
tinguished men being intimately connected with the des- Bacon-
tiny of their country. James conferred the office of attorney-general
on Sir Francis Bacon, and that of chief justice on Sir Edward Coke ;
and it soon became manifest that these persons were the rivals of each
other. Coke was a lawyer, and nothing more, but a lawyer whose
erudition, energy, and patriotism soon raised him to the head of his
profession, and long sustained him there. The genius of Bacon was
successfully directed to the one object which formed the exclusive
matter of attention with his rival, but his mind embraced the vast
circle of general learning, and while altogether unequalled in that spirit
of philosophy which he brought to the several departments of general
knowledge, he possessed an urbanity, and a courtliness of temper and
* Neal's Hist, of New England, vbi supra. Hist, of the Puritans, ii. 110—112,
K2

132 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [di. X.
address, which gave him a great adA'antage over the chief justice,
Avhose conduct, both as a laAvyer and a senator, and in public and
private life, was rather characterized as lofty and unbending. But
while the more penetrating and comprehensive intellect was on the side
of Bacon, there was in Coke a more steady adherence to conventional
justice, and his general conduct, during the more advanced period of his
life, must be allowed to bespeak a more generous regard to the honour
and welfare of his country. There was scarcely any sort of abasement
in the Avay to promotion in public life to which the former could not
descend, but this is much more than can be affirmed of the latter.
Bacon no doubt possessed the disposition to serve his country and
mankind, but, unhappily, his selfish passions were too frequently the
strongest. Instances there may have been in which this was the case
with his rival, but these, upon the whole, were the exceptions, not the
rule. Among Bacon's papers we have one which gives an account of the
manner in which the enmity between himself and Coke had, upon one
remarkable occasion, broken forth. The dispute arose in the Court of
Exchequer, and Avas carried on before the strangers and others who
Avere present. " Mr. Attorney kindled and said, ' Mr. Bacon, if you
have any wrath against me, pluck it out; for it will do you more hurt
than all the teeth in your head will do you good.' I answered coldly in
these very Avords : ' Mr. Attorney, I Tespect you ; I fear you not ; and
the less you speak of your OAvn greatness the more I will think of it.'
He replied, ' I think scorn to stand upon terms of greatness towards you
who are less than little; less than the least;' and other such strange
light terms he gave me, with that insulting which cannot be expressed.
HereAvith stirred, yet I said no more than this : ' Mr. Attorney, do not
depress me so far ; for I have been your better, and may be again when
it please the queen.' With this, he spake neither I nor himself could
tell what, as if he had been attorney-general ; and in the end bade me
not meddle with the queen's business but with mine own, and that I
was unsworn, &c. I told him, ' Sworn or unsworn was all one to an
honest man, and that I ever set my service first and myself second, and
wished to God that he would do the like.' Then he said, ' It Avere good
to clap a cap. utlagatum upon my back.' To which I only said he could
not, and that he Avas at fault, for he hunted upon an old scent. He
gave me a number of disgraceful words besides, Avhich I answered with
silence, and shoAving that I Avas not moved with them*."
This violent altercation is in part explained by the circumstance, that
the declining health of the lord chancellor Ellsmere for some time past
had made it almost certain that his seat would soon be vacant ; and to
become his successor, which had been an object of ambition with Coke,
had also been the anxious hope of Bacon, On the death of Ellsmere,
* Works, vij. 338, 339,

A.D. 1614.] JAMES I. 133
the scale of court favour turned in favour of Bacon. Why this prefer
ence was shown it is not difficult to discover. The new chancellor had
sought his elevation by the usual arts of courtly servility, and might
well be regarded by the king and the court as little likely to oppose
himself to their wishes. Coke, on the other hand, had frequently acted
with a degree of rough independence, and in instances which had proved
very unacceptable to the king.
On the abrupt dissolution of the last parliament, the government, as
matter of necessity, directed its attention to a number of expedients for
raising money. One of these schemes Avas a benevolence, which was to
be extended from the court and the nobility, to the gentry, and to all
persons of considerable substance through the kingdom. Coke described
the project as illegal, and though aftenvards he was induced to concur in
a different opinion, all men regarded his first decision as properly his own ;
and his first judgment being much talked about, it was thought to have
operated not a little to the injury of a proceeding on which the king and
his ministers had thrown themselves as their principal resource. This
attempt to raise money Avithout consent of parliament, — a policy which
Coke in his later and better days again opposed, — was resisted and cen
sured at this time by Mr. Oliver St. John, whose patriotic conduct exposed
him to a sentence in the Star-chamber, which required him to pay a fine
of 5000/.* But, notwithstanding such examples, the voluntary contri
butions from the country proved to be very small on this occasion, and
it was not unnatural that the enemies of the chief justice should impute
much of this failure to his conduct.
Connected with the vexation arising from this source was the resent
ment of the court on account of the decision of the chief
justice in the case of Peacham, a Puritan minister whom J^irh '
the king was desirous should be convicted of treason. A
manuscript sermon was found in the study of this clergyman containing
some severe censures on the court and the government. It did not
appear that this sermon had been preached, or that it was intended to
be preached, and it was not possible to convert the mere possession of
such a document into an act of treason. But it Avas resolved that every
attempt should be made to ascertain whether that act had not been
connected with others, or with other parties, so as to furnish some more
adequate ground for prosecution. Peacham was sixty years of age, and,
at the command of the sovereign, was examined " before torture, in
torture, between torture, and after torture," but all without effect.
James, 'having violated law and humanity in vain, now insisted that the
act of composing such a paper was itself treasonable. The chief justice
contended that this act could not amount to more than defamation, and
he moreover protested against the separate and verbal applications that
were made to the judges on the question, as being contrary to law,
* Howell's State Trials, ii. 889.

134 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
usage, and justice. The passions of the king became more than ever
influenced by this opposition. " If judges," he writes, " will needs
trust better the bare negative of an infamous delinquent without ex
pressing what other end he could probably have, than all probabilities,
or rather infallible consequences, upon the other part, caring more for
the safety of such a monster than the [preservation of a crown in all
ages following, whereupon depend the lives of many millions; happy
then are all desperate and seditious knaves, but the fortune of this crown
is more than miserable*." In the issue Peacham was condemned as a
traitor, but it was deemed less odious that he should be suffered to die
in prison, than that he should be brought to the scaffold f.
In the same year a prosecution was instituted against one Owen, a
Catholic, who was charged with having affirmed that a
ase,06,.wen' king, excommunicated by the pope, might be lawfully
deposed, and even put to death by any one. The de
fendant pleaded that in England this affirmation could not be inter
preted as treasonable, inasmuch as the king, though a Protestant, had
not been excommunicated, and could not in consequence be endangered
by it. Coke at first admitted the justice of this reasoning, and in so
doing placed himself again at issue both with the king and the judges J;
About the same time there were proceedings in the Court of Chancery,
Court of which became the occasion of further trouble to the chief
Chancery. justice. The province of that court was to decide on
1615. questions in relation to property which it was supposed
had not been sufficiently provided for in the courts of law. Hence it
acted more as an arbitrator than as a judge, and its forms of proceeding
were in a great measure undefined and peculiar ; but, as less bound by
statutes and precedents than the Tegular courts, there was more danger
of its jurisdiction being extended beyond wholesome limits, particularly
as the chancellor was a member of the government, and the government
was constantly manifesting a disposition toward encroachment. Coke had
always shown a great solicitude for the honour of the common law; and
in watching the proceedings of the Court of Chancery, and endeavouring
to keep them within narrow bounds, he was acting consistently with
those principles by which his general conduct was known to have been
long regulated. It happened at this juncture that a judgment of the
King's Bench was questioned in the Court of Chancery as having been
obtained by fraud, and the party was required to answer certain questions
on oath, according to the course of the Chancery. Coke maintained that
this proceeding was a violation of the statute of premunire, which espe
cially prohibited the removal of causes from the king's court to any
other. It would have been difficult perhaps to have sustained this alle-
* Dalrymple's Memorials, i. 54 — 65.
t State Trials, ii. 870—879. Bacon's Works, v. 336, vi. 78, 87.
| State Trials, ii. 879—893.

A.D. 1615.] JAMES I. 135
gation, as the prohibition of the statute adverted to had respect to the
spiritual courts only, and especially to that of the pontiff. But Avhatever
may have been the merit of this dispute, James, acting on his usual
policy, approved the conduct of the chancellor, and Coke was made sen
sible that he had given still further umbrage to the sovereign.
Another proceeding in the court of King's Bench led to a similar
result. This Avas a cause wherein the validity of a par-
• , ,., * i-i i -i ii ¦ Dispute be-
ticular grant of a benefice to a bishop to be held in com- tween Coke
mendam, that is, along with his bishopric, came into and the sove-
question ; and the counsel at the bar, besides the special io'a proceeding
points of the case, had disputed the king's general pre- in the King's
rogative of making such a grant. The king, on receiving Bcncn- I015,
information of this, signified to the chief justice, through the attorney-
general, that he would not have the court proceed to judgment till he had
spoken on this matter. Coke requested that similar letters might be
written to the judges of all the courts. This having been done, the
judges assembled, and by a letter subscribed with all their hands, certified
his majesty that they were bound by their oaths not to regard any letters
that might come to them contrary to law, but to do the law notwith
standing; that they held with one consent the attorney-general's letter to
be contrary to law, and such as they could not yield to, and that they
had proceeded according to their oath to argue the cause.
James, who was at Newmarket, returned answer that he would not
suffer his prerogative to be injured under pretexts having respect to the
interest of private persons. Already he had observed it to be more
boldly dealt with in Westminster Hall than in the reigns of preceding
princes, and it was his determination that this popular and unlawful
liberty should no longer be tolerated. As to their oath not to delay
justice, it could never have been meant to prejudice the king's prero
gative, supposing that, in virtue of his absolute power and authority
royal, he should command them to forbear meddling any further in a
cause till they should hear his pleasure from his own mouth. On his
return to London, the twelves judges were made to appear before him in
the council-chamber, where he set forth their misconduct, both in regard
to what they had done and the tone of their letter. His majesty ob
served that the judges ought to check those advocates who presume to
argue against his prerogative, the one part of which was ordinary, aud
had relation to his private interest, which might be and was every day
disputed in Westminster Hall ; the other was of a higher nature, re
ferring to his' supreme power and sovereignty, which ought not to be
disputed or handled in vulgar argument. Of late, however, the courts
of common law were grown so transcendent, that they not only meddled
with the king's prerogative, but had encroached on all other courts of
justice. James then commented on the form of the letter, as highly in-

136 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. . [CH. X.
decent, since it merely certified him as to what they had done, instead of
submitting to his princely judgment what it might seem to them proper
to do*.
This manifest solicitude to place all considerations either of usage or
law in subordination to the will of the sovereign, and this inclination to
boast of an imperial poAver, as the means of escape from certain unwel
come restraints imposed by the law of the land, did not tend to weaken
the convictions of the chief justice as to the propriety of the course which
had been adopted. The judges indeed were awed into subjection by this
harangue from the monarch, and on their knees solicited the pardon of
their temerity ; but Coke remained unmoved, and to an ensnaring ques
tion which he Avas required to ansAver, he deigned no other reply than
that when such a point came regularly before him he would be found to
decide upon it as became him.
The effect of this uncourtly method of procedure at length was, that
the chief justice was suspended from his office, while
Coke is sus- . . . . , . a , . ,
pended from certain parties, chiefly his personal enemies, were em-
his office as ployed in collecting matters of accusation against him.
1616 justlce' James was unwilling to remove so able a functionary, and
Coke appears to have looked on such an extremity as
improbable; but his unyielding spirit led to this result some months
after his suspension. By one of his descendants, his disgrace at this
time is attributed mainly to the enmity of Buckingham, and it is added
that " Sir Edward might have been restored again to his place if he
would have given a bribe, but he answered, * a judge ought not to take
a bribe, nor give a bribe f-'"
One cause of this disagreement between the chief justice and Buck
ingham appears to have been the refusal of Coke to give
place in the ^is daughter in marriage to Sir John Villiers, the brother
privy council, of the favourite ; but the marriage took place soon after
1 fil 7 •
this time, and was followed by the restoration of Coke to a
seat in the privy council. Bacon, who had spared no pains to complete
the overthrow of his rival, did not see him thus rising again without
alarm. All that he could do to prevent the marriage adverted to he
attempted, but the effect was to bring on himself the most humiliating
rebukes both from the favourite and the king.
Coke, it will appear, had to render important services to his country
in this and the next reign ; but the career of Baqon was
Fall of Bacon, approaching its close. When the parliament of 1621
assembled, his corrupt practices as chancellor formed the
topic of general complaint, and led to his impeachment. No one
doubted the venality of his predecessors, but it was contended that such
conduct did not cease to be vicious from being of long standing, and
* Hallam, i. 373 — 375. f Coke's Detection, i. ubi supra.

A.D. 1621.] JAMES I. 137
that it afforded small extenuation in the case of an offender whose
delinquencies far exceeded all precedent. The substance of the charges
preferred against him appears to have been unansAverable ; and Bacon
learnt in his sick chamber that the sentence of his judges excluded him
for ever from obtaining a seat in parliament, from holding any office in
the state, and from approaching the court ; and that, beside leaving him
prisoner at the king's will, it imposed on him the fine of 40,000^. The
fine was remitted, as was the penalty of imprisonment; but the few
remaining years in the life of this extraordinary man were spent in that
seclusion from public life which such a genius might have been expected
to enjoy as a luxury, but which in fact he never ceased to deplore as
one of the heaviest afflictions. The time which was not wasted in pre
senting his entreaties and adulations in all directions whence the least
aid towards his return to the prominence and pageantry of office might
be obtained, was given to his studies, but often reluctantly given, even
Avhile he was in a great degree conscious that his philosophic labours
would form the groundwork of an intellectual empire that must confer
a splendid immortality on his name ; — so certain is it that happiness de
pends much less on intellectual superiority as compared with other men,
than on the due subordination of the passions*
The parliament which connected this disgrace with the later years of
Bacon was assembled in 1621, when, if we except the
two months through which the parliament of 1614 was f^'8"^1^
allowed to exist, England had been more", than ten years
without witnessing any meeting of its great council. During this inter
val the pecuniary aid which should have been sought through the
medium of the representatives of the people, was derived principally
from forced loans, from arbitrary imposts on private persons, and from
sums extorted as the terms of granting the privilege of monopoly to
individuals or companies in almost every branch of trade. It was not
to be concealed that the next parliament, whenever it should be as
sembled, would probably institute some very unwelcome inquiries with
regard to the extent and the legality of such proceedings ; but at this
juncture there were circumstances which seemed to promise a greater
degree of forbearance with respect to such questions in the new house
of commons than had been usual in such assemblies.
The Elector Palatine, son-in-law of the king, had been induced by
the Protestants of Bohemia to accept the sovereignty of rjaseoftrie
that kingdom, to the exclusion of the Catholic pretender, Elector Pala-
Ferdinand of Grantz. But the new monarch, instead of tme-
* Lords' Journals, 53—106. Pari. Hist. 1208—1241. See the letters of Bacon
in the sixth volume of his works. It is not true, as is frequently stated, that Bacon
Avas greatly influenced by the mere love of money ; he never accumulated any thing
considerable, and, though his will might speak to the contrary, it is certain that he
died poor. It Avas Avith the station and influence of office more than with its mere
gains that the mind of Bacon Avas so unhappily fascinated. Rushworth, i. 28 — 31,

138 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XV
finding himself strong enough to retain his dangerous elevation against
the confederate Catholic powers, was soon deprived of his patrimonial
possessions and driven into exile. At this period, the balance of power
between the Catholic and Protestant confederacies in Germany, formed
a material feature in the system of European policy; Spain, France,
England, and the northern kingdoms, being all accustomed to look on
the religious and political contests of Germany as intimately connected
with their own immediate interests. It was natural, therefore, that the
triumph of the Catholic states adverted to should occasion much alarm
among the more zealous Protestants in this country, particularly the
Puritans ; and it was readily believed, nor altogether without reason,
that the popular pretext of a war against Popery would tend to con
ciliate the disaffected, and might be made to produce liberal supplies,
a good part of which at least might be employed~to meet those pressing
demands upon the government which had arisen from causes of another
description *-
James shared but imperfectly in these fond expectations of his ad-
0 . . , visers, and as little in the general sympathy with regard to
ponduct of his unfortunate relative; and he did not hesitate to express
James respect- himself as seeing much more to fear than to hope from the
convening of a parliament even under such circumstances.
He protested against the conduct of the catholic confederates in seizing
the patrimonial territories of the elector as being a punishment of the
children for the sin of the parent. But, on the other hand, his conscience
did not permit that he should afford any sanction with respect to the sud
den transfer of a crown from one brow to another by the popular voice,
as in this case, on any conceivable ground; — the duty of subjects to their
sovereigns being so sacred, that should a king become Turk or Infidel,
the allegiance of a people ought not to be at all affected even by so extreme
an occurrence. Added to which, the king of Spain had proffered to me
diate an agreement between the elector and hi3 opponents, and this was
a manner of proceeding much more suited to the temper of James than
going to war, aiid one which comported better with the prosecution of his
favourite object — the marriage of the prince of Wales with the Infantaf.
But this was trusting to hollow ground. The embassy of the viscount
Dowcastle cost the king of England more than seventy thousand pounds,
and was rendered wholly fruitless by the treachery of his good allies J.
Nothing in fact could be more contradictory and pitiable than the con
duct of James on this harassing subject, his notions in regard to the
inalienable power of kings, his habitual fear of every thing which looked
like the approach of war, and his particular solicitude to avoid all appear-
* Rushworth, i. 5 — 55. Bacon, v. 531, 532.
f Such is the manner in Avhich James regarded this affair, according to a letter pf
Buckingham's to Gondomar. Raumer, ii. 236, 237. Rushworth, i. 16.
X Raumer, ii, 237.

A. D. 1621.] JAMES I. 139
ance of collision with Spain or Austria, all being opposed to his feelings
in favour of so near a branch of his family, and to the popular cry around
him in behalf of the unfortunate elector and the Protestant interest. It
is also well known, that the popularity of the Elector with the more sturdy
class of English Protestants, made him an object of some jealousy and
even of apprehension, both to the king and the prince of Wales. The ope
ration of all these causes on a mind the weakness and irregularities of
which were becoming daily more manifest, rendered the language and
conduct of James in relation to this affair, the topic of animadversion and
ridicule in every circle from the lowest to the highest.
The French ambassador, having heard much from the king on this sub
ject, thus writes : " On my asking him, after all these conversations, what
I therefore should write to the king of France, he answered, he had as
yet come to no fixed resolution, but would inform me thereof as soon as
he should have formed such. We might do the same on our side. I see
this much before me, that he will not engage in the matter, unless forced
by the most urgent necessity *." A few months later, the same func
tionary reports, " The Baron Aune, the Elector Palatine's envoy, was, in
his first audience of the king, received not even as the envoy of the most
inconsiderable prince, but only as a private person. On the other hand,
he has been since treated at Newmarket with such honours, that greater
could not be shown to the first prince of France sent in the name of
your majesty. From such instances you may judge of the understand
ing of the king, who imagines, because he is twenty leagues away from
home, that no one knows of his goings on f."
The words exchanged hoAvever, even on that occasion, were not such
as these appearances would have led one to expect. The first which
the king addressed to his son-in-law's representative were, " Mordieu !
can you show me a good ground for the Palatine's invasion of the pro
perty of another ? The Baron answered : there was here no question of
an invasion, but of a possession, which heaven had sent in a wonderful
manner, and the people had offered. So, (said the king, interrupting
him,) you are of opinion that subjects can dispossess their kings ? You
are come in good time to England to spread these principles among the
people, that my subjects may drive me away, and place another in my
room. The Baron replied : — The conditions are not similar, for you are
king by hereditary right, the king of Bohemia by the right of election.
If the states have thus chosen my master, I hold him for a legitimate
king, and not for an usurper. I also wonder that your majesty chooses
not to acknowledge him, and treat him as a king, as you have so acted
towards the King of Sweden, who is a mere usurper. Every thing,
moreover, which my master has done has been by your advice. King
James denied this with oaths and curses, and added, — I did not ac-
* Tillieres in Raumer, ii. 238. t Ibid. ii. 238, 239.

140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
knoAvledge the king of Sweden till all the princes of Christendom had
done so. He then turned to the Marquis of Buckingham and said,
If I consider the wise counsellors who are about my son-in-law, it is
not surprising that he commits so many impertinences."
" Soon after this, the king's indignation passed, and he caused fthe
answer of. Frederick to the accusations of the emperor to be laid before
him, of which some parts appeared to him valid, and others insufficient.
The baron is returned to London, where he holds constant counsels
with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward Wotton, and the Viscount
of Dowcastle,. They hope to obtain a declaration to his satisfaction*."
James rendered some service to the elector by suffering troops to
be raised, by encouraging a loan in the city, by pledging the croAvn
jewels, and by sending ambassadors in his favour to Turkey, Denmark,
and Poland, assuring those powers that " the Spanish alliance should
not prevent him from assisting the palatinate." All this, however, was
done as indirectly, and with as much secrecy as possible, from fear of
giving umbrage to Spain. But the Spanish ambassador, Gondomar,
was not a man to be deceived by any pretext to which the mind of
James could resort, and he made no secret of his dissatisfaction with the
course of affairs in this matter. Having obtained an audience on this
subject, the king accosted him before he had time to speak, saying,
" You have reason to write to your master that I am a traitor, a wicked
man without truth or faith, on account of the assistance extended to the
palatinate ; but I assure you that not I, but the traitors who surround
me, have done all this without my knowledge. Buckingham and the
Archbishop of Canterbury he described as principal delinquents in this
affair, and, calling the former into his presence, he said to him, — George,
why have you without my privity given a passport for money ? Be
cause, said Buckingham, you give me nothing. Upon these words,
the king seized him by the head, kissed him twice, and said, — Now you
may go. Hereupon he continued his conversation with Gondomar,
and said, among other matters, — The Palatine is a wicked man, an
usurper; I will in no manner stand by him, and it is much more fitting
that he, a young man, should suffer himself to be guided by an old king
like myself to a just act, the surrender of Bohemia, than that I should
be by him involved in a troublesome business. The confederate princes
implore my assistance ; I give them, however, my royal word of honour
that I will not bestow it, and request that you will write as much to
the king of Spain. And yet he has, in the terms of the Protestant
alliance, promised the direct contrary to Baron Aunet." While such
was the conduct of the English monarch, veiled by a disguise Avhich the
most distant inspection was sufficient to penetrate, it is hardly surprising
that " audacious language, offensive pictures, calumnious pamphlets,
* Tillieres in Raumer, ii. 239, 240. t Ibid. ii. 243, 245.

A, D. 1621.] JAMES I. 141
those usual forerunners of civil Avar, became common, and symptoms of
the bitter temper of men's minds*."
Such had been the conduct of the king on this subject, and such was
the state of popular feeling, when the defeat aud exile of the Elector
taught James to entertain the thought of assembling a parliament, in
the hope of negotiating in his favour with more efficiency. We have
already observed that James did not resort to this expedient without
some misgiving, a feeling which led him to repeat his former instruc
tions to the electors as to the best method of exercising their franchise.
According to the royal proclamation, the persons chosen were "not to
be noted for superstitious blindness one way, nor for turbulent humours
another, but such as should be found zealous and obedient children of
their mother churchy." In other words, they were not to be either
Catholics or Puritans.
The speech addressed by the monarch to the two houses was intended
to allay those angry feelings which the illegal and op- Proceedings
pressive conduct of the government for some years past in parliament.
was knoAvn to have excited. Some things from which the an" '
commons had been scornfully interdicted by the throne on their last
meeting were now surrendered as fit subjects to engage their deliberative
wisdom. But neither this spirit of conciliation, nor the attraction of a
war with the Catholic confederates, was sufficient to divert the attention
of the commons from questions of domestic policy. Their first efforts
were directed towards a more complete suppression of the Catholic in
terest at home, and with this view it was required that the existing laws
against all Popish recusants should be more strictly enforced. It Avas
also determined, as a means of stimulating the tardy zeal of the monarch,
that two-thirds of the fines obtained from such delinquents should be
placed at the king's use.
Hitherto the commons had shown a disposition to avoid some of the
more irritating topics of complaint; but there was one
proceeding connected with the dissolution of the last par- theTmprison-
liament of too much importance with regard to the inde- ment of
pendence and dignity of the lower house to be passed over. members-
Certain members of that assembly Avere questioned by the privy council
after the dissolution as to their conduct in parliament, and were subse
quently imprisoned. In approacliing this subject, it was not denied by
the popular leaders that there were instances in which some of his ma
jesty's predecessors had thus exercised the royal power; but it Avas
maintained that such interference with the freedom of parliamentary
debate had been contrary to law, and that unless the right of the com
mon's to be the sole judge with respect to the parliamentary conduct of
its members were preserved inviolate, the whole liberty of the constitu
tion must be placed in imminent danger. James valued few things so
* Tillieres in Raumer, ii. 246. ¦)- Pari, Hist, i. 1169,

142 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. fcH. X.
much as the particular exercise of authority to which this objection was
made ; but at this moment it was deemed prudent to assure the house
that nothing should in future be done in contravention of its full liberty
of speech.
The settlement of this point was followed by a vote of two subsidies,
which, though by no means equal to the immediate wants
m'nd of ,. of the government, was received by the monarch with ex
pressions of pleasure, as the earnest of good affection on
the part of his subjects ; and so far was he from wishing any real griev
ance of the land to be continued, that he would willingly do more than
meet his subjects half way for the purpose of removing all ground for
complaint on such matters. Encouraged by this new tone of address
from the throne, the house proceeded to appoint a committee on the
subject of grievances, and the first evil of this nature to which the com
mittee directed its attention was the practice of the government in
making almost every article of trade a matter of patent and monopoly;
Parliament had frequently interfered to check this abuse, but its pro
visions were constantly eluded by those whose vocation it was to devise
expedients in behalf of an impoverished exchequer.
Those kind of monopolies which are conferred by granting patents for
new discoveries are among the most legitimate means of rewarding merit
and industry ; and in those commercial enterprises which require a much
larger capital than individuals may command, such as the founding of
colonies and foreign marts, it was no more than just that the parties
making the adventure should be secured in possession of the gains re
sulting from such undertakings. That patents of the former description
have done much for the improvement of the arts is unquestionable, and,
without the aid of chartered companies, we may safely affirm that the
foreign commerce of England would not have competed with that of the
other states of Europe, all of whom, in proportion as extensive trade
became an object of attention, deemed it proper to encourage this sort
of monopoly among their subjects.
But the monopolies with which the house of commons now had to
deal were for the most part by no means of this description. These had
been extended to particular branches of trade without any fair plea of
reward or necessity, and manifestly for no other purpose than to obtain
those supplies of money from the subject through that medium, which
the court had judged it inexpedient to solicit from a parliament. Coke
was not alone in bringing his ability as a lawyer to the investigations
which were laboriously prosecuted on this subject. It was soon made to
appear, that the monopolies which had called forth most of the popular
animadversion were such as law, justice, and sound policy* required to be
condemned ; and that the proceedings of the government in relation t»
them had been characterised by gross rapacity and fraud. This was af
firmed of the patents which respected the licenses of alehouses, the in-

a.d. 1621.] james i. 143
spection of hostleries and inns, and the manufacture of gold and silver
thread. The prominence given to these instances of abuse was not in conse
quence of their being much more flagrant than some others, imp^],,,^^
but from the circumstance that the patentees — Sir Giles of Mompesson
Mompesson and Sir Francis Mitchell— were the known and Mitchell.
creatures of Buckingham. As the best means of deterring all classes of
persons from engaging in practices of this nature, it was determined to
make the conduct of these offenders the matter of solemn accusation on
the part of the commons before the bar of the upper house. This course
of proceeding, which is known in our constitutional history by the name
of an impeachment, was first resorted to in the case of lord Latimer, by
the commons of 1376, but had fallen into disuse since 1449, when it was
adopted in the case of the duke of Suffolk. From that time to the present,
partly through the impaired influence of the commons, and partly from
the inclination of the Tudor princes rather to dispose of such real or ima
ginary delinquents by means of a bill of attainder, it happened that this
constitutional right of the lower house had not been exercised. Nor was
there on this occasion a due observance of all the forms of an impeach
ment, but the commons are described as presenting themselves with much
ceremony at the bar, while the lords pronounced a sentence which doomed
the accused to suffer imprisonment, to pay heavy fines, and to be deprived
of the honour of knighthood. In the same manner, the commons pro
ceeded against Field, the bishop of Landaff, who was accused of bribery :
and against Bennett, judge of the prerogative court, who was charged with
corruption in his office *.
The character of this reign in its relation to government is further
illustrated by the proceedings of the present session in the
case of the attorney-general Yelverton. Not long before Yelverton" °f
the assembling of parliament, the attorney-general was im
prisoned at the suggestion of Buckingham. It is uncertain whether the
cause of this was that he had really done the favourite some wrong, or,
as others asserted, that he had refused to serve his patron at the cost [of
his own honour and duty. The parliament, immediately on its meeting,
demanded that the prisoner should be examined, and be either punished
or set free. The king granted this demand, and the puritans conceived
that they might use against Buckingham a man well acquainted with all
his projects. In his defenee, Yelverton spoke with unusual boldness, and
averred that, if he had done any thing contrary to law, he had done it by
order of Buckingham, who often assumed the dignity of a king, and
threatened in the name of the sovereign. In conclusion, he compared
Buckingham with Spenser, the favourite of Edward II., who brought his
master to destruction, and himself to an evil end.
Buckingham made complaint of this conduct to the king, and James
* Pari. Hist. 1251—1731.

144 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH*. X.
caused the attorney to be removed from the house, whither he had been
conveyed for the period of the trial, and to be shut up again in the Tower.
The Parliament, much displeased with this proceeding, demanded that
the accused should be allowed to explain his expressions. " At last the
Puritans," says the French Ambassador, "prevailed over the adherents of
Buckingham, and caused the prisoner to be informed how the matter stood,
and advised him to say to the full house of parliament, that he wished
to learn Avhether the accusers of the earl of Somerset, and the discoverers of
the chancellor's peculations, were guilty of high treason; for, in that case,
he was guilty of the like crime, insomuch as he had spoken against the
marquis. In the other case, however, he had done a service to the king
and the state, and was ready, for their good, to disclose many other mat
ters in addition. The wife of the attorney, who up to this time had
imparted his resolutions to the puritans, now gave the marquis of Buck
ingham notice of this letter ; whether as supposing that this would be to
the advantage of her husband, or because she looked upon him as lost,
and wished at the least to save herself, can only be conjectured. Buck
ingham, hoAvever, hastened to the king, and urged an immediate disso
lution of the Parliament. To this James would not consent, but was of
opinion that the attorney should be put in fear." He therefore caused
him to be told, that unless he should sign a paper laid before him, in
which he was made to recall every thing he had uttered against Buck
ingham, the parliament should be forthwith dissolved, and his life be
forfeited. This, it is said, took such an effect on a man otherwise
esteemed courageous, that he signed the paper without delay, acknow
ledged it in parliament, and uttered apologies, even more base than had
been required of him. This cowardice filled his friends with astonish
ment and disgust, and, abandoned by them, he was forthwith convicted —
not of corrupt dealing in his office, but of offence against the king and
the ministers; and subjected to a fine of 16,000 marks, beside other hu
miliations *.
The commons had been encouraged in this unsuccessful attack on the
C duct of favourite> Dv tne circumstance of his having weakened his
Buckingham influence in the upper house, in consequence of an ill-ad-
towards the vised altercation with some of the most considerable of its
and Southamp- members. The king had lately raised some of his coun-
ton. — March, trymen of small rank and smaller merit to the dignity of
viscounts, Avho were to take precedence of English barons. Some of the
latter, displeased with this proceeding, held meetings at the houses of the
earls of Salisbury and Dorset, and drew up a petition to the King, stating
that these viscounts had acquired their titles out of the country, and not
by means of any service rendered to the state, and praying the sovereign
not to give precedence to them over the petitioners. It was also sug-
* Tillieres in Raumer, ii. 253—256. Rushworth, i, 31—34.

A.D. 1621.] JAMES I. -145
gested, that in future it would be well to proceed with more caution in
matters Avhich Avere capable of estranging the hearts of his majesty's sub
jects, an effect which could not but folloAv, when they saw the proper
rewards of public virtue distributed without regard to merit.
When the marquis of Buckingham (at whose suggestion these viscounts
had been named) heard of this proceeding, he took aside the lords Salis
bury and Dorset at his next meeting Avith them, and said, " I am much
astonished that you should choose to set yourselves up in opposition to
the rights of the crown as well as to myself, with whom, as you know,
these nominations have originated. Up to this time I held you for my
friends, but I now see plainly that I have been mistaken, and shall for
the future live on a different footing with you." The earls answered that
they had done no more than lay before their sovereign, and with all pos
sible respect, their complaints and grievances as faithful subjects, and
that they were not aAvare that such conduct bespoke any want of duty or
loyalty. Nor did they admit that any attack was thereby meant on the
favourite himself, whom they loved and esteemed. If, hoAvever, it was
his pleasure to put himself on a footing of enmity with them, they were
prepared for the result. The marquis made his complaint of this matter
to the king, and uttered, in the greatest passion, many ill-timed expres
sions. In the judgment of all sober persons, Buckingham conducted
himself in this affair like a young man intoxicated by court favour, for
getting the respect due to his sovereign, mixing himself up in matters not
pertaining to him, and, without any sufficient ground, making enemies
of considerable men, whom it should have been his policy to conciliate.
But James was not among the number to whom the conduct of the
favourite appeared in this light, and he accordingly brought the affair
before his privy council, and summoned the earls to appear. Their answer
was, that, during the sitting of parliament, they were entitled to hold
assemblies and consultations of every kind ; that they were willing to ex
pose the matter in the upper house, and there — and there only they would
justify their proceedings. This answer set the king, already much excited
by Buckingham, almost beside himself with anger, so that he had deter
mined to send Dorset and Salisbury to the ToAver, until it was represented
to him that the parliament might easily take up their cause, and make a
very dangerous use of it. The policy afterwards adopted Avas to wm
over as many nobles as possible from the ranks of the discontented *.
Hitherto, it did not seem that the conduct of the government in levying
impositions without consent of parliament had attracted the
attention of that assembly, and so long as that point re- of^pTsHion?
mained in abeyance, James professed himself satisfied with
what had been done. But the existence of several committees, employed
with the utmost assiduity in searching out abuses, with the intention of
* Tillieres in Raumer, ii. 250—252.

146 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
inflicting severe penalties on the authors of them, was an alarming course
of affairs to a government whose proceedings had long been in nearly all
respects so irregular ; and it was in the hope of being able to lessen the
amount of exposure which was thus threatened, or to devise means for dis
pensing with the aid of parliament altogether, that the sovereign, at the
urgent suit of Buckingham, decided on an adjournment of the two houses
for several months. This check, natural as it was, appears to have taken
the commons by surprise, who now saw themselves on the eve of returning
to their homes without having accomplished any thing in aid of the elec
tor — the object for which they had been ostensibly convened. It might
be true, that these attempts to purify the administration of justice, and
to remove evils which had so deeply impaired the commerce of the coun
try, were the most laudable in which they could have been engaged ;
but it was equally true, that they were pledged to assist the elector, and
that they had not done it. Before separating, accordingly, it was resolved
unanimously, that should the prince palatine be in- circumstances to need
the assistance of this country when the house should be again assembled,
the lives and fortunes of the people of England should be devoted to
his cause, the same being the great cause of Christendom. Such was the
acclamation and enthusiasm with which this resolution was carried, that
sir Edward Coke advanced to the middle of the house, and there read
aloud the'collect for the king and the royal family, tears falling from his
eyes, while the ardour of patriotism was thus blended with the sanctities
of religion *.
England for many years had not been the scene of so much excitement
Great excite- as was manifest in the court, the parliament, and the nation
ment at this at this juncture. Foreign ambassadors are generally shrewd
observers of political affairs, and their despatches at this
time show that they regarded England as on the eve of some violent
change, the issues of which it was impossible to predict. Buckingham,
alarmed at the succession of impeachments with which the popular mem
bers in the commons had occupied themselves, represented to the king,
that if he allowed his most faithful servants to be thus persecuted, he
would soon feel the want of them, nor was he to believe that those pro
ceedings were on account of any real malversation, but that the attack was
directed against the monarch himself. It was in consequence urged, as
of the utmost moment, that the parliament should be dissolved so soon as
* Rushworth, i. 36. It should be added, that this enthusiasm resulted, in part
from ignorance as to the great difficulty of any coercive interference on the part of
England in regard to the Palatinate, as well as from that alarm about popery which
had taken such strong possession of the mass of the English people ; and which was
strengthened, and rendered more clamorous, by the known leaning of the king
towards a friendly connexion with the catholic rather than Avith the protestant states
of the continent. It should be remembered that this call for' a war against popery
abroad, like those for the more rigorous execution of the laws against papists at home,
was an indirect mode of protesting against catholic alliances, and against the general
policy of the court.

A. D. 1621.] JAMES I. 141
it should have granted two more subsidies. This discourse from the
favourite on the one hand, aided by fear and jealousy of the parliament
on the other, " caused the king to play all sorts of parts. Sometimes he
swore, and denied his Maker (reniant Dieu) ; then he laid his length
upon the ground, and declared he wished to die, also that he saw well
that the parliament would be his death; then he wept," and finally
determined to go and throAv himself on the protection of the upper
house *.
The concern of Buckingham to procure a dissolution of the parliament
was not unreasonable, as, in the judgment of discerning men, it menaced
nothing less than his destruction. " This it is true," says the authority
last cited, " is delayed by the spirit of cowardice which along peace has
brought upon this country, but we cannot but believe, that in some way
or other, this spirit will come to an end, and then be converted into fury.
I entertain this view in common with many intelligent men, so that this
state, which has so long beheld with joy our misery, and that of Christen
dom, will be in similar condition, unless more compassion be shown
towards her. I am induced to judge in this fashion, more than by any
thing else, by James's plan for the diminution of the power of the par
liament, Avhich is intended for the purpose of maintaining the equilibrium
between the prerogatives of the king and the liberties of the people. So
long therefore as this power of the parliament maintained itself erect,
without bending to one side or the other, the state continued to flourish ;
it is however to be feared, that if it once sink, all will crumble into ruin
together. His own feeling teaches this to every Englishman, and all
complain of the matter f."
Nor were the wisest heads competent to foresee on which side, in this
momentous conflict, the scale would turn, whether for liberty or despot
ism. Thus much only was certain, the king was without a council, the
country without a government, nothing prospering save Buckingham and
his relations. " All murmur, all suffer ; the lords are contemned and
little rewarded; the nobility taxed, and the people impoverished. Nor is
it enough that all classes should be pressed down into such a condition,
but it is forbidden even to complain. If out of all this, greater dissatis
faction among the great, revolt of the people, and bloody war do not arise,
the reason does not lie in the lightness of the evil, but in that this people
is either more moderate, or less sensible to injury, or more timid than
others. Beyond doubt, however, the imposthume must break, and that
soon, as stimulants are constantly applied. In what manner this -will
take place, no one knows : perhaps it will occur by the Dutch bringing
over the Electress Palatine of England, and providing the puritans an
honourable pretext for revolt, and a stimulus to their fervour J." In a
condition of affairs so unsettled and foreboding, it is hardly surprising
that the object of Buckingham in procuring an adjournment of the par-
* Tillieres in Raumer, ii, 267. f Ibid., ii. 265. J Ibid., ii. 266.
l2

148 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
liament was to see it speedily dissolved. But the dangers of such a
measure became the more formidable the more nearly it was contemplated.
It was accordingly determined to employ the recess in correcting such
abuses as were expected to engage the attention of the commons at their
next meeting. Many obnoxious patents wese abolished. Something was
done to improve the coin, to afford protection and encouragement to com
merce, and to assist the still exiled elector *. But even in this interval
the government displayed its folly, as much as its Avisdom. In conduct
ing the recent impeachments, the commons had been particularly aided
by the zeal and ability of sir Edward Coke and sir Edwin Sandys, and
the house was no sooner adjourned, than both found themselves exposed
to the vengeance of the court. Against Coke a persecution was com
menced, on the pretence that the wealth of which he became possessed
while in office was more than he could have honestly acquired. Sandys,
aware of the resentment to which his conduct would expose him, had
endeavoured to protect himself against penalties of this nature, by ob
taining a vote from the house, which declared the conduct of all its mem
bers to have been strictly parliamentary. Even this, however, was not
sufficient. Sandys, and Selden his adviser, were put under arrest.
The adjournment lasted five months. When the commons again met,
nothing Avas to be heard from them but complaints of the in-
assembled, juries inflicted on Coke and Sandys. " The business of the
whole house," said secretary Calvert, " sticketh at that
knot." Sir Edwin's detention had not been for more than a few weeks.
He was now indisposed, and confined to his bed. But two members were
deputed to wait upon him; and before the popular leaders could be in
duced to entertain any other question, the secretary had repeatedly to
assure the house that sir Edwin's arrest had not been in consequence of
any thing in his conduct as a member of parliament.
When this matter was thus far settled, it was still resolved, before
_. , granting a single subsidy, to present a petition to the king,
tween James deploring the advances of popery at home and abroad ; the
and the com- p0pe> and his great ally the king of Spain, having leagued
ingntneepnvl- together, for the purpose of utterly destroying the civil and
leges of par- religious liberties of Christendom. As the best method of
liament. counteracting these schemes, it was urged that war should be
at once declared against Spain, that power having been all along most
hostile to the Elector ; and that the king should exercise his utmost care
to prevent the prince of Wales from becoming the husband of any prin
cess who was not known to be sincerely devoted to the great cause of
protestantism. It was the wish of the house to submit their judgment to
the sovereign on matters of this grave and delicate import in terms of
the greatest deference and respect. But James anticipated their purpose,
by procuring a copy of the petition, and on perusing it, gave expression
* Rushworth, i. 36.

A.D. 1621.] JAMES I. 149
to the strongest feeling of indignation. The increase of popery, and the
best means of suppressing it, Avere topics to Avhich they had been long
wont to apply their Avisdom, but his majesty was not prepared for their
presumption in censuring the honourable conduct of the king of Spain,
in calling for war Avithout the slightest provocation, and above all, in
offering their advice as to the most suitable alliance.for his children ; and
he would have the most "fiery popular spirits " among them know, that
such matters were quite above their understanding, and that no petition
from them Avas likely to obtain favour or acceptance with him, which
meddled with questions so much beyond their capacity. As to marrying
his son " to some protestant — he Avould not say princess — he had only
to affirm, that he knew of no one fit for him." Nor did he Avish them
to mistake, his conduct in regard to sir Edwin Sandys, for, if it might be
well to apprize them that his recent commitment of that person had not
been on account of any thing in his behaviour as a member of parliament,
it Avas no less proper to inform them, that, as king of England, he pos
sessed the power to punish all misconduct in such assemblies, either during
their sitting or afterwards, nor should he hesitate to exercise that power
as occasion should offer *.
The commons were nothing moved by this language. They prepared
a reply, in Avhich they expressed their regret that a petition so well meant
should have been so little acceptable to their sovereign ; they also ven
tured to intimate, that whatever related to the safety of the throne and
realm of England, must assuredly be among the things to which parlia
ment is bound to give its attention ; and as to the poAver of the crown to
punish the conduct of members of parliament, they must be allowed to
claim an exemption from such poAver, as their ancient and undoubted
right, and as an inheritance received from their ancestors.
The resentment of the monarch had in some degree subsided before
returning his answer to this document. But it will not be supposed that
this description of popular privileges, as matters sanctioned by law and
justice, would be allowed to pass in silence, and, accordingly, in the con
clusion of his majesty's letter, we find the following protest against this
assumption. " He could not allow of the style calling their privileges an
undoubted right and inheritance, but could rather have wished that they
had said their privileges were derived from the grace and permission of
his ancestors and himself, for most of them had power from precedent,
which rather shows toleration than inheritance — yet he gave them his
royal assurance, that as long as they contained themselves within the
limits of their duty, he would be as careful to maintain their lawful liberties
and privileges as he would his own prerogative ; so that their house did
not touch on that prerogative, which would enforce him, or any just king,
to retrench their privileges."
This language, though somewhat more softened than that in which the
king had before addressed the house, Avas heard Avith greater apprehension.
* Rushw'orth, i. 40—44.

150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
It was the language of deliberation, and it stated, that in the judgment
of the king, the liberties of Englishmen were a matter of " grace and
permission" only; and as such to be enjoyed during the royal pleasure,
but no longer. Such was the impression made by the announcement of
these principles, that the ministers laboured to diminish the indiscretion
of the sovereign by offering the best explanation and excuses in their
power; and James himself descended to something like the language of
apology ; but, with his usual inconsistency on such occasions, it is to the
last insinuated, that the man who must speak of popular freedom as a
"right," or an ," inheritance," could be no very loyal subject. Hence
a long discussion ensued on this vital topic. Sir Robert Phillips is de
scribed as saying, "since his majesty has said that we hold our liberty
by the grace of princes, and not by a right descended to us, and that ques
tion has been stirred, (which he wished had not been,) he thinks that we
are now to do something more on this point, than to let it so rest. And in
so doing, we should do no more than was done in the first parliament of
his majesty, when the king said we held our liberties by a toleration, not
by right; whereupon there was here entered a public declaration, that
we held them by inheritance from our ancestors*." The speeches of se
veral members were to this effect, and the result was, that the following
memorable record was entered on the journals.
" The commons now assembled in parliament, being justly occasioned
. thereunto, concerning certain liberties, franchises, privi-
commonscon- leges, and jurisdictions of parliament, amongst others not
cerning their herein mentioned, do make this protestation following : —
n^ s' That the liberties, franchises, privileges, and jurisdictions
of parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance
of the subjects of England ; and that the arduous and urgent affairs con
cerning the king, the state, and the defence of the realm and of the
church of England, and the making and maintenance of laws, and redress
of mischiefs and grievances, Avhich daily happen Avithin this realm, are
proper subjects and matter of counsel and debate in parliament, and that,
in the handling and proceeding of those businesses, every member of the
house hath, and of right ought to have, freedom of speech to propound,
treat, reason, and bring to conclusion the same. That the commons in
parliament have like liberty and freedom to treat of those matters, in such
orders as in their judgments shall seem fittest ; and that every such mem
ber of the said house hath like freedom from all impeachment, imprison
ment, and molestation, (other than by the censure of the house itself,)
for or concerning any bill, speaking, reasoning, or declaring of any matter
or matters touching the parliament or parliament business ; and that if
* This reference is to the valuable document which Hume insinuates was' too
liberal in its principles to have been adopted by the house. One member, in the
course of this debate, expressed some doubt whether the " Apology " adverted to,
had been entered, but all Avere agreed as to its having been adopted. See page 33,
note, of the present volume. Hume, James I. p. 23. note e. Pari. Hist.,i, 1030, et
seq. 1347, et seq. Rushworth, i. 44—52.

D. 1621.] JAMES I. 151
any of the said members be complained of, and questioned for any thing
said or done in parliament, the same is to be showed to the king, by the
advice and assent of all the commons assembled in parliament, before the
king give credence to any private information." It is noticed in the
journals as remarkable, that this declaration was carried so late as between
five and six o'clock in the evening, and by candle-light. Parliament
James, on learning what had been done, sent for the jour- dissolved.
nal, and tore the memorial from its place in the presence ' '
of his ministers. His next step, as will be expected, was to dissolve the
parliament*. *
To diminish the odium of this proceeding, James issued a proclama
tion, the purport of which was to assure his subjects that, though cir
cumstances had obliged him to his present course, another parliament
should be assembled as soon as convenient, and that in the mean time
his government should be conformed in all respects to that of his prede
cessors. But it has been justly remarked that " if we QD:ect 0e
look at the position of the adverse parties at this time, we James in these
shall see that James was attempting, most unseasonably, proceedings.
a new mode of government. The nature of the Gothic monarchies was
generally the same. The king, who had first ruled together with his
people in rude harmony, came, in time, to exercise certain powers of
government which he called prerogative ; and the people, who in early
times assembled on every occasion to discuss grievances, and laws, and
treaties, became in the progress of civilization divided into cities, and
had their privileges set down in general and particular charters. Both
prerogative and privilege were liable to misconstruction, and sometimes
overflowed their banks ; but the king always spoke with respect of the
liberties of his subjects, even when he illegally imprisoned their persons;
and the people professed their veneration for monarchy, even when they
deposed their king. Queen Elizabeth, acting in this spirit, abjured the
notion of infringing the rights of her subjects, at the same time that she
occasionally encroached upon, and always narrowly confined, the rights
she professed to maintain. She acknowledged the liberties of the people
without doubt or hesitation, but made use of her own dictionary for the
definition of the term. James attempted a new system ; he denied the
existence of privileges altogether, except by sufferance; and without
possessing the wisdom of an ordinary man, he claimed, in an inquiring
age, the infallibility of the Deity f."
It was in pursuance of this ill-judged policy that James noAV pro
ceeded to inflict vengeance on the popular members of
both houses ; for the opposition to the court in this par- 0f members—
liament, — or, which was the same thing, to the favourite, popular dis-
— had been manifest, as we have seen, in the lords as well
as the commons. The earls of Oxford and Southampton were made to
* Pari. Hist., i. 1232—1371. Rushworth, i. 53—55.
t Lord John Russell on the English Constitution, 63, 64.

152 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
appear before the council; the former, on the pretence of some words of
little signification against Buckingham, was sent to the Tower; while
one of his friends, a gentleman of rank, was thrown into a miserable
prison and threatened with torture because he would not depose to what
he had never heard*. Among the victims selected from the commons
were Digges, Rich, Carew, and Perrot ; but the ingenuity of these per
sons baffled that of their persecutors. It was found possible, however,
to subject them to the cost and inconvenience of a temporary banish
ment, by obliging them to accept commissions in the name of the
king. A heavier punishment aAvaited sir Edward Coke and sir Robert
Phillips; both were committed to the Tower, and the papers of the
former were seized by the inquisitors of the court. Pym and Mallory
also suffered imprisonment for a time. The names of these patriot
members Avere noAV constantly on the lips of the people ; and well had
they merited that honour. In private intercourse, and in all places of
public resort, the most violent language with regard to the king and the
government might be heard, while the press teemed Avith productions,
the licence and scurrility of which could hardly be surpassed. Pro
clamations were issued threatening offenders Avith the severest penalties,
but with as little avail as to have thrown straws against a current f .

Chapter XI.

Digby's negotiations with Spain — Policy of Buckingham at this juncture — His pro
ject of a journey with the prince to Spain — Obtains the concurrence of James —
Advantage taken of the prince's presence at Madrid — Offence given to Bucking
ham, who in consequence employs himself to prevent the match — Charles ap
proves this course — James is induced to concur with it — The match abandoned —
New policy of Buckingham — A parliament — Duplicity of James — Statement of
Buckingham— War declared — Impeachment of Middlesex — Expedition under
Count Mansfield in favour of the palatinate— Marriage .of Charles with Hen
rietta — Death of James.
Some of the consequences that might have been attendant on this dis
pute between the king and the parliament were no doubt prevented by
the general excitement which was manifested just at this time in conse
quence of the unexpected conduct of Buckingham and the prince" of
Wales in regard to the Spanish match, the clear understanding of which
Avill require that we should look back to some measures of former years
on that question.
In 1622, on the accession of Philip IV. to the throne of Spain, the
„. , , tedious negotiation with respect to the proposed alliance
Digby s nego- ° * , , . , . ,
tiations with was entrusted to lord Digby, now best known by his sub-
Spain, sequent title as the earl of Bristol. Digby had been sent
* Raumer, ii. 269, 270. t Rushworth, i. 21, 36, 55.

a.d. 1622.] james i. 153
ambassador to Spain in 1611 and in 1614; and in the latter instance
his mission was to treat of a marriage betAveen prince Henry and the
Infanta. On his return from that embassy James conferred on him the
office of vice-chamberlain of the household, and made him a privy coun
sellor. In 1617 Digby was agaiu sent to Madrid, his object being to
facilitate the intended marriage between the Infanta and prince Charles ;
at which time he received from the English monarch, in testimony of
his services, the castle and manor of Sherborne, Avith the title of lord
Digby. His experience, capacity, and address, eminently fitted him for
the trust thus reposed in him ; but that wariness and gravity, that
steadiness of purpose, chivalrous courage, and high sense of honour,
which had secured him the esteem of his sovereign, and led to his pre
sent appointment, had placed him in something like the position of a
rival to more than one of the royal favourites*-
The power of Buckingham at this time seemed to be in all respects
the same with that of the croAvn ; but the health and p0];cv of
habits of the king were not such as to promise a long life, Buckingham
and the continuance of the favourite's ascendancy would ^' tllis Junc-
in all probability soon depend on the extent in which he
might have been able to impress the heir apparent, and possibly the
new queen, in his favour. He well knew that not to perpetuate his
influence would be, after the course usual in such cases, to fall as a vic
tim into the hands of his enemies. It was this feeling of insecurity,
which led Buckingham to insinuate himself from this ^time by every
possible means into the favour of Charles, and which suggested to him
the policy of interfering in some way AA'ith regard to the expected mar
riage, so that the merit of putting a period to the delay of a protracted
negotiation might seem to be wholly his oavh. The accomplishment of
this scheme would realize the double advantage of humiliating Bristol
and of giving stability to his OAvn fortune.
It had been said very recently that Olivarez the Spanish favourite had
remarked, in answer to some complaints on the subject of tt- f
the apparent insincerity of the court of Madrid, that he a journey Avith
Avished the prince of Wales were present there, that he might *ne Pnn<se to
be himself a judge as to the good intentions of the Spanish
monarch. We know not that such casual observation was really made ¦
and if made, Ave may well doubt its having given rise to the project that
followed ; but it is certain that Buckingham and the prince became sud
denly filled with the notion of going in person privately to Madrid, as
the best means of bringing an apparently endless affair to its close.
Having gained the confidence of the prince, " after a long time of de
clared jealousy and displeasure on the prince's part, and occasion enough
ministered on the other," the favourite urged that Charles should make
the disclosure of his purpose to the king, requiring, as a preliminary
• Rushworth, i. 1—68.

154 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
that James should promise to decide on the case about to be submitted
to him without any mention of it to another person. This point gained,
the prince threw himself upon his knees, and with much earnestness
petitioned his father to allow the proposed journey, which, showing as it
would his interest in the Infanta, and his confidence in the honour of the
Spanish monarch, could not fail to have a happy issue. The king, his
first surprise being somewhat abated, and after some discourse on the
strange matter, turned himself to Buckingham, who had remained silent,
and demanded his judgment upon it. Buckingham of course strongly
seconded the suit of the prince, describing it as the only course he knew
at all likely to accomplish the two objects which lay nearest the king's
heart, — the marriage of his son, and the restoration of the palatinate.
James, whose will had long been controlled by that of the favourite, at
length gave his trembling assent, but with the mental reserve that, as
no such step could be taken without its being first laid before the coun
cil, he might there find himself more at liberty to refuse his concurrence,
if, on further consideration, it should appear expedient to do so. But
this last refuge was destroyed, on his being informed that the strict se
crecy of the undertaking was necessary to its success, and that to accom
plish it the more speedily, and to render it the more impressive on the
heart of the Infanta, and on the chivalrous sentiments of the Spanish
nation, it was the intention of Buckingham and the prince to find their
way through France before they were missed in England. With this
part of the scheme also James found himself obliged to intimate his
compliance. But when the king came to be alone, and to reflect on what had been
done, a thousand difficulties and dangers presented themselves to his
imagination. Beside the difficulty which arose from the affection of a
father for his only son, he began to fear the influence such a proceeding
might have upon his people already enough disposed to complain of any
indiscretion in his conduct. Nor was the possible effect of such an un
dertaking on his reputation with foreign princes a small matter with him.
It was not to be doubted that, should any evil result follow, such persons
would be forward to censure his weakness in being so far unmindful of
the respect due to his sovereignty as to alloAV the heir of his croAvn, and
his only son, to be exposed to all the dangers and jealousies which might
be found to beset him in such an adventure, in part perhaps from the
malice of individuals, and still more as originating in that " fathomless
abyss, reason of state." In such case, how alarming would be the pros
pect opened both to himself and his people ! And all this would have
happened in consequence of his having yielded to a project against which
both his understanding and his heart had made the strongest protes
tation. The effect of such reflections was to deprive the monarch of all
peace ; and when the prince and duke came to him expecting to obtain
the despatch for their journey, they found him weeping, and giving

A.D. 1622.] JAMES I. 155
expression to strong feelings of soitoav and displeasure. He told them
he was undone ; that it would break his heart if they pursued their reso
lution ; that, on a due consideration of the matter, he Avas convinced that,
beside the almost inevitable hazard of the prince's person, with whom
his own life Avas bound up, and the entire loss of the affection of his
people, the effect of the rash action would be to destroy the object it
was meant to secure. These, and many other considerations, James is
described as urging, some addressed to the prince, and others to Bucking
ham, to dissuade them from their project. But neither took any pains
to answer his majesty's reasons. Charles reminded him of the promise
made only the day before, and Avhich he professed to regard as so sacred
that the violation of it would prevent his ever thinking of marriage.
Buckingham, Avith an assumption and rudeness which he had found to
be effectual on similar occasions, told his sovereign that no one could in
future believe any thing he should say if he could so soon retract a pro
mise so solemnly made. He knew, however, well enough how to ac
count for this change; contrary to his royal promise, he had been men
tioning this affair to some " rascal," who had furnished him Avith the
pitiful reasons to which they had now listened, and he had no doubt that
he should soon be able to find out this favoured counsellor. In the
meantime, if the king should recede from his pledge, the disappointment
to the prince, whose mind was now fully resolved on the matter, would
be so afflicting, that he could never forget it, nor forgive any man who
had placed himself so much in the way of his inclination.
At length the earnest entreaties of Charles, whose conduct had been
always dutiful, and who had not been wont to exhibit strong feeling on
any subject, and the demeanour assumed by Buckingham, so far pre
vailed, that after James had passionately, and with many oaths, denied
having communicated the affair to any one, the conversation about the
journey was resumed. It was argued with much determination that the
departure should take place in two days, by which time every thing
necessary might be prepared; and it was also a part of the plan, as
agreed upon between the prince and duke, that not more than two per
sons should be in their company. The individuals selected were sir
Francis Cottington and Endymion Porter, who, though they might be
safely entrusted with the secret, were not to be apprised of it until ready
to embark. The persons mentioned, as was expected, were both accept
able to the king, the former, Avho was noAV secretary to the prince,
having long acted as agent of his sovereign in the court of Spain. James
expressed his wish that the matter should be at once disclosed to them,
observing that they would no doubt have much to suggest as necessary
for the journey which had not hitherto been thought about, and, without
waiting for a reply, sent immediately for Cottington. The secretary was
in the adjoining room, but before he made his appearance Buckingham
whispered to Charles that he would be opposed to the journey. Charles

156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
replied, " he dares not." The king, addressing himself to Cottington,
said that he had always been an honest man, and that he was noAV about
to be entrusted with an affair of the highest importance, which he was
not, at the peril of his life, to disclose to any man. " Here is baby
Charles," said the monarch, " and Stenny (names Avhich he always
gave the prince and favourite), who have a great mind to go by post
into Spain to fetch home the Infanta, and -will have but tAvo more in
their company, and have chosen you for one ; what think you of the
journey ? " .Cottington was so alarmed by this announcement and
appeal as to be scarcely capable of speaking. But when James com
manded him to answer, he replied that he could not think well of such
a proceeding, and that he believed it would render all that had been
done toward the match fruitless. The Spaniards, having the prince in
their hands, would no longer deem themselves bound by existing articles,
but would make new overtures with a view to their greater advantage,
particularly with respect to religion and the exercise of it in England.
The king, on hearing this, threw himself upon his bed, exclaimed, " I
told you this before;" and giving way to a new burst of passion and
lamentation, said that he was undone and should lose baby Charles.
The prince and duke Avitnessed this scene with great displeasure, and
the latter, addressing himself to Cottington, said that, " as soon as the
king sent for him, he whispered the prince in the ear that he would be
against it; that he knew his pride well enough; and that because he had
not been first advised with he was resolved to dislike it." Eeproaches
of this description were poured forth on him with the greatest vehe
mence. The king had merely asked his advice about the best manner
of performing a journey, but he had presumed to give his opinion on a
matter of state, and an opinion not only unsolicited but opposed to that
of his master, a proceeding of which he should repent as long as he lived.
James, who now saw in Cottington a man about to become the victim
of persecution on account of his honesty, said with considerable emotion,
" Nay, by God, Stenny, you are very much to blame to use him so. He
answered me directly to the question I asked him, and very honestly and
wisely, and you know he said no more than I told you before he was
called in." However, after all this excitement on both sides, the king
yielded, and before the close of this conference the journey was agreed
upon, and Cottington received the necessary instructions, James being
iioav sufficiently aware that the project was of Buckingham's contriv
ance, and that to resist the impetuosity and violence of his spirit in
regard to it would be attended by the greatest inconveniences*.
The prince, the favourite, and their two attendants passed one day in
Paris, and then directed their course towards Madrid, which they reached
in safety. It was on the sixth of March, a little after twilight, that
Buckingham entered the house of the earl of Bristol, bearing his own
• Clarendon, i.

A.D. 1622.] JAMES I. 151
portmanteau, and announcing that the prince Avas on the opposite side
of the street waiting to know if he might come to him without discovery.
Bristol had received some obscure intimations which prevented his
being greatly surprised by the arrival of his distinguished guest, but
these and many details connected with this romantic adventure we must
pass over : suffice it to say, that nothing could exceed the spirit of rejoicing
in Madrid when the arrival of the prince had transpired, and that for a
time both Charles and Buckingham were confidently expecting the
speedy completion of the marriage*.
But the court of Spain, and particularly the agents of the pontiff, took
advantage of the situation and impatience of the prince to Advantage
introduce new stipulations, and by this means produced new p'cen °,f
delays. Bristol protested with his usual ability and firm- presence at
ness against all proceedings of this nature ; but two secret Madrid.
articles were nevertheless added to the former provisions of the treaty,
by the first of which James bound himself to do every thing in his power
for a repeal of all the penal laws against the English Catholics Avithin
three years ; and by the second, the children of the marriage were left
under the care of the mother to their twelfth, in the place of their tenth,
yearf. Nothing could be less to the taste of the grave and decorous Spaniard
than the spirit and conduct of Buckingham \. To the offence given
Spanish ministers his assuming hasty dogmatism was par- to Bucking-
ticularly unacceptable ; and, as in the fullness of his self- j ' himself"
confidence he had failed to obtain any express commission to prevent the
from James to warrant his interference in regard to the matcn-
treaty, the ministers of Philip did not hesitate to exclude the English
favourite from their deliberations on that subject. This conduct could
* Hardwicke Papers, i. 402, 410, 413,424, 427, 432, 434, 430, 437, 473—475.
One of Buckingham's earliest epistles to James states that nothing had been reallv
done by Bristol, 426.
t Ibid., 402, 403, 405, 409, 41 1, 414, 425, 437—443, 445, 509. Lords' Journals,
221, 226, 663.
X " Let your majesty inquire of those who came out of Spain, whether the duke
of Buckingham did not many things against the authority and reverence due to
the most illustrious prince? Avhether he Avas not wont to be sitting Avhile the
prince stood, and also having his feet resting upon another seat after an indecent
manner ? Avhether, when the prince was uncovered Avhile the queen and the Iiifan ta
looked on at the windows, he uncovered his head or no ? whether sitting at the
table with the prince he did not behave himself unreverently ? Avhether he Avere
not wont to come into the prince's chamber with his clothes half on, so that the
doors could not be opened to them that came to visit the prince from the king of
Spain, the door-keepers refusing to go in for modesty's sake ? whether he did not
call the prince by ridiculous names ? whether he did not dishonour and profane the
king's palace Avith contemptible women ? whether he did not divers obscene things,
and used not immodest gesticulations and wanton tricks with players in the pre
sence of the prince ?" These and other things the author of this letter pledges
himself to prove at the pleasure of the English monarch, to Avhom it Avas addressed.
Cabala, 276. Hacket's Life of Williams, 44.

158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
hardly fail to convert the haughty minion into a determined foe of the
proposed alliance, and his resentment disposed him after some time to
infuse every possible prejudice against it into the mind of Charles. Nor
did he pursue this policy without success. It was with difficulty that
Bristol prevented the prince from embarking very abruptly for England ;
but an occasion for intimating his wish to leave Spain soon afterwards
occurred, which was of too plausible a nature to be allowed to pass.
This was on the death of the pope, when a further delay was said to be
necessary in order that the marriage articles might obtain the sanction
of his successor. Delicacy prevented the Spanish monarch from throAA'-
ing the slightest impediment in the way of this unexpected determi
nation ; and hitherto it does not appear to have been suspected that there
could have been the least intention of breaking the match, as every pre
liminary in relation to it which was now practicable had been performed,
and with the utmost appearance of good faith on both sides*.
Charles, however, was no sooner on board the English vessel than it
Charles con- became manifest that there had been much insincerity
curs in this under these appearances. A letter was immediately sent
policy. t0 Bristol m which the prince betrayed his wish to find
matter of disagreement; and subsequent events show that, having surren
dered himself to the guidance of Buckingham, the one object with both
from this time was to devise excuses which should give the best colour
ing to their conduct in abandoning all thought of the connexion with
Spain, and which should tend to reconcile James to the blighting of his
fondest hope f.
When Buckingham and Charles joined the monarch at Royston,
Jamesinduced "the joy of the interview," we are told, " Avas such as
to be a party surpasseth the relation. His majesty in a short while
t0 iL retired, and shut out all but his son and the duke, with
whom he held a conference till it was four hours in the night. They
that attended at the door sometimes heard a still voice, and then a loud ;
sometimes they laughed, and sometimes they chafed, and noted such
variety, that they could not guess what the close might prove. But it
broke out at supper that the king appeared to take all well that no more
was effected in the voyage, because the proffers for the restitution of his
* Hardwicke Papers, i. 422, 426, 432, 477—479, 490, 500. Buckingham had
other reasons beside the offence given him in Spain for hastening his return. It
appears that, during his absence, his enemies in the English court were employing
themselves against him and in favour of Bristol with considerable success. Cabala,
128, 129. Heylin's Life of Laud, 105, 1 13.
f Hardwicke Papers, i. 481. " What could the duke say to blot the image of
such a person as the Infanta out of his highness's heart P This is strange to those
Avho knew not his highness, who had a quality, to his life's end, to be easily per
suaded out of his own knowledge and judgment by some whom he permitted to
have a power over him who had not the half of his intellectuals." Hacket's Life of
Williams, 54, 55.

A.D. 1622.] JAMES I. 159
son-in-law were no better stated by the Spanish. And then that sen
tence fell fiom him Avhich is in memory to this hour, — ' That he liked
not to marry his son with a portion of his daughter's tears *.' "
From these expressions, and from what followed, we may conclude
that the great object of Buckingham in this interview was to persuade
the king that, instead of leaving the question of the restoration of the
palatinate to be settled after the marriage, it was imperative on him as a
father to insist on security for that object as a preliminary; and the earl
of Bristol received instructions to make this new demand on the king of
Spain. Philip understood what this meant, and regarding the treaty as
virtually at an end, he determined that the blame of this result should
rest as far as possible with the English court, and accordingly he gave
the required security in Avriting. Nothing uoav remained but that Bristol
should be at once instructed to Avithhold the proxy for
marriage, Avhich lie retained from the. prince until after abandoned 'S
Christmas, when the espousals were to have been solem
nized ; this instruction was sent, and thus ended the Spanish match
after a negotiation of almost nine years continuance t-
Bristol, by the assiduity and determination with which he had en
deavoured, even to the last, to bring the matter entrusted to
him to a successful termination, had given unpardonable Buckm^ham
offence both to the prince and the favourite. It was to
provide against the influence of this nobleman on his return, and if pos
sible to plunge the country into a war against Spain, — a measure to
which the council, though chafed by the favourite " from room to room,"
would not become parties, — that it was now deemed advisable to urge on
the king the convening of parliament. The duke hoped a new par-
much would he done towards conciliating his enemies by liament.
the mere act of advising this constitutional method of pro- e ' '
cedure. But with this step he connected the avoAval of political senti
ments widely different from those of which he had' hitherto been the
* Hacket's Life of Williams, 165.
t Hardwicke Papers, i. 449 — 516. Bristol wrote to James respecting the new
claim concerning the palatinate in the following words : — " I know your majesty
hath long been of opinion that the greatest assurance you could get that the king of
Spain Avould effectually labour the entire restitution of the Prince Palatine was,
that he really proceeded to the effecting of the match ; and my instructions under
your majesty's hand were to insist on the restoring of the Prince Palatine, but not
so as to annex it to the treaty of the match, as that thereby the match should be
hazarded." Ibid. 484, 485. This is, no doubt, the truth, but it is due to James to
add that he did not depart from the terms of the intended marriage until the
Spaniards had set him the example. They had even proceeded so far as to demand
a toleration of the Catholic worship by act of parliament, deeming the promised
suspension of the laws against that Avorship, as an act of the prerogative, insuffi
cient, and the king, the prince, and the favourite, had all pledged themselves to
accomplish that object, or, in the language of the mental reserve which they con
nected with this proceeding, to do their best for it. Ibid. i. 420, 430, 437. Bristol
admits that there were times when the Spaniards Avere somewhat deficient in cour
tesy towards their illustrious visiter. Ibid. 480.

160

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.

advocate, and he further condescended to seek a reconciliation with some
of the most popular members both of the upper and lower house.
With respect to the king, it was well known that few things could be
so little agreeable to him, as that the judgment of his sub-
James. Jects should be solicited on such mysteries of state as were
involved in the recent transactions with Spain ; but impor
tuned as he was by his son and his favourite, and bankrupt as he was
through the failure of the supply of money expected with the Infanta, he
at length consented to a proceeding which in his judgment tended to
augment the authority of parliament, at the cost of Avhat properly belonged
to the crown *. " Consider," said the monarch, " the estate of my grand
children, my own estate, and the estate of my kingdom, the treaties and
all, and then upon all you are to give me your advice." There was one
subject particularly on which it behoved them to judge charitably, as they
would be so judged — and that subject was religion. The king wished
them to be distinctly assured on this point, that, though he had caused
the penal statutes to bear upon delinquents sometimes less rigorously than
at others, he had never, in any treaty, private nor public, " promised or
yielded" that there should be any dispensing or altering the law in that
matter; such a course indeed had never been spoken of with his mouth,
or thought of in his heart. This emphatic assertion was made more than
once about this time, though the king must have known, that among
those who were privy to its falsehood, were the agents of Spain, the
favourite, and, above all, his own son f-
It was, then, with this pattern of royal and paternal integrity before
Statement of them, that Buckingham and the heir-apparent proceeded
Buckingham to tne work 0f self-justification before the parliament, and
ment. they acquitted themselves in a manner worthy of the school
* " Forget not to make them keep their former conditions anent the portion,
Otherwise both my baby (Charles) and I are bankrupts for ever." James's letter to
the prince and duke. Hardwicke Papers, i. 428.
f The following are the terms of the article on this subject in the Spanish Treaty,
to Avhich James had sworn : " Quod nulla lex particularis contra catholicos Romanos
lata, nee non leges generales sub quibus omnes ex equo comprehenduntur, modo
cjusmodi sint quae religioni Romana? repugnant, ullo unquam tempore, ullo om-
mino modo aut casn, directe vel indirecte, quoad dictos catholicos,'executioni mandn-
bitur." Prynne, 44. Hardwicke Papers, i. 428.430, 437, 446. ""James, writing to
the prince and duke, says, " I have given order to put in execution all that I have
promised (suspending the penal laws), and more ; as themselves confess, and had so
done before this time, if themselves, by neiv unreasonable motions, had not hindered
it. And thus much more than I promised have I granted unto them at this earnest
suit, Avhich is a discharge of all debts already owing to me by recusants ; and therefore
if they cast up now the great dowry that they are to give, remember that, by this
deed, I quit six and thirty thousand pounds of good rent, in England and Ireland."
Ibid. i. 445, 446. See also Cabala, 293—295. RushAvorth, i. 63. Dodd's Church
Hist. ii. 439. Prynne's Hidden Works of Darkness, 4 — 15, 40, 47, and Clarendon
Papers, i. 4 — 7- James would not probably have sworn to the private articles of thi3
treaty, had he not weakly promised to confirm whatever should be agreed upon by
the prince and the duke. (HardAvicke Papers, i. 417, 419.) And when he bound
himself to repeal the penal laws, it was with the reserve that to redeem such a pledge
would be impossible, and such waa the reservation both of Buckingham and Charles.

A. D. 1623.] JAMES I. 161
in which they had been trained. The substance of the duke's alle
gations for this purpose was, that in reality nothing had been done in
the treaty at Madrid before his arrival there ; that the Spaniards had
conducted affairs with treachery from first to last ; that the prince
had been very unhandsomely treated by that people, and that to their
conduct it must be attributed that the prince had returned to England,
without obtaining the hand of the Infanta, or the restoration of the Pala
tinate* . Charles, standing near the speaker, occasionally assisted his
memory, and attested the truth of his Avhole narrative. It is now well
known, that this relation was partial in most respects, and directly false
in others ; nor have the advocates of the character of Charles any mode
of saving his sincerity, except by representing him, at the age of three and
twenty, as incapable of judging with respect to things which he saw and
heard. It has been justly said, that the great misfortune of this Avhole affair
was the baneful effect it had on the character of Charles. " He Avas taught
to intrigue, to dissemble, to deceive. His subjects, soon after be mounted
the throne, discovered the insincerity of their prince. They lost all con
fidence in his professions ; and to this distrust may in a great measure
be ascribed the civil war which ensued, and the evils which befel both
the nation and the sovereign f ."
Bristol, who could readily have exposed the misrepresentations of
Buckingham, had been informed on his landing in England, _ . ,.
i • i -i • , -i i , ii r i • i/- Bristol is si-
that it was the king s pleasure he should confine himseli to ]enCed  War
his castle at Sherborne ; and, for the present, that noble- declared
man found himself obliged to submit to this arbitrary ° ln pain'
mandate, nor is it until the next reign that we find him making any ef
fectual complaint of his unmerited disgrace % . In the mean time, the
parliament, possessing only partial means of information with respect to
* The almost complete state to which this negotiation had been conducted by
Bristol before the arrival of Buckingham may be learnt from several of the autho
rities in the preceding note, particularly from Prynne, 14, 25. Hardwicke Papers,
i. 400, 498. Clarendon Papers, i. App. xxx. Buckingham's statement regarding the
insincerity of the Spaniards to the time of his own visit, and Bristol's reply, may be
seen in the Lords' Journals, 221, 226, 663.
¦f Lingard, ix. 293. That the character of Charles was thus injured in the course
of this proceeding is hardly doubtful. But Ave must not suppose that the bad ex
amples to which he was exposed Avere all on one side. At Madrid, he had to do
Avith a junta of divines, who thought of nothing, in their slow and wily plottings,
save hjw to make papists : — and Avhat was wanting in the arch-dealing of Olivares,
ivas supplied by the practiced duplicity of Gondomar, and by the services of an arro
gant knave who succeeded him in the country — the marquis of Ignioza. Hardwicke
Papers, i. 422, 426, 432, 437, 443, 448, 449, 458. It is manifest that, in the progress
of this negotiation, James had favoured someproject with regard to Holland' which
he was much concerned should be kept secret. Ibid. 405, 428. Cabala, 276.
J Bristol wrote several letters to James, after his arrival in England, soliciting that
he might be heard in his own defence, but without effect. Cabala, 101, 102. Those
letters, and others sent from Madrid after the departure of the duke, particularly
the "Answers to certain Interrogatories," must have enabled the king to judge '
pretty accurately as to the state of the case between the earl and the favourite. But
the creature of his bounty had now become the master of his actions. M

162 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
the conduct of the Spanish negotiation, and imbibing the popular enmity
against Spain, gave its willing assent to the account fabricated by the
duke, and came to a resolution which declared that the honour and safety
of the country demanded that the treaties respecting the marriage and
the Palatinate should be at once abandoned. This resolution was followed
by a royal proclamation, which described the said treaties as at an end,
and the sum of 300,000/. was voted to carry on a war against Spain, and
for the restoration of the Elector.
These seasons of peculiar excitement with respect to Catholicism abroad
_ . were generally marked by loud demands for the more severe
parliament — execution of the repressive laws at home. Buckingham, in
Impeachment his present career of hypocrisy and resentment, urged on
of Middlesex. . * , t /F J.. , .. ... . X- »
m the commons what James called ' a stinging petition
on this subject, but by the assistance of the lords it was rendered harm
less. The house next directed its attention to those grievances which
were rescued from the scrutiny of the last parliament by its sudden dis
solution. But the object which chiefly occupied its vigilance and energy,
was the prosecution of Cranfield, earl of Middlesex, on the charges of
deficiency, bribery, and oppression, in his office as lord treasurer and
master of the court of wards. Middlesex owed his public station to the
favour of the duke, but having recently offended his patron, he was now
surrendered as a peace-offering to the resentment of his enemies. Lord
Belfast, and the lord-keeper Williams, had also fallen under the dis
pleasure of the favourite ; but these sought and obtained a reconciliation,
the former by disclosing a somewhat successful intrigue on the part of
the Spanish ambassador with a view to injure the duke in the esteem of
the monarch, and the latter by exercising his ingenuity to remove the
suspicions which had been thus infused into the royal mind *. Middle
sex was less fortunate, and found almost his only friend in his sovereign.
James informed the house of lords, that the accused, instead of having
advised the dissolution of the last parliament, as was alleged, had opposed
that proceeding with the most earnest entreaties ; and added, that as in
many parts of his official conduct the treasurer had only to execute the
will of his sovereign, so in others it was impossible that the discharge of
his duties should be found in all respects free from error, or that his de
cisions, however justifiable in themselves, should fail to make him an
object of enmity.
The charges preferred against him were six in number, on four of
which the lords pronounced him guilty, though it was the persuasion of
many that his hands were clean, if compared with those of some who held
similar offices in that corrupt age. James deplored the proceeding on
several accounts, and with some passion admonished both Charles and
the duke, that they would live to have their fill of parliamentary im-
* Hacket's Life of Williams, 69—76- Cabala, 13, 14. 300; 301.

A.D. 1624.] JAMES I. 163
peachments. The occurrence, no doubt, did much to confirm the newly-
recovered right of the commons in this respect. It also led to an im
proved mode of conducting such prosecutions. Middlesex complained
that his adversaries had not allowed him more days to prepare for his
trial than they had themselves occupied weeks, and that while his op
ponents assailed him in extended succession, and might all of them
avail themselves of counsel, he had to meet them alone through eight
hours in the day, without the assistance of any one capable of rendering
him legal aid. It was from this time provided, that the accused should
be allowed copies of the depositions, both in his favour and against him,
and that, on claiming it, he should have the benefit of counsel *.
That the war to recover the Palatinate might be prosecuted with vi
gour, treaties either offensive or defensive were formed with
Sweden, Denmark, and the United Provinces ; — and, influ- enterprise un-
enced by their jealousy with respect to the political power aer count
of Austria, even France, Venice, and Savoy joined the pro
testant confederacy. Count Mansfield, Avhose reputation and ability as
a general were the elector's principal dependence, came to England, and
it was settled that, besides receiving the sum of 20,000/. per month, his
troops of mercenaries should be reinforced by 12,000 Englishmen. With
this force the count appeared before the island of Zealand, on his way to
the Palatinate, but the jealousy and inhumanity of the Dutch prevented
his landing, until a disease, generated in the crowded ships, had swept off
9000 of his followers. With the remainder he still directed his course
toward the Rhine, but at length found his numbers so diminished, as to
be obliged to restrict himself to the defensive f.
But if the attempt to recover the Palatinate proved thus disastrous, to
supply the place of the Infanta was less difficult. The hand
of the French princess Henrietta Maria was now solicited „„egotla.t,on..
r concerning the
for the English heir-apparent. Charles had obtained a marriage of
glance at Henrietta in the course of the single day Avhich Charles to
he passed in Paris, when on his journey to Madrid, but
without appearing to have derived any impression from it at the time.
Whatever had been conceded to the court of Spain in favour of the In
fanta was now claimed by the court of France in favour of the Bourbon
princess. This, as it respected the concessions to be made with regard
to the English catholics, had become a point of greater difficulty than
ever. Charles had lately sworn, that whensoever it should please God
to bestow on him any lady professing the catholic faith, she should have
* Pari. Hist. i. 1372—1477- Journals of Commons, 768. Clarendon, i. 41.
Hacket, 66, 67-
f Rushworth, i. 1 52 — 154. This is sometimes described as the only warlike en
terprise in the reign of James I. But in 1621 his majesty had been cajoled by the
Spaniards to attempt the taking of Algiers. The failure of that ill-conducted un
dertaking taught the pirates to direct their depredations against the vessels of Eng
land, as well as against those of the people from whom they had suffered so much
wrong — the Spaniards. Anderson's Hist. torn. ii. 8, 9.
M 2

¦ * HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X!.
no further liberty than for her own family, and no advantage to the recu
sants at home ; — the king was pledged to the same effect, and the judges
had received new instructions to enforce the existing laws against catholics.
It was at first agreed, that this part of the engagement should be secret,
that it should be signed by the king, the prince, and the secretary of
state, and that it should secure to the English catholics an exemption from
all injury in their persons, property, or conscience, on account of their
religion. But these provisions were deemed on reflection much too vague,
and it Avas in the end distinctly required by the French cabinet, that all
catholics recently imprisoned should be released; that the fines imposed
on such persons should be remitted, and that in future the private exer
cise of their worship should be without molestation. The English mo
narch and the prince began to dread a second failure ; and on these terms
a marriage was accomplished, the influence of which on the destiny of
the house of Stuart, and on the constitution of these realms, was to be of
no small amount *.
It was in the November of 1624 that James brought the long-agitated
question of the marriage of his son to this conclusion. On
James." tne twenty-seventh of March in the year following, the
king breathed his last, after an illness of fourteen days.
His malady consisted partly of a tertian ague, and partly of gout, aggra
vated by unskilful treatment and an aversion to medicine. Two children
only survived him, Charles and Elizabeth :— his death was in the twenty-
third year of his reign, and the fifty-ninth of his age.
The authority, and still more the influence possessed by the sovereign
at this period were such as to produce an intimate connexion
JameTl!r ° Detween his personal character and the complexion of his
reign. What the character of James was has appeared, on
the whole, in Avhat has already passed before us. It is not only true, as
stated even by his apologists, that all the virtues of this monarch suffered
from the contagion of the neighbouring vices, but that they were all so
unstable, that no one of them which seemed to affect him to-day could
be relied upon as certain to possess any decided influence over him to
morrow t. Nor is it enough to say that his generosity bordered on pro
fusion, — it should be added, that it had scarcely the slightest connexion
with principle, and that it often flowed in one direction, at the cost of
* Hardwicke Papers, i. 523—548—551—570. Rushworth, i. 152—168—169.
t The partial account of the character of James I. here adverted to, is that given
by Hume. This uncertainty of temper and conduct was so much a part of the cha
racter of James, that nothing can be more delusive than to judge of it by particular
incidents. " When, for example, I believe myself to have brought him and those
around him to the conclusion that they should not endeavour to effect anything in
France in favour of the Huguenots ; nay, when the king goes so far as to speak
slightingly of them, and to treat them as rebels, I suddenly receive information
from those who carefully observe his words and actions, that he is as if utterly al
tered, is calling on his subjects to stand by the Huguenots, and swearing he Avould
rather lose all his three croAvns than suffer Rochelle to be taken." Tillieres, Dis
patch, June, 1621. Raumer, ii, 256,

A.D. 1625.] JAMFS I. 105
justice and of the ordinary feelings of humanity in another. It may
be admitted that his native temperament did not incline him towards
cruelty ; but Avhen under the influence of persons who had acquired an
ascendency over him, or Avhen opposed in some of his favourite projects
or speculations, he was found capable of breaking through laws already
arbitrary and severe, for the sake of still greater severity. And his
judgment, applauded as it has sometimes been, and, on a partial view
of it, not without reason, Avas really not much less frail than his temper;
his shreAvdness at one hour, or on one topic, appearing Avholly to fail
him as the next occurred, and some portion of almost every speech
Avhich fell from him being in this respect not a little at issue with the
rest. It is remarkable that of all his favourite schemes, — and he had
many, — there was no one which he did not live to see a failure, those
concerning which he was most sanguine proving, in the end, the most
hopeless. Thus the union of the two kingdoms, the suppression of
English puritanism, the reconciling of his catholic subjects, the exten
sion of protestantism over Ireland, and of episcopacy over Scotland, the
establishment of certain arbitrary maxims in the place of acknoAvledging
the rights demanded by the people, and the marriage alliance with Spain,
all were matters which lay near the heart of the English monarch, and
all were long prosecuted, but no one of them accomplished. It is true,
the failure of the negotiation Avith Spain is not to be attributed altogether,
if at all, to the want of judgment in the king; but the commencement
and the obstinate prosecution of that affair, so unacceptable to his sub
jects, must be regarded in this light. His discernment Avas rather acute
than comprehensive or profound, and much more adapted to the small
matters of private life, than to the complex relations of a great empire.
We need not dwell on the pedantry and general vanity of this monarch,
nor on his Avant of personal courage; in all these respects he was
without an equal, and almost without a resemblance in the race of
English princes.
But in the character of James I. there were vices more censurable
than have yet been described. It was an evil of serious magnitude, that
a prince should have made it the great object of his reign to substitute the
despotic theory of the old civil laAv, in the place of the free principles
of the English constitution ; and that to gratify the men Avho flattered him
in this meditated Avrong against his people, and to be avenged on those
who endeavoured, though Avith the most studied decorum, to counteract
this evil purpose, he could be guilty of frequent acts of oppression. But
this Avas not all. The monarch Avho, Avhile pursuing this course, betrayed
weaknesses which must have made him an object of pity, was prone to
faults Avhich deserved a stronger reprobation, and a slave to vices Avhich
could not fail to make him an object of disgust. The contemporary writers
complain equally of his utter faithlessness, and his habitual profaneness*,
* Beaumont's Reports, Sept. 1603, in Raumer, ii. 202. "He Avouldmake agreat
deal too bold with God in his passion, both in cursing and swearing, and one strain

166 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
those who knew him most intimately, being but too well apprized that his
most solemn asseverations were not to be trusted * ; and they express
themselves astonished that a monarch claiming precedence of all princes
in matters of religion, should be found so much wanting with regard to
ordinary integrity, and an apparent reverence for sacred things. The great
source of these vices, and others, Avas intoxication, in which James in
dulged to a most degrading extent. A few months after his accession,
the English monarch gave the ambassadors of Denmark and Brunswick
a banquet, at which his majesty took charge of the honours of his house,
and having drunk for the space of five hours, fell senseless on the table
in the presence of his guests f. The propensity of the king in this respect
was noticed by the queen as leading necessarily to " an early and an evil
result," and was the principal reason assigned by her when urging that
the young prince of Wales should be committed to her care. In 1606,
James was represented on the stage as cursing and swearing, because he
had been robbed of a bird ; as beating a gentleman who had happened to
call off the hounds from the scent ; and as being drunk, at least, once a
day X . The monarch interposed to prevent a repetition of these exposures,
but continued to scandalize his subjects by a still freer indulgence in
the excesses to which they referred. Indeed the licentiousness of his
language and behaviour became such towards the close of his career as
not to admit of being described. The residence of the Duke of Buck
ingham was the place where strange orgies were often celebrated. " But
I have too much modesty," says the French ambassador, "to describe in
the terms of strict truth things which one would rather suppress than
commit in writing to ambassadorial dispatches, destined for the perusal
of exalted persons. They are such as even friends touch upon only with
reluctance in confidential letters. I have nevertheless sought out for the
most decent expressions which I can make use of to convey to you some
of the particulars, but I have not succeeded, whether because I am defi
cient in adroitness, or that it be actually impossible to lay these histories
before chaste ears." Subsequently, the ambassador was induced to become
more communicative, and the translator of his description, forbearing to
proceed, remarks, that the passage omitted adds a lamentable proof to
the many before extant of James's disgusting indecencies, and observes
that it is hard to read it, " without deriving the worst opinion of his
habits, and those of his favourites § ." The language in which the king's
friendship for Buckingham is described by the authority adverted to we
shall not venture to transcribe. It must be sufficient to say that an
higher, verging on blasphemy, but would, in his better temper, say, he hoped God
would not impute them as sins." Weldon, pp. 23, 181, 186.
* See pages 88, 160.
t Raumer, ii. 200, 220, 259—261, 266, 269, 274, 276, 278, 279. The sort of re
pentance Avhich sometimes followed the king's bursts of passion and profaneness, ge
nerally succeeded his fits of inebriation. Boderie, iii. 196, 197.
+ Villeroi to La Boderie, April 1606. Raumer, ii. 219, 220.
& See Tillieres in Raumer, ii, 260, 261, English Translation. London, 1835.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 167
"infamous licentiousness*," the very remembrance of which must
give " horrible displeasure j-," is said to have been the cause which
disposed the English monarch, in his later years, to avoid intercourse
Avith men of rank and understanding | . The reign of James was fol
lowed by that of his enemies, and it is still sometimes intimated, that his
memory has suffered unjustly from this cause. With what justice such
a conclusion has been formed, the above facts may enable the reader to
determine §.

Appendix.

Leading principles of the English Constitution — Authority of Parliament Avith re
spect to taxation — how infringed — Its legislative rights — how invaded — Adminis
tration of justice — Liberty of the subject — Courts of Star Chamber and High
Commission — Dispensing Power — Testimonies of Aylmer, Hooker, and Sir Tho
mas Smith, to the nature of the English Constitution and Government — Com
merce — State of London — Manners of the Court — Society in the Capital — and in
the Country — Literature, the Arts, Architecture, and Science. J
Before we proceed to the important reign of Charles the First, it may
be proper to advert in this place to various matters relating to the time
of his predecessor, some of which have been touched upon but lightly, if
at all, in the preceding narrative. Compared with the limits within which
we propose to exhibit the history of the house of Stuart, we have already
given Avhat may seem a disproportionate space to the reign of James the
First. But this has been done advisedly. By this method we have
hoped to render the causes of the events which characterize the reign
next in succession more evident, and our narrative as a whole more rea
dily intelligible.
* " Paillardice."
T " Deplait horriblement."
X Ibid., ii. 206, 269, 274—276, 278, 279.
§ Dalrymple's Memorials, i. 168, 169. Weldon, 102. 103. Somers's Tracts, with
Sir Walter Scott's Notes, ii. 488. This last authority Avill show how difficult it is
for the most candid mind to avoid these unfavourable conclusions as to the tenden
cies of this monarch, if fully acquainted with the information which has reached
us concerning him. With all this, too, religion was so far mixed up, that when the
countess of Buckingham, the mother of the favourite, turned catholic, the king held
a theological conference, or rather disputation, to reconvert her : — "and if souls are
to be converted by screaming, swearing, and denying God and all the saints," says
Tillieres (crier, jurer, et renier Dieu et tous les saints) "the countess has done very
wrong not to folloAv his doctrine.'' Raumer, ii. 271, 272. The true spring of this
protestant zeal on the part of the king, no doubt, was his vanity in such matters ;
and on the part of the favourite, the fear lest the incident should be made to work
him injury— particularly if employed for that purpose by the puritans. As to Buck
ingham, there is no want of charity in supposing him willing to become catholic, or
anything else, to which vanity or ambition might have prompted him.

168 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cil. XI.
Much has occurred in the preceding chapters to show the state of the
Leading Drin- -English constitution and government during this period.
ciples of the The two great principles of the constitution with which its
constitution : free(jom m ayj respects is mainly connected are, — first, that
Englishmen should not be taxed without their consent virtually given
through the medium of their representatives in the national council ; and
secondly, that the concurrent voice of lords and commons in parliament
assembled should be necessary to the adoption of every regulation having
the force of laAv. Long before James ascended the throne, both these
principles had been established by many enactments, and they were
generally acknowledged, though not so completely as to have been secure
from occasional attempts to break in upon them, even doAvn to a com
paratively recent period.
The great provision, which required that no tribute should be exacted
from the property of the subject without consent of parlia-
— its provision ... ,
Avith respect to ment, was sometimes infringed by the government in call-
the imposing jn„ for certain contributions under the name of a loan or
Ot t3\0S SOTW6"
times infringed a benevolence. These loans were obtained by means of
by the exaction royal letters, called privy seals, addressed to the persons
Benevolences re1uirecl to hecome contributors ; and the sums thus ob
tained were not only obtained without interest, but could
not be recovered by any process of law, — a benevolence Avas distinguished
from a loan as being a gift to the crown. As there Avas no law to autho
rize either kind of exaction, so there was no direct punishment that could
be inflicted on such as refused to part with their money when thus soli
cited. But the government, by quartering soldiers on such persons, or
by forcing them to go on some distant mission for the croAvn, possessed
the power of making such acts of disobedience both inconvenient and
costly. From a period considerably earlier than the accession of the
house of Tudor, it had not been pretended that this method of raising
money was the constitutional one, the plea on such occasions being that
of necessity, or peculiar emergency, to which the cumbrous movement of
assembling the council of the nation was not applicable. Besides the
provisions against all such exactions so expressly made in the Great
Charter, it was enacted in the twenty.-fifth year of Edward III., " that
no person should make any loan to the king against his will, because
such loans are against reason and the franchise of the land." Edward
IV. solicited a contribution from the country, under the name of a bene
volence. But, in so doing, according to Lord Bacon, he " sustained
much envy; " and during the reign of Richard III. another law was
enacted on this subject, which declares " that the king's subjects shall
from henceforth in no wise be charged by such charge, exaction, or im
position, called benevolence, nor by such like charge; and that such
exactions, called benevolences, before this time taken, be taken for no
example, to make any such, or any like charge of the king's subjects

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 169
hereafter, but shall be damned and annulled for ever." In the year
1492, Henry VII. Avould have evaded these important statutes, but the
attempt Avas resisted by the people, and in consequence abandoned. In
1505 he made a similar attempt with more success, and Avas fortunate
enough to escape the interposition of the legislature. Even in the
tyrannical reign of Henry VIII. an effort to raise money in contempt of
this prohibition led the people generally to remark, that " if men should
give their goods by a commission, then were it Avorse than the taxes of
France, and so England should be bond and not free." So loud indeed
were the complaints occasioned by this proceeding, that Henry deemed
it prudent to recall his warrants, and obtained the needed assistance by a
vote of parliament *-
It A\-ould have been quite in accordance with Elizabeth's high notions
concerning her prerogative, had she shown a disposition to
obtain her supplies in this manner : — but it is to be observed Elizabeth in
here, that through the course of the almost half century regard to loans
during which that princess occupied the throne, she ab- " seuev0"
stained from soliciting a single benevolence, and that not
more than two instances occur of her obtaining loans, both of which were
solicited to meet a pressing state of affairs, and both were honourably
repaid f. To avoid such applications to her people, Elizabeth is knoAvn
to have given twelve, and even fifteen per cent, for the loan of money on
her OAvn responsibility \ . James, Ave have seen, was much less scrupu-
* 1 Ric. III. c. 2. Stat. ii. Henry VII. c. 10. Hall, folio, p. 138. Bacon's History
of Henry VII., 602, 631.
f The first of these was on occasion of the northern rebellion, the second at the
time of the Spanish Armada. At the end of twelve months, the queen was not able,
according to her promise, to repay the first of these loans, and the collectors Avere
instructed to use all their influence with the lenders, that they might be "content
to forbear the demand for the space of seven months " — " at ivhich time, or before "
said her majestv, "you may assure them an undoubted payment.'' Murdin, State
Papers, 181.
t Murdin, 181,632. Haynes, 518, 519. Strype's Works, ii. 102, iii. 585. Brodie,
i. 248 — 266. It thus appears there had been just five attempts to raise money in the
manner adverted to, before the accession of the house of Stuart, onlv one of Avhich
can be said to have been madeAvith success. Yet Mr. Hume states that Elizabeth of/en
raised money in this Avay, and describes the practice as so common in the history of
the English government, that scarcely any one thought of questioning it. The bene
volence adverted to by this writer as declined by Elizabeth in 1585 was an ordinary
parliamentary supply, of which the term benevolence had long been, and still conti
nued to be, the frequent technical designation. In the only authority to which Mr.
Hume refers, this grant is expressly mentioned as made by " the parliament." In
D'Ewes's Journals, the word benevolence occurs, as denoting a regular parliamentary
grant, not less than twenty times. Brodie, i. 260—263. Mr. Hume has cited a
passage from Cotton's Abridgment of the Statutes, in which it is said that such
persons as had " reasonable excuse " for not lending to the king should not be put
to any "travail or grief" on that account; a laiv, says this historian, which "rati
fied the king's prerogative of exacting loans." It appears however that the Joan
referred to Avas one negotiated by the parliament with certain merchants ; and that
the men whose language Mr. Hume has cited were concerned to protest against the
issuing of privy seals with any threat or compulsion as contrary to the law of the
land, Rot, Pari. iii. 62, No, 30. 2nd Richard II. Cotton's Abridgment, 193, 194.

110 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
lous in this respect. Indeed to obtain money by such means was the
almost constant employment of his ministers, though, happily, with only
a moderate share of success.
But it was not merely by soliciting loans under the name of privy seals,
or gifts under the name of a benevolence, that the English government
had sometimes obtained pecuniary aid from the subject without consent
of parliament. In the earlier period of our history, the duty laid upon
merchandise at the ports, now known by the name of the customs, was
sometimes imposed, though contrary to an express provision of the Great
Charter, by the sole authority of the crown ; and while this power was
in any measure conceded to the government, the authority of parliament,
as the medium of taxation, was necessarily imperfect. James and his
ministers availed themselves of every precedent, however remote, in fa
vour of such exercises of the prerogative. With what success this Avas
done, has already appeared ; — an instance from the reign of Mary, which
upon examination totally failed, being the only semblance of a precedent
to be adduced in favour of this pretension on the part of the crown, from
the time of Edward III., a space of more than two centuries *. It was
not by such means, but principally by the sale of monopolies, that Eli
zabeth contrived to replenish her treasury beyond the extent in which
she judged it prudent to ask the assistance of her parliament. On this
subject her parliaments uttered loud complaints, and not without consi
derable success f.
This was in accordance with a statute of the 25th of Edward III., which required
that all existing loans should be paid, and declared that to compel men to lend was
contre reson, et la fraunchise de la lerre." Rot. Pari. ii. 239. No. 16. The loan ex
acted by Edward IV. was of the sort which Mr. Hume describes, but all the autho
rities he has cited describe it as a novelty.
* See pages 76, 77> of this volume. The reader who would study this great ques
tion in our constitutional history, must be particularly directed to the grand inquest
upon it, as set forth in the second volume of Howell's State Trials, pp. 373 — 534.
Dyer's Reports, 164, 165. Strype's Annals, i. 15. Sir John Davies's Avorkon Im
positions, which is a great authority with Hume, is composed on the assumption
that statutes on such a question can be pf no force, because the prerogative cannot be
restrained. f D'EAves, 653 — 659. Elizabeth, in prospect of her coronation, sent to the custom
house prohibiting the export of any crimson silk, until her own wants in that article
Avere supplied. This pitiable act of the great queen has been described as a specimen
of the freedom with Avhich English sovereigns could employ their prerogative to lay
on embargoes, and to extort money from traders. (Hume, Hist. Eliza. Ap.) But so
far was the queen from regarding herself as only doing a thing of course in this in
stance, that the persons required to see her pleasure accomplished were enjoined
" to keep the matter secret." Strype's Ann.i. 27. See Hargrave's Tracts, Pars ii.
c. 9. A considerable power in this respect is still left to the crown, the check on
which is found in public opinion, and in the provisions of laAv much older than the
age of the Stuarts, which forbid its being employed as a source of private profit.
In fact the laws in regard to the ports, and the regulating of foreign trade, were, in
substance, under Elizabeth, Avhat they are noAV.
Our laws respecting leaving the kingdom and entering to it had been, from an
early period, more or less arbitrary — but then it was thus as the effect of law, and
not, as sometimes represented, as matter of prerogative, though the instances in
which the law should be enforced rested, in this case, as in many others, very much
with the sovereign.
Mr.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX— JAMES I. 1*J1
Such, then, was the state of the first great provision of the constitution
on the accession of the house of Stuart — it was the laAv and Legislative
usage of the realm that its property should not be taxed power of par-
without consent of parliament. The second great principle ^s^ifring-
relates to the legislative power of parliament. This was ed by means of
less perfectly understood and secured than the former, but proclamations.
by no means so imperfectly as it has been sometimes represented. In
the reign of Henry VIII., a royal proclamation possessed nearly the
whole force of a statute ; but the servile enactment -which had conceded
this extravagant authority to that monarch Avas rescinded in the next
reign. In the reign of Elizabeth, however, proclamations were frequent,
principally in consequence of the long intervals between the meetings
of parliament. So long as these royal announcements were founded
on existing laws, they Avere, in the language of Sir Edward Coke, " of
great force," and their operation might be highly beneficial ; but the
evil Avas, that they sometimes made that to be an offence Avhich the laAv
had not so made, and led to the infliction of penalties in some cases, which
the law did not warrant. The dangers attendant on our foreign re
lations, and those domestic animosities which continued through the
whole reign of the last of the Tudors, made it almost necessary that
something like this temporary poAver of legislation should be vested in the
government, lest any sudden juncture of affairs, for Avhich existing enact-,
ments might not be found to have sufficiently provided, should prove
fatal to the state. Elizabeth sometimes abused the confidence thus
reposed in her discretion, but veiy rarely, and her subjects always
regarded this branch of her authority Avith peculiar jealousy*. James
issued proclamations in greater number than his predecessors, often as
suming the full tone of the legislator; but the degree in Avhich his injunc
tions were obeyed depended on the matter to which they referred, and on
the temper of the moment in Avhich they happened to be published. The
Mr. Hume mentions " new year's gifts from the nobility, and from the more con
siderable gentry," as a source of revenue to the croAvn under the Tudors. His
authority is Strype, Eccl. Mem. i. 137, from which it appears that Henry VIII., in
the year 1532, received presents of this sort from nearly forty persons, amounting to
somewhat less than 800/. Only fourteen of the contributors were laymen. The
attempt, however, to extort from this circumstance a proof of " the arbitrary man
ner'' in Avhich our sovereigns Avere Avont u to extort money " is almost ingenuous, if
compared with the effort of the same writer to deduce a precedent for sbip-money
from the voluntary supply of shipping and men by the sea-ports, when the country
was in expectation of the Spanish Armada.
* The proclamations of Elizabeth, which are often adverted to as showing the
arbitrary temper of her government, Avere mostly founded on preceding statutes, and
expressed, in a great degree, in the. language of those statutes. This cannot be said
of her well-known proclamation against the cultivation of ivoad, but the parliament
complained of this stretch of the prerogative, and the proclamation was recalled.
D'EAves, 652, 653. Townsend's Journals, 250. There is good reason to believe that
her alleged interference about the long ruffs Avorn by the gallants of her time never
took place ; and with respect to obliging those persons to wear shorter swords, she
had both reason and law for what was done. Strype's Ann., ii. 602, el seq. Coke,
3rd Inst. 162, and Chap. 73, 95. D'Ewes, 134, 188, 594. Stowe, ii. 441.

1*72 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
Star-chamber was the court where offences against proclamations were
especially cognizable *.
But a circumstance remains to be mentioned, AA'hich has to us much
Freedom of de- more the appearance of an infringement on the authority of
bate in parlia- parliament — we allude to the practice of the sovereign in
feet'' lmper" interfering with its debates, and requiring the suspension
of discussion^ with respect to any measure unacceptable to
the court. With us, the king is not supposed to know Avhat has been
doing in either house, until the result of successive deliberations has been
placed before him in the shape of a bill, to Avhich his assent is solicited,
that it may become a law. In the age of Elizabeth and James it Avas
otherwise, royal messages, having respect to the matters under considera
tion, being not unfrequently sent to the upper or lower house, and of
such a nature as to disturb very materially the independence of its pro
ceedings. But it should be added, that so early as the reign of Henry IV.
the commons obtained a law which promised them freedom from such
interruption f ; and that it was only on particular questions, as the suc
cession, or ecclesiastical affairs, that even Elizabeth ventured to meddle
thus Avith the course of things in the lords or commons, — nearly sixty
bills on ordinary subjects having regularly passed both houses in 1597,
to which her assent was refused at the end of the session J . It must be
observed also that this usage was not of a kind to affect existing enact
ments, its principal effect being to express the dissent of the crown during
the progress of a measure, instead of its being deferred, as at present,
until the deliberations of parliament have been brought to a close § .
*' The commons in 1610 presented a petition to the king, which, a/nong other
matters, complained of the increase of proclamations since his majesty's accession.
These are also described as being more frequently, in themselves, and in the manner
of their enforcement, contrary to law, so that the people were in fear lest these
matters should " grow up and increase to the strength and nature of laws, and in
process of time bring a new form of arbitrary government upon the realm." The
petitioners express their desire to be governed by that " certain rule of law, which
giveth both to the head and members that ivhich of right belongeth to them ; " and
they affirm it to have been the " indubitable right of the people of this kingdom,
not to be made subject to any punishment that shall extend to their lives, lands,
bodies, or goods, other than such as are ordained by the common laws of the land,
or the statutes made by their common consent in parliament." Howell's State
Trials, ii. 523, 524. Coke was required to give the king his opinion on this ques
tion, which maybe seen in his Reports, or in Howell, ii. 723 — 727. It is to the
effect of the passage above cited from the preamble of the Commons' petition. Indeed
the decision of the other laAV-officers, who Avere also consulted, Avas, " that the king
by his proclamation cannot create any offence, Avhich was not an offence before, and
that the king hath no prerogative but that which the law of the land allows him."
Ibid. These proceedings did much to bring the authority of proclamations Avithin
the limits prescribed to them by the constitution, — that is, as matters unknoAvn
to "the common laAV, statute laAv, or custom, and as of authority only Avhen
employed " to admonish subjects that they keep the laws." Coke's Reports, ubi
supra. ¦f- Miller's Historical View of the English Goverment, ii.
X The royal assent was at the same time given to fifteen private, and twenty-eight
public acts. Pari. Hist. i. 905.
§ Sir Thomas Smith, in his Treatise on the Commonwealth of England, states

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX  JAMES I. 113
Enough has appeared in the reign of James I. to show Iioav im
perfect Avas the administration of justice at this period,
particularly in cases where any state interest, or the pas- tj0„"0f 'justice
sions of the court, were concerned. In ordinary pro
ceedings betAveen man and man, the course prescribed by the law Avas
respected, except where the cause was of so much importance as to
expose the judges to the influence or the bribes of some powerful liti
gant*. But among the laAvs designed to protect the liberty and pro
perty of the subject, there Avas no one which might not be made to give
Avay Avhen the plea resorted to Avas the Avelfare of the state. And how
many were the matters Avhich might be dealt with as having a relation
to that object. The judges held their seats, not, as in our time, for life,
but during good behaviour ; and the jury, if they dared to return a
verdict contrary to the wishes of the government, were liable to be
brought into the star-chamber, Avhere to retract their judgment Avas the
only means of escaping from heaA'y fines, and from imprisonment deter
mined in its nature and duration by the pleasure of that tribunal. It
is true the instances in Avhich juries were so treated were not frequent ;
but so long as this state inquisition was allowed to spread itself in this
manner like an incubus over all the ordinary courts of justice, the most
valued securities held forth by the law were liable to be put in abey
ance. The judge, as the creature of the court, too commonly shared
in its virulence, whenever it appeared as a prosecutor ; and the terrors
that every new house of commons in his time, which was that of Edward VI. and
Elizabeth, Avas used to pray of the king, first, that they might "use and enjoy all
their liberties and privileges ; secondly, that they may frankly and freely say their
minds, in disputing of such matters as may come in question, and that without of
fence to his majesty; thirdly, if any should chance of that lower house to offend,
or not to do or say as should become him, or if any should offend, any of them being
called to that his highness's court, that they themselves might (according to the an
cient custom) have punishment of them." With all Avhich the sovereign promised
compliance, pp. 40, 41. That Elizabeth violated this provision of the constitution
so far as to commit certain members of the commons to the Tower for proceeding
Avith business Avhich she had interdicted is Avell known. The first act of this sort
was in the thirteenth year of her reign, Avhen the complaints of the house became
such, that the member was forthwith restored to his place. D'Ewes, 175, 176.
Mr. Yelverton said, among many things to the same effect, that " the princess could
not herself make laws, neither ought she, by the same reason, to break laws." Nor
Avas the correctness of this assertion at all questioned. The patriotic Wentworth,
who was committed three years later, was also restored to his seat in a manner which
equally indicated that the restraint laid upon him was known to be illegal. D'Ewes,
236 — 244. And for the spirit Avith which the commons could sometimes brave the
royal interdict, see p. 138.
* The ordinary form of proceeding in criminal cases presents a pleasing contrast
to what Avas exhibited in state prosecutions. " It Avill seem strange to all nations
that use the civil law of the Roman Emperors,'' says sir Thomas Smith, " that for
life and death there is nothing put in Avriting but the indictment only ; all the
rest is done openly in the presence of the judges, the justices, the inquest (jury),
the prisoner, and so many as will or can come so near as to hear it ; and all depo
sitions and witnesses given aloud, that all men may hear from the mouth of the
depositors and witnesses what is said." Commonwealth of England, p. 93. This
account, it will be remembered, is from the pen of a lawyer about the middle of the
sixteenth century.

1 '4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
which presented themselves to the eyes of a jury were sufficient to pre
vent their acting in the spirit of that institution, — as a barrier against
oppression *.
It must not, hoAvever, be supposed that the administration of justice
which was required by the law or usage of the times adverted to Avas in
all respects the same with what is familiar to us. If correct views
with respect to the history of English jurisprudence are to be formed, it
is of the first importance to distinguish between those failures of justice
which resulted from the character of the judge and of those who acted
under his directions, and such as may be fairly traced to the then imper
fect state of the laAv. Sir John Hawles, solicitor-general under William
HI., published a pamphlet relating to the trial of lord Russel, contain
ing some important remarks on that of sir Walter Raleigh. " I would
know," writes this lawyer, " by what law is the deposition of a person;
who might be brought face to face to the prisoner, read as evidence ; I
would know by what law Brooke's deposition of what the lord Cobham
told him of Raleigh was evidence against Raleigh ; I would know by
What law the story Dyer told of Avhat an unknown man said to him at
Lisbon of Don Raleigh was evidence against Raleigh ; I would know by
what statute the statute of the fifth of Edward VI. is repealed." It has
been justly remarked on this passage that it affords a very remarkable
proof with respect to the rapid growth of rational principles of evidence
in the course of the seventeenth century ; nearly every circumstance
here noticed as without the sanction of laAv having been in accordance
with it as understood and administered some eighty or ninety years
earlier. The judges in Raleigh's case might have appealed to the de
cisions of their predecessors, for a long period, in support of what they
did ; and accordingly it was not against them, as having given a corrupt
interpretation of the law, so much as against the jury, in having decided
as they did, on such unsatisfactory evidence, that the complaints of the
times were directed f. The question however still returns — Why did
the jury so decide? And the answer must be, because they feared the
consequences of doing otherwise. Hence it was not so much the imperfect
state of the law in regard to cases of treason which led to the condem
nation of Raleigh, as the terrors of a poAver which had often proved to
be stronger than the laAv. As much legal technicality might have been
urged in defence of the proceedings against Raleigh as in the case of
* Before the age of Elizabeth there Avere instances in which particular persons
were exempt from all lawsuits and prosecutions by warrants from the crown.
Elizabeth said) she Avould not allow the exercise of her prerogative in some cases of
this sort to be disputed. But two things are certain on this point ; first, that such
stretches of the prerogative were always rare, and secondly, that the judges had
repeatedly declared such proceedings to be against law, sheriffs being amerced for
not executing the" writs notwithstanding. Coke, 2d Inst., p. 56. also stat. 5th Ed.
II. c. 32; 2d Ed. III. u. 8 ; 14th Ed. III. st. i. c. 14 ; 2d Rich. II. c. 10; and pp.
135, 136, of this volume.
t Jardine's Criminal Trials, i, 513, 514.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX  JAMES I. 175
most of those persons whose lot it was to be brought to trial as state-pri
soners during the preceding reigns ; but in saying this we leave the jury
under the charge of pusillanimous injustice, and we have to trace that
injustice to the vice and tyranny of the government. Even in the age of
Elizabeth, it was not until the state prisoner appeared at the bar, and list
ened to his indictment, that he became fully aware of the charge against
him ; and then he was not only required to plead instantly, but had to
extract the matters of accusation from the maze of legal subtleties with
which they were interwoven. He might deny the charge, but the verbal
or Avritten depositions of absent parties, and parties often of the most
suspicious character, were admitted as evidence against him, while on
his own part he was not permitted to adduce any witness to attest his
innocence, or to impeach the witnesses of the crown. He had not the
assistance of counsel, and had at the same time to guard against a mul
titude of ensnaring questions pressed upon him by the counsel for the
crown, and by the judges. If pronounced guilty, his life and property
were at the mercy of the sovereign ; and if acquitted by the jury, they
received their punishment in the Star-chamber, while he was remanded
to his prison until some new ground of proceeding against him should be
made out, or to continue there as long as it should be the pleasure of the
government. It has been intimated, that some of these practices were not contrary
to law as it then existed. There are others, however, which were well
known to be illegal. But what did it avail that the law proclaimed the
injustice of the government, if the government, in its spirit of usurpation,
was strong enough to deprive the subject of the power necessary for
using it in his defence ? Nothing, for example, was more certain at
this period than that the application of torture was contrary to law, yet
nothing was more common than the use of it in these state prosecutions*.
The practice of dealing with state delinquents by way of parliamen-
* '¦' Torment or question, which is used by order of the civil laAv, and the custom
of other countries, to put a malefactor to excessive pain, to make him confess of
himself, or of his fellows, or complices, is not used in England, it is taken for
servile ; likewise confession by torment is esteemed for nothing. The people, not
accustomed to see such cruel torments, would pity the person tormented, and abhor
the prince and the judges who should bring in such cruelties amongs.t them, and
the twelve men would the rather absolve him." In cases of treason the same order
is prescribed, except that the penalty " is more cruel." Smith's CommonAvealth,
pp. 97, 98. Forteseue, chief justice under Henry VI., numbers it among the special
advantages of England to possess laws which knew nothing of this practice. De
Laud, Leg. Ang. 46. Coke, 3d Inst., 35. " The trial by rack is utterly unknoAvn
to the law of England." Blackstone, iv. 325. Elizabeth resorted to this practice
against certain Catholics accused of treason in 1583, when the proceeding excited so
much complaint, that lord Burleigh published a sort of apology for the government
on this account (Somers' Tracts, Scott's ed. i. 211); and the queen herself or
dered the practice to be discontinued. Camden, 497. Her threatening to put
sir John Hayward to the rack on account of his dedicating a book to the earl of
Essex is grossly misrepresented by Hume. Enough appears to make it certain
that this cruel usage, however frequently it may have been employed as an instru
ment of prerogative, and by authority of a warrant from the council, Avas one to
Avhich the common law gave no sanction.

1*76 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
tary impeachment, which was revived under James, and the improve
ments introduced in the mode of conducting such prosecutions subse
quent to the trial cf the earl of Middlesex, were important acquisitions
in favour of more regular government, the high court of parliament being
much more independent than the ordinary courts of laAV. The stream
of national justice was further purified by the many prosecutions on
charges of bribery aud corruption.
Under governments so much disposed toward encroachment on
popular freedom, as Avere those of the house of Tudor, it
subject. was not t0 nave been expected that the liberty of the sub
ject would always be held sacred, inasmuch as the powers
of arresting obnoxious persons at pleasure, without being obliged to
assign any cause for such acts, or being under the necessity of bringing
such persons to trial, is that to Avhich arbitrary princes have generally
clung Avith the utmost tenacity. During the reign of James, individuals
were liable to arrests of this nature. But these commitments, Avhich
generally took place on the most vague pretences, Avere not very frequent,
except in the case of some popular members of the lower house. They
were, however, sufficiently numerous to be regarded with alarm, as pre
cedents of the most dangerous description. Elizabeth had shown a
resolute inclination to indulge in this species of tyranny : but even her
judges were united in declaring it to be the laAV of the land that no
subject should be deprived of his liberty Avithout a specified and lawful
cause; and consistently with this declaration, they opposed the justice
of the laAV, from time to time, to the passions of the court, by releasing
many persons who had been illegally committed*. Nothing could be
more pitiable than the attempt to vindicate the conduct of the court in
this respect in the memorable debate concerning it soon after the death
of James. On that occasion the generous provisions of Magna Charta,
and of many subsequent statutes, were adduced, and to these the de
fenders of arbitrary power had absolutely nothing to oppose save certain
instances of violence in the conduct of successive governments which
those laws had been expressly framed to prevent. It Avas natural that
James should be more disposed to copy the irregularities of his pre
decessors in this respect, than that he should bow to the spirit of freedom
which pervaded our ancient statutes. The great check on such acts
was in the rising spirit of liberty among the people, which, during the
sittings of parliament, spoke out without restraint in the lower house.
But we have seen that even this medium of resistance was not suffi
cient to restrain the conduct of the government in all cases Avithin the
limits of the constitution j\
* Anderson's Reports, i. 297, 298. In the ordinary course of affairs the judges
went their circuits once in six months, when " all prisoners in the gaoles " were
brought to trial ; and if not convicted, ivere released. Smith's Commonwealth,
p. 88.t See pages 91, 151, 152, of this volume.

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 177
The means, however, which enabled the government of those times
to invade the privileges of the subject Avith most success Avere found in
the constitution and the usurpations of the courts of Star-Chamber and
High Commission : — the former being, in its abused and corrupted state,
a species of Inquisition, employed to awe down every appearance of in
subordination in the state, and the latter being instituted to perform the
same office with regard to the church.
There are f&w points in our constitutional history to Avhich more
learning has been applied than to the question respecting
the origin of the court of S tar-Chamber; and still the best ^0,ul'to/ Star-
1 • ¦ ....,,, Chamber.
authorities, and those not ahvays distinguished from each
other by any strong political bias, are found at issue on the subject. It
is, however, unquestionable that the king and his ordinary council did
exercise some judicial functions, more or less frequently and vigorously,
from the Norman conquest doAvnwards ; taking under their management
various cases in Avhich the strength or multitude of the parties offend
ing was viewed as requiring the interference of a stronger arm than that
to Avhich the ordinary administration- of justice Avas committed. There
were cases also Avhich became difficult from the imperfect state of legis
lation that were sometimes referred to this tribunal : — and indeed in the
whole of its proceedings the king's council acted much on the principle
of our courts of equity, the object of its interference being, at least pro
fessedly, to meet various important cases for which the ordinary courts
of law were not found capable of affording a sufficient remedy. But it
is also unquestionable, that the power thus assumed by the king and the
great officers of his court came to be regarded by the nation at an early
period \Aith much jealousy, and that statute after statute was framed to
put an end to such interferences, as being in themselves, and, in their
matters of cognizance, and their modes of procedure, contrary to laAV —
particularly to the provisions of the Great Charter, which require that
no man shall be judged except by his peers, and by the law of the land.
When the aristocracy exercised their power so as to deprive the inferior
portions of the community of the benefit of the law, it was not unna
tural that the sufferer should thus fly to the protection of the croAvn ;
and as the poAver thus acknowledged in the regal council would have a
tendency to increase, and to stretch itself beyond the province of strict
emergency, it is not at all surprising that the parties who contributed
to its increase at one time, are found endeavouring to repress it at
another. With this latter view it was enacted in the fifth year of Edward III.,
" That no man henceforth should be attacked by any accusations, nor
forejudged of life or limb, nor his lands, tenements, goods, nor chattels,
seized into the king's hands, against the form of the Great Charter and
law of the land." In the fifteenth year of the same prince, this evil was
still matter of complaint ; and in his twenty-fifth, twenty-eighth, thirty-
N

H8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [qH. XI.
seventh, thirty-eighth, and forty-second years, further and more explicit
enactments were passed, reiterating the claims of Englishmen to be
judged — not by the lords in council, but in the ordinary courts, and
according to law. A statute to the same effect Avas passed in the first
year of Richard II. ; and to a petition on the subject the year following,
it was said from the throne, that the king deemed it proper' his subjects
should be obliged to appear before him for a reasonable cause, though he
should always remand their final answer as to their freeholds for trial as
the law required, provided always, that where " the common law cannot
have her course, in such case the council may send for the party upon
whom the complaint is made, to make his answer for contempt, and
furthermore to compel him to find sureties by oath, or in other manner
for his good behaviour, and that he shall not by himself, or by any other,
commit maintenance, or other thing which may disturb the course of
the common law." This language shows in what cases the council
was expected to act, and exhibits its authority as very different from
that of a permanent or ordinary court of justice. In the thirteenth
year of the same reign a law was passed which declared that no man
should be bound to appear before the lords of the council ; and if Henry
IV, some years later, promised only a partial compliance with a similar
demand, the unsettled state of the kingdom for some time after his ac
cession was perhaps a sufficient justification of his conduct. Under
the Lancastrian princes, these, and some other grievances, were lessened,
but several remonstrances on this point occur in the proceedings of par
liament during the minority of Henry VI., and from this time the func
tions of the king's council became very much blended with those of the
chancery *.
It is true there was a law made under Richard II., and another under
Henry IV, framed purposely to recognize those powers in the council
which the several statutes adverted to were designed to limit or suppress.
But there are circumstances which make the intention of the former statute
in some respects very uncertain ; while the latter, which was to exist but
for seven years, left it at the option of every man to traverse his cause
from before the lords of the council to the King's Bench, there to be
determined as the law required. Thus the power ceded was temporary,
and simply that the law should not be evaded.
It was, however, out of the practice of this council, that the court
arose, which, from the place of its meeting, became known under the
Tudor princes by the name of the Star-chamber. It consisted origi
nally of the members of the council ex officio, to whom were added
certain of the temporal and spiritual peers, and two of the judges ; and
in its ultimate form it took cognizance of almost every suit and delin
quency, embraced almost every form of examination, and while its laws
of eA'idence (if it can be said to have had such at all) were even more
* Rot. Pari, iv., 189, 292 343, 403, 501.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 179
loose and dangerous than those of the minor jurisdictions, it possessed
the power of inflicting any punishment short of death, and the actual
dispossession of freeholds. By a statute in the third year of Henry VII.,
somewhat of a legal establishment had been given to this tribunal ; but
it was still restricted to its original design, viz., to prevent evasions of
the law ; taking cognizance principally, as we are informed by Bacon,
of four kinds of causes, " forces, frauds, crimes various of stellionate,
and the inchoations or middle acts towards crimes capital or heinous, not
actually committed *." It is from the time of Wolsey, and from the
statute which he obtained for the purpose, that the modern complexion
of this court is to be traced. Subsequently, its powers fell into the
hands of the privy council, and the precedents of its functionaries were
put in the place of the laws of the realm ; and from that period it be
came a work of great difficulty to protect any part of the constitution
against its encroachments. While in civil suits which circumstances
sometimes brought before it, evidence was admitted that would not
have been received in the courts of law; in criminal cases it visited
the alleged criminal intention, and on very slight grounds, with much of
the punishment due only to the overt act. To utter a scandalous report
of a man in power, or to spread news which might be injurious to the
character of the government, was enough to warrant the charge of se
dition, and to expose the offender to the loss of nearly every thing short
of life.
While human nature continues what it is, the history of a court so
constituted must be in a great degree the history of oppression. It was
natural that its terrors should be employed to enforce loans, to intimidate
juries, and to give the authority of law to royal proclamations. In tur
bulent times the operation of this discretionary power had been in
many instances advantageous, but before the decease of Elizabeth the
necessity for its exercise was of very rare occurrence. The following
account of its original uses, from the pen of a writer in the early part of
that reign, will show that we are not to judge with respect to the inten
tion or utility of an institution at one period, from its abuses at another.
" It is the effect of this court to bridle such stout noblemen or gentlemen
which would offer wrong by force to any manner of men, and cannot be
content to demand or defend the right by order of the law. It began
long before, but took augmentation and authority at that time that
cardinal Wolsey, archbishop of York, was chancellor of England, who of
some was thought to have first devised that court, because that he, after
some intermission, by negligence of time, augmented the authority of it :
which was at that time marvellously necessary to do, to repress the
insolency of the noblemen and gentlemen in the north parts of England,
who, being far from the king and the seat of justice, made almost, as it
were, an ordinary war among themselves with their tenants and"servants,
* Bacon's Henry VII., Works, ii. 290.] N 2

180 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH.Xr,
to do or avenge an injury one against another as they listed. This
seemed not supportable to the noble prince Henry VIII., and sending
for them one after another to his court, to answer before the persons so
named, after they had remonstrance shoAvn them of their evil demeanour,
and been Avell disciplined, as well by words as by fleeting awhile, (impri
sonment in the Fleet,) and thereby their pride and courage somewhat
assuaged, they began to range themselves in order, and to understand
that they had a prince who AA'ould rule his subjects by his law and
obedience. Since that time, this court hath been in more estimation, and
is continued to this day in manner as I have said before*." But
expedient as such a provision may have been in those rude and unsettled
times, the state of society in England when the sceptre psssed from the
Tudor to the Stuart dynasty was such as to preclude the necessity for
so dangerous an engine of power. Nothing, however, was farther from
the intention of James and his successor, than that the court of S tar-
Chamber should cease to exist, or that it should become at all less
arbitrary or less active than in preceding reigns.
The Court of High Commission Avas instituted to ascertain and correct
all heresies and disorders subject to ecclesiastical authority.
Commission According to the commission issued in 1 583, this tribunal
consisted of forty-four persons, including tAvelve prelates,
and the majority of the privy council, besides the members chosen from
among the civilians, and the clergy generally. It devolved on these
persons to inquire from time to time, either by the oaths of twelve good
and lawful men, or by such other lawful means as they could devise,
with respect to all contempts and offences contrary to the Acts of
Supremacy and Uniformity. It was their province to take cognizance
of seditious books, heretical opinions, false rumours or talks, and slan
derous words ; and of a variety of offences against good morals ; and in
so doing they were accustomed to examine suspected persons upon oath,
and punished contempt of their authority not only by the sentence of
excommunication, but by fines and imprisonment; and it was deter
mined by the commissioners that these serious penalties might be
inflicted by any three of their number, one of them being a prelate.
The court of High Commission, therefore, was a kind of national
bishops' court, with enlarged powers, embracing those questions of
religion and morality which had pertained to the jurisdiction of the
clergy during the middle ages. From all the provincial bishops' courts
an appeal lay to this superior tribunal/ It should be added, that the
creation of this court was the act of the first parliament under Elizabeth,
and that five commissions relating to it had been framed before that of
1583. * The Commonwealth of England. Ed. 1621, pp. 105— 109. Coke is a treache
rous guide respecting the history of the Court of Star Chamber, partly, there is
room to fear, from his having for a short time possessed a seat in it. 4 Inst. c. 5.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 181
As these commissioners were selected in nearly equal numbers from
the laity and the clergy, it was to be expected that their jurisdiction
would not prove to be purely of an ecclesiastical character. Had the
penalties awarded by these functionaries been restricted to excommuni
cation in the case of the laity, and deprivation in the case of the clergy,
the former sentence alone exposed the person on whom it was pro
nounced to many weighty grievances as a subject. But to this means
of enforcing obedience these guardians of the ecclesiastical state added
direct fines and imprisonment; and, as Ave have elsewhere observed*,
it was this encroachment of a jurisdiction Avhich should have been
strictly ecclesiastical, on the province of the courts of law, which ren
dered the court of High Commission so much an object of dislike with
the friends of liberty generally. During the reign of James, the puri
tans, and every succeeding house of commons, did themselves honour
by the temper and intelligence with which they exposed and resisted
the usurpations and the dangerous usages of this poAver. Nor should
we forget to mention the patriotic conduct of Sir Edward Coke in this
respect. The commons, indeed, would have abolished this instrument of
arbitrary rule, but the utmost that could be at present accomplished was
to limit its excesses f.
We have had occasion to notice the complaints of the commons during
the reign of James with respect to the partial enforcement
of the laws against catholics ; and this practice of the Bo™"slDg
crown in enforcing certain statutes very much at its dis
cretion, and in sometimes conferring on individuals a dispensation from
the penalties of particular enactments, was an irregularity in the Avorking
of the English government that could not be too seriously deplored. It
must always be admitted that someAvhat of a dispensing power pertains
to the crown so long as the king is allowed to pardon criminals, and is
* See pages 113, 114, and 115 of this volume.
f Howell, ii. 522 — 524. Dalrymple's Memorials, i. 24 — 25. In the statute of
the first year of Elizabeth, on which this court was founded, it is distinctly laid
down that the only matters to come under the cognizance of the commissioners
were violations of law, and the means employed for the correction of such matters
are limited to those Avhich should be according to law. The successive commis
sions under the Great Seal, though still preserving much of the constitutional
language of the original state, became more and more ambiguous and dangerous —
the last expressly empowering the commissioners to use the oath exofficio, and to
award fines and imprisonments. An appeal lay from such penalties to the courts
at Westminster, and the aid of the common law was sometimes thus sought and
obtained. But many chose rather to submit to the present evil than, by provoking
resentment, to incur a greater. Of the fines imposed in Elizabeth's time, it does not
appear that one Avas levied by any judicial process, and this last commission was
never enrolled in the court of Chancery, apparently from a fear lest its legality
should be questioned. Coke, 4th Inst. 326, 331, 332. In the forty-second year of
Elizabeth, one Simpson killed an officer of the commission court, who attempted to
make a forcible entry into his house by virtue of a warrant from that authority,
and the judges acquitted him, declaring that he had only availed himself of the
protection of the law. The tyranny of this court reached its highest point under
Charles I.

182 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
not bound legally to prosecute in any particular instance. But uiider
the Tudor princes this power was not confined to such narrow limit's,
though, according to sir Edward Coke, " all grants of the benefit of any
penal law, or of power to dispense with the law, or to compound for the
forfeiture, are contrary to the ancient fundamental laws of the realm *."
This was no doubt the view of the case generally entertained during the
age of Elizabeth, and, in consequence, the occasional abuses of this na
ture which occurred were exceedingly unpopular.
This brief review of the state of the English Constitution and Govern
ment when the Stuart family came to the throne cannot perhaps be
better concluded than by appealing to the direct testimony of some
observant and well-informed persons at that period. Aylmer, bishop of
London, in the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, published a work,
the object of which was to show that the sceptre of England might
be safely entrusted to the hands of a woman, in which he thus ex
presses himself: — " Well, a woman may not reign in England ! Bet
ter in England than any where, as it shall well appear to him, that,
without affection, will consider the kind of regiment. While I compare
ours with other, as it is in itself, and not maimed by usurpation, I can
find none either so good or so indifferent. The regiment of England is
not a mere monarchy, as some for lack of consideration think, nor a
mere oligarchy, nor democracy, but a rule mixed of all these, wherein
each one of these have, or should have, like authority. The image
whereof, and not the image but the thing indeed, is to be seen in the
parliament house, wherein you shall find these three estates, the king or
queen, which represents the monarchy ; the noblemen, which be the
aristocracy; and the burgesses and knights, the democracy. If the
parliament use their privileges, the king can ordain nothing without
them ; if he do, it is his fault in usurping it, and their fault in permit
ting it. Wherefore, in my judgment, those that in Henry the Eighth's
days would not grant him that his proclamations should have the force
of a statute, were good fathers of the country, and worthy commendation
in defending their liberty. But to what purpose is all this ? To declare
that it is not in England so dangerous a matter to have a woman ruler
as men take it to be. For first, it is not she that ruleth, but the laws,
the executors whereof be her judges appointed by her, her justices, and
such other officers. Secondly, she maketh no statutes or laws, but the
honourable court or parliament ; she breaketh none, but it must be she
and they together, or else not. If, on the other part, the regiment were
such, as all hanged on the king's or queen's will, and not upon the laws
written ; if she might decree and make laws alone, without her senate ;
if she judged offences according to her wisdom, and not by limitation of
statutes aiid laws, if she might dispose alone of peace and war ; if, to
be short, she were a mere monarch, and not a mixed ruler, you might,
* Reports, part vii. p. 63.

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 183
peradventure, make one to fear the matter the more, and the less ts
defend the cause*."
Hooker, whose views on such a topic must be entitled to the greatest
deference, remarks t — " I cannot but choose to commend highly their
wisdom, by whom the foundation of the commonwealth has been laid,
wherein though no manner of person or cause be unsubject to the king's
power, yet so is the power of the king over all, and in all limited, that
unto all his proceedings the law itself is a rule. The axioms of our
regal government are these : Lex facit regem — The king's grant of any
favours made contrary to the law is void; — Rex nihil potest nisi quod
jure potest — what power the king hath, he hath it by law : the bounds
and limits of it are known, the entire community giveth general order by
law, how all things publickly are to be done, and the king, as the head
thereof, the highest in authority over all, causeth, according to the same
law, every particular to be framed and ordered thereby. The whole
body politic maketh laws, which laws give power unto the king ; and
the king having bound himself to use according to law that power, it so
falleth out that the execution of the one is accomplished by the
other J."
It will occasion less surprise that the author of the Ecclesiastical Polity
should express himself thus, when it is remembered that these views had
been published long before, not only by Aylmer, but by a writer pos
sessing more of a kindred spirit with the great defender of the Anglican
church. This writer, to Avhose work we have already adverted more than
* The work from which this extract is taken Avas published in 1559, in answer
to a pamphlet by Knox against female sovereignty, which the reformer had pub
lished during the reign of Mary. Knox's work Avas intitled as against the " Mon
strous Regiment of Women."
f It has been justly said that this writer's account of the origin of society abso
lutely coincides with that of Locke. He affirms that without the consent of a
primary contract, "there were no reasons that one should take upon him to be lord
or judge over another ; because, although there be, according to the opinion of
some very great and judicious men, a kind of natural right in the noble, wise, and
virtuous, to govern them which are of a servile disposition ; nevertheless for ma
nifestation of this their right, and men's more peaceable contentment on both
sides, the assent of them who are to be governed, seemeth necessary — the lawful
power of making laws to command whole politic societies of men, belonging so pro
perly unto the same entire societies, that for any prince or potentate of what kind
soever upon earth to exercise the same of himself, and not either by express com
mission immediately and personally received from God, or else by authority received
at first from their consent upon whose persons they impose laws, it is no better
than mere tyranny. Laws they are not, therefore, which public approbation has
not made so. But approbation not only they give, who personally declare their
assent by voice, sign, or act, but also when others do it in their names, by
right originally at the least, derived from them. As in parliaments, councils, and the
like assemblies, although we be not personally ourselves present, notwithstanding
our assent is by reason of other agents there in our behalf. And Avhat we do by
others, no reason but that it should stand as our deed. B. i., sect. 10. Against
all equity it were that a man should suffer detriment at the hands of men, for not
observing that which he never did either by himself or others, mediately or imme
diately, agree unto." Ecclesiastical Polity, Book i. sect. 10, Book viii. sect. 8.
X Ecclesiastical Polity, Book viii. passim.

184

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. |_CH. XI-

once, was Sir Thomas Smith, a lawyer and a philosopher, who held the
office of principal secretary to Edward VI. and Elizabeth. " The most high
and absolute power of the realm of England," he says, " consisteth in the
parliament. Upon mature deliberation every bill or laAV, being thrice read
and disputed upon in either house, the other two parts, first each apart,
and after the prince himself, in presence of both the parties, doth consent
unto and alloweth that is the prince's and Avhole realm's deed : Avhere-
upon justly no man can complain, but must accommodate himself to find
it good and obey it. That which is done by this consent is taken for law.
The parliament abrogateth old laws, maketh neAV, giveth order for things
past, and for things hereafter to be followed, changeth right and posses
sions of private men, legitimateth bastards, establisheth forms of religion,
altereth Aveights and measures, giveth form of succession to the crown,
defineth of doubtful rights whereof is no law already made, appointeth
subsidies, tailes, taxes, and impositions, giveth most free pardons and
absolutions, restoreth in blood and name, as the highest court condemneth
or absolveth them whom the prince will put to that trial. And in short,
all that ever the people of Rome might do, either in centuriatis comitiis
or tributis, the same may be done by the parliament of England, which
representeth and hath the power of the whole realm, both the head and
the body*."
. These passages will suffice to show what the 'great principles and
theory of our constitution really were in the judgment of the best in
formed men, during the reign of Elizabeth and James. That the con
duct of our rulers was sometimes at variance with these principles is
confessed, but the great point to be observed here is, that the usurpations
of a government do not alter the nature of a constitution f. It is ad-
* Commonwealth of England, pp. 36, 37. The puritan leader Cartwright, Hook
er's great antagonist, expresses himself on the nature of the English constitution in
the following terms : — " In respect of the queen it is a monarchy, in respect of the
most honourable council it is an aristocracy, and having regard to the parliament
which is assembled of all estates, it is a democracy." Reply to Whityoft, p. 35
and 145.
f Mr. Hume says, as the result of his researches on this subject, " 1 have notmet
Avith anv English writer of that age, (the age of Elizabeth and James,) Avho speaks
of England as a limited monarchy, but as an absolute one, Avhere the people have
manv privileges." Note 2, vol. vi. It was not, according to this historian, until
the time of the Stuarts that any doctrine opposed to the " simple and unmixed "
monarchy of England " began to be promulgated," nor Avould any man, previous to
the time of Charles I., have been permitted to speak of democracy as an element of
the constitution ; and as to the power of arbitrary imprisonment, of erecting mono
polies, and of doing many similar things, it had not for almost three centuries been
" once called in question " ! Hist. Ap. to James I. Mr. Hume's principal authority
in support of his opinion that the English people under the Tudors regarded the
constitution of their country as an " unmixed monarchy " is Raleigh's Prerogative of
Parliaments — a work which Avas composed at the instance of James I., and dedicated
to him ; and Avhich, notwithstanding the sort of concessions to the power of the
crown which our author has culled from it, Avas Avritten for the purpose of teaching
just the opposite doctrine to that Avhich has been professedly founded upon it. The
object of Raleigh is to show that in making laws, raising money, declaring war,
concluding peace, and even in appointing his ministers aud judges, the king should

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX  JAMES I. 185
mitted that the free spirit of our old enactments Avas defended with a
degree of intelligence and generosity of sentiment in the reign of
James I. which had not previously existed. On the other hand it was
reserved to that monarch to place those, enactments in new peril, by the
novel usage of opposing to them the despotic assumptions of the old
Roman laAv.
The commerce of England in this age, notwithstanding the impediments
placed in its Avay by the ignorance or cupidity of the go
vernment, continued to increase. ToAvards the close of ommeice. .
Elizabeth's reign, the customs Avere farmed at 50,000/. annually. In
1613 the total of this branch of revenue exceeded 148,000/., and in
1622 it amounted to more than 160,000/. In 1613 the customs from
the exports exceeded those from the imports by about one-third. In
1622 complaints respecting the decline of trade had become loud and
general ; and not without an apparent cause, as the comparison of the
exports and imports of the year presents a balance against the nation of
300,000/. Several causes bad contributed to this result. The Dutch
had so far improved their woollen manufactures, as to compete successfully
with our merchants in the foreign markets. This staple portion of our
commerce Avas further injured by disputes Avhich arose between our sepa
rate traders and the company of merchant-adventurers. At the same
time our almost total neglect of the herring and cod fisheries, while the
Dutch Avere occupying themselves in such undertakings with the greatest
ardour, tended to increase the wealth, and the naval power of Holland,
at the expense of England.
All the more important branches of commerce during this age were
carried on through the medium of companies ; and these chartered bodies
might be found, not only in the metropolis, but in many parts of the
country, as at Bristol, Southampton, and Exeter. The company of mer
chant-adventurers in the last named place claimed their privilege in part
on account of the ignorance of a great number of persons who took upon
them " to use the science, art, and mystery of merchandise." But a
more substantial argument in such cases was the necessity of a larger
not act Avithout the concurrence of parliament. It has been justly remarked,
(Edin. Rev. xl. 114.) that there is, indeed, no Avork of that age, which contains such
large and profound views of the change that had taken place in the structure of
society, aud of the peculiar hazards to which the monarch would then be exposed by
attempting to extend his prerogative. Having adverted to the circumstances Avhich
broke down the power of the feudal aristocracy, he says, " thus the force by which
our kings in former times were troubled is vanished away. But the necessities re
main. The people, therefore, in these later ages, are no less to be pleased than
the peers before ; for as the latter are become less, so, by reason of the training
through England, the commons have all ihe weapons in their hands." And a little
after, to the same effect. " The power of the nobility being now withered, and the
power of the people in the flower, the care to content them would not be neglected ;
the way to Avin them often practised, or at least to defend them from oppression,
The motive of all dangers that ever this monarchy hath undergone, should be care
fully heeded ; for this maxim hath no postern, potestas hitmana radicutur in vo-
li/Ntatibus hominum" — The source of human power is in the Avill of the people.

186 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. XI.
capital than private adventurers could furnish. During the reign of
James, associations of this nature were formed, or revived, for the purpose
of founding colonies or marts in Russia, France, the Levant, Newfound
land, Virginia, (including in those times the whole of English America,)
Western Africa, and the East Indies. We have seen how far the spirit
of monopoly, which pervaded these enterprises, was extended by the vices
of the government to our domestic trade, every kind of occupation or
manufacture from which money might be extorted being brought under
royal patents for that object.
It was not always the case, however, that the privileged bodies were
strictly joint-stock companies, though before the close of this reign they
had generally assumed that character. The profits obtained by the
Dutch East India Company at this juncture, who were making head
rapidly against the Portuguese, were such as to yield a dividend varying
from year to year between twenty and fifty per cent. The enterprise of
our own country reduced the price of Indian commodities full three-fourths
to the English consumer. The profits of this trade were of course great
both to the company and the country. The export of less than 40,000/.
to India led to an export of the produce of that country from England
valued at more than five times that amount. The heaviest vessel em
ployed in this trade in 1614, was someAvhat less than fifteen hundred,
tons. The vessels employed in our entire commerce were, including
great and small, about a thousand, but it was matter of frequent com
plaint that our coals, and other productions, were carried to different
parts of the world by foreign vessels.
Pacific as was the reign of James, the English ships of war increased
under that monarch to double the number left him by his predecessor,
though even yet they were little more than twenty. In 1623 the in
terest of money in England was reduced by law from ten to eight per
cent. By a law passed twenty years before, the exportation of corn was
forbidden when below 1/. 6s. 8d. per quarter. This law restricted the
exportation of other grain after the same manner. The tonnage and
poundage, of which so much mention is made in this period of our history,
consisted, — the former of a payment of so much per ton on the wine im
ported, and the latter, of one shilling on every twenty shillings' worth of
goods exported or imported, with exceptions as to a few specified articles.
In 1608 James was induced to make an experiment with regard to
the staple of our commerce, — woollen cloths, which should be noticed in
this place, as showing the still imperfect state of our manufacture with
respect to that article, and also the great evil of allowing commercial re
gulations to depend ou the will of the crown or of its ministers. English
artizans manufactured our wool into cloth, but it was still conveyed to
Holland to be dressed and dyed. James listened to a merchant who pro
posed that the dressing and dyeing should be done at home, and that
England should no longer allow herself to be despoiled in so great a degree

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX  JAMES I. 181
of the fruit of her labours by Holland. A proclamation was accordingly
issued, which prohibited the exportation of cloth in the white, as it Avas
called ; — a measure which destroyed the existing charter of the merchant-
adventurers in regard to that article, and which Avas so much resented by
the Dutch and German traders, that they resolved not to admit the new
English cloths among them as a matter of merchandise. Added to which,
as might have been expected from the suddenness of the change, the
English dressing and dyeing not only proved to be much inferior to the
Dutch, but much more expensive. By this means some myriads of in
dustrious people were exposed to idleness and want, and the English
monarch, whose sole object was to create a monopoly that might assist in
rendering him independent of parliament, was compelled, by degrees, to
abandon his scheme. Every channel of industry was liable to be thus
disturbed by these royal interferences, and these were in fact so frequent,
that the age of James I. has sometimes been described as the reign of
proclamations *.
These proclamations were issued in some instances against eating flesh
during lentf; sometimes for the purpose of calling on the gtate 0f Lon-
nobles and country gentlemen to retire from the capital, that don.
the good order and hospitality of their times might not be neglected J ; and
more frequently to secure improvements in certain parts of the metropolis,
and to regulate the number and quality of the houses that might be erected
within its walls or precincts. It may deserve notice, that in the third
year from James's accession, St. Giles's in the Fields was still a village
at some distance from the city, an Act being passed in that year requiring
that St. Giles and Drury-lane should be made passable by being paved.
About the same time, the distance of a mile, which had separated between
Westminster and the city, began to be covered with decent houses, instead
of the thatched and mud-walled dwellings which had hitherto been strewed
over the space since so well known by the name of the Strand. Another
circumstance which bespoke the increasing population and wealth of the
capital, was the supplying it with fresh water by the formation of the
new river, traversing a course of fifty miles, and crossed by more than
two hundred bridges. This great work was completed in 1609. In
1614 the increase of the hay, horse, and cattle fair in West Smithfield
made it necessary that the surface of that area should be paved. Of the
four hundred vessels engaged in the Newcastle coal trade, two hundred
were employed in supplying the capital. James, in one of his proclama
tions, required all houses raised within the walls of the city to be built
with brick or stone, — the thickness of the walls, the height of the stories,
and the fonn of the windows being also described ; and persons neglecting
these instructions, or building within two miles of the city gates without
* The whole of this account is adopted from Anderson's History of Commerce, i.
437—500. ii. 1—20. ed. folio.
j Anderson's Hist. Com. ii. 1, 10, 14, 15. X ibid-, i. 497. ii. 13, 14.

188 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI,
special permission, were threatened with such censures as the Star-Cham
ber had the power to inflict. The principal reasons assigned for prohibiti
ons of this nature both by Elizabeth and James were, the fear of mortality
in the case of infectious disorders, the probable want of provisions adequate
to the support of so great a multitude, and the difficulty of providing a
police numerous enough to detect the vicious, or to put down insurrection.
Hitherto the Thames had not been navigable further than within seven
miles of Oxford. . Towards the close of this reign that remaining extent
was made thus available, to the great advantage of both cities — the state
of the roads being such as to make land-carriage very tedious and costly *.
These facts, relating to the growing importance of the capital are intro
duced as furnishing the most certain indication with regard to the general
improvement of the country. It is amusing to find the ministers of James
and Elizabeth complaining of the head as having become in their day
greatly disproportioned to the body f !
From the state of commerce, and of the capital, at this period, we pass
to notice the complexion of manners in the court, and in
th^Court0 *^e nation at large. With respect to the manners of the
court, there was much in the sex, and still more in the cha
racter of the late sovereign, which served to impose an attention to decency
and decorum on the persons admitted to her presence. But when this
check was removed, the frivolous and vicious tendencies among the rising
members of not a few leading families, which had been with difficulty
restrained, broke forth as through a loosened embankment. James was
no sooner settled in his neAV dominions, than his characteristic fondness
for ease and indulgence resumed its influence over him, and as small a
portion of time as possible was given to the cares of government. The
king indeed used to say that he should prefer resigning his crown, to
being greatly burdened with such solicitudes, especially while his health,
which was in fact the health and welfare of all his subjects, required ex
ercise and relaxation. Hence the pleasures of the chace, or the sport of
the cockpit, formed the almost daily occupation of royalty ; while at night
the court presented a succession of costly and fantastic spectacles, partly
in compliance with the taste of the monarch, but more, perhaps, with
that of the queen. A courtier, in the year of his majesty's accession,
writes " The king came back from Royston on Saturday, but is so far
from being Avearied or satisfied Avith these sports, that presently after the
holidays he makes reckoning to be there again, or, as some say, to go
further toAvards Lincolnshire, to a place called Ancaster Heath. In the
* Anderson's Hist. Com. i. 467, 469, 477, 491, 494, 498, 499; ii. 1, 17, 18, et alibi.
f "About this time (1605) coaches came to be in general use by the nobility and
gentry at London, yet hackney coaches in London streets were not yet known, nor
stage coaches to and from the country." Ibid , i. 469. " In 1625, hackney coaches
first began to ply in London streets, or rather at first stood ready at the Inns to be
called for as they were wanted." ii. 20. They were not then more than twenty in
number : ten years later they had increased so considerably, that Charles thought
proper to check the custom by proclamation.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 189
mean time here is great provision for the cockpit, to entertain him at
home ; and of mask and revels against the marriage of Sir Philip Herbert
with the Lady Susan Vere, which is to be celebrated on St. John's day.
The queen hath likewise a great mask in hand against twelfth-tide, for
which there was 3000/. delivered a month ago*." In these masks there
were many indications of learning and genius, and sometimes nearly as
many of indecency and bad taste, though their sins against taste, it must
be confessed, were less those of individuals than of the times. Theatrical
performances of this nature had never been so much in fashion as during
this reign. Jonson, the great dramatist, frequently employed himself in
composing them. Their want of all natural dramatic interest, and of any
thing that could be called dialogue, except as sustained by a few profes
sional assistants, was supplied in some measure by the fabulous and
romantic character of the persons, the objects, and the scenes Avhich made
up the courtly spectacle. Gods and goddesses rose from the deep, or
descended from the skies; and passed and repassed, amid the scenic
presentation of earth or heaven in pageant grandeur ; and in these ap
pearances sang appropriate songs, or gave utterance to mythological or
allegorical compliments. The parts of most shoAV, but requiring the least
skill to perform, were sustained by the ladies and gentlemen of the court,
who not unfrequently became visible, drawn by dolphins, or mermaids,
or commanding the services of winged dragons. Childish as we may
deem these representations, it is evident that Jonson laboured in the
production of them with no ordinary pleasure. The great object of the
dramatist on these occasions was to construct, on some historical or my
thological foundation, a slight but apposite fable ; to enrich it for the
select, with allusions drawn from the most recondite sources ; to expound
it to the eye by symbols of learned significance ; and to impart something
of the classical and appropriate to the music, the dances, the costly and
cumbrous machinery, the various decorations, and the gorgeous dresses,
essential to these studied exhibitions of luxury and profusion. And to
accomplish this seems to have been to Jonson rather an animating exer
cise than an irksome labour. " The march of his heroic verse beneath
the double weight of erudition and magnificence is unembarrassed and
stately, while the dance of his lyric measure is festive, light, and graceful
in an eminent degree. Strains of the highest poetry of which the muse
of Jonson was capable, animate his masks, while their number and their
unfailing variety excite not only admiration but wonder. The glowing
sentiments of virtue and heroism with which they abound reflect still
higher honour on the poet, but they might almost be regarded as a co
vert satire on the manners of the court, for which this Samson of learning
was compelled to perform his feats of agility and strength f." It is not
an unusual thing, however, for pretensions to heroic virtue on the stage
to be in some degree fashionable amid the grossest corruption of man-
* Winwood, ii., 41. j-. Miss Aiken's Court and Character of James I., i. 209.

190 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
ners : — of this we have ample proof in the history of the tragic drama
both in France and England.
The indecency adverted to, as sometimes connected with the masks of
James I., consisted much more in the mode of exhibiting them, than in
the productions themselves. This is ascertained beyond doubt, from the
testimony of eye-witnesses. The courtier before cited, writes, that on St.
John's day, " the court was great, and for that day put on the best
bravery." The occasion, it will be remembered, was the marriage of the
lord Herbert Avith the lady Susan Vere. The mask with which the fes
tivities of the day concluded, is said to have been in " conceit and fashion "
quite in keeping with them. The actors were the earl of Pembroke, the
lord Willoughby, Sir Samuel Hays, Sir Thomas Germain, Sir Robert
Carey, Sir John Lee, Sir Richard Preston, and Sir Thomas Bager.
Whatever this performance may have been in some of its parts, its con
cluding scene afforded a fair specimen of court manners on such occasions.
" There was no small loss that night," says our court authority, " of
ehains and jewels ; and many great ladies were made shorter by the
skirt, and Avere well enough served that they could keep cut no better.
The presents of plate, and other things given by the noblemen, were
valued at 2500/. But what made it a good marriage was a gift of the
king's of 500/. land for the lady's jointure. They were lodged in the
council chamber, where the king in his shirt and night-gown gave them
a reveille matin, before they were up." His majesty went even further,
but we have followed him far enough.
The same writer, describing the queen's mask on twelfth-night, remarks,
" There was a great engine in the lower end of the room which had mo
tion, and in it Avere the images of sea-horses, and other terrible fishes,
which were ridden by moors. At the further end was a great shell, in the
form of a sloop, wherein were four seats ; on the lowest sat the queen
with my lady Bedford ; on the rest were placed the ladies Suffolk, Darley,
Rich, Effingham, Ann Herbert, Susan Herbert, Elizabeth Howard,
Walsingham, and Bevil. Their apparel was rich, but too light and
courtezan-like for such great ones. Instead of vizards, their faces and
arms up to the elbows were painted black. The night's work was con
cluded with a banquet in the great chamber, which was so furiously
assaulted, that down went table and tresses before one bit was touched *."
Some disorders of this sort, as the effect of intemperance, of a fondness
for practical jokes, or of a pure love of mischief, seems to have been
thought indispensable to the completeness of these holden exhibitions.
Our best account, however, of these amusements is from the pen
of Sir John Harrington. " In compliance," he writes, " with your
asking, now shall you accept my poor account of rich doings. I came
here a day or two before the Danish king came, and from the day
he did come tintil this hour, I have been well nigh overwhelmed with
» Winwood, ii, 41, 43, 44.

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX — JAMES I. 191
carousal, and sports of all kinds. The sports began each day, in such
manner, and such sort, as had well nigh persuaded me of Mahomet's
paradise. We had women, and indeed wine too, of such plenty, as would
have astonished each sober beholder. Our feasts were magnificent, and
the two royal guests did most lovingly embrace each other at table. I
think the Dane has strangely wrought on our good English nobles, for
those whom I never could get to taste good liquor, now follow the fashion,
and wallow in beastly delights. The ladies abandon their sobriety, and
are seen to roll about in intoxication. In good sooth, the parliament did
kindly to provide his majesty so seasonably with money, for there has
been no lack of good living, shows, sights, and banquetings, from morn
to eve.
" One day, a great feast was held, and after dinner, the representation
of Solomon's Temple, and the coming of the queen of Sheba was made;
— or I may better say, was meant to have been made — before their ma
jesties, by devise of the earl of Salisbury and others. But alas ! as all
earthly things do fail to poor mortals in enjoyment, so did prove our pre
sentation hereof. The lady who played the queen's part carried most
precious gifts to both their majesties, but forgetting the steps arising to
the canopy, overset her caskets into his Danish majesty's lap, and fell
at his feet ; though I rather think it was in his face. Much was the hurry
and confusion ; — cloths and napkins were at hand to make all clean.
His majesty then got up, and would dance with the queen of Sheba ; but
he fell down and humbled himself before her, and was carried to an inner
chamber, and laid on a bed of state, which was not a little defiled with
the presents of the queen, which had been bestowed on his garments,
such as wine, cream, beveridge, cakes, spices, and other good matters.
The entertainment and show went forward, and most of the presenters
went backward, and fell down, wine did so occupy their upper chambers.
Now did appear in rich dress, Faith, Hope, and Charity. Hope did assay
to speak, but wine rendered her endeavours so feeble, that she withdrew,
and hoped that the king would excuse her brevity. Faith was then alone,
for I am certain she was not joined with good works, and left the court
in a staggering condition. Charity came to the king's feet, and seemed
to cover a multitude of sins her sister had committed ; in some sort she
made obeisance, and brought gifts, but said she would return home again,
as there was no gift which heaven had not already given his majesty.
She then returned to Faith and Hope, who were both sick in the lower
hall. Next came Victory, in bright armour, and by a strange medley of
versification, did endeavour to make suit to the king. But Victory did
not triumph long, for after much lamentable utterance she was led away
like a silly captive, and laid to sleep on the outer steps of the antechamber.
Now Peace did make entry, and strive to get foremost to the king ; but
I grieve to tell how great wrath she did discover unto those of her attend
ants, and much contrary to her semblance, most rudely made war with

192 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
her olive branch, and laid on the pates of those who did oppose her
coming." This writer expresses his wonder at these proceedings. They brought
to his remembrance the pageantries of this sort which had their place
among court amusements in the days of the late queen, and in which he
had himself sometimes taken a part. But the " lack of good order, dis
cretion, and sobriety" which he now witnessed, were a novelty to him,
" I have passed much time," he adds, " in seeing the royal sports of
hunting and hawking, where the manners Avere such as made one devise
the beasts were pursuing the sober recreation, and not men in quest of
exercise or food. I will now in good sooth declare to you, who will not
blab, that the gunpowder fright is gone out of all our heads, and we are
going on hereabouts as if the Devil was contriving every man should
blow up himself by wild riots, excess, and devastation of time and tem
perance. The great ladies go well masked, and indeed the only show of
their modesty is in concealing their countenance ; but alack ! they meet
with such countenance to uphold their strange doings, that I marvel not
at ought that happens. The lord of the mansion is overwhelmed in pre
parations at Theobald's, and doth marvellously please both kings vrith
good meat, good drink, and good speeches. I do often say, but not aloud,
that the Danes have again conquered the Britons, for I see no man or
woman either that can now command himself or herself*."
Now this description, it will be remembered, is not that of a morbid
puritanism, but one coming from a man whose temper and habits were
in nothing alien from the usual gaieties of a court : — nor was there any
thing in the conduct of James towards the writer that can be regarded as
disposing him to look on the English court at this time with an eye of
prejudice. Added to the intemperance described, and to the many secret or open
vices attendant on it, was the practice of gaming, which the king not only
encouraged on all occasions by his presence, but by frequent participation.
The temperament of James, and other causes, made him almost insensible
to the attraction of women ; but he had always much to do with intrigues
relating to them as prosecuted by others, a memorable instance of which
we have in the affair of the countess of Essex. It is not a trivial portion
of the guilt attaching to that detestable transaction which rests upon the
sovereign ; and the difference of natural constitution makes the encou
ragement given to licentiousness by a Charles II., almost excusable
when compared with the same conduct in a James I. In brief,. the
leading characteristics of the English court under the first of the
Stuarts may be said to have been frivolity, intemperance, looseness of
principle generally, and especially an habitual opposition to every thing
connected with the liberty of the subject, and to every graver view of
religion;— and all these traits in the court resulted in no small degree
* Nuga? Antiquae, i. 343—350.

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX.  JAMES I. 193
from the character of the monarch. There Avere, no doubt, excep
tions to this order of things, but they Avere mere exceptions. There are
incidents connected with the divorce of the countess of Essex, and her
marriage with the royal favourite ; and with the manner in Avhich her re
sentment, and that of her paramour compassed the murder of Overbury,
which show that the depravity of the English court at this period was
even of a darker complexion than anything in the representations Ave have
made would indicate. The perseverance and the incaution AA'ith Avhich
that atrocious deed Avas accomplished, discover a boldness, and a stea
diness of purpose in doing wrong, which could not have been evinced,
had not the favourite deemed himself a person sufficiently powerful to
prevent all investigation, and had not the instruments of his evil pur
poses shared in his confidence in this respect. Bacon and Coke saw the
matter in this light, and laboured for the conviction of these " wicked
spirits in high places," as for the destruction of a poAver Avhich had defied
the sovereignty of the law. Hence, the proneness to intoxication, and the
idle revelries which had become so prevalent in the court, were not the
only objects of imitation beyond its limits*.
Something of the spirit of society in the metropolis at this time
may be perceived in the nature of those public ordinaries, gtate 0f man.
Avhich hoav became common in the city and its neigh- ners and soci-
bourhood. Those tables were soon known as a place ety "' ondon-
of very general resort to persons in the middle and higher classes of
society, and scenes where they contributed Avith singular success to de
prave each other. The repast in those places was too generally followed
by inebriation ; in this state the less suspecting were lured to the board of
the gamester, and, in the end, often became victims of the sharper and the
money-lender, perhaps of the duellist. Debauchery of every description
followed in the train of these evils. In such schools a large portion of
the cavaliers of the next reign Avere formed f. It is amidst the growing
- Before Ave leave the English court, we may mention here, as a further illus
tration of its state of manners during this reign, the exploits in the way of convi
viality and pageantry which gave to a young Scotsman named Hay, afterwards
the earl of Carlisle, so much celebrity. The gaiety and extravagance of this
person made him a sort of favourite with James, soon after his accession. Weldon
says that the young earl spent not less than 400,000/. in furnishing magnifi
cent entertainments, the Avhole of which sum he had obtained from the bounty
of the sovereign, p. 271. And this person, the taste and expense of whose suppers
were the topic of remark everywhere, Avas equally distinguished by the costliness
and elegance of his wardrobe and equipage. Wilson says that one of his meanest
suits was " so fine as to look like romance, and savour rather of fancy than reality."
On his embassy to Holland, he paid the innkeepers on the road he did not travel,
supposing they might have made preparations for the possible event of his honouring
them with his presence ; and on making his entry into the French capital, his horse
was shod Avith silver, but so loosely, that at each curvet the noble animal cast off
his glittering shoes in the view of the spectators, a silversmith being at hand to
" take others out of a tawny velvet bag and tack them on, to last until he should
come to another occasion to prance and cast them off." — 153, 94.
t In 1620 the licensing of the gaming-houses of London and Westminster was
granted as a means of payment to Clement Cottrell, groom-porter of the king's
o

194 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
.prevalence of such manners that contemporary writers — themselves no
precisionists in religion — begin to publish their complaints with respect
to " the notorious debauchery of the episcopal clergy." Already the
term puritan had become a designation of reproach which the profligate
were pleased to cast on every appearance of conscientiousness, whether
relating to the affairs of this world or the next. " Under that term,"
says Osberne, " were comprehended, not only those brain-sick fools
who opposed the discipline and ceremonies of the church, and made
religion an umbrella to impiety, but such as out of mere honesty re
strained the vices of the times were branded with this title. Neither
was any being charged with it, though of the best relation, thought
competent to preferment in church' or commonwealth ; which made the
bad glory in their impiety, and such as had not an extraordinary mea
sure of grace, ashamed of any outward profession of sanctity. Court
sermons were fraught with bitter invectives against these people, whom
they seated far nearer the confines of hell than papists. To avoid the
imputation of puritanism — a greater sin than vice in the way of prefer
ment — our divines, for the generalitv, did sacrifice more time to Bacchus
than to Minerva, and being excellent company, drew the most ingenious
laity into a like excess* "
Dean White, who was no puritan, but a prelatist of a different order
from " the generality," above described by Osberne, addressed himself
to a London auditory in the following terms. " No sin is so great, but
it is among us, and the greatest sins many times either least punished,
or not at all. And this course is so general, that he begins to be]counted
very precise that will not swear and swagger with the worst. The tor
rent of these things is so strong that it seems manifestly to tend to the
dissolution of society. Three things maintain society — religion, justice,
and order. Religion is pitifully violated by atheism, blasphemy, heresy,
and horrible profaneness. Justice is destroyed by oppression, rapine,
bribery, extortion, and partiality. Government and order are profaned
by contention, by contemning the magistrate : I have often seen the
magistrate faced and almost brow-beaten, as he hath gone by. But that
due observance and honour, that, bv baring of the head, bowing the
knee, showing awful respect, they should yield to the public magistrates
household. The grant from the king Avas '•" to license places for the use of cards,
dice, bowling-alleys, tennis-courts, and such like diversions, — viz. within London
and Westminster, and the suburbs of the same, twenty-four bowling-alleys ; in
Southwark, four ; in St. Catherine's, one ; in the towns of Lambeth and South-
wark, two ; in Shoreditch, one ; — and in every other burgh, town, village, or
hamlet, within two miles of the city of London and Westminster, one boAvling-
allev. Also within the said cities, and within tAvo miles thereof, fourteen tennis-
courts. And to keep play at dice and cards, forty taverns, or ordinaries, Avithin
the same limits." All this his majesty states, was " for the honest and reasonable
recreation of good and civil people, who for their quality and ability may lawfully
use the games of bowling, tenuis, dice, cards, tables, nineholes, or any other game
to be hereafter invented." — Rymer, xvii. 236.
* Memoirs, 440 443.

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX.  JAMES I. 195
in so honorable a city, I have seldom seen." The preacher complains
also, as is usual in such cases, of the excess of apparel. " The walls of
Babylon," he exclaims, " might be kept in repair for as little cost as our
women are ; when a lady's head-dress is sometimes as rich as her hus
band's rent-day." The men, he remarks, were in this respect little
better, and the evil was altogether so desperate, that he could not hope
to see it controlled. As to drunkenness, it is described as so general
" through the kingdom," that the Germans were likely " to lose their
charter " in that kind of indulgence *
In general, these pulpit representations should not be applied to the
purposes of history without some material deductions. But in this instance
the report of the layman from his study, and of the clerk from his ros
trum, are to the same effect. Thus this same Dr. White complains of
the city theatres as being scenes of the greatest disorder and profanity ;
— and the secretary Winwood at the same time writes, " The players
do not forbear to present upon their stage the whole course of this pre
sent time, not sparing either king, state, or religion, in so great ab
surdity, and with such liberty, that any would be afraid to hear themf."
It is someAvhat singular, and perhaps to his credit, that James should
so far have permitted this license J. But a piece called Eastward Hoe,
produced by Jonson, Chapman, and Marston, contained a satirical pas
sage on the Scotch residents in England, which gave so much offence
to persons about the sovereign, that the authors were committed to
prison and in danger of losing their ears, or of having their noses slit §.
The free satirical temper of the drama at this time was, in part, an
effect of the spirit of the age, and re-acted on that spirit, upon the whole,
with advantage.
We know not how far the incentives of the theatre may have con
tributed to the excesses of those bands among the London populace,
who, under the name of Roaring Roys, and Roysters, and • other desig
nations, beset the streets of the city at night, assailing the peaceable inha
bitants, and spreading general alarm. But so much of turbulent material
was there in the capital, and so manifestly feeble was the government,
* Works, pp. 10, 24, 35. ed. 1624.
t Winwood, ii. 54.
X James's love of wit, or of what he took for it, had something to do with his for
bearance in this respect. Howell, in one of his letters, writes, that the king, while
listening to the reading of an abusive satire upon his court, declared once and
again, that the author should " hang for it," — but when the concluding couplet
came, " Now God preserve the king, the queen, the peers,
And grant the author long may Avear his ears ! "
the monarch exclaimed, " By my soul, so thou shalt for me ; thou art a bitter, but
thou art a witty knave."— Part I. Let. 30.
§ Jonson's mother is said to have procured poison for the purpose of taking it
herself and administering it to her son rather than see him subject to so ignominious
a punishment . But James had too much respect for the poet to make it probable
that he Avould proceed to such extremities.
o 2

196 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
that these disgraceful uproars seemed to bid defiance to all possible
attempts to suppress them.
While the lower class of the people often gave vent to their restless
ness in these nightly frays, and those a degree above them did the same
in the course of the exhibitions at the theatres, professional and educated
men had other places and modes of expressing their humour with regard
to the occurrences of the day. " It was the fashion of those times,"
says Osberne, " and did so continue till these (wherein not only the
mother, but her daughter are ruined), for the principal gentry, lords,
courtiers, and men of all professions, not merely mechanics, to meet in
St. Paul's church by eleven, and walk in the middle aisle till twelve,
and after dinner from three to six. During which time some discoursed
of business, others of news. There happened little that did not first or
last arrive here. And I being young, and wanting a more advan
tageous employment, did, during my abode in London, which was three
fourths of the year, associate myself at those hours with the choicest
company I could pick out among such as I found most inquisitive after
affairs of state ; who being then myself in daily attendance upon a hope
(though a rotten one) of a future preferment, I appeared the more con
siderable, being as ready to satisfy, according to my weak abilities, their
curiosity, as theyVere mine : Avho, out of a candid nature, were not ordi
narily found to name an author, easily lost in such a concourse, where
his own report was not seldom in a few minutes returned to him as
news by another. And the newsmongers, as they called them, did not
only take, the boldness to weigh the public, but the most intrinsic actions
of the state, which some courtier or other did betray to this society ;
among whom, divers being very rich, had great sums owing them by
such as stood next the throne, Avho by this means were rendered in a
manner their prisoners.* "
There does not appear therefore to have been any want of interest with
regard to public affairs in any class of people during the reign of James I .
Nor must we suppose that the debasement of manners was such as to
have left small space for genuine patriotism, or for the operation of that
natural sense in regard to Avhat is wise and equitable in affairs of govern
ment on which the intelligent few devoted to the welfare of their country
depend for the success of their plans.
It should be added, before concluding these remarks on the manners
of the metropolis, that the " London Apprentice," and the fortune
teller, were persons of much notoriety in those days ; — the former as
being ever ready to join with his felloAvs in an enterprise of mischief;
and the latter as a functionary whose secrets were in request among a
large class of every portion of society, from the peeress down to the
serving maid. Mrs. Turner, who was executed at Tyburn, in con-
* Memoirs, 449, 450.

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX.  JAMES I. 191
sequence of her professional dealings with the countess of Essex, was at
the head of the diviners of her day. Many persons from the circles of
fashion, and of both sexes, were present in their carriages to witness her
end. It may also be worth while to remark that the red coats, as they
were called, whose courage saved the credit of the parliament army at
Edgehill, consisted mostly of men Avho had passed their youth in London,
and whose apprentice frays Ave may suppose had prepared them, in some
measure, for the shock of a graver conflict.
In the country there Avas doubtless less vice than in London ; but
generally there Avas also less intelligence, and, we may add, Society in the
less public spirit. Eating, drinking, and the sports of the country.
field, formed the chief occupations of not a few among the gentry, and
the dependents of such men would not aspire to anything more elevated.
We have an account of the king's entertainment at the house of Oliver
Cromwell, uncle and godfather to the subsequent Protector, which pre
sents an instructive picture of the sort of establishment which distin
guished this class of English gentlemen at the commencement of the
seventeenth century. It is related, that James, on his way from Scotland,
" passed" in state to Master Oliver Cromwell's house, Avhere his majesty,
and all his followers, with all comers whatsoever, had such entertainment
as the like had not been seen in any place before since the first setting
out from Scotland. There was such plenty and variety of meats, such
diversity of wines, and those not riff-ruff, but ever the best of the kind,
and the cellars open at any man's pleasure. And if it were so common
with wine, there is little question but the butteries for beer and ale were
more common. As this bounty was held back to none within the house,
so, for such poor people as would not press in, there were open beer
houses erected, wherein there was no want of bread and beef for the
comfort of the poorest creatures. Neither was this provision for the
little time of his majesty's stay, but it was made ready fourteen days, and
after his highness's departure to as many as had mind of it." We learn
further, that on parting from his sovereign, Master Cromwell presented
him with a choice number of hawks, hounds, and horses, with many other
proofs of loyalty ; especially a large gold cup, distributing fifty pounds
as a farewell token among his followers. This generous commoner lived
to see the protectorate of his godson, but never deigned to solicit his
favour; though much before that time his jovial habits had greatly
diminished his inheritance *.
It is obvious that mansions of this description were more likely to be
the schools of cavaliers than of roundheads, and in fact, it was in such
connexions chiefly that Charles found those chivalrous untaught senti
ments of loyalty which enabled him to maintain so protracted a warfare
in so doubtful a cause. The nobility at this time were few in nnmber,
* Nichols's Progresses, III, ubi supra.

198 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
and their weight in society was small, compared with that of the
more substantial commoners. There are facts also which show that
among those commoners, the majority were more restrained in the matter
of animal indulgence, and more discriminate in the matter of loyalty,
than Master Oliver Cromwell appears to have been. When in Northamp
tonshire alone we find some " three or four score gentlemen " signing a
petition to the king in favour of the puritan clergy, well knowing how
obnoxious the sufferers were to his majesty; and when we find in every
parliament and session of this reign that the great majority in the com
mons consisted of men who were not to be either menaced or inveigled
into a neglect of popular interests, whether as relating to the church
or the state, we are justified in looking to the gentry of England in those
times, as forming, on the whole, a healthy portion of the body politic.
We have said nothing with respect to the frivolity and corruption of
the court, that is not borne out but too manifestly by facts ; and society,
especially in the capital, became seriously tainted by its complicated
vices : — but it so happened, that throughout the reign of James I., if we
except what is indicated in the proceedings of the lower house of par
liament, the impurities of the social state, as forming the most patronized
portion of it, were constantly floating on the surface, and accordingly
appear to be much more considerable as compared with the mass than
they really were. There was an under current^ deep and powerful,
with which these light and filthy properties had little connexion. This
is placed beyond all reasonable doubt by the character of the men who
were sent to parliament, not only from the boroughs, and cities, but
from the counties; and by the general struggle of the next reign in
favour of the principles of which those men were the unwearied advo
cates. For this, however, the people were indebted, under the favour of
heaven, to themselves, not to the house of Stuart.
But if the influence of the court was so far limited with respect to
State of lite- the morals and spirit of the nation, it is not less gratifying
rature. to perceive that there were circumstances which conferred
a similar exemption on our literature. Not that this matter, any more
than our natural sense of justice and moral propriety, was without its
injuries from that source. The great fault of our prose-compositions
at this period was in a quaint pedantic mannerism : — while in our
poetry, these blemishes were increased by an affected adulatory language
in reference to the fair and the powerful ; and, in productions for the,
theatres, by a frequent, and often, it would seem, a studied indecency.
This last fault, which is too broadly and frequently indulged to be en
dured by any modern auditory, is said to have been no more prominent
than was imperatively demanded by the taste of the play-goers; so
much so, that pieces by authors who seem most censurable on this
account are reported to have failed simply in consequence of their not

A.D. 1625.] APPENDIX.  JAMES I. 199
being sufficiently adapted to the prevailing taste for grossness and ob
scenity. Shakspeare, though by no means innocent in this respect, is
much less an offender than any man of his time ; but it seems to have
required all his genius to gain for him impunity in so far refusing to
cater for such appetites. The inference to be deduced from this fact
with respect to the condition of a large portion of society in the metro
polis is too obvious to need pointing out.
But admitting these grave exceptions, and some others of less weight,
there remains enough in the productions of the English mind from
about the middle of the age of Elizabeth to the beginning of the civil
Avar, to render it certain that, with respect to the achievements of ori
ginal genius, this is the brightest period in our history as a people, — or,
perhaps, in the history of any people. It was not an age of the most
refined taste, nor was its knowledge so extended, or in all respects so
skilfully exhibited and applied as in later times; but no other half
century had done so much to discover and accumulate those precious
materials with which the taste and the reason of man were meant to be
conversant, nor so much, in fact, to improve those faculties themselves.
The momentous freedom conferred on the human mind by the reforma
tion, the sharp collision of its powers immediately consequent on that
event, and the fashion of patronizing literary men which obtained in
the court of Elizabeth, were among the more proximate causes of this
brilliant era in our literary history. The works produced during this
interval, though partaking of the greatest variety, all bear a sort of family
impress, and intimate the operation of causes at once prevalent and
powerful. One remarkable feature in them is, that whatever their
faults may be, they were not themselves exotics, but almost uniformly
characterized by an untrammelled freedom, by a singular fearlessness,
and by a larger share of originality than ever adorned the creations of the
human spirit. For it must be remembered, that to aid the minds of this
period, scarcely any thing had been done at home, and that a tacit agree
ment seems to have been formed not to submit to vassalage from abroad.
Such was far from being the case in France under Lewi3 XIV., in Rome
during the reign of Augustus, or even in Greece during the age of Peri
cles. Before the day of that munificent statesman, the colonies of Asia
Minor, and the inspiration of Homer, had supplied the Athenians with
all the elements of their ultimate greatness. The interval in which these
nations gave existence to their great models of art or genius was in each
instance short — each people seeming to have but their one brief season
of harvest, which neglected, was never to return. But in our own case
the harvest season was not only short, as in theirs, but it seems almost
to have come without its seed time, as though the soil had only needed
to be slightly disturbed, in order to send forth its treasures with all the
spontaneousness, variety, and power of nature.

200 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
It is true, the languages which contained the remains of ancient
learning and genius were commonly and assiduously studied ; — but it is
not less true, that the works of those ancients were far from being re
garded as affording the only, or even the best guides to excellence.
There Avas a buoyancy in this spring time of our national faculties, if we
may so speak, which prevented sympathy with views that have so often
repressed the native and varied powers of the mind, and doomed men to
be mere copyists of the past, who might have created models for the
future. The dramatists of this period selected their materials from the
ancients or the moderns at pleasure, but it was that, in their luxurious
freedom, they might fix their own impress upon them: Their scenes
might be placed in other lands, or in distant times, but the develope-
ment of those scenes is generally rather native than alien, — the picture
of present manners more than of the past. This may not be deemed
creditable to their learning or their judgment, but it proved the source
of much in the character of their works, which makes them peculiarly in
teresting and valuable to us, and was particularly favourable to that bold
originality, which, Avith all its faulty accompaniments, places them in
such advantageous contrast with works of the same description in a later
and more critical age.
Among the prose-writers whose productions contribute to render this
period so illustrious are Sidney, Hooker, Raleigh, and Bacon, with
whom it commenced ; and Hall, Hobbes, Taylor, and Clarendon, Avith
whom it closed — all men whose minds were formed at this juncture,
though the principal works of some of them did not appear until after
wards. The poetry, however, of this age, beginning with Spenser and ending
with Milton, is more remarkable than its prose. It embraces the whole
of that class of writers who are known under the name of our " old
dramatists." These include the names of Green, Marlow, Lyly, Legge,
Lodge, Shakspeare, Daniel, Beaumont and Fletcher, Marston, Chap
man, Middleton, Jonson, Field, Dekker, Webster, Ford, Rowley, Mas-
singer, Suckling, Heywood Phillips, and Heminge, not to mention
others. Now the student of our literature who shall apply himself to
the study of these writers, even the greatest among them, must not come
to his object with a mind pledged to admire nothing Avhich fails to
have been perfected according to the principles of a later criticism. In
these works he will find the most elaborate proofs of learning and know
ledge, the richest fund of thought; sallies of fancy and imagination,
sometimes the most energetic, and sometimes the most playful, and often
the most dexterous anatomy of the human heart, and of its workings ;
— but all this he must expect to meet in connexion with many things
so feeble and fantastic as to make it difficult at times to suppose that the
one and the other proceeded from the same mind, or even belonged to the

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX.  JAMES I. 201
same age. The traveller in a strange, land should not allow what is
strange to unfit him for perceiving Avhat is excellent. Nor should the
blemishes of some things be suffered to prevent his seeing the beauty of
others. And let this humanized discrimination — a compass and mel
lowness of thought of this sort, be brought to an examination of the
Avorks now adverted to, and the effect must be a large amount of gra
tification and improvement.
England, at this time, had no school of art ; and her science existed
in embryo rather than in any advanced state. From the
accession of the house of Tudor, the patronage of sovereigns e ar s.
and of the nobility had served to attract foreign artists to our shores,
and to diffuse a considerable taste for painting. Sir Antonio More
visited this country for the practice of his art in the reign of Philip and
Mary, and Avas followed by several painters of talent from Holland and
Flanders, until the day when Rubens and Vandyke were so much em
ployed in depicting our leading men. Elizabeth discovered a fondness
for the possession of pictures, and Avas surpassed in her zeal in this way
by lord Buckhurst, Avhose collection of portraits, it is said, may still be
seen at ^Knowle. Music also aass deemed an important branch of
general education with both sexes. The lessons for the virginal prac
tised by Elizabeth show her proficiency, and the viol de gamba might
not only be seen on the walls of every respectable house, but often heard
in the shop of the barber, who found his advantage in having some one
to amuse his guests by this means. A music-seller in London,* toward
the close of the reign of Elizabeth, thus expresses himself in a dedication
to one of his works on the then taste for music in the capital. " Since
I first began to keep house in this city, it has been no small comfort
unto me, that a great number of gentlemen, and merchants of good
account, as Avell of this realm as of foreign nations, have taken in good
part such entertainments of pleasure as my poor ability was able to
afford them, both by the exercise of music daily used in my house, and
by furnishing them Avith books of that kind, yearly sent me out of Italy
and other places, which being for the most part Italian songs, are, for
sweetness of air, very well liked of all, but most in account Avith them
who understand the language*."
Architecture, in its more matured state, occupies a high rank among
ornamental arts, and is intimately connected with some of
the most important branches of science. Inigo Jones is
almost our only name in this department at the period under review,
and of him it is not a little to say that, if inferior to Sir Christopher
Wren in mathematical and general knoAvledge, and in native expanse
of mind, he has been described by some as upon the whole the superior
of that artist in taste, and as more of an architect by education, and,
* Musica Transalpina,

202. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
though unequal, he was certainly capable of imparting to his works
some features both of beauty and grandeur. His principal works are
seen at Greenwich, in the chapel at Whitehall, and in the hall and
chapel of Lincoln's Inn; but the Watergate at York-buildings is re
garded as his most beautiful production.
With respect to the natural sciences, nearly everything relating, to
their state during this period may be found in the writ
ings of Bacon. It was reserved to the genius of that ex
traordinary man to direct the scientific mind, not only of his country,
but of Christendom, into the true path of knowledge ; to call the atten
tion of men from metaphysical abstraction to the facts of nature ;
and in this manner to perform the two most important services that
could be rendered to the future world of philosophy, — first, by indi
cating how much it had to unlearn, and how much to acquire ; and
secondly, by pointing out the method in which the one process and the
other might be successfully conducted. This was not to be done, ex
cept by a mind well informed as to the existing state of scientific
knowledge, and one which might furnish from the stores of its own
intelligence many of the seeds of positive improvement. But the
object of Bacon was less to effect a marked progress in any one field of
inquiry, than to show how the whole might be cultivated so as to exclude
the thorn and the briar, and to make the soil productive in a hundred
fold. The conclusions admitted into the Baconian system of knowledge
were all to be deduced from the ascertained facts of the physical uni
verse, and from these facts selected in sufficient numbers, and so far
examined and compared, as to impart to the conclusions deduced
from them the character of certainty and law. The dependence,
accordingly, of this system on the most rigid and comprehensive pro
cesses of experiment has obtained for its illustrious author the title
of '' the Father of Experimental Philosophy,'' Not that experiment —
the examination of nature's self — the interrogating, as it is called, of
her appearances, had been hitherto wholly neglected. The name of
Roger Bacon, and the history of alchemy, are enough to show the con
trary ; and, while Galileo was the contemporary of our great country
man, Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and Copernicus were among his predeces
sors ; and Gilbert had investigated the laws of magnetism upon the
purest principles of rigorous induction. But, unhappily, the ex
periments made were, generally speaking, so isolated, so devoid of
comprehensiveness and system ; and, above all, the metaphysics of
the Schoolmen were allowed to dominate so injuriously over the
whole region of physical things, that the rays of truth which had
been elicited by this means were too often made to do the office of the
ignis fatuus, rather than any better service. Hence what the age of
Luther was in regard to our religious faith, the age of Bacon was in

A. D. 1625.] APPENDIX. — JAMES I. 203.
regard to the whole domain of natural science. Both had their pre
cursors, but both had so great a work to perform as to be justly es
teemed the parents of the mighty revolution which followed them.
Boyle, Locke, and Newton, have their place among the illustrious pro
geny of our great scientific reformer ; while on the continent, the pro
gress of the human intellect during the two most enlightened centuries
in the history of mankind has only served to render it certain that the
name of Bacon will never cease to attract the homage of civilized hu
manity.

204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH.

CHARLES THE FIRST.
Chapter I.
Character of Charles I. on his accession — A new parliament — State of parties, the
lords, the commons, court party, country party, including the patriots and Puri
tans — Proceedings of parliament — Petition against the Catholics — Case of Dr.
Montague — Cautious temper of the commons — The recess — Proceedings in par
liament at Oxford — Delays of the commons— Impatience of the king — Parliament
dissolved — Conduct of the king's first parliament considered — Attack on Cadiz —
Disagreement with respect to the Queen's attendants — Negotiations with foreign
powers — Preparations for assembling a second parliament — Conduct of Charles
towards Arundel and Bristol — Its impolicy — The Commons — Impeachment of
' Buckingham — Parliament dissolved — Nature of the dispute between Charles and
1 the Commons — Expedients to raise money.
The conduct of Charles while prince of Wales had not been such as
Cha acter of *° render l""1 m anY respect popular previous to the part
Charles on his which he took with Buckingham in relation to the Spanish
accession. match. The prince, indeed, appears to have been a fre
quent witness of those degrading exhibitions which attached so much
disgrace to the private life of his father, though it is not ascertained that
he manifested any steady disposition towards such excesses. There
were those who regarded him at that time as a man of veracity and
understanding, and who looked forward with much hope to his acces
sion. But the more general impression with regard to him seems to
have been less favourable. The French ambassador, Tillieres, in 1621,
describes the actions of the heir-apparent as affording but small indica
tion of a virtuous disposition, and states, as a consequence, that he was
then despised and hated as much as his sister was honoured and beloved.
In the following year the same person ventures to predict that the good
qualities which the friends of the prince attributed to him would be
found wanting on his accession to the throne ; the fact of his having
lived to such an age without giving proof of anything good or generous
rendering it highly probable that he would ere long become addicted to
the vices of his father*. Even those who judged more favourably com-
* Raumer, ii. 26 1, 270, 271 . Tillieres also intimates that " passions for women"
had to do with the sudden intimacy which arose between the prince and Bucking
ham ; and in one of the most disgusting scenes, with which we are acquainted in
the private life of James, Charles is described as a party. '' When he was full of
sweet Avine he took the prince of Wales by the hand, led him to the lords and ladies,
and said there Avas a great contention between the prince and himself as to which of
the two best loved the marchioness of Buckingham. After having recounted all
sorts of reasons for and against, be drew some verses from his 'pocket, which the
poet Jonson had written in praise of the marchioness, then read some others of his
own invention, and swore he would slick them on all the doors of his house to show
his good will. . . ." What follows does not admit of transcription. " Had I
not received this report from trustworthy persons," says Tillieres, " I should have
considered it impossible." Ibid. ii. 260, 261.

A. D. 1625.] CHARLES I. ' 205
plained of the coldness which characterised his demeanour on all occa
sions, and sometimes spoke of this peculiarity in a young man as no
good omen for the future. But the conduct of Charles in opposing
himself to the alliance Avith Spain was so acceptable to the people, that
they were at once disposed to acknowledge Avhatever was good in him,
and even to invest him Avith many imaginary excellencies. And whatever
occasional influence the impure manners of James may have had on the
prince, it is the testimony of those Avho were both the contemporaries
and the opponents of the neAv monarch, [that the English court on his
accession underwent a marked improvement, not only becoming more
decent in its manners and correct in its morals, but exhibiting a greater
seriousness, and a more apparent sincerity, on all matters having any
connexion with religion*.
But neither the recent conduct of Charles, nor the confidence which
the people are generally disposed to place in a new sovereign, was suffi
cient to induce the house of commons to forget that their great mission
at this juncture was to adopt means which should more effectually se
cure the dominion of the law against the encroachments of the preroga
tive, and that even the better order of princes Avere not often found to
submit to such restraints Avithout reluctance. Nor was Charles long in
placing it beyond doubt that his temper Avas by no means of a quality
to bow with readiness to such restrictions. We learn from his private
correspondence previous to this time, that his views Avith regard to the
authority of the croAvn in relation to parliaments were very much those
which James had so often avowed. In the judgment of the prince, the
parliament of 1624 would have no ground for discontent if the authority
of the sovereign should be employed to interdict that assembly from all
future speaking on the affairs of Spain, whether as relating to the war
or the marriage f.
But coming to the throne with the intention of exercising powers of
this nature, nothing could be more impolitic than the determination of
Charles to burden his government Avith [all the difficulties inseparable
from a war with Spain. To that measure, in consequence of giving
himself up to the resentments of Buckingham, the monarch was more
strongly disposed than any class of his subjects ; and he does not appear
to have seen that, by this course of proceeding, he must necessarily in
volve himself in large expense; that to meet this expense large supplies
from parliament would be indispensable ; and that this dependence on
parliament for money would certainly produce, according to all former
experience, a collision between the pretensions of the commons and those
of the crown. Had Charles been aware of this natural order of events,
he would no doubt, by guarding against it, have deferred, perhaps have
prevented, that further developement of the principles of English liberty
which was so soon to be realized.
* Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson, i. 65. -}• Hardwicke Papers, i. 456, 457.

206 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
The accession of a new sovereign required that a new parliament
should be assembled ; and Charles, confiding in those who
ment!"" ia' assured him of popularity, and of success in the plans
which now engaged his attention, stated his financial diffi
culties with freedom, and called upon the representatives of the people to
furnish him with an immediate and a large supply. The present house
of commons consisted in a great degree of the same persons who had
constituted the last, but it was not strictly the same body which had
concurred with the resentment of Charles, and still more with that of
Buckingham, in the project of a war with Spain. Beside the slight
alteration which had taken place in the composition of the lower house,
time had been afforded for calculating the probable result of the in
tended hostilities, and for inquiry and reflection with regard to the causes
of that eagerness to plunge into them which was manifested by Buck
ingham, and hardly less by Charles himself. But in the mind of the
sovereign and the favourite an indication on the part of the commons of
the slightest disposition to draw back would only operate as a new mo
tive to perseverance, nothing being in a greater degree mortifying to
their pride and resentment than to appear as if controlled in such a
matter by the fickleness or ill humour of a popular assembly.
It has appeared, that in the parliament of 1621 something like a
State of regular opposition to the policy of the court had mani-
parties— the fested itself in the house of peers, as well as in the corn-
lords, mons. This was a novel circumstance in the history of
that reign; and indeed we meet with scarcely anything resembling it
Avhile the sceptre was swayed by the house of Tudor. The appearance
of such a temper in the upper house at this time resulted in part, as we
have before explained, from the meddling arrogance of Buckingham,
and in part from that onward spirit of the times which forced even the
most sluggish minds, and those least disposed to innovation, into new
modes of thought and feeling. At the head of these opposition peers
was the earl of Pembroke, who had ten proxies at his command, being
only three less than were understood to be at the disposal of the favou
rite*. It may be observed here, that not long after this time it was
resolved that no peer should hold more than two proxies, and this regu
lation is still in force.
But it is to the lower house that we must look for the spirit of the
The commons. country at this crisis. We find nothing in its composition
to warrant us in suspecting that any portion of its members
had an intention to demolish either the throne or the ecclesiastical esta
blishment, or to detract from what they regarded as the true glory of the
one or the other. What constituted the proper dignity of a monarchy,
and of a national church, was matter of debate, but beyond this point
the controversy had not at present extended.
* Lords' Journals, iii. 431.

A.D. 1625.] CHARLES I. 207
The court party consisted of persons who supported the pretensions of
the crown, and who in most cases were content to follow
the advice of its ministers. But many of those pretensions DartC0UIt
were now so generally questioned, and questioned with so
much warmth, that the men most concerned to sustain them were obliged
to prosecute their object with some concealment and indirectness.
Some attempt, indeed, Avas made, by certain individuals who had passed
most of their time in foreign courts, to reconcile their countrymen to an
arbitrary government at home by a reference to the wooden shoes and
coarse fare which fell to the lot of its victims abroad. But the reception
given to these oratorical displays AA-as such as to make them of short
duration*. The leaders of this party generally pursued a wiser course.
They would not be described as the abettors of tyranny or superstition.
On the disputed points relating both to civil and ecclesiastical govern
ment they were careful to suggest some more favourable interpretation
of their conduct, insisting that the difference between themselves and
their opponents Avas by no means so considerable as was commonly sup
posed, and that in fact it had respect much less to the end to be pursued
than to the mode of attaining it. Thus with regard to the Protestant
religion, their attachment to it was not less than that of any portion of
the community, though they were certainly disposed to look with less
disaffection than their opponents on many ancient usages retained in the
national church ; and with regard to civil government, they were
really anxious that it should be guided in all ordinary cases by the
known provisions of the Irav, but they must be allowed to assert that
there were novel and extreme cases, for AA-hich neither the statutes nor
the usages of the realm had provided any adequate remedy, and the
manner in which those should be treated was left by the constitution to
the discretion of the croAvn and its advisers.
The country party listened to all statements of this description with
suspicion. Such language Avas regarded by them as the
cover under Avhich the enemies of their country were en- T,ar?„c°ulci1 d
deavouring to perpetuate every sort of grievance and mis- ing the Puri-
rule, there being scarcely any abuse, either in the church tans anQ
or the nation, which might not be sheltered under such
pretexts. In number, this party greatly exceeded the adherents of the
court, and they were not slow in attributing the more moderate and
cautious expressions of their opponents to a knowledge of this fact.
But it is to be observed, that Avhile the court party exhibited little
perceptible difference of opinion on any subject, the coun
try party consisted of two great divisions, subsequently Pu"tans and
known by the name of puritans and patriots. The former
class was the most numerous, but the latter included many of the most
distinguished men of the age. It must not be concluded, however, that
* Pari. Hist. i. 205.

208 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
the patriotic party was distinguished from the puritans as consisting of
men who were little concerned with regard to the religion of their
country. Among its [leaders were such men as sir Edward Coke, sir
Robert Cotton, and the learned Selden, with whom the safety of protes
tantism was inseparable from the safety of the nation, and who were not
less decided than the puritans themselves in their opposition to some of
the established superstitions, and especially to the encroachments of
ecclesiastical poAver. From the commencement of the Reformation to
this time, the national conflicts and domestic struggles of Europe had
been everywhere connected with religion, and, in most instances, were
mainly produced by it; and this leading fact in the history of Europe,
from the age of Charles V. to the treaty of Westphalia, has its resem
blance in our own annals during the same period. Hence the horror
of popery, which some writers describe as the ridiculous attribute of
English puritanism, was, in fact, the sentiment of protestant Europe,
and one which influenced the patriots in common with the puritans in
every parliament convened by Charles I. In England, and in nearly
every state of Europe, there Avas a numerous class of men who were the
opponents of popery chiefly because they viewed it as hostile to civil
freedom and social improvement ; and with this class there was another,
more numerous and more energetic, who would have crushed the pa
pacy as a power which invaded the conscience and destroyed the soul.
In this country, both parties regarded the possible ascendency of the
catholic religion as inseparable from a return of the greatest national evils ;
but the one looked principally to the political consequences which would
be attendant on such [an event, while the evils which it would inflict,
as well on the religion, as on the political constitution of the country,
were never absent from the imagination of the other. We may deplore
the intolerance of our ancestors in this matter, but we should remember
that it was the intolerance of the cool statesman as well as of the im
passioned religionist, and much less censurable in the latter character
than in the former. The degree of our opposition to an evil should be
regulated by our perception of its magnitude. Those worldly reason
ings which disposed the patriot to seek the destruction of popery, had
their full weight with the puritan, while the religious motives, which, in
the case of the puritan, were superadded to those reasonings, were the
most solemn and imperative that could be presented to the human mind.
To all the penal laws against catholics the patriots were not less willing
parties than the puritans, and were often loudest in the demand for their
rigorous enforcement.
The defective manner in which these laws were administered, both by
Charles and his predecessor, is often adverted to by their advocates as
the effect of an intelligent forbearance of temper, which raised them
much above the narrow and fretful spirit of their times ; but no one can
reflect on the conduct of these princes towards the puritans Avithout

A. D. 1625.] CHARLES I.

209

perceiving that their lenity towards the catholics, such as it Avas, must
be attributed to some less honourable cause. The source of this diffe
rence is in fact sufficiently plain. The catholics Avere regarded by the
court and the country as the natural allies of the power claimed by the
crown ; and this bias on their part, which secured them milder treat
ment from the government, rendered them increasingly obnoxious to the
people generally. Toleration, as a matter of principle, was far from
being understood by any party at this period. The English government,
from the early days of Elizabeth to the present time, had been animated
by a spirit of persecution, partly from necessity, and partly from dispo
sition and from the force of custom, and it was this spirit Avhich had
done most towards placing that government in its present difficulties.
By this line of policy, indeed, it had succeeded in breaking down the
poAver of the catholics ; but it had greatly strengthened that of the
puritans ; and the habit of resisting ecclesiastical oppression which
distinguished the puritans, became more and more allied with a ten
dency to resist oppression in every form.
The great objects of the party, which now derived its main strength
from the puritans, were, in regard to religion, to secure a more lenient
treatment of the puritan clergy, to limit the exercise of ecclesiastical
power, and to extend a vigilant control over the conduct of the English
catholics ; and, with regard to the civil constitution, to place around the
persons and property of Englishmen all the securities afforded them by
the statutes and usages of the realm, and to make such provisions
against those doubtful or extreme cases, which had been so long the pretext
for abuses, as might serve to prevent the recurrence of those evils. The
present house of commons was sufficiently aware that the control of the
public purse belonged to them, and that they were supported alike by
principle and precedent in making the redress of grievances and the secu
rity of their rights a condition of granting supplies to the crown. It was
in this manner that the wealth of their ancestors had contributed, quite
as much as their valour, towards the establishment of national freedom ;
and the means which had so much conduced to its existence Avere re
garded as proper to be employed for its preservation or enlargement.
The first proceeding of the new parliament was to appoint a day of
fasting and religious exercises. In St. Margaret's church procee(jina,s 0f
each member was required to join in receiving the sacra- parliament.
ment. By this time, much of the suspicion relating to the J""e21- ,
probable increase of the catholic religion, which had been called forth
by the prospect of the Spanish match, was excited aneAv by the conduct
of the queen and her attendants. The residence of Henrietta was in
Somerset-house, where apartments were provided for her chaplains and a
fraternity of Capuchin friars. These might be seen parading the streets
in their canonical habits ; many priests and Jesuits were emboldened to
make their appearance in different parts of the country ; and the court

210 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. I.
was known to be crowded Avith the professors of the same faith, who
would be sure to extenuate whatever might be laid to the charge of
persons belonging to their communion. It was a knowledge of these
circumstances which made the services at St. Margaret's highly appro
priate and important in the view of the lower house, and particularly of
the puritans *.
The session, accordingly, was no sooner opened, than a petition was
Petition drawn up which called upon the monarch by every solemn
against catho- consideration to enforce the penal laws against recusants,
AI*~tDl"' an<* aSamst a'l whom they concerned. Dr. Montague, a
court divine, had given much umbrage to the petitioners
by a Avork which he had just published, the object of which was not, as
his apologists affirm, merely to inculcate that virtuous catholics might be
saved, but to recommend them to the confidence of the government, and
to set forth their opponents, the puritans, as a people " desiring an anar
chy," and who on that account should be discountenanced and repressed.
Such, it is possible, was the honest conviction of the writer ; and it is not
according to our notions of justice that he should have been made liable
to punishment for avowing it. But the censorship of the press was with
the court, and its exercise with regard to the works which it suppressed
and those which it sanctioned was subject to no sort of control except
through the medium of parliament. Hence the interference of the house
with regard to the publication of Dr. Montague was according to the
usage which this circumstance had rendered both frequent and neces
sary. If such compositions were suffered to multiply, while any effective
answer to them would be sure to be destroyed in the attempt to give it
birth, the result could not fail to prove a great national evil. The lower
house, therefore, determined to make it unquestionable that such a course
was not to be pursued. Montague was placed in the hands of the
sergeant-at-arms, charged with contempt of the house, and with im
pugning the articles of the church of England. The delinquent was
one of his majesty's chaplains, and Charles Avould gladly have sheltered
him from the storm which his meddling zeal had raised around him.
Indeed, the monarch proceeded so far as to indicate what his dispositions
were on the matter, but afterwards found it expedient to dissemble his
resentment ; and Montague was obliged to find securities for his appear
ance to answer the charges against himf.
In this proceeding there was no departure from established usage ;
Cautions tem- ^ut tne same cannot be said of their conduct in granting
per of the the duties on merchandise at the ports, called tonnage
commons. an(j p0Uridage, for a single year only. During the last
two centuries this branch of revenue had been voted to each sove-
* Rushworth, i. 169, 171.
t Ibid., i. 173—176, 209, el seq. 423. Pari. Hist. i. 6, 7, U. Cabala, 156.
Heylin's Life of Laud, 79—81, 86—88.

A.D. 1625.] CHARLES I. 211
reign on his accession for life; and, on this ground, the lords re
jected the bill with this novel limitation. But the doubtful policy of the
commons in this respect, as well as in hesitating to grant the required
supplies, was the consequence of many circumstances, a careful atten
tion to which is strictly necessary to a clear understanding of the conduct
of parties at this juncture.
Charles had opened the parliament in person. He was careful to
state that the intended war with Spain had been resolved upon with the
advice of the persons to whom he now looked for a supply of all the
means necessary to his prosecuting it with vigour. He assured the houses
of his steady attachment to the national faith, notwithstanding some
malicious rumours to the contrary ; and expressed his hope that a re
gard to their personal safety, in consequence of the plague which was
desolating the capital, would concur with his own manifest necessities,
in disposing them to make it, for the present, their chief business to
vote the requisite supplies. This argument from the pestilence was
not well chosen, for the suspicion was very prevalent, that the time
and place of meeting had been determined principally with a view to
restrict the business of the session to the mere granting of money with
out allowing opportunity for any further inquiry with respect to the
causes or the expediency of the war, or with regard to the grievances
which had been made the subject of complaint and investigation in the
last parliament. The commons were informed, by the lord keeper, that
following the advice of the monarch, they would be allowed to re- assemble
in the winter for as long a time as might be required to settle domestic
affairs. In this manner the policy of the court had succeeded in placing
the commons in a situation of considerable difficulty : to vote the supplies
in the manner required would be to commit themselves to a war, of the
justice and policy of which they became daily more and more doubtful,
and to hazard the loss of any fair opportunity for prosecuting some in
quiries relative to the conduct of Buckingham, or for insisting on the
proper return for such grants, — a redress of grievances. On the other
hand, to refuse the aid demanded of them would be to afford their ene
mies a somewhat plausible ground on which to accuse them of inconsis
tency, disaffection, and distrust. The commons endeavoured to avoid
the points of this dilemma by steering a middle course. They resumed
the matter of grievances at the point where it terminated under the last
parliament, broached several popular topics of complaint, and, as "the
first fruits of their love " to the new monarch, they voted the supply of
two subsidies, about 140,000/., a sum sufficient to meet immediate de
mands, but by no means enough to preclude the necessity of their being
soon called upon for further aid. Charles spoke of the present grant as
much inferior to his wants, and complained of an attempt that had been
made to abolish a tax which the late king had laid upon wine, but, in
p2

212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [di. I.
conclusion, professed to regard the tAvo subsidies, and particularly the
manner in Avhich they had been voted, as a proof of the good affection
borne to him by his subjects *".
At the request of both houses, a recess of three weeks noAV took place
The recess pro- on a"011"1 of tne pestilence. The parliament assembled
ceedingsatOx- after that interval at Oxford, and Avas there informed that
ford. August 1. (-kg government could not proceed in its preparations ibr war
Avith any prospect of success, unless aided to the extent of tAvo more sub
sidies and two fifteenths. The popular leaders refused to give any imme
diate attention to this subject; and to the reproach of having forgotten
their pledge to support the king with their lives and fortunes if he should
commence a Avar Avith Spain they replied, that to this time war, from
some mysterious cause, had not been declared; that hostilities abroad were
not so to occupy their mind, as to divert their attention from domestic
grievances ; that no intimation was afforded of a disposition to remove
those which had been already a matter of complaint, notwithstanding
the large demand which was now made on the property of the subject ;
that the penal laws against catholics, instead of being enforced in fulfil
ment of the royal promise, had just iioav been dispensed Avith in favour
of priests who Avere capital offenders ; and that the house Avas anxious
to know, before proceeding further, " whether the duke broke not the
match with Spain out of spleen and malice to the conde Olivarez;"
whether the match with France had not been nogotiated on less safe and
honourable terms ; and Avhether the English ships employed against the
protestant cause before Rochelle Avere not furnished by means of the
subsidies which had been given for the relief of the Palatinate. It Avas
reported by the secretaries of state, ConAvay and Coke, that the govern
ment Avas already 400,000/, in debt, and that 700,000/. annually would
be required to carry on the proposed hostilities. But the present demand
of the government was reduced to a sum not exceeding 200,000/., to be
paid within tAvelve months ; and Buckingham, in his attempt to defend
himself, even spoke of 20,000/, as an amount that Avould meet present
exigencies. This, however, was not until the favourite, despairing
of success thiough the medium of parliament, began to meditate its
dissolution; and was a kind of retreat which tended to confirm the sus
picion that the recent applications of the public money had been such as
not to allow of investigation. This instance of policy indeed was turned
against the object which it was meant to serve, for it was said, Avith much
apparent propriety, that if so small a sum would prove equal to the
immediate wants of the croAvn, there could be no occasion at present
to call the attention of the house from matters of grievance to matters
of finance f, * Pari. Hist. ii. 1 — 7. Commons' Journals, July.
\ Ibid., ii. 8—33. Rushworth, i. 176—189, 195.

a. a. 1625.] ciiarles I. 213
The neAV feeling of confidence in Buckingham, which was called forth
in the first moments of the rupture Avith Spain, had hoav Engiisi1 suips
Avholly passed aAvay ; and this return of the old impres- employed a-
sion concerning him, Avhich was the result of many very Saln8t
natural causes, Avas confirmed by the manner in which his name became
implicated in the use made of certain ships placed under the command
of admiral Pennington. In prospect of the union between Charles and
Henrietta, James had promised the French king the loan of some English
vessels to be employed against Spain in the Mediterranean. These
vessels, the French minister, cardinal Richelieu, eudeavoured to press
into a war against the protestants of Rochelle ; and in this measure,
aided by the determined interference of Charles and the Duke, he suc
ceeded. The English sailors, however, refused, with the exception of a
single man, to fight against their protestant brethren, and all deserting
their ships, returned home, giving out that to be hanged Avould be a less
evil than to take part in such a service. The parliament at Oxford was
apprised of these proceedings, and, there is reason to believe, was ac
quainted with various circumstances which disclosed that the monarch
and the favourite, contrary to the cautiously-framed treaties of the late
king in this respect, had been for some time meditating a sinister project
of this sort *-
It was hoav natural to ask whether the house was to be duped into a
war against the protestant religion under the pretence of a jjeiayS m tne
Avar against its great enemy the king of Spain; and commons— im-
whether the hands, Avhich had proved so perfidious in the ^ng_nce ° ' e
use of the limited means entrusted to them, should be
deemed proper to conduct hostilities against one of the greatest powers of
Europe, and to have the sole control of the resources necessary for that
object. The want of experience, and, to observant men, the want of
sincerity, in the king, added to the want both of capacity and principle
in Buckingham, on whom almost every thing in such a case would de
pend, concurred to make men deprecate the commencement of such an
enterprize f- The house, however, was by no means prepared to protest
against the measure, but chose rather to discourage it, and to render it
almost impracticable by delays, and by limiting its supplies. Its first
subject, accordingly, was religion ; the second, grievances ; and the last,
supplies. Charles, finding that this was the course adopted, informed
the commons that the appearance of the pestilence in the neighbourhood,
aud his own wants, forbade delay ; that if they should forthAvith vote
the required supply, he Avould convene them again at Christmas for other
* Rushworth, i. 174 — 178, 322 — 334. Clarendon Papers, ii. App.xxv. Rymer,
xviii. 209. Prynne His. Work, 85.
f See lord Cromwell's letter to the duke, in Rushworth, i. 195, Avhich shows
that tl;e arrogance of the favourite in conducting the most responsible affairs Avith
out consulting any one was regarded by many as likely to prove his ruin. The
discontent thus produced affected " the best sort, if not all."

214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
business ; but should they choose to spend their ti ne in fruitless debates,
refusing him in this the first request he had made to them, such conduct
would oblige him to show them that he was concerned for their healths,
though they might themselves be negligent of that matter. The house
professed its willingness to furnish the aid demanded, but still spoke of
some preliminary questions which required to be adjusted, and Charles,
offended with this conduct, declared his first parliament dissolved, on the
ninth day of its sitting at Oxford *.
This was not done, however, until that assembly, whose alleged par-
Parliament simony has been the theme of so much abuse, had voted
dissolved, the almost unprecedented sum of 500,000/. to the uses of
Conductofthis tlie government. On the whole, we venture to describe
parliament the conduct of this much calumniated parliament as wise
considered. an(j patriotic. It should not have attempted to lay any
restriction on the usual grant of tonnage and poundage; — its great fault,
however, was not in contributing so sparingly and so reluctantly to the
proposed war, but in not protesting decidedly against it from the time
when so many circumstances concurred to show the impolicy of prose
cuting it. False delicacy, arising from their having been in some sort
parties to the measure, and still more the eager determination of Charles
and Buckingham on this subject, prevented the commons from doing
this, and involved them in perplexity and disputes which the best men
among them must have lamented, but which, as leading to the further
embarrassments of the crown, were to conduce, in the chain of events, to
the more secure and enlarged liberty of the people.
Nearly all the lords of the council had opposed the proposal for a
dissolution of the parliament. But the step Avas urged by Buck
ingham, and his influence prevailed. The great majority of the council
argued that the king would soon be obliged to assemble another par-
Uament, which would prove " a swarm out of the same hive," only ren
dered less manageable by the irritation which the abrupt dissolution
recommended could not fail to excite f. Charles, having refused to
profit by this just representation of his circumstances, issued Avrits to
great numbers of the nobility, the clergy and gentry, calling upon them
to furnish him with the money in the form of a loan, Avhich he had sought
in vain from the late house of commons |. We have seen that loans of
this nature, though of rare occurrence, were not unknown before the
accession of the house of Stuart. But an expedient which was at all
times unpopular, and which had never been tolerated except on the
plea of such emergency as did not allow of an immediate application to
parliament, was manifestly no precedent for a sovereign who had just
* Rushworth, i. 190, 191. Pari. Hist. ii. 33— 37v
t Hacket's Life of Williams, part ii. p. 16—18. Rushworth, i. 195.
X Ibid., i. 192, 194.

1625.] CHARLES I. 215
dismissed the representatives of the people that he might employ him
self in raising money without consulting them.
With the money obtained, hoAvever, from these sources, from some
leading catholics, and from the parliament, Charles fitted
out a fleet of eighty vessels, besides twenty borrowed from f^T^cldiz
the Dutch, and a land force of ten thousand men. Much
Avas expected by the court from this formidable armament. But the
command, instead of being entrusted to Sir Robert Mansel, an officer of
some experience, was bestoAved on viscount Wimbledon, whose only
recommendation, though he had long served in the army of the United
Provinces, appears to have consisted in the favour of Buckingham.
Cadiz was selected as the point of attack. No council of war was held
until the fleet came Avithin sight of the place, and then such different
opinions were entertained, that the shipping in the bay, which might
easily have been seized, were allowed time to escape, and when it was
at length determined to commence the attack on land, the drunkenness
and insubordination which soon spread among the soldiers obliged the
commander to re-embark. From Cadiz the fleet proceeded in search of
a rich convoy, then on its way from the Spanish colonies. But after an
extended cruise it was found that the enemy had passed under conceal
ment of the night. Contagion now broke out in one of the ships.
Wimbledon thought to recover the sick by separating them from each
other, and thus spread the malady through the whole fleet, which
returned covered with disgrace*. Dec. 8.
These public disasters must have weighed heavily on the heart of
Charles, and there were some domestic disquietudes which
affected him hardly less about this time. The conditions Disagreement
of his marriage with Henrietta were now found to be at- wl*Jj[ resPect,
° to the queen s
tended with many evil consequences. These conditions attendants.
not only prevented his executing his promise to enforce
the penal laws against catholics, but had surrounded the queen with an
officious multitude of persons professing the catholic faith, whose in
fluence tended very much to disturb the harmony which should have
subsisted between herself and the sovereign. The puritans had been
loud in their complaints concerning the obtrusive conduct of these
strangers, and the conduct of Charles towards the queen's attendants has
been attributed to these remonstrances, and not to any personal feeling
of his own on the subject. But there are letters from the pen of the Eng
lish monarch which show, that the fanaticism of the puritans in parlia
ment was scarcely more annoying to him than that of the catholics in
his household. These he accuses of plotting with his subjects, and of
fomenting discontents in the mind of Henrietta, — " few or none of her
servants being free from this last .fault in one kind or other." His
* Rushworth, i. 196—197. Cabala, 404—406. Sydney Papers, ii. 363. Rymer,
xvii. 181.

216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I-
command accordingly is, that arrangements be forthwith made for their
being sent back to France.
When remonstrance was made against this proceeding by the French
ambassador, a body of commissioners replied by exhibiting a series of
accusations against the queen's household, to the effect of what is stated
above ; and they add, that such was the influence of these persons over
her majesty, that they had induced her to relinquish the study of the
English language, had filled her with a dislike of everything English,
and had proceeded so far as to conduct her on foot in penance to
Tyburn, that she might do honour to the memory of the martyrs Avho
had perished there in the catholic cause. Most of these particulars the
French ambassador denied, but not in a manner that could materially
discredit the statement of his opponents.
It was not, hoAvever, until more than tAvelve months after the marriage,
that Charles succeeded in sending these troublesome people away.
This circumstance then produced serious disagreement between the
royal pair ; but, through the intervention of the ambassador extraor
dinary from the French court, another household was formed, not alto
gether unacceptable to the queen, and much less repugnant to the feel
ing of Charles and the prepossessions of his people. From this time
harmony was restored, and Henrietta by degrees acquired a considerable
influence over the judgment and conduct of her husband, a tolerable
proof that the previous complaints had not been without foundation *.
One of the methods resorted to for the purpose of raising money, on
the failure of the expected assistance from parliament,
Negotiations was t0 pledge the crown plate and jeAvels. It was cal-
powers. culated that 300,000/. might be obtained from this source.
To accomplish this object, Buckingham, in company Avith
the earl of Holland, late lord Kensington, sailed to the Hague, a treaty
both offensive and defensive having been already concluded with the
States. The duke also concluded a second treaty with the king of
Denmark, who engaged to furnish an army of thirty-six thousand men
on condition of receiving certain monthly subsidies, partly from the king
of England, and partly from the United Provinces. From the Hague
Buckingham would have proceeded to Paris, but he was apprized, bv a
message from Richelieu, that his presence in the French court would
not be permitted. The pride of the English favourite Avas deeply
wounded on seveial accounts by this communication ; but sir Dudley
Carleton Avas despatched in his place, and the instructions given to him,
and his colleague the earl of Holland, breathe the spirit of hostility
which was ere long to break forth into action. They were to employ
their influence with a view to the termination of the war between the
French monarch and his protestant subjects, to call for the return of
* Memoirs de Bassompiere, iii. 145, 146, 285, 313. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 14,
Ellis's Orig. Let. iii. 216, 224, 238—247. Biblia Regia, 218. Cabala, 252.

A.D. 1626.] CHARLES I. 217
certain vessels lent to the French government, to ascertain by secret
means the strength of the protestant interest, to assure its adherents of
assistance from England as circumstances should demand, and to
obtain certain information as to the force Avhich the hugonots could
bring into the field, if the English monarch should declare war against
the French king in their favour. They were to look with suspicion on
all neAV overtures of friendship, and to conclude nothing of that nature
without further instructions. Richelieu met this state of affairs Avith
his usual sagacity. He made peace Avith the French protestants, and
not only promised to return the borroAved vessels, but offered to send ail
army into Germany in aid of the Palatinate in conjunction with
England*. The disgrace which befel the arms of the country while these nego
tiations Avere in progress served only to augment the zeal
of the English monarch and of the favourite in behalf of Preparations
the war, as it constituted a reproach Avhich it Avas of the j^ge^^J" ing
utmost importance to Avipe away. But to repair such parliament.
losses Avithout the assistance of parliament appeared im
possible ; and the great difficulty was, how to manage the convening of
such an assembly so as to derive the necessary supplies through that
channel. As one mode of preparing to meet the unwelcome necessity
which circumstances had thus forced upon bim, Charles resolved, though
aware of the charge of perfidy that would be urged against him by the
French court, that the penal laAvs against the English catholics should
be put into partial execution. The prescribed fines were levied on many
among that class of persons, and applied in aid of the war ; proclamations
were sent forth prohibiting parents and guardians from placing children
in seminaries beyond the sea; all catholic recusants were required to
deliver up their arms, and to confine themselves within five miles of their
home ; and all catholic priests were commanded to leave the kingdom by
a day mentioned f. By these proceedings Charles hoped to propitiate the
religious feeling of a large class of his subjects, and to avoid appearing
before the new parliament as a prince whose word Avas not to be trusted.
The king next directed his attention to the upper house, to the function
aries of the government, and to certain means which were expected to in
fluence the composition of the new house of commons. At the command
of the sovereign a reconciliation took place, at least in appearance, be
tween the earl of Pembroke and Buckingham. Williams, the lord keeper,
found his acknowledged talents insufficient to supply his want of prin
ciple, or to conceal his intrigues with the party opposed to the man AA'ith
whom it became him to act; and the great seal passed from his hands to
* Sydney Papers, ii. 360, 361. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 6. Clarendon Papers, i.
27. Rymer, xviii. 236, 240, 256.
+ Rushworth, 194, 198. Strafford Papers, i. 28. Bibliotheca Regia, 12—16.
Hardwicke Papers, ii. 4 — 7>

218 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
those of the attorney-general, sir Thomas Coventry*. Having pro
vided thus against treachery in the cabinet, Charles resorted to an un
wise expedient for the purpose of breaking the force of the opposition
expected in the lower house. From the list of sheriffs for the coming
year he struck out seven names, and, in their place, substituted those of
seven persons who in the last parliament had become conspicuous as
the opponents of Buckingham. Persons acting as sheriffs were pre
cluded from sitting as members of parliament, but an attempt to ex
clude such men as Coke, Wentworth, Seymour, and Philips from the
house by an artifice of this description could have no other effect than
to proclaim the disingenuous and arbitrary temper of the king, and to
excite the strongest suspicion with regard to the whole texture of his
intended policy. Coke endeavoured to counteract this manoeuvre, by
urging legal objections to the sheriff's oath ; and when these were ob
viated, he continued to insist, that though a sheriff might not hold a
place in parliament for the county of which he was sheriff, he might
so do for any other, and he accordingly accepted a seat for the county
of Norfolk. The difficulties of this last question, however, were so
many, that Coke deemed it prudent not to appear in his place, though,
through the influence of his friends, he retained all the privileges of a
member f.
Nor was it enough by a proceeding of this nature to ensure the sus
picions and resentment of the[ new house of commons, a
Conduct" of y course was adopted which tended to excite the same spirit
Charles in the upper house. Arundel, the earl marshal, possessed
towards considerable influence in that assembly ; he was known as
Arundel ; — . f
the enemy of Buckingham, and had six proxies at his dis
posal. His removal from his place was looked upon as likely to dimi
nish the probable opposition to the favourite among the peers, and a
pretext for that purpose was discovered. It happened that a son of the
earl had recently married a lady of royal blood without obtaining the
royal license, and the king, availing himself of some arbitrary precedents,
committed Arundel to the Tower. The Lords declared this arrest of a
peer during the sitting of parliament to be a violation of their privileges.
It was not, however, until the controversy thus provoked had been pro
tracted during three months that the earl marshal was allowed to resume
his place. All this time the business of the house was deferred, and so
strong was the feeling which had grown with this discussion, that when
Arundel made his appearance, he was received, even in that grave as
sembly, with loud acclamations J.
* Rushworth, i. 198. Hacket, ii. 16—18. Sydney Papers, ii. 364, 365. Straf
ford Papers, i. 28.
f Rushworth, i. 201, 202. Strafford Papers, i. 30, 31. Pari. Hist., ii. 44—46.
X Pari. Hist. 125 — 132. The notices of this dispute are scattered through more
than a hundred pages of the Lords' Journals, 526, et seq.

A. D. 1626.] CHARLES I. 219
There was also at this time another peer who had suffered much
more than Arundel from the arbitrary conduct of Charles
and his minion. This was the earl of Bristol. This no- —and Bristol.
bleman had conducted the negotiations relative to the
Spanish match, until the time of Buckingham's appearance at Madrid,
and he had been an attentive observer of affairs there subsequent to
that period. He was, in consequence, possessed of secrets, the disclosure
of which might prove not a little injurious to the character of the
favourite, and even to that of Charles himself. Since Bristol's return to
England, two parliaments had been convened, but on neither of those
occasions had the usual writ of summons been sent to him. During
all this time, indeed, he had been confined by royal intimation to his
residence at Sherborne, and those who sought the favours of the court
well knew that their being suspected of holding the slightest intercourse
with Bristol would be fatal to their object. That nobleman now ven
tured to address a letter to the house of lords, in which he complained
of the wrong inflicted on him by his exclusion from that assembly ; and
Charles found himself obliged to issue the usual writ of summons, but
with that document which required the earl's presence in the national
council, was a private letter from the king which forbade his appear
ance. Bristol was not likely to submit to this disingenuous and arbitrary
treatment, so long as there was any fair prospect of his being able to
resist it with success. In a second communication, he apprised the
lords of his having now received his proper summons as a peer of the
realm, and he had the courage to demand that the unconstitutional letter
of the monarch which had accompanied that summons should be read
in the house — that being a matter which concerned them, no less than
himself; and he further claimed the right to appear in his place, that
he might accuse the duke of Buckingham of high crimes
and misdemeanors. Buckingham endeavoured to parry May 1.
this bold thrust of his adversary, by charging him, before
the same assembly, with the [guilt of treason. But the house, while
it determined that the accusation against Bristol should be first dealt
with, resolved that the testimony of Bristol with regard to the duke
should not be affected by the charges which the favourite had now pre
ferred against him *.
In the accusation against Buckingham, it Avas alleged that he had
conspired with Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, to produce a false
impression on the mind of Charles in relation to Spain, in order that he
might be led to visit that kingdom, and that before his marriage he
might be led to renounce his protestant creed. He was also charged
with having been so openly dissolute while at Madrid as to make him
self a disgrace to his country ; — the disgust excited by his conduct in
* Lords' Journals, 537 — 578, passim.

220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
that respect having led the ministers of Philip to refuse treating with
him. His subsequent opposition to the Spanish treaty was described as
arising altogether from the resentment which he felt on this account, his
passions having taught him to violate the principles of truth and honour,
and to practise deception both on the prince and the nation. We know
not Avhat reply the favourite made to these charges : it is probable that
its unsatisfactory nature, particularly on some of the points last-men
tioned, is the reason of its not appearing in the Journals, where Ave find
the defence as well as the accusation of Bristol. The earl was said to
have represented Spain as sincere Avhen it Avas not so ; to have concurred,
indirectly, with those who wished the prince to adopt a popish creed ;
to have exceeded his instructions in his zeal to bring about the marriage ;
and to have asserted a statement to be false which he knew the king
had declared to be true. Bristol soon returned an answer to these
charges which satisfied his judges, and which has been generally re
garded as a sufficient vindication of his conduct*.
The earl complained that the facts alleged in several of the articles
exhibited against him Avere such as rested in a great degree on the tes
timony of the sovereign, and petitioned the house to take into consider
ation of what consequence such a precedent might be, and humbly to
move his majesty to withdraw so much of the accusation as depended
on himself. The house submitted two questions on this point to the
judges, which, at the command of the sovereign, they declined to
answer f.
It Avas from the lords only that the king could derive the support
indispensable to him in the peremptory course which it was
Impolicy of hjg intention to pursue toward the commons. But there
ceedings. 'was niucb in these attacks on the pride of the upper house
that could have no other tendency than to deprive him of
such aid — their direct effect being to show the importance of placing
some effectual check on the irregular temper of the monarch, and the
folly of leaving any great matter to a mind of such limited discretion.
Nor are these the only facts which will occur to make it evident that the
mind of Charles was as little competent to the wise administration of an
arbitrary as of a free government. In the case both of Arundel and
Bristol, the conduct of the lords convicted the monarch of oppression,
and of oppression in such a form as was not to be submitted to by an
assembly which was far from being carried away by the enthusiasm of
popular principles,
In consequence of the proceedings against Arundel, Charles found
himself almost alone in the contest which awaited him
The Commons, with the new house of commons. One of the first objects
of that body was to appoint a committee which should
* Lord's Journals, 578 — 662, passim. Pari. Hist. ii. 72 — 190.
t Pari. Hist. ii. 98, 103, 106.

a. D. 1626.] Chari.es i. 221
report concerning the state of religion, much having been said about
the increase of popery, and on the importance of more vigorous efforts
to diminish its influence. The committees on secular grievances also
made their complaint, which related particularly to the evils of purvey
ance, to instances in which duties had been imposed on merchandise
Avithout authority of parliament, and to the conduct of the lord treasurer
in collecting the impost called tonnage and poundage without waiting
for the further sanction of that authority. Charles witnessed the delay
occasioned by inquiries and discussions on matters of this nature with
much dissatisfaction, and admonished the house that his wants were
pressing. Three subsidies, and three fifteenths, making
about three hundred thousand pounds, were promised — a March 27.
liberal supply according to Avhat Avas usual in those times.
But much as the king Avould have been gratified by obtaining such a
sum, he declined it the moment a redress of grievances was mentioned
as a condition of the grant. The demand now made upon the house
was, that the sum named should be forthwith voted, that an addition
should be made to it, and Avithout the obnoxious appendage concerning
grievances. Should this advice be disregarded, it would, ere long, " be
worse for themselves." The commons listened with commendable
patience to this tone of address from the sovereign, and to the echo of
it from bis ministers, and even promised another subsidy.
But before the bill which would have placed so large a sum at the dis
posal of the crown Avas finally passed, a numerous party in
the house had determined to impeach the duke of Bucking- Impeachment
ham, as the principal occasion of the bad government jjam j\jay_
Avhich, as they contended, had so long afflicted the nation.
Every one kneAv that if the proposed sum were first voted, Charles would
be far from permitting the parliament to continue its sitting for the pur
pose of conducting such a prosecution ; and indeed the king no sooner
heard the rumour of this intention, than he sent a message to the
house, declaring that none of his servants were to be questioned by its
authority, much less such as Avere near his person. It would not have
been easy for Charles to have avowed a maxim that could have made it
more imperative on the lovers of their country to regard both the
sovereign and the government with the greatest suspicion. Happily, the
impeachments of Bacon and of Middlesex were too recent to be forgotten,
and this attempt to elude the force of those valuable precedents only
served to stimulate to the zeal of the patriots. The entertaining of this
project called forth haughty reprimands from the monarch, who did not
hesitate to declare that the existence of the commons as a legislative
body was a matter purely of royal sufferance. The commons on their
part declared it to be " the ancient, constant, and undoubted right and
usage of parliaments to question and complain of all persons, of what
degree soever, found dangerous to the commonwealth in abusing the

222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. I.
power and trust committed to them by the sovereign;" — and that com
mon fame was a sufficient ground of proceeding in such cases.
Buckingham was accordingly impeached in a series of articles which
charged him with having united in himself, and frequently purchased,
the most lucrative offices ; with having seized a French ship for his own
gain, and thereby provoked the king of France to make injurious re
prisals on English traders; with having obtained 10,000/. by illegal
means from the East India Company, and with having compelled
English ships to serve against the French protestants.
Against these and some other charges Buckingham made an elabo
rate defence, which had been prepared for him by sir Nicholas Hyde.
Its substance was, that some of the accusations were founded in mistake,
and that others related to acts which, if unconstitutional, were not so
much his own, as those of the judges, or of the monarch. With regard
to the fact that English vessels had been forced into the service against
the French protestants, the favourite affirmed that he could sufficiently
exculpate himself on that matter, but that there Avere reasons of state
which forbade his attempting it ; — he observed, however, that the em
ployment of the ships against any other foe than the Genoese was con
trary to his intention, and an act of treachery resting wholly on the
French king, — a statement which he must have known to be false.
This defence, defective as it was in many respects, produced some im
pression in the duke's favour.
The impeachment was conducted on the part of the commons by sir
John Eliot and sir Dudley Digges, under the name of managers. In
the midst of the proceedings both were committed to the Tower, on the
charge of having insinuated that the monarch had conspired with Buck
ingham to shorten the days of the late king. It had been said in the
course of the trial that the duke had given James medicines during
his illness without consulting his physicians; and as thirty-six lords
declared that this was the sum of the obnoxious statements made in
their hearing, and as the commons refused to proceed with any business
until the imprisoned managers were liberated, Charles, professing him
self mistaken, allowed them to return to their places *.
One of the articles against the duke related to the number of offices
which he had assumed, and it was while the impeachment which in
cluded this article was in progress, and that also which originated with
the earl of Bristol, that Charles exerted his authority and influence to
secure the election of Buckingham to the office of chancellor of the
university of Cambridge. Much opposition was shown to the favourite
in this instance, particularly by the younger members of the university,
and he succeeded by a majority of three only. The opponents of the
duke, in both houses, watched these proceedings with indignation, and
* Pari. Hist. 99 — 190. Rushworth, i. passim.

A.D. 1626.] CHARLES I. 223
the commons came to a vote which declared them to be an insult offered
to the authority of parliament, and to the safeguards of the con
stitution *.
But the passions of the commons were not more disturbed at this
moment than were those of the sovereign. The house was pariiament
preparing its reply to Buckingham's defence when the dissolved.
rumour spread of the king's intention to dissolve the par- UIie
liament, It was hoped that remonstrance might prevent the adoption
of such a course, but the commons Avere not to be heard, and when the
lords united in urging the king to desist from his purpose, if it were
only for a few days, his answer was " Not for a minute t- "
The immediate purpose of this step was to rescue Buckingham from
the hands of his enemies. But by what means could the
, , Nature of the
monarch expect to carry on the government, when, not- djspllte be-
withstanding his poverty, he determined thus to refuse the tween Charles
liberal supply offered him by the commons, rather than listen mons_
to their complaints against the duke, and on the subject of
their grievances ? It has been supposed, and not without reason, that
Charles had already formed the resolution to govern without the aid of
parliaments; — and the pressure of his wants was not, perhaps, viewed
with regret, as it might be made to furnish a plausible ground for raising
money by those irregular exercises of prerogative which were deemed
much preferable to dependance on the concurrence of a popular as
sembly ; and every new precedent of this nature Avould be something
done towards establishing the power of the crown to supply its wants by
such means J.
The situation of the English monarch at this moment was one of
peculiar difficulty and danger. His apologists describe him as parting
from his second parliament indignant at its perfidy, its fickleness, and
ill humour. The men, it is said, who had so lately extolled the duke,
were now persecuting him with the greatest hatred, and without the
* Ibid., 164 — 166. The favourite at this time was duke, marquis, and earl of
Buckingham, earl of Coventry, viscount Villiers, baron of Whadden, great admiral
of England and Ireland, general- governor of the seas and ships of the same, lieu
tenant-general, admiral, captain-general, and governor of his Majesty's fleet and
army, &c. ; master of the horse, lord warden, chancellor and admiral of the
Cinque Ports, constable of Dover Castle, justice in eyre of the forests and chases on
this side the Trent, constable of the castle of Windsor, knight of the garter, privy
councillor, &c. &c. &c. The rapacity of Buckingham kept full pace with his love
of office.
T Pari. Hist., 190, 193. On the day the parliament was dissolved, Arundel Avas con
fined to his house, and Bristol committed to the Tower, by the king's order ; and a
remonstrance Avhich the Commons had prepared to present against the threatened
dissolution was burnt in obedience to a royal proclamation. In a " declaration"
issued by the king, purporting to be explanatory of his reasons for dismissing his
parliament, his majesty states " that in this, as in all his other royal actions, he is
not bound to give an account to any but to God only, whose immediate vicegerent
he is," though there may be considerations making it expedient to do so.
X See the Remonstrance of the Commons, Pari. Hist. 205.

224 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [CH. I.
appearance of any sufficient cause ; while the Avar with Spain, which had
been so strongly urged by the commons, had become little else than an
artifice to involve the monarch in expense, and to render him dependent
on their pleasure. But this representation is defective and inaccurate,
and adapted to produce a false impression. When the duke spoke of
himself as partaking of the national enmity against Spain, and appeared
to adopt those liberal principles of government which were so much
valued by the most patriotic members of the commons, it is hardly sur
prising that, at the moment, some credit should have been given to him
for sincerity. But when the conduct which many had been willing to
regard as the effect of a new feeling of patriotism, was ascertained to
have been the result of his spleen, particularly against the conde Oli-
varez ; and Avhen the favourite Avas every where found to be the same
man — haughty, tyrannical, unprincipled, and altogether unworthy the
confidence of the nation — it was quite as little surprising that the old
feeling with regard to him should return, and that the resentment of
his enemies should be increased by the remembrance of the fraud which
had been practised upon them.
The war with Spain, also, Avas a measure which had been urged by
the commons in a moment of peculiar excitement, and under impres
sions now known to have been in a great degree false. It was no ne
cessary consequence of terminating the treaty relating to the Infanta,
and was in many respects undesirable. But Charles had no sooner
assembled his first parliament than he was faithfully apprized of the
doubts which had arisen in many quarters as to the policy of the pro
posed war, and was sufficiently assured that the only condition on Avhich
the means necessary for conducting it with success were likely to be
obtained was a redress of grievances. This was done before Avar had
been declared. But since that time the king had chosen to become the
aggressor by an attack on Cadiz: and notAvithstanding the want of
ability in the government to regulate such enterprizes, which that affair
had rendered manifest, and the embarrassments which its failure had
produced, the king not only made a larger demand on the resources of
the country than had ever been submitted to an English parliament, but
insisted on compliance with it, notAvithstanding his determination to
pass by that redress of grievances, to which the commons appealed as
the condition on Avhich they Avere Avilling to make even the large grant
proposed to them.
By this time it Avas no secret either at home or abroad, that, settled
as was the enmity between the two nations, the war with Spain owed its
origin and continuance much more to the feeling of the English monarch
than to that of his people : and as everything like dependence on the
subject was, in the judgment of Charles, so much taken from the pro
per dignity of the sovereign, his pride naturally prompted him to a
prosecution of this contest, and to the more determined prosecution of

A. D. 1626.] CHARLES I. 225
this contest, and to the more determined prosecution of it, the more
it Avas opposed. This unhappy prepossession disposed the king to
strain his prerogative Avith the view of obtaining those supplies
from other sources Avhich had been Avithholden by parliament. Nothing
had been done by the king's first or second parliament, if avc except
the attaching a limit to the grant of tonnage and poundage, which had
not been the practice of such assemblies under James, and scarcely
anything for which much older precedents might not have been pleaded ;
but enough had occurred to show that the commons were resolved not
to grant the public money without obtaining a remedy for some public
abuses, nor Avithout some security for its being wisely and justly em
ployed, — and Charles resolved to set them at defiance rather than submit
to such terms *.
The single year to which the commons had limited their vote respect
ing the duties at the ports was hoav closed : but those
duties continued to be collected, on the assumption that th^ILy™,^0
the commons AA'ould have issued their consent, as a matter ment to raise
of course, had they not been prevented by the sudden dis- money'
solution of parliament. The crown lands, by means of leases and com
positions, were made to yield a considerable supply ; and the fines
imposed on Catholic recusants were more generally exacted. Privy seals,
to obtain the loan of money from the nobility, and the more wealthy com
moners, had been sent forth on the dissolution of the former parliament,
in which mention was made of the sum expected from each person. This
fixing of the sum was regarded as an unusual stretch of power, and Avas
an undoubted violation of the statute against benevolences. The names
also of those who refused Avere to be returned to the council. The dissa
tisfaction occasioned by this proceeding, made it desirable, if possible, to
avoid a recurrence to it ; and, accordingly, the first thing attempted was
to persuade the people, that though the subsidies voted by the com
mons had not been finally agreed to in the usual form of a bill, it Avould
not be proper on that account to refuse to pay them. But when this
course was recommended by the judges to some five thousand citizens
assembled for the purpose in Westminster Hall, the multitude shouted
" A parliament ! a parliament ! else no subsidies !" — not more than thirty
persons consenting, and those were all ascertained to be servants of the
king. The men of Middlesex were convened for the same object, but,
having heard the proposal, separated without expressing any opinion or
determination on the subject; the men of Kent also refused, on the
ground that the legality of subsidies was a question with which they
were incompetent to meddle. Charles was more successful in his at
tempt to compel several of the seaports to supply a certain number of
vessels for the protection of their trade ; and the lord-lieutenants Avere
required to train the militia of their respective counties, and to be pre-
* Pari. Hist, 194—207. Q

226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. 1\.
pared to exert themselves in preserving the tranquillity of the kingdom,
or in defending it in case of invasion. With these projects the govern
ment occupied itself during several months after the dissolution of the
parliament*-

Chapter II.
Misfortunes of the elector — Hopes of the court — Forced loan, oppressive conduct of
the government — Liberty of the subject argued before the judges, their uncon
stitutional decision — War with France — Financial difficulties — Third parliament
— Charles anxious to put an end to a free government — Excitement at the elec
tions — Meeting of parliament, proceedings in the Commons — Petition of Right
— Difficulty and insincerity of the king respecting it — Perseverance of the Com
mons — The royal assent' obtained — Further measures of the commons — Parlia
ment prorogued — Value of the Petition of Right to the cause of liberty — Fall of
Rochelle — Death of Buckingham — Means employed to corrupt the opponents of
the court — Apostacy of Wentworth — Parliament — Religious grievances — Case of
Manwaring — Rise of Laud — Object of his party — Dispute concerning the power
to decree rites and ceremonies — Increase of popery — Duplicity of Charles re
specting the printed copies of the Petition of Right — Dispute with the commons
— Proceedings on the second of March — Parliament dissolved — Its conduct con
sidered.
While the English monarch was thus employed with attempts to extri-
Misfortunes of cate himself from his domestic difficulties, the catholic
the Elector— confederates had driven the elector palatine and his
hopes of the . . . , _,_, , n * .
court. mends across the Elbe, and the protestantism of Germany
Sept. 1626. seemed to be menaced with destruction. It was Avell
knoAvn that the popular party in England regarded these events with
sorrow and alarm; and Charles was led to hope that this passing feeling
might be so directed as to afford him some relief in his present neces
sities. By the men of most reflection, both among the puritans and
patriots, a war with Spain had been regarded as desirable from the first,
principally from its being viewed as necessary to a successful inter
ference in favour of the elector, and in defence of the religious faith,
which, together with the liberties of mankind, was regarded as involved
in the fortunes of that prince. The court party, and particularly
the court clergy, sympathised but very imperfectly with the reformed
churches of the continent. In their case, however, what was wanting in
zeal for protestantism, might be made up by their deference to the will
of the sovereign, while the ill success which attended the arms of the
elector might possibly be so employed as to induce the two great parties
to act together in support of those measures which Charles had shown
himself determined, for the present, not to abandon.
* Mede's Letters, July 22, el seq. Rushworth, i. 417—421. Rymer, xviii. 7—86,
passim.

A.D. 1626— 1621.] CHARLES I. 221
In this hope a proclamation Avas issued which set forth some of the
embarrassments, and declared the good intentions of the _ , .
government. It was acknowledged to be highly proper,
in ordinary cases, that the money necessary to carry on such enterprises
should be obtained through the medium of parliament, but the danger at
this juncture Avas said to be peculiarly urgent, and not to admit of so
tedious a process. The plan proposed Avas that of a general loan. The rate
of the last subsidy Avas to determine the amount of each man's property,
and the assistance required Avas to be about four subsidies in amount.
It was carefully stated, however, that the money thus raised was not to
be regarded as a tax, but strictly as a loan, and to be repaid from the
next parliamentary supply ; and while the king endeavoured to rouse
the bishops and the people generally, the archbishop of Canterbury ex
horted the clergy of all ranks to employ their diligence, " both in their
preachings and private conferences, to stir up all sorts of people to ex -
press their zeal to God and duty to the king." The commissioners
chosen to conduct this dangerous experiment were privately instructed
to treat Avith each man alone ; to insist in all cases on the prescribed
sum ; to examine such as should refuse on oath ; to demand a statement
of the motives of their disobedience, and the names of their advisers ; to
enjoin the strictest secrecy on the persons delivering such information ;
and to make a full report to the privy council concerning all persons
who should persist in a refusal-
It had been said that the monarch was a mere tool in the hands of
the favourite; but Buckingham Avas now absent, and ODtiressive
Charles appears to have determined on making it evident conduct of the
that the arbitrary proceedings Avhich had been so gene- government.
rally ascribed to the influence of another were the effect of his own in
clination. The loan proved to be unpopular, and many chose rather to
brave the displeasure of the government than to concur Avith its policy.
Some of these were persons in humble life, who found their punishment
in being forced from their homes and made to serve in the army or
navy ; while their more opulent neighbours Avere called before the
council table, and from that lawless tribunal were sent to some dis
tant prison. Several gentlemen thus committed added to their first
offence by suing to the court of king's bench for their Avrit of habeas cor
pus, that they might thus obtain the protection Avhich the law, if alloAved
its due course, would have afforded them. These confessors in the
cause of civil freedom Avere sir Thomas Darnel, sir John Corbet, sir
Walter Earl, sir John Heveningham, and sir EdAvard Hampden f.
* Rushworth, i. 417—426. Bibliotheca Regia, 298—305. Rymer,' xviii. 764,
835—842. Pari. Hist. ii. 207— 258, passim.
t Strafford Papers, i. 36—41. Rushworth, i. 426.
Q2

228 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. II.
It appeared that the commitment of these persons was simply by order
The liberty of of the king and council, and without any mention of
the subject matters laid to their charge. This arbitrary form of com-
thTjudget"1"6 mitment was declared by the counsel for the prisoners to
Nov. 7—27. be illegal, and their liberation was demanded, or, at least,
that they should be admitted to bail. But the court refused in both
cases, and the knights Avere returned to their confinement. This, hoAv-
ever, was not done until the right of any government to imprison Eng
lishmen, except on the ground of some alleged violation of the law, was
argued with a freedom and fullness which left an impression on the
nation with regard to that important subject that no subsequent course
of affairs has been found sufficient to efface. A constitution purporting
to give the power of making laws to the nation is a mockery, if at the
same time it shall confer on the government the right to create offences
without regard to the laws so made. Our protection against Avrong, not
only requires that the power of legislation should be vested in the com
munity,' but that it should pertain to that power to determine what acts
may or may not be visited with punishment. The liberty of the
subject was ably defended in this instance by Noy and Selden. Heath,
the attorney-general, laboured to support the pretensions of the crown.
It was not denied that the members of the council, in virtue of their
general office as magistrates, might order individuals charged with
any offence against the lave into custody. But it was argued that mem
bers of council, in common with other magistrates, were bound to assign
a lawful cause for every degree of restraint laid upon the person of
the subject, that by this means the proper authorities might be en
abled to determine whether the parties deprived of their personal
freedom should be released, admitted to bail, or otherwise dealt with.
If this course of proceeding was not what the law required, it must
follow that the ministers of the crown might deprive any man of his
liberty at pleasure, and for as long a period as might appear to them
expedient. It was argued that, as a protection against this evil,
Magna Charta had provided, that " no freeman should be taken or
imprisoned, except by lawful judgment of his peers, or the law of the
land ; " and in confirmation of this memorable provision, a series of
statutes founded upon it were now cited. It was not required that
the process of a regular indictment should precede the taking of an
accused party into custody, but merely that his commitment should be
accompanied with a warrant stating its cause. It was also shoAvn that
no command of the sovereign, in whatever manner issued, could justify
the imprisonment of a subject, the only authority for such an act, known
to the constitution, being the seal of a court. Instances Avere adduced
from the Tudor reigns of persons thus imprisoned by the privy council,
or by the immediate authority of the crown, but Avho, on suing for their

A.D. 1621.] CHARLES I. 229
writ, were released or admitted to bail, It was, however, very wisely
observed, that the question, after all, Avas not one that should rest on
precedent, " but upon the fundamental laws and statutes of the realm,
and that precedents, though they look one way or the other, Avere to be
brought back to the laws by which the kingdom is governed."
In opposing the argument of the advocates of liberty, the attorney-
general had little to urge except Avhat was grounded on the sort of pre
cedent Avhich had been afforded by the conduct of the English govern
ment in having not unfrequently violated these provisions of the law.
The arguments, indeed, usually employed to justify those stretches of
the prerogative were much dAvelt upon, but the statutes designed to pre
vent such dangerous outbreaks of power remained, and it Avas manifest
from these proceedings that the people now very generally demanded that
those securities which the patriotism of former times had bequeathed to
them should not only exist in the form of acknowledged laAv, but be
accounted sacred, so as not to be invaded on the part of the croAvn
under any pretext.
But the time to urge this demand Avith success had not arrived. The
decision of the judges in this case, and a decision pro- xjnconstitu-
nounced after much deliberation, was in substance that tional decision
Avhatever the men of past times may have done to secure °* lJJe Ju^jjes"
the personal freedom of their descendants, was to be a rule
to the monarch and his council only at such times and in such cases as
should be deemed by them expedient, When the government demanded
money, hoAvever illegally, and to Avhatever extent, the subject was to
bear in mind that there was a power inherent in the croAvn which would
authorise the sovereign to punish the disobedient with indefinite im
prisonment*. Nor was imprisonment, or the forcing of the common people into the
army or navy, the only means of punishment resorted to at this juncture.
Sir Peter Hayman refused the loan exacted from him, and in conse
quence found himself obliged to go to the Palatinate on the business of
the crown ; Glanvil, the distinguished lawyer, Avas chargeable with the
same offence, and made to accept an office in the navy ; Avhile many
of the people were exposed to much cost and outrage in having the
soldiers Avho had returned from the Cadiz expedition quartered upon
them f.
* State Trials, iii. 1—234. Rushworth, i. 458—462. Pari. Hist. ii. 245—258.
We learn from a MS. letter of the time that the counsel for the prisoners in this
case were heard "with wonderful applause, even Avith shoutings and clapping of
hands," which is noticed as very unusual on such occasions. Harleian MSS. cited
in Forster's Life of sir John Eliot.
f Pari. Hist. ii. 256, 257- Rushworth, i. 418—420. Strafford Papers, i. 40.
Wentworth, in the short day of his patriotism, described these " companies of
guests" as violating the wives and daughters of freemen before their face, and the
passage in Rushworth is to that effect. Pari. Hist, i. 23C.

230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. II.
The discontent excited by these proceedings was not confined to the
puritan or patriot parties, but extended to the nation, with the exception
of a few unprincipled courtiers, and that portion of the clergy who
usually acted with them. The examples from the past usages of
government, which had been adduced to justify such exercises of power,
were sure to be in a great degree, if not wholly, inapplicable to the
present state of affairs. They were manifest irregularities, resulting, in
most cases, from exigencies to which no parallel could be shown in the
present circumstances of the kingdom. In the worst times, they Ave re
as exceptions to the usual temper of the government, while the object
now certainly meditated was to make them the rule. The end proposed
was nothing less than the substitution of a systematic in the place of an
occasional tyranny, — a change that could not be regarded without alarm
and indignation, except by the weak or the dishonest.
Charles was disposed to pursue this unpopular course principally from
^_ . , his want of money ; and his want of money was the
France. natural result of his determination neither to relinquish
the war nor to allow the commons to entertain the ques
tion of grievances before proceeding to that of supplies ; and, as though
anxious to increase the difficulties which had led him to adopt such an
arbitrary line of conduct, it was at this moment that the English monarch
resolved on finding occasion for a war with France. This step, in com
mon with so many of the same impolitic description, owed its origin to
the influence of Buckingham. It is true, the attendants on Henrietta,
who, at the command of Charles, had been sent back to Paris, had filled
its circles with loud complaints against English perfidy, and their tales
had obtained an easy credence where Charles expected that more con
fidence would have been reposed in him. There were also certain
treaties betAveen the French government and the churches of the pro
testant union, which had been made in part through the interference of
the English crown, and the provisions of Which, it was said, had not
been strictly observed. But these circumstances alone would not have
been sufficient to produce hostilities. Buckingham, who had made his
professions of zeal in the cause of the Palatinate a cover under Avhich to
indulge his resentment against Spain, noAV affected a great concern for
the independence of the Hugonots, for the purpose of venting his dis
pleasure against the court of France, and particularly against Richelieu.
But the people, Avho had fallen into the first snare, were more upon
their guard with respect to the second.
During a visit to Paris, for the purpose of conducting Henrietta to
England, the English favourite had received the most flattering atten
tions from the court of Louis. The scenes of gaiety which were pre
pared in honour of the royal nuptials suited both his taste and capacity
much more than the difficulties which pertain to the wise govern
ment of kingdoms. As the favourite of tAvo sovereigns, and the ad-

A. D. 1621.] CHARLES I. 231
miration of the most accomplished women in the most polished court of
Europe, Buckingham presumed to indulge a romantic passion for the
queen herself, the youthful Anne of Austria. But his conduct Avas marked ;
his subsequent intention to visit the French capital was checked by a
message which forbade his approach; and the aspiring libertine swore,
in the bitterness of his resentment, that he Avould still see the queen in
spite of all the power of France. From this moment he became con
cerned to produce hostilities between the two crowns, as the means of
making his enemies in the French capital sensible of his power, and in
the hope of resuming his place there for the purpose of dictating the
terms of reconciliation between the monarch of France and the insur
gent forces arrayed against him. The dismissal of the queen's attend
ants he regarded as one step towards this object. He also employed
himself, as lord admiral, in seizing a number of French vessels, under
the pretence of their containing Spanish property, and at length appeared
before Rochelle, the centre of the protestant power in France, with a
fleet of a hundred sail, bearing an army of seven thousand
men. But this enterprise also proved a failure; and Buck
ingham, after many losses, returned to England, subject to Oct. 30.
almost every reproach except that of cowardice*.
Charles saAv the use that would be made of this occurrence by the
enemies of the favourite, whom he regarded as his own, j-;nanc;, ] j-a-.
and was careful to receive the dishonoured leader with culties — Third
every expression of unabated confidence and affection, parliament.
He spoke of preparing a more poAverful armament without delay, and
assured the unhappy protestants of Rochelle that more effectual aid
should soon be rendered to them. But it was less difficult to indulge
the imagination upon such plans than to provide the means necessary
for carrying them into effect. Mention was made of a parliament, but
Charles professed to " abominate the name." Other expedients Avere
suggested, which, upon examination, were successively abandoned, as
more likely to augment disaffection than to furnish the needed assist
ance. Charles at length consented that his third parliament should be
assembled, this being the only raethod by which the requisite supplies
could be obtained without the utmost hazard to the tranquillity of the
kingdom. It was also deemed important, in consequence of these cir
cumstances, that something should be done to allay the popular irrita
tion which had been excited by the arbitrary conduct of the government.
Archbishop Abbot had shown himself opposed to the unconstitutional
policy of the court, and pretexts for his suspension Avere not wanting.
But the primate was now restored to his functions; the earl of Bristol
* Clarendon Hist. i. 38. Cabala, 252, 253. Rushworth, 423—428, 462—466.
Warwick's Memoirs, 18 — 28. Strafford Papers, i. 41. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 13
—51. Ellis's Letters, iii. 251. Bibliotheca Kegia, 224— 229. See alsopp. 215—
218 of this volume.

232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH, II.
Avas released from the Tower ; and nearly a hundred persons, including
many knights and gentlemen, whose opposition to the recent loan had
subjected them to imprisonment or restraint, were indebted to this posi
tion of affairs for liberation*.
Scarcely, however, had the writs to convene the new parliament been
issued, when it Avas ascertained that somewhat less than tAvo
hundred thousand pounds Avould probably be sufficient to
fit out the neAV expedition, and, in the hope that this sum might be im
mediately raised, a commission Avas appointed to solicit contributions from
the several counties, " bearing in mind that form and circumstance must
be dispensed with, rather than the substance be lost or hazarded." The
people were informed that their prompt compliance with this irregular
proceeding would dispose the king to meet the expected parliament ;
their refusal would oblige him to adopt some more speedy way of sup
plying his wants. But this significant intimation did not facilitate the
object of the government; the expressions of discontent, indeed, became
so loud and so general, that the commissioners, more than thirty in
number, Avere glad to avail themselves of a counter proclamation to
resign their authority. Only a fortnight later the king laid some new
duties on certain articles of merchandise, but Avhen the judges, alarmed
no doubt by the prospect of a parliament, hesitated to declare the pro
ceeding legal, these instructions also were recalled f.
Beside the suspicion with regard to the real intentions of the monarch
Charles anx- which these proceedings tended to excite, others arose from
ious to put an the unusual military force just noAV at 'his command. It
end to a free was a]s0 „art 0f a pian secretly formed at this moment that
government. J '
a body of mercenary troops should be introduced from Ger
many. Arrangements Avere actually made for obtaining the assistance of
a thousand cavalry, and arms for five thousand infantry. Thirty thousand
pounds were to be expended in procuring this foreign aid \. It is admitted
by the great apologist of Charles, that even before this time, " had he
possessed a military force on which he could depend," he Avould probably
at once have " taken off the mask, and governed without any regard to
parliamentary privileges. But his army was new levied, ill paid, and
Avorse disciplined, no Avise superior to the militia, who were much more
numerous, and who were in a great measure under the influence of the
country gentlemen §." Enough came under the notice of every ob
servant man to make this disposition on the part of the monarch noto
rious.

* Abbot had been suspended 'for refusing to license a sermon by Dr. Sibthorpe,
which inculcated the legality of loans to the king. It Avas licensed by Laud. See
the case in Rushworth, i. 435—461. Pari. Hist. 207, 217. Rushworth, 472—474.
f RushAvorth, i, 474, 614. Bibliotheca Regia, 293, 294. Somer's Tracts, iv.
100—104. Rymer, xviii. 967.
\ RushAvorth, i, 474. $ Hume, ubi supra.

A. D. 1628.] CHARLES I. 233
The excitement, accordingly, which prevailed at the elections was
such as had not hitherto been witnessed, and such, in- Excitement at
deed, as our own times have hardly surpassed. At West- the elections.
minster, Avhere the influence of the duke was considerable, the court
candidate lost his election by a thousand votes. Hayward and sir
Robert Cotton, the late members, and highly popular men, Avere also
rejected, on the ground that they had expressed themselves in favour of
the recent loan. The successful candidates were Bradshaw, a brewer,
and Maurice, a grocer. As this was the course of things almost every
Avhere, the court began to relinquish its hopes of success by means of a
parliament, and it Avas predicted by many that the new house of com
mons Avould not exist more than a few days. These signs of the coming
storm stimulated the negotiations for assistance from Germany*.
When the commons met, the house was found scarcely large enough to
contain them, and many spoke of the members then con- Meeting of
vened as constituting the most honourable assembly that Parliament.
had ever appeared Avithin those walls. The freeholders in
the train of some of these commoners greatly exceeded those under the
influence of the most considerable of the lords, and the aggregate wealth
of the lower house was said to be three times greater than that of the upper.
In addressing this assembly Charles said, " I have called you together,
judging a parliament to be the ancient, the speediest, and the best way
to give such supply, as to secure ourselves, and save our friends from
imminent ruin. Every man must now do according to his conscience,
Avherefore, if you, which God forbid, should not do your duties, in con
tributing what this state at this time needs, I must, in discharge of my
conscience, use those other means Avhich God has put into my hands, to
save that which the follies of other men may otherAvise hazard to lose.
Take not this as a threatening, (I scorn to threaten any but my equals,)
but as an admonition from him, that both out of nature and duty, hath
most care of your preservation and prosperities." So insensible Avas
the monarch to his oavo weakness, and to the formidable nature of the
power Avhich at this moment presented itself before him !
The commons did not allow themselves to be drawn into fruitless dis
putes upon the' language which had proceeded from the throne, though
the temper which it betrayed, and its dark significance, Avould have
afforded sufficient occasion for such discussions in other circumstances.
It was their wiser policy to reserve their energy until something more
tangible than words should become the subject of debate. In fact, their
conduct seemed almost to justify a suspicion that the haughty threat of the
monarch had shaken their supposed purpose, and that they were about to
go into some large measure of compromise. The Lord Keeper, in further
expressing the will of the sovereign, had said, " This way of parliamentary
* Letter dated March 8, 1627, in Sloane MSS.

234 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. II.
supplies, as his majesty told you, he hath chosen, not as the only Avay,
but as the fittest; not because he is destitute of others, but because it is
most agreeable to the goodness of his Own most gracious disposition, and
to the desire and weal of his people. If this be deferred, necessity and
the sword make way for others. Remember his majesty's admonition !
I say remember it!" And the Lord Keeper probably congratulated
himself on the success of his oratory when he saw Finch, a courtier
lawyer, allowed to take possession of the speaker's chair, and the house
vote supplies to the unusual amount of five subsidies, with a provision
that the whole should be furnished in the short space of tAvelve months.
Both Charles and Buckingham spoke of this sum as the greatest con
tribution ever tendered by parliament to the crown.
But this treasure could not be possessed by the monarch until the vote
Proceedings in respecting it should be followed by the passing of a
the commons, km for the purpose, and at this point the commons made
their stand. They had shown their willingness to supply the wants of
the sovereign ; they Avere now to show their determination to protect the
liberty of the subject, and they applied themselves to this duty Avith a
mixture of prudence and firmness not often found in the proceedings of
popular assemblies. It was well known that their being allowed to as
semble at all Avas owing solely to the necessities of the government, and
that to supply those necessities without obtaining a redress of grievances,
or to refuse the supply of them except in the most constitutional form,
Avould equally ensure an abrupt dissolution. Accordingly, while the house
rang with complaints, particularly with respect to the misconduct of the
government during the last twelve months, the expressions of the lead
ing speakers are as remarkable for their caution as their boldness.
Sir Francis Seymour said, " He, I must confess, is no good subject,
who would not willingly and cheerfully lay doAvn his life, when that
sacrifice may promote the interest of the sovereign and the good of the
commonwealth. But he is not a good subject, he is a slave, who will
allow his "goods to be taken from him against his will, and his liberty
against the laws of the kingdom. By opposing these practices, Ave shall
but tread in the steps of our forefathers, who still preferred the public be
fore their private interests, nay, before their very lives. It will in us be
wrong done to ourselves, to our posterities, to our consciences, if Ave
forego this claim and pretension." Sir Thomas Wentworth appeared to
express the sentiments of the house as he exclaimed, " We must vindi
cate—what? NeAV things? No. Our ancient, legal, and vital liberties,
by reinforcing the laws enacted by our ancestors, by setting such a stamp
upon them that no licentious spirit shall dare henceforth to invade them.
And shall we think this a way to break a parliament ? No, our desires
are modest and just. I speak both for the interests of king and people.
If we enjoy not these rights it will be impossible for us to relieve him.
Let us never therefore doubt a favourable reception."

A.D. 1628.] CHARLES I. 235
It is manifest from these and similar speeches, that the question with
the house of commons was not Avhether the constitution Petition of
had or had not provided for the security of the subject in Right.
his person and possessions. On the contrary, it was affirmed again and
again, and without opposition, to be the laAv of the land, that no English
man should be subject to personal restraint without some stated and
lawful cause for such restraint'; and that the property of no Englishman
should be taxed without his consent given through the medium of par
liament : — and the great point in consequence was, whether it did not
devolve as a solemn duty on all enlightened lovers of their country to
strengthen the statutes which a noble-minded ancestry had transmitted to
them on those matters, by such further provisions as might constitute a
more certain barrier against the inroads of lawless poAver. The conclu
sion of the house Avas, that this was the course which circumstances
had rendered imperative; and to accomplish this object a document
was prepared under the memorable title of the " Petition of Right."
By this designation the object of the petitioners was declared to be
justice, not favour; — the due enforcement of old rights rather than the
introduction of any thing new.
The petitioners appealed to the ancient statutes as showing that they
ought not to be obliged to pay " any tax, tallage, aid, or other like
charge, not set by common consent in parliament." They also adduced
the laws which declare that no man " of whatever state or condition he
be, should be put out of his lands or tenements, or taken or imprisoned,
Avithout being brought to answer by due process of law." From the
statutes on these subjects they proceeded to those relating to the uses of
martial law ; and complaining of the contempt of all these enactments
on the part of the existing government, they ask " that no man here
after may be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax,
or such like charge, without common consent by act of parliament.
And that none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give
attendance or to be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted con
cerning the same, or for refusal thereof. And that no freeman in any
such manner, as is before mentioned, be imprisoned or detained."
The discussion on this petition in the upper house extended to three
davs. So great indeed was the legal knowledge and ability ,-,-^ ,
- , . , , . Difficulty and
Avhich appeared in the cause of the subject, that the at- insincerity of
torney-generalfledto the assistance of counsel in behalf of tne .ki"S re"
the crown. Even with this aid, victory was on the side of g ' '
his opponents. That the lords should choose a middle course, or at
least make a show of doing so, was to be expected. Without attempting
to deny that the whole object sought by the petition was to make the
government of the country more conformable to its acknowledged lasvs,
amendments were proposed, which, in practice, would have served to
neutralize the design of that instrument, and of the statutes on which it

236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [dl. II.
rested. These were at once rejected by the commons, and through two
whole months Charles resorted to every available subterfuge in the hope
that an escape from the necessity of giving his consent to the petition
might still be found possible. The judges were secretly consulted, and
their answer in substance was that the practice of the government might
continue the same, though the proposed bill (for this was the form which
the petition had doav assumed) should receive the royal assent. En
couraged by this decision Charles presented himself to the upper house
for the purpose of giving that assent; the commons hastened to the bar,
and while expecting the monarch to express his approval by saying, " Let
it be law, as is desired," — the usual form — were astonished to find the
royal answer put into the following novel and ambiguous shape : — " The
king willeth that right be done, according to the laws and customs of
the realm, and that the statutes be put in due execution, that his sub
jects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppression, con
trary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he
holds himself as Avell obliged as of his prerogative." Men who had
given so many proofs that they were not to be deceived by the most
covert artifice might Avell be surprised and indignant at this poor effort
to deceive. No one could be in doubt with regard to the purpose for
which the monarch had deserted the established usage in this case ; and
every one knew that if nothing more than these vague expressions was
to be obtained, nothing Avas obtained.
Much now depended on the manner of meeting this unexpected diffi-
_ culty. When the king's answer to the petition was read
Perseverance ¦ . ° x
of the Com- to the lower house, sir John Eliot, we are told, stood up,
mons. " and made a long speech, wherein he gave forth so full
and lively a representation of all grievances, both general
and particular, as if they had never before been mentioned." The
object of the speaker was to concentrate the resentment of the house
upon Buckingham, as the source of all the evils enumerated, and by this
means either to remove that minion from all connexion with the king
and the government, or to compel Charles to sanction the petition of
right in the legal form as the price of retaining him. The next day a
message was sent to the house, calling upon the members in the name of
the king, to abstain from all new matter, and at once to conclude the
necessary business, as the session Avould close in six days. The day
following the commons received a similar message, with a special injunc
tion not to employ their time on subjects tending " to the scandal of the
state, or of its ministers."
Sir Robert Philips and sir John Eliot expressed themselves deeply
grieved at Avitnessing these attempts to frustrate the just and patriotic in
tentions of the house ; and the latter began to touch on the conduct of
government, — but the speaker, " starting up in his chair, said, with tears
in his eyes, that a command had been laid upon him to interrupt any

A.D. 1628.] CHARLES I. 231
that should go about to lay an aspersion on the ministers of state." This
was meant for the protection of Buckingham, and Eliot resumed his seat
in silence. One member, writing to a friend the next day, says, " sir
Robert Philips spoke, and mingled his words with weeping ; sir Edward
Coke, overcome Avith passion, seeing the desolation that was like to ensue,
was forced to sit doAvn when he began to speak, through the abundance
of tears ; yea, the speaker in his speech could not refrain from Aveeping
and shedding of tears ; besides a great many whose great griefs made
them dumb and silent*." Modern statesmen afford fevv examples of
this sort of weakness, partly because Ave do not see the great interests of
the community exposed to the same degree of hazard, aud still more, it is
to be feared, because Ave have but an imperfect sympathy with a patriot
ism so earnest and devoted.
But these bursts of sorrow were folloAved by acts which bespoke the
return of vigorous purposes. With the view of protecting themselves
against the probable resentment of the court, should the threat with
respect to closing the session be carried into effect, it was declared that
the conduct of every member of the house during the whole session had
been dutiful and proper ; and it was further agreed that the house should
go into committee on the question respecting what was best to be done
for the safety of the kingdom in the present posture of affairs, and no
man was to absent himself on pain of being sent to the Tower. The
speaker marked these proceedings with alarm, and begged permission to
leave the house for half an hour, and, as his courtier inclinations Avere at
present only in part suspected, his request was granted. He went to
the king, and during the three hours of his absence the attack on Buck
ingham Avas reneAved, the house rang Avith acclamations, and all seemed
to concur in denouncing him as " the grievance of grievances." The
speaker on his return declared it to be the king's pleasure that the house
should adjourn until the next morning, and that in the mean time all
committees should cease.
On that morning Charles made his last attempt to evade a satisfactory
answer to the Petition of Right ; on the day following the Th . ,
commons were required to meet him in the upper house ; sent obtained.
there the petition was read, and the usual ansAver returned, June ?¦
on which the members of the loAver house, who crowded round the bar,
raised loud shouts of applause. The bill relating to the five subsidies
was now passed without delayf.
The house also gave its sanction to the collecting of the tonnage
and poundage at the ports, but in such a form as to pm.t),er mea.
declare that branch of revenue, as well as the ordinary sures of the
taxes, to be dependent on the consent of parliament. Comm0Ils-
* Rushworth, i. 609.
t For the interesting details of this session to this point, see Pari. Hist. ii. 217 —
408.

238 nisTORY op England. [ch. ii.
Nor was this deemed sufficient : a remonstrance was prepared against
the conduct of the government in presuming to collect those customs,
since the first year of the king's accession, without such sanction ; and
to this another was added, Avhich attributed the late dishonours of the
state in the sight of Europe, the loss of dominion in the narroAV seas,
the decay of commerce, and many other evils, to the vices and inca
pacity of Buckingham, and in conclusion called for his removal from
office, and his exclusion from the court. With respect to the question
of tonnage and poundage, the law was on the side of the patriots; but
custom had so long assigned that department of revenue to every new
sovereign for life, that we may well excuse some displeasure in Charles
on finding himself subject to a restraint in that particular, which it had
not been thought necessary or practicable to impose on his predecessors ;
and the remonstrance which called for the dismissal of the favourite,
if better supported by precedent, was still less acceptable to the mo
narch, and a proceeding of questionable prudence at such a moment.
Charles was much displeased, and resolved to bring this important
Parliament sess'on to a close. To the commons he said, that he OAved
prorogued, to give an account of his actions to God only, but it was
June 26. ^s pieasure to make them aware of his reasons for calling
them so suddenly to meet him, before his assent had been given to their
bills. These reasons were found in the nature of their remonstrance
against Buckingham, and in their having so misinterpreted the Petition
of Right as to suppose that it gave them any power over tonnage and
poundage. On the matter of that petition generally he wished them to*
be aAvare that, while he would be found to respect it in the conduct of his
government, he had not thereby granted any neAv, but had simply con
firmed the ancient liberties of his subjects. " As for tonnage and pound
age," he continued, " if is a thing I cannot want, and was never intended
by you to ask, nor meant by me, I am sure, to grant. To conclude, I
command you all that are here to take notice of what I have spoken at
this time to be the true intent and meaning of what I granted you in
your petition ; but especially you, my lords, the judges, for to you only,
under me' belongs the interpretation of laws." The answer of the
judges to the questions of the king Avith regard to that petition had been,
that it would have its exceptive cases, and that each of these must be
left to be decided by the courts of justice*.
Persons who were ignorant of that answer, and only heard the lau-
Impnrtance of SuaSe of tne sovereign, could hardly fail to conclude that
the Petition it was his intention to be governed by the Petition of Right
of Right. scarcely more than by the statutes Avhich it had been
framed to strengthen. But Avith all their fears, the patriots could not
be insensible that the triumph of their cause had been such as to render
* Pari. Hist. ii. 408—433.

A. D. 1628.] CHARLES I. 23fl
this session one of the most memorable in our parliamentary history.
The Petition of Right, like its venerable parent the Great Charter, might
be viewed Avith jealousy by sovereigns, but could hardly fail to be
regarded by the people as a most solemn recognition of their liberties.
Like the articles of Runnymede, its provisions might be sometimes
evaded, and sometimes set at nought, but, like those articles, they Avere
not to be forgotten by the nation, but rather to be brought into promi
nence Avhenever the spirit of popular freedom should be found capable
of making a stand against the encroachments of tyranny under the plea
of prerogative. Its immediate effect, no doubt, was to place Charles in
a relation considerably different towards the people whom he was in
future to govern. His arbitrary measures could not be recurred to
Avithout their appearing to be more manifest violations of law, nor
without giving a deeper offence to the moral sentiments of the people.
It may be admitted that by this event a change was produced " in the
government, almost equivalent to a revolution ;" but it must be borne
in mind that the change Avas in the government only, not in the consti
tution ; — the law remained the same, but the due administration of it
Avas rendered more probable.
Parliament, prorogued in June, did not reassemble before the fol
lowing January. Charles employed himself during this Fall of
interval in extending his promised assistance to the French Rochelle.
protestants. Lewis and the cardinal Richelieu prosecuted their attack
on Rochelle with a formidable fleet and army. Twice the English fleet
approached the enemy; in the first instance under the command of the
earl of Denbigh, when it merely reconnoitred the proceedings of the
combatants, and returned to England ; in the second, under the earl of
Lindsey, who, after inflicting some injury on the fleet of the besiegers,
Avitnessed the surrender of the town at discretion. It was not by much
more than a twelfth of the French nation that the protestant faith had
been embraced; but this minority, in consequence of the intolerance,
and of the factious spirit, which long prevailed in the French court, had
assumed much of the form of an independent republic, being leagued
together for their common protection. From this period, however, all
effective confederation ceased ; and the government, by adopting a
lenient policy towards the vanquished, concentrated the resources of the
country so as greatly to augment the poAver of the French monarchy.
It remained for Lewis XIV. to revoke the edict of Nantz, under which
the protestants enjoyed toleration, and thus to force more than half a
million of the most industrious and virtuous of his subjects into exile.
Previous to the fall of Rochelle, Buckingham had ended his course.
The armament which appeared before that place under Death of
the command of the earl of Lindsey was to have been en- Buckingham.
trusted to the favourite, who hastened to the embarkation at Portsmouth,
It is noAV well known that at this moment both Charles and Lewis

240 history of England. [ch. ii.
were desirous of peace, but neither would descend to propose what either
would have been happy to accept, Buckingham's instructions, accord
ingly, were not so much to prosecute hostilities as to put an end to them
by any means which should not lower the dignity of his sovereign.
Charles noAV saw, what he might have seen before, that his struggle with
Lewis must render it impossible that he should interfere with any effect
in the cause of the Palatine; and that could he succeed in diminishing
the povper of France, the only result would be to increase that of Austria,
and thus to render the prospects of the unfortunate elector more hope
less. It was not, however, until this manifest tendency of his conduct
had called forth many expressions of astonishment from the powers in
league against Austria, that Charles seemed capable of viewing his mis
taken policy in its proper light *.
The duke, while at Portsmouth, held a conference one morning with
some French protestant gentlemen on the condition of their affairs ; and,
after a debate of some warmth, was proceeding to his carriage, when,
turning towards a gentleman who spoke to him on his right, a knife was
plunged through his left side to the heart. He drew it forth, uttered
the word " villain," and, falling into the arms of those about him,
expired. In the confusion and alarm of the moment some thought him
struck with apoplexy, others, who saw the blood rush from his side and
mouth, began to suspect the French gentlemen, and it is probable they
would not have escaped injury, had not the assassin discovered himself
by drawing his sword and exclaiming, " I am the man." He would
have died on the spot, but was rescued by the greater self-possession of
others, who were anxious to ascertain his motives, and who judged that
such a deed could hardly have been planned without accomplices.
On being questioned, the deluded man said his name was Felton, that
he was a protestant, and that he had acted without disclosing his pur
pose to any one. His complaint was, that, as a lieutenant in the army,
he had seen in two instances junior officers advanced before him, and
that he had applied in vain for his arrears of pay, amounting to eighty
pounds. The house of commons, moreover, had declared Buckingham
to be the great national grievance ; he believed that declaration, and re
garded it as a sufficient commission for Avhat he had done. He had
travelled seventy miles for that object; he had removed the duke from
no enmity against him otherwise than as the bane of his country ; and
when he struck the Woav he had prayed that God would have mercy on
his soul. At a subsequent intervieAV, the earl of Dorset threatened him
with the rack; he replied that he Avas ready, but added that the only
name which should be wrung from him as that of an accomplice, would
be the name of my lord of Dorset. Charles pressed the use of torture,
* Rushworth, i. G30. Ellis, iii. 252. Carleton's Letters, xxi. For a notion of
the ulterior plans which sometimes floated before the imagination of Buckingham,
see Clarendon Papers, 14 — 18.

a.d. 1628.] Charles 1. 241
but the judges, on being consulted, found that such methods of obtaining
evidence were contrary to the laAv of England ; so marked had been the
effect of recent discussions in the house of commons on the intelligence
and humanity of the court of king's bench. Felton suffered as a mur
derer, but acknoAvledged, before his death, the delusion which had in
fluenced him and the guilt of his conduct*.
Much as the reader's attention has been occupied with George
Villiers duke of Buckingham, that personage, so prominent in English
history, was not thirty-six years of age at the time of his death.
His contemporaries generally speak of the gracefulness of his person ;
and that his manners were highly fascinating towards those whom it
was his object to please cannot be doubted. It is to these causes that
Ave must attribute the influence which he continued to exercise over the
minds of James and Charles. But he possessed little wisdom himself,
and disdained to be beholden to others for guidance. He would ac
knowledge no equal, except in the sovereign ; and those, in consequence,
Avho were immediately about him, were mostly his dependents, men
more disposed to flatter his inclinations than to attempt any correc
tion of his errors. Without principle of any kind, he AA'as capable of
descending to the grossest indecencies both in language and conduct,
and was little concerned at the indignation of subjects so long as the
favour and poAver of the prince Avere sufficient for his protection. His
boundless ambition, together Avith his want of the judgment necessary
to shape his course according to circumstances, made him the adviser
of public measures Avhich broke in upon the most valued liberties of
the people, filled all places Avith his enemies, and would probably have
brought him to the block, had not the fanaticism of Felton anticipated
the more natural issue of affairs.
If anything could have saved the favourite from the poAver of his
enemies it would have been the policy Avhich he con
descended to adopt a little before his death; this was to * ,ea"j fm'
i . ' ployed to cor-
detach some of the popular men in the commons from rup't the oppo-
their party, by offering them the distinctions and emolu- "ents of tlie
ments of the court. In all governments subject in any
degree to popular, or even to aristocratic influence, expedients of this
nature, more or less modified, have been resorted to ; but in Eng
land, the prerogative had long been so poAverful as to preclude the ne
cessity of any marked or systematic recurrence to such means of thin-
* Howell's Familiar Letters, 202. Warwick's Memoirs, 32, 33. Rushworth, i.
651—653. State Trials, iii. 367. Ellis, iii. 256—260, 266, 267, 278—282. War
wick remarks " that they that a little before crowded to be of his remotest followers
so soon forsook his dead corpse, that he was laid upon the hall-table nigh to which
he fell, and scarce any of his domestics left to attend him. Thus, upon the Avith-
drawing of the sun, does the shadow depart from the painted dial." The duke was
privately buried, though a mock fnneral, of some ceremony, was conducled during
the night from Wallingford House. Ellis, 264, 265.

242 history of England. [ch. ii.
ning the ranks of disaffection. The fact, however, had now forced itself
on the attention of the court in a manner not to be misunderstood, that
unless means could be devised to bring a greater number of the able
men in the lower house to the service of the government, it would not
be possible that it should long proceed, every parliament dissolved for
many years past having been succeeded by another still more popular
in its principles and feeling.
In the last session, sir Thomas Wentworth, abandoning the neutral
Apostacy of course which he had been careful to maintain since his
Wentworth. nrst appearance in parliament in 1614, had taken his
place Avith the popular leaders ; and the eloquence and ability which he
displayed were regarded as a great accession to the strength of the party
he had chosen*. In Wentworth's transactions with the government
before this time, there had been indications which could not have failed
to satisfy those who knew him, that his temper was such as to make it
more natural in him to court the favour of the sovereign than that of the
people. But the favourite had long regarded him with jealousy and
dislike, which he had recently shown by depriving him of the office of
custos rotulorum for his county, having attempted the same thing some
years before. It was the feeling of Buckingham also which led to the
selection of Wentworth's name for the office of sheriff, that he might not
be elected to the king's second parliament ; and the same influence had
been successfully employed against him in a dispute before a committee
of the commons with respect to an election for Yorkshire which he had
contested with sir John Savile, the names of Wentworth and Savile being
so powerful in that county as to divide it between them. Savile, not
content with this triumph, prevailed on the court to send Wentworth a
privy seal, requiring him to become a loan contributor : — should he re
fuse, the sovereign, who was already suspected of holding him in some
esteem, would number him with the disaffected ; and should he comply,
his influence with the country party would be lost.
Wentworth, after much delay, which the court was not yet wise
enough to improve, chose to abide the consequence of appearing as a
loan recusant, and having answered with much decorum at the council-
table, he was committed to the Marshalsea prison. Thus slighted and
injured by the court, his doubtful patriotism broke forth on the meeting
of the next parliament in eloquent harangues on the side of popular free
dom. The king's ministers now called to mind the unanswered letters
of this much applauded and formidable opponent, and judging it probable
that it might not even yet be too late to secure his alliance, the lure of
court favour was employed, and with memorable success. Wentworth had
* The Wentworth who made himself obnoxious to the king in the parliament of
1614 and was imprisoned, was not, as frequently stated, the member for Yorkshire,
hut a popular member of that name who sat for Oxford. This is shoAvn beyond
dispute by Mr. Brodie ; and in the Life of Strafford in the Cabinet Cyclopaedia,
197.

A. D. 1629.] CHARLES I. £!43
seen his rival, sir John Savile, raised to the dignity of privy counsellor,
and to the office of comptroller of the household, as the reAvard of his
apostacy in favour of the court ; and as the fruit of folloAving the ex
ample thus set before him he was himself created baron, and within a
few months became viscount, and lord president of the north. It thus
appears that the short-lived patriotism of WentAvortb was the effect of
circumstances, and not the result of his real principles or inclinations;
with these the course of arbitrary power, Avhich he will be found to pur
sue with such fixed purpose from this time, Avas much more accordant.
The removal of Buckingham made way for Wentworth, as, in some
degree, his successor*.
To satisfy the duke, Charles bad exposed himself to suspicion and
complaint with the majority of his people, and it Avas expected that the
news of his death would be received with the strongest expressions of
sorrow. But the king checked his emotion, and reserved such expres
sions for his private intercourse. His conduct in paying the debts and
providing for the relatives of the deceased afforded the best proof of the
affection cherished towards his memory. Buckingham's remains were
interred in Westminster Abbey ; and Charles, who spoke of him as a
martyr in the cause of his sovereign, had sufficient opportunity to make
his enemies aware that their conduct had been marked and remembered.
The death of the favourite, and the fall of Rochelle, were soon followed
by another meeting of parliament. The first object of the proceeajnes
commons was to revive the several committees on grievances, in parliament.
Since the prorogation Charles had persisted in collecting Jan' 20> 1629,
the duties on merchandise at the ports, though the form of the bill re
lating to them remained a matter of dispute between himself and the
commons at the prorogation. It was a branch of his revenue which
nothing could induce him to regard as dependent, like other taxes, on
the pleasure of parliament. But the demand of the royal officers had
been resisted, on the plea that the duties had not been legally imposed ;
and Charles, aware of the dangerous consequences of such collisions,
became anxious to see some settlement of the matter, and called the
attention of the house to the subject. Many among the country party
were disposed to act on this suggestion, but a majority determined that
the state of religion should be considered before entertaining any secular
question. On the subject of religion, the great complaints Avere, the increase of
popery, and the patronage bestowed on Arminian clergy- E ,-r,
men by the government. The case of Montague has been vances— Case
mentioned, and two years later his conduct was imitated by offllanwarmg.
Dr. Manwaring, rector of St. Giles's. Amidst the excitement occa
sioned by the illegal proceedings of the government in 1627, and par-
* Strafford Papers, 1 — 46, passim. R 2

244, HISTORY OF ENGLAND. f_CH- II-
ticularly by the forced loan attempted in that year, it happened that this
divine was called to preach before the king and the court, on which
occasion he affirmed that aids and subsidies might be exacted without
consent of parliament, the sole authority of the croAvn being so assuredly
binding, that no man could refuse compliance but on pain of destruction
to his soul. The sermons containing these doctrines were printed and
published under the title of " Religion and Allegiance." But the king
did not find such discourses sufficient to prevent the necessity ere long
of assembling his third parliament, and they were soon brought under
the notice of the lower house with some forcible comments from one of
its members. On the following day Charles urged the dispatch of ne
cessary business, adding, that in seven days the parliament would be
prorogued. But the house proceeded in preparing a declaration that
should express its abhorrence of the political heresies which had been
recently uttered in the royal presence ; and, the same clay, Pym, an
active member on all such matters, appeared at the bar of the upper
house to prefer his charges against the person who had uttered them.
His speech justified the confidence reposed in him, and may be taken
as a fair specimen of the manner in Avhich such questions were discussed
in those times.
" The case," he observed, " was one of peculiar aggravation. First,
from the place where these sermons were preached, — the court, the
king's own family, Avhere such doctrine was before so well believed that
no man needed to be converted. Of this there could be no end, but
either simoniacal, by flattering and soothing to make way for his own
preferment; or else extreme malice, to add new afflictions to those who
lay under his majesty's wrath, disgraced and imprisoned, and to enlarge
the wounds that had been given to the laAvs and liberties of the king
dom." The second aggravation was in the function of the offender.
" He is a preacher of God's word, and yet he hath endeavoured to make
that which was the only rule of justice and goodness to be the warrant
for violence and oppression. He is a messenger of peace; but he has
endeavoured to soav strife and disunion, not only among private persons,
but even betwixt the king and his people, to the disturbance and danger
of the whole state. He is a spiritual father; but like that evil father in
the gospel, he has given his children stones instead of bread, and scor
pions instead of fish. Lastly, he is a minister of the church of Eng
land ; but he has acted the part of a Romish Jesuit. The one labours
for our destruction, by dissolving the oath of allegiance taken by the
people ; the other does the same work by dissolving the oath of protec
tion and justice taken by the king."
The preacher was ordered to appear at the bar of the house, where he
attempted to explain aAvay some of his expressions and to soften others,
and appealed to the compassion of his judges Avith regard to the rest.
After an examination of three days, he was sentenced to be imprisoned

A. D. 1629-] CHARLES I. 245
during pleasure, to pay a fine of 1000/., to be suspended for three years
from the exercise of his ministry, and was declared incapable of being
promoted to any ecclesiastical dignity or secular office. It Avas agreed
also that the king should be urged to suppress the obnoxious discourses
by proclamation, and to command their being publicly burnt in London,
Oxford, and Cambridge, and that the offender should make humble con
fession of his eucrmities at the bar of both houses ; — and these things
were accordingly done *-
During these proceedings, Charles showed himself concerned to dis
avow the opinions AA'hich called forth so strong and general an expression
of displeasure. It was ascertained, however, that the sermons had been
published at the command of the king, and that this command had been
repeated, notwithstanding a remonstrance against it even by such men
as bishop Laud; Parliament was prorogued a few days later, and in
the interval Avhich preceded its present meeting the king had raised
Dr. Montague to the see of Chichester, pardoned Manwaring, and con
ferred on him the rectory of Stanford Rivers in Essex, with a dispensa
tion enabling him to hold it with the rectory of St Giles's. The contra
diction between the professions and the conduct of the monarch, which
thus became notorious, taught men, of necessity, to attach but small
weight to assurances coming from the throne.
1 Montague and Manwaring may be viewed as representing the nume
rous class of persons known as the court, or the Arminian
clergy. Bishop Laud was already the principal leader of
this party. A little before the death of James, Laud was raised to the
see of St. David's, though not without some misgiving on the part of
that monarch with regard to the mischiefs that would probably result
from the restlessness and obstinacy which had already characterised the
ecclesiastical aspirant. Soon after the accession of Charles, Laud was
translated to the see of Bath and Wells ; and on the decease of Buck
ingham, who had regarded him with peculiar confidence, he rose to a
much higher place in the esteem of his sovereign, his elevation to the
see of London in 1628 having prepared the way to his becoming one of
the most effective members of the privy council.
On the subject of civil government, the maxims of Laud, and those
of the school to which he became a kind of leader, were ™ • . c ,
... ... , . ' Objects of the
taken from the practice of the most despotic states ; and Laudian
their notions with respect to ecclesiastical polity and forms clergJ'-
of worship were distinguishable in a faint degree only from those of the
Romish church. Their sentiments on such matters were generally known,
and were not more acceptable to the court than offensive to the nation.
It is not easy to discover any natural association between the theological
tenets of Arminius and the principles of an arbitrary civil government.
* Pari. Hist, 377, 388, 414, 428.

246 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. II.
On a slight view of the matter, it would seem less difficult to trace a con
nexion of this sort in the more severe dogmas of the Calvinist. But
whatever may have led to it, the fact is notorious that the labours of the
Laudian clergy were directed to three points,' — the diffusion of the doc
trines of Arminius,— the support of the prerogative in all the extravagance
of its contest with the advocates of popular liberty, — and the assimilating
of the polity and worship of the English church in as great a degree as
was practicable to the Romish model. The more zealous puritans, on
the contrary, whether among the clergy or in the house of commons,
were not only Calvinists in theology, but were generally men who would
have narrowed the jurisdiction of the prelates, and who would have con
formed the established ritual to that of the Reformed churches on the
continent, or to the simple model which they regarded as having ob
tained in very early times.
Nor Avas this exclusive favour of the court towards the Arminian,
Dispute con- or> as tneY now began to designate themselves, the or-
cerning the thodox clergy, the only matter of complaint. Listening
cree^ites aiid *° counsels from that quarter, Charles, as head of the
ceremonies. church, had lately issued a new edition of the articles, con-
Jan. 27. taining a clause which declared that " the church hath
power to decree rites and ceremonies, and hath authority in matters of
faith," and setting forth that the settlement of all controversies with
respect to discipline and worship, and the true meaning of the said
articles, belonged of right to the houses of convocation*. This very
material clause had no place in the book of articles published under
Edward VI., nor in the edition made authoritative by act of parliament
in 1571. After that time it was sometimes inserted and sometimes
omitted in the authorised copies, but in no instance had it obtained the
sanction of the legislature. The edition which made its appearance in
1628 came forth under the superintendence of Laud, and the disputed
clause-, as it was natural to expect, was then introduced. The debate
on this subject took place seven days after the meeting of parliament,
when the house was called for the purpose, and sir John Eliot appeared
as the principal speaker. He called upon the house, in the most solemn
terms, to resist this attempt to vest in the king and clergy the power to
disturb the religious faith and the most sacred usages of the realm at
pleasure, and to enslave, not only the persons, but the consciences, of
freemen ; since nothing would be more easy than to introduce new things,
not only Arminianism but even popery itself, under the pretence of in
terpreting the old, if the exclusive right to act as interpreters were once
conceded to those who now claimed it. Concluding that the ambitious
spirits which had gone thus far would be rash enough to go farther, Eliot
exclaimed, — " But I give this for testimony, and thus far do I express
myself against all the power and opposition of those men. Whensoever
* Bibliotheca Regia, 213— 216.

A.D. 1629.] CHARLES I. 241
any opposition shall be, I trust we shall maintain the religion we profess,
for in that we have been born and bred ; nay, sir, if cause be, in that I
hope to die. Some of these, sir, you knoAv, are masters of ceremonies,
and they labour to introduce new ceremonies into the church. Some
ceremonies are useful. Give me leave to join in one that I hold neces
sary and commendable, — that at the repetition of the creed Ave should
stand up, to testify the resolution of our hearts that we would defend
the religion we profess. In some churches, it is added, that they do not
only stand upright with their bodies, but Avith their swords drawn !
And if cause Avere, I hope, to defend our prince, country and religion,
Ave should draAv our SAvords against all opposers." The expression,
"masters of ceremonies," referred particularly to Laud, Avho Avas men
tioned a few days later as the person whose zeal for such things was
likely to spread the flame of religious discord through the land. The
immediate effect of Eliot's speech was the recording of a " vow " in the
journals, in which the commons of England " claimed, pro
fessed, and avowed for truth, that some of the articles of
religion, which were established in parliament in the thirteenth year of
Elizabeth, which, by the public acts of the church of England, and by
the general and current exposition of the writers of that church, had
been declared unto them, and that they rejected the sense of the Jesuits,
Arminians, and of all others, wherein they differed from it."
With regard to the alleged increase of Popery, this was described as
the natural consequence of the supineness or lenity of the Complaints of
government. Of ten priests lately apprehended, one only the increase of
had been condemned, and the law was not enforced even opeiy.
in his case. Two committees were appointed to interrogate the judges,
and the attorney-general, on this subject, and every member was called
upon to state whatever he knew respecting the cause of so much re
missness in the administration of the laws against recusants*.
While the commons were employing themselves on these irritating
topics, Charles called upon them repeatedly to have some Duplicity of
consideration of his wants, and to pass the bill of tonnage Charles with
and poundage without any further loss of time. But he 'ffpfCj t0 l,le
r ° # J t printed copies
soon found that his subjects had other matters of complaint of the Petition
beside those which respected religion. Immediately after of R'g'11-
the prorogation, the king's printer had prepared fifteen hundred copies
of the Petition of Right for distribution by sale, having the king's last
answer to that much valued document attached to them . Charles, in a
moment of almost inexplicable weakness, commanded the printer to
destroy that edition, and to prepare another, inserting in the place of
that ansAver the evasive one which the commons had compelled him to
recall, and with it the suspicious statements which he had made at the
* Pari. Hist. ii. 248, 449, 458, 464, 467, 473—476, 483. RushAvorth, i. 049,

248 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. II.
close of the last session, as expressing his OAvn judgment of the true
import and design of the petition. No means could be devised to
save the king from the disgrace of this proceeding, and as it became
matter of general notoriety, its effect upon his character was of the most
injurious description — for after this, Avho could either think creditably
of his understanding, or place the slightest confidence in his sincerity* ?
Charles now endeavoured to calm the excitement which his conduct
had occasioned. He publicly admitted that the duties of
twe'entheKirig tonnage and poundage were received by himself and his pre-
and the Com- decessors as a gift from the subject, and assured the com
mons that nothing recently said or done by him was meant
to contraA'ene the great principle included in this concession. It Avas
determined accordingly, that the duties should be voted, but it was first
demanded that a reparation should be made to the persons Avho, in con
sequence of their not being levied with consent of parliament, had re
fused to pay them, and who had been sufferers on that account. The
officers who had been thus illegally employed became alarmed, and fled
to the protection of the sovereign ; and Charles Avas at length induced
to admonish the house that it was not his pleasure that any of his
servants should be punished in consequence of acting according to his
instructions. It did not require the sagacity Avhich distinguished the
leading men in the commons to discover the repugnance of such a pro
hibition to every principle of freedom ; — an irresponsible king, and irre
sponsible ministers, being all that is necessary to constitute the most per
fect despotism. Eliot had argued, that it became not the house to be
satisfied Avith repairing the injuries done to the merchants whose goods
had been illegally seized. The delinquency of the men who had made
such seizures should be visited Avith signal punishment, and in the mean
time every threat of the king's displeasure reported to them by his
ministers should be interpreted as a libel on his Majesty's sense of justice.
When the royal message above mentioned was announced, there Avas
reason to apprehend that the moment of a more dangerous struggle
between the crown and the people than had hitherto occurred in our
constitutional history had arrived, and the house adjourned itself for
two days.
Its next meeting was on the twenty-fifth of February, when the com
mittee of religion had brought its report to a close, and a paper containing
many charges, directed principally against Laud, Avas agreed upon to be
presented to the king. For a moment the house seemed to be losing sight
of the more obnoxious matters of complaint respecting the king's officers
and the merchants. But Charles Avas too much offended to adopt the
course which sound policy Avould have suggested at this juncture. He
might have broken the force of the opposition on the question of ton
nage and poundage, by shoAving a disposition to conciliate on the ques-
* Pari. Hist. ii. 435—437.

A.D. 1629.] CHARLES I. 249
tion of religion. But he chose rather to command an adjournment of
seA'eral clays.
The commons now determined that their remonstrance should em
brace both their civil and their ecclesiastical grievances. In the paper
produced at their next meeting they insisted that the delay in passing
the bill of tonnage and poundage had been strictly necessary, if the
object for Avhich they were convened Avas to promote, to the extent of
their poAver, the good of the commonwealth ; and they concluded by
expressing their solemn regret, that their efforts to serve both his ma
jesty and the country by placing every branch of the revenue on a con
stitutional basis had been rendered fruitless, and that nothing noAV
remained to them but to affirm " in this humble declaration, that the
receiving of tonnage and poundage, and other impositions not granted by
parliament, is a breach of the fundamental liberties of this kingdom, and
of the royal answer to the Petition of Right." Not content with this
declaration to the sovereign, Eliot prepared a protestation on the prin
cipal matters in debate, consisting of three articles drawn up in the fol
lowing terms : — " First, Whoever shall bring in innovation in religion,
or by favour seek to extend or introduce Popery or Arminianism, or
other opinions disagreeing from the true and orthodox church, shall be
reputed a capital enemy to this kingdom and commonwealth. Secondly,
Whosoever shall counsel or advise the taking and levying of the sub
sidies of tonnage and poundage, not being granted by parliament, or
shall be an actor or instrument therein, shall be likewise reputed an
innovator in the government, and a capital enemy to the kingdom and
commonwealth. Thirdly, if any merchant or other person Avhatsoever,
shall voluntarily yield or pay the said subsidies of tonnage and pound
age, not being granted by parliament, he shall likewise be reported a
betrayer of the liberties of England, and an enemy to the same."
On the morning of the memorable second of March, 1629, Eliot
entered the house with the fixed purpose of strongly recom- proceedin in
mending the immediate adoption of these resolutions, the Commons
Prayers were no sooner ended, than he rose and denounced on J;^Ji se""ld
the bishop of Winchester, and the lord treasurer Weston,
as men in whom the evil policy of the late duke still found support.
The latter, especially, was described as the great enemy of the common
wealth, and as employing every secret influence for the destruction of
parliaments, their existence being incompatible with the impunity of his
own bad actions; and fearing that this influence would be employed with
too much success, the orator concluded by declaring, that should he ever
meet again in that honourable assembly, Avhere he had noAV finished he
would then be found to begin. He then advanced toward the chair,
exhibited the remonstrance prepared to meet the eye of the sovereign,
and called upon the speaker to read it. The speaker refused ; he then
presented the document to the clerk, who also refused, Not at all dis-

250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. II.
mayed by an impediment so unusual, Eliot now read the remonstrance
himself, and demanded of the speaker that he should put it to the vote>
That officer, still refusing, at length said that he was commanded other
wise by the king. This confession was followed by an indignant censure
from Selden ; and the speaker on rising to leave the chair was forced
back again by Hollis and Valentine. Several of the privy council
interposed for his rescue, but he was compelled, by the strong hands
upon him, to remain sitting, and Hollis sAvore that he should not rise
until it should be the pleasure of the house to separate. Violent dis
order hoav spread through the house. The speaker with tears implored
that he might be permitted to withdraw. Sir Peter Hayman, his kins
man, reproached him as the disgrace of a noble family, and as a man
whose pusillanimity would make him the contempt of all future times.
The confusion increased, and some members were seen placing their hands
upon their swords, when the voice of Eliot rose above the rest as he de-
clared that he would express with his tongue what the paper in his hand
should have done. Throwing the remonstrance upon the floor, he placed
the protestation in the three articles in the hands of Hollis, exclaiming
that nothing should prevent their making that declaration. Hollis, as
suming the function of the speaker, read the resolutions, and they were
adopted amidst loud acclamations. During these proceedings Charles sent,
first, the sergeant at arms, and then the usher of the black rod, to bring
away the mace — but the doors were locked. He was meditating a forced
entrance with his guard, when, Eliot's resolutions having passed, the
doors were thrown open, and the members suddenly disappeared, passing
in a crowd through the street*-
The house separated, in obedience to the royal message, until the tenth
Parliament °f March : on that day Charles went to the lords, and,
dissolved, having in the course of his speech described the leaders of
the opposition in the commons as " vipers" who should have their
reward, dissolved the parliament.
There were men in that age who did not profess themselves of the
court party, and who regarded the speeches of the popular
Conduct of the ,¦,.-, j. , t, K . r r
Commons to- leaders and the proceedings ot tne lower house as some-
Avard Charles times ill-advised. According to these persons the commons
consi eie . sh0uld have heen satisfied with the king's acknowledg
ment that the duties at the ports depended, like other taxes, on the-
consent of parliament ; and should not have pressed for any inquiry
respecting the conduct of the persons who had lately exacted such
duties regardless of that consent. And the house would perhaps have
acted wisely to have stayed at this point for the present. But the
language of the speech in which Charles addressed the commons at the
close of the last session, his eagerness to bestow preferments on such,
men as Montague and Manwaring, after the most open disavowal of their
* Pari. Hist. ii. 441—491, 504—513; Rushworth, i. 660, 665—670, 679, 691.

A.D. 1629.] CHARLES I. 251
dogmas, and his duplicity in the matter of the printed copies of the
Petition of Right, had all tended to leave but little room for confidence in
his professions, and to make every thing depend on the strict responsibility
of those who should become the instruments of his pleasure in contempt
of the laws. In the judgment of the patriots, the benefit of examples
Avhich should serve to fix the responsibility of such persons could not be
too early secured : nor was any time to be lost in adopting vigorous
measures to prevent the pulpits of the hierarchy from becoming sub
servient to the diffusion of principles among the people destructive of all
freedom. Clarendon states that he was well acquainted with the pro
ceedings of the three parliaments assembled by Charles previous to 1629,
and expresses his wonder at the councils which disposed the govern
ment to such courses. " It is not to be denied," he adds, " that there
Avere in all those parliaments, especially in that of the fourth year, se
veral passages and distempered speeches of particular persons, not fit for
the dignity and honour of those places, and unsuitable to the reverence
due to his Majesty and his councils. But I do not know any formed act
of either house (for neither the remonstrance or votes of the last day
were such) that was not agreeable to the wisdom and justice of great
courts, upon those extraordinary occasions. And whoever considers the
acts of power and injustice, in the intervals of parliament, will not be
much scandalized at the warmth and vivacity of those meetings*." These
admissions in favour of the popular party are from an enemy. And,
indeed, so far were those great men from having passed the boundary of
the constitution to entrench on the prerogative, that they had not yet pro
ceeded so far as to claim the whole of the safeguards which the law of
the land would have authorized them to demand. They claimed no
more security in any case, either for their persons or possessions, than
the unrepealed statutes of the realm had awarded to them ; and had
they prayed now for the abolition of the court of star-chamber, as they
prayed in the last reign for the abolition of the court of high commis
sion; and had they furthermore insisted that the time for the meeting
of parliament should be determined by enactment, and not' left to the
pleasure of the crown ; it would have been possible for them to have
shown, not only that such measures were of paramount importance if their
liberties were to be duly protected, but that they were in harmony with
the most venerable forms of the constitution. But the people in general
were not yet prepared for these bolder enterprises.
* Hist. i. 8, 9.

252 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.

Chapter III.
Policy of Charles — His Proclamation — Members of the Commons imprisoned —
Proceedings against them — Death of Eliot — Four periods in the reign of Charles
I. — Peace wilh France and Spain — The Cabinet, other instances of political
apostacy — Illegal methods of aiding the Revenue — Compulsory Knighthood —
Revival of the Forest Laws — Monopolies — Abuse of Proclamations — Ship-money
— Trial concerning it — Star-Chamber, its proceedings in the case of Leighton,
Prynne, Bastwick, Burton, and Bishop Williams.
It is probable that Charles was not wholly displeased with the excite-
Policv of ment which prevailed in the commons during the proceed-
Charles at this ings of the second of March. It was one of the incidents
juncture. -which might be made to afford a decent pretext for dis
pensing with the use of parliaments, until some more adequate experi
ment should be made with a view to supersede such assemblies altogether,
or to render them the passive instruments of the crown. To such a course
Charles was somewhat disposed by circumstances, but more by inclina
tion, and it had never been contemplated by him with so much firmness
and deliberation as at the present moment.
The parliament was no sooner dissolved than a proclamation was
His proclama- issued, the design of which was to justify the sovereign in
tion. what he had done, and in adopting those new methods of
government to which it would be necessary he should resort in future.
It described the opposition to the court in the house of commons
as limited to " a feAv ill-affected persons," but, at the same time, it
set forth the conduct of this unimportant faction as the main reason for
dissolving the national council. Through the influence of these persons
the house had been induced to cast away the modesty Avhich had for
ages distinguished it, and not only to meddle with questions of go
vernment and law in a manner before uuknoAvn, but to seize on the
necessities of the sovereign for the purpose of enforcing submission to
their pleasure " on conditions incompatible with monarchy." The
government had endeavoured to serve the interests of the protestant
religion in France, in Germany, and in other places, but all its efforts
had been rendered fruitless by a small number of men who assumed a
great appearance of zeal in the cause of religion merely for the purpose
of acquiring an influence over many honest and religious minds
which had become much alarmed on that subject. All men, however,
were to remember, that in future the servants of the king were to be
held responsible to himself alone ; that such proceedings as had taken

a. d. 1G29.] Charles t. 253
place in the last parliament would never be submitted to again ; and
that Avhile every thing proper would be done to discountenance popery
and schism in the church, and to preserve the just immunities of the
subject, it was the expectation of the monarch that the obedience shoAvn
to the greatest of his predecessors should be rendered to his authority ;
nor Avere the disaffected to suppose that there Avould be any want of
means to enforce the claims of an office derived from God himself, to
whom alone princes are bound to give account of their actions*.
The reproach cast on the patriot leaders by the monarch, as affecting
much zeal for religion with a vieAv to deceive the unwary, and to ac
complish their particular ends, is one still brought against them by their
enemies. But who can attach credit to it as directed against such men
as Coke, Selden, Cotton, Eliot, Seymour, and Philips ? We see also
in this proclamation the common error of ascribing to the influence of
a few individuals what could never have become formidable had it
not been sustained by strong general feeling, and this misconception
will be found at the root of the misguided policy of the monarch through
out the great conflict before him. The importance of individuals at
such times is never so much the effect of their peculiar character or capa
city, as of the tide of popular sentiment by which they are borne onward.
Charles resolved that the threats contained in his speech to the lords
on the dissolution, and in his proclamation to the people, Members of
should not seem to have been idle Avords. Two days after the Commons
the adjournment of the commons, and five days before the imprisoned.
dissolution had formally taken place, nine of its] members who had
been most active in its recent proceedings were called before the council.
The charge against them was that of disobeying the message of the
sovereign which required an immediate adjournment of the house.
Hollis, Eliot, Hobart, and Hayman were committed close prisoners to
the Tower. Selden, Valentine, Corington, Long, and Stroud, were con
signed to other prisons, and the study of Selden, and those of Eliot and
* Pari. Hist. ii. 492 — 504. The only part of the accusation contained in (his
address that could tend to the prejudice of the patriots Avith impartial and re
flecting men was that which relates to the inquiries prosecuted by them with a
view to convict and punish the persons who had presumed to collect the
customs Avithout consent of Parliament — or rather in contempt of its prohibition.
But it will be perceived that this Avas now the great point on which the question
of good government hinged ; the conduct of Charles, in persisting to take the re
sponsibility of his functionaries upon himself, being destructive of the constitutional
maxim that " the king can do no wrong," and of the due authority of the makers
of the law over those who should administer it. Charles would not see the
sacredness and value of the immunity Avhich the constitution had thus placed
around the throne. He contended for the strict independence of the executive
on the legislative body, the effect of which was to put the uncertainties of his own
will in the place of the security promised by the law, and to put his own life in the
way of those penalties which the constitution had reserved for less important of
fenders. The king who will take the responsibilities of his ministers upon himself
ought not to think it impossible that the punishment due to his ministers may
some day fall upon himself.

254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. III.
Hollis, were sealed by the royal officers, that their private papers
might be searched for matter of "crimination against them. In the
midst of these proceedings Charles had pledged himself by his procla
mation to respect the provisions of the Petition of Right ; and the pri
soners, on the ground of that instrument, claimed their writ of habeas
corpus, which empowered them to demand in the court of king's bench,
that they should be discharged or admitted to bail. It was alleged that
their conduct in refusing to adjourn the house at the command of the
sovereign, notwithstanding the irregular manner in which that command
was made known, was seditious, and a notable contempt of the king and
his government. This was denied by the counsel for the accused, the
house having often exercised the power of adjournment itself, without
consulting the crown or its ministers, and it was prayed that the opinion
of the court on the law of the case might be delivered. This request
was found to be inconvenient, and to evade it the prisoners were re
moved into new custody. It was not unusual by means of this artifice
to prolong the imprisonment of obnoxious persons, as each remove put
off the decision of the case until the next term. This expedient, a de
vise of tyranny to defraud the subject of the benefit of the law, served, in
this instance, to give time for deliberation ; and as the difficulties of the
alleged ground of commitment were found to multiply the more it was
examined, the judges were constrained to recommend that the prisoners
should be discharged on finding security for their more proper conduct in
future. But the sufferers were not men to profess a repentance which
they did not feel, or to seem to reprobate as faults, the actions which
they regarded as the most just and honourable in their lives. Pre
judice may attribute their refusal to accept of enlargement on these
" easy terms" to a vulgar thirst of popularity ; but candour, without sup
posing them free from human infirmity, will regard their prevailing
motives as of a more honourable nature. Selden was the adviser of this
course, and no writer may cast such reflections on that great man with
out damage to his own reputation*.
It was natural that the court should describe the conduct of these
persons as obstinacy ; and, after an interval of some months, a criminal
information was in consequence filed against Eliot, Hollis, and Valen
tine. They refused to plead, on the ground that proceedings in parlia
ment were not within the cognizance of the court of king's bench. But
the judges descended to talk of a distinction between parliamentary and
extra-parliamentary conduct, and, on the pretence that the actions of
the accused were of the latter description, proceeded to pass sentence
upon them. That sentence Avas to suffer imprisonment during the king's
* It is Hume who speaks thus of the terms of release proffered to these persons,
and in Avhose prejudiced eye their conduct appeared in no better light than as
the effect of a poor personal vanity. Hist, ubi supra. See the proceedings in the
Pari. Hist., ii. 504—524. Rushworth, i. 662— 09 1.

A. D. 1629.] CHARLES t. 255
pleasure, and to be fined, Valentine in 500/,, Hollis iii 1000/., and Eliot
" as the greatest offender and ringleader in parliament," in 2000/.
The career of sir John Eliot, the importance of whose influence in the
late parliaments was thus marked by the resentment of
the court, Avas now approaching its close; but. his efforts j0'ml Eiiofi
and bis sufferings in the defence of English liberty claim
something more than a passing notice from the historian. This
" greatest offender " in the cause of public right during the three
first parliaments of the present reign was a man of good family, and
a native of CornAvall, Avhere he possessed extensive property. His
studies at Oxford, and at one of the inns of court, favoured that combi
nation of improved taste and sound legal knowledge by which he was
distinguished. Previous to his appearance in parliament he had visited
the continent, and at that early period formed an acquaintance with
George Villiers, afterwards the favourite of the English monarch, and
duke of Buckingham. This acquaintance continued for some time after
the commencement of Buckingham's prosperous fortune, but never be
came the occasion on the side of Eliot of the slightest departure from
those great principles to which his later years were so signally devoted.
His private conduct during that period was not probably so irreproach
able, his passions being, on his own admission, not unfrequently beyond
his control. In a dispute, on one occasion, with a neighbour, Mr.
Moyle, he drew his weapon and inflicted a dangerous wound on the per
son of his opponent. But writers, whose prejudices have given the
darkest colouring to this act, are obliged to admit that it was provoked
by taunting words, that it was an outbreak of youthful passion which
was soon repented of, and that it was not only followed by the most
humble acknowledgment of the fault, but by a permanent reconciliation
and friendship between the parties*.
Before the accession of Charles, Eliot had distinguished himself in
the popular cause, and no trace of intimacy between himself and Buck
ingham remained. Impatience of subserviency on the one side, and
proud neglect on the other, appear to have been the causes of dis
agreement ; and by the time the first parliament under Charles was
assembled, Eliot had so far imbibed the general feeling against the
minion of the court, that he became, as Ave have seen, one of the
most active and formidable of the party who made his overthrow the
* See the early life of Eliot as described by an enemy in D'Israeli's Commen
taries on the Reign of Charles I., and some important corrections of the mistakes
into which the prejudices of that Avriter have led him, in the Life of Eliot by Mr.
Forster, in the Cabinet Cyclopaedia. The affectionate friendship which evidently
subsisted between Eliot and Moyle, immediately after the painful incident mentioned
in the text, is a sufficient proof that the act Avas not attended by those base circum
stances which archdeacon Echard had coupled with it. Moyle's daughter said of
him, referring to that event, that his private deportment, ever after, was as free
from fault as his public conduct.

256 HISTORY 0E ENGLAND. [cH. III.
great object of their policy*. At this time no man employed himself so
effectually, either in exposing the general misconduct of the government,
or in preventing or restricting the votes upon supplies. The part which
he took in the third parliament has been related in the narrative of the
proceedings in that assembly.
The sentence which his conduct there brought upon him he re
garded, from the first, as one of perpetual imprisonment, unless the
power of the crown should be soon checked by the poAver of another
parliament, and of this there was then but little prospect. He made
that provision, accordingly, for this his third lodgment in the Tower,
which showed that he was far from expecting a speedy release. When
he addressed himself to the service of his country by opposing the
malpractices of the powerful, he saAv very clearly the evils to which his
generous efforts would expose him ; and the whole of his property had in
consequence been settled on his sons : so that when the royal officers
would have exacted from him the heavy fine imposed by the judges,
they Avere obliged to report that the means of payment did not exist.
Eliot, on hearing that the sheriff of Cornwall and five other commis
sioners, all his capital enemies, were employed in an inquiry concerning
his lands and goods, with a smile, said, " He had two coats, two suits,
tAvo pairs of boots, and galoshes ; and that, if they could pick 2000/. out
of that, much good might it do them."
In the " dark and smoky room " to which he was confined, he was
alloAved, at his earnest request, the use of books and of writing materials,
and his many Aveary hours were employed in reading, in meditation, in
committing his thoughts to writing, or in correspondence with his sons,
his friends, and particularly the patriot John Hampden, to Avhose super
intendence he had assigned the education of his children. His papers
being liable to be searched, it Avas only with the greatest secrecy that his
correspondence could be carried on ; but, fortunately, some of the letters
included in it haA'e been preserved, and these present to us traits of
character of the most interesting nature. They serve to "place both Eliot
and Hampden before us, not only in the light of pure moralists and
honourably-minded statesmen, but as men Avhose spirits were wrought
to the temper of a pure and elevated Christianity. No one acquainted
with the letters can read the speeches of these great men in the cause
of Avhat they venerated as social justice or pure religion without the
strongest confidence in their sincerity.
Many petitions were presented to the king praying for Eliot's release,
one signed, it is said, by all the gentry of Cornwall ; but Charles, in-
* Echard makes Eliot go to London about the Moyle affair to beg the inter
ference of the duke for his pardon, and attributes the disagreement between these
persons to the conduct of Buckingham on that occasion, forgetting that, at that
time, George Villiers was as little known at the English court as John Eliot; yet
Mr, D' Israeli could give credit to this pitiful invention.

A. D. 1632.] CHARLES I. 257
dulging just now amid the pastimes of a court and the SAveets of power,
forgot the victim of the dungeon, — or rather, did worse than forget him.
Time passed, and the mind of the sufferer was found to be proof against
all the means employed to break it down. But the body Avas less equal
to the conflict. Sickness invaded it, consumptive symptoms became
manifest, and the prisoner's medical attendants reported that his reco
very depended entirely on his being admitted to a more healthy air.
They even petitioned the judges thus far in his favour ; but they were
told by chief justice Richardson, "that although sir John was brought
low in body, yet Avas he as high and lofty in mind as ever, for he would
neither submit to the king, nor to the justice of that court." As his
malady advanced, Eliot Avas at length persuaded to petition the king,
which he did in the folloAving terms : — " Sir, your judges have com
mitted me to prison here in your Tower of London, where, by reason of
the quality of the air, I am fallen into a dangerous disease. I humbly
beseech your majesty, you will command your judges to set me at
liberty." The only answer obtained to this petition was, " It is not
humble enough." Prevailed on by his children, Eliot prepared a second
petition, which he sent by the hands of his eldest son ; it was as fol
lows : — " Sir, I am heartily sorry I have displeased your majesty, and
having so said, do humbly beseech you once again to commaud your
judges to set me at liberty, that Avhen I have recovered my health I may
return back to my prison, there to undergo such punishment as God
hath allotted unto me." Thus did the dyiug man pray, and pray without
answer, and without effect ! The lieutenant of the ToAver admonished
him that his last petition had not been presented in proper form, as it
pertained to him to be the medium of all communication between his
prisoners and the government, and his advice to him Avas, to prepare a
third appeal, which, if so framed as to acknowledge his fault, and crave
pardon, would, he doubted not, obtain for him his liberty. The droop
ing man replied, " I thank you, sir, for your friendly advice, but my
spirits are grown feeble and faint, which, Avhen it shall please God to
restore unto their former vigour, I will take it further into my consider
ation." But Eliot's few remaining days were spent in converse with those
beautiful visions of a future world which, as appears from his letters, were
familiar to his now hallowed imagination ; and in looking to the com-
jiassion of that better Sovereign whose tender mercies are over all his
works. On the fifteenth of November, 1632, his attorney described him
as so far spent, that it was not probable he would live a week : — in less
than that space sir John Eliot breathed his last, being not more than
forty years of age. His children petitioned the king for his body, that
it might be taken to Cornwall, and interred in the family sepulchre •
and Charles returned for answer, — " Let sir John Eliot's body be

258 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
buried in the church of that parish Avhere he died ! " Not two months
before his death, Eliot wrote to Hampden, stating that he was then
subject to neAV restraints, by warrant from the king, his own son with
difficulty gaining admission to him ; and that to add to his confine
ment, he had been removed to neAv lodgings, " where candle light was
suffered, but scarce fire." This Avas written in the depth of winter !
So plain is it that malevolence, like its opposite, may grow by what it
feeds upon, and that even the grave may not suffice to set bounds to
it*. The reign of Charles I. divides itself into four parts; — the first ex-
, ,, . tending from his accession to the dissolution of his third
Natural divi- .. ° , _ . . ... , • c
sions of the parliament ; the second terminating with the invasion ot
reign of the Scots ; the third with the commencement of the civil
Charles I. wm . and the j^ with tQe fa]1 Qf tn(j monarcny. The
affairs which relate to the second of these periods, embracing the interval
from 1629 to 1640, are almost confined to the expedients adopted by the
government with a view to replenish the royal treasury without having
recourse to the grants of a house of commons, and to various proceedings
in the courts of star-chamber and high commission which Avere resorted
to for the purpose of enforcing submission to the crown during this com
plete abeyance of the only safeguard to the constitution — a parliament.
It was expected that a vigorous policy of this nature would be found to
subdue the prevalent disaffection. Charles, accordingly, issued a second
proclamation, in which he declared that he should account it presumption
in any one to mention a time for convening another parliament ; — the
calling of such an assembly being a matter solely dependent on his
pleasure, and an event not to be expected until his subjects should learn
to judge more favourably of his actions. In the mean time, indeed, the
laws of the kingdom were to furnish the rule of his proceedings. But
an administration, which had shown so little respect for the law while
* Forster's Life of Eliot, 102—123. This Avriter has published, for the first
time, a large portion of Eliot's work on " The Monarchy of Man," written by him
while in the Tower, and still in the British Museum. It Avill be found as a supple
ment to the Memoir, pp. 126 — 177,
We transcribe Hume's remark on this event Avithout comment. " Because sir
John Eliot happened to die Avhile in custody, a great clamour Avas raised against
the administration, and he was universally regarded as a martyr to the liberties of
England ! " Hist, ubi supra, Our historian is much scandalised by the attempts
of some Avriters to compare the patriots of this period with those of classical anti
quity, — as Cato, Brutus, and Cassius : and adverts to the manner in which the
leisure of these parties Avas respectively employed, as shoAving the great disparity
between them ; — that of the one being given to the cultivation of polite letters, and
civilised society ; the " whole discourse " of the other being " polluted with myste
rious jargon, and full of the loAvest and most vulgar hypocrisy." For as strong a
refutation of this calumny as the proofs of an improved understanding and en
lightened piety could Avell furnish, the reader is referred to Eliot's " Monarchy of
Man," and to the correspondence between that patriot and Hampden. Hume has
mentioned Hampden as one of the persons intended in this description. Hist, vi,
388.

A.D. 1629.] CHARLES I. 259
subject to the checks of a jealous and powerful bouse of commons, was
not likely to be very observant of it in the absence of that authority ; and
the advocates of good government could see no means of escape from the
evils with which they were threatened, except in open insurrection, or,
perhaps, in an unequal contest between the patriotism of individuals
and the terrors of that poAver which was thus usurped by the crown.
Charles, having determined to pursue these " new courses," hastened
to conclude a peace with France and Spain. These occa- peace w;tj!
sions of embarrassment, which his impolicy had altogether, France and
or, in a great degree, created, and which bis temper con- fP3"1', r,„
strained him to perpetuate, had yielded nothing but dis
grace. Treaties concluded in such circumstances could not be expected
to embrace any effectual provision for the restoration of the Palatinate ;
or for the protection of the unhappy Hugonots against the resentment of
a government whose pretensions they had been incited to resist. On
such terms peace was of course concluded without difficulty. Both
monarchs, indeed, appear to have regarded the hostility of the king of
England, as the effect, in part of the influence of Buckingham, and in
part of a capriciousness of disposition Avhich a little experience would
probably be sufficient to correct *.
The attempt made on the part of the government to strengthen itself
by detaching some of the parliamentary leaders from the . .
popular cause, was extended from Savile and Wentworth to
sir Dudley Digges, and to the distinguished lawyers Noy and Littleton,
and with similar success. Digges became master of the rolls. The
office of attorney-general was conferred on Noy, and that of solicitor-
general on Littleton. Sir John Coke and sir Dudley Carleton, old
members of the administration, acted as secretaries of state. Lord
Coventry retained the great seal ; the privy seal was held by the earl of
* The prisoners taken at Cadiz and Ebe Avere returned Avithout ransom. The
king of Spain, indeed, pledged himself to restore to the Elector a great part, if not
the whole of his dominions ; but it was on condition that Charles should assist him
in destroying the independence of the protestant States in the Netherlands, agree
ably to a secret treaty to that effect, commenced during his stay at Madrid. Cot
tington, the minister of the English croAvn, signed this perfidious instrument, but
Charles shrunk from the affair, aware probably of having already proceeded so
far in it, that his character, perhaps his throne, depended on its being kept from the
knowledge of his subjects. Clarendon Papers, i. 48— 50. 109 — 111, 112, 113, 122,
120, 779 — 782. App. xxxi. — xxxv. Dumont. v. part ii, 580 — 583. Carleton's Let
ters, xxv.— xxxiii — Iv. Rushvporth, ii. 24 — 25. The obnoxious treaty Avith Spain
was signed by Olivarez and Cottington in January, 1631, and Avas the matter of
correspondence and negotiation between the two governments almost seven years
later. At the same time Charles favoured negotiations Avith the disaffected sub
jects of Philip, in the Spanish Netherlands, pledging himself, in case of their putting
themselves under his protection, to defend them against all enemies, not excepting
their present sovereign. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 54 — 80. As the foreign policy of
Charles partook almost continually of this double dealing, and rarely escaped detec
tion, it is hardly surprising that his subsequent troubles called forth so little sym
pathy from the rulers of the continent.
s2

260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
Manchester ; and sir Richard Weston, afterwards the earl of Portland,
was lord treasurer. Carieton had passed little time in England, and
was better acquainted with the arts of diplomacy than with the spirit
of freedom which distinguished his country ; Coke was reproached as
covetous, but his attention to business made his services valuable.
Coventry and Manchester were laAvyers who possessed both learning
and experience ; the former was remarkable for the moderation of his
counsels, but endeavoured to confine his attention as much as possible
to the immediate duties of his office : the latter, it was known, could be
made to sacrifice his independence to his love of place and emolument —
a circumstance which, in the working of the government, not unfre
quently placed him at issue with Coventry. But the minister of the
most " immoderate pretences and appetite of power" at this juncture,
was the lord treasurer. Weston had served a long and cautious novi
tiate at court before ascending to his present elevation ; but recently he
had been so much elated by his success as to have abandoned his old
policy of studying to please every one, and had followed so far in the
steps of Buckingham, with a view to gratify the monarch, as to have
succeeded to much of the resentment which had been directed against
that favourite. He Avas a concealed catholic, but the revenue, it was
said, had never been more enriched by exactions from the professors of
that faith than in his time. His ambition, by disposing him to expense,
made him constantly necessitous, and was so little controlled, that what
he possessed was almost forgotten in his anxiety about Avhat was still
distant. With the aid of these persons, and particularly with that of
Wentworth and Laud, Charles addressed himself, in the fourth year of
his reign, to the dangerous enterprise of governing the people of Eng
land without a parliament *-
The recent grant of five subsidies, and the reduced expenditure con-
Illeeal me- se1uent on tne cessation of war, had lessened the king's
thods of rais- necessities. But the property of the crown had suffered so
lngifi2oey' £reat a c^minuti°n during the reign of James, that con
siderable supplies from the subject were needed to meet
the ordinary expenses of the government. The duties at the ports, ac
cordingly, were levied, though the long expected consent of parliament
had not been given ; the previous rate of duty on certain articles was
increased ; and others, which had been free, were now made subject to
an impost. The officers of the customs Avere instructed to enter, in the
king's name, into any dwelling house, warehouse, or vault, in search of
the kind of property for which such contributions were demanded, and
to distrain the goods of all persons who, being liable to such exactions,
failed to nay them f. In support of these proceedings " obsolete laws
* See the character of most of these persons as draAvn by Clarendon. Hist.
i. 80—116. f Rushworth, ii, 9. The officers were also " to apprehend all persons that

A.D. 1630.] CHARLES I. 261
were revived," and where these failed, " supplemental acts of state"
Avere foisted in to supply the deficiency. In this manner, it is added,
the king hoped to sIioav his subjects how " unthrifty" a thing it was to
force upon him a strict inquiry Avith respect to what was really his
own *.
Richard Chambers, a merchant of London, had refused in the course
of the last year to pay tonnage and poundage until that branch of
revenue should have been duly voted by parliament, and when before
the star-chamber he was so far excited as to say, that the merchants of
Turkey Avere not so unjustly dealt with as those of England. He was
now sentenced to pay 2000/., and to be imprisoned until he should
make submission before the council, the star-chamber, and at the ex
change. The harassing consequences of this suit attended him twelve
years, and brought him to poverty f.
In some of these proceedings even the appearance of a regard for the
laAV Avas dispensed with ; and in others, where such ap- compulsory
pearances Avere kept up, the spirit of the law was fla- knighthood.
grantly violated. This was the case in the measure 1630-
Avhich obliged every man holding land to the amount of forty pounds
a-year, and who had failed to present himself to the king at his corona
tion to receive the honour of knighthood, to pay a fine to the crown as
an atonement for his negligence. This custom was introduced by
Henry III., and it is admitted that the usual summons or proclamation
relating to it had been issued by all the Tudor princes at the usual time,
and that their example had been followed by Charles and his predeces
sor. But in recent times this feudal usage had become a mere form.
In the present instance, if the demand could be justly made at all, the
altered value of money should at least have limited the mulct to persons
holding military tenures to the value of two hundred a-year. But the
class that should contribute was determined by the government, and
though the alleged delinquency had remained some years without notice,
and could not have been remembered by a man in the kingdom as a
matter for which there was the least probability of his being called to
account, the fines were rigorously imposed, in some instances to a con
siderable amount, and in no case at a loAver rate than that of two sub
sidies and a half. The disaffection to the king's government was al
ready sufficiently strong among the citizens, and the trading portion
should give out any scandalous speeches against his majesty's service :" — what
speeches Avere to be so regarded, being, of course, a matter on which the govern
ment would itself decide.
* Clarendon, Hist. i. 119.
f RushAVorth, i. 655,670— 677; ii, 9. His'principal defence, with respect to the
obnoxious Avords, was, that they were uttered before the council only, and not
abroad to the injury of the king's government ; and that they referred to the con
duct of the officers of the customs more than to any higher authority. He was
required to acknoAvledge that they Avere " contemptuous, insolent, seditious, &c. &c."
all of which he denied, and would deny to his death. Ibid.

262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [Cg. III.
of the people, and this measure served to diffuse that feeling more
thoroughly among the gentry and small landholders *.
Another measure which served to extend the spirit of complaint more
The Forest widely, and still higher, was the revival of certain laAvs
laws revived, framed in remote ages for the protection of the royal
forests. Our earlier history abounds with remonstrances opposed to
those oppressive statutes ; and during an extended period, it had been
well known that they were frequently violated or evaded, sometimes in
favour of the poor, and often at the pleasure of the rich. But the com
mons had spared no pains in the vindication and enforcement of old
statutes favourable to liberty, and Charles appears to have regarded it
as just, in such circumstances, to avail himself of the past, with still
greater freedom, in support of the prerogative. Most of these encroach
ments on the wastes of the crown had been the work of past genera
tions; but the present occupants were informed that the king had
resumed his almost-forgotten claims, and that the lands possessed by
them could not be retained without the payment of a heavy fine to the
crown. The ravages to which private property became liable by this
expedient were truly alarming. The ancient limits of Eockingham
forest were sixty miles, of which not more than six remained without
occupants of this description ; and all these persons were now obliged
to compound for their lands. Sir Christopher Hatton was sentenced in
a fine of twelve thousand pounds, lord Westmoreland in nineteen thou
sand, and lord Salisbury in twenty thousand. Nor was this enough.
Charles revived an old law, called the statute of Ely, which exposed pro
prietors to discretionary fines for converting arable land into pasture.
He could not have regarded these exactions as tending to increase the
loyalty of the sufferers f.
Much had been done under Elizabeth, and still more under James,
,r ,. to lessen the evil of monopolies ; but the pernicious custom
Monopolies. . _ , l .
was carried to an unprecedented extent during this period,
particularly in the shape of charters to companies, on the pretence that
the. last statute relating to it contained a saving clause in favour of new
inventions. The money paid by these companies to the king Avas of
course laid upon the articles which they sold, and thus fell, in the issue,
entirely on the consumer. Hence the effect of this scheme Avas a sys
tem of taxation regulated at the pleasure of the crown. It became
necessary also that these companies should be vested with inquisitorial
powers, rendering them still more unpopular, and hostile to liberty.
The official papers relating to this interval not only shoAV that almost
* Hume mentions the complaints on this subject as a striking proof of the evil
disposition of the people with regard to the measures of the crown. But Claren
don does not hesitate to describe the proceeding as " verv grievous." Ubi supra
Rushworth, ii. 70, 135, 214—219, 725 ; iii. 135, 136. Pari. Hist. ii. 948.
t Clarendon, Hist. i. 120. Strafford's Letters, i, 335, 463, 467 ; ii- 117- Rush-
worth, ii. 268, 300.

a. d. 1629—1640.] charles i. 263
every article in daily use avus made subject in this manner to an unlaAV-
ful tax, but that the civil authorities, after the manner of the ecclesias
tical, had managed to convert the sins of the people into a source of
revenue, by admitting a multitude of delinquents to compound for their
offences*. It has appeared that James Avould have given his proclamations the
authority of law, and that the commons not only opposed
that dangerous pretension, but recorded their most solemn ciamatjons
remonstrance against it, declaring such instruments to be
wholly poAverlcss, except as founded on the acknowledged meaning of
existing- laAVST. Charles, however, issued these spurious enactments
more frequently than his predecessor, interfering by such means with
the commerce, agriculture, and manufactures of the country, and even
regulating the price of provisions in the daily market.
James aud Elizabeth had often prohibited the increase of buildings
around the metropolis ; but as the legality of these prohibitions had
been questioned, and they Avere more frequently issued than enforced,
the capital Avas constantly extending its limits J. The houses which
had been built in the face of these royal interdicts were said to be so
many as to yield the annual rent of a hundred thousand pounds. On
a given day, the proprietors Avere assembled before certain commissioners,
and those Avho refused to compound for the alleged contempt were
either heavily amerced, or sentenced to pay a yearly rent to the crown.
Nor did these vexatious interferences take place in the neighbourhood of
the city only ; they Avere felt within its walls. Some houses near St.
Paul's Avere represented as an injury to the appearance of that building,
and, by order of his majesty's council, and on terms which that council,
an interested party, chose to dictate, they were removed. There were
shops in Cheapside and Lombard-street that were considered a detri
ment in that avenue to the same edifice, and by another act of council
they were ordered, with the exception of the goldsmiths, to be closed.
The corporation of London was not forward to execute these arbitrary
instructions, issued in manifest contempt of the old chartered rights
of the English freeholder; but their hesitation was not to go unpu
nished. On this account, and some others, advantage was taken of their
neglect with regard to some conditions on Avhich they held a prosperous
settlement in Ulster. The settlement was not only declared a forfeiture,
but the parties who had made it what it was were sentenced to pay a
*
* On these matters, see the series of proclamations at the close of each year, in
the second volume of Rushworth ; — particularly pp. 12, 26, 49, 50, 91, 92, 111, 136,
143—145, 186, 187, 196, 197, 252, 253. 300, 317, 323, 333, 348, 452, 839. See the
manner in which Laud meddled Avith such things in his Diary, July 12, 1635, and
March 6, ad an. See also the eighteenth and nineteenth volumes of Rymer.
j- See p. 172 of this volume.
X Ibid., pp. 187, 188.

264 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [CH. III.
fine of seventy thousand pounds to the king. The city submitted ; but '
these were things to be remembered*
James had repeatedly admonished the nobility and gentry not to
spend their time in the capital during the cessation of parliament ; and
Charles, who lived in the same fear of political association and intrigue,
approved his policy in this respect, and issued similar proclamations.
In one instance, during this interval, we find no less than seven lords,
sixty knights, a hundred esquires, and a long train of females, all cited
to answer in the star-chamber for having preferred the toAvn to the
country, notwithstanding these royal prohibitions j-.
These various measures, grievous as many of them were, inflicted their
Ship-money. evus principally on individuals, or upon certain portions only
1634. of the great community; and so long as the injuries done
were partial, the opposition encountered would probably be of the same
limited nature, and the vessel of the government might still be found
making its way. Any proceeding, however, that should operate as a
general grievance, would assuredly serve as a rallying point to the indi
viduals and parties who had suffered from the more limited exercises of
arbitrary poAver, and could hardly fail to impart unity and animation to
their particular resentments. A proceeding of this nature occurred in
the memorable question of ship-money.
At this time the dominion of the narroAv seas had nearly passed from
the English crown. The fisheries of the coast were visited with impu
nity by vessels from France and Holland ; many depredations were
committed by cruisers from other states ; and Turkish pirates had not
scrupled to carry off captives for the slave-market from the coast of
Ireland. Charles was, moreover, engaged in a secret treaty with the
king of Spain, by which he had bound himself to aid that monarch in
lowering the pretensions of the Unitedt Provinces, the condition being an
interference on the part of his catholic majesty, in favour of the elector
Palatine J. This treaty, however, could not be in any Avay acted upon
without the aid of a considerable naval force ; and to obtain the requi
site supply of shipping, the partizans of the court spoke much of the
disgrace and danger to which the nation was exposed by the present
decayed state of its navy.
It was at this moment that the apostate vigilance of Noy was to
obtain its reward. It will be remembered that this person Avas among
the number of those who, at the close of the last parliament, Avere
seduced from their place with the patriots by the offers of the court.
Noy had provoked the resentment of his old associates : he had to win
the attachment of his new masters. His learning and ingenuity Avere
"Rushworth, xlix. 92, 93, 111, 411, 412. Clarendon, ii. 151, 152. Whitelocke, 35.
Rymer, xviii. xix. ; and Strafford's Letters, passim.
f Rushworth. J See the note, page 259.

A.D. 1636.] CHARLES I. 265
accordingly employed in searching after precedents, and devising plans
in support of maxims Avhich he had been recently forward to oppose.
Among the neglected records in the ToAver, he discovered certain writs,
which, on particular emergencies, had been issued to the different sea
ports, and sometimes to the maritime counties generally, requiring them
to supply a given uumber of vessels for the defence of the kingdom.
These precedents Avere hailed by the courtiers as promising to place the
naval affairs of the country under the sole management of the sovereign,
and as affording a pOAverful sanction to that method of taxation which
it Avas their great concern to see substituted in the place of that which
had grown up with the constitution. The writs Avere accordingly issued.
Some opposition Avas shown ; but the measure so far succeeded, that it
AA'as resolved to extend the demand from the maritime counties to those
of the interior. The yearly amount of money thus obtained was some-
Avhat more than tAvo hundred thousand pounds. It appears to have
been faithfully applied, as a fleet of sixty sail soon began to assert the
supremacy of the English flag in the norrow seas.
Noy was not permitted to witness the degree of success Avhich at
tended his experiment. It does not indeed appear that he had contem
plated its application beyond the sea-ports ; and even there he probably
viewed it as relating simply to the providing of certain vessels, which
should be employed during a certain time by the sovereign, and not in
the light of a direct pecuniary tax, Avhich should be deposited in the
royal treasury, and expended solely under the royal sanction. Had his
life been spared, it would have been his lot to see that even for this
object, something was required beyond those occasional and obsolete
precedents, which his labour had supplied. Many, from the first,
resisted the claim ; and others, who submitted to it, denounced it as
illegal, Charles, in consequence, deemed it important that his policy
in this matter should be strengthened by a decision of the judges. Sir
John Finch, the man who, as speaker, had refused to read the remon
strance of the commons in the last parliament, had been since raised to
the place of lord chief justice; and he now claimed the gratitude of
his patrons, by prevailing upon the judges to declare, "that as where
the benefit redounded to the ports and maritime parts, the charge Avas,
according to the precedents of former times, lawfully laid upon them ;
so by parity of reasoning, where the good and safety of the kingdom were
generally concerned, the charge ought to be borne by the whole realm."
But this decision, valued as it was by the court, left two important
questions, intimately connected with it, untouched. It determined
nothing with respect to the circumstances that should be regarded as
affecting the good and safety of the kingdom, or with respect to the
authority on which the determination of such matters should devolve.
Hence the same men were called upon to repeat their former judg
ment, and to declare, moreover, that the monarch should be regarded

266 HISTORV OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
as the sole judge with regard to the existence of national danger,
and also as to the best time and means of providing against it. It Avas
not expected, it seems, by the judges, that this opinion would be read,
as it was by the lord keeper, in open court — but ought they not to have
seen, that the public use to be made of their venality was, Avith Charles,
its sole value? Croke and Hutton, indeed, had ventured to dissent
from the slavish doctrine of their brethren, but allowed their names
to appear with the rest, on the poor plea that the minority were in
cluded in the majority. The intention of Charles, and of his ministers,
throughout this affair, is stated in one of Strafford's letters in the
folloAving explicit terms : " Since it is laAvful for the king to impose a
tax toward the equipment of the navy, it must be equally so for the
levy of an army ; and the same reason Avhich authorises him to levy
an army to resist, will authorise him to carry that army abroad, that he
may prevent invasion. Moreover, what is law in England, is law also
in Scotland and in Ireland. The decision of the judges, therefore, will
make the king absolute at home, and formidable abroad. Let him only
abstain from war a fevo years, that he may habituate his subjects to a
payment of this tax, and in the end he will find himself more powerful
and respected than any of his predecessors *."
But while the expected end of our free constitution — free at least in
John Hamp- theory — was thus producing a deep feeling of exultation
den. 1637. among these conspirators in high places, the cause of the
people was about to receive important aid from the adventurous patriot
ism of an individual hitherto unknown beyond the walks of private life.
The name of this individual, who, until this time, had lived the life of a
country gentleman, remarkable only for the mildness of his disposition
and the modesty of his deportment, was John Hampden. As the intimate
friend of sir John Eliot, and the appointed guardian of his children, we
must presume that Hampden had long been distinguished among those
Avho knew him by his love of freedom. He was noAV required to pay the
sum of twenty shillings, the amount of an assessment, under the name of
ship-money, for the estate on which he resided in Buckinghamshire. It
was the policy of the government, that this impost should be, for the
present, of inconsiderable amount ; but Avhile Strafford and the court
looked forward with delight to the permanence and the gradual increase
of this power of exaction, until it should be found to have put the crown
once and for ever in the place of the constitution, the enlightened advo
cates of freedom, scattered through the land, had their eyes no less
intently fixed on that probable result, and mingled their sorroAvs with
their fears. Hampden was of this latter class, and Avhen his contribu
tion Avas demanded, he ventured to express a doubt with regard to the
propriety of thus submitting to an extra-judicial opinion of the judges,
* Strafford Papers, ii. 61, 62. Rushworth, ii. 352—358. Howell, State Trials,
iii. 1204. Biblioth. Reg. 246—250.

A, D. 1637.] CHARLES I. 267
and claimed, before making his payment, to have the legality of the
demand fairly determined in the courts of laAv. This claim was so
modestly urged, and was Avithal so manifestly reasonable, that compliance
Avith it Avas hard to be avoided ; and as this was the only secondary ground
of objection that could be taken to the proceeding, it is probable that the
government expected to gain additional strength by this means, the cor
rupt conduct of the judges with regard to this subject on a recent occasion
rendering it highly probable that the decision would be in its favour.
During eleven days, this question Avas argued before the judges. No
name Avas noAV so familiar to the people as that of Hampden, and the
progress of the debate to Avhich he had called their attention Avas watched
Avith the most anxious solicitude by all parties. On the part of the
crown, an appeal was made to the Anglo-Saxon tribute called Dane-gelt,
and to other customs of the same remote date. But in reply, it was
urged that our notices of such customs are much too imperfect and
contradictory to admit of any plea being founded upon them. It was
then shoAvn, from the records of later times, that to obtain a requisite
supply of shipping, the crown had often either pressed vessels into its
service, or had compelled the ports, or the maritime counties, to provide
them. But it Avas contended, that no precedent could be derived from
such facts in favour of the present writs, which, instead of calling upon
the sea-ports, or the counties forming the coast of the island, to provide
shipping, called upon the whole kingdom to pay according to a certain
assessment in money. It was further maintained on the side of the
prerogative, that assuredly the king should be allowed to exact aids of
this nature from his subjects in times of emergency, inasmuch as the
time necessarily consumed in assembling a parliament, and obtaining
assistance through that channel, might hazard the safety of the king
dom. To this favourite pretext it Avas sufficient to reply, that the present
Avas manifestly no such crisis, since the writs themselves conceded that
six months might be allowed to prepare the proposed navy — an interval
affording ample room for the meeting and deliberations of a parliament.
But the great argument of the popular advocates remained. There were
statutes older than the race of our Stuart or Tudor princes, which de
clared that no. Englishman should be taxed without his consent, and this
leading maxim of the constitution had been confirmed in the plainest
terms, and after the most solemn manner, in the Petition of Right.
The judges Avere perplexed, and employed themselves during three
months in attempts to discover the means of escape from the difficulties
Avhich beset them. At the close of that period it appeared that seven
Avere in favour of the crown, Croke and Hutton decided without qualifi
cation in favour of Hampden, towards whom the three remaining judges
also inclined. The suspense which followed the discussion had not only
augmented the interest of both parties, but had turned the scale much in
favour of the popular cause, as it was natural to conclude that arguments so

268 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [OH. III.
difficult to be disposed of by such authorities must have been constructed
on a solid foundation. The court indeed proclaimed the decision, tardy
and divided as it was, as a triumph. But the people judged of the
question by the speeches of those who had argued upon it ; and from
this time were very generally satisfied, not only that the imposition laid
upon them had been introduced without any real sanction from the
laws, but that its object was by degrees to supersede all law on such
matters. The question Avas, should the country in future be governed
by an absolute or a limited monarchy — should there be a constitution
including its representative and legislative assemblies, the ancient
safeguards of freedom and property — or should it be thrust aside and
trodden down by a mere band of courtiers, responsible to none save the
master appointing them, and observant of no law save that of his plea
sure ? Charles did not mean to become a Nero, but the principles of
government to which he would thus have given the permanence of cus
tom and the force of law, are precisely those which have never failed
to prepare the way for such specimens of paternal sovereignty. Men
Avho saw this course of things, and had protested against it, now pro
tested more loudly, and many Avho had wavered Avere in doubt no longer.
Laud saw the injury done to the king's policy by this memorable de
bate, and bitterly deplored it *.
But what was wanting to the justice of the king's policy was supplied
by his power, which, by means of the star-chamber, spread
ii'thTstarl8 its terrors in all quarters. Some examples of proceedings
chamber. in that court must be introduced in this place. Alexander
irsftllt0n' Leighton, a native of Scotland, and a divine of respectable
learning, dedicated a treatise to the last parliament, in-
titled ' Sion's Plea against Prelacy.' An examination of the treatise
will show that Leighton's offence consisted in his bold censures of epis
copal tyranny, in his calling upon the parliament to abolish the hier
archy, and in a somewhat rude allusion to Henrietta, as " a daughter
of Heth," — or a catholic. He represented the bishops as the main
cause of so much mal-administration in the church and the state. This
work Avas published in Holland, and had been very cautiously circu
lated in this country, a copy of it not being obtained for less than twenty
shillings. On the dissolution of the parliament the author made some
effort to suppress the obnoxious production, aware that by that event he
was left exposed to the unchecked resentment of the court. But he
was brought into the star-chamber, where his sentence was to pay a
fine of 1000/., to be degraded from his office, to be publicly whipped,
* The honour of being the first to call for this kind of judgment upon the
question of ship-money belongs to the puritan merchant Richard Chambers. But
his claim Avas disregarded. Rushworth, ii. 323. This Avas in 1636. Ibid., 325. 
345, 352—364, 481—605, 725—730. Clarendon Papers, i. 49, 75, 83, 105—120;
ii. App. xxvi. xxxii. Strafford's Letters, passim. State Trials, iii. 825 — 1316.

A.D. 1632.] CHARLES I. 269
to stand in the pillory at Westminster, there to suffer the loss of one
ear, to have one side of his nose slit, and his cheek branded Avith the
letters S. S., meaning a soAver of sedition. His sentence further re
quired, that after a convenient time, by which was meant the time when
his previous wounds should be in some measure healed, he should be
again scourged, and again placed in the pillory, and after losing his
remaining ear, and the remaining half of his nose being slit, his person
should be committed to prison during life. Nor was the penalty in
the least degree mitigated. But the fortitude of the sufferer marred the
policy of his oppressors : — upon themselves it brought the execrations
of the people, upon him the honours of martyrdom. The resolute bear
ing of this victim of intolerance appears to have been interpreted as
a neAv crime, and, in consequence, when the scenes of public torture
were ended, his imprisonment was made to be more miserable than his
sentence required. No doubt Leighton had his portion of fanaticism,
and he made no secret of his intolerance with regard to catholics, but
these circumstances do little towards exonerating his persecutors *.
The prosecution of Leighton belongs to the year succeeding that in
which the last parliament was dissolved, and in the year follow- Case of
ing, the case of Prynne served to manifest still further the cha- Prynne.
racter and purpose of the government. Prynne was a barrister of "
Lincoln's-inn, a man of a gloomy temper, immoveably conscientious, of
studious habits, and possessing vast stores of learning. He sent forth
a ponderous volume, in which he endeavoured to show that the theatre,
and all similar amusements, were of the most pernicious tendency. The
court, the prelates, and the common people, all, in their turn, Avere ar
raigned as offenders, and described as contributing to bring in licen
tiousness, heathenism, and ruin. It happened that six weeks after this
book was given to the world, the queen performed a part in a mask at
court, and the enemies of the writer were ingenuous enough to apply to
that illustrious person the language which his book contained with
respect to the general immorality of actresses. The tendency of the
Avork was adjudged to be dangerous and seditious, and the author was
sentenced to pay a fine of five thousand pounds, to be excluded from
the bar and from Lincoln's-inn, to be degraded at Oxford, to stand in
the pillory at Westminster and Cheapside, to lose his ears, to see his
book committed to the flames by the hangman, and to be imprisoned
during life ; — and this sentence was executed with relentless precision !
Two years later, Prynne was again brought into the court of star-cham
ber in company with Bastwick and Burton — the former a physician,
the latter a clergyman. While in his cell, Prynne had contrived to
* State Trials, iii. 385—387. Rushworth, ii. 55 — 58. This person was the
father of the well knoivn archbishop Leighton, whose works are so generally
esteemed for their learning and piety. It is not true that he called upon the
people to kill the bishops, as asserted by Heylin.

270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
issue a tract, entitled " NeAvs from Ipswich," in which, with a violence
equal to anything contained in his former publication, he. charged the
prelates with having devised and accomplished a multitude of innova
tions, all tending to suppress the doctrine of the gospel, and to favour
the return of popery *.
Bastwick did not content himself with assailing the conduct of the
Bastwick. prelates, but maintained that the institution of bishops was
1635. altogether a human invention. In the opinion of his judges,
his object was not so much to discuss principles, as to libel persons, that
being regarded as the best method of throwing discredit on the govern
ment, and of spreading disorder through the kingdom. It was accordingly
required that he should pay a fine of one thousand pounds, be suspended
from his profession, be imprisoned two years, and make a recantation of
his errors. The period of his confinement had nearly expired, when he
contrived to send forth a second pamphlet ; but judging from its con
tents, his sufferings had by this time affected his brain, so extravagant
is the language with which he assails everything prelatical f.
Burton had been chaplain to Charles while prince of Wales, but had
been suspended from his functions by the court of high
commission, on account of a discourse which he published
containing some of the complaints usually preferred by the puritans
against the ruling clergy. He also published a vindication of that dis
course, which was deemed more obnoxious than the discourse itself,
and exposed him to additional penalties +.
The information against these persons Avas prepared under the in
fluence of Laud, Each came anxious to enter upon his defence; but
as they had not been able to prevail on any tvvo counsellors to appear
in their behalf, there was a rule of the court which prevented their
being heard. Their defence, had they been allowed to proceed Avith it,
would have been far from availing them anything, as they had resoh'ed
on braving the utmost resentment of their enemies, by repeating, in
the most resolute terms, the whole of the charges which they had pub
licly brought against them. Had they determined to pursue a more
humble course, such was the terror which attended the proceedings of
this court, that it is probable they would still have been obliged to
appear without counsel, and would not only have fallen before it, but
have fallen without a hearing. They were adjudged to pay fines much
beyond their means of payment, to stand two hours in the pillory, to
have their ears cut off, and to be imprisoned during life. While in the
pillory, they made an animated appeal to the populace, who applauded
their constancy, sympathized with their sufferings, and as the knife of
the executioner was applied successively to their ears, expressed their
* Ruslnvorth, ii. 220—240, 247—249.
J State Trials, iii. 562, et seq. 711—770. X H>id.

A.D. 1631.] CHARLES I. 271
sense of the barbarity and injustice of the deed by loud groans and
hisses. The sufferers were afterwards conducted to separate prisons in
the islands of Scilly, Guernsey, and Jersey; — the roads along Avhich
they passed being croAvded with people, thousands vieing Avith each
other to do them honour as martyrs in the cause of liberty and religion*.
These expressions of popular sentiment should have taught the arch
bishop that the war which he had commenced had not so „,_JJiiiGi'Grvt
much to do with the extravagant mood of particular per- sentiments
sons, as with principles and passions pervading a large mass of the peo-
of the community ; and that unless the temper of this large J)veernment
class of minds could be changed, or the country be freed in regard to
from them, the policy which he had adopted was not that tnese P™se"
cutions.
from which tranquillity was to be expected. He did not, it
seems, witness these things without alarm ; but the only effect of his
fear appears to have been a disposition to greater severity. The multi
tude who, in the rebellion of their hearts, had dared to manifest their
sympathy with the culprits, could not Avell be brought under the lash of
a state prosecution ; but certain inhabitants of Chester, who had shown
some hospitable attention to Prynne when passing through that city,
Avere found to be within his reach. These were severally fined, from
tAvo hundred and fifty pounds to five hundred pounds each, and made to
acknoAvledge their fault in the cathedral of York, and before the corpora
tion and citizens of the toAvn Avhere their offence had been committed-)-.
The effect of such proceedings was to extend that disaffection to the
protestant hierarchy, which, from similar causes, had been directed
against its predecessor. Religion was exhibited as divorced from jus
tice and humanity, and as looking to wrong and cruelty for its principal
means of defence. It must be remembered that the persons on whom
the indignities above described were inflicted belonged to the several
professions of law, medicine, and divinity. It had always been known
that no rank could place an offender beyond the reach of the star-cham
ber ; but it remained for the zeal of its present functionaries to show
that it could dare to inflict the most degrading penalties on persons
belonging to the most respectable classes of society. Regulations of still
greater severity were now made to bind the press ; and Laud, writing to
Wentworth, expresses his confidence that " a little more quickness in
the government would cure this itch of libelling, and something more
that is amiss." He laments, however, that this increased vigour was
hard to be infused into it. His correspondent is of the same judgment,
and prays very devoutly that God of his grace may bestOAV the energy so
much needed !
State Trials, iii. 7H- et seq.
f When the star-chamber pronounced its sentence on Prynne and his colleagues,
Laud said much to show that it was " just and honourable," and gave thanks to
those who, by agreeing to it, had shown their unanimity in defence of the church,
and their hatred of its enemies. Ibid., 745.

272 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. III.
The case of bishop Williams may be selected from many resembling
Case of **> as snowing the facilities of the court of star-chamber in
bishop creating offences, and crushing an adversary. Williams
Williams. ]ja(j ^,een an eariv frien(i 0f Laud, who Avith some difficulty
had procured his appointment to the see of St. David's. But, as a
courtier, the protege" proved more fortunate than his patron, and those
who Avere friends became enemies. During his exclusion from the coun
cil, Williams gave his time mostly to his studies, but his wounded feel
ing was sometimes strongly expressed. He one day remarked that the
puritans were not to be managed by severity, adding that he had ven
tured to state so much to the king, and that it was favourably received.
On the ground of this expression he was accused in the star-chamber of
having divulged the secrets of state, contrary to his oath as a privy
councillor, and of having given birth to rumours injurious
' to his majesty's government. In the course of the prosecu
tion, which was long protracted, this ground of accusation was aban
doned ; but, on a new charge, of tampering Avith the king's witnesses,
the bishop was adjudged to be suspended from his office.
'¦ There are few malicious men who would not have been satis
fied Avith haA'ing thus far humbled an opponent. It happened, how
ever, that the royal officers, in taking possession of Williams's effects,
discovered a letter, received from one Osbaldistone, a schoolmaster, in
Avhich an allusion was thought to have been made to Laud, under the
name of the " little urchin," and the " little great man," and upon this
surmise a third prosecution was commenced, and the bishop was sen
tenced to pay a fine of 5000/. to the king, and 3000/. to the archbishop.
The Avhole crime of the delinquent in this last case consisted
in receiving a letter containing a disrespectful allusion to a
member of his majesty's council without disclosing it ! Laud was not
altogether insensible to the odium which his conduct in this affair would
probably bring upon him, but his thirst of revenge outAveighed his fear
of reproach*.
These examples will suffice to show the spirit of intimidation with
which the general affairs of this kingdom were managed during the
twelve years in which its only real law was the pleasure of the king
and his council. Ship-money continued to be levied, together Avith a
similar tax for the army, under the name of coat and conduct money.
Merchandise became subject to new imposts, and matters of chartered
monopoly almost without end. To resist, was to be overpoAvered by the
despotism of the star-chamber. Hence few had courage to do so, though
sufficiently aware that the general measures of the government were a
manifest violation of those noble immunities which a provident ancestry
had bequeathed to the nation. The revenue during this period, from
all sources, amounted to about a million a year. The fines imposed in
* Rushworth, ii, 379, 303—817. State Trials, iii. 770—824.

A.D. 1629.] CHARLES I. 273
the star-chamber Avere sometimes obtained by individuals, but generally
passed into the exchequer, and by their frequency and their weight
warranted the suspicion that the object of the court in attaching so many
causes to that tribunal, which, like the rod of Moses, seemed about to
swalloAv up the rest, Avas to make it subservient to the necessities of
the crown, as well as to accustom the people to the exercise of such
irregular authority until it should acquire the strength of law.

Chapter IV.
Proceedings in the Court of High Commission — Bernard, Smart, and others —
Emigration of the Puritans to NeAV England — Checked by the Government —
Intolerant conduct toward the foreign Protestants settled in England — Dis
putes with respect to Religious Ceremonies — Controversy respecting the place
and designation of the Communion Table — Ceremonies at the consecration of
St. Catharine's Church — Case of Sherfield — Hostility of the Court Clergy to the
Common LaAV — Sabbatarian Controversy — Restraints on Preaching — Fears with
regard to another Catholic ascendancy — Project of a Union between the Church
of England and the Church of Rome — General state of the country from 1629
to 1640.
We have already considered the origin and jurisdiction of the court of
high commission *. It was to the church, during this
period, what the star-chamber was to the state. The ;n tae court 0f
parties prosecuted before this tribunal were not only the l»gh commis-
puritan clergy, but such of the laity as were deemed of- S10n'
fenders against the laws of morality, and these were selected from the
rich as well as from the poor. In every part of the kingdom persons of
some standing in society might be found who had been called to do
penance, or pay heavy fines on account of some alleged offence against
morals. Many of the fines imposed were appropriated to the repairing
of St. Paul's cathedral, and the known zeal of the archbishop for that
object was generally regarded as a principal cause of this unpopular
interference with respect to matters of public decency. In the vieAv of
the puritans, the practice of the court by which they were so often de
prived of their livings, or otherAvise harassed and impoverished, Avas a
formidable part of that machinery which had been adjusted for the
purpose of destroying both the religion and the liberties of their
country. The patriots had never ceased to protest against its encroach
ments ; and while the pride of the wealthy was offended at the control
which it exercised, the vicious could hardly fail to long for the fall of a
power which operated so much as a check or a penalty on their favourite
indulgences. In all these matters Laud was supposed to be the great
mover, and all those classes soon learnt to extend their hatred of his
policy to his person.
Bernard, a lecturer in the metropolis, had ventured to pray before his
* See pp. 180, 181.

274 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [OH. IV.
congregation that the queen's majesty might be converted from her
state of superstition and idolatry. In the presence of the
commissioners he professed to regret this excess of devotion,
and was dismissed. But Bernard was a Calvinist, and an enemy of
those popish ceremonies, as they were called, which were so much
patronized by the court clergy. His sermons gave proof of
Jan228 tnis' and s more of *"s enlightened views on the subject of
civil government. " Treason," he remarked, " is not limited
to the royal blood, as if he only could be a traitor who plotteth or at-
tempteth the dishonour or the shedding thereof, but may be, and is
too often, committed against the whole church and nation ; which last is
so much the worst of these two, by as much as the end is better than
the means, and the whole of greater consequence than any one part."
These expressions, and others to the like effect, exposed Jiim to a second
prosecution. He professed himself willing to apologize for anything
unbecoming in the language of the sermon that had brought him into
this further trouble, but could not pledge himself to a renunciation of
what it contained. This, however, was the demand of the court, and he
was sentenced to be suspended, excommunicated, and to be fined 1000/.,
Avhich was followed by costs and imprisonment, reducing him to the
lowest poverty*.
Smart, a prebendary of Durham, presumed to censure the placing of
images and pictures in churches, and some other innova-
Smart, and tjons jje wag comnvitted to prison, and having remained
others. , . , . , r i ¦
there nine months without learning the cause ot his com
mitment, he was conducted from York to Lambeth, and again from
Lambeth to York, was then deprived, excommunicated, and fined 500/.,
and indebted to the parliament, which met in 1641, for his release from
a confinement Avhich had lasted eleven years f.
Crowder, another puritan divine, Avas committed in the same illegal
manner, and after an imprisonment of four months was deprived of his
living, without the proof or even the charge of crime being exhibited
against him. One preacher described the gospel as on tiptoe in its way
to America ; another said that night must be at hand, since the shadows
of religion had become so much larger than their substance. But these
sallies of ingenuity were dangerous things. Both were suspended until
they should profess to repent of these expressions. It was by this court
that a baptist minister, named Brewer, was sentenced to suffer imprison
ment which extended to fourteen years ; and that a clergyman of the
name of Foxley was confined twenty months in a narrow chamber of
the gate-house prison, denied the intercourse of friends, and the means
of writing to them. His offence was not made known to him, even to the
* Rushworth, iii. 32, 140—142.
f Fuller, xi. 173. Nalson has given some passages from Smart's sermon, with
a vieAv to justify the sentence passed upon him ; but they merely express the
general sentiment of the puritans Avith regard to the neAv ceremonies. Collections,
i. 518, 519 ; ii. 406.

A. D. 1629— 1640.] CHARLES I. 275
close of that period, and he could only presume that it consisted in his
having spoken well of the zeal of certain gentlemen who had employed
their property and influence in placing puritan lecturers in some of the
principal towns*.
We have noticed the thrifty zeal of the primate against the immo -
ralities of the times. But, as the above facts may suggest, there Avas a
sin less easily to be forgiven than drunkenness or debauchery. One of
these imprisoned clergymen petitioned the earl of Dorset, who was
not a great admirer of such proceedings, to use his influence with
Laud for his enlargement, and was assured in reply, that had his offence
been some matter of intoxication or impurity, his liberty might have
been obtained, but that the sin of puritanism and nonconformity was
unpardonable. This estimate of the laws of morality, as compared
with the one virtue of ecclesiastical obedience, is a never-failing charac
teristic of the ecclesiastical zealot f.
In consequence of these and similar severities, many thousands of the
most upright and industrious of the people emigrated to Emigration
America, most of them taking sufficient property with them to the New
to become planters. Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Con- - '
necticut and Newhaven were the settlements in which they sought an
asylum. The historian of the puritans possessed the names of nearly
eighty clergymen, who during this period accompanied various bands of
exiles to the New World. Among these was Elliot, whose zeal procured
him the honourable name of the apostle of the Indians, and whose per
severance supplied that people with the sacred scriptures in their own
tongue. These emigrations at length attracted the notice of the court, and
Charles was induced to issue the folloAving proclamation : cneckeQ by
" The king being informed that great numbers of his sub- the govem-
jects are yearly transported into New England, with their ment-
families and whole estates, that they might be out of the reach of eccle
siastical authority, his majesty therefore commands that his officers of
the several ports should suffer none to pass, without licence from the
commissioners of the plantations, and a testimonial from their ministers
of their conformity to the order and discipline of their church" And
this vigilance was extended from the laity to the clergy. " Whereas
it is observed, that such ministers as are not conformable to the disci
pline and ceremonies of the church, do frequently transport themselves
to the plantations, where they take liberty to nourish their factious and
schismatical humours, to the hinderance of the good conformity and unity
of the church; we, therefore, expressly command you in his majesty's
name, to suffer no clergyman to transport himself without a testimonial
from the archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishop of London J." This
* Rushworth, ii. 301. Neal, ii. 197. t Ibid'
X Rushworth, ii. 298, 410, 718, 721.
t2

276 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IV.
last proclamation was issued in 1638, and in that year so little prospect
was there of a favourable turn in the affairs of the country, that among
those who prepared to join the pilgrims of New England, and who actu
ally embarked in the Thames for that purpose, were the lords Say and
Brook, sir Arthur Haselrig, John Hampden, and Oliver Cromwell.
Their departure was prevented by the interposition of Laud. It is pro
bable that to these prohibitions England owes its present freedom; — its
men of enterprise, of public spirit, and of sincere piety, being detained
by these means to perform their part in the great struggle, which, though
not then foreseen even by the most sagacious, was near at hand. But what
shall we say of that intolerance, which not only bound its yoke without
pity on the neck of its victims at home, but refused them the poor relief
of a dangerous and distant exile because it could not press the same
yoke upon them there ? The revocation of the edict of Nantz was an act
of forbearance, compared with such proceedings *.
In perfect consistency with such measures was the conduct of the
Intolerant same parties at this period toward the foreign protestants
conduct of the who had become resident in England. It had always been
government demanded, that the subjects of the English monarch resi-
toivard the fo- . . r • ¦ i ¦, ¦
reign protest- aent m foreign countries, whether serving in armies, or
ants settled in engaged in merchandise, should conform themselves strictly
ng an ' to the worship and discipline of the English Church. But
it was now required that the children of all foreigners resident in Eng-
* Hume cites a contemporary of the puritans as affirming of them, " that to the
world they seem to be such as would not swear, whore, or get drunk, but they
could lie, cozen, and deceive," and from the pages of this historian this represen
tation has passed to the lips or the writings of multitudes. The person adverted
to was one sir John Lamb, the greater part of whose life was spent in intriguing
against the puritans, and in fact against every one whose fall might in the least
conduce to his own elevation. Hacket, in his life of Williams, describes Mr. Hume's
informant as a " creature of dark practices, the most hated of all that trod the earth
in the county of Northampton, where he dwelt." He was originally a school
master, afterwards a proctor, and next dean of the arches, in which function he
was charged Avith many crimes, "under the hands of all the justices and gentry,"
and in two several bills prepared against him during the parliaments of 1621 and
1 624. It was bishop Williams Avho brought this honourable person " off from his
troubles, dubbed him a doctor, and a knight, settled him in his former offices, and
got him more." And no sooner did the favour of the court begin to depart from
Williams, than Lamb Avas found to forsake his patron, and abet its policy. So
worthy of credence was the Avitness on Avhom our historian, and many after him,
have shown so much disposition to rely !
That the puritans deserved this sort of reproach has never been shown. Their
attention to commerce, and much more their condition as a persecuted people for
whom all kinds of snares were laid, may have given them habits of caution which
would sometimes verge toward insincerity ; and it is no doubt true that their resent
ment, under their real or imaginary wrongs, sometimes partook of a bitterness more
nearly allied to fanaticism than to Christianity. But in these particulars we perhaps
have the front of their offending in such respects. Persons who confide in such
autnorities as sir John Lamb, and who thus fall into what, after all, was, perhaps,
the besetting sin of puritanism, viz. : too great a readiness to take up an evil report
against an opponent, should remember, that in speaking of those people, they speak
of more than half the kingdom. Rushworth, i. 421. Hacket's Life of Williams,
5. 36, iii, pp. 36, 37. ii. pp. 98, 112, 113. Brodie, ii, 361.

A. D. 1629—1640.] CHARLES 1. 277
land, if of the second generation since their settlement, should be Avith-
drawn from the churches of their parents, and obliged to attend at the
church of the parish in which they might happen to reside. The inde
pendence of the French and Dutch churches in this kingdom had been
repeatedly confirmed since the days of Edward the Sixth, and more
recently by James, and even by Charles himself. The strangers be
longing to these communions, amounting to several thousand persons,
protested loudly against the obtrusive tyranny to which the primate was
concerned to subject them. But they Avere told that their submission in
this respect was indispensable, and that the evil of their departure from
the kingdom Avas less to be deplored than that of their being allowed to
perpetuate within it a schismatical worship. The archbishop observes
subsequently that their resistance had been in part subdued, and flat
tered himself that he Avas strengthening the cause of the church of
England, Avhile exposing her to the contempt or resentment of every
protestant communion in Christendom. When her hour of trial came,
her rulers became someAA'hat aAvare of their impolicy in this respect, but
even then could hardly descend to acknowledge it *.
Had the archbishop limited his zeal, as the advocate of uniformity, to
such matters as law and custom had in some sort esta- - -
blished, the disaffection with regard to many of those things, relfpect'to reli-
on account of their Romish origin, Avas so prevalent and gious ceremo-
poAverful, as to have afforded ample occasion for that exer- mes'
cise of authority which was manifestly so grateful to him. But with
the ceremonies of acknowledged obligation, many novelties of his own
were associated as of no less authority. These novelties were all of a kind
to give more pomp, complexity — in short, a more Romish character to
the established ritual. The primate saw in them something of the great
ness of his present power, but they Avere also a principal cause of the fears
and disaffection which Avere daily increasing among the people. It would
almost seem to have been the opinion of this powerful churchman, that re
ligious scruples are best subdued by multiplying the causes which produce
them, and that the national abhorrence of popery was to be best eradicated
by making the nearest possible approach to the domination of papal
policy, and the pageantry of papal worship. In his view there was a sort
of infallibility inseparable from the possessors of monarchical and priestly
power, and resistance in any shape became nothing less than rebellion
* Rushworth, ii. 249—251, 272. Collier, ii. 752, 753, 763—765. Prynne's
Cant. Doom. 369. Clarendon, Hist. iii. 664 — 307. It is Clarendon Avho informs
us that Laud, when told that the English ambassador at Paris had declined going
to the protestant church at Charenton, as had been the custom of his predecessors,
remarked openly upon it — " he is the wiser." It came indeed to be well under
stood, that " the church of England," meaning by that expression the men who
now ruled it, did not "look on the Hugonots as part of their communion." Ibid.
Laud afterwards became a little more modest on this subject, but it was as the
Scotch troubles approached. Baillie's Letters, i. 191 — 194.

278 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [OH. IV.
and impiety : — and accordingly he never appears to have doubted either
the justice or expediency of employing any amount of illegal force that
might be necessary to secure obedience to those powers. Such, indeed,
was his fanaticism on these points, that while inflicting the most bar
barous penalties on the refractory, his diary presents him to us as
supplicating the divine clemency upon the sufferers, and an increase of
patience for himself. It may be admitted, that.b.e was in some sort
generally conscientious ; but his love of power was his ruling passion, and
his conscience was of that description, which a little ingenuity and spe
cial pleading could satisfy whenever the object to be pursued was one
commending itself to his governing feeling *. His moral character,
including in that his sense of truth and justice, is not to be saved, except
at the cost of his understanding ; and are we to be always censuring a
great people for refusing to become passive in the hands of a man who
was so manifestly incompetent to the government of himself?
It was a favourite project with the archbishop to have the communion
Disputes re- ta°le removed from the centre to the east end of the church,
specting the and to have it distinguished moreover by the name of the
place of the ai(;ar_ Many books were written in support of this change,
communion J # rr ° '
table. and others against it, and there were few parishes in the
1633. kingdom where it did not occasion litigation or dispute.
Many of the clergy and churchwardens described the requisition as
contrary to law and reason ; but Charles determined the question in
person in favour of the primate, and the disobedient found themselves
exposed to the displeasure of the spiritual courts, which left them
without appeal. To accomplish this change in some churches, it became
necessary to take down the galleries, in others to remove ancient monu
ments ; cases of the former description involved expenses which the
parishioners were not always well able to bear, and the removal of
monuments gave offence to many considerable families, and was much
censured as an injury to the dead. The table was now placed two or three
steps above the floor of the church, and enclosed with rails. Many per
sons refused to come up to the rails in receiving the sacrament, and of
these several hundred were fined or excommunicated. The whole of
this proceeding was an evident violation of the eighty-second canon,
* We find him, while bishop of St. David's, a petitioner to Buckingham for a place
in the commission court. "The commission," he observes, "is a place of great
experience for any man that is a governor in the church : and I would be loath to be
excluded from that which might give me experience, and so enable me to perform my
duly. I humbly desire, even against my own ease and quiet, that I may not be
deprived of that experience Avhich is necessary for my place." Cabala, 115.
When obliged to attempt a justification of his conduct as a churchman, in being a
party to the sentence pronounced on Leighton, he said, " to take awuy the ear is not
loss of hearing, and so no member lost : so for burning the face, or whipping, no loss of
life or member : " — and thus he persuaded himself that he had not violated the
canon which provided that no clergyman should have to do with a sentence af
fecting life or member.

A.D. 1630.] CHARLES!. 279
passed in the convocation of 1603 ; — a regulation on this subject which
neither the primate nor the sovereign had authority to revoke or alter *.
With these innovations, Laud introduced the custom of bowing to the
altar, not only in the time of service, but on entering or leaving the
church ; and all his majesty's chaplains, and even the common people,
were enjoined to conform themselves to this practice. The same neces
sity was laid upon the dean and prebendaries of Canterbury, by a new re
gulation framed by the primate, and confirmed under the great seal. The
people could not look with indifference on this novelty, as they Avere at
a loss to discover its meaning, except as indicating some kind of belief
in the real presence, — the practice being unquestionably borrowed from
those Avho held that doctrine.
The ceremonies used by the archbishop at the consecration of St.
Catharine's church afford a striking proof of the excess to Ceremonies
which he carried his taste in such matters. About nine used in the
o'clock on Sunday morning the bishop came to the church, gt Catharine's
followed by a body of civilians, and some members of the Church.
high commission court. As he approached the western
door, which was shut, and guarded by men with halberts, a signal was
given, and a number of voices cried aloud, " Open, open, ye everlasting
doors, that the King of Glory may come in ! " The doors then flew open,
and the bishop, with those in his train, entered. Looking round upon
the place, lifting his eyes to heaven, and spreading his arms abroad, he
fell upon his knees, and said, "This place is holy ; the ground is holy ;
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I pronounce it holy."
Passing along the middle aisle toward the chancel, he took up some of
the dust and threw it several times into the air, and approaching near
the communion table, made five or six obeisances before it. He then
led the procession round the church, repeating first the hundredth, and
then the nineteenth psalms, as prescribed by the Roman pontifical.
Several collects were next read, in one of Avhich the Almighty was im
plored to accept the beautiful building raised for his Avorship, and the
act of consecration was repeated, with prayers that all Avho should be
buried within its walls might rest in their sepulchres in peace until
Christ's coming to judgment. The bishop then took his seat under a
cloth of state in the aisle of the chancel near the communion table, and
from a written book pronounced curses, some twenty in number, upon
all who should hereafter profane that holy place by musters of soldiers,
* Rushworth, ii. 207, 300, 316. Prynne's Cant. Doom. 100, 101. The following
is the language of the canon of 1603, on this subject : — " We appoint that the table
for the celebration of the Holy Communion shall be covered Avith a fair linen cloth
at the time of administration, and shall then be placed in so good sort within the
church or chancel, as thereby the minister may be more conveniently heard of the
communicants in his prayer, and the communicants may more conveniently and in
more numbers communicate."

280 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IV.
carrying burthens through it, or holding within it profane law courts ;
and at the close of each curse the prelate bowed his head, and repeated
the words — " Let all the people say Amen ! " The curses Avere followed
by blessings, pronounced on all persons who had contributed, or who
should in any way contribute, to the use and ornament of the edifice.
The sermon followed, and then the sacrament, the consecration of which
was in the following manner : — The bishop made slow advances from
the pulpit toAvard the side of the altar, bowing to it five or six times in
the way, and then reneAved his prostrations seven times before the
covered bread and wine. After reading several prayers, he went nearer
to the bread, and slowly lifting the corner of the napkin, looked in upon
it, and immediately, as though awe-struck, drew back a pace or two, and
bowed again three times, In the next advance he uncovered the bread,
but not without several acts of obeisance. He next approached the cup,
before which all the acts of the same ceremonial were performed. The
bread and the wine being thus duly consecrated, the bishop first received
of them ; he then gave to those about him, and after some further
prayers, the consecration was pronounced to be complete. It was for the
sake of such follies that Laud was willing to embitter his own life, and
to spread discord and unhappiness through more than one kingdom *.
It is not surprising that a mind so fond of pageantry in religious wor-
The case of ship should have shoAvn itself favourable to the use of
Sherfield. images and pictures. The case of Sherfield, recorder of
Sarum, manifested the ardour of the primate's devotion to those favourite
instruments of superstition. In the windows of St. Edmund's church at
Salisbury were seven pictures of the Almighty in the form of a little old man
in a coat of red and blue. In one, this personage appeared adjusting the
heavenly bodies by the aid of a pair of compasses ; in others, as variously
employed on the works of creation ; and in the last as resting from his
labours in an elbow chair. Many persons on entering and leaving the
church were accustomed to bow to these representations with a religious
reverence. Sherfield procured a vestry meeting, including six magi
strates, and obtained permission to remove the pictures. The recorder,
however, was summoned to ansAver for his conduct in the star-chamber.
He defended himself on the ground that St. Edmund's church was a lay
fee, and [as such not subject in this matter to the jurisdiction of the
bishop of the diocese; that the obnoxious painting contained a false
account of the creation, the work of the fifth day being put in the place
of the fourth, and the sixth in the place of the fifth. He further main
tained, that to make an image or picture of the Almighty was an act
condemned by the wisest of the fathers and reformers, by the doctrines
and homilies of the church of England, by several canons and injunc-
* Rushworth, ii. 76—79.

A. D. 1632.] CHARLES I. 281
tions under Elizabeth, and by a multitude of ancient councils. He
professed, moreover, a sincere attachment to the church of England, and
denied having at any time encouraged opposition to episcopal authority,
the present act being that of a vestry meeting, an authority by which
much greater changes had been made in St. Edmund's church, Avithout
any questioning from its diocesan. Satisfactory as this defence should
have been, his conduct was adjudged to be an insult Avickedly cast on
the episcopal order, and an evil precedent Avhich should by no means go
unpunished. He was, in consequence, deprived of his recordership, and
sent to the Fleet until he should pay a fine of 500/., and find security
for his conduct in future *.
Sherfield, as a common lawyer, Avas one of a class of men on whom
Laud had looked for some time as forming a principal bar- „ .,.
¦ • , , ,. -, • , • • m, •¦¦ , , ! Hostility of
ner m the path of his ambition. Ihe civil law Avas much the ruling
more favourable to his views of government generally, and clergy to the
particularly to his views as a churchman, than the laws of
his country: It was for this reason that he prevailed with Charles to
appoint that half the masters in chancery should be civilians. This
proceeding excited much jealousy and complaint. But the primate did
not rest here. In 1637, the business of the ecclesiastical courts began
to be conducted in the name of the bishops, in the place of that of the
king, and without the usual patent under the great seal ; and though
much was said and Avritten in censure of this innovation, Charles de
scended to justify what had been done. At the trial of Bastwick, not
only Laud, but several other prelates who Avere present, declared in plain
terms, that their jurisdiction as bishops was not from the king; — an
assumption, says a lawyer of the time, that would hardly have passed
Avithout censure in the days of Henry the Second, or Edward the Third,
and which in the time of Henry the Eighth would have been confuted by
some of those " kingly arguments," which that prince so well knew how
to use f-
While the archbishop, by thus treading in the steps of his great pre
decessor Thomas a Becket, was making himself enemies Controversv
among a body of men not easily crushed, various of his respecting the
measures were of a nature to extend this feeling to the mass observance of
of the people. This was especially the case with respect to
his interference about the observance of the sabbath, and on the subject
of preaching. The authority of the " Book of Sports," published by the
late king, had by this time fallen very low, the name by which it was
generally known being that of the "Dancing Book; " and two of the
* Rushworth, ii, 153—158. State Trials, iii. 519—562. Hume says that Sher
field broke the Avindow " contrary to the bishop of Salisbury's express injunctions ;"
a statement which the authority he cites will be found to contradict.
t Whitelocke's Memorials, i. 22. Heylin's Life of Laud, 407. Rushworth, ii,
450, 451.

282 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IV.
judges on the western circuit deemed it proper to comply with the
request of several magistrates to suppress certain revels and church ales,
which had led to great disorders, particularly on the Lord's Day. Laud
had two reasons for being offended with this proceeding : — it would please
the puritans ; and it was an exercise of authority on the part of the
judges which he was desirous of seeing appropriated exclusively to his
own order. The judges appealed to several precedents in support of
what they had done, one even so late as the year 1627. It was com
manded, however, that at their next appearance on the circuit, they
should revoke their mandate as publicly and formally as it had been
issued; and it was further required, that every bishop should see that
the book about Sabbath sports, provided by the pious care of king
James, was duly published from the pulpits of all the churches subject
to their jurisdiction. The controversy respecting the obligation of the
Lord's day was thus added to the many already agitating the public
mind ; and the act of calling upon conscientious men to recommend an
indulgence in sports on that day, which they regarded as a desecration
of it, occasioned, as must have been foreseen, the expulsion of great
numbers from their livings *.
An intelligent writer of those times has remarked, that "this attempt
to put down puritanism by setting up irreligion, instead of producing
the intended effect, may credibly be thought to have been one motive to
a stricter observance of that day. Many men, who had before been loose
and careless, began upon that occasion to enter into a more serious con
sideration of it, and were ashamed to be invited by the authority of
churchmen, to that which themselves, at the best, could but have par
doned in themselves, as a matter of infirmity -f." No measure did more
than this to damage both the king and the government, and particularly
the court clergy, in the public esteem.
Before the expulsion of the Sabbatarian clergy — for such was the
Restraints name given to those ministers who contended for the more
laid upon strict observance of the Lord's day — great precaution had
Preaching, ^tn exercised to render their zeal with respect to their
peculiar doctrine on that subject, and on all others, as little effective as
possible. All discussion on the tenets of Calvinism was prohibited, — or
rather a full licence was given to preachers and writers disposed to assail
those tenets in the language of misrepresentation and abuse, while no
thing was to be uttered from any quarter in their defence. What Ar-
* Rushworth, ii. 191—196, 459, 460—462. Cant. Doom. 150, et alibi.
f May's History of the. Parliament of England, which began in 1640: ed. 1812.
Warburton describes this Avork as one of " extraordinary temper, good sense, and
spirit." The great earl of Chatham speaks of it as the book that should be read
with Clarendon, and as being both more honest and more instructive than the
" History of the Rebellion.

A.D. 1634.] CHARLES I. 283
minian suffered during this period for his abuse of Calvinism, and who
could hope to defend it with impunity after the treatment of Dr. Pri-
deaux and bishop Davenant ?
But it was not deemed sufficient thus far to control the office of
preaching. Methods were adopted to abridge the exercise itself, as being
too commonly employed by designing men to promote those " factious
humours" among the people which were the great disease of the age.
It was therefore required, that in every parish church the morning-
should suffice for preaching, catechising by simple question and an
swer being substituted in place of the sermon in the afternoon. It Avas
also provided that a report should be annually made of the comparative
attendance at the sermon and the catechising.
Beside the clergy who officiated in their respective cures, a class of
preachers arose knoAvn by the name of lecturers ; persons who, by de
clining cures, contrived to avoid conformity with many things in the
established worship and discipline to which they felt conscientious
scruples, contenting themselves with permission to preach in the pulpits
of some of their bretheren. Certain ministers and wealthy laymen
formed themselves into a kind of society, for the purpose of placing
persons of this description in the principal towns. Several lay im
propriations were purchased, and about 6000/. had been raised for this
object, when Laud interposed, charging the parties with hostile inten
tions towards the church, and Avith preferring nonconformist ministers.
It does not appear that the conduct of these persons was illegal, but
the impropriations which they had purchased were declared to be a for
feiture to the king ; and their zeal would have exposed them to a heavy
fine, had it not been proved that they were already considerable losers
by their project. As a means of lessening the number of these lecturers,
it was noAV required that, before preaching, they should read the ser
vice in a surplice and hood ; that they should preach in gowns, and not
in cloaks, as was frequently done ; that no lecturer should be admitted
if objecting to occupy a living with cure of souls ; and that every bishop
should make arrangements to have the sermons of lecturers attentively
marked. It was also a practice in those times for each bishop to draw up a series
of questions, which were so framed, and to be so administered, that the
slightest irregularity within his diocese might be speedily brought under
his notice. Wren, bishop of Norwich, a prelate whose tastes and zeal
in religious matters made him very acceptable to Laud, issued his ques
tions, and directed his especial vigilance against the puritan lecturers.
He describes these persons as consisting of three classes — the first of
such as were inducted into the cures of other men ; the second of such
as were called combination lecturers, being persons associated to preach
in succession in certain toAvns on market-days ; and the third of
preachers who removed their lecture from one parish church to another at

284 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IV.
a considerable distance, according to an understanding between them and
their followers. The regulations of the prelates were framed to secure
a strict return of the names of all these lecturers, and a minute report
with respect to their conformity, and the matter of their public dis
courses. Nor were these efforts without apparent success. It was
the boast of the bishop of Bath and Wells that the evil of lecturing,
and of afternoon preaching, was unknown in his diocese : and so many,
and so shrewdly devised, were the questions concerning the observance
of the established ritual, which were to be answered from time to time
in behalf of each church, that nonconformity in the slightest degree
seemed to be certain of detection. Among the hundred and thirty-
nine questions published by Wren were the following : — " Does your
minister read the canons every year ? Does he use conceived prayers
before or after sermon ? Do strangers from other parishes often come
to your church ? Hath your minister read the Book of Sports in the
church ? Are the graves dug east and west ? Do your parishioners on
going in and out of the church do reverence toward the chancel?" And
many able ministers were silenced, suspended, or othenvise censured,
on account of not being able to return satisfactory answers to questions
of this nature *.
It is manifest from these facts that the preaching of the puritans was
eminently popular, and that their opponents were quite
fears with re- aware °f tne advantage it would have; given them had it
gard to an- been left without restraint. And it is hardly less evident
other Catholic t^at t]le prevalent fear of the possible return of a Roman
ascendancy. r ...
catholic ascendancy in this country was by no means so
unreasonable as many persons in later times have seemed to suppose.
It was unquestionable, that since the elevation of Laud, conversions to
the catholic faith had frequently taken place. It is true they were
almost confined to persons of rank, and occurred most commonly among
females. But they were sufficiently numerous to form a ground of pre
caution in an age when religious parties were so strictly marshalled, and
so nearly balanced against each other, and when the conductors of the
state possessed so little claim on public confidence in any respect, and
least of all with regard to this subject. Laud may not have meant to
attempt a union between the churches of England and Rome ; but
when he determined to conform the one to the other in so many of the
particulars which produce the greatest impression on the multitude,
the charge of meaning to assimilate them entirely ought not to have
excited either displeasure or surprise. Nor was it merely the forms
of worship that were seen to be deriving more and more of their com
plexion from Rome. Many of the most obnoxious of the catholic doc-
• Rushworth, ii. 110, 140, 150—152, 186, 187. Cant. Doom. 97, 376, 379, 385.
Fuller, xi, 136, Neal, ii. 178—249, passim.

A.D. 1629— 1640.] CHARLES I. 285
trines were variously broached, either by the archbishop himself or by the
clergy of his school. Their Arminianism Avas not the only matter that
served to widen the distance betAveen them and the more consistent pro
testants of this kingdom. Much was done that favoured a return to
auricular confession, to the practice of penance, the celibacy of the clergy,
the ceremonial of the mass, and the worship of visible objects, — as the ele
ments of the eucharist, and altars and paintings. Laud openly avoAved
his preference of an unmarried clergy. We have witnessed his fond
ness for the pageantries of worship; and if his language on the eucha
rist has any meaning, it is hardly to be distinguished from that of the
catholic. Andrews, Montague and Cosins are among the divines who con
tributed most to accelerate this course of things. The change indeed
had been gradually working from about the middle of the reign of
Elizabeth. The reformers generally had shown their wisdom in allow
ing but small authority to the Christian fathers. But the Christianity
commended by those treacherous guides possessed elements of super
stition and of secular power which could not fail to make it agree
able to a race of men who filled the place of the reformers without
having imbibed the exalted temper which distinguished them. It ac
cordingly became more and more fashionable to do homage to the opinions
of the fathers, until, in many instances, the maxims of fallible men be
longing to ages commencing with that of Constantine Avere allowed to
supersede those of the Christian apostles. It in consequence became
the fashion with courtier clergymen to depreciate the Reformation, and
to indulge in ungenerous reflections on the master-spirits who had
wrought it. So much was this the case, that the man who spoke of it
in honest gratitude, or who betrayed any friendly feeling toAvard the
reformed churches of the continent, was sure to be regarded by Laud
and his partizans as a puritan, and as an enemy to episcopacy and
monarchy. But so strong did this current become, that the primate
himself became alarmed at it, and much concerned to check a tendency
of affairs which he had been the great agent in producing *.
¦ It is well known also, that several of the privy council, and not a feAV
of the nobility through the kingdom, were either secretly or openly of
the catholic faith ; and that the professors of that faith through the
whole of this period were allowed to compound on moderate terms for
their conduct as recusants. They were often thrown into prison, and
often convicted, but with this shovv of severity, there was little of the
reality ; the suppression of the proscribed faith being much less an
object of the government, than to preserve the appearance of a close
attention to the conduct of its disciples, partly because such proceedings
were necessary to keep the complaints of the puritans within tolerable
* Rushworth, ii. 324, 380, 410. Among these protestant revilers of the Refor
mation, an early and conspicuous place must be assigned to Bancroft.

286 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IV»
bounds, and partly for the purpose of obtaining a moderate but regular
amount of contribution to the revenue from this source *.
It has been remarked before, that Charles's disposition to lighten the
burdens which pressed on the English catholic resulted from no prin
ciple of toleration. New tests and new severities were at the same time
directed against the puritans, who were obliged to regard themselves as
a sect daily more and more disgraced and wronged, while their adversa
ries, the catholics, became more bold in their language, and looked to
the future with new confidence. No doubt the hopes of the one party,
and the fears of the other, with regard to another catholic ascendancy,
were extravagant. They attributed to a great part of the nation, what
pertained only to a small portion of it, the views of this small minority
having acquired an undue prominence from their connexion with the
affairs of the continent, and their being entertained in some influential
quarters at home. But the men who spoke of fear, did so sincerely, and,
judging from many appearances, not without reason. They had seen
the very men whom they regarded with this feeling of apprehension,
powerful enough to put down the ancient constitution of the realm, and
that for a series of years, and, what is more, powerful enough to prevent
the utterance of a wish for its restoration ! Might not the confederacy
which had thus trampled ou all the venerable securities of freedom
demolish the less ancient and less formidable ramparts of the protestant
faith ? What, in fact, was the manifest judgment of some of the most
far-sighted men in England on this point ? Let the answer be given by
Say, and Brook, and Haselrig, and Hampden, and Pym, and Cromwell,
when repairing to the vessel which waited to convey them to the new
world. By the English catholics these favourable appearances were all duly
set forth at Rome, and Panzani, an Italian emissary, was
Project of an sent tQ tmg corrntry to obtain more certain information,
tion with the and to watch the course of affairs. The professed object
church of Qe fa\s secret; enterprise was to effect such an accommo
dation with regard to the long disputed oath of allegiance,
as might place the English catholic in a less suspicious light as a sub
ject. The queen, and the catholic members of the cabinet, received this
dangerous visiter with the utmost cordiality. Charles saAv him privately.
It was hardly possible that such a mission should be concealed from the
knowledge of the court, or, in consequence, from the country ; and the
very indefiniteness of its object could only aggravate its impolicy, at such
a moment, by supplying a wider field for conjecture. A project, em
bracing nothing less than a union of the two churches, Avas seriously
broached. This scheme appears to have originated Avith Windebauke
and Cottington, members of the council, and to have been greatly mag-
¦* In 1634, this department of the revenue fell much below its former level, and
the attention of government was directed from it to the new project of ship-money.
Rushworth, ii, 427.

A. D. 1629—1640.] CHARLES I. 287
nified and promoted by the officious zeal of bishop Montague. This
prelate assured Panzani, that the tAvo archbishops Avere prepared to
acknoAvledge the spiritual supremacy of the pontiff, and that there were
not more than three of their suffragans who would not be found willing
to follow their example. In his OAvn case, the doctrine of transubstan-
tiation was the only serious difficulty, but a conference of moderate men
would no doubt bring about a satisfactory accommodation on that point.
The court of Rome must have seen that to have broken the strength of
protestantism in England would have been to humble it throughout
Europe, leaving it hardly an asylum beyond the United Provinces : — and
those provinces, be it remembered, the seat of a similar vacillation, in
consequence of the mistaken policy of Grotius, and dependent for their
very existence on the rivalry of their catholic neighbours.
It must have been presumed by those who busied themselves in for
warding this scheme that the king would not be found opposed to it.
But the name of the monarch, to his honour, is not directly involved in
it. The pontiff addressed him in the language of paternal affection.
Cardinal Barbarini consulted his taste in presents, particularly pictures,
which Avere accepted with due courtesy. Officers who had been em
ployed in detecting recusants were discharged ; an agent was appointed
to reside at Rome, as in behalf of the queen ; and those who could not
hope for a union of the churches, expected some important changes in
the relation between them.
But as these negotiations proceeded, it became evident that the
promises of Montague with regard to the pliancy of his brethren were
much larger than he could realise, and even the most zealous advocates
of his plans, not excepting himself, retained opinions Avhich it did not
comport with the dignity of an infallible church to tolerate. This notion
of infallibility, though properly extending only to the doctrine which the
church of Rome has sanctioned, has generally operated, and not unnatu
rally, with regard to matters of discipline and worship, and, in modern
times, has rendered her incapable of accommodating herself to the
changing circumstances of the world which she aspires to govern. She
has managed her affairs, in most respects, with consummate address ;
but to bend to the storm has not been her manner, and many of her
goodliest branches have been snapped asunder in consequence; — that
inflexibility of purpose, which, on the whole, proved so favourable to her
policy during the middle age, being much less adapted to the more
general culture and less submissive temper of these later times. Thus
when Panzani was succeeded by another envoy, presumed to be more
equal to the management of the difficult negotiations in progress, the
instructions cf the papal court were, that the difference between the
puritans and the orthodox, so important in England, should not seem to
be understood at Rome, but that both should be viewed as aliens from
the true church, and without the pale of salvation. This haughtiness

288 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IV.
of demeanour, without the aid of other circumstances, would probably
have been enough to destroy the hopes of the most sanguine Romanist.
Neither protestantism nor liberty had much to expect from the
The Univer- universities during this period. Those bodies were not so
sities. much distinguished by their learning as by their pedantry,
their intolerance, and the zeal with which they enlisted themselves in the
cause of arbitrary power. It is said indeed that Catholicism never
received so signal a discomfiture in England as in consequence of the
learning directed against it at this time, particularly in the writings of
Laud and Chillingworth. But it is certain that conversions to the
catholic faith had never been so notorious as during this interval ; nor
since the death of the Scottish queen had the hope of its re-establish
ment been so confidently entertained. Chillingworth's book, admirable
as it is in many respects, could never have been much read ; and the
style in which the controversy was managed by Laud and his disciples,
by conceding so much to the enemy, was more adapted to confirm than
to convert him.
It is usually said by the class of persons who are disposed to look on
_ , the conduct of the government at this time with the most
of the country favourable eye, that admitting the imposts, the monopolies,
from 1629 to and other expedients adopted, to have been in many cases
illegal and even oppressive, the measures resorted to were
prosecuted on the whole with so much moderation and regularity that
the commerce and wealth of the kingdom continued to increase. Ac
cording to Montesquieu, it is the practice of despotism to cut down the
tree for the sake of the fruit, and it is obvious that Charles had not yet
arrived at that point. But was he not in the way to it? Did he
manifest a wise regard for our commerce when endeavouring to coerce
the conscience of wealthy foreigners who had settled among us for pur
poses of trade ; or when by the same means he forced so many thou
sands of the most industrious of his subjects into exile, taking with
them nearly half a million of money? His general policy, which
virtually denied to the merchant a right over his property, was in its
natural tendency the most injurious to commerce that he could possibly
have sanctioned, and nothing but time was wanting to bring forth its
evil fruit.
May, the historian, has given an instructive account of the feelings
and speeches of different parties in the kingdom, relative to this long
suspension of parliaments, and the state of things attending it. " The
serious and just men of England, Avho were no way interested in the
emolument of these oppressions, could not but entertain sad presages of
what mischief must needs follow so great an injustice ; that things car
ried so far on in a Avrong way, must needs either enslave themselves and
their property for ever, or require a vindication so sharp and smarting,
as that the nation would groan under it. Another sort of men, and

A.D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 289
especially lords and gentlemen, by whom the pressures of the govern
ment were not much felt, who enjoyed their own plentiful fortunes,
with little or insensible detriment, looking no farther than their present
safety and property, and the yet undisturbed peace of the nation, whilst
other kingdoms were embroiled in calamities, and Germany sadly wasted
by a sharp war, did nothing but applaud the happiness of England, and
called them ungrateful and factious spirits who complained of the
breach of laws and liberties. The kingdom, they said, abounded with
Avealth, plenty, and all kind of elegancies, more than ever. That it
was for the honour of a people that the monarch should live splendidly,
and not be curbed at all in his prerogative, which would bring him into
the greater esteem with other princes, and more enable him to prevail in
treaties. That what they suffered by monopolies was insensible, and
not grievous, if compared with other states. That the duke of Tuscany
sat heavier upon his people in that very kind. That the French king
had made himself an absolute lord, and quite depressed the power of par
liaments, which had been there as great as in any kingdom, and yet
that France flourished, and the gentry lived well. That the Austrian
princes, especially in Spain, laid heavy burdens on their subjects. The
courtiers would begin to dispute against parliaments in their ordinary
discourse, and hoped the king should never need any more parliaments.
Some of the gravest statesmen and privy councillors would ordinarily
laugh at the ancient language of England, when the word — liberty of
the subject, was named."
Such speeches, if not reported to us by those who heard them, we
might conjecture were not unfrequently made. England, in common
with all other countries, has never been without such apologists for
oppression ; men who, so long as their own narrow sphere of indulgence
is not materially disturbed, are found destitute of the capacity or the
inclination to look beyond their little interests to those of the community,
or from the affairs of the day to their probable effects on the future ;
and who are perhaps further conscious that much more is to be ex
pected by themselves, or by those dependent upon them, from the favour
of the court than from that of the people. Charles, by so far limiting
the exercise of the power which he had assumed, and by proceeding
toward his object, according to the politic advice of Wentworth, by little
and little, secured to himself the benefit of all those speeches, and some
thing more, from this party; and it was only by exposing themselves to
every calumny which these speech-makers could devise, and to all the
combination of which their luxurious selfishness was capable, that the
men sent up to the parliament of 1641, succeeded in putting an end to
the labours of those state-artists who had been employed in modelling
the English government after the pattern supplied to them by France,
and Tuscany, and Spain. That the people were so long quiet with such
a prospect before them, is to be ascribed, not to the mildness, so much as
u

290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH, V.
to the severity of the government. It possessed the courts of star-
chamber and high commission, and its policy there was to intimidate
the herd, by striking the leaders without mercy.
The eulogy on the conduct of Charles during this period, pronounced
by Clarendon aud Hume, to which our observations principally relate,
is partial and disingenuous in every particular, and it is difficult to sup
pose that it could have appeared to its authors in any other light *. Com
merce increased ; there was an apparent tranquillity ; and to the many
there was no want either of employment or provisions : but are these the
only things necessary to the rational prosperity, the permanent greatness
of a people ? Charles, it has been said, like another Pericles, could boast
that " no Englishman had worn a mourning gown through his occa
sion ;" and the Avriter of this remark is one Avho had been employed in
preparing an answer for the king to a memorable remonstrance of the
commons, in which the death of Eliot, " by the harshness of his im
prisonment, which could admit of no relaxation, though, for his health's
sake, he petitioned for it often, and his physician gave in testimony to
the same purpose," appeared as one matter of accusation !f Charles, we
repeat, may not have meant to become a Nero; but to justify those who
opposed to his policy it is enough to know that, whatever his intentions
may have been, he did every thing which in his circumstances was
possible toward subjecting the country at no very distant day to 'the
mercy of such rulers.

Chapter V.
Change of religious feeling in Scotland — Revocation of Tithes and Benefices —
The King's visit to Scotland — A Parliament — Arbitrary and unjust conduct of
the Monarch — Discontent excited among the Nobility, Clergy, and others — Case of
Lord Balmerino — Ambitions and impolitic proceedings of the Scottish Bishops —
Book of Canons — Liturgy — Disturbances in Edinburgh on the reading of the
Liturgy — Protest against the King's Proclamation — Institution of the Tables —
The Covenant — Concessions at length made by the King — Avithout success — and
from what causes — Preparations for War — Pacification of Berwick — Proceedings
in the General Assembly in Scotland — Meeting and Prorogation of the Scottish
Parliament — A Parliament called in England — its proceedings — it is dissolved —
The King returns to arbitrary measures — Dispersion of the English by the
Covenanters at NeAvburn — Council of Peers.
We have mentioned the attempts made by the late king to subject the
church of Scotland to the control of a modified episcopacy.
Change of re- ,. , , \ j
ligious feeling Charles entered fully into this policy, and looked upon
in Scotland. t]je unfinished plans of his predecessor as a kind of be
quest, which it became him to render perfect. The pro
gress made toward this object in the last reign had been in the face of
* Clarendon, Hist. i. 131 — 137. Hume, Hist, ubi supra.
f Clarendon's Life, i. 85.

A. D. 1626.] CHARLES I. 291
considerable opposition and complaint, and not without difficulty and
danger. Still it was a fact that episcopacy had been introduced, and that
it had supplanted, in many respects, the original constitution of the kirk :
nor was it to be denied that Scotland continued to exhibit the appear
ance of tranquillity. But while James occupied himself with these
changes in favour of episcopacy, the religious feeling of his country be
came more than ever identified with the forms of presbyterianism , the
strength of the real sentiments of the people being precisely in an inverse
proportion to the degree of ecclesiastical submission exacted from them.
There was a time when they were accustomed to regard all protestants,
notwithstanding a great diversity in matters of ecclesiastical usage, in
the light of brethren ; but that time had now almost passed away, and as
its wiser temper had given place to a zeal which knew not how to admit
anything to be protestantism Avhich was not presbyterianism, the churches
of the two kingdoms became the haughty and bitter opponents of each
other. This error with regard to the relative importance of the old
kirk polity, had been connected from an earlier period in this country
with episcopacy, and the arbitrary measures of the English govern
ment, partly in consequence of that delusion, forced it, by a very
common process, upon the favourable attention of our northern neigh
bours. For when the Anglican church spoke of her bishops as such
by divine right, and as essential to the existence of a Christian church,
it was not unnatural that the Scottish church should begin to broach
similar pretensions on the side of her presbyters. Nor was the dis
tance great, in those times, between opposing pretension of this kind
to pretension, and force to [force : and when a persecuted church has
become ascendant, it has almost invariably become a persecutor in
its turn, its former oppressors being regarded as tyrants rather than as
Christians. Lord Bacon saw the mischief likely to result from the con
troversy between the puritans and the prelates in England when they
began to set up these exclusive notions ; but the evil which his sagacious
foresight deplored among his countrymen, was to be manifested ere
long on a much broader scale in Scotland. Thus the pride which
taught our court-clergy to assume this sort of authority, dictated the
intrigue and violence resorted to in support of it, and by provoking a
reaction of the sarne temper, and an appeal to the same means of ac
complishing its objects, prepared the way for the humiliation that was
to folloAv. The effect of these extravagances is still seen in the relative
position of the two churches.
Charles was so much engaged with his continental wars, and in dis
putes with his parliaments, during some years after his
accession, as to be incapable of bestowing much attention 0f Tithes and
on the affairs of Scotland. So early, however, as the first Benefices.
year of his reign, a vigorous effort was made toward re
claiming the impropriated tithes and benefices, which, as the property
0 2

292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
of the catholic priesthood, had passed, at the time of the Scottish refor
mation, into the hands of the king. This source of income had not only
been regularly annexed to the crown, but was declared to be inalienable,
so that any portion of it granted to a private person, even with the
sanction of parliament, might be reclaimed, in the most summary man
ner, by the sovereign of a future day. But these ecclesiastical spoils had
passed from time to time into the hands of so many among the nobility
and the leading persons of the country, and in many cases had been so
long retained, that the rumour of a general resumption of them, though
upon some principle of commutation, could not have circulated without
spreading alarm ; nor was it probable that such a project should be
brought to a conclusion without difficulty and opposition. It had been
provided since the year 1617, that the party receiving the tithe should
pay a certain stipend to the incumbent ; but it was alleged that these
payments were generally less regular, and less in amount, than justice
required ; much to the loss both of independence and comfort on the
part of the clergy. This was the most plausible argument in favour of
the proposed new adjustment. It was well known, however, or, at least,
very strongly suspected, that the great object of the measure was to
aggrandize the dignified clergy. The receivers of the tithes were, on
various accounts, almost unanimous in refusing to make the surrender
demanded of them, and were prepared to resist the claim by the most
violent means. But the clergy and the landholders had equal cause of
complaint against these titulars, as they were called, who were com
monly reproached with being rigorous in the exaction of tithes from the
one of these parties, and reluctant to grant a due apportionment of them
to the other ; and this union of the clergy and landholders in favour of
some new arrangement, obliged the nobility and gentry to submit the
1628. matter to the arbitration of the crown. By the royal corn-
February, missioners appointed for this purpose it was determined
that the possessors of church lands should retain them till redeemed by
the crown, and that in the mean time the feudal superiority of them
should be resigned to the king. The landholders acquired the right to
purchase the tithes of their own estates, except when belonging to the
clergy, and some other means of protection against the injustice of im
propriators. The crown was to receive six per cent, out of all tithes,
and measures were adopted to" determine more accurately the value of
tithes, and to augment the income of the clergy *.
But the advantage which resulted from this proceeding to the land
holders, the clergy, and the crown, was less considerable than the resent
ment which it provoked from the nobility and gentry in almost every part
* Burnet's History of his Own Times, i. 8—24, and Memoirs of the Dukes of
Hamilton. King's Large Declaration concerning the late Tumults in Scotland.
Heylin's Life of Laud, 238. Laing's History of Scotland, i. 89—97- Collier's
Eccles. Hist. ii. 756.

A. D. 1633.] CHARLES I. 293
of the kingdom. It was not so much, however, what had been recently
done, that raised and perpetuated this feeling with that class of persons,
as the apprehension of what Avould probably follow in its train. They
Avere not without fear that this precedent might be succeeded by a more
costly revocation of such property, and they regarded the whole arrange
ment as devised, in the first place to restrict, and ultimately to destroy,
the influence which they had long exercised over the two most powerful
classes of the community — the possessors of land and the ministers of
religion. Little, indeed, had been done by this measure toward aug
menting the income of the episcopal clergy, but the church lands were
looked upon as a reserve by which in due time that object would be
accomplished. Such, in short, Avas the effect of this proceeding on the
mind of those who deemed themselves injured by it, that Avhen Charles
provoked the open revolt of the people by his innovations in religion, he
found that the nobility and gentry had also their causes of jealousy and
disaffection, and that the opposition to his plans was in fact from the
Avhole nation *. It should also be stated, that this feeling among the
leading men of Scotland was much strengthened by attempts at this
time made to set up a neAV court, after the model of our court of star-
chamber, under the name of a commission to try grievances ; and by
certain new arrangements in the privy council, in the courts of justice,
and among the officers of state, made for the purpose of introducing the
prelates into all those departments.
But much as this powerful class of persons had been displeased by
the king's proceedings in this matter, they vied with the
nobility and gentry of England in their profuse hospitality v;sit t0 s^ot.
to their sovereign when he honoured them some years land. 1633.
later with his presence. The ceremony of the coronation
was performed on that occasion amidst the usual expressions of
loyalty, though the religious prepossessions of the people were much
offended by the introduction of an altar, and various rites to which they
were not accustomed. The zeal of Laud carried him so far that he
rudely forced the archbishop of GlasgoAV from the side of the king, be
cause that prelate had deemed it prudent to decline officiating in the
splendid habits which had been provided for him, and Maxwell, one of
the new bishops, was thrust into his place f.
* Spalding's Troubles in Scotland, 40—42. a.d. 1829.11
f Clarendon's Hist. i. 140— 142. Burnet's Hist. i. 25. Franklyn's Annals of
James and Charles I., ubi supra. " Now it is marked that there Avas a four-nooked
tassil in manner of an altar, standing within the kirk, having standing thereupon
two books, called blind books, with two chandlers and two wax candles, which
were on light, and a basin wherein there was nothing. At the back of the altar
(covered with tapestry) there was a rich tapestry, wherein the crucifix was
curiously wrought, and as the bishops who were in the service passed by this
crucifix, they were seen to boAv their knee, and beck, which, with their habit, was
noted, and bred great fear for the inbringing of popery." Spalding's Troubles in
Scotland, 15, 16.

294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
Soon after the coronation a parliament was convened. The constitu-
A parliament, tion of a Scottish parliament gave no such independence
June 19-27. to that body as existed in the parliaments of England ;
and Charles, intent on the religious changes which he was anxious
to introduce, resolved to exert both his authority and influence through
the medium of the states, for the accomplishment of that object. Some
years after the accession of James to the English throne, an act had
been passed concerning the habits of churchmen, which declared that
whatever should be ordained by his majesty in such matters should
have the force of law. This imprudent concession, it was now con
tended, had been conferred on James as a personal privilege, under
peculiar circumstances, and was never meant to apply to his successor.
When this law was read to the parliament, in the presence of the
... king, it was opposed, on the ground mentioned, and as
and unjust determining an ecclesiastical matter, which ought not to
conduct of the be concluded without the concurrence of the church.
Charles was deeply offended ; he prohibited all further dis
cussion ; called upon all who were present at once to vote on the ques
tion ; and taking a paper in his hand containing a list of their names,
proceeded himself to mark the ayes and noes of the division. The
majority proved to be opposed to his wishes ; but the clerk, in an
nouncing the division, had the hardihood to declare that the act had
passed as presented. This was immediately denied by the earl of
Rothes, the leader of the opposition, and Charies availed himself of this
incident to accomplish by intimidation what he had failed to secure by
more honourable means. He gave his sanction to the falsehood of the
clerk, and, to prevent a scrutiny, he admonished the earl, that as to
corrupt the records of parliament was a capital offence, the man who
should prefer that charge without proving it would subject himself to
capital punishment. The lords, for the present, were silent ; but the
perfidy and tyranny of this transaction filled the majority with increased
resentment and alarm, and from this time the discontented nobles held
frequent meetings for the purpose of deliberating on the best means of
protecting the kingdom against the evils with which it was threatened*.
The discontent of the opposition nobles was much increased by the
studied discountenance which they experienced from the
excited amon? court, and by the suspicious and hostile feeling with which
the Scotch no- they were regarded by the prelates. Nor could they look
bihty, clergy, Up0n their church lands as at all secure, while it was
and others. ,-,,¦,.known that the king was anxious to recover them, and
while he was found capable of persisting in measures so injurious to
* Burnet's Hist. i. 25, 26. In the Large Declaration an attempt is made to free
the king fronTthe odium of this proceeding, but its only effect is to shoAV Avhat was
the general belief on the subject. Collier's Eccles. Hist. ii. 755, 756. Laing, Hist.
i. 101— 103. Cooke's Hist, of the Church of Scotland, ii. 339— 341. Clarendon,
Hist. i. 142, 143.

A. D. 1634.] CHARLES I. 295
the general liberties of the nation. They were also aware that sir
Thomas Hope, one of the ablest lawyers of the period, had been ap
pointed to the office of king's advocate, with a particular view to the
prosecution of this object.
There were causes also at this juncture which disposed the presby-
terian clergy to sympathize with this dissatisfied feeling on the part
of these leading persons among the laity. On the arrival of the
monarch, a petition was drawn up by certain ministers, entitled,
" grievances and petitions, concerning the disordered state of the re
formed church within the realm of Scotland." It complained of the
encroachments of the prelates, and of various things in the conduct of
the government for some years past manifestly intended to increase the
power of that body ; and, as a remedy, prayed that the court of high
commission should be abolished, and that the assemblies of the church
should be regularly convened, with authority to correct the errors and
vices of the times. This paper they presented to the king, who read it,
but returned no answer to the petitioners, and never condescended to
bestow the slightest notice on the subject Thus neglected, the clergy
looked with greater jealousy on the interest manifested by the king in
the cause of episcopacy and of the new ceremonies, and the foreboding
impression thus made on their own mind was soon imparted to the
multitudes of their devoted adherents. Charles himself was not insen
sible that the popularity which seemed to grace his entrance into Scot
land had disappeared before his departure; and he could hardly be
ignorant of the causes which had produced the change, — but to recede
from an arbitrary purpose, except where the strongest necessity inter
posed, was no part of his policy.
The case of lord Balmerino, which engaged public attention in Scot
land the year after the king's return to England, became
a further occasion of discontent with all classes of persons. Lotc! Balme-
That nobleman was proved to have had in his possession a rino.
copy of a " petition and complaint," designed by certain
lords to be presented to the king ; an address characterized by its modera
tion and patriotism, and such as in Scotland had often been brought to
the foot of the throne. This was his offence. The petition had not been
made public, and probably would not have been heard of, until read to
the king, except by the few persons whose signatures would have been
attached to it, had not treachery placed it in the hands of archbishop
Spottiswoode, and had not the fears of that prelate prompted him to for
ward it to the government. It was certain also that Balmerino was
not its author, and the interlineations in the copy adduced, which were
in his hand, were all of a nature to render the language of the document
still more mild and respectful.
But there were laws in Scotland, loosely expressed, and rarely en
forced, though still unrepealed, which made it capital to utter false reports

296 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
tending to excite sedition, or to sow dissensions between the king and
his people, and the same punishment was extended to those who should
conceal and to those who should originate such reports. On the ground
of these statutes Balmerino was committed to prison, and brought to
trial. He pleaded that the petition was not his OAvn ; that its interlineations
were admitted to be unobjectionable; that the paper was a private
document, submitted to a confidential lawyer for his opinion ; that there
was no precedent for the trial of those who had merely failed to
reveal a seditious performance, or to secure its author ; that a law, the
severity of which had so long prevented its execution, should be con
sidered as non-existing ; and that though it might be illegal to conceal a
petition containing matters adjudged seditious, surely no penalty was to
be incurred for the concealment of one containing nothing so adjudged,
and which upon fair examination must be pronounced free from wilful
inaccuracy, and from the least tendency to sedition.
But the court was constituted by a special commission, and the most
corrupt means had been employed to procure a verdict favourable to the
crown. Several of the king's ministers were on the jury, and the earl
of Traquair, one of their number, undertook to bribe or intimidate the
rest of the panel. But with all these arts it was only by Traquair's
casting vote that Balmerino was condemned. So general, and so
strongly tending to the greatest violence was the excitement raised by
this iniquitous proceeding, that it was deemed prudent to suspend the
execution of the sentence, and Balmerino was ultimately pardoned. But
the proceeding taught the nobles, the clergy, and the people, to regard
themselves as placed at the mercy of the prelates and the crown, and
may be said to have destroyed the little reputation that remained to the
king in his native country *.
In the mean time the prelates, particularly the younger portion of
Conduct of t^iemJ seemed to be confident of the continuance of their
the Scottish power. They were fourteen in number, nine of whom pos-
bishops. sessed seats in the privy council. The great seal was given
to the archbishop of Glasgow ; several of his brethren became judges
in the court of exchequer ; and Maxwell, bishop of Ross, was spoken of
as lord treasurer. Nor was it enough in this manner to thrust the most
powerful and intelligent of the laity from those places of secular dis
tinction, which were the proper objects of their honourable ambition.
It was proposed by these persons, in the plenitude of their security, to
revive the mitred abbots, as an intermediate order between themselves
and the parochial clergy ; and, having bestowed on them the tithes in
the hands of lay proprietors, they would have raised them to a place in
* Burnet, Hist. i. 27—32. State Trials, iii. 591—712. Wodrow's Life of Spot-
tiswoode, iii. 136. Guthrie's Memoirs, 9 — 11. See also the Large Declaration,
ubi supra.

A.D. 1637.] CHARLES I. 297
parliament, in the room of those possessors of property belonging to the
church Avho had their place there under the name of the lords of the
erection. Nor was it easy, for some time, to perceive the best, or, in
fact, any possible means, of curbing this ambition, so completely was
the executive power at,the bidding of these aspirants, and so active was
their high commission court, and those branches of it which Charles
had empowered them to set up in every diocese *.
It had been resolved Avhen the king was in Scotland, that a collection
of canons should be published without delay, for the regu- ™ B . ,
lation of the affairs of the church. It was not before 1636 Canons.
that the Scotch prelates completed this performance. It 1636,
Avas then submitted to Laud , and two other English bishops ; after
which, without the least communication with Scotland, the book was
issued under the great seal, and the authorities in that kingdom were
enjoined to see it strictly enforced. Had the canons themselves been
such as to afford no ground of complaint, this manner of imposing
them, setting at nought as it did every authority of the land, civil and
ecclesiastical, would have been enough to insure their rejection. But
the canons were by no means of the description supposed. Many of
the things enjoined by them were frivolous, and, as such, unnecessarily
obtrusive. By others, the whole machinery of ecclesiastical discipline
and power was placed in the hands of the bishops. In some, a strong
leaning was discovered toward certain popish practices, as celibacy, and
priestly confession ; in others a power was claimed for the king in eccle
siastical affairs at once fatal to every vestige of Christian liberty, and
incompatible Avith the civil institutions of any free state f.
But Avhat proved the occasion of still greater dissatisfaction was the
announcement that the power from which these canons
had proceeded would soon send forth a liturgy, which Avas ipw r^r"
to supersede extempore prayer, and to be duly read in
every parish church of the kingdom. Every clergyman refusing so to
do Avas to be deprived, and all persons who should indulge in any cen
sure of the said liturgy were to be pronounced excommunicate. It thus
happened that no minister could profess to receive this book of canons
* Clarendon, i. 154, 155, 184, 185. Burnet, Hist. i. 37. Memoirs of the Hamil-
tons, 28. Whitelocke, 22. Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 778. RushAvorth, ii. 391. Hard
wicke Papers, ii. 114. See an instance of the coarse violence to Avhich some of
these Scotch bishops could descend in the case of the bishop of Galloway, as re
ported by Spalding, p. 41, 42.
f See the matters most objected to by the Scots in this book in Heylin's Life of
Laud, part ii. 34, 35. Even Heylin complains of the manner in which these
canons were imposed, as an unprecedented stretch of the prerogative ; and Claren
don speaks of it with some astonishment, but fixes the blame on the Scotch
bishops, who should have informed the king more honestly of the state of religious
feeling in Scotland — as though tyranny were a matter to be justified by the facility
with which it may be practised. Hist. i. 185, 191. Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii.
762—764.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V,
without pledging himself to the use of an unknown liturgy *. Whether
this was the effect of a childish inadvertence, or of that narrow craft by
which so much of the conduet of Laud was characterized, it justified
the ministers still more decidedly in refusing the oath required of them.
The language of the court also in defence of its conduct, which stated
that the design of the book of canons was merely to present the spirit of
the voluminous acts of assembly in a concise and lucid form, served
only to demonstrate to a whole people the shameless disregard of truth
and siucerity which the men who governed them were capable of mani
festing, and to make it inevitable that they should listen Avith much
suspicion to the language of concession when proceeding at a future day
from the same quarter f.
The ministers of almost every parish uttered their loud complaints
against this undisguised attempt to overthrow the ancient constitution
of their church, and to these complaints their people everywhere re
sponded in the most unequivocal manner. Nor did they neglect to
make known their feelings to that large party in England, who, as the
witnesses of similar exercises of power in this country, fully sympathized
with them. But the liturgy nevertheless proceeded, and being carefully
revised by Laud, and by Wren, bishop of Norwich, Charles, without the
slightest regard to any authority in Scotland, and as the sole act of his
prerogative, issued a proclamation which made it imperative that the
liturgy should be used in every parish church of the kingdom \. Even
among the Scottish bishops, the older men highly disapproved of many
of the ceremonies which the liturgy enjoined; and by the people, as
might be expected, the whole was denounced as popish, superstitious,
and antichristian. During the interval between the proclamation re
lating to the liturgy, and the publication of the book, much was done
by the senior prelates and the lay members of the privy council to defer
the enforcement of a measure which had filled the country with so much
agitation. But the zeal of Laud, assisted by the younger bishops, and
the earl of Traquair, prevailed against all moderate counsels, and it was
determined there should be no abandonment of the project, even in ap
pearance, whatever opposition should be made to it. Even the aged
archbishop Spottiswoode, moved by one of those private reasons which
so often influence the conduct of public men, was at length brought to
concur with this policy, and to be forward in its support §.
On learning that this was the course decided upon, the ministers be
came more active than ever in their attempts to set forth, privately and
publicly, and in a manner adapted to every capacity, the enormities of
the proceeding. The book itself was an English mass, the men who
* Clarendon, Hist. i. 186, 187-
\ Larger Declaration, ubi supra- Heylin's Laud, ii. 33.
X Clarendon, Hist. i. 183, 184. Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 767—770.
§ Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 754, 755. Baillie's Letters and Journals, i. 4, 5.
Laing, i. 118, 119.

A. D. 1637.] CHARLES I. 299
had produced it were but too well known as enemies to the purity of
their church, and to their Christian liberty, while the manner in which
it had been imposed proclaimed them slaves in body and soul.
When the day arrived on which the liturgy Avas to be read for the
first time, the people of Edinburgh went in great numbers
to the church of St. Giles in that city. The service was at Edinburgh
attended by the chancellor, by some of the lords of the on the reading
council, and several of the bishops ; and the greatest quiet- j / 'gg \\Kyr'
ness and decorum prevailed, until the dean, ascending the
desk, opened the new liturgy, and began to read. Immediately, the
multitude seemed deprived of all respect for the place in which they
were assembled, the loudest clamour rose from all parts of the church,
and the voice of the dean was no more to be heard. The bishop of
Edinburgh made his appearance in the pulpit, and called upon the
crowds about him to remember the sacredness of the place, and not to
indulge in conduct which made them offenders against God and their
sovereign. This address fell as oil upon the flame. Stones and mis
siles of every description were thrown at the dean, and a stool hurled
with great violence at the bishop himself admonished him of his danger.
Spottiswoode now required the magistrates to exercise their authority,
and they succeeded, partly by entreaties, and partly by force, iu re
moving some from the church, and restoring order among the rest.
The doors being closed, the dean resumed his functions as reader of
the liturgy ; but the multitude without, particularly the Avomen, began
the most violent knocking at the entrances, broke the Avindows, and " a
pope, a pope; antichrist; pull him down; stone him," were the cries
which rose from a multitude of voices without intermission. In the
midst of this tumult the service was in some sort concluded ; but as the
bishops left the church, the fury of the people seemed to augment, and
they followed, pouring upon them the bitterest reproaches. The bishop
of Edinburgh, who was exceedingly unpopular, fled from his assailants to
the protection of a staircase, and would no doubt have suffered personal
injury, had not the servants of the earl of Wemyss come to his rescue.
Before the afternoon service, measures were taken to prevent a re
currence of such scenes, and the worship was then conducted without any
material interruption. But the service was no sooner closed, than the
tumult in the street broke out afresh ; and on its being discovered that
the bishop of Edinburgh was iu the earl of Roxburg's carriage, the
vehicle was attacked Avith so much violence that, in a few minutes, it
would have been in pieces, and the obnoxious prelate might have
fallen a sacrifice to the popular indignation, had not the armed attendants
of the earl interposed, and rescued him a second time. Nor was
it in St. Giles's church only that such scenes were exhibited. The
feeling proved to be general, and manifested itself in the same manner in

300 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
all the churches of the city, every minister who attempted to read the
liturgy being obliged to desist*.
It is admitted that the persons engaged in these tumults were from
among the lowest of the people, and that the majority were women, or
men so disguised. But it soon appeared that great numbers in the
middle and higher classes of society sympathized fully with the object
contemplated by the populace, though not prepared to join in such
modes of seeking it ; and when the civil power was found slow to en
gage in the work of prosecution, and ministers from the pulpit began to
applaud what had been done as the commencement of a most glorious
work, the prelates became somewhat more aware of their danger, and
began to absent themselves from the capital f.
Charles, and the few persons he consulted on Scottish affairs, con
ferred together as soon as tidings of these things reached them, and their
decision was that the use of the service-book should still be required.
Nor was this decision in any degree affected by an earnest " supplica
tion" from the Scottish clergy, drawn up by Henderson, one of their
leaders, to be presented to the king. Another document, called " a
common supplication," because presented in the name of the nobility,
gentry, and representatives of boroughs, as well as others, was prepared,
imploring, in still stronger terms, consideration and delay ; and similar
addresses were forwarded to the council of Scotland from all parts of the
kingdom. Time passed, and no answer was returned to this second
supplication. In this interval, the disposition to revolt so far in
creased, that the magistrates of Edinburgh, and the privy council, were
obliged to look to the nobles and others who had placed themselves at
the head of the popular cause for protection. But there was nothing
in this mortifying position of affairs, nor in a third petition, more
weighty than either of the former, from its having received the sanction
of a greater number of the most considerable men in Scotland, to change
the purpose of the infatuated monarch.
The conclusion that in all contests the prerogative must at last be
the victor, was one from which Charles was not to be moved : and ac
cordingly, after all pains had been taken to make him fully aware of the
state of things in his native country, the only result was a proclamation,
issued in bis name at Stirling, which assured the people of his unalter
able attachment to the protestant religion, offered pardon to all who
Avere implicated in the late disorders, and promised that attention should
be giA'en to the petitions of his subjects, if presented in respectful lan
guage ; but at the same time prohibited all tumultuous assemblies, and
T* Rushworth, ii. 387—389. Clarendon, i. 193, 194. Baillie's Letters, i. 5.
Guthrie's Mem. 22. Burnet's Hamiltons, 31. Larger Declaration. Collier, Hist.
ii. 777, 778- Spalding's Troubles, 42, 43.
f Clarendon, i. 194—196.

A.D. 1637.] CHARLES 1. 301
attempted to justify the innovations with respect to religion which had
been so much opposed.
This step hastened the crisis between the Scottish presbyterians and
the sovereign. The royal proclamation was followed im- protest
mediately, and on the spot, by a protest, read by the against the
lords Lindsey and Hume, in which they asserted the an- kins's Procla-
cient liberties of Scotland in behalf of themselves and stitution of
those whom they represented, and claimed a free hearing tne Tables.
against the late innovations in religion, and against the prelates who were
the great patrons of them. Committees were formed, under the name
of " tables," consisting of deputies from the different classes of the dis
affected, for the purpose of watching the conduct of the government, and
giving more regularity to the movements of the mass which these
proceedings had thrown into so much agitation. The most powerful
ministers of the crown soon sunk into insignificance before the influence
of this new authority *.
The great act performed by these tables was their directing the atten
tion of the several portions of the community for whom T, „ ,
they acted, to the bond of union so memorable in history 1638.
under the name of the " covenant." This proceeding March 1.
was not strictly a novelty in Scotland, but the present covenant, beside
binding the parties consenting to it in a vow to hold and defend what
they regarded as the true religion, so imposed this obligation as to
secure a resistance even of the royal authority for those objects, and
pointed expressly to the episcopal government and ceremonies as among
the impurities from which the church was to be cleansed. The arch
bishop of St. Andrew's witnessed the enthusiasm with which the nation
entered into this solemn contract, and said with truth, " now all that
we have been doing these thirty years past is at once thrown down."
The few who declined the pledge thus required of them, rather assisted
than injured the cause of the covenanters, by rendering their plans more
definite and earnest than they would otherwise have become in the
earlier stage of their operations f-
Charles could no longer conceal from himself that the time for
making some concession had now arrived ; but it was still „
° . . Concessions at
his determination to grant no more than should seem to length made
be necessary as a means of sowing division among his op- by tne kmg-
ponents. After some delay, the covenanters were informed that the
marquis of Hamilton, a nobleman not unacceptable to them, and the
kinsman of their sovereign, had been deputed to negotiate a settlement
of these unhappy differences. But a mysterious silence was observed
* Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 779- Baillie's Letters, i. 1 — 44. Memoirs of the
Hamiltons. Rushworth, ii. 392—408, 730—734. Guthrie's Memoirs, 21—29.
Clarendon, i. 196, 197. Spalding's Troubles, 46, 47.
t Rushworth, ii. 734—744. Spalding's Troubles, 50, 56, 75—84.

302 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
with respect to the nature of the instructions which had been given to
the marquis, and every precaution was in consequence adopted to pre
vent his doubtful errand from becoming the occasion of disunion.
On his arrival, Hamilton laid his instructions before the council.
They were not such as to give encouragement to the hope that epis
copacy would be abolished. They merely promised, in general terms,
that the canons and the service-book should not he enforced by any
illegal means, and that the proceedings of the court of high commission
should be regulated so as not to be attended with the grievances which
had been made matter of complaint. These things promised, it was
added that the covenant must be forthwith abandoned. The marquis
soon discovered that these conditions, so far from being likely to satisfy
the covenanters, if published, would occasion immediate rebellion ; and
his advice to the monarch was to have recourse to the sword without
delay. Charles wrote immediately to express his full approval of this
advice, only requiring that some caution might be observed until he
should find himself in circumstances to act upon it Avith effect.
But every day witnessed the growing strength of the discontented,
increased the tone of decision with which their largest demands were
urged, and strengthened their conviction that to employ force against any
power on earth for the purpose of protecting the religiou and freedom of
their country, was consonant with the strictest justice, and highly ac
ceptable to God. France, at the same time, was secretly active in
fomenting these elements of discord, in the hope of leaving Charles but
little time for meddling with the politics of the continent ; and the more
frequent correspondence of the leading covenanters with their friends in
England served also to inspire them with greater confidence of success*.
Charles, after much painful deliberation upon the subject, could
not resist the conviction that the means necessary to enforce obedience
to his pleasure were not at his command, and he now consented
that new overtures, containing larger and more definite concessions,
-,r„r. should be made. The most important of these concessions
feept. loja. ii, c ..
related to the convening of a parliament, and of a general
assembly under certain specified conditions. But peace was not to be
restored on those terms ; and, at length, the high commission court, the
canons, the liturgy, the restraints on the assembly, all were given up,
and a confession against popery, which had been the national symbol
in 1567, was to be substituted in the place of the covenant f.
On the mention of these concessions it may be natural to conclude
that tranquillity was about to return to a distracted kingdom. But when
a people have proceeded to such lengths, the causes of distrust are
generally found to be many and inveterate. The peers, some thirty in
* Rushworth, ii. 744 — 763- Baillie's Letters, i. 44 — 70. Burnet's Hamiltons,
38—65. t Rushworth, ii. 763—771. Spalding's Troubles, 57—61.

A. D. 1638.] CHARLES 1, 303
number, who had joined with the covenanters, were influenced probably
much more by a solicitude to curb that power of the
crown AA-hich, in the proceedings of the last parliament, sj0^e m^8"
and in the case of Balmerino, they had seen to be so without suc-
alarming, and by a wish to retain their church lands, cess— and
which seemed to be put in danger by so many things in
the temper and conduct of the sovereign, than by any considerable par
ticipation in that religious zeal which influenced the body of the people ;
and so long as the prelates remained a recognized order in the kirk,
though subject to the general assembly, the security of the objects
which they sought by their present league appears to have been re
garded as incomplete. Similar apprehensions, arising in a great degree
from the same cause, had taken possession of the covenanters generally.
But it may be safely believed that neither the nobles nor the people
would have failed to come to an accommodation at this stage of the
dispute, had not the delays of so many months, and the duplicity of
Charles in so many particulars, forced upon them the strongest sus
picion of his fidelity, and taught them to fear the possible return of a
day Avhen these reluctant grants would be recalled with usury.
Even at this moment, the symbol of 1567, instead of being made to
bind the parties to a maintenance of religion as then professed, con
tained the expression, as professed at present, language which was
denounced as a latent fraud, introduced that it might be employed
at a future day in favour of all the existing innovations; and the
zealous efforts made to obtain subscriptions to this " king's covenant,"
as it was called, only tended to strengthen these misgivings. To
the same effect was the impression made by the conduct of the monarch
towards the general assembly which he allowed to meet at Glasgow,
where it was manifestly his design to produce disagreement between the
laity and the clergy in that body, and on the pretence of such disagree
ments, or upon some other ground, to put an end to its sittings, as the
course of its proceedings might require*. Excuses were
accordingly devised for attempting an abrupt dissolution, eCi<ra8er
but the members refused to separate, and, in the name of
those who had deputed them, they proceeded to cancel whatever had
been done by the crown, or in general assemblies coerced by its power,
to the disturbance of the faith or of the ancient discipline and worship
of the church of Scotland. In this manner every vestige of the hier
archy which James and Charles had taken so much pains to erect Avas
* The bishops declined being parties to an assembly including lay delegates, and
their absence was regarded by the king and the court as a circumstance which
might at any time be made to reduce the proceedings of the assembly to a nullity.
Burnet, Mem. ubi supra. The principal difference between the league of the
covenanters and the king's covenant was, that the former abolished episcopacy
while the latter retained it. Spalding, 98.

304 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
swept away ; and these acts must have possessed great weight, as being
those of an assembly composed'of deputies from the laity as well as from
the clergy of the whole kingdom *.
Charles might still "have looked to the Scottish parliament as the
medium through which it would be possible to correct some of the ex
cesses, or to supply the deficiencies of the assembly ; and by removing
the bishops altogether, it would not perhaps have been difficult, even
now, to have terminated these dissensions, so as to have retained for
himself as large a share of power as would have been compatible, among
such a people, with the just liberties of the subject and the real stability
of the throne. But the king had already made considerable prepara
tions for war, and the conduct of the assembly in proceeding to pass
decrees of such moment after its dissolution had been formally pro
nounced in his name, was, upon the whole, highly gratifying, as it pre
sented a further pretext for the course which it was his determination
to pursue.
But in what manner to procure the means necessary for conducting
such an enterprise with the prospect of success was still
PrfoPrawar°nS a source of touch perplexity. The exchequer, when these
troubles began, was exhausted ; the thought of calling a
parliament suggested new and perhaps greater dangers ; and to impose
any further burden upon the English people would probably be to spread
the flames of civil commotion nearer home. Loans were obtained from
some of the nobility ; and contributions were made by the catholics
through the influence of the queen, and by the clergy under the
management of Laud. The whole amount, however, thus supplied did
not much exceed a hundred thousand pounds, and had the sum been
much greater, there Avas room to fear that any force raised in England
must consist of men who would be more disposed to hail the Scots as
brethren than to fight against them as enemies. It was under this
apprehension that Charles opened a negotiation with the king of Spain,
according to which he was to receive the aid of six thousand veterans
from the army in Flanders. With these auxiliaries, and with such
troops as could be trusted from England and Ireland, it was concluded
that the covenanters might be subdued, and the king's power be fully
restored. But it was soon ascertained that the Spaniards in the Ne
therlands were too much beset with difficulties of their own to be
capable of affording the required assistance, and Charles having col
lected the trained bands from the counties, and summoned the peers to
* Rushworth, ii. 786— 788, 842— 882. Baillie's Letters, i. 81— 151. Burnet's
Hamiltons. Guthrie's Memoirs, ubi supra. Spalding's Troubles, 65 — 67. Acts
of the Assembly, printed 1638. Collier, Eccles. Hist. ii. 782 — 786. Larger De
claration. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 94 — 125. It is only by a careful comparison of
these various documents and accounts that a correct judgment of this troubled
period can be formed.

A.D. 1638.] CHARLES I. 305
meet him, each with a suitable retinue, at York, committed himself,
Avith feelings of mortification and distrust, to the struggle before
him*. In the mean time the covenanters were not inactive. Before the
monarch could approach their borders, they possessed themselves of every
considerable fortress in Scotland ; their army consisted of twenty thou
sand men, commanded principally by such of their countrymen as had
become experienced soldiers in the late SAvedish and German wars ; and
animated above all by a religious zeal which promised to render them in
vincible. Charles, on the contrary, could not be insensible that what
ever apparent force he might bring to the contest, the greatest part of his
followers would be destitute of that interest in the object of the war which
could alone render success probable. Laud had made himself odious
to many of the nobility, who could not be induced to look on these
troubles in any other light than as the effect of his insolence and
tyranny ; and with regard to the puritans, embracing as they did a great
part of the nation, they had suffered too much from the arbitrary con
duct of the primate and the sovereign, and were influenced by senti
ments too much in unison with those of the insurgents, to leave their
hopes with respect to the issue of the conflict at all doubtful.
Charles, accordingly, was obliged to depend almost entirely upon such
assistance as might be derived from persons immediately connected
with the court, from the more obedient of the clergy, and from the
English catholics. The last party had experienced his lenity, and
must have known enough of the puritans in both kingdoms to be aware
that, in their case, an adherence to the royal cause was dictated alike by
gratitude and interest. When the tAvo armies encamped within sight of
each other, there Avas no great difference between their numerical
* Rushworth, ii. 518—838. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 128 — 130. Clarendon
Papers, ii. 1 6 — 29, 50. Strafford Papers, ubi supra. Spalding's Troubles, 74.
There is a letter in Dalrymple's Memorials which shows the state of feeling in
England with regard to the proposed war, only a few months before it was
entered upon. " There are preparations for twenty thousand men, of swords, guns,
&c, forty pieces of ordnance, and forty carriages. The earl marshal of England is
to go into the north, there to secure those parts, where Berwick, Newcastle, and
Carlisle are to be fortified. But it is thought they will not get two hundred men
for their twenty thousand arms in this- cause. You will hardly believe how nigh
the cause is to succeed among the (English) nobility, gentry, and commonality.
I hear it the unanimous consent of many leading persons that they hope to find
another America (or place of asylum) in Scotland, and all designs foreign (emi
grations) receive a stoppage until they see wherein yours will determine. If
liberty (of conscience) can be had with you, there will hardly be found receipt for
those who will thrust themselves among you, even such as are men of eminent rank,
and great estates." ii. 40 — 42. The Scots are reminded in conclusion, that their
" friends the bishops" accuse them of making this quarrel of conscience a plea for
casting off the yoke of government, and the writer states that many of their friends
in England were concerned to discover how they could " force the king," without
affording some apparent ground for this artful accusation. Pome light is thrown
upon the manner in which this important question was agitated in Scotland by
Baillie's Letters, i. 89, 90.

306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V.
strength. But every fourth man in Scotland was prepared to march as
circumstances should require ; and every hour made it more evident that
among the followers of the monarch were many who deprecated the
subjection of the Scots, as an event which must tend to perpetuate the
abeyance of their own civil constitution, and the intolerance of their own
churchmen *.
These circumstances served to deprive the king of that transient
feeling of confidence with which he had been inspired,
Pacification of when surrounded by the splendour of his peers and their
retainers at York ; and a haughty proclamation, which
called upon the insurgents to lay down their arms, was succeeded by
distant intimations of a willingness to negotiate. A conference en
sued, which ended in the imperfect treaty known by the name of the
pacification of Berwick. In this conference, the covenanters implored,
on their knees, that the abolition of episcopacy might be among the
articles conceded to them. But they implored in vain ; nor would the
monarch consent to acknowledge the late assembly at Glasgow. It was,
however, in some sort agreed, that another assembly should be con
vened, to which the ecclesiastical affairs of Scotland should be'referred ;
and also a parliament, which should confirm the acts of
1639. ' that assembly. By assenting to such conditions the cove
nanters claimed and deserved the praise of moderation ;
and though they could not have so done without considerable appre
hension, they disbanded their army, surrendered the fortifications of
Leitb, and restored not less than thirty castles into the hands of the
government f.
There was little reason to suspect that the acts of the new assembly
would differ in any great degree from those of its prede-
new general cessor, and Charles became much concerned that his con-
assembly, currence with its measures should be in such terms, and
g' with such reservations, as might allow of his return,
on the first favourable moment, to the policy which he was now forced
to abandon. That he descended to every available artifice for this
purpose is unquestionable ; but the decrees of the assembly, the same
* Spalding's Troubles, 74, 75, and the last note and authorities.
t Hardwicke Papers, ii. 130—141. Burnet's Hist. i. 140. Baillie, i. 179, 184,
185. Rushworth, iii. 938 — 946. The following " private Avarrant," Avas de
livered by Charles to the marquis Hamilton, Avhen deputing that nobleman to
treat with the covenanters at Berwick: — "We do by these presents not only
authorize you, but require you to use all means you can with such of the cove
nanters as come to Berwick, to learn Avhat way they intend the estate of the bishops
shall be supplied in parliament ; what our power shall be in ecclesiastical affairs ;
and what further their intentions are. For which end you shall be expected to speak
that language, which, if you were called to an account for by us you might suffer for
it." Hardwicke Papers, ii. 141, 142. This was in prospect of the meeting of the
new general assembly, its date is July 17, 1639. But Charles afterwards lamented
having to do Avith a " subtle people," who knew how to foil him at his own
weapons. Ibid. 239.

A. D. 1639.] CHARLES I. 307
in substance with those of Glasgow, received the signature of the royal
commission, and its members separated amid many demon- Aug. 30.
strations of rejoicing among the people*.
On the meeting of parliament, its first object was to exclude the
prelates, by enactment, from the place which they had for jy[eet;n„ an(j
some time occupied in that assembly, and to create a prorogation of
third estate in their room, to consist of representatives parliament.
from the lesser barons. This measure was one of several
prepared as matters of recommendation by the lords of the articles — a
committee of the estates, having a previous veto on the matters to be
introduced — and its design was to give completeness to the authority of
parliament, and so to prevent its acts from being declared a nullity at a
future day. The intention of the other measures was to secure the
periodical meeting of parliament, and to impart more freedom and
independence to its proceedings. But the lords who prepared them
were not allowed to bring them before the estates. The news that such
matters were in progress, and still more that the parliament would
probably agree to the abolition of episcopacy, was deemed sufficient
to justify a prorogation; and the king was persuaded by Laud and
Wentworth to seek a better adjustment of his affairs by arms, than was
to be expected from the deliberations of such assemblies f. It happened
also at this juncture, that a letter was discovered, bearing the signatures
of several of the Scotch nobility, and soliciting assistance from the king
of France. The paper was written by Loudon, before the treaty at
Berwick, and appears to have been put aside from an early determina
tion not to lean upon foreign aid. The court which had done its utmost
to obtain the assistance of Spanish mercenaries, spoke with the greatest
indignation of this unpatriotic conduct, and hoped by such representa
tions to diminish the reputation of the leading covenanters among their
partizans in England J.
War being resolved upon, Charles formed a committee to provide the
means of carrying that resolution into effect. Writs were Reso]ut;
issued calling for aid under the name of ship-money, from can a parlia-
which a supply of two hundred thousand pounds was ex- raent in Eng-
pected. But the men constituting this committee were Dec's.
those who had so long supported the king in his assumed
independence of parliament ; and so convinced Avere these persons of
their inability to meet the claims which would soon be made upon
them, that we find them unanimous in urging the king once more to
assemble the representatives of his people. This they ventured to affirm
* Rushworth, iii. 953— 965. Baillie's Letters, i. Acts of the Assembly, printed
in 1639.
+ Rushworth; iii. 955, 956. Franklyn's Annals, 789, 790. Baillie, i. 188.
+ Franklyn's Annals, 810, 811. Rushworth, iii. 956, 1018— 1039. The letter
may be seen in either of these authors.
x 2

308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. V.
was the only method of obtaining a supply at all equal to his wants ;
and it was not until thus deserted by every member of his council, nor
until he had demanded, " If this parliament should prove as untoward
as some have lately been, will you then assist me in such extraordinary
ways as in that extremity shall be thought fit?" and an answer in the
affirmative had been given, that Charles consented to restore those legis
lative powers of the kingdom which he had sworn to uphold. Even
Laud and Wentworth saw that a parliament must be convened in Eng
land, if anything deserving the name of power was to be retained by
the sovereign in Scotland, and by appearing forward to advise the call
ing of such an assembly they hoped to abate the resentment which they
had reason to apprehend from that quarter *.
Nor was it easy at such a moment to say what would be the result of
this measure. The king evidently expected that the new house of
commons would be scarcely more manageable than those Avhich had
preceded it; and as his own maxims and temper had only become
more confirmed by indulgence, this conclusion was by no means
unreasonable. But he encouraged himself in reflecting that should it so
prove, pretexts might be derived from that event in support of those
" extraordinary ways" of government which had been so much resorted
to, but which, without some new pretence, could be no longer prose
cuted with safety. On the other hand, the degree of submission
observable through the kingdom during so many years of illegal admi
nistration, had taught many to hope that the humours of the country, as
they were called, had been in a great degree subdued, and that in conse
quence a more pliant disposition would be evinced by the new house of
commons. But the fact that the king was about to meet the council
of the nation purely from necessity made all reasoning of this nature
uncertain ; and it was highly probable that men who had been submis
sive wheu opposed in their private capacity to the whole poAver of the
government, would gather strength, and seem more mindful of their
wrongs, when brought into association, and shielded by their privileges
as members of the national legislature.
Before the meeting of parliament, it was ascertained that the elections
were generally in favour of persons Avho had been most active iu the
popular cause. Hence while the nation looked forward to that assembly,
confiding in it to remove its grievances, and to repair the inroads made
on the liberty of the subject, the king regarded it with that dissatisfac
tion which a combination of circumstances so unfavourable to the
power he was anxious to retain, could not fail to produce. It was
on the fifth of December that Charles concurred with the unanimous
advice of his council to assemble a parliament ; but it was not before
the thirteenth of April that the two houses were convened. This delay,
* Clarendon Papers, ii. 81, 82. Hist. i. 216, 217. Sidney Papers, ii. 614—623
Daliymple, ii. 42. Rushworth, iii. 975, 978, 1097—1099.

A. D. 1639.] CHARLES I. 309
apparently so undesirable and unnecessary, resulted in part from the
Avish of Strafford to obtain a liberal grant from the parliament of Ire
land, to which it might be serviceable to refer in the appeal about to
be made to the people of England. It was supposed also, that as the
urgency of the claim to be preferred by the government became the
greater by being thus postponed, the necessity would appear the stronger
for pressing on the commons an immediate attention to the business of
a supply, leaving the matters of grievance to be taken up when that
important preliminary should have been settled. When the parlia
ment met, this course of proceeding was strongly recommended by
the king and his ministers, every delay being represented as an expo
sure of the royal authority to new insult, and of the common weal to
the greatest danger *.
But the commons determined, that before granting the money of
the nation, their voice should be heard upon its griev- Proceedings
ances, and that some remedy should be obtained. They >" parliament.
complained particularly of certain notorious infringements of parlia
mentary privilege ; of the late inroads upon the rights of property in
the shape of unauthorized exactions by the croAvn ; and of the novelties
of a religious nature which had become the occasion of so much remon
strance and persecution. In the discussions which ensued on these
topics there was decision and there was energy, but, at the same time,
so much cautious propriety of speech, that scarcely a word verging upon
indecorum was uttered. One member denounced ship-money as an
abomination, but even that very pardonable ebullition called forth the
reproof of the house. Another spoke of the rising in Scotland as the
war of episcopacy, and said that as such it should be left to the manage
ment of the bishops; but Clarendon informs us that the levity of these
expressions was so much discountenanced as to prevent a recurrence of
such language in any other instance.
The fervour of the patriots, however, was rather attempered by wis
dom, than restrained by timidity, or by any want of zeal
for the public good. Mr. Harbottle Grimstone, who seems Gnmstone
to have spoken first, contended that the mal-practices
which had become connected with all public transactions in England
were so many and so formidable, as to constitute a far greater source of
danger to the commonwealth than the disorders in Scotland, and he
recommended that these practices should be examined and corrected
before proceeding to any other business. " The case,'' he observes, " is
this : the charter of our liberties, called Magna Charta, was granted
unto us by king John, and was but a renovation and restitution of the
laws of this kingdom. This charter was afterwards, in the succession of
* Clarendon, Hist. i. 232, 233. Papers, ii. 82. Strafford Papers, ii. 370, et seq.
Pari. Hist. ii. 532, 533, 553, 554.

310' HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. V'.
several ages, confirmed unto us above thirty several times ; and in the'
third year of his majesty's reign that now is, we had more than a con
firmation of it ; for we had an act declaratory passed, and, to put it out of
all question for the future, his majesty, by his gracious answer, invested
it with the title of the Petition of Right. What expositions contrary to
the law of right, have some men given of that act, undermining the
liberty of the subject with newly invented subtle distinctions, assuming
to themselves a power — I know not where they had it, certainly out of
parliament — to supersede, to annihilate, and make void the laws of the
kingdom? The commonwealth has been miserably torn, all property
and liberty shaken, the church distracted, the gospel and the professors
of it persecuted, and the whole nation overrun with swarms of pro
jecting canker-worms and caterpillars, the worst of all the plagues of
Egypt." It was his proposal accordingly that means should be adopted
to ascertain, without delay, in what respects the petition of right had
been violated, and that every instrument of misgovernment should be
detected and punished *.
But the speech of Pym, which occupied two hours, appears to have
Speech most fully expressed the sentiment of the house. No man
of Pym. m f^t assembly possessed more experience in the business
of parliament, and his reputation was unsullied. Parliament he de
scribed as the soul of the body politic, which could not be deprived of
any of its functions without leading to general disorder. But this
wrong had been done to the high court of parliament when the speaker
in the last house of commons refused to put from the chair the remon
strance which that house had laid before him, and when the privilege of
private persons not to be condemned unheard, and even of the dying to
record his will and utter his last expiring groan, was denied to that
august body. The same high species of wrong was again perpetrated,
when the judges presumed to question the proceedings of their superiors
in parliament ; and when, in consequence of this assumption, the courts
of law spoke of having a right to imprison certain members on account
of their conduct in that house : — a proceeding Avhich shortened the days
of some, and placed an interminable confinement in the view of others.
The grievances enumerated as having broken in upon the rights of
property, embraced all the illegal or questionable methods of raising
money to which the government had resorted since 1629 ; and under
the name of novelties in religion, and the charge of oppression in the
enforcement of them, the speaker adverted to many of the proceedings
of this nature, of which mention has been made in the last chapter f.
When some days had been given to the discussions which sprung up
from a review of these topics, Charles became impatient, and admonished
the house, by the lord keeper, that his wants were so pressing as not to
* Rushworth, ii. 1128—1131. f Ibid, 1131—1136.

A.D. 1639.] CHARLES I. ' 311
admit of the delays which would be necessary to the preparation of
measures for the correction of such matters. But the T . r
lnterterunce
course adopted by the patriots was not altered in conse- of Charles and
quence of this message ; and the king next presented tne lol'<ls-
himself to the house of lords, and advised their lordships to refuse
concurrence with the commons in their determination to obtain a redress
of their alleged grievances before granting- a supply, calling upon that
house to employ its influence with the other branch of the legislature in
support of his claim to an immediate grant of money. Many of the
peers saw the imprudence of the course thus recommended to them ; but,
" after long and great debates," a majority adopted the advice of the
sovereign, and the effect was a sharp dispute between the two houses.
The commons were unanimous in regarding this obtrusion of the
opinion of the lords on a question of supplies as a breach of privilege.
The lords admitted that it did not pertain to them to suggest anything
with respect to the amount, or to the manner of raising a supply, but
that they judged themselves competent to intimate their opinion with
regard to the expediency of a supply in general.
At this point of the discussion sir Harry Vane appeared, as the
bearer of another message to the lower house, in which the king, Avith
still greater urgency, demanded an immediate supply of his wants.
There were men iu that assembly who would not have voted the smallest
sum until their principal grievances were redressed. The majority,
however, might have been induced to adopt a middle course, granting
such an amount as would have met the present exigency in part. But this
pacific intention was frustrated by the bearer of a further message, which
stated that nothing less than an immediate vote of twelve subsidies,
being about 850,000/., would be accepted. No man can doubt but
that the parliament, by coming to such a vote, would have sealed its
own dissolution, and thus have fastened those grievances on the country
which it was the first duty of the representatives of the people to remove.
The house sat two hours beyond its usual time in debate on the king's
message, and adjourned to the following morning. But on p r];
that morning, Charles declared the parliament dissolved, dissolved.
This was in less than three weeks from the time of its May 5-
meeting. It is said that the monarch was driven into this precipitate course by
false information, Avhich made it appear to him that an 0b. f
abrupt dissolution of the commons was the only means of Charles and of"
preventing them from voting against a war with the Scots. the Commons-
But the reasons of his conduct, which Charles published immediately
afterwards, and many other circumstances, make this statement un
worthy of credit. In the document containing these reasons the
monarch assures his subjects that the dissolution of the late parliament
was in consequence of the insolent interference of the commons with

312 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH., V.
the affairs of his government; of their attempts to degrade his adminis
tration of justice, and to.injure the character of his ministers; and of
that ungenerous spirit of bargain and sale upon which they were re
solved to act. It is in fact plain enough, that, in this brief session,
we Avitness a spirited struggle between the croAvn and the people —
Charles plotting to obtain a large supply, while evading any redress of
the Avrongs complained of by the nation ; and the patriots resolved, on
their side, to hazard everything rather than become the dupes of this
treacherous policy *.
No part of the king's proceedings had given more general offence,
Th k' a e- *"an the practice of committing some of the popular mem-
turns to arbi- bers to prison, as soon as the protection of parliament was
trary mea- withdrawn from them by a dissolution ; and this act was
SUI'CS generally followed by an inquisitorial search into their
private papers for matter of accusation against them. Both practices
were now renewed f. Ship-money was levied with increased rigour ;
and all the plans of securing a revenue which had of late become pre
valent, and even more than all, were vigilantly pursued : and Charles
continued to hope that, victory attending him against the Scots, the
government at home might still prove strong enough to maintain its
independence of the public Avill. It should be observed also that this
vain hope was indulged amid the riots of the capital which threatened
the lives of his ministers ; amid the sudden avowal of opinions unfavour
able to the existence of monarchy; amid strong suspicions of a secret
understanding betAveen the disaffected in England and the insurgents
of the north ; and, in a Avord, amid expressions of discontent and alarm
which came from all classes of his subjects. So tenacious was this
misguided prince of his unauthorized power, and so hard was it for
him to incur the slightest hazard of parting with it at the call of his
people ! %
The plan now formed was, that Scotland should be invaded from three
points at the same time, and by an army of forty thousand men ; ten
thousand from Ireland led by Strafford, ten thousand highlanders, under
the marquis of Hamilton, and twenty thousand from England, under
the command of the sovereign. But it required the laborious prepara
tions of three months to place the half of this contemplated force at the
disposal of the monarch ; while the Scots returned to their colours
with an enthusiasm which influenced both sexes and all ranks, and
taught them to contribute those means willingly from their poverty,
which England refused to grant from her opulence §.
* Rushworlh, iii. 1136^—1167.
f Ibid. 1167, 1168, 1177.
X Laud's Diary, ubi supra. Sidney Papers, ii. 655 — 658. Clarendon Papers,
ii. 74 — 415, passim. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 147, et seq.
§ Laiug's Hist. i. ubi supra.

a, d. 1639.] ciiarles i. 313
Before Charles had completed such preparations as he still deemed
practicable, the Scots, having remained three weeks on Tne gcots en_
the borders, crossed the TAveed, and advanced as far as ter England—
the Tine. In a proclamation, they declared that though dispersion of
1 : . .... the English at
they appeared in the character of invaders, their object Newburn.
was strictly defensive ; that they came not against the Aug- 29.
English nation, but for the protection of their commerce, which had
been interrupted at sea, and to put an end to the power of the popish
and arminian prelates who had so long surrounded the throne, and proved
the authors of so much evil to the church and the state *. At New-
burn, their passage across the river was disputed by Lord Conway, at
the command of Strafford. Batteries had been erected for this purpose
on the opposite bank, and a detachment, to the number of six thousand
horse and foot, seized upon the most favourable positions. Lesley, the
Scotch general, first demanded permission to pass, and was answered by
a shot from an English sentinel. The fire from the artillery of the
covenanters immediately commenced, and fell with such effect on the
batteries of the enemy that they were almost immediately abandoned.
The first to cross the river were the general's guards, a troop consisting
of lawyers, who had volunteered their services for his defence, and
for the deliverance of their country. Close in their train followed a
thousand musketeers, and both advanced to seize the batteries, and to
press upon the rear of the infantry, which had already commenced a
retreat. In this attempt they Avere encountered by the English cavalry,
draAvn up to receive them, and weie driven back to the river. But
approaching its banks the cavalry became exposed to a heavy discharge
of artillery, and instead of pushing their advantage, or even protecting
the retreat of the infantry, they fled to an eminence at some distance.
In that position they were no sooner attacked by Lesley than they de
serted Wilmot, their commander, and spread confusion through the
reserve under Lord Conway, which, by this time, Avas the only body
retaining any appearance of order. The rout that followed Avas such,
that the covenanters were left in undisputed possession of the two
northern counties, and the next rendezvous of the royalist army was
Avith the king at York f.
In that city Charles assembled what was called a council of peers,
and solicited the advice of that feudal assembly with ^, ., „
legard to the petitions which the Scots, in their anxiety to Peers at York.
preserve the appearance of moderation, had presented to ~ freatv of
him, and also as to the best means of protecting the king
dom against the further inroad of the invader. It was agreed that to pre
vent the advance of the enemy it would be absolutely necessary to enter
» Rushworth, iii. 1223— 1227. App. 283— 291.
t Dalrymple, ii. 81—106. HardAvicke Papers, ii. 151—163. Baillie, i. 211, et
seq. Rushworth, iii. 1237.

314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [OH. VI.
upon a treaty, and the treaty of Ripon was accordingly commenced.
It was also the advice of the great majority of the assembled peers, and
the prayer of a petition from London bearing ten thousand signatures,
that a parliament should be forthwith convened. By this method only
it was argued could tranquillity be restored ; the evils which had so long
made the king's government unacceptable to the people be removed ;
and the ample resources of the nation be brought to the relief of the
crown. To this course of proceeding Charles gave his reluctant assent.
It was arranged also that during the treaty the subsistence of the
Scottish army should be provided for from the treasury of England,
and that the negotiations commenced at Ripon should be transferred
to London*.

Chapter VI.
State of public opinion and feeling in England when the Long Parliament ivas
convened — King's Speech — Choice of a Speaker — Speeches in the Commons
— printed for the first time — Restoration of silenced ministers — Committee for
proceeding against Scandalous Ministers — Prosecution of the bishops Pierce and
Wren, and Dr. Cosins — Case of Cosins — Impeachment of Strafford, Laud,
Windebank, and Finche — Release of Prynne, BastAvicke, and Burton — Bill
for Triennial Parliaments — Courts of Star-Chamber, and High Commission
abolished — Attacks on the Hierarchy — Review of these proceedings — Trial of
Strafford — justice of the course pursued with regard to him considered — his
death.
The parliament so memorable in English history under the name of the
Long Parliament, was assembled toward the close of 1640.
nation^on the ^a^ ^ ^s generally acknowledged, that the conduct of
meeting of the the government during the last eleven years had been
men! "' '*" sucl1 as to render any attempt to vindicate itself not
merely useless but impolitic. The ruling power in the
state at this moment was that popular party whose suppression and
extinction had been the great object of so many illegal and unjust pro
ceedings. In the course of these proceedings both law and religion had
* Hardwicke Papers, ii. 157—151, 184—298. This valuable collection of papers
contains the minutes of a cabinet council (148) on the 16th August, 1640, in which
we find the following intimaton of the king's intentions when quitting London for
York. " No honour against rebels — he will be careful what to do." It was to his
own Avant of judgment, and still more to this latent treachery, which by some
means found its place in nearly all his proceedings, that Charles should have looked
for the chief source of the perpetual troubles of his reign. Rushworth, iii. 1275
et seq. May's Hist. 44, 45, 48. Heylrn states that many of the king's soldiers in
this second army brought against the Scots, were " so ill persuaded, that in their
marchings, they broke into churches, pulled up rails, threw down communion
tables, defaced the common prayer books, tore the surplices, and committed many
acts of outrageous insolence." Life of Laud, 454.

A.D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 315
been so dealt with, that neither the king nor the prelates could see their
advantage in appealing to them. The lords had gone over considerably
to the popular side, and the popular leaders were so far impressed by
the manifest dangers of the state, as to have become more \ ehement than
ever in their call for a change, and more active in spreading their fears
through the kingdom ; and on the meeting of the new house of com
mons it soon became manifest that the ardour which it discovered in the
cause of reform was in harmony with the general feeling of all classes
through the kingdom.
Charles could not hope to diminish the hostile influence which was
thus arrayed against his favourite policy, except by making
some partial concessions with regard to the past, and giving in' pCae^jament
some apparently cordial assurances that the future should — the king's
not be of the same complexion. Such was the substance 5^eec •
of the king's speech on meeting the two houses, and as
they were not concerned to obtain " any such acknowledgement of for
mer errors as might seem too low for the majesty of his person," the
address of the monarch was listened to with general satisfaction. The
term " rebels," as applied to the Scottish army, gave some offence, but
Charles explained the word so as to render it less objectionable. They
were rebels, he maintained, so long as they were in arms against their
sovereign ; but they might now be regarded as subjects, and he had
so described them under the great seal *.
The choice of a speaker made it evident that the court had employed
its influence in the elections with little effect. Gardiner,
the recorder of London, was selected for that office by the speaker 6
king, but he failed to be returned as a member ; and the
commons gave their preference to Lenthall, a lawyer of some experience,
and not obnoxious to the court, but who seems to have been principally
indebted to this last circumstance for the honour thus bestowed upon
him. He was a man of some shrewdness, but wanting in the prompt
itude and energy which such an office at such a crisis demanded.
The attention of the commons was first directed to the innovations
which had affected the purity of the established religion. speecnes of
On this subject the speeches of Pym, Seymour, Grim- the members
stone, Bagshaw, and Rudyard, were conspicuous. Rud- Rudyara-
yard is described by the enemies of the popular party as one of the most
upright and eloquent men of his day ; but his statements when setting
forth the recent practices of the government, were, in fact, an echo of
those complaints which, as falling from the lips of other men, were in
terpreted by courtiers as the language of sedition and irreligion. He
remarked that they were assembled to deliberate concerning the cause of
God and of the king, from which their own, as Christians and subjects,
* May's Hist. 47- Baillie, i. 218. -

316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
were inseparable. .The fear of God among them would best conduce to
the honour of the king ; and if the labours of some former parliaments
had not been so successful as was fondly hoped, the cause Avould per
haps be found in their having alloAved the questions of the common
wealth to take precedence of those concerning religion.
" It is Avell known," he observes, " what disturbance has been brought
into the church for vain and petty trifles ; the whole church, the whole
kingdom troubled about Avhere to place a metaphor or an altar. We
have seen ministers, their Avives, children, and families, undone, against
law, against conscience, against all compassion, about dancing on Sun
days. These inventions Avere but sieves made to AvinnoAV the best men,
and that is the devil's occupation. They have a mind to worry preach
ing, for I never heard of any but diligent preachers that Avere vexed with
these and the like devices. They would evaporate and dispirit the
power and vigour of religion, by draAving it out into solemn and specious
formalities — into obsolete and antiquated ceremonies. Let them not
say that these are the perverse suspicions or malicious interpretations of
some factious spirits among us, whilst a Romanist has boasted in print
that the face of our church begins to alter, the language of our religion
to change, and that if a synod were held, and puritans excluded, our
articles and theirs might soon be made to agree. They have so brought
it to pass, that under the name of puritans our whole religion is branded ;
and under the cover of a few hard Avords against Jesuits all popery is
countenanced. Whoever squares his actions by any rule, either divine
or human, he is a puritan. Whoever would be governed by the king's
laws, he is a puritan; their great work being to exhibit all those of
the religion," that is, all sound protestants, as a people " to be sus
pected." The effect of these ill-judged proceedings, he continues to
say, is division and weakness on every hand. Some, expecting the re
turn of popery, are said to have been " in haste to turn themselves
papists before hand, hoping to render themselves more acceptable ;"
Avhile multitudes, after suffering many wrongs, and fearing more, had
been constrained to seek the preservation of their religion, " by flying
into other countries, very many into savage wildernesses."
In passing from the affairs of the church to those of the nation, the
same speaker remarks : — " The king is reduced to great straits, in which
it were undutifulness beyond inhumanity to take advantage of him.
Let us rather make it an advantage for him, doing him the best service
when he has most need of it; not seeking our own good, else we shall
commit the same crime ourselves which we condemn in others. His
majesty has clearly and freely placed himself in the hands of this par
liament, and I presume there is not a man in this house who does not
feel himself advanced in this high trust. But if he prosper not better
in our hands than in theirs who have hitherto had the handling of his
affairs, we shall make ourselves for ever unworthy of such a confidence.

A.D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 311
Those men talk largely of the king's service, yet have done none but
their OAvn, as is too evident. They speak highly of the king's power ;
but they have made it a miserable poAver, producing nothing but Aveak-
ness to the king and kingdom. They have exhausted the king's re
venue ; have spent vast sums of money Avastefully, fruitlessly, danger
ously; so that more money without other councils would be a swift
undoing. They have ahvays peremptorily pursued one obstinate per
nicious course : — first, they bring things to an extremity, then they
make that extremity the reason of their next action, seven times Avorse
than the former, and there are Ave at this instant." These men he fur
ther denounces as having sought to abolish parliaments ; as having in
sisted that the king should not alloAV his servants to be removed by the
influence of such assemblies ; as having taught that parliaments, even
in the best times, are more skilled in "devising expedients to abridge the
royal poAver, than willing to supply the wants of the sovereign ; and as
having urged, Avith all the earnestness of a favourite maxim, that no ap
peal should be made to any such body in a season of difficulty. In
conclusion he observes, that nothing but the deplorable condition both
of the church and state, could have moved him to express himself in a
manner so much against his nature and custom ; and by declaring that
he cherished neither hatred of any man's person, nor envy of any
man's fortune; but that, in the exercise of an honest zeal, he sought a
thorough reformation in a condition of affairs which rendered his doing
so imperative *-
These Avere the topics dAvelt upon by other speakers, and the temper
of Rudyard may be regarded as a fair specimen of the sDeecnes ¦
mingled loyalty and patriotism Avhich characterised the parliament
feeling and language of the house. The practice of print- Pnnted-
ing and circulating the speeches of the members was now for the first
time adopted, and its effect on the conduct of the two houses, and
through the kingdom, was soon manifest. The many evils in the
church and state were exposed in parliament without reserve, and the
censures of the patriots called forth a multitude of petitions from their
constituents, praying that no time might be lost in putting an end to
all such proceedings. Nor did any man venture to defend the practices
thus censured ; most of them were no sooner introduced than they were
condemned as grievances f.
By the authority of a committee appointed for the purpose, a great
number of the clergy who had been silenced, imprisoned, Restor tjon
or deprived of their livings, on the ground or pretence of of silenced
nonconformity, Avere restored : and in some cases, the mimsters.
functionaries who had subjected them to such penalties were obliged to
* Rushworth, iv. 43—26 f Baillie, i. 222.

318 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
make pecuniary restitution to the sufferers. This proceeding has been
described as arbitrary, and as not strictly within the province of the
house of commons. But it must be remembered that the judicial power
of the commons was far from being restricted, either by law or custom,
in that age, as at present : and that the exercises of authority on the part
of that house had furnished precedents for such a course of proceeding.
The livings of these men were regarded as their freeholds; the grounds
of their expulsion Avere adjudged illegal, as having more respect to inno
vations brought in by the ruling clergy, than to the conformity required
by law ; and to examine and correct these instances of misrule in the
high places of ecclesiastical power was regarded as belonging to the
supreme authority pertaining to the high court of parliament. It was
not to be expected that the commons would allow men whom they re
garded as having been so much injured to remain under that injury;
and, in the confused state of things around them, it is not easy to con
ceive what less exceptionable method they could have chosen for the
accomplishment of their object.
But it Avas not enough that these evils should be at once corrected ;
a committee was formed to prevent the recurrence of them,
for'proceeding an<* to Procee<l against such of the clergy as disgraced
against scan- their profession by their vices. These persons were known
dalous clergy- ^n ^e ]angUage 0f tne tjme under the name of " scandalous
ministers," and as they had generally distinguished them
selves by their opposition to the puritans, and by their support of the
late unconstitutional policy of the government, they failed not to give
out, and their friends failed not to echo the assertion, that it was not so
much their scandalous vices as their conscientious principles that had
called forth the displeasure of their enemies. But if this charge against
the committee was at any time well founded, there is good reason to
believe that it was not so until a later period, when the passions of all
parties had become more inflamed by the long continuance of the con
flict, and the still distant prospect of a settlement. At this time, some
Avere merely reprimanded, others were bound to conduct themselves
differently in future, the men suspended or deprived of their cures being
generally such as had been " countenanced to affront the puritans," and
who, beside their private vices, had manifested their zeal in the cause of
the neAv ceremonies in religion, and of the lawless power assumed by
the crown. Upon the whole, this committee rendered important service
to the cause of religion and civil liberty, although its authority was
not strictly regular, and some of its acts partook of inconsiderateness
and severity.
Among the more distinguished offenders whose conduct was brought
under the cognizance of this committee, were Peirce, bishop of Bath and
Wells; Wren, bishop of Norwich; and Cosins, dean of Peterborough. We

A.D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 319
have adverted to the zeal with which the first of these prelates conducted
bis crusade against the puritan lecturers, against afternoon
preaching, and above all against the tenets of Calvinism. of tne ^hops
The kindred ardour of the bishop of Norwich was not less Peirce and
notorious. The severeties of the latter prelate in putting Drc^,^
down lectures, silencing the puritan clergy, and fining
their followers, had caused the woollen trade, which was carried on
chiefly by the puritans, to be almost removed from his diocese. That
most important branch of English commerce was not only much
impoverished by his conduct, but its very existence endangered, the
exiles having established themselves in great numbers both in America
and Holland. The charge of high crimes and misdemeanors was
brought against these prelates by the commons, and they were bound in
a heavy recognizance to appear when required. Their leading offence,
however, like that of Dr. Cosins, consisted in attempts to enforce upon
the clergy, aud as far as possible upon the people generally, a confor
mity, not merely with the ritual which thelaAv had established, but with
many new and unauthorised customs, which were generally regarded as
superstitious and idolatrous *.
Nothing was more common in those times than prosecutions on such
grounds ; but many, who can see the propriety of such proceedings while
directed against the puritans, become immediately sensible to the folly
and injustice of treating men as serious delinquents on account of the
mere forms and ceremonies of religion, as soon as the persons who had
introduced this policy, and acted so long upon it, begin to appear as
sufferers under its influence. What before was a just and prudent at
tention to regularity and subordination, now becomes the mere pretext
of faction. But the case of Cosins may assist the reader in forming a
less partial judgment with respect to the conduct of the commons in rela
tion to persons of his class.
From the accusation preferred against that divine, it appears, that in
removing the communion table from the centre to the east case 0f
end of the church, it had been his pleasure to expend Cosins.
two thousand pounds from monies entrusted to him for public pur
poses ; and that certain images which had been defaced by the eccle
siastical commissioners in the time of Elizabeth, as unsuited to a pro
testant sanctuary, were restored and decorated at his command. In
officiating at the sacrament, the dean was accustomed to turn his back
on the congregation, in the manner prescribed by the popish rubric.
* May, 55, 56. Rushworth, iv. 98, 123, 133, 139, 158, 351, et seq. In his defence
presented to the lords, Cosins said he Avas prepared to disprove many of the matters
of fact alleged against him, but that he could have done so to any great extent is
highly improbable. The commons declared him unfit to hold any office either in
the church or the universities ; and May speaks of him as one of those who, in the
crowd of offenders, might rejoice that the parliament had so much business. Collier,
Eccles. Hist. ii. 789, 799. Rushworth, iv. 152. May, 55.

320 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. Vt.
The knife used on such occasions was never to be profaned to common
purposes ; boys with tapers were in attendance ; and a number of genu
flexions were added, altogether unknown to the English service. On
candlemas day, this protestant dignitary testified his homage to the
virgin by placing three score lights on and about the altar, and more than
three times that number in other parts of the church. He also excelled
in that accomplishment indispensable to a court divine of this period —
abuse of the Reformation, declaring that Luther and his followers had
disfigured the church instead of reforming it, by abolishing the ceremonial
of the mass. So concerned was he that all persons should perform due
obeisance to the altar which he had removed and beautified at so much
cost, that certain ladies who proved refractory in that particular were
seized by the divine in person before the congregation, their clothes rent,
and their ears assailed with epithets which not only denounced them as
no Christians, but as being lost to the morality as well as to the doctrine
of the gospel. We may add, also, that, according to this humble-minded
ecclesiastic, the king possessed no more authority over the church than
" the boy who rubbed his horse's heels." Cosins was withal a cruel
persecutor. These facts may suffice to show that it is possible for the
zeal of a churchman, even in matters of religious ceremony, to carry
him so far as to make him justly liable to censure and expulsion. It is
also important to observe, Avith regard to this case of Cosins, hoAV many
alterations, of a certain kind, were allowed to be made in the established
service, at the mere fancy of private persons, while the men who con
scientiously withheld their conformity from any part of that service
were not to be tolerated *.
Parliament assembled on the third of November ; on the ninth, Straf
ford, by order of the king, arrived in London. The day
mpeac ment f0i]owjngj -which the earl gave to rest, was employed by
the patriots in preparing for the struggle which his un
expected presence obliged them to enter upon at an earlier stage of their
proceedings than they would have chosen. They were not ignorant
that the whole power of the crown Avould be employed to protect this
formidable opponent, but they also knew that their onset would be sus
tained by the long fixed resentment of three kingdoms. On the eleventh
of November, as soon as the membeis had assembled, the doors of the
lower house were closed, and the keys given to the speaker, until the
question to be introduced should be decided. When those doors Avere
again opened, Pym came forth at the head of a large body of the mem
bers, and proceeding to the bar of the lords, there, in the name of the
commons of all England, he accused Thomas, earl of Strafford, lord
lieutenant of Ireland, of high treason, and required that his person
should be arrested until probation might be heard f.
* Rushworth, iv. 208, 211.
f Baillie, i. 216. Rushworth, iv. 42, 43.

A. D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 321
The lords, says a contemporary, began to consult on this strange and
unexpected motion. Tidings of what had passed Avere carried in haste
to the eari, who was Avith the king, and coming Avith speed to the
house, he called rudely at the door. It was opened by Maxwell, keeper
of the black rod, and his lordship, with a dark and haughty counte
nance, advanced toAvards his place. But at once many voices were
heard repeating the word " Withdraw, withdraw !" and, confused
and mortified, he found himself obliged to retire until the house should
require his presence. When called in, he presented himself standing,
but was commanded to kneel, and in that posture to hear what had
been determined respecting him. He was then delivered to the keeper
of the black rod, to remain his prisoner, until he should be cleared of
the crimes charged upon him by the commons. At this point he Avould
have spoken, but was interrupted by the command of the house that he
should leave it in silence. In the entrance-room, Maxwell required him,
as a prisoner, to deliver up his sword, and then called with a loud voice for
one of his attendants to take my lord lieutenant's SAvord. The earl next
began to make his Avay toward his carriage, through a great croAvd of
people, all gazing upon him, no man being uncovered in his presence,
though the greatest in England Avould not have passed him in the morn
ing of the same day Avithout that token of homage. Some, in the con
fusion, asked what was the matter, and the earl replied, "A small matter,
I warrant you ;" but this air of confidence Avas checked by the reply —
" Yes, indeed, high treason is a small matter." On reaching the spot
where his carriage Avas expected to be in Avaiting, it was not to be seen,
and this circumstance obliged him to expose himself a second time to
the crowds in the avenues of the house; and Avhen his carriage arrived,
he was informed by the keeper of the black rod that he must not enter
it, but as his prisoner take a place in his coach, Avhich the earl did accor
dingly *. This act of the commons called forth the highest exercise of
courage that could be demanded of them ; and such was the impression
made by this demonstration of their firmness and power, that the earl's
reign of terror evidently closed Avith the moment of his arrest.
From this day Laud must have expected to share in the fate of
Strafford. The commons began their attack on the arch
bishop by resuming the old subject of ecclesiastical en- j) udjg -
croachment on the authority of the legislature. It Avas
resolved that the tAvo houses of convocation possessed no authority to
bind either clergy or laity without consent of parliament. Many of the
transactions in a recent meeting of those houses were declared to be
contrary to law, and injurious both to the croAvn and people ; and, having
attributed these, and many similar proceedings, to the influence of the
primate, Hollis was deputed to accuse him of high treason at the bar of
the upper house. The archbishop instantly rose, declared that the
* Baillie, i. 217, 218. Y

322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
commons themselves did not believe the charge, and, with his charac
teristic Avarmth, was about to enter on a defence of his conduct. But
the most powerful ecclesiastic of the realm AA'as called to order, as the
most powerful layman had been some weeks before, and was committed
to the custody of the black rod. The accusation presented against him
consisted of fourteen articles, and was followed by his removal to the
Tower *.
The storm which fell thus violently on the tAvo personages who were
,.r. , . . regarded as the chief authors of the late disorders in the
WindphjiTiKP church and commonwealth, would naturally extend to many
subordinate instruments of misrule. Windebanke, secretary of state,
was the intimate friend of Laud, and the agent through whom the
government had exercised its lenity towards catholics. It was ascer
tained that more than a hundred priests had been liberated by his order
within the last four years. Judging from this fact, he must have dis
pensed with the laws in favour of the catholic laity in innumerable in
stances. The offender might have pleaded that in these things he had
merely executed the instructions of his sovereign, and that the monarch
had repeatedly declared that his servants were not responsible in such
cases to any authority apart from his own. But these royal declarations,
which no doubt had greatly emboldened the ministers of the crown in
their late practices, were not renewed by the king at this juncture, and
Windebanke consulted his safety by an immediate escape to the
continent f.
Finch, the lord keeper, had exposed himself to the resentment
of the patriots by his zeal in the cause of ship-money,
Dec 23 an<^ aSamst nml the commons directed the next stroke of
their retributive justice. To soften the displeasure of his
prosecutors, he descended to the meanest flatteries and entreaties, and
despairing of success by such means of defence, he fled to Holland
to avoid the consequences of an impeachment. The due appearance of
the other judges, nearly the whole of whom had lent their names, if not
their judgments, in support of the obnoxious impost, was immediately
secured, by binding them each in the sum of ten thousand pounds J.
Among the earliest acts of this parliament was the vote which re
leased Bastwick, Prynne, and Burton from their confine-
Prymie,0 Bast- ment > ancl those sufferers made their public entry into
Avick, and Bur- London, followed by five thousand persons, men and
Nov 28 women, on horseback, all wearing in their hats bay and
rosemary, in token of exultation and triumph. The lords
of the commission court, who had passed sentence on these objects of
popular sympathy, were now arraigned, and required to pay to Burton
* May, Hist. 56. Pari. Hist. ii. 680. Baillie, i. 250. Whitelocke, 39. .Land's
Troubles, 75. f Mav, 50, 57. Rushworth, iv. 91.
X May, 57, 58. Rushworth, iv. 123—130, 136, 137, 189.

A. D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 323
six thousand pounds, to Prynne and Bastwick five thousand each.
Nothing can be said that would justify the language with which these
offenders had assailed the ruling clergy. According to Burton, who
was not the most extravagant of the three, the prelates were " dumb
dogs, anti-Christian mushrooms, ravening wolves, robbers of souls,
factors of anti-Christ, and limbs of the beast*."
But if nothing can be said to justify this style of controversy, there
are considerations which serve to extenuate it. These hard words
should be compared with the unreasonable and violent proceedings
which had served in so great a degree to produce them ; and it should
be recollected that many of the ecclesiastical leaders, both in England
and Scotland, were not men who attracted any great respect to their
office by the excellence of their personal character. Nor should it be
forgotten, that the hard measures to which the prelates resorted for the
accomplishment of their objects were often accompanied, even in their
case, with the use of language which, if not altogether so violent as
that which was sometimes directed against themselves, was quite as
reproachful. There was no offence against social order or true religion
which had not its place in the court vocabulary of abuse when the
puritans were the objects of attack. Hence, while some persons cen
sured the release of Prynne and his brethren, and the expressions of
popular feeling which marked their return to the capital, as an insult cast
upon the courts of justice, a much greater number applauded what was
done as exhibiting the triumph of justice over oppression ; and this
they did the more freely as the penalties inflicted on these sufferers had
been adjudged in the star-chamber, a court the recent proceedings of
which had made it the just object of aversion both with the parliament
and the people.
The commons adopted various regulations which proscribed many of
the existing monopolies, fixed the boundaries of the royal j ..
forests, and lessened the evils of purveyance. They also measures
abolished the feudal custom of compulsory knighthood, aaopte<l by the
. , , . . . . commons.
ana put an end to the practice or impressing men to serve
as soldiers in foreign countries, or in Ireland. In an act granting the
duties of tonnage and poundage, it was declared to be, and to have long
been, the right of the subjects of this realm, that no charge should
be laid on merchandise, imported or exported, belonging to natives or
aliens, without consent of parliament. In another bill ship-money was
declared to be an illegal impost, and the sentence against Hampden by
the judges and the barons of the exchequer was reversed \.
But however wise these arrangements may have been, what perma-
* Rushworth, iii. App. 122—132. May, 53—55. Baillie, i. 218, 222, 227.
+ Rushworth, iv. 19 — 146, passim, et seq. Clarendon's strong censure of the
judges at this time accords but little with the account given in his history of the
general character of the king's government from 1629 to 1G40. Clarendon, Hist,
i. 495—504.
Y 2

324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [en. VI.
nent value could be attached to them so long as the meetings of par-
„.,, „ . . liament, whose vigilance alone could secure their being
Bill for tri- ' ° .tiii e
ennial parlia- acted upon, were allowed to depend on the pleasure ot
ments. tf,e crown ? in what manner to provide against this evil,
which was generally regarded as a principal source of the late irregu
larities in the conduct of the government, was a question with which
the thoughts of the popular members in both houses were much occupied.
It was well known that Charles had learned to " abominate the name"
of a parliament, and that it had long been the great object of his policy
to substitute in the place of all such assemblies a mere council of state
which should be responsible to himself alone. On his disposition and
purpose in this respect, his ministers had founded their hope of impunity
when violating the laws in obedience to his instructions, and this had
rendered them bold in transgression.
But a bill was now passed, which required that a new parliament
should be convened every third year, and which also pro
vided, that in case the proper authority should neglect to
summon such an assembly at the appointed time, the people them
selves should be authorized to assemble unbidden, and to choose their
representatives. The suspicions implied in this measure had respect
in part to the knoAvn temper of the present monarch, but still more
to that spirit of encroachment which is at all times so natural to
the possessors of supreme poAver. The design of this act was in
effect the same with that of the institution of the Ephori in ancient
Sparta, and embraced a precaution strictly necessary to every properly
balanced constitution. That it "would be very unacceptable to the
king, and to all persons whose loyalty was but imperfectly influenced
by reflection and patriotism, was sufficiently understood ; but the
popular leaders knew from sad experience, that a periodical appeal to
the people was not to be secured by any less decisive measure. Judg
ing, indeed, from the past, they could not have looked even upon such
an enactment with perfect confidence : but if, like the Petition of Right,
it did not wholly prevent a recurrence of the evils against which it was
directed, it would perhaps be found to hasten their extinction by fixing
upon them a broader character of illegality. The king gave his consent
_ .. to this bill with visible reluctance ; but the people, on learn
ing that it had become law, kindled bonfires, and exhibited
every demonstration of joy*.
The instruments employed with most effect in support of those arbi-
Courts of star- trary acts which had spread so much alarm and such a
chamber and sense of injury through the nation, were the courts of star-
mission abo- chamber and high-commission. There was little in the
lished. civil or ecclesiastical affairs of the community that might
arc not be brought within the cognizance of those tribunals,
* Rushworth, iii. 1341, 1342 ; iv. 146—148, 189, 192. Pari. Hist. ii. 702, 716.

A. D. 1640.] CHARLES I. 325
and in the absence of parliaments, their authority, seldom restrained
by any just regard to law, Avas found to be irresistible. But the time
had come in which these strong-holds of irregular power were to be
assailed and demolished. After a struggle, entered upon by the patriots
Avith a determination to prevail, and resisted for a while, though with
small hope of success, by the monarch, those memorable courts fell
completely and for ever *.
Contemporaneous with these proceedings were others which bespoke
the growing disaffection to the hierarchy, and the rapid ^ttai^ on tn.
increase of persons who called for nothing less than the hierarchy.
abolition of episcopacy. The boldness which marked the Jauuary-
language and conduct of this party alarmed the prelates, and was attri
buted in a great degree to the presence and influence of the Scottish
commissioners, who, being now resident in London, preached to large
auditories on the Lord's day, and published their opinions with regard
to the origin and claims of the episcopal office Avithout the smallest
reserve. It noAv became manifest that there Avas a large body of per
sons, both among the laity and clergy, who were desirous of seeing the
office of the bishops abolished, while many more proceeded so far in this
course as to demand that the authority and the wealth of the prelates
should be reduced to much narrower limits. One petition, praying for
the extinction of the order, received the signatures of nearly two thou
sand English clergymen. From a number of counties,' petitions on this
subject Avere presented signed by many thousands; some urging that the
office of the bishops should be no longer acknowledged, others, and per
haps the greater proportion, imploring a removal of ecclesiastical abuses,
and expressing concern that the power of the order, whose ill-regulated
zeal had been the occasion of so much evil, might be subject to con
siderable and well-defined restrictions in future. But many petitioners
of the latter description spoke with much earnestness of their anxiety
for the preservation of the office itself. In the parliament, Selden,
Digby, Faulkland, and Rudvard, distinguished themselves in the cause
of the bishops as an order. In the commons, however, and in the capital,
the Presbyterians, or the men Avhose reformed episcopacy would have
approached nearly to the same system, predominated.
But unhappily, the civil power, which had exerted its strength to
destroy the ancient discipline of the Scottish kirk, and to The Cove-
impose the customs Avhich were described as the abomina- nan*ers had no
.... . Just notion of
tions of prelacy in its room, was the agency hoav chiefly religious tole-
invoked to expel those abominations from both kingdoms, ration.
and to enforce an observance of the presbyterian polity. Force was
still, in a great measure, to have the place of persuasion ; religion was
* The bills which put an end to those courts Avere drawn up on certain great
principles that swept aAvay several tribunals of the same arbitrary character whicfc
bad long operated as heavy local grievances. — Clarendon, Hist. i. ubi supra.

326 history or England. [ch. vi.
still to be a state apparatus. Its professors, as heretofore, were to be
of 'one faith and one order. Upon this principle the Covenanters had
proceeded in Scotland, and with this temper they would have imbued
the minds of their partisans in England ; nor did they labour in this
vocation without a considerable portion of success. Thus the new
order of things was to include all the elemeuts of power, which, in their
natural operation, had brought so much disgrace upon the old, and had
prepared the way for the overthrow which now awaited it.
But though the presbyter would have set up his own exclusive pre
tensions in this manner in the place of those which had been so long
avowed and acted upon by the bishop, there was some difference be
tAveen these rival parties. The prelates had become intolerant almost
without a cause, Avhile the presbyterians had been driven to the adop
tion of the exclusive views which they now professed by the arrogance
of the claims broached on the part of their opponents, and were pre
pared to enforce those views with some severity as a natural consequence
of the many injuries to Avhich, as a subjugated party, they had long been
obliged to submit. It should be added, too, that the ascendency which
the episcopal clergy had sought by their subserviency to a corrupt
government, accelerating its course toAvard the most degrading des
potism, the presbyterians had contended for on more open ground,
appealing to the deliberations of popular assemblies, and to the awards
of a constitutional legislature *.
It was well for both these parties, and for those rights of conscience
The Indepen- which are now so happily recognized among us, that there
dents. was gtjii an0I]ier protestant party in the kingdom, rising
daily in its influence over the community, and not without its advocates
in parliament. This body soon became known under the name of
" Independents," or " Congregationalists." Their principles of eccle
siastical polity, which we have stated elsewhere, not only taught that
no man should be liable to any civil penalty on account of his religious
opinions, but that the sole object of the state in regard to religion is to
protect its professors from injury, so long as they are found to conduct
themselves as peaceable members of society f. Each church, they incul
cated, should consist of a body of persons associated for purposes purely
religious, and governed by regulations and sanctions strictly of that
character, possessing in themselves all the powers necessary to their own
* " Ministers avIio refuse to read the Covenant are called before their presby
teries to hear and see themselves deposed, and all this Avithout Avarrant. Gentle
men of quality also are refused the benefit of communion for refusing to subscribe
the band." Hardwicke Papers, ii. 107. Baillie could see nothing but confusion
and ruin to a national church, whose " presbyteries and general assemblies have no
power of censure, but only of charitable admonition." Letters, i. 254. At the
same time bishop Williams is found complaining that the civil courts were about
to eave the ecclesiastical nothing beyond the rusty sword of excommunication.
t See p. 124 of this volume.

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 327
government, and being, accordingly, independent of all foreign con
trol. In the commons there were some leading men who adopted these
views, as being favourable to that mutual forbearance on religious sub
jects which both reason and circumstances so much demanded. Among
the advocates of this party in the upper house were the lords Say, Brook,
and Wharton. The ministers of the Independents who were most active
at this juncture came from their places of exile in Holland, and are
described by Baillie, the commissioner of the Covenanters, who looked
upon them with some apprehension, as " learned, discreet, and zealous
men *."
Beside the petitions against episcopacy from the several countiesj
and that from nearly two thousand of the clergy, was one jan „«
to the same effect from fifteen thousand of the inhabitants
of London. After a debate of two days on the matter of these petitions,
they were referred to a committee by a majority of thirty-two. The
king, however, declared in the most solemn terms, that in his judgment
episcopacy was an essential part of Christianity, and that his conscience
would never allow him to concur with any project for its removal. But
the Scotch commissioners were not to be diverted from their object by
this avowal. Against the bishops, says Baillie, " we pray, preach,
and print, Avhat we are able, most freely. Many a sore thrust get both
men and women thronging to our sermons — there is a Avorld of pam
phlets here. How this matter will go the Lord knows ; all are for
erecting a kind of presbytery, and for bringing down the bishops in all
things, spiritual and temporal, so low as can be with any subsistence.
But their utter abolition, which is the only aim of the most godly, is
the knot of the question ; we must have it cut by the axe of prayer f."
The petition from the metropolis was in course of preparation within
a fortnight after the meeting of parliament ; but even six months later
the question appears to have made but little progress in either house }.
A bill was then presented to the Lords, which went to ex- ,_ , , ,
r . ., March 11.
elude all ecclesiastics from the privy council, and from
holding the office of magistrates §. In the discussion which followed,
the strength of the two parties was called forth, but the bill was rejected
on its third reading by a considerable majority. Had the lords con-
* Letters, i. 253, 254.
f Ibid., i. 245. Rushworth, iii. 1343—1345, 1346—1363.
X " On Thursday (Tuesday) last- was here a fast. Mr. Blair and I preached to
our commissioners at home, for we had no clothes for going out. Many ministers
used greater freedom than ever here was heard of. Episcopacy itself beginning to
be cried down, and a Covenant cried up, and the Liturgy to be scorned. The town
of London and a world of men mind to present a petition, Avhich 1 have seen, for the
abolition of bishops, deans, and all their appurtenances. Huge things are in Avork
ing. All here are weary of the bishops." Baillie, i. 215,216. See also pp. 225,
228, 235, 236, 239, 242.
§ Pari. Hist. i. 725, 791, 792, 794, 814.

328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
curred with this moderate proposal, their opposition to others of a more
decisive nature might have been made with greater effect. The imme
diate result of this unwise proceeding was the expression of much dis
pleasure on the part of the commons, who rose in their demands,
requiring in their next bill that the prelates should be removed from
their seats in the upper house. Hyde, afterwards Lord Clarendon, was
chairman of the committee to Avhich this question was intrusted, and
he congratulated himself afterwards on having been able, in that capa
city, to perplex and protract the discussion, so as to prevent any pro
gress from being made in it until the near approach of the civil war *.
The propriety of the measures which had thus far engaged the atten-
Reviewof tion of Parliament was a matter on Avhich the nation
these pro- scarcely partook of a divided feeling : and the enemies of
ceedings. t|je patriots in later times, however much disposed on
other accounts to complain of those proceedings, have generally been
constrained to speak of them in the language rather of praise than cen
sure. The liberation of Prynne and his fellow-sufferers was an act of
justice. In this transaction the popular leaders acted upon the prin
ciple, that the sentence of any court in the realm was liable to be reversed
by the authority of the high court of parliament ; and if any exception
to this rule had been admissible, certainly the decisions of the court of
star-chamber would have been among the last to possess any claim to
such honourable distinction. And it may be added, that the punish
ment already inflicted had greatly exceeded the offence, supposing that
to have been quite as serious as stated in the prosecution.
With respect to Finch, it is admitted by Clarendon, that if an attempt
to subvert the fundamental laws of the kingdom be treason, that un
scrupulous sycophant was certainly chargeable with having thus offended.
The process commenced against Windebanke, though in behalf of into
lerant laws, was strictly constitutional, and his escape must be attri-

& * Life of Clarendon, i. 80—84. Pari. Hist. i. 794, 816, 822. It is in the fol
loAving terms that the moderate temper of Faulkland describes the recent conduct
of the bishops Avhile contending for the preservation of episcopacy : " He is a great
stranger in Israel Avho knows not that this kingdom bath long laboured under
many and great oppressions, both in religion and liberty; and his acquaintance
here is not great, and his ingenuousness less, Avho does not both know and acknow
ledge, that a great, if not a principal cause of both these have been some bishops
and their adherents. A little search will serve to find them to have been the de
struction of unity under the pretence of uniformity ; to have brought in super
stition and scandal under the name of reA'erence and decency ; to have defiled our
church by adorning our churches ; to have slackened the strictness of that union
which was formerly between us and those of our religion beyond sea — an action as
impolitic as ungodly. It has been more dangerous for men to go to some neigh
bour's parish church, there being no sermon in their own, than to be obstinate and
perpetual recusants. While masses have been said in security, a conventicle has
been a crime ; and which is more, the conforming to ceremonies has been more
exacted than the conforming to Christianity." Rushworth, iii. 1342, 1343 ; iv. 2?
n—282, passim,

A.D. 1640— 1641.] CHARLES I. 329
buted as much to the clemency or prudence of his opponents, as to his
OAvn fears.
The charge of treason against Laud may not seem to have been
clearly sustained in the articles of impeachment preferred against him ;
but it must be remembered, that the man who conspires to defraud
the subject of his chartered rights, which it is certain was the case here,
must be understood to do so, not merely without the concurrence, but
against the command of the king. This follows from the well-known
maxim, " the king can do no wrong." It should here be carefully marked,
that it was on this ground that the most passive instruments of royalty
were so often denounced as traitors during this period. Nor has the
Avisdom of later times been sufficient to devise any better expedient by
which to divert the resentment of the injured, in such cases, from the
person of the monarch. The king may be the principal party in an
attempt to destroy the liberties of the subject, but it is his ministers
only who are held responsible for what may be done with a manifest
view to that object; and the party which the law holds responsible, is
of course the only party on whom it will inflict its penalties in case of
delinquency. On this principle of ministerial responsibility all parlia
mentary impeachments have proceeded, and it had been distinctly acted
upon not long before this time in the cases of Bacon, Middlesex, and
Buckingham. This principle imparts consistency to many things in
the course of the present struggle, which, if looked upon apart from it,
may have the appearance of contradiction and injustice. This maxim
of our constitution, though a part of its alphabet, seems to be altogether
overlooked by not a few of the traducers of the Long Parliament. Whether
an attempt to destroy the fundamental laws of the kingdom be treason
or not, is a question which we shall have occasion presently to consider;
but that the conduct of such ministers as the archbishop of Canterbury
made them justly liable to impeachment is certain.
With regard to the proposed modification or abolition of episcopacy,
the matter was one on which the subject possessed a full right to peti
tion parliament ; and parliament, as it had been found competent to
establish that form of polity, so it was competent to alter, or altogether
to remove it. We have seen that the commons under Elizabeth, and
some of the wisest counsellors of that princess, had shown themselves
careful to inculcate this strict dependence of the church on the state *.
But no act among these earlier proceedings of the present parliament
has been so much censured by persons opposed to its general character,
as that in which it prohibited the clergy from publishing canons, to
bind either clergy or laity, without its consent. This proceeding had
respect immediately to the canons adopted by the houses of convocation

See pp. 38—40 of this volume.

330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
assembled with the parliament of last year ; and the strange doctrine
which those canons contained is not sufficiently remembered by the per
sons who have so strongly condemned the conduct of the patriots in this
particular. It was when that short parliament had been dissolved, and
when the houses of convocation, according to all law, and, with a single
exception, according to all precedent, were also dissolved, that a series
of regulations of the most questionable and obnoxious description were
agreed to, and preparations were made to enforce them. It was required
by these ecclesiastical enactments, that every physician, laAvyer, and
schoolmaster, should swear his approval of the doctrine and discipline
of the church of England, and that every such person should bind him
self by the same solemnity never to seek a change of its form of govern
ment, either directly or indirectly. The divine right of kings was
taught in the most absolute terms, and the man who should resist their
authority, under any pretence whatsoever, was given over, as far as the
Sentence of excommunication could effect it, to destruction.
Thus, at a season when the conduct of our rulers had rendered the
doctrines of implicit faith and passive obedience much more unacceptable
than they had ever been in this country, a moment is chosen to publish
canons which declared that no man could be a Christian who refused
submission to the most undisguised forms of despotism, either in the
church or the state. Surely it was time that something should be
done to protect the common sense of the community against the insults
of a power like this ! Had innovation been necessary to this end, the
panic which that word is so often employed to create should hardly have
deterred the patriots from resorting to it *.
But was it necessary to innovate for this purpose? It is admitted
that the acts of supremacy and uniformity which restored the protestant
laws of Edward the Sixth empowered the sovereign to adopt, with the
assistance of certain ecclesiastical commissioners, or of the houses of
convocation, such regulations with regard to divine worship and reli
gious offences as should be deemed expedient. But it was also provided
by those acts, for the protection alike of clergy and laity, that all regu
lations proceeding from this delegated authority should be agreeable to
the laws of the land, and to canonical scripture ; and the authority of
an ultimate judge, with respect to what should be deemed laAvful and
scriptural, was retained Avith much jealousy by the parliament. The
Vigilance of the high commission court, and of the convocation, with
the soA-ereign at their head, was to be restricted to such things as might
* Pari. Hist. i. 678, 679, 772, 773, 829. Heavy fines Avere imposed on some of
the dignitaries Avho were most active in the convocation. The decision of the
commons on the whole question passed Avithout a dissentient voice, and was adopted
verbatim by the Lords. Collier, ii. 792—794. Rushworth, iii. 1186, 1187, 1354,
1355; iv. 100—112.

A. D. 1629—1640.] CHARLES I. 331
" laivfully be reformed, ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained, or
amended ;" and the means of enforcing such things Avere to consist of
such only as might " be lawfully exercised and used."
On this ground the parliament "frequently interposed to check the
alleged encroachments of the spiritual courts upon the secular, and
often maintained that the only legal terms of religious conformity were
those which the acts of the national legislature had laid down, and that
no regulation depending on the sanction of a clerical assembly, even in
connexion AA'ith the crown, should be allowed to bring the slightest
injury to the temporal estate of clergymen or laymen. Accordingly,
what had been hitherto done by the present parliament in this respect,
instead of being altogether a novelty, was no more than our parliaments
had claimed a right to do from the age in which the protestant hierarchy
was established. It is true, the artifice and violence employed by the
crown to escape from the restraints thus laid upon its power in relation
to the church by the constitution, were too frequently employed with
success; but such, according to law, was the dependence of the houses
of convocation on the supreme authority of parliament, that they could
not even vote a subsidy, that might be legally exacted, without its consent.
On the whole, therefore, we repeat, that in what the king had at this
time assented to in relation both to the church and the state, he had
rather corrected innovation than sanctioned it. Charles had agreed to
the law of triennial parliaments ; but our statute-book contained more
than one enactment, old as the time of the Plantagenets, which required
that a parliament should be convened every year. With respect to the
court of star-chamber, it was not pretended that its origin could be
traced further back than the reign of Henry the Seventh ; and the court
of high commission was known to be a comparative novelty, peculiar to
the reigns of Elizabeth and James. It was also certain that both, and
particularly the latter, had become much changed from what the statutes
relating to them had required them to be. With regard to the levying
of ship-money, in the form, and to the extent, in which the court had
exacted it; and the imposing of the customs at the ports without the
consent of parliament ; these practices were not spoken of anywhere as
strictly legal, but were always vindicated on the plea of necessity *.
Great, therefore, as were the changes Avhich we have mentioned as
produced at this period, we should err materially in our judgment with
regard to the history of the English constitution, were we to look upon
them, except in a few minor points, as the introduction of novelties.
What was new consisted almost entirely of securities placed around
ancient law ; adding little or nothing to the true and ascertained liberties
of Englishmen. It is to the patriots assembled in the parliament of
* See Rushworth, iii. 1340, 1341, for the strong language in which Clarendon
censured the conduct of the judges in the matter of ship-money in 1640.

332 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
1640, more than to any other body of men in English history, that our
country is indebted for that growing spirit of freedom by which it has
been distinguished, and for that high rank to which it has attained
among the nations of the earth. What has been since done in the
cause of our political privileges, is scarcely important when compared
with what was then accomplished. On a superficial vieAv of affairs, the
Restoration may appear to have rendered all the labours of the Long
Parliament even Avorse than useless; but a more attentive comparison
of the reigns of the two last Stuarts Avith those of their father and their
grandsire, will lead to a very different conclusion. Even Hume admits,
that the conduct of the parliamentary leaders to this period was such,
with one exception only, " as to entitle them to praise from all lovers
of liberty." The exception thus made respects their conduct toward
the earl of Strafford,
Among the immediate rewards bestowed on that " grand apostate
Conduct of from the cause of the people," was the honour of a peerage ;
Strafford. t]le acknowledgment of a claim which he made to royal
blood, through Margaret, the grandmother of Henry the Seventh ; and
the office of president of the council of York, which, with its enlarged
jurisdiction as placed in his hands, gave him a sort of delegated sove
reignty, freed from the checks of the common law, and extending to no
mean portion of the kingdom. All men looked with astonishment on
these events, and not a few with feelings which were no good omen for
the peace of the new courtier. No space had intervened between what
by profession he had been, and what he had become, to leave any room
for the most abundant charity to suggest the possible sincerity of the
apparent change. His pretensions to a royal lineage exposed him to
derision ; his reconciliation with Buckingham, after the treatment he
had received from that minion, and after being one of the many who
denounced him as a traitor, was adverted to as betraying a surprising
meanness of temper ; while his avowal of principles so opposite to those
of which he had lately been so loud an advocate, was dwelt tipon as
shoAving that he had ceased to value even the appearances of honesty.
Persons Avho were at all slow to receive this unfavourable vieAv of his
character, were reminded of the nature of that court of which he had
become the president : a tribunal as little subject to the rules of laAV
as the star-chamber, and one the poAvers of which had been stretched
beyond their former limits on the election of its new president, as though
for the purpose of affording him greater opportunities to trample on
that law and liberty of which he had recently declared himself to be
so zealous a guardian. It was during this state of public feeling that
Pym happened to meet Wentworth at Greenwich : they conversed on
public affairs, but not to Pym's satisfaction ; and in parting from the
man who had recently been his fellow-patriot,'_he addregsedliim in these

a, d, 1629— 1640.] charles i. 333
long-remembered AVOTds : — " You are going to leave us, but I will never
leave you while your head is upon your shoulders * ! "
WentAvorth had ruled the north of England about four years, through
the medium of the court of York, Avhen called to the dignity of viceroy
of Ireland; and the system of intimidation on which he had acted with
some appearance of success in this country was then extended to the
sister kingdom. There, indeed, his sway Avas even less impeded than
at York.
It is certain, from many parts of his conduct which drew upon him
the attention and resentment of his contemporaries, and from documents
Avhich have since come to light, that the great policy of Wentworth
from the time of quitting his connexion with the patriots was to dis
pense with the laws wherever they were found to be a restraint on the
pleasure of the sovereign. When writing to the king about the plans
which he had devised with respect to Ireland, he remarks : — " But in
all these things the benefit of the crown must, and shall, be my prin
cipal, nay, my sole object." The method and firmness Avith Avhich this
object Avas pursued in that kingdom were such, that in little more than
tAvelve months he could declare exultingly — " The king is as absolute
here as any prince in the Avorld can be." Parliaments, indeed, Avere
allowed to assemble, but they were ahvays made to be the mere tools of
the power which convened them. It was the same with the convocations.
Still the country was prosperous, compared with what it had been under
the more lenient, but less able, policy of his predecessors. On return
ing to England after an absence of three years, his account of proceed
ings in the sister island procured him much applause from the court t.
This visit led to Wentworth's more active interference with the ques
tion of ship-money. As president of the council of York he enforced
the payment of that tax with his usual promptitude, and assured the
king there would be little difficulty in obtaining it in future from the
northern counties. So much was Charles elated with the partial success
of this scheme, that he began to meditate a rupture with Spain ; but
before committing himself on so important a matter, it was deemed
proper to obtain the opinion of the lord deputy. The answer of Went
Avorth was an urgent dissuasive from the enterprise ; but one founded on
the consideration that a war must bring on expense; that expense must
make it necessary to convene a parliament ; and that the necessity of
convening a parliament must be the destruction of those plans by which
it was hoped to render his majesty the most considerable monarch in
Christendom, and "for ever to vindicate royalty at home from the con
ditions and restraints of subjects." His advice, accordingly, Avas to
avoid every measure that might possibly lead to a dependence on par
liaments. * Rushworth, ii. 158, 162 — 165. Macdiarmid, Life of Strafford, ubi supra,
f Strafford Papers, i. 341, 343, 344 ; ii. 13—22, et alibi.

334 history of England. [ch. vi.
He also strongly recommended, that ship-money should be made to
fall for a time as lightly as possible upon the people, until the habit
of rendering such payments should be considerably formed, and a pre
cedent of some force should be thus obtained in its favour. It was then
to become the groundwork of other measures, of which, until the season
for adopting them should arrive, it would be better to meditate than
speak *.
But it is in his correspondence with Laud that we find the lord deputy
expressing his sentiments and purposes most freely with regard to affairs
in England. This correspondence extends to the whole interval from
1629 to 1640, and contains references to the severities in the courts of
star-charnber and high-commission, to the corrupt judgments extorted
from the judges, and to those arbitrary proceedings in general by which
the government Avas characterized during that period. But in the
judgment of Laud and Wentv/orth, little was done at that time by the
king, the clergy, or the courts of law, towards elevating royalty above
" the conditions and restraints of subjects," compared with what should
have been done. In these letters, the word " thorough" recurs as the
term used to denote that spirit of uncompromising hostility to all popular
right which these correspondents had imbibed, and the impress of
which they would freely have given to all the proceedings of the govern
ment. Making allusion to the very reasonable discontents of the time,
Wentworth says, " It is a grievous and overspreading leprosy. Less
than thorough will not overcome it. There is a cancerous malignity in it
that must be cut forth, which long since hath rejected all other means.
So long as I do serve I will thorough, by the grace of God, follow after
what shall please him to sendf."
The manner in which he Avould have dealt with the class of persons
adverted to is indicated in the language which he employed with respect to
one of their leaders. " Mr. Hampden," he writes, " is a great brother,
(a puritan,) and the very genius of that people leads them always to
oppose, as well civilly as ecclesiastically, all that authority ordains for
them. But in good faith were they right served, they would be whipped
home into their right wits, and much beholden they should be to any
man that should thoroughly take pains with them in that kind. In
truth, I still wish Mr. Hampden, and others to his likeness, were Avell
whipped into their right senses, and if that the rod be so used that it
smarts not, I am the more sorry {." On another occasion he says, " I
know no reason but you may as well rule the common lawyers in Eng
land as I, poor beagle, do here ; and yet that I do, and will do, in all
that concerns my master, at the peril of my head. I am confident that
the king being pleased to set himself to the business, is able, by his
Avisdom and ministers, to carry any just and honourable action, through
* Strafford Papers, ii. CO— 64, f Ibid, ii. 136, 250.
J Ibid. i. 345.

A.D. 1639.] CHARLES I. 335
all imaginary opposition, for real there can be none, To start aside for
such panic fears as a Prynne or an Eliot may set up, Avere the meanest
folly in the whole Avorld. The debts of the crown being taken off, you
may govern as you please*. "
It would be easy to multiply passages of this description, but these
will suffice to sIioav the extent to which this species of warfare agaiust
the liberties of the English people was carried by these men. It is
manifest that the change which they contemplated embraced the total
overthrow of the constitution ; and Ihe substitution of that " sovereign
power," which Wentworth had once declared to be unknown to our
laws, in the place of all law f.
While prosecuting his plans in Ireland, Wentworth was summoned
to aid the king in providing against the evils threatened by the Scottish
invasion. When it was determined that another parliament should be
assembled, the lord deputy became so far sensible of his danger as to
request that he might be permitted to return to Ireland; but Charles
was anxious to secure his assistance at this crisis, and commanded his
attendance, assuring him " that not a hair of his head should be
touched J." Beside the enemies with which Wentworth had surrounded
himself by his apostacy, and by his course of proceeding consequent on
that event, there were others hardly less formidable in the very court
which he had so much laboured to propitiate. The queen appears to
have been at the head of this party, which included the marquis of
Hamilton, lord Holland, sir Harry Vane, and the earls of Essex and
Arundel. He had in consequence experienced, since his arrival/ several
mortifying instances of exclusion from the most important deliberations
of the council. It was at this juncture, however, that Charles con
ferred upon him the title of earl of Strafford, a distinction which he
had more than once descended to solicit §.
We have seen, that on the second day after his arrival in London, the
earl Avas impeached. Some days later, a charge con- Strafford's
sisting of nine articles was presented by the commons : impeachment
but the committee appointed to prepare the impeachment au tlla '
extended their investigations during three months, and the articles con
tained in their last charge were twenty-eight in number. The point
which it Avas the grand object of the commons to establish against the
accused was, an attempt to subvert the fundamental laws of the country.
Having made this appear, it would remain for them to show that trai
torous designs against the sovereign were necessarily included in this
meditated inroad on the securities of the state.
* Strafford Papers, i. 173.
| " Our laws are not acquainted Avith sovereign power." Rushworth, i. 554.
X VThitelocke, 37-
§ See some notices of the neglects to which Strafford was exposed by the conduct
of the king and the court in his Letters, i. 128. 138, 142—144 ; ii, 42, 83, 103.
Ill, 127, 133,201,265,284. :

336 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
The place appointed for this memorable trial was Westminster-hall,
and many Avriters of the time speak with admiration of the stately pre
parations Avhich were there made in prospect of this grand inquest.
On either side the hall stages were raised, eleven in succession, each di
vided by rails, and the whole reaching nearly to the roof. In the highest
range were the commissioners of Scotland, and the lords of Ireland, parties
to this process, with the commons of England who were seated below
them. The peers, to whose solemn arbitration the questions at issue
were to be submitted, occupied the centre, in their state dresses; and
with them were the lord keeper and the judges on the woolsacks, in their
robes of scarlet. At the upper end, and somewhat above the space
where the peers were seated, was a chair placed ripon an elevation, and
covered with a canopy of state. There was also a second chair for the
prince : but both were vacant, as no judicial act could be legally pro
ceeded with so long as the king was supposed to be present. But two
galleries, partly concealed by trellis-work, rose on each side the throne,
one of which Avas allotted to the foreign nobility and others, and the
king, the queen, and their court occupied the other. At the foot of the
state canopy was an elevated space, into which many ladies of rank were
admitted. At the lower end of the hall were temporary apartments,
to which the accused or his accusers alternately retired for half an hour
to prepare their matters of charge or defence. Between this lower part
of the hall, and the centre filled by the lords, was a small desk, at which
the earl stood or sat, four secretaries being in waiting, and the governor
of the Tower at his side. The earls of Arundel and Lindsey discharged
the duties, the former of high steward, the latter of high constable of
England. Before this assembly, " the most glorious," says an eye-wit
ness, " the isle could afford," Strafford appeared, day after day, brought
in by a guard from the train-bands. He wore a deep mourning suit,
and his George, an ornament which bespoke his rank. His dark coun
tenance, now paled with sickness, and his body, somewhat bent from its
long-continued infirmities, but through which the dignified self-pos
session of his mind was still visible, tended to increase the sympathy
which the appearance of any man in such circumstances could not fail
to awaken *.
No indifferent persons were found in that great assembly. There
was enough in the countenance and gestures of all, and in their loud
talkings during the cessation of the speeches, to bespeak the interest
which every one felt in the shifting appearances of the struggle. Charles
looked on the fate of Strafford as involving that of the plan of govern-
* Baillie's Letters, ubi supra. Baillie was present as one of the Scotch com
missioners. He informs us that the king broke doAvn the screen from before him
Avith his own hands, but the royal auditors, though sitting "in the eyes of all, were
no more regarded than if they had been absent, for the lords sat uncovered." —
May's Hist. 61.

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES 1. 337
ment to which he clung with so much fondness and solicitude. Even
those courtiers who Avere the enemies of the accused, could not regard
him as there to stand or fall for himself alone ; and the court ladies,
ranged about with their note-books in their . hands, made no secret of
having given their passions to the cause of the prisoner. While on the
other side were the delegates from Scotland and Ireland, with nearly the
whole commons of England, and a large body of reflecting patriotic men
who saAv in that prisoner the evil principle of all government, and who
regarded the issue of the present conflict as an event which would do
much to determine whether freedom or despotism was to be the por
tion of themselves, and the heritage of their children.
The articles in which Strafford was charged immediately with the
crime of treason Avere only three in number. These related to his
having compelled certain persons to comply Avith his arbitrary exactions,
by quartering soldiers upon them; to his having raised an army in Ire
land which he advised the king to employ for the subjection of this
kingdom ; and to his having imposed a tax by his OAvn authority upon
the inhabitants of Yorkshire, under the pretext of its being for the sup
port of the trained-bands. The remaining articles concerned things
said or done, which were set forth as treasonable in their general ten
dency. This practice of blending offences different in degree in the
same impeachment is almost as old in our history as the process itself,
and was resorted to in this case for the purpose of showing that acts
tending to the overthrow of the state, no matter with what pretence of
loyalty they may have been performed, must amount, in legal effect, to
acts of treason against the sovereign.
The sovereign, it Avas argued, is a relative personage, and cannot be
conceived to exist without a subject community ; and accordingly,
whatever tends to destroy the great bonds by Avhich a community is held
together, tends to the destruction of the sovereignty over it, that being
merely the head of the body politic, which must of necessity die Avith it.
So that to compass and imagine the death of the law, is, in effect, to
compass and imagine the death of the king. It was on this ground
maintained, that the statute of treason which had been in force from
the time of Edward the Third, could never have been designed to afford
security to the person of the king, to the neglect of all security for those
laws from which the king derives his office, and for the sake of which
alone he has been invested with it.
But notwithstanding the apparent justness of this reasoning, which was
much dvceltupon by Maynard and St. John on behalf of the commons;
and notAvithstanding the conduct of Strafford in the matters referred to in
the two or three articles upon which the main dependence of his pro
secutors was placed, certainly came very nearly, if not strictly, Avithin
the statute of treason, there was still much room left for technical ob
jection, and the defendant availed himself of every advantage in that

338 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. VI.
shape, with a, dexterity and eloquence which extorted the admiration
even of his enemies. Every one acquainted with the life of Strafford
from the time of his apostacy, must have been satisfied of his hostility
to our fundamental laws ; and if any doubt could possibly remain on
this subject, it must be altogether , removed in our case by his letters
since made public. But even on this point there was a want at that
time of particular facts affording the requisite technical evidence; and
had this point been placed beyond doubt, the accused would still have
maintained that such acts could be construed into treason only by virtue
of certain reasonings or inferences deduced from the statute, and not
from anything expressly and directly contained in it.
In that age, indeed, the rules of evidence were far from being defined
as at present, and those which were in some degree recognised in one
instance, were not sure to be acknowledged in another. Nor can any
one be familiar with the history of our state-trials, without being aware
that a latitude had been often, and, indeed, very generally given to the
law of treason, that would have made it embrace acts of a treasonable
tendency, even of a less direct and formidable character than were
several of those admitted to have been proved against Strafford. His
opponents did not need to be reminded of the laxity which in these
respects had characterized our state prosecutions even down to very
recent times; and they no doubt spoke upon the whole sincerely, when,
at the close of the fifteen days which had been occupied with this trial,
they affirmed that the main charges were sufficiently proved.
Hesitation, however, was still expressed by the lords. In the hope
of seeing the course of justice more clearly, they referred the matter to
the judges for their opinion ; the answer returned, without a dissentient
voice, was, that upon all the articles which their lordships had voted to
be proved, it was their opinion that the earl of Strafford did deserve to
undergo the pains and penalties of high treason by law. The judges,
indeed, had incurred the resentment of the commons by their decision
Avith regard to ship-money; and it is probable that a fear of the lower
house had disposed them in some degree toward this conclusion : — that
displeasure of the crown, which had too often proved sufficient to move
those functionaries from their integrity, being at this juncture a much
less formidable matter than the displeasure of the commons. But they
judged of treason by the notions of their times ; and so much weight was
attached by all parties to their decision in this case, that it may be said,
to have contributed more than any other circumstance to the death of
Strafford. While the accusation was pending in the lords, Charles presented
himself to the house, and commanding the attendance of the commons,
declared that to condemn the earl of high treason was an act with which
his conscience Would never allow him to concur ; but that with almost
any course of proceeding short of that extremity he was willing to com-

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 339
ply. The commons complained loudly of this interference with a mea
sure still before parliament, as a breach of privilege ; and the greatest
alarm was manifested, both by the popular leaders and the people
generally, lest some mitigated sentence should be passed, which might
possibly be followed, on the first cessation of parliament, by a return of
the great delinquent to power *.
It was under the influence of such fears that the commons had just
now altered their course of proceeding from a regular impeachment,
which required the lords to judge of the guilt or innocence of the accused
by the strict rules of law, to a bill of attainder, which called upon them
to determine that question without regard to the artificial difficulties
which the legal mode of proceeding might present, by adopting a
species of enactment for the purpose, in virtue of their high authority as
at once the supreme legislature and judicature of the land. The pa
triots were particularly careful to affirm that this change had not been
resorted to because the crime of treason had not been proved, but
because the mode of proceeding was more simple and summary than the
former, and supported by the clearest precedents.
Nor was it without reason that the commons looked upon the delays
which attended this measure as pregnant with danger. Charles had
privately assured the prisoner, more than once, that his life should be
spared ; and, in pursuance of this promise, had approved of plans de
vised to effect bis escape from the Tower. He had also assented to the
project of parties who proposed to excite a jealousy of the Scots among
the English soldiers in Yorkshire, and by marching the latter to London,
to intimidate the parliament, and restore the royalists to their ascen
dency. Both these schemes had been attempted ; and both had become
known to the leaders of the commons, and had been frustrated by their
vigilance and promptitude, before the houses Avere called to listen to the
speech of the monarch which told them that he could never be con
senting to the death of the accused minister f.
This assurance Avas addressed to the two houses on Saturday, the 1st
of May ; and so great was the popular excitement during the ensuing
week, that the removal of Strafford seemed to be as much the demand
of the capital and the nation, as of the house of commons ; and on the
following Saturday it was voted by the lords, upon a division of tAventy-
seven against nineteen, that the prisoner deserved to undergo the pains
and forfeitures of treason. About eighty peers had attended the pre
vious trial J.
* This was the reason stated by Essex to Clarendon as that which determined
the commons to be satisfied with nothing short of capital punishment. Hist. i. 242.
t Rushworth, iv. 238, 252—257. May, 65, 66. Dalrymple's Memorials, ii. 1 14,
119. Whitelocke, 43, 44. Nelson, ii. 272. The Tower happened to be in the
hands of Balfour, a covenanter, Avhom no bribe could affect.
X On the Monday morning, " a rabble of about six thousand out of the city
came thronging down to Westminster Avith swords, cudgels, and staves, crying out
for justice against the earl of Strafford. This multitude Avas very rude to some of
the lords, and they posted up at Westminster the names of all those members of the
z2

340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
The assent of the monarch was immediately solicited in the name of
both houses ; and Charles promised that his answer should be given on
Monday. During the whole of the Sunday which intervened his distress
was extreme. He consulted the judges on the law of the case, and the
prelates on the matter as it affected his conscience ; of the latter, one
only, bishop Juxon, advised that he should obey his conscience, and be
no party to a punishment which he did not believe to have been deserved.
But at the close of the day the king listened to those who spoke of the
evils which his refusal might bring upon his family and his people, and
sealed the fate of his minister by placing the royal signature to the
instrument for his execution.
But that act brought the king no tranquillity. On the following
Tuesday he sent a letter to the lords by the hands of the young prince
of Wales, still urging, that the tAvo houses would be satisfied with the
penalty of perpetual imprisonment in the place of death. But the next
morning had been already fixed for the earl's execution ; and even a
reprieve until Saturday was not to be granted. On that morning, more
Ma 12 than a hundred thousand persons assembled in the neigh
bourhood of Tower Hill : they witnessed the proceedings
with respectful silence, and Strafford conducted himself with his wonted
dignity to the last; but in the evening bonfires were kindled, and the
whole city was a scene of rejoicing*.
In the course of his trial Strafford employed much forcible reasoning
in support of his claim to be dealt with according to the course of
justice as prescribed by the law ; and he also made his appeal on that
ground to some of the best affections of the heart with great eloquence
and apparent feeling. We have not dwelt upon these incidents; and
we have not done so, because, although Ave would not in anywise affirm
that the grossest violation of the law should be allowed to deprive
an offender of the utmost protection to be derived from them, yet the
defence made by Strafford shows him to have been capable of taking so
just and so enlarged a view of the principles of law and liberty, that Ave
have never been able to regard it in any other light than as a singular
aggravation of his general delinquency. No man in that meeting of
the great minds of a great nation, could expose more clearly the evil of
allowing the fortunes of subjects to depend on any power apart from
house of commons who had voted for the earl, and called them ' Straffordians.''" This
was brought before the house by some whose names were in that list, as a high breach
of privilege ; but nothing was done in it, as being the act of a multitude. White-
locke, 43.
* Strafford, on learning that the majority of the lords had passed the bill of
attainder, wrote to the king, releasing him from his promise, and urging that his
life might not be suffered to occasion the want of affection between the king and
his people ; but when the news that Charles had really consented to his death was
communicated to him, the earl raised his eyes in astonishment, and laying his hand
on his heart, exclaimed, " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, for
in them there is no salvation." Whitelocke, 44. Warwick's Memoirs, 176 — 180.
Rushworth, iv. 267—269 ; viii. 761.

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 341
the supreme authority of the laAV ; but while he thus spoke, he kneAv
full well that no other man had done so much, and, for a time, Avith
the greatest confidence of success, towards depriving a Avhole people of
that regular and defined justice which they had received by enactment
from the generations of their fathers, and toward substituting the caprice
of a single will in its place.
Strafford was charged with having spoken certain words which were
interpreted as treasonable. " Shall Avords," he replied, " spoken by
way of argument, in common discourse between man and man, when
nothing has been done upon them — shall such bare words be brought
against a man, and charged on him as high treason ? God forbid that
we should ever live to see such an example in this kingdom. If words
spoken to friends in familiar discourse, spoken in one's chamber, spoken
at one's table, spoken in one's sick bed, spoken, perhaps, to gain clearer
light and judgment by reasoning — if these can be brought against a man
as treason, all intercourse, all confidence, all the comfort of human
society are destroyed. Henceforth, let no man venture to impart his
solitary thoughts to his friend or neighbour!" This is not more elo
quent than just. But who does not know that this exact species of
political injustice, at which the prisoner seemed to stand aghast, had
been carried to its utmost limit in his own conduct toward the earl of
Mountnorris? It Avas this which provoked St. John to say, that" He
Avho would not allow others to have law, ought not to have any him
self;" — a sentiment exceedingly to be reprobated, though less liable to
censure, on account of the circumstances mentioned, than it would other
wise have been.
With respect to the justice of the sentence executed upon Strafford,
our views relating to it will depend on the conclusions observations
we may adopt on two questions : — first, whether upon on his case.
very rare emergencies a state may not justly pass a retro
spective act to visit an offender with the punishment which it deems
him to have merited ; and secondly, whether the case of Strafford
was one calling for this extraordinary expedient? Those who take
the negative of the first of these questions do so on the ground that
no action should be treated as punishable which some law has not
previously defined to be an offence; aud that this, which should be
the case in all instances, should be so especially in cases of treason,
the penalty there being so severe. All punishment, it is added, is
inflicted as a warning ; but warning there cannot be where it is inflicted
by an act which itself determines the guilt of the offender. But to the
first of these objections it is replied, that applicable as such reasoning
is to proceedings in the ordinary courts of law, it is not to be applied
with the same strictness to the judicial conduct of the whole legislature,
the decisions of that power being in all such cases peculiar to itself,
and such as can never become a precedent elsewhere.

342 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VI.
With regard to the objection from the alleged want of warning,
which, in fact, is included in the preceding, if it be admitted that the
first sufferer by a process of this nature may not have had all that
warning which usually precedes the offence, this cannot be said when a
precedent of this highly admonitory character has once been established.
The first favourite or minister called to his account by this great act of
the legislature, is set up as a beacon before all of his class who after
wards may be disposed to tread in his steps. It is very important that
men who have so much power of good and evil at their bidding, should
be made aware, that to wrong their country, though Avith a scrupulous
observance of the forms of law, is conduct which that country may be
found to have the means of punishing without regard to those forms, by
thus assuming to itself its primitive functions, its original power and
independence. Nor is it correct to say that warning is the only end of punishment.
The preservation of society from evils deemed inevitable without it is
not to be overlooked. The form of proceeding by a bill of pains and,
penalties, resorted to in particular cases, even in seasons of comparative
tranquillity, is the same in its principle with an act of attainder; and
objectionable as measures of this sort have almost always been, espe
cially in later times, since the powers of parliament, and the whole
province of the law and of its administration, have become so much
more definite and effectual, yet few will hesitate to admit, that in our
earlier history much less danger was to be apprehended from the con
duct of parliament when exercising its high arbitrative jurisdiction in
such cases, irrespective of the strict forms of law, than there would have
been in its stretching the acknowledged statutes of the realm beyond
their due compass for the purpose of making them include such cases ;
— an evil course, be it remembered, which every victim of a state pro
secution in our previous history had reason to expect.
In the case of Strafford this course was chosen for the manifest pur
pose of visiting him with capital punishment. Was this extreme course
really necessary ? It is thought by many that his degradation from his
ill-acquired rank, and his perpetual imprisonment or exile, would have
been sufficient to protect the affairs of the country from being in the
smallest degree influenced by him in future, and that this extent of
punishment, to which the king would have assented, and which the lords
Avould have awarded almost unanimously, would have furnished an
example of retribution sufficiently instructive and memorable. And it
is perhaps to be regretted that the commons should have shown them
selves so much indisposed to this more moderate policy. Looking back
to that period, aware as Ave now are, not only of the great unpopularity
of the prisoner everywhere, but of the very uncertain footing on which
he stood at court, and of the little hold which he really possessed on the
esteem or affection of the monarch, we may feel satisfied that this course
might have been pursued with safety.

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 343
But the men who lived amid the rumours, the agitations, and the real
dangers of that season, must not be regarded as capable of looking on
those things with the calmness of distant spectators. They could not
place confidence in any promise from the king ; they knew that in his
tory, favourites and ministers, thrust from the royal presence to-day, had
sometimes returned on the morrow, to scorn and tread down the enemies
of their ascendency; and when they remembered also the long time
through which they had seen bad ministers retain their power, at one
period in the face of all the remonstrances which parliaments could pre
sent, and again in heedlessness of the complaints which arose from an
injured people who were denied their parliaments, they appear to have
concluded, and with a confidence which nothing could move, that their
liberties would never be secure until some terrible example should be
given of the fate which the instruments of arbitrary power might in
future expect; and among all living men, no one was deemed so justly
deserving of this bad eminence as the earl of Strafford.
Nor were his prosecutors ignorant, that with his party this severity
Avould raise him to a species of martyrdom — that many who were by no
means his admirers were not disposed to proceed so far — and that a
sympathy with his fate, which would not otherwise exist, might thus be
excited among the men of that time, and of later times. But these
considerations were all outweighed by the recollections which placed the
delinquent before them as the betrayer of the liberties of his country, as
vested with the pomp of rank and office in return for that betrayal, and
as employing the powers of his high station to subdue a free people by the
force of terror, and to gratify his imperious and selfish passions by sub
jecting the living and the unborn to the humiliations and the wrongs of
servitude. It was when the conduct of Strafford was thus viewed, that
the heart of these men, still hardly conscious of their escape from the
fangs which had been upon them, seemed to lose all pity, and to call,
as with the indignation of natural instinct, for an infliction of the heaviest
penalties ever resorted to in defence of social order, as alone proportioned
to the guilt of such high acts of treason against it. Men who are bold
enough to place themselves in the path of these revulsions from injured
humanity, have their standing in slippery places ; and their fall, even
when their blood flows upon the scaffold, is an act of retribution which
the voice of religion and of all nations has approved as just and holy.
We would not be held responsible for everything said or done by the
prosecutors of Strafford, though most of the censures passed on the
manner in which their process was conducted are founded very much in
ignorance of the law and the practice of those times *. But still less
* Thus it is alleged, that in cases of treason the laAv required the evidence of
two Avitnesses, and that rule ivas departed from in the case of Strafford ; but it is
certain the judges had often declared the contrary to be laAv ; nor is it easy to find
a single instance in which the benefit of that rule had been allowed to such offenders.
It is also matter of complaint that Strafford's counsel should have been allowed to

344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
would we mean to join with those who, beside complaining of the haste
and severity too much observable in the temper of the commons, de
nounce their object as being revenge rather than justice, describing them
as more concerned for the strength of their party than for the good of
their country. It would perhaps have been wiser to have been content
with a mitigated penalty ; but their proceeding further, all things con
sidered, was neither unnatural nor unjust. The children of the sufferer
were losers both of the rank and property of their parent by the act of
attainder, — but these were reserved to them by a bill passed immediately
for the purpose, an instance of lenity shown in such a case for the first
time in our history *.

Chapter "VII.

Character of proceedings in the Long Parliament from this period — King's visit to
Scotland — Massacre in Ireland — The Incident — Affairs of England during the
King's absence — Schism among the Parliamentary Leaders — The King enter
tained by the Citizens — Alarm of the Patriots — Remonstrance of the Commons
— Distrust of the King — Impeachment of the Bishops — Impeachment of the Five
Members — The King enters the House to apprehend them — Triumph of the
Parliament— Claim respecting the Militia — Attempt of Charles on Hull — The
Nineteen Propositions — Petitions to the Parliament — Conduct of the Queen-
Insincere declarations of the King — Siege of Portsmouth — The Royal Standard
raised at Nottingham — Justice of the Civil War considered.
We have now arrived at that point in the history of the Long Parliament
Character of Vl^aen its proceedings begin to be of a mixed character ;
proceedings in not often, indeed, so censurable as its enemies represent,
the Long Par- ^u(. ^QQ freqUently of a complexion not to be justified
liament from . l J . r J
this period. without conceding much in favour of its leaders on
account of the circumstances in which they were placed.
The fate of Strafford not only tried the strength of the tAvo great parties,
but certainly drew the patriots close upon the line which separates be
tween the lawful and the forbidden ground. In the judgment of their
opponents, the object of the popular leaders on that occasion was not
accomplished without passing the sacred boundary ; and it is certain
that two evils, which became the parents of many more, were consequent
upon their success: — the king became more difficult to reconcile, on
account of the necessity which was thus laid upon him to become acces
sory to the death of a servant of the crown whom he did not believe to
be worthy of death ; and, at the same time, the great patriotic party,
speak to points of laAV only : but the fact seems to be generally overlooked, that it
was not until after the trial of Middlesex in 1624, that the aid of counsel at all was
permitted to persons on their trial upon such charges.
* Rushworth, iv. 284. The eighth volume of Rnshworth's collections is wholly
occupied with the trial of Strafford, and should be compared Avith the account given
in the third volume of the State Trials.

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 345
which had been upon the whole agreed in their estimate of the past, and
with regard to the measures necessary for the future, began to show
signs of discord.
These indications of disunion Avere magnified in the eyes of the court
and of the monarch ; and by exciting hopes in that quarter, in a great
degree ill-founded, led to acts, both of intrigue and violence, which
served to remove the prospect of a tranquil settlement of affairs to a
greater distance than^ever. It is admitted that there were instances in
the conduct of the Long Parliament from this period, Avhich discovered
that its most patriotic members Avere capable of exercising the power
that had fallen to them with somewhat of the irregularity which had
been chargeable on the crown as its great delinquency ; but along with
this concession we must not overlook the unusual posture of affairs Avhich
Avas viewed as making those acts just or indispensable ; nor can we forget,
that to the actors themselves England is indebted for that acquaintance
with the principles of freedom, and that high estimate of their worth,
by which it has been distinguished, and without which the most ad
mirable constitution that philanthropic wisdom could devise must prove
altogether valueless.
The death of Strafford Avas followed by the king's visit to Scotland,
where the monarch gave his sanction to various measures The kind's
which seemed to promise the return of tranquillity to that visit to bcot-
country. But it was during the period of this visit that an '
much alarm was diffused through both kingdoms by the massacre of
the protestants in Ireland, and by a court intrigue in Scotland, known
by the name of the " Incident."
In the commotions which had spread through Scotland and great part
of England, there had been little devastation, and a careful
avoidance of all unnecessary bloodshed. But the insur- Massacre in
rection in Ireland was altogether of another character. It re an '
had been provoked principally by the tyranny of Strafford, raging most
in those quarters where his rapacity had been chiefly exercised; but
must also be traced to those laws against the catholic worship, any re
laxation of which was more strongly opposed by the majority of the
protestant settlers than by the viceroy. The property of the English
was everywhere destroyed or borne away. In Ulster the massacre
was perpetrated without respect to age or sex, and often by a death
of the most studied torture. Husbands and wives, parents and children,
the infant and the man of gray hairs, Avere laid prostrate together. Those
who surrendered perished, and those who resisted Avere often beguiled
into submission by the most perfidious promises ; while some were in
duced to destroy their nearest connexions as the price of their own
escape, and then Avere themselves immediately numbered with the vic
tims. Some were buried alive, hundreds were drowned, and many
were consumed with the flames of their habitations. The women were

346 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
more ferocious than the men— such was the effect of the superstitious
madness that raged ; and so contagious was it, that even children were
found to thirst for the blood of children. The only protestants who
proved capable of acting with sufficient promptitude and concert to
protect themselves against the savage hordes Avho traversed the coun
try, were the Scots, who fled to the places of strength in Ulster. The
number of the murdered was said by some catholic writers to have been
two hundred thousand, and the accounts vary from that amount to
less than four thousand. Clarendon, Avhose means of information were
of the best kind, and whose inclinations in this case would not lead
him to exaggerate, fixes the number at forty thousand.
It was well known that Charles had hoped to control his opponents
in the English parliament by means of the army which Strafford left in
Ireland, and that with a view to this object, an active correspondence
had been maintained with those who were either parties to these out
rages, or should have prevented them. The insurgents everywhere
gave out that they acted by the royal authority, the destruction of the
puritans being as necessary to their own religious liberty, as to the free
dom and power of the crown. The court at the same time manifested
every disposition to throw discredit on the reports of these excesses :
the jealousies of the king retarded the measures necessary for sending
the required assistance; and the monarch who had not been slow to
denounce the Scots as traitors when they appeared in arms, discovered
much reluctance to do so in the case of the authors of such atrocities in
Ireland *-
With this event, which served from these circumstances to increase
the popular distrust of the king, the " Incident" was Con
ine i inci- nected, which embraced some mysterious occurrences
tending to excite still further suspicion. In the recent
proceedings of the Scottish parliament, Hamilton had divided the popu
larity of its measures with Argyle, but had fallen in the esteem of his
sovereign as he had risen in that of the people. These noblemen were
informed that a plot had been laid for their destruction : — it was, that on
going to court that evening, they were to be arrested as traitors, and
sent prisoners to a vessel in the roads ; or be assassinated, if resistance
were made. They remained at home after nightfall instead of going
to the conference at court, and adopted means to protect themselves
against any attack that might be made upon them. The night passed
in quietness; but their alarm the next day was much increased on
learning that the king had gone to the parliament with the unusual
retinue of five hundred armed men. That no tumult might ensue from
any fray between the king's attendants and their own followers, who
* Rushworth, iv. 398 — 563, passim. Temple's History. May, 81— 87. Carte's
Life of Ormond, i. 244 et seq, ; iii. 49 et seq. Clarendon, Hist, ii, 19 — 23.
Hutchinson's Mem. i., ubi supra.

A. D. 1641.] CHARLES 1. 341
were highly irritated, both retired to Kinneal, a seat of Hamilton's
brother. The king complained of rumours injurious to his character,
which this retirement of the noblemen must serve to strengthen, and an
investigation was appointed.
It appeared that the plot was not altogether imaginary. The earl
of Montrose, whose jealousy of Lesley, Argyle, and Hamilton, led to his
defection from the band of the covenanters, had been cast into prison on
account of his detected intrigues against his former friends. When
Charles came to Scotland, Montrose contrived to communicate to him
his accusations against Argyle and Hamilton, declaring that he had
been acquainted with particulars respecting both from the beginning of
the rebellion, which very nearly affected " the footing of his crown,"
which particulars he was prepared to prove before parliament ; but sug
gested that the removal of both by assassination, a work which he was
himself willing to accomplish, would be the most expedient mode of
procedure. How far Charles proceeded in this affair is uncertain ; that
he intended the arrest of Argyle and Hamilton is unquestionable; aiid
it is hardly doubtful that he hoped, by means of the information to be
obtained from Montrose, to be able to convict, not only certain nobles
in Scotland, but some of their powerful confederates in England, of trea
sonable correspondence *.
And while these occurrences in Ireland and Scotland afforded new
grounds for suspicion to the popular party in the . ff . _ .
English parliament, the course of affairs in this country England dur-
was not such in all respects as to strengthen their con- ing the absence
fidence with regard to the success of their plans, nor even
as to their personal safety. While the issue of the proceedings against
Strafford was undetermined, it had been recommended, as the only
means of saving the life of that minister, that Charles should consent
to receive some of the popular leaders to his councils ; and the monarch,
after rejecting the proposal in the first instance with disdain, conde
scended at length to listen to it, and negotiations were accordingly com
menced. But the sudden death of the duke of Bedford, and some other
circumstances, prevented the adoption of this expedient at that juncture ;
and during the interval from the death of Strafford to the return of the
king from Scotland, the course of things tended rather to embarrass
than accelerate the accomplishment of the objects contemplated by the
patriots f.
The great power of the commons, which the late changes had ren
dered so evident, began to produce both envy and alarm among a con-
* Burnet's Memoirs, 186. Baillie's Letters, i. 330 ; ii. 299. Hardwicke Papers,
ii. 299— 303. Clarendon, Hist. ii. 16— 19. App. A.
f Clarendon, Hist. i. 445, 446. In virtue of the above arrangement, St. John,
the most relentless enemy of Strafford, was appointed to the office of attorney-
general, and acted in that capacity. The earl of Essex also became lord cham
berlain.

348: history of England. [ch. vii.
siderable party in the upper house ; and it became the resolve of that
Schism among Partv> an^ °f a formidable body among the commons
the parlia- themselves, to oppose any further concessions from the
mentary throne. Charles not only watched this new feeling with
leaders. , . , , ; .
much interest, but made his private overtures to some con
siderable persons who shared in it, particularly Colepeper, Falkland,
Hyde, Essex, and Digby, for the purpose of detaching them more com
pletely from their former associates. While this schism was spreading
among the parliamentary leaders, there were circumstances Avhich con
curred to diminish the authority of that assembly with the wiser portion
of the people. The religious feeling of the populace began to assume
a licence which shocked the more sober spirits of both houses ; nor was
it deemed prudent to attempt placing it under any severe restraint.
The historian of the Long Parliament relates, that the people not unfre
quently applied themselves to the work of reformation without authority,
order, or decency : rudely disturbing the church service during the read
ing of the common prayer, and destroying books, surplices, and such
things. Added to which Avere the daily reports of religious meetings,
where the preachers were tradesmen and illiterate persons of the lowest
rank ; and as the leading clergy had been much busied of late in laying
taxes on the commodities of these tradesmen, this invasion of their own
sacred, but much-neglected province, by dealers in leather and soap,
was adverted to by many as an amusing process of retaliation. The
same writer remarks, that the patriots, by charging the king with an
inclination towards popery which could not be proved, had taught many
to distrust them when intimating their belief of his unfriendliness to
the liberties of the country, so that the cry against popery, while it
gained adherents among the populace, created opponents among the
more reflecting *.
On the king's arrival in London, another circumstance occurred
The king eii- wn'cft tended to raise the hopes of the monarch, and to
tertained by excite the fears of the patriots. As Charles approached
NoV og6118' tne metropolis, he was met by the mayor, the sheriffs,
and many of the most considerable citizens in procession ;
and after dining publicly at the Guildhall, he retired amidst the accla
mations of the people. This event was hailed by the court party with
manifest 'delight, and it was given out very assiduously, that the city
had become weary of the dilatory proceedings of the parliament, and
would be found ready to join the king in putting an end to it. This
report, indeed, was not well founded, but, accompanied by some appear
ance of truth, it Avas not circulated in vain f.
* Clarendon's Life, i. 82 et seq. May, Hist. 75—78. Whitelocke, 46. Baillie.
i. 246,247- f May, Hist. 88. Clarendon's Hist. ii. 62, 63. Rushworth, iv. 429—431,

A. D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 349
Whatever bespoke the returning poAver of the king gave neAv strength
to the apprehensions of the men avIio had incurred his dis- ., „ ,
_,,,,, ¦,11,. ¦ Alarm of the
pleasure. Charles had noAV yielded for some time to the popular party.
stream, but it had not been Avithout visible reluctance;
and feAv men could doubt, that were he possessed of the power, he would
not be at a loss for the casuistry, with which to undo at pleasure what
ever he had done under constraint*. Through this reign and the last,
the men who exposed themselves to the displeasure of the government
by their conduct in parliament, had been called almost uniformly to
suffer from the resentment of the court as soon as the houses were dis
solved ; and the present leaders of the commons were sincerely appre
hensive that the hand of no common oppression might descend upon
them if suddenly reduced to their private capacity. One of the last acts
of Charles before going to Scotland was to sanction a second project
for bringing the army to London to overawe the parliament f.
This fear of the consequences which might be found attendant on a
sudden dissolution, had led the parliament to introduce a bill which, in
three days, placed it in a state equally independent of the crown and
of the people, by declaring that it should not be dissolved without its
own consent. This bill AA'as passed amidst the excitements which
attended the condemnation and execution of Strafford. That there was
neither law nor precedent to be urged in its favour is unquestionable;
and how far the circumstances which were pleaded as requiring it were
such as to justify the adoption of it, is a point which will be variously
judged. But it was certainly an act which placed the parliament before
the king as governed by men Avho were sensible of having gone too far
to recede, except upon terms Avhich they might deem sufficient for their
safety, and who were resolved that the energy which had recovered
their rights, should not be wanting in the effort to defend them.
It was to strengthen the security derived from this measure by pre
venting any dangerous reaction in the public mind, that
the. commons prepared the memorable Remonstrance Avhich Remonstrance
l ii ,1- -nil0' tue Pal'-
they presented to the monarch on his return to England, liament.
The purport of this address was to set forth the many
evils Avhich had resulted from bad government ever since the king's
accession, together with such remedies as had been, or remained still
to be applied. Charles could not fail to see from this paper, that a
resolution had been- formed by the popular party in the commons to
leave no matter that might affect the vital liberties of the kingdom
* Clarendon, ii. 251.252; where it appears, that according to the reasoning
which prevailed at court, Avhatever had been procured from the king by force was
(( in itself null."
f Husband's Collections : examinations of Legge, Ashley, Coniers, &c. &c.
Clarendon, Hist. i. 264 — 275. Clarendon endeavours to soften some of the most
considerable matters of this plot, but admits enough to show that the alarm and
complaints of the popular party Avere not without foundation.

350 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
subject to his immediate control. Its discussion called forth one of the
most ardent and protracted debates in the history of parliament ; and
the difference of judgment which existed in that assembly with respect
to it, still exists. What the one party described as necessary to con
vince the king of the great inexpediency and injustice of the policy
which his ministers had pursued, and so to bring him back to better
courses, was denounced by the other as only tending to irritate his
already wounded feelings, and to lower his reputation both at home and
abroad. The remonstrance was at length carried, but it was by nine
votes only. Thus sanctioned, it was printed under the direction of the
house, and was extensively circulated *.
There had been so many instances of duplicity and intrigue in the
conduct of the monarch, while many of his actions, from
Distrust of the mystery which attached to them, supplied so Avide a
field for conjecture and alarm; and so many also were the
rumours of change and retribution which proceeded almost daily from
the court, and even from the chamber of royalty, that if the patriots
meant to be safe themselves, or that men treading in their steps should
be safe, it behoved them not only to retain the most jealous hold on what
they had gained, but to guard those acquisitions, if possible, with yet
stronger securities. But from these causes it happened, that in the
effort to provide against dangers arising from the personal character of
the existing sovereign, the permanent claims of the monarchy, as a
branch of the constitution, were almost overlooked. Hence arose the
claim, so deeply offensive to the king, respecting the command of the
forces. This power had been hitherto vested in the crown ; it was now
urged that it should be placed in the hands of the parliament f.
It was soon after the king's return from Scotland that the bishops
sent a paper to the upper house, stating, that in conse-
of the bishops, quence of the violence with which they had been threat
ened by the populace, it would be at the hazard of their
* See the paper in Rushworth, iv. 438 — 451 ; and the answer to it by Clarendon,
Life of Clarendon, i. 85 — 87. So far were the popular leaders from regarding
their position as placing them beyond any danger from the resentment of the king
at this moment, that on the conclusion of this debate, Cromwell assured Falkland
that he Avould have sold all and left the kingdom had not the remonstrance been
carried. Ibid, ubi supra.
| Rushworth, iv. 516. Clarendon, Hist. ii. 76 — 80. About this time lord Falk
land accepted the office of secretary of state, and sir John Colepeper that of chan
cellor of the exchequer. Hyde and Digby were already viewed as lost to the popular
cause. Ibid. 93 — 99, But the apprehension with which these secessions were
vieAved, Avas someAvhat checked by the confidence still reposed in the character of
Falkland, and was much less than was excited by the conduct of the king in re
moving Balfour from the office of lieutenant of the Tower, to make Avay for Luns-
ford, a man regarded by the parliament as capable of any act of hostility against
them, and placed there for the undoubted purpose of employing his authority " as
a bridle on the city." Ibid. 80 — 82, 122, 123. Clarendon, in giving up the cha
racter of Lunsford, puts the blame of his appointment on Digby, as being the only
person about the king to whom he was known ; but Digby states that he had
never exchanged twenty Avords with him. Nalson, ii. 865.

A.D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 351
lives to attempt to occupy their place in parliament, and concluding with
a protest against the transaction of any business during their absence.
The bishops were hardly more acceptable to the commons than to the
mobs of the metropolis, and this somewhat pardonable show of autho
rity Avas immediately seized by their enemies as a ground for the most
solemn proceedings against them. It no sooner came before the lower
house than the doors were closed. It was then argued that the prelates
might choose to attend in their place or not to attend ; but that to rest
the validity of proceedings in parliament on the fact of their being parties
to them, was, in fact, to make the existence of a legislature dependent
on their pleasure. On this ground the" conduct of the bishops was
voted to be an assumption of kingly power, and they were forthwith
impeached of high treason. Those who were prepared to apologize for
their conduct were dismissed ; but the greater number were given in
charge to the usher of the black rod, and some were committed to the
Tower. To save the bishops as an order in the church, Charles was at
length obliged to give his assent to a bill which excluded them from
their ancient connexion with the parliament of the realm ; but this was
among his latest acts before appealing to the sword*.
Four days only had passed since the impeachment of the bishops,
when the king determined to show that he could be as impeachment
fearless as the commons in support of his plans. It was of the five
rumoured, we are told, that the commons meant to im- mem ers"
peach the queen ; and this report operating, it is said, on the fears or
the resentment of Charles, contributed to the adoption of a measure
which became the topic of much lamentation with his friends, and of
loud complaint with his enemies. The attorney-general was instructed
to present himself at the bar of the upper house, and to prefer the charge
of high treason against lord Kimbolton, Pym, Hampden, Hollis, Haselrig,
and Stroud, all Avell-knoAvn opponents of the court, and men who had
been so far observant of events as not to be greatly surprised at this pro
ceeding. The only article in the charge brought against them, to which
any legal importance could be attached, was that which referred to their
correspondence with the Scots in their recent invasion of the kingdom.
But a little sense of honour should have taught the king, that supposing
this part of the accusation presented by his attorney to have been well
founded, every such offence had been covered by his own act of oblivion.
The lords, instead of immediately committing the persons accused,
appointed a committee to search for precedents. The case of those
persons, indeed, did not belong to the peers, but to the courts of law.
Charles, however, was in no temper to brook delay, and he instantly
* Clarendon, Hist. ii. 113 — 121. Charles Avas influenced in giving his assent to
this measure by Colepeper and the queen, who saw no other means of rejecting
the claim of the commons with respect to the militia. Clarendon's Life, i, 98 —
100.

352 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
dispatched the serjeant-at-arms to the commons to take the parties im
peached into custody. The house resisted, and answered, that the
point was one requiring deliberation, but that the due appearance of
the five members might be relied upon.
The couduct of the king in proceeding even thus far on the grounds
The Kin Y'hich lie alleSed> was frauSht with material danger to his
comes to die objects, if not attended with signal success ; but such was
house to seize the judgment Avhich Charles had formed of the reaction
which was said to have taken place among the people, that
on the following morning he proceeded to the house, followed by three,
some say five hundred armed men *. The men remained at the door,
which was left open, but the king, attended by his nephew, the prince
elector, entered. The monarch ascended the steps by the speaker's
chair, and having glanced round the house in search of the persons
impeached without discovering them, he inquired of the speaker if they
were present. That officer discovered a presence of mind suited to the
occasion : falling upon his knees before the king, he replied, " I have,
sir, neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, in this place, but as the
house is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am. And I humbly ask
pardon, that I cannot give any other answer to what your majesty is
pleased to demand of me." Charles expressed his regret that " the
birds had flown," and informed the house, that he intended proceeding
in this affair according to law, adding, that in cases of treason their
place there could afford them no privilege. Such a scene the history
of parliament had never exhibited. The ominous silence with which
the speech of the sovereign was heard, was broken by the yet more
ominous sound of " PriA'ilege ! privilege !" which rose into loud mur
murs as he returned towards the door.
This act was the first of an intended series by which the king hoped
to crush the poAver of the parliament. It was a failure, and all fail
ures are spoken of as unwise ; but its success was regarded as highly
probable, and certainly there was enough in the fluctuation which
marked the popular feeling, and in the altered state of parties in the two
houses, to make such an issue by no means impossible. Only three days
before the king brought his three hundred armed men to the doors of
the lower house, a guard had been solicited from him to protect it against
" the insolence and menacing" of its enemies, and solicited in vain •(-.
* This force consisted of the king's usual attendants, and principally of officers
who had served in the army recently disbanded. These persons, while waiting
without, indulged in expressions which showed, that had the five members been
present, any resistance by the members for their protection would have been fol
lowed by a general conflict ! " Pox take the house of commons !" was the language
of some of these worthies ; " let them come and be hanged — what an ado is here
with the house of commons !" The question, " When comes the Avord?" passed
from one to another ; and Avhen asked, during the investigation of this business,
what that question meant, the answer was, that had the word been given, " they
should certainly have fallen upon the house." Rushworth, iv. 484 — 486.
t Clarendon, Hist. ii. 124 — 129. Rushworth, iv. 473— 479. May, Hist. 90, 91

A.D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 353
During the following week parliament was adjourned, and much was
done to render the failure of the monarch in this bold enter-
prize subservient to the popular cause. Before the ad- ^n™^a.°
journment, the two houses had been frequently surrounded by ment.
mobs, who sought to intimidate the opponents of their favou
rite objects by their numbers and their shouts. Armed men also had
paraded the streets, some professing to be the protectors of the courtiers,
and others of the parliament ; and these, as they met, had proceeded to
blows, and sometimes to bloodshed. A large body of the students from
the inns of court offered themselves as a guard to the royal family, and
were kindly received by the king and queen *. But after the attempt to
seize the five members, the apparent balance of parties, which had
prompted the king to hazard that exercise of his power, ceased to
exist. On the day when the parliament re-assembled, the impeached
members were seen passing toward Westminster in boats, attended by
two thousand seamen bearing arms, and by select companies from the
train bands, who brought several pieces of cannon along either side of
the river. Hampden, on landing with his colleagues, Avas greeted with
the cheers offour thousand horsemen from Buckinghamshire; — who chose
this mode of testifying their confidence in the political integrity of their
representative. The shouts of the populace, which had been no novel
sound of late, were animated on this occasion by the peals of martial
music, but the letting off of fire arms was prohibited. The humiliation
of royalty, indeed, seemed to be complete. But from so great a discomfi
ture it was not difficult to augur some return of feeling in its favour.
Charles avoided the spectacle and rejoicings of that day by shutting him
self up at Hampton-courtf.
The contradictory language of Clarendon on this subject justifies the conclusion
that he looked on the conduct of the king rather as a failure than a weakness.
Had the members been arrested, and decidedly dealt with as prisoners, " the high
spirit of both houses," he remarks, " might possibly have been so dejected, that
they might have been treated with." Even their assassination "might have had a
wonderful effect," a course of proceeding said to have been recommended by Digby.
ii. 390, 391.
* Clarendon, Hist. II. 86—93. In these frays originated the terms roundhead
and cavalier, — " they who were looked upon as servants to the king being then
called cavaliers, and the other of the rabble contemned and despised under the
name of roundheads," Ibid. The latter were so called from their short hair, long
hair being confined to persons of some fashion and condition. Charles went into
the city the day after his attempt to seize the members, professedly to search for
them, but really to do Avhat was possible toAvard allaying the fears and indignation
which his conduct had excited. His condescensions failed to conciliate. As he
passed through the streets, some of the people cried aloud, " Privilege of parlia
ment ! " and one man threw a paper in the royal carriage, with the following
words written on it : " To your tents, O Israel ! " language Avhich was interpreted
as that of open rebellion. The man Avas committed and prosecuted. Charles is
described as overwhelmed Avith sorrow on account of this proceeding— (Hume, ubi
supra) — but it is certain, that the few signs of sorrow discovered by him had respect
to this result, and not to the measure itself. Ibid. 131. May. Hist. 93, 94.
f Rushworth, IV. 483, 484. Nalsou's Collections, II. 830—832. To show hoAv
willing the parliament was to make the most ill-founded rumours the ground of
tyrannical proceedings, Mr. Hume remarks, that " Lord Digby having entered King.
2 A

354 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII;
But the two great parties continued to exercise their utmost vigilance,
each in the hope of counteracting the policy of the other. The spies of the
king still apprized him of the proceedings in the different committees of
the commons; and the patriots, in their turn, contrived to acquaint them
selves with the most secret purposes of the sovereign*.
Charles, aware of the narrow limits to which his power was now
reduced, proposed to drop the prosecution which he had commenced,
and to extend a general pardon to the impeached members. But his op
ponents replied, that pardon supposed guilt, which in the present case did
not existt- The king could do no wrong ; and was not in consequence
personally liable to any censure on account of his late infringement of
the liberties of parliament ; but if that step was taken by the advice of
others, the authors of that advice were not thus exempt from responsi
bility, and the names of those advisers were for this reason demanded.
But the king refused to mention his councillors in that act, and it is pro
bable that whatever blame attached to it belonged properly to himself J.
The great demand of the parliament at this moment was one which
had been previously urged, but one which it could not be
narHame t to expected that the kingwould entertain, unlessunder the con-
have command troulof some hard necessity. It was, that the command of the
Tf tue)militla- army and navy, and the possession of the forts of the king
dom, should be entrusted to persons nominated by the par
liament. The use which the king might some day make of that power
had just appeared ; and many who regarded this proposed encroachment
on the prerogative when first named, as an extravagance entertained only
by weak men, now concurred Avith it as necessary, if the liberties ob
tained by the present parliament were to be secured. Charles, on the
other hand, Avas not without reasonable ground of apprehension, that
this marked inroad on his power would be followed by others, deeply
affecting him as a man and a sovereign.
ston in a coach and six, attended by a few livery servants, the intelligence was con
veyed to London, and it was immediately voted that he had appeared in a hostile
manner, to the terror and affright of his Majesty's subjects, and had levied war
against the king and kingdom." The party at Kingston consisted of some two
hundred officers, Avho had been lately disbanded ; at that place Avas the ma
gazine for the county of Middlesex ; ammunition and arms Avere arrested on
their way to the party assembled there, and the visit of Digby was Avith a message
from the king, accepting the proffered services of those military personages. Even
these facts may not fully warrant the extreme proceeding of the commons. But
surely the mention of them is strictly necessary to " the whole truth." Clarendon,
Hist. ii. 171. Nalson, ii. 865. Whitelocke, 54. Pari. Hist. ii. 1036, et seq.
Husband's Collection, 202, et seq. Journals of the Commons, ii. 373—379. Accord
ing to Clarendon, the most odious man in the kingdom, at this moment, to the po
pular leaders was Lord Digby.
* See the pliancy of Clarendon's conscience in this respect, as disclosed in his
Life, i. 77 — 1 13. To act the spy for the king was deemed honourable, to do so for
the parliament was infamous.
f Rushworth, iv. 484—494.
X Clarendon. Hist. ii. 133. Clarendon indeed imputes this act of the king to
the advice of Digby.

A. D. 1642.] CHARLES I. [355
The king at length resolved to make an apparent surrender of the
command of the forces ; but a surrender connected with that sort of
secret reservation, which there was too much reason to believe had gone
along with all the concessions previously made. It was argued by the
courtiers, that a measure evil in itself, could not be made to change its
nature by the royal assent, and must, in consequence, be such as it would
behove the king to recall as soon as the power to do so should be at his
disposal. With this principle understood, it was agreed, that for the
present the concession should be made ; but it was required, as part of
the arrangement, that the persons to be nominated by the parliament
should not hold their offices more than two years, and that a law should
be framed making the authority of such functionaries to emanate from the
crown ; — the nomination of the parties only being reserved to the par
liament. This condition was viewed with distrust by the popular leaders,
and was rejected. They appear to have thought that this clause would
enable the king, in the event of a dissolution, to supply the place of the
persons so appointed by others of his own selecting, under pretence of
their being removable at the next meeting of parliament : — whereas the
object of the commons was to secure this power strictly to the parliament,
and by a method which would strengthen the necessity for a regular con
vening of such assemblies. An ordinance was at length agreed to by the
two houses, in virtue of which fifty-five persons were chosen from their own
body under the name of lieutenants, and placed in so many districts, to
have possession of the forts, and to make the requisite provisions against
invasion or rebellion*.
The papers issued from this time by the king on the one side, and by
the parliament on the other, continued through several months to agi
tate the nation. Both parties were fully aware that the sword Avas about
to become the arbiter of their disputes, and both were covertly employed
in preparing for that event. Charles now began to avail himself of more
judicious counsels. He placed particular confidence in Hyde, Falkland,
and Colepeper, and the " declarations," in which his case was argued
before the people, prepared principally by Hyde, did much service to the
royal causef- With his mind full of plans relating to the expected
hostilities, Charles began another journey from London to York.
It was soon after his arrival in that city that the king made his me
morable attempt to possess himself of the town of Hull, with its rich
* Rushworth, iv. 517—528. Clarendon, ii. 252, et seq.
f Rushworth, iv. 528 — 565. Mrs. Hutchinson relates of her husband at this junc-
tnre that "he applied himself to understand the things then in dispute, and read all
the public papers that then came forth between the king and parliament, beside many
other private treatises, both concerning the present and foregoing times. Hereby
he became abundantly informed in his understanding, and convinced in conscience
of the righteousness of the parliament's cause in point of civil right." Memoirs,
i. 147. But if the question of civil right was on the side of the parliament, the
palm of literary excellence, and even of argumentative poAver, must be conceded
the papers Avhich appeared on the side of the king,
2 a2

356 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
magazine. Sir John Hotham, the governor, became aware of the strata
gem which had been devised for that purpose, and bearing
kingTo'fete in mind that his autnority had beetl received from the
Hull, and its parliament exclusively, and not at all from the king, he
A.'niu' pliced the town in a posture of defence, and refused to
P" surrender at the royal bidding. The monarch threatened
and intreated, but without effect. Before submitting to the mortification
of a retreat, Charles ordered that Sir John Hotham should be proclaimed
a traitor by sound of trumpet*.
This attempt, though a violation of his recent compact with the par
liament, was one which few men, in the circumstances of Charles, would
not perhaps have been disposed to make. It served to remove the thin
disguise which had hitherto lain over his purposes, and its immediate
consequence was to hasten the approaching crisis, and to enable his
opponents to impute the necessity and the evils of that crisis to his con
duct with a greater appearance of truth. Parliament described this
effort on the part of the king as a breach of its privileges ; the military
stores of Hull were removed to London and lodged in the Tower ; the
train bands of the metropolis were placed under the command of general
Skippon ; the Earl of Warwick was created Lord Admiral, and the Earl
of Essex Lord General Avith the command of sixteen thousand men.
The king, at the same time, obtained assistance from a large portion of
the nobility and gentry, from the two universities, and many of the
clergy : and also from Holland, where the activity of the queen furnished
important supplies of arms and ammunition f.
And now the dissension which had placed the king and the parliament
at so great a distance from each other, extended itself to every town, and
almost to every village, in the kingdom, producing bitter animosi
ties, and frequent outrage. Humane men, on both sides, were much con
cerned to prevent the effusion of blood, and made earnest efforts to bring
about a peaceable settlement. But the demands of the parliament had
long been governed by resentment and distrust, and every day seemed to
bring with it occurrences which tended rather to strengthen than allay
those dangerous passions. The king also, amid the loyalty and submission
of his subjects in thenorth, hadbecome more confident of power than while
exposed to the turbulence and revolt of the capital. It was also his im
pression — though, as events proved, a very mistaken one — that his con
dition as a sovereign was now so insignificant, that he had really nothing
to lose by defeat, and nothing to hope except from victory^.
Hence the conditions insisted on by both parties were such as neither
would entertain the thought of accepting. The praise of moderation,
judging only from the former power of the crown, seemed to be on the
* Rushworth, iv. 567, et seq. t Ibid, iv, 509— 612. X Ibia- 723—735.

A. D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 351
side of the royalists. But moderate counsels involved much less hazard,
either to private persons or public interests, on that side than on the
other ; and admitting all that has ever been alleged Avith any appear
ance of truth against the parliament to this period of its history, there
Avas no strict comparison to be made between the security afforded by
the word of the two houses, and that to be derived from the word of the
king. Nineteen articles were submitted to the king as containing the terms
on which the parliament was willing to negotiate. Some Tnc Nineteen
of these articles required that the great officers of state Articles.
should be chosen by the two houses, and be removable, e 2' 1642-
in case of improper conduct, by that authority ; that the children of
the royal family should be educated, and contracted in marriage, under
the sanction of parliament ; that the liturgy of the established church
should be revised ; that the Catholic peers should be deprived of their
votes, and no new peers created without the consent of the legislature ;
and that the ordinance in Avhich the parliament had asserted its claim
to the command of the militia should remain in force until an act to
the same effect should be passed*
It must have been well known that Charles could not have given any
sincere consent to such demands. But the popular leaders looked for their
safety in his weakness, not in his sincerity. Strong, however, as the dis
like of the king must have been to several of these demands, it was upon
the one which had respect to the command of the militia that the prin
cipal difficulty arose. It was not unreasonable, in the circumstances of
the age, that a revision of the liturgy should be required, nor that the edu
cation and alliances of the king's children should be brought within the
cognizance of parliament. The interference of the two houses with the
creation of peers, and with appointing the great officers of state, was
much less easy to be borne. " But keep the militia," said Henrietta —
" that will bring back every thing." And Charles so far thought with
his consort on this point, that, when pressed to surrender that instru
ment of authority, he exclaimed — " by God, not for an hourf." The
popular leaders were also of the queen's mind; and in order that the
militia might not be employed to undo whatever had been done, they re
solved on its being placed under their own control.
It Avas an evil inseparable from this state of affairs that appeals should
be frequently made to the people, which, by calling the
ignorant and the unreflecting into an undue prominence,
Avould lead to many scenes of popular extravagance. Until the death of
Strafford, the unbroken power of the parliament so far predominated,
that the court was restricted to private influence as the only means that
could be wisely employed to interest the people in its favour. But the
* May. Hist. 124—127. f Rushworth, iv. 533,

358 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. Vlt*
publication of the Remonstrance on the return of the king from Scotland,
was the signal for resorting to more open and direct means, with a view
to enlist the reason or the passions of the community on the side of the
court policy. Both parties encouraged expressions of the popular senti
ment in a manner which the more sober among them could not approve,
and to which wise men could have been reconciled only by reflecting on the
unhappy position in which both were placed. The petitions in which
the people set forth their desires were generally in support of the mea
sures 'adopted by the parliament ; and by the enemies of the popular
cause in that age, and in later times, no effort has been spared to exhibit
those addresses in a light as objectionable and ludicrous as possible. As
this class of petitions was unquestionably much more numerous than
those presented by adherents to the court, it was natural that attempts
should be made to shew that something beside numbers is necessary to
constitute value.
Hence one popular writer has converted a petition from certain " poor
artificers" of the metropolis into a petition from the " beggars." Among
the different classes of petitioners from the capital were the apprentices.
These were graciously received when addressing the upper house and the
king. When approaching the commons, however, they are described as
a body of persons who should have been discouraged from all such at
tempts. But a petition from a number of females, presented, it is said,
by a brewer's wife, is the piece of folly, in this way, on which party in
genuity has been most lavish of its ridicule. It may be remarked, how
ever, that the public conduct of women contributed something toward
the temper and grandeur of ancient Rome, and that a metropolitan
brewer is not necessarily a vulgar person. Pym told the females to go
home and to convert their petitions to the parliament into prayers for it.
Very good advice, one would think, on many accounts, but it is men
tioned as a striking specimen of the " illiberal cant" with which these
patriots sought to incite the people to civil war. With regard to the
petition said to have been sent up by the porters, stating to the commons,
that if they did not proceed with their work more speedily the petitioners
would shortly take matters into their own hands, our acquaintance with
the contents of that document is derived wholly from Clarendon, and the
strict accuracy of his report may well be doubted. It is much to be re
gretted when apprentices and females are found thus out of their wonted
places, as such movements must be the result of causes affecting the
foundations of society ; but we have sufficient evidence that petitioners of
this class might have obtained flattering notices from the court, as well as
from the parliament, had they been disposed to seek them*.
* Hume Hist, ubi supra. Mr. Brodie states that he searched Avith the utmost
care in the journals for the petition said to have been presented by the porters, and,
not finding it, he does not hesitate to describe it as one of Clarendon's fabrications.
Hist. iii. 306 — 308. Mr. Hallam has shoAvn that the petition is noticed in the jour-

A. D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 359
The queen had ahvays been regarded with much suspicion by the
puritans, and the same feeling was often betrayed by the
patriots. Her religion was not, in itself, the main ground of tj,onQU<:t
this jealousy. Her prepossessions were strongly on the side
of arbitrary power ; her temper was haughty, energetic, and active ;
and her influence over the mind of the king was known to be almost
irresistible. Added to which, since the death of Buckingham, Henrietta
had aspired to fill the place of that favourite, and few measures were
adopted, or favours dispensed, without her knowledge and concurrence.
It is to all these causes, which tended to place her in an invidious position
with'respect to very different classes of the community, that her unpopu
larity must be attributed. When Charles had resolved on making pre
parations for war, the queen was sent to Holland on the pretence of ac
companying the wife of the prince of Orange, who was „
,.•11 Til i. 4. • v. t e %. i • 4.1. January 1642,
still a child, but, m reality, to procure for the king the
means of taking the field against the parliament and its supporters.
Before her departure Henrietta expressed her fears lest the king should
"be prevailed with to yield to some unreasonable conditions;" and, ac
cording to Clarendon, " to make all things, therefore, as sure as might be,
that her absence should not be attended with any such inconvenience,
his majesty made a solemn promise to her at parting, that he would
receive no person into any favour or trust who had disserved him, without
her privity and consent ; and that as she had undergone so many re
proaches and calumnies at the entrance into the Avar, so he would never
make any peace but by her interposition and mediation*." And the
historian afterwards states, that so observant Avas the king of this com
pact, that it " shut out all opposite consultations f."

nals, though not inserted, under the date of Feb. 3, and remarks that no sensible
man Avould believe Clarendon to have committed so foolish and useless a forgery.
But Hume has made it plain enough that there were party purposes of some value
to which such a document might be applied ; and the distance of time between the
alleged occurrence and the publication of Clarendon's history was sufficiently ex
tended to make such a piece of imposition practicable. The notice of the petition
in the journals contains no intimation of its being otherwise than respectful. But
was Clarendon capable of resorting to ihe sort of device imputed to him ? In his life,
that historian informs his children and posterity, that the king, having discovered
how admirably he could imitate the style of other men, " would often call upon him
for a speech or a letter, Avhich he very often prepared upon several occasions, and the
king always commanded them to be printed. And he was often wont to say, many years
after, that he would be very glad if he could make a collection of all those papers which
he had written occasionally at that time." Life, i. 136, 137. A specimen of Claren
don's inventive powers in this way may be seen in his account of the debate on the
self-denying ordinance, which he describes as taking place the day after a fast-day,
and as an echo of the cant and fanaticism Avhich proceeded from the pulpits of the
capital the day before, to which Vane and Cromwell are said to allude as a most cer
tain manifestation of the Spirit of God. Hist. ii. 564. It happened, however, that
the fast-day did not take place until nine days after the debate. Hume, of course,
has followed him in this error.
* Clarendon's Life, i. 156, May, Hist. 104. t Clarendon's Life, i. 112.

360 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
When the king left London, and employed himself with various ex
pedients in the hope of collecting his adherents about him at York, the
queen beyond the seas, says the same historian, " was as intent to do
her part, and to provide that so good company as she heard was daily
gathering together about the king, should not be dissolved for the want
of weapons to defend one another ; and therefore she caused, by the
sale or pawning of her own, and some of the croAvn jewels, a good quan
tity of powder and arms to be in readiness in Holland against the time
that it should be found necessary to transport it to his majesty ; so that
both sides, while they entertained each other with discourses of peace,
provided for the war which they saw would not be prevented*."
The queen's name had long been of great weight with the English
Catholics, and had been much employed in raising contributions from
that class of persons since the beginning of the Scotch troubles. It had
been implicated also in the two army plots, the one before, the other subse
quent to the death of Straffordf. During the first of these plots her confes
sor was detected writing in the following terms to a resident in the court
of France : — " The good king and queen are left very naked ; the puri
tans, if they durst, would pull the good queen to pieces. Can the good
king of France suffer a daughter of France, his sister and her children,
to be thus affronted ? Can the Avise cardinal endure England and Scot
land to unite, and not be able to discern ? In the end it is likely they
will join together, and turn head against France. Some have braved
little less than to unthrone his majesty, who, if he had but an ordinary
spirit, might easily quash and suppress these people. The good queen is
much afflicted. This cannot be for the honour of France, to endure that
a daughter of that nation and her children should be thus oppressed and
affronted. Balfour hath proved an arrant traitor to the king, who com
manded him to receive a hundred men into the tower, which he most
traitorously refusedj."
It was concluded that the queen's confessor must have known her
mind, and that in thus imploring the active interposition of France even
before the death of Strafford, he was not acting contrary to her wishes.
The commons, having intercepted this letter, arrested the author, and
their conduct in this act has been set forth by the prejudice of their
accusers as a memorable instance of intolerance andbarbarity§.
It is mentioned also as a great affront offered to Henrietta that a letter
addressed to her by lord Digby should have been intercepted and opened.
But it should be remembered, that with this letter was another written
* Hist. ii. 246. iii. 102.
t Ibid. i. 263, 277. Neither Laud nor Strafford was acceptable to her. 294.
185—188. Rushworth, iv. 240, 242. et seq.
J Rushworth, iv. 257, 258. Hume, ubi supra.
§ There were movements also on the French coast, which seemed to indicate that
a call for help from that quarter had proceeded from more important persons than
the queen's confessor, an4 that it had not been raised in vain. RushAvorth, iv. 259,
260.

A.D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 361
by the same person to his brother-in-law Sir Lewis Dives, in which he
described the parliament as traitors, urged that the king should resort
to the most hostile measures against it, and proposed a method for
secret correspondence. It was suspected that the letter to the queen
was to the same effect, and upon examination this was found to be the
fact. * In short, history has made it plain, that the influence of the
queen in the affairs of the country, much as may be said in defence of
her conduct, was both as considerable and as pernicious as the leaders
of the commons were accustomed to represent; though the puritans,
judging of her temperament in that respect probably from their OAvn,
seem to have looked upon her as animated by a much greater zeal for
her religion than she really possessed.
The queen left England in the January of this year, and on the second
of June, a vessel, sent by her majesty from Holland, con- _ .
taining sixteen pieces of ordnance and a large supply of Charles and
arms and ammunition, succeeded in landing her stores at the Peers a*
Kenningham creek in Yorkshire f. During these six months
Charles had issued many papers, and replies to petitions presented
to him at York, in most of which he strongly censured the rumours of
his meditating a war with the parliament, declaring in very solemn terms
that nothing was further from his thoughts. The commons now passed
a resolution in Avhich they affirmed that the king intended to make Avar
upon them, and pronounced those who should lend money on the crown
jewels, or pledge them, to be enemies to the state. J Charles appealed
to the Almighty as knowing that his heart abhorred the intention of
making war; and, a fortnight after the arrival of the military stores from
Holland, called upon his council at York to bear witness to the sincerity
of those pacific professions which he had so often made in their hearing.
Their lordships, thirty-five in number, proceeded so far as to sign the
following declaration. " We, whose names are underwritten, in obedience
to his majesty's desire, and out of the duty which we owe to his majesty's
honour and to truth, being here upon the place, 'and witnesses of his
majesty's frequent and earnest declarations and professions of his ab
horring all designs of making war upon the parliament, and not seeing
any colour of preparations or councils that might reasonably beget the
belief of such designs, do profess before God, and testify to all the world,
that we are fully persuaded that his majesty hath no such intention§.''
This declaration Avas framed by Clarendon, whose description, given on
another occasion, of the manner in which the queen had been employing
herself beyond the seas previous to this time, we have extracted above.
It was framed also in the face of the attempt to seize Hull, of the arrival
* Clarendon, iv. 555. \ Rushworth, iv. 601."
X May,lHist. 117- 5 May, Hist. 133,

362 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
of stores from Holland, of the great meetings of the ministers, free
holders, farmers, and others, convened by royal proclamation ; and of
the exertions made to collect a force at York under the name of a guard,
which was manifestly designed as the nucleus of an army. Among the
names, however, appended to this declaration we find that of Falkland.
Charles, no doubt, meant that the responsibility of commencing the
war should be made to rest, if possible, with his opponents. But there
had been enough in his conduct and language from the time of his
appearance at York, to make it evident that his determination from
that period was to appeal to the sword, as soon as there should be a
prospect of doing so with success, rather than submit to the terms in
sisted on by the parliament*.
The king's declaration, so often and so solemnly made, that he had
never harboured the thought of subduing his subjects by the aid
of a foreign force, and which was now again put forth, was another
statement regarded by the parliamentary leaders as contrary to fact.
Charles had made arrangements for the introduction of such aid soon
after his accession ; when the troubles in Scotland began, he nego
tiated with the archduke for the same object; the parliament stated
that it was prepared to prove that similar applications had been recently
made to the states of the continent; and only a little subsequent to this
time, we have abundant evidence that a course of proceeding with which,
* The contradictions in Clarendon's account of proceedings at York during the
first half of 1642 are remarkable, and such as could not have occurred in the work of
any man of simple intentions and ordinary capacity. Thus, in the latter end of May,
he expresses his astonishment at the hypocrisy of the parliament in declaring that
the king intended to make war upon them, alleging that they must have known him
to have been destitute of the means for the support of his household, instead of being
capable of providing for an army (Hist. ii. 438); though before this time he has
spoken repeatedly of the large company which the king had attracted to himself at
York, of the great reaction in his favour which his studied condescension, and the
papers issued in his name, had produced through the country, and of the ceaseless
effort with Avhich he had endeavoured " to provide against the storm he saAv was
coming." Hist. ii. 425, 426.
On the thirteenth of May a petition Avas presented to the king from '¦' many
thousands of peaceably affected subjects in the county of York," complaining that
they had been prevented approaching his majesty by the violence and affronts of
those about the court, and that on declining to sign a particular address to his
majesty, divers of them had been punished " Avith blows," and had been told " that
when his majesty's army should be on foot they should be the first pillaged." On the
same day a letter Avas Avritten from York by the members of a parliamentary com
mittee which had been sent down there, in Avhich they say, that being admitted to the
king's presence, there Avas " much humming and applause by some persons who had
placed themselves near about where the king stood," as often as the king's messages
to the parliament were read ; " but when anything from the parliament came to
tie read, it Avas," they say, "ivith somuch hissing, and revilingof the parliament, that
though in respect and duty to the king's presence we could not resent it, as other
wise we should have done, yet Ave have since complained of it to his majesty.
Some of them Avere so bold as to say openly that the parliament men should set
their house in order, for many of them should shortly have their heads off."
Rushworth, iv. 1618, 1620.,

A. D. 1642.] ' CHARLES I. 363
according to his present language, nothing would ever induce him to con
cur, was adopted by him in regard to any quarter from which assistance
was at all likely to be obtained *.
The day on which the peers at York signed the declaration, which
affirmed that hitherto the king had not given them the Nine ..
least reason to suspect him of meditating war against peers im.
the parliament, was that on which nine of their number peached.
, , , , .... ... June 15.
were charged by the commons with having cast a high
affront and contempt on the two houses by the manner in which they
had refused to appear in their places in the upper house ; and their con
duct in thus deserting the. parliament, and endeavouring, as far as in
them lay, to put an end to it, was made the ground of an impeachment.
These noblemen, who had been among the earliest to join themselves to
the king when he withdrew from the capital, were, the earls of North
ampton, Devonshire, Dover, and Monmouth, and the lords Howard,
Rich, Grey, Coventry, and Capel. By a sentence of the upper house,
these persons were deprived of their rank, excluded from all privilege of
parliament, and made liable to suffer imprisonment during pleasure.
By this proceeding the commons hoped to prevent similar secessions;
but its effect upon the censured nobles must have been, to make them
feel that their own fortunes were now more than ever allied with those
of the monareht.
When the lord keeper Finch fled from the resentment of the com
mons, the great seal Avas entrusted to Littleton, who, until The great seal
this time, had voted and acted with the two houses in all is removed to
their measures. But before being duly invested with his 01 '
office, Charles, it is said, exacted from Littleton a promise on oath, that
the seal should be delivered back to him whenever he should send
for it; and being reminded of this private condition by a secret
messenger, who demanded the seal in the name of the king, the lord
keeper professed to have obeyed the dictates of his conscience in mak
ing the required surrender. The great seal was accordingly conveyed
to York by a groom of the king's bedchamber, and Littleton, leaving
the capital the next day, joined himself to the court, that he might
escape the resentment of the parliament {.
By the removal of the great seal, the administration of justice, and
all the functions of the executive government, were withdrawn to the
quarters of the king, the affixing of that seal being necessary to all com
missions of assize, to all writs of election, and to the filling up of most
public employments. The commons, with their characteristic energy,
resolved, after a few weeks, to create another great seal, that the quarters
of the parliament might not be without the benefits of regular govern-
* Rushworth, i. 474, 612; iv. 625. Orleans, Revolutions in England, iii. 12. et
seq. King's Cabinet opened. Pages 232. 304. of this volume.
f May, Hist. 117—122. X May, Hist. 122, 123.

364 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ' [CH. VII.
ment ; but it was not before October, three months later, that the preju
dices of the lords against such a step could be overcome. The court pointed
to this measure as one of the most daring acts of treason :— as though
men, who by this time had raised a powerful army, and were confronting
the monarch in the field, could scruple long about such a formality.
Strafford had once said, " It is a tender point to draw blood from
subjects, even when rebellious : " but the answer of the
plege , king to the nineteen articles made it evident that, rather
than consent to such terms, he had determined to hazard
that point; and while the two great parties appeared to be waiting for
the event the first blow was struck. Parliament called upon the western
counties to raise their levies in its defence. Goring, the governor of
Portsmouth, refused to act on those instructions, and prevailed, more
over, on the garrison, and the inhabitants of that town, to declare for the
king. Essex, the parliamentary general, laid siege to the place. The
monarch issued a proclamation on the ninth of August, declaring him,
and the men under his command, to be traitors, unless they should
submit to his authority Avithin six days. The parliament declared
_, , . . this proclamation a libel, and denounced all by whom
Thekingraises . , * , . -. . , , , ,, . ,
the standard at it had been advised, or by whom it should be approved,
Nottingham. as guilty of treason. A few days later the king raised his
' " standard at Nottingham, an act which imported the de
claration of war*.
When the sword of the king was thus drawn, a great change had taken
The iustice of place in tne relative position of the monarch and the par-
the civil war liament, and many well-meaning men, looking at the
considered. character of many recent events, Avere in honest doubt
with respect to the side on which their own should be unsheathed.
In the conduct of the parliament there had been many things which
could not be viewed with satisfaction by any wise man, and which
naturally tended to awaken distrust. We have seen that in the
proceedings of the commons with regard to silenced and scan
dalous ministers, and the canons of the late convocation, there was
an exercise of judicial functions hardly within the province of par
liament, though consistent in part Avith the wording of some statutes,
and still more with the claims frequently asserted by the lower house
in relation to such matters. The sensitive and severe temper of
that house, as evinced in its treatment of some persons who re
flected on its proceedings, was an evil of dangerous tendency ; and
not the less so from the fact that its history afforded some unquestion
able precedents in support of such exercises of authority. Even in
the parliament itself, the minority was subject to a degree of intimi-
'* Clarendon, Hist. iii. 172, et seq. Rushworth, iv. 763. et seq.

A.D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 365
dation which no true friend of liberty could have witnessed without
displeasure and alarm.
Nor was the upper house exempt from treatment of this nature. Some
nine months before the raising of the standard at Nottingham, the lords
were told, that unless certain bills deemed necessary by the commons to
the safety of the kingdom were passed by them, those bills would be
presented in the name of the majority of the commons, and of the mino
rity in the lords by whom they had been approved *. One member ven
tured to say on that occasion, that he did not see why bills might not
be presented in the name of a minority from the commons as well as
from the lords ; but it was affirmed that the commons were the only
representatives of the people of England, and the member who had thus
spoken Avas charged with having given offence to the house, and ordered
to withdraw. It is true, the charge appears to have been abandoned,
but its being entertained was an evil omen, though hardly less con
siderable perhaps than was afforded by the measure to which it referred.
That the parliament should have discouraged petitions which prayed
for the extinction of its own power, and the return of the old tyranny
both civil and ecclesiastical, is not surprising : but that the promoters
of such petitions should have been deemed liable to impeachment, was
an extreme remedy which seemed to loosen all the securities of freedom j-.
Even in this proceeding, however, there was some appearance of laAv
and justice, if compared with the same course as resorted to against an
unpopular nobleman, the Duke of Richmond, merely on the ground of
his having recommended, in a sort of jest, that the upper house should
adjourn for six months J. In the impeachment of the bishops, too, we
see more of the policy and resentment of their prosecutors, than of a
scrupulous regard for the provisions of the law. It became manifest
from these occurrences, and others of the same description, that the crown
was not the only power possessing a tendency to break in upon the
even course of justice.
And while these excesses on the side of the parliament, springing
for a time from the flush of victory, and then from the fear Moderate m.0.
of discomfiture, were multiplying, the public declarations fessions of the
of the king, and of those who adhered to him, became royalists.
more and more moderate and constitutional. In the addresses pre
sented to him at York, the professions of attachment to his person are
nearly all founded on his having given his assent to so many laws
adapted to promote the better government and greater happiness of his
people. The substance of the reforms accomplished to the period of the
king's return from Scotland is approved in those documents, and, judg
ing from the expressions which occur in them, the object of the king
* Journals, Dec. 3, 1641 .
t Pari. Hist. ii. 1147. 1150. 1188. Baxter's Life, Lib. i. part 1, 27. Ed, folio.
J Journals, Jan. 27, 1642,

366 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
and of his followers was as much to preserve the popular advantages thus
secured, as to check further innovation. It was in consequence of
placing himself on this new ground, that Charles, who a little more
than two years ago found it impossible to raise an army with which to
repel the invasion of the Scots, was now capable of collecting a force
powerful enough to make war, and with considerable prospect of suc
cess, against the parliament of England.
But these indications of an arbitrary temper in the commons, and
these altered professions on the part of the court, are not the
Parliament 6 on^y Poults to be considered in judging of the course which
it became an enlightened patriot to pursue at this juncture.
The liberties pertaining to Englishmen according to the constitution
were soon recovered, at least so far as this could be accomplished
by means of statutes in which they were solemnly recognized; and
the questions at issue, accordingly, soon ceased to relate to them,
and to have respect almost entirely to the best means of securing
what had been so far regained. That some new securities were really
necessary, in order that the free theory of our constitution might not be
neutralized by an opposite spirit in the government, appears to have
been the persuasion of many among the most ardent supporters [of
monarchy. But while such persons would have limited all restrictions
on the prerogative, so as to have left it at least possible that it might
some day break forth with the power of former days, to the destruction of
all who had opposed it, the popular leaders were concerned that their own
safety, and the general interest, should not be left to any such hazard.
Since the days of Henry the seventh, the excesses of monarchy had
been the source of nearly all the oppressions in our history, and it was
not until taught by experience that the most reflecting men in England
seemed capable of apprehending any great evil from the extreme of de
mocracy. The history of the ancient republics might have afforded
them instruction on this point. But it is a fact, not sufficiently observed
by us, that there was nothing in our own history to have furnished them
with this kind of landmark; and their fears, in consequence, from this
source, were trivial, compared with those which had respect to the prero
gative, and to the evils which would follow from its being left without
those powerful restraints which no violence of passion might be suffi
cient to demolish. Hence the great question at issue between the king
and the parliament was the command of the militia. So long as the
military force of the kingdom was left in the hand of the sovereign,
trained wholly under his direction, and commanded by persons deriving
their trust exclusively from him, the popular leaders could not feel them
selves secure. Many a conjuncture might occur in Avhich it would be
possible to employ such a power against the public liberty with complete
success, or at least to place its supporters at great disadvantage in con
tending for its preservation ; and this was a hazard to which it did not
behove them to expose either themselves or tbe public weal. It was

A. D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 361
accordingly demanded, that the authority of the parliament in relation
to the forces, should be such as to provide against this probable evil : —
but to such a measure the royal assent Avas not to be obtained.
This view of affairs, which would have been of much weight with
thoughtful men in regard to any country where a mixed constitution like
ours subsisted, became the more deserving of consideration from the
personal character of the king. It no doubt is very undesirable that the
welfare of a community should depend in any case on the accidents
which must ever attend a government left to assume its complexion
entirely, or in a great degree, from a single will — but there was much
in the character of Charles which served to place this general evil in
great prominence. The conduct of his opponents at this moment must
be attributed to one of two causes — to an ambition so low and irrational
as to be at variance with their known character, or to a distrust of the
king's sincerity which nothing could remove. The latter was the real
difficulty ; and it was one which most men in the same circumstances
would have felt in the same degree. The duplicity which had marked
the conduct of Charles from his early life to the present time, and
the vindictive temper with Avhich it had been accompanied ; the ease
with which he had broken his most solemn promises, particularly in
the case of the petition of right ; the severity of his oppressions toward
the members of successive parliaments, who had incurred his resent
ment by opposing his will ; the reluctance with which he was known to
have made the late concessions ; the rumours of meditated vengeance
which came from his presence to the ears of the obnoxious patriots ; the
detection of his intrigues in England, Ireland, and Scotland, only the
more alarming from the obscurity which still rested upon them ; and
the accusation of the five members, in which others " plainly saw his
judgment of late parliamentary proceedings, and dreaded the same fate,
should royal authority be re-established in its ancient lustre:*" — all
these occurrences, and many more of the same character, taught the
parliamentary leaders to look upon their own safety, and the safety of
the great objects for which they had been contending, as matters
requiring a security altogether independent of the preferences or the
temper of the sovereign.
It may be said indeed that the king was now in the hands of prudent
men, and that many of his present adherents would have been among the
first to have opposed his return to arbitrary courses, and to have urged upon
him the importance of fidelity to his promises. But the light in which the
leaders of the parliament regarded the declaration of the fifteenth of June,
to which the most distinguished of those persons were parties, was such
as rendered it impossible that they should look even upon that class'of
the king's supporters as influenced at this juncture by any very delicate
principle of honour. Neither could they forget the discourteous manner in
which their committee had been treated in the king's presence at York, nor
* Hume, Hist, ubi supra.

368 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VII.
the threatening which had been used toward them at that place. Three
moreover of the most trustworthy among the king's advisers at that time,
had been in his confidence before his attempt to seize the five members, and
Charles had pledged himself to do nothing material without their advice.
He proceeded nevertheless through all the stages of that business with
out consulting them*. Had he proved successful in war, and had he shown
a disposition to retrace his steps toward the system on which he had deter
mined to act in 1629, there were no doubt virtuous men about him, who
would not have countenanced his policy ; but if enough had remained to
have enabled him to pursue that policy with success, we may safely
conclude that he would have pursued it ; and that the course of events
would soon in that case have placed such an opportunity before him
must be deemed highly probable. Mrs. Hutchinson has given her own
view of the character of Charles, and dark as the portrait is, it may be
regarded as expressing the general opinion of her party concerning him.
" The example of the French king was propounded to him, and he
thought himself no monarch, so long as his will was confined to the
bounds of any law ; but knowing that the people of England were not
pliable to an arbitrary rule, he plotted to subdue them to his yoke by a
foreign force, and, till he could effect it, made no conscience of granting
any thing to the people, which he resolved should not oblige him longer
than it served his turn ; for he was a prince that had nothing of faith or
truth, justice or generosity, in him. He was the most obstinate person
in his self-will that ever was, aud so bent upon being an absolute, un
controllable sovereign, that he was resolved to be such a king or nonef."
It was this view of the king's character which led the parliament to
insist on terms of accommodation that were deemed so humiliating ; and
it is certain that the monarch partook enough of the temper imputed to
him in the above passage, to choose civil war rather than submit to such
conditions. On the whole, then, it appears that success in the great conflict about
to commence was not to be expected on either side, without consequences
dangerous to the liberties and welfare of the country. Judging from its
recent conduct, even the parliament was not likely to make in all respects
the most equitable use of its advantages, should the scale turn in its
favour ; while on the part of the king, should success attend his arms,
the only ground on which it was possible to hope that he would stop
somewhere short of an established despotism, was derived from the
better character of many who were now among his followers; — men,
however, who would have proved, it may well be feared, but poor secu
rities for English freedom ; bands to be thrown off with ease by the
restored prerogative whenever the fitting season should arrive.
* Clarendon's Life, i. ubi supra. Hist. ii. 130, 133,
j- Memoirs, i, 129.

A. D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 369

Chapter VIII.
State of the Kingdom — Royalists — Parliamentarians — Connexion of the War ivith
Religion — Battle at Edgehill — Negotiation at Colnbrook, Action at Brentford 
Negotiation at Oxford — Arrival and Impeachment of the Queen — Waller's
Plot — Military Occurrences in 1643 — Death and Character of Hampden and
Falkland —Treaty with the Scots — The Covenant — Evil Consequences of in
troducing it — Death and Character of Pym — Charles obtains Assistance from
Ireland— The Scots enter England — Oxford Parliament— Battle of Marston
Moor — Capitulation of the Army under Essex — Third Battle of Newbury
— Dissensions in the Army of the Parliament — Oliver Cromivell — Power of
the Independents — Self-denying Ordinance— The Army new modelled — Crom
well excepted — Battle of Naseby.
The ordinance of parliament for raising the militia, and the king's com
mission of array published for the same purpose, were op
posed to each other by their respective partisans in the jf/nJL0
greater part of the kingdom. The counties of Middlesex,
Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Lincoln, Essex, Cheshire, and Lancashire
were all, more or less decidedly, in the interest of the parliament. The
eastern counties, including Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Hertford, and
Huntingdon, formed themselves into an association, Avith the sanction of
parliament, for their common defence. By prompt measures, the asso
ciated counties not only preserved themselves from becoming the seat of
war, but did much to counteract the plans of the nobility and leading
gentry in those quarters, who were mostly in the opposite interest,
and furnished the parliament with large supplies of men and means.
In the four northern counties, and in Shropshire, Worcestershire,
Derbyshire, and Oxfordshire, the authority of the king was acknowledged
almost without opposition. The whole of the west of England also,
ascending from CornAvall to Hampshire, Berkshire, and Hereford, was
kept, with little exception, by the great families and gentry from any
open measures against the king, its places of strength being generally
retained in his service. But the people were so much in favour of the
parliament, that the royal cause derived but limited assistance from
that extended portion of the island. In the remaining counties, the
two parties appear to have been nearly equal, or to have prevailed
alternately *.
Much the greater number of the nobility, and of the leading gentry
through the kingdom, took part with the king; and the schism „, „
i ¦ i. i. i v r *¦ 4 j- ¦ a. 4i. x. The Royalists.
which had been for some time extending in both nouses,
particularly in the lords, produced, as the crisis approached, important
* May, Hist. 140—149. 2 B

370 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
secessions in his favour. Speaking generally, indeed, the royalists
may be said to have been from the highest and the lowest sections of the
community, embracing few. from the middle class. Their ranks were
filled mostly with men called from the agricultural districts, and brutally
ignorant ; or with retainers from the halls of the wealthy, who Avere
often too much inclined to the excesses commonly attendant on civil war.
The persons who accepted command over these troops, were generally
young men of family, whose habits of pleasure were in many cases
little friendly to the discipline and self-denial which the service before
them demanded. Some joined themselves to the royal standard from
hatred of religion as exhibited in the character and manners of the pu
ritans. Others were there from an hereditary feeling of honour, though
not altogether satisfied with the object of the war, fearing lest its success
should give too much advantage to the side of the bishops, whose au
thority had been exercised so perniciously, and of the king, who had
shown himself so capable of following their evil example. With those was
a considerable body of catholics, who naturally preferred the connivance
which they had so long experienced under the government of the king, to
the intolerance with which they were threatened by the men Avho Avere
now arrayed against him. And to these several classes we must add a
large one consisting of persons who regarded the encroachments, and
the occasional violence, of the commons, as tending to introduce a po
pular in the place of a monarchical tyranny.
The parliament, on the other hand, could look with confidenpe to a
considerable minority in the peerage, and among the more
mentarians" distinguished landholders; Avhile the merchants, trades
men, and common people, who Avere resident in towns and
cities, almost uniformly took the popular side ; and with them Avas a
large body, we may perhaps say the majority, of the yeomanry through
the kingdom. The preference thus shoAvn by these parties may be
ascribed in part to their greater intelligence, and their better means of
information, but still more to those urban associations, so little favourable
to that homage with regard to external and hereditary greatness, Avhich
forms so powerful an element in the education of every aristocracy, and
so common a prejudice with a scattered and uninstructed people. These
active portions of the community were capable of appreciating the
benefits which the parliament had conferred on the country in abolish
ing monopolies, ship-money, and many illegal imposts, burdens which
they knew would have been augmented rather than taken aAvay, had the
affairs of the nation been left in the hands of the court. They were
concerned, accordingly, to sustain the power from which so much ad
vantage had been derived, and which promised, upon the whole, on the
new settlement of the kingdom, to be very much the best security of
public interests.

A.D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 371
But Avith many, these civil grievances Avere not the only, nor even the
chief ground of the decision formed to take part Avith the „ ,
c A Connexion ot
parliament. The inroads of arbitrary power had been the contro-
connected with a systematic suspension of the laws in v.ei.'sy with re"
favour of catholics, and with ceaseless attempts to as
similate the worship of the English church in the greatest possible
degree to the catholic ritual. In this general policy, the king and the
prelates had been of one mind ; and the court, so far from showing any
disposition to separate what had thus been joined together, lent its willing
aid to the various plans of tyranny and persecution by which it was
enforced. In breaking the yoke which had so long bowed the neck and
the conscience of the nation, the puritans — for by them was that act per
formed — evinced an ardour Avhich sometimes passed the bounds of dis
cretion, and even of justice. But it was not to be forgotten that the
policy long acted upon by the king and the court clergy had driven
thousands of devout men into exile, purely on account of their religion ;
that it had obliged a much greater number to choose between folloAV-
ing such examples, or doing violence to their conscience in the matter
of popish ceremonies; that, in the language of Falkland, it had made
the profanation of the Lord's-day a mark of loyalty, and the keeping of
it holy an act of disobedience, placing drunkenness and swearing among
venial sins when compared Avith fasting and prayer. Against the return
of such proceedings there was no security, not even the promise of it, the
only pledge of the king on this subject being, even to this time, that the
church should be restored to her state under Elizabeth.
It was from considerations of this nature that such men as Richard
Baxter were found in the camps and garrisons of the parliament. " I
thought," said that honest divine, "that subjects were not guilty of all
the faults of king or parliament in defending them, and that alloAving
both parties to have been considerably in the wrong, men should adhere to
that party which should most secure the welfare of the nation, and might
defend the kingdom under their authority, without owning all their
cause. And herein I was then so zealous that I thought it was a great
sin for men that were able to defend their country to be neuters. And
I have been tempted still to think that I was a more competent judge
upon the place, when all things were before our eyes, than I am in the
review of those days when distance disadvantageth the apprehension*."
The same writer informs us, that the royalist soldiers plundered the
puritans wherever they came, which induced many of them to abandon
their home'; and finding their property consumed, and their lives in
danger, they passed over by thousands to the garrisons of the parliament
and became soldiers. The drunkards and the rabble also, who " formerly
hated them, when they saw the war beginning, grew enraged ; for if a
* Life and Times, Part i. p. 39. )
2b2

372 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
man did but pray or sing a psalm in his house, they would cry, ' Down
with the roundheads,' and. put them in fear of sudden violence*."
Thus, upon the whole, it may be said, that on the one side was loyalty,
a loyalty partaking of all the strength of hereditary feeling, and of super
stitious veneration ; connected, in some instances, with a sober attach
ment to certain great principles of popular right, but more frequently
with a lamentable ignorance concerning the value of all such rights, and
a consequent heedlessness about them. On the other side, there was
also loyalty, but loyalty always subordinate to the love of liberty, so far
as the principles of liberty were then understood ; a body of men who
were prepared to do battle with the king in person, rather than wit
ness the suppression of those principles, or even the avoidable hazard
of them. Allied with this motive was another still more powerful —
that which a devout man brings with him to the struggle when his con
science is the point assailed, and when the power to be resisted is one
which comes between him and the objects of his religious homage and
attachment. In this last feeling both parties shared, though very un
equally. The meeting of such combatants must often have been ter
rible, and the recollection that they were alike Englishmen, makes even
the story of their heroism a matter rather for sorrow than admiration.
The parliament gave the command of its army to the earl of Essex,
which consisted at this time of twenty thousand men. Charles began his
march from Nottingham toAvard the capital, and in Warwickshire ap
peared at the head of a force even more formidable than that under the
command of Essex, Essex removed from Northampton to Worcester,
and followed on the rear of the royalists, instead of placing himself be
tween them and London. This questionable policy on the part of the
lord-general, and the rumours of the great force which the king had
drawn to his standard, spread alarm through the metropolis, and led to
the adoption of vigorous measures for its defence. On the evening of
Saturday, the twenty-second of October, Essex came within sight of the
rear guard of the royalists in the neighbourhood of Edgecoat, and on the
morrow the battle of Edgehill was fought.
The lord-general, in his anxiety to Avatch the movements of the king,
had left several regiments, and the greater part of his
i Edgehill. cavalry, with his ammunition stores, and some artillery,
at a day's march distance. It had also been found neces
sary to leave one regiment in Coventry, another in Worcester, and to
quarter a third at Banbury, beside some troops of horse which were
* True History of Councils Enlarged, 92, 93. Mrs. Hutchinson's account of the
state of parties, and particularly of the treatment to which religious men were ex
posed, and of its effect in making them soldiers, confirms that of Baxter. Memoirs,
i. 180 — 219. Charles assured his followers at Shrewsbury that " they would meet
ivith no enemies but traitors, most of them Broivnists, Anabaptists, and Atheists."

a.d. 1642.] charles i. 373
sent into Gloucestershire as a protection to the parts of that county which
bordered upon Wales ; so that when the king halted to give battle to his
pursuers, they did not much exceed ten thousand men, while his OAvn force
amounted to eighteen thousand, including a large proportion of cavalry.
The place of the encounter was a plain called the Vale of the Red
Horse, into which the royalists descended from the slope of Edgehill^pre-
serving good order, a portion of their cavalry being placed at the left wing,
and a stronger body on the right. The parliamentarians Avere drawn
up in a part of the valley where the ground was slightly elevated, their
cavalry being so distributed as to meet the disposition of strength adopted
by the enemy. The fight commenced with a heavy discharge of cannon
on both sides, which did much execution upon the ranks of the royalists,
but very little upon those of their opponents. The earl of Lindsey,
placing himself at the head of the king's regiment, led on the main
body, and Avas met with great courage by Essex and the horse and foot
under his command. A charge was next made on the king's regiment
by the life-guard of the lord-general, and with so much success that the
royal standard was taken, its bearer, sir Edmund Varney, slain, and
Lindsey, the general, wounded and made prisoner.
But while the main body of the parliamentarians was so far success
ful, the whole force of their left wing had given way before the right of
the enemy under prince Rupert. This disgrace to the arms of the par
liament was principally owing to the treachery of sir Faithful Fortesque,
who, according to a previous concert with the king, went over to the
royalists with his troop at the very moment of the charge. The panic
being thus spread, Rupert pursued the fugitives to some miles distance,
and employed himself in pillaging the parliament baggage. By so
doing he left the main body under the lord-general to prosecute its ad
vantages against that of the enemy, making his return, when it occurred,
rather hazardous to himself than serviceable to his friends.
Had the prince restrained his impetuosity, and wheeled about quickly
upon the flank of the parliamentarians, their total defeat would probably
have followed. But, as things happened, so undecided were the fortunes
of the day, that both parties claimed the victory. As the parliamenta
rians possessed the ground in the evening which the royalists had occu
pied in the morning, and challenged them during three hours on the
following day to a renewal of the contest, the advantage seems to have
belonged to them. But the lord-general, who had shown great prompti
tude and courage in the field, was influenced by a timid and wavering
policy on other occasions, and instead of directing his march toward
Banbury, as he might have done, he retired to Warwick castle, the seat
of lord Brook, to repair his losses, and procure supplies of provision.
By this proceeding he made an apparent concession of his weakness,.
which was much regretted by many of his party*.
* May, Hist. 168—172. Baxter's Life, 43. Whitelocke, 61,

374 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [df. VIII.
It may indicate the feeling of the times to observe, that this battle, in
which six thousand Englishmen are said to have fallen, was remarked
by the parliamentarians as having occurred on the twenty-third of
October, the day on which the Irish rebellion broke out in the preceding
year :— an event, it was said, which might well remind them of their guilt
in leaving the blood which was then shed so long unavenged. But it
was also observed, " by many men on the parliament side, as a blessing
of God to the protestant cause, that on the very same day that this
battle was won in England, the Swedes obtained a notable victory over
those of the Roman religion in Germany*."
The battle of Edgehill, though not a victory to the royalists, Avas highly
favourable to their cause, many of the gentry declaring themselves from
that time on the side of the monarch, who until then had preserved a
cautious neutrality j-. Charles marched from Edgehill to Oxford, by
way of Banbury, and published a paper which spoke of his victory over
the rebels, declared that his hostilities were not directed against the par
liament, but against some " dozen or twenty factious and seditious per
sons" who governed it; and which, while acknowledging that there were
catholics in his army, affirmed that the number of such persons among
his followers was much less than might be found in the ranks of his
opponents. The parliament expressed their astonishment at the hardi
hood of this last assertion, and challenged the men about the person of
the king to mention a single catholic whose assistance they had deigned
to accept J.
These papers were not of a description to promise an early return of
. . peace, but they were followed by some negotiations for that
at Colnbrook : object, which were commenced on the eleventh of Novem-
Action at ber, at Colnbrook. On that day the king received the
.Brent or . parliament commissioners with much courtesy, express
ing his willingness to negotiate, and his earnest desire of peace. The
commissioners, however, had no sooner left the royal presence, for the
purpose of conveying these expressions to the proper quarter in London,
than Charles, at the head of his artillery and cavalry, passed through the
town, advancing toward the capital ; and on the following evening, un
der cover of a fog, the royalists broke in upon the garrison of the parlia
ment in the town of Brentford, and a fight ensued, which lasted for some
time, much to the disadvantage of the surprised party, fifteen pieces of
cannon being taken by the king's troops, and five hundred prisoners. The
sound of artillery was heard in the metropolis ; the regiments of Brook
and Hampden, in the neighbourhood of Brentford, flew to the assistance
of their companions ; Essex, who had returned with the army some days
since left the house of lords, and placed himself at the head of all the
available force in the capital and its vicinity. The city broke forth
*¦ May, Hist. 173. t Ibid, 176, 177. { Rushworth, v, 39, 41,

A. D. 1642.] CHARLES I. 375
into the loudest expressions of alarm and indignation ; and so great
was the force which, within a few hours, was concentrated upon the
royal quarters, that the retreat of the king on the fourteenth toward
Oxford was generally regarded as a movement which Essex might have
prevented, and in so doing have accomplished by the sword what it was
now deemed vain to expect from any treaty. The negotiation, which
both the parliament and the city appeared anxious to forward, was ac
cordingly abandoned, and the popular leaders, the citizens, and the army,
spoke of the attack as an act of perfidy, which must render it more
than ever difficult to place the slightest confidence in the professions of
their enemies*.
But the winter had commenced, and three, months of comparative in
action had contributed to allay the exasperated feeling thus Negotiation at
produced, when the advocates of peace, who were nume- Oxford.
rous both in London and Oxford, succeeded in bringing the two par
ties again to enter upon negotiation. The proposals of the parliament
were loosely expressed in one or two instances, so that it is not easy to
ascertain the real extent of their present demands ; but the king was
more explicit, at least with respect to the article which required a com
plete surrender of the forts, magazines, towns, navy, and revenue, into
his hands. The parliament, having made these concessions and some
others, might consist of the persons composing it in 1641 ; but to avoid
inconvenience from tumult, it should hold its meetings at least twenty
miles from London. Charles must have been aware that these overtures
Avere such as would not be entertained for a moment. In the mention of
them we may trace the effect of his promise to the queen, which, durino-
her absence, rendered him incapable of coming to any accommodation
with his subjects, and, in consequence, prevented his mentioning such
terms as might have tended to it. This negotiation terminated in the
beginning of February, and a similar issue awaited another which closed
about the middle of April f.
In February the queen landed in Yorkshire, and in May joined the
king at Oxford, Avith a seasonable supply of arms, ammuni- .
. . Arrival
tion, and men. At this time the loss of Reading, and of anj impeach-
many persons of quality who Were sent to its relief, had ment of the
much depressed the spirits of the royalists. The talk of queen-
peace now became prevalent. But the leaders of the commons were far
from regarding the strength of the royalists as sufficiently broken to
* May, Hist. 178, 179. Baillie, i, 351—373. Hutchinson, ii. 173, 174. Charles,
in his own defence, accused his opponents of meaning no more by their proposals
than to keep him inactive, until they should surround him by a superior force ; but
of this there was no proof. Whiteloeke, 62, 63. Rushworth. It is certain that
such a movement on his part Avas contrary to the expectations of the party assailed,
and that they were taken accordingly by surprise.
f May, Hist. 180. Rushworth, v. 164— 261 , Clarendon's Life, 76, et seq. White.
locke, 64.

376 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
afford any prospect of the kind of settlement which it was their object
to secure. Hence they not only neglected to improve certain overtures
made to them at this juncture by the king, but in order that they might
commit themselves and their adherents to a more vigorous prosecution
of the war, they proceeded to impeach the queen of high treason, " for
assisting the king, her husband, with arms and ammunition, in the
prosecution of the war against them*."
In the same month of May a project was detected in London by the
Edmund name of Waller's plot. Its object was to bring about
Waller's plot, a co-operation between the court party in Oxford, and such
as remained in the parliament or the metropolis, so as to enforce a peace,
on terms less extravagant than those lately set forth by the king, but,
on the other hand, much more favourable to the crown than those
insisted on by the commons. The commons professed to regard this
attempt, and with much reason, as a conspiracy fraught with imminent
danger both to the liberty and religion of the nation. By the conspirators
it was calculated that the whole of the lords except three would be found
favourable to their object. They had frequent correspondence with
Falkland, who acted as secretary to the king ; and employed themselves
in taking a sort of census of the city, classing the inhabitants as royal
ists, parliamentarians, and moderates, hoping to find the latter sufficiently
strong to maintain their footing " in the gap," and to unite the two
extremes. But on the last day of the month the project was discovered
to Pym while seated in church, by a servant of one of the parties, and
Waller, and seven other persons, were apprehended. Two suffered death ;
Waller, on account of his disclosures, and great professions of penitence,
was allowed to escape Avith a sentence of banishment, and a fine of
10,000/. Amidst the alarm which attended the discovery of various
particulars connected with this affair, an oath, or covenant, was intro
duced, by which persons pledged themselves never to aid the followers
of the king without the consent of both houses ; and also to support the
claims of the parliament so long as the papists, and others in arms
under the royal authority, should be sheltered from the punishment due
to their misconduct j\
By this oath, which was very generally taken, the prospects of peace
were removed to a distance almost hopeless. The leading royalists were
taught by this measure to look upon the power of the king as the only
protection to themselves ; and the charge brought against the monarch
in the preamble to this oath, of meaning to subvert the protestant reli
gion, as well as the liberty of the subject, was denounced by them as an
accusation which the men who preferred it must have known to be false.
Charles was aided by the personal services of catholics, and still more
by their money ; but that he meditated the overthrow of the protestant
* Clarendon, iv. 52— 56. , „ ,„
f May, Hist. 184—186. Hutchinson's Memoir, i. 220. Rushworth, v. 322, 333.

A.D. 1643.] CHARLES I. 377
religion was an assertion that should never have been made. It is to be
lamented that moral scruples on matters of this nature were becoming
less and less an impediment in the instance of both parties, whenever
their particular objects Avere to be served by a violation of them. With
the intent to counteract this last assertion, the king made the following
declaration publicly at Oxford, Avhen about to partake of the sacrament
from the hands of archbishop Usher :— " My lord, I have to the utmost of
my soul prepared to become a worthy receiver ; and may I so receive
comfort by this blessed sacrament, as I do intend the establishment of
the true reformed protestant religion, as it stood in its beauty in the
happy days of queen Elizabeth, without any connivance at popery.
May this sacrament be my damnation, if my heart do not join with my
lips in this protestation." What the king's intentions Avere while utter
ing these solemn Avords we cannot know, but it is certain that he had
always practised the connivance adverted to, and that he very soon
placed himself under new obligations to continue and greatly to extend
that practice *-
The feeling of insecurity which had been diffused by the detection of
Waller's plot was rather increased than diminished by the Death of
general course of events during the summer. It was in the Hampden.
month of June that news arrived of the death of John Hampden, from a
Avound received Avhile charging a party of royalists at Chalgrove. No man
in that age had done more to enkindle and keep alive the passion for
freedom. His letters show him to have been a person of liberal attain
ments, sound judgment, and cultivated taste; and evince, not less clearly,
a refined moral feeling, and an enlightened attachment to the Christian
religion. The modesty and cheerful urbanity of his manners seemed to
bespeak a pliancy of temper to be readily controlled by circumstances,
but were soon found to be allied with an inflexibility of purpose rarely
exceeded. Few men have possessed the same facility in governing others
without seeming to do so. His conduct on the question of ship-money,
which called him from private life, placed him at the head of the popular
party through the kingdom ; and his character fitted him to sustain that
elevation, without exciting jealousy among his colleagues, or giving any
unnecessary advantage to his opponents. His first views with respect
to civil aud ecclesiastical reforms, like those of most men in his day,
referred to such evils only as the existing laws, if duly administered,
would have sufficed to correct. But his demands in favour of the liberty
of the subject rose as the dangers which threatened it became in his view
more formidable. He was anxious to preserve the monarchy, but it was
under restrictions which in many respects were unknown to the ancient
constitution ; and was prepared to witness its fall rather than see it con
tinued at the cost, or even at the manifest hazard, of popular freedom.
These decided views were induced in part by the impolicy which pre-
* Rushworth, v. 346—924.

378 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [di. VIII.
vented his intended emigration in company with Cromwell and others
some time before the troubles in Scotland; but were enlarged and ren
dered unalterable by the conduct of the king in attempting to arrest him
as one of the five members. His wound at Chalgrove was from the
lodgement of two pistol balls in the shoulder. Having suffered severely
during three weeks he expired. This event, which gave occasion to loud
rejoicing with the one party, and produced a strong misgiving among the
other, was followed by a battle fought at Devizes, between lord Wilmot,
a distinguished royalist, and sir William Waller, a general whose recent
successes had made him a favourite with the whole party of the parlia
mentarians. But at Devizes the fortunes of Waller forsook him. The
cause of the parliament seemed now to be generally losing ground.
The lords seized on this critical posture of affairs to propose to the
commons a series of articles as the basis of a treaty. But to speak of
negotiation at such a moment was declared to be pusillanimous, and to
the last degree impolitic ; and when this decision was found to have
produced a further secession in favour of the king from the upper house,
the commons betrayed no feeling of dismay. They applied themselves with
vigour to the raising and equipment of troops ; they formed a plan for
co-operation with the Scots ; and they employed the ardour of the citi
zens in extending a trench round the capital — a work which in a few
days embraced a circle of twelve miles, those who laboured in it being
persons of all ranks, and encouraged by the presence and applause of
their wives and daughters.
A full narrative of the military operations of this period would not
perhaps be very instructive, and our limits oblige us to confine our
notices to such occurrences as became important from their effect on
the relative strength of the contending parties. Baxter, who officiated
at this time as chaplain to the parliament garrison in Coventry,
compares himself and his companions, in the enjoyment of their peace
and liberty, to the inmates of a dwelling, who listen to the violence of
the storm which is raging abroad, and hear reports of its devastations,
without feeling them. Every day, he remarks, brought news of sieges,
battles, or skirmishes — " so that as duly as I awoke in the morning I
expected to find some one come and tell me such a garrison is won or
lost, or such a defeat received or given *."
The successes which attended the army of the royalists, both in the
north and the west, during this summer— Bristol and many other places
of strength having fallen into their hands— filled them with the highest
degree of confidence. It was generally supposed at Oxford, that the king
had only to determine on marching to London, in order to bring the con
test to a triumphant conclusion. But Gloucester was still retained for
* Life and Times. Part i. p. 46. Whiteloeke, Ad, an. May's Hist. 192—194.
212—214. Rushworth, v. 263, et seq.

A. D. 1643.] CHARLES I. 379
the parliament ; the two houses would abate nothing of their preten
sions; and Charles, judging of his strength more wisely than his fol
lowers, instead of proceeding to attack the metropolis, marched to the
siege of Gloucester. Before that city, however, the victorious career of
the royalists Avas checked. An attempt to corrupt colonel Massey, the
governor, failed, and that officer and the garrison acquitted themselves
to the admiration of the besiegers. During this delay, the besieging
army did much injury to their cause in the neighbourhood, according to
Clarendon, by indulging in acts of " rapine and severity, hardly to be
credited." While thus detained, the king received frequent tidings of the
successes of Rupert and Digby in the west, but he heard likewise of the
preparations making by the parliament with a view to the more vigorous
prosecution of the war.
After the third week of the siege, it began to be rumoured in the
royalist camp that Essex was about to leave London at the head of a
formidable army for the relief of the city ; and, to the astonishment of
his enemies, the' earl marched steadily in that direction, and in such
strength that the royalist cavalry, sent as far as the neighbourhood of
Oxford to check his progress, retired from place to place before him,
until he came Avithin sight of the city, and with small loss to himself
compelled the besiegers to abandon their object. " The Earl of Essex,"
says Clarendon, " stayed in that joyful toAvn three days, and in that time,
which was as wonderful as any part of the story, caused all necessary
provisions to be brought into them, out of those very quarters in which
the king's army had been sustained, and which they conceived to have
been entirely spent ; so solicitous were the people to conceal what they
had, and to reserve it for them." 1
From Gloucester, Essex marched to Cirencester, where he seized a large
and seasonable supply of provisions collected by the king's
¦ ¦ rr.r i- 4 4-n v * 41. First battle of
commissioners. The royalists were still much stronger than Newbury_
the parliamentarians in cavalry, which taught the latter to
avoid exposing themselves to attack in the open country during their
present endeavour to retrace their steps towards the neighbourhood of
London. But in consequence of some skilful manoeuvring on the part of
prince Rupert, the whole arftiy of the royalists succeeded in crossing the
path of Essex at Newbury. All local advantages were now so much on
the side of the king, that it was determined at the close of the day on
which the parliamentarians were thus obliged to halt, that no attack
should be commenced, except with the certain prospect of victor}', —
delay being no way injurious to the one party, and pregnant Avith every
evil to the other. But on the following morning Essex challenged his
opponents to the onset by an admirable disposition of his troops in order
of battle on the side of a hill within a mile of the town. The young
officers among the royalists, indulging in their usual scorn of the men
who dared to confront them under the banners of the parliament, rushed

380 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
unbidden to repeated skirmishes, and the contest at length became so
general that Charles found himself obliged to hazard a battle.
" It was disputed," says Clarendon, " on all sides with great fierceness
and courage, the enemy preserving good order, and endeavouring rather
to keep the ground they had taken than to gain more, by which means
they avoided exposing themselves to disadvantages. The king's horse,
with a kind of contempt of the enemy, charged with wonderful boldness
upon all grounds of inequality ; and were so far too hard for the troops
on the other side, that they routed them in most places, until they had
left the greater part of their foot without any guard at all of horse. But
the foot behaved themselves admirably, and gave their scattered horse
time to rally, and were ready to assist and protect them on all occasions.
The London train-bands, and auxiliary regiments (of whose experience
of danger or any kind of service beyond the easy practice of their postures
in the artillery garden, men had till then too cheap an estimation),
behaved themselves to wonder ; and were in truth the preservation of the
army that day. For they stood as a bulwark and rampart to defend the
rest ; and when their wings of horse were scattered and dispersed, kept
their ground so steadily, that though prince Rupert himself led up the
choicest troops of horse to charge them, and endured their storm of
small shot, he could make no impression on their stand of pikes, but
was forced to wheel about. During the whole day no use was made of
the king's cannon, though that of the enemy was so placed that it did
very great execution upon the king's party. Night parted them when
nothing else could. Neither party could think they had much the
better*." As the parliamentarians were now suffered to resume their
march towards the capital, the advantage seems to have been on their side.
In this battle fell lord Falkland, in the thirty-fourth year of his age.
n He was a person of many rare and amiable qualities, which
character of [ his friend Clarendon has spared no pains in recommending
Falkland. to the imitation of posterity. It is to the pen of Clarendon,
indeed, more than to any great effect produced by his conduct on public
affairs, that Falkland is indebted for the prominence which has been given
to his name in the recent histories of those times. In the twentieth year
of his age he entered on the possession of a noble fortune, having passed
his youth in Ireland, where his father had acted for some time as lord-
deputy. His studies, commenced in that kingdom, were resumed with
much ardour on his return to his native country. So great was his
attachment to such pursuits, that, on landing in England, he determined
not to hazard the diversion of his mind by visiting London, until his
knowledge of Greek should be found sufficient to enable him to read
the great authors in that language without difficulty. With this view
he fixed his residence about ten miles from Oxford, and his companions
being chosen for the most part on account of their untainted reputation
* Hist. iv. 177—236.

A. D. 1644.] CHARLES I. 381
and love of learning, his house partook more of the air of a college than
of an ordinary dwelling, " those grosser propositions which laziness and
consent made current in vulgar conversations" being examined with
greater freedom in the select conferences which were there held.
The first appearance of Falkland in public life Avas as a member of the
short parliament, assembled in 1639, and his observation of what passed
in the house of commons then convened filled him with so high an
admiration of the institution of parliaments, that he took his place at
once with those who declared the regular meeting of such bodies to be
strictly necessary to the happiness of the kingdom. The abrupt disso
lution Avhich followed, appears to have strengthened his disaffection to the
general policy of the court ; and in the long parliament, soon afterwards
called, he became, as we have seen, a supporter of all the popular
measures that Avere for some time adopted.
But his delicate moral feeling, and his secluded habits from early life,
disqualified him in some respects for becoming an efficient actor in affairs
of so mixed a character as were those which soon began to present
themselves to his view. It was not unnatural that his scruples should
multiply and strengthen as the contending parties became more excited,
and less considerate with regard to the nature of the means to be
employed for the accomplishment of their objects. Not was it altogether
strange, that the party whose imperfections came most frequently and
immediately within his cognizance, should at length be deemed the most
in fault. Certain it is, that after the death of Strafford he began to com
plain of some popular proceedings ; that those complaints led Charles
and the court to communicate frequent expressions of obligation to him
for his conduct; and that Falkland at length withdrew to the king,
sincerely persuaded, no doubt, that the state of parties had so far changed,
as to have caused the balance of right to turn on the opposite side.
But on nearer inspection, this virtuous statesman proved to be little
more satisfied with the temper and conduct of the royalists, than he had
been with those of the parliamentarians ; and it was observed that from
this time a spirit of melancholy seized him, producing a marked change
in his temper, his manners, and his general appearance — even his dress,
which had wont to be an object of some care with him, being singularly
neglected. Though by no means deficient in military courage, he often
sighed forth the words, "peace, peace," and spoke of the war as an evil
that would break his heart. He appears, indeed, to have grown up to
manhood, surrounded by an ideal world of his own, purified and bright
ened by the force of his own sympathies with the good and excellent;
and to have felt so deeply the disappointments produced by the disclo
sures of human infirmity in the real world existing about him, as to
have been rendered incapable of acting long with his proper efficiency in
any connexion. His studies, like those of his friend Clarendon, tended
to make him better acquainted with the great names of antiquity, and

382 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ' [CH. VIII,
of the early church, than with the history of the English constitution;
and to this defect, still so common in the education of the same class of
persons, some of the most material errors in the conduct of these dis
tinguished men are in part to be attributed. Falkland's wound was from
a musket-ball, which entered the abdomen. His corpse was not found
until the following morning*.
On the king's return to Oxford, his followers seemed to forget the
object for which they were associated in the violence of the reproaches
which they cast upon each other. Those persons who had been forward
to advise the attack upon Gloucester were vehemently censured ; and
every man was prepared to point out instances of unwise or inefficient
conduct as tending to account for the failure before that city and at
Newbury. In the meantime the two houses and the capital congratu
lated Essex in solemn embassies on what they described as his great
victories. But this improved posture of affairs did not prevent the.parlia-
ment from prosecuting the negotiations which had been commenced Avith
the view of obtaining assistance from their brethren in Scotland.
The Scots, on the withdrawment of their forces from England, exulted
in the issue of their enterprise so far as it related to the
Treaty be- ... .. . ,. . „ , .
tweenthepar- "Denies and religion of their own country. But they
liament and ceased not to be attentive observers of the busy changes
which were taking place among their southern neighbours.
They could not be insensible that the security of Avhat they had them
selves obtained must depend on the success of the English parliament in
its present contest; nor could they hope to extend that war against pre
lacy, to which they were sworn, except by means of their allies in thi s
country. The leading men in the two houses at Westminster would will
ingly have avoided seeking aid from a people Avhose services they had
found must be recompensed by very liberal grants of money, and
whose spirit of interference might greatly disturb their plans of opera
tion, and prove unfavourable to their ultimate objectsf.
The action _'at Brentford, however, had led to a conference with
the Scottish commissioners in London, with a view to bring their
countrymen again into the field. As the difficulties of the parliament
increased, more definite overtures were made, and a deputation, con
sisting of four members of the oommons, and two divines — one a presby-

t '
welll

Clarendon, iv. 240—257.
" The jealousy the English have of our nation, much beside all reason, is not
I taken. Nevertheless, the report of Fairfax's defeat hath been a spur at last to
the parliament, much, as it is thought, against the stomachs of many, to send mes
sage on message to us ; of their commissioners, they despatch my Lord Grey of Wark
from the lords, and two from the commons. They are expected daily. They speak
of two ministers also : Mr. Marshall will be welcome; but if Mr. Nye, the head of
the Independents, be his fellow, Ave cannot take it well. It is thought, that ope of
Meldrum's instructions is, to knoAv Avhat Ave may expect from them as to conformity
of church government. If in this he bring no satisfaction to us quickly, it Avill
be a great impediment to their affairs here." Baillie, i, 372, 379.

A. D. 1644.] CHARLES I. 383
terian, the other an independent — was sent to the estates and the kirk
of Scotland on this subject. In the commencement of this negotiation,
the pretension of the Scots were such as the deputation Avas not prepared
to admit in any shape; and they were at length induced, chiefly by the
management of Vane, to forego the rank of umpires for the more modest
relation of allies.
But it was an indispensable condition" of their alliance, that the
English parliament should adopt that mighty engine of
, . ' , . , • , r , i , The Scots m-
revolution and intolerance, the solemn league and cove- g;st on tne
nant. This instrument wedded its partisans to presbyte- adoption of
rianism, and bound them to seek, Avith their utmost efforts,
the overthrow of every ecclesiastical system opposed to it. Its authors
now looked upon its success in Scotland as about to be succeeded by
similar triumphs in England. But if the majority of the English par
liament as uoav existing Avere the disciples of presbyterianism, there Avas
a considerable minority among its members who regarded the presbyte-
rian polity as liable, in a great degree, to the very objections which had
been so often urged against prelacy, and who were in consequence the
adversaries of both. What this party was deficient in numbers, Avas in a
great measure supplied by the distinguished talents, and the greater acti
vity, of some who Avere included in it. Hence this indispensable condi
tion of assistance from Scotland was a point of much difficulty with the
English deputation. They Avere aAvare that the most serious evils Avere
to be apprehended from an attempt to connect the rigours of the old
ecclesiastical jurisdiction with this new form of church government.
Yet something very nearly to this effect was obstinately demanded by
the Scots, whose hatred of sectaries, with their new doctrine called liberty
of conscience, had become almost as strong as their hatred of the
prelates *.
Vane exercised his perseverance and his ingenuity on this point, and
after much manoeuvring contrived that such expressions should be em
ployed as might seem to grant Avhat the covenanters demanded, but
which, at the convenient season, might be made subject to a larger inter
pretation. It was provided, that the church of England should be
reformed " according to the word of God, and according to the example
of the best reformed churches." The rule set forth in the terms " the
word of God," the independents would explain in their own way ; and
the presbyterians would appeal with equal confidence to the model which
* " The English were for a civil league, we for a religions covenant. When they
were brought to in this, and Mr. Henderson had given them a draught of a cove
nant, we were not likely to agree on the frame ; they Avere more than we could
assent to for keeping of a door open in England to independency. Against this we were
peremptory." Baillie, i. 381. The doctrine of toleration Avas not the only topic on
Avhich the Scotch assembly needed enlightening. It recorded its sorrow concerning
" the extraordinary multiplying of Avitches, about thirty being burnt in Fife in a few
months." A committee was appointed " to think on that sin, the way to search
and cure it." 379. See also 383, 384.

384 histor? of England. [ch. vm.
must have been intended by the expression, " the best reformed
churches." With a few amendments, chiefly tending to render the
terras of this compact still more indefinite, the prepared instrument was
adopted by somewhat more than two hundred persons, who then com
posed the English house of commons, and by about thirty peers, who
constituted the upper house *.
This unhappy league was thus completed toward the close of Sep-
_, „ tember, and must be attributed principally to the partial
Evil conse- ' . r r J l
quences of this successes ot the royalists in the preceding summer. It
treaty. was censured by the moderate episcopalians, on account
of its tendency to widen the distance between the king and the nation.
By the independents, and the sects to which that body began to be a
kind of centre, it was frowned upon as an effort of intolerance in favour
of the old system under a new name and in a slightly altered form. It
could not fail ere long to produce violent disagreements among the pro
fessed friends of the parliament, both in the senate and the camp ; and
in the mean time it gave their enemies but too just an occasion to retort
tipon them the charge of religious persecution.
Pym, who had been for some time the leader of the house of commons,
Death and cha- sunk under the weight of his labours during the period of
racter of Pym. these negotiations. So great was the influence which had
fallen to this person, both in the senate and with the people, that he was
generally known among the royalists by the sarcastic appellation of" king
Pym." He was a native of Bedfordshire. Having pursued his studies
with much ardour as a student of Pembroke college, Oxford, he obtained
a situation in the exchequer, and afterwards a seat in parliament, under
the patronage of the liberal earl of Bedford, the friend of his family. He
sat in the parliaments of 1614 and 1620, and his zeal in defence of the
"rights and frauchise" of the commons, against the pretensions of the
crown, exposed him in that early stage of his career to the resentment of
the monarch,who committed him to the Tower, with Coke, Selden, and
others. The ground Avhich Pym then took as a public man he never
deserted for a moment during a political life of thirty years.
His exertions for some time before his death often left him scarcely
three hours of the four-and-twenty for repose. He died expressing his
great anxiety that peace might be restored, but on such terms only as
might be consistent Avith the liberties of the people ; and he spoke with
confidence of finding favour Avith God, in whose presence he was about
to appear, and whom he had endeavoured to serve by advancing the
piety and happiness of mankind. Baxter, in the early editions of his
" Saints' Rest," adverts to the departed patriot in the following terms :
" Surely Pym is now a member of a more knowing, unerring, well-
ordered, right-aiming, self-denying, unanimous, honourable, triumphant
senate, than that from whence he was taken." Pym was, nevertheless,
* Rushworth, v. 463-503. Baillie, i. 366— 382. Clarendon's Hist, iii, 305— 308.

A. D. 1644.] CHARLES I. 385
I
charged by bis enemies with being too much inclined to the indulgences
of the table ; and his alleged intimacy with the most beautiful and fasci
nating woman of her time, lady Carlisle, Avas not, according to the same
authorities, the 'only connexion of that nature which the patriot had
shoAvn himself disposed to cultivate. But these accusations, though not
without the colour of circumstances sufficient to give them a degree of
plausibility, must be received with much suspicion. It is evident that
Baxter could not have attached any material credit to that part of this
impeachment which respected the convivialities of the table, and that he
must have withholden his belief altogether from the remainder.
It is acknowledged that Pym brought admirable habits of business to
his duties as a senator. In a short time he acquired a perfect knowledge
of the forms of parliamentary proceedings; and added to the efficiency
of a ready and powerful elocution the confidence inspired by his various
knowledge, by his broad and deliberate views of public questions, his
firmness of purpose, and his high moral courage. His style, moreover,
was free from the conceits and quaintness of the preceding age, rising at
times to the tone of a commanding eloquence, but characterised generally-
by that simplicity, directness, and nervous solemnity of expression, which
are so natural to a man in earnest. He married early ; but his Avife
died in 1620, and declining all hope of again realising the domestic
happiness which he had previously enjoyed, he placed his children under
guardians, and became from that time wedded to his country.
According to the treaty with the Scots, of which mention has been
made, those allies of the parliament were to be paid a hundred thousand
pounds as the means of an outfit; and on bringing twenty thousand men
into England they were to receive twenty-one thousand pounds a month,
beside a remuneration to be determined by circumstances at the close o£
the war. While the parliament was employed in this negotiation, Charles
was not less diligent in seeking assistance from Ireland.
The catholics in that kingdom, after the example of their tains assist
neighbours, had adopted a league and covenant, and had ance from
. Ireland
appealed to arms in its defence. They professed to be the
steady friends of the king, and the determined foes of the intolerant
parties in arms against him. But they were resolved to secure the free
exercise of their religion, and they implored the monarch to grant them
the immunities iu that respect which had been conceded to his subjects
of England and Scotland. Charles could make no open compliance
with these terms, especially as they were proposed by the very men
who were stained with the guilt of the late massacre : but it was gene
rally believed, and very justly, that he had distinctly promised them
" oblivion for by-gones, liberty of conscience, and all they desired for
the time to come*." By this means, the monarch succeeded in con
cluding a treaty with the confederates, and in detaching a portion of
* Baillie, ii. 22.
2c

386 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ^ i [CH. VIII.
the army iu Ireland, that it might come to his assistance in England.
He also obtained supplies from that country to the amount of thirty
thousand pounds, partly in money and partly in provisions*.
In the month of January the Scots crossed the border ; and several
The Scots en- Irish regiments, on their way to join the royal standard,
ter England. were defeated at Nantwich, in Cheshire, by the parlia-
mentary general sir Thomas Fairfax. The timid and
selfish in the metropolis were never more clamorous for peace than at
the moment when these tidings arrived — but this seasonable encourage
ment enabled the parliament to silence all undue importunity on that
subject f.
Near the close of the same month Charles assembled a sort of parlia
ment at Oxford, consisting of the royalist members who
Oxford. 3 ^ad sece(led from the two houses. The peers in Oxford
were forty-three in number, being one-fourth more than
remained at Westminster ; the commoners who continued to assemble
there were somewhat more than two hundred ; of those who had seceded
one hundred and eighteen now made their appearance in Oxford. The
Oxford parliament made proposals of peace in a letter addressed to the
,. , „ Earl of Essex. But the two houses at Westminster ex-
March 2. pressed their displeasure on finding that Charles refused to
address them as the parliament of England ; and when they declined
negotiating in any other character, the king taught them to judge with
respect to the fate awaiting them, should they ever fall within his power,
by concurring in certain resolutions of his parliament, which declared
the whole of their former colleagues, and all who adhered to them, guilty
of high treason. Three months later, the advocates of peace in the
capital prevailed on the parliament to make further overtures for that
object; but the conditions insisted on were such as manifested that the
popular leaders had abandoned the thought of peace, except as preceded
by conquest^.
As the spring advanced, the movements of the two grand armies,
assembled in the vicinities of London and Oxford, were watched with
much interest, Essex and Waller marched towards Oxford, at the head
of twenty thousand men ; and the king, with a much inferior force,
resorted to many skilful manoeuvres, as the only means of escape from
his pursuers, and for the purpose of gaining time. But Essex, jealous
of Waller, and born, it would seem, to undo by the folly of one season
what his wisdom and valour had accomplished at another, separated,
with the greater portion of the army, and marched toward the west§.
* Rushworth, v. 548 — 558. 895 — 925. Charles endeavoured at the same time
to obtain assistance from France through the medium of the French ambassador,
but without success. Clarendon, Hist. iv. 325 — 329. Lords' Journals, vi. 245 — 456'.
passim. Commons, Sept. 14, et seq, Whiteloeke, 71 — 76. 'passim.
f Rushworth, v. 222. 299—303. Whiteloeke, 77-
X Rushworth, v. 559—602. § Ibid. v. 653—677. passim.

A. D. .1644.] CHARLES I. 381
This proceeding relieved the king, who knew that he had little to fear
from the diminished force under Waller. But the tidings from York,
where the confederated Scots aud English had shut in the army of the
north, filled him with alarm. Should that city be taken, the loss of
the northern counties would be inevitable, and the victorious army,
joined to the army under Essex, would present a force which he could
have no means of resisting. Prince Rupert was accordingly sent to the
relief of York, and was assured by Charles, that nothing less than a
decisive victory over the combined army besieging- that place could save
his croAvn. The prince entered the city amidst the loud exultation of
the royalists, and about five o'clock in the evening of the Battle of
next day marshalled his forces, consisting of twenty-three Marston Moor.
thousand men, nearly half of them cavalry, upon Marston u y
Moor. The parliamentarians and Scots, in nearly equal strength,
stretched their line on the opposite side of a small rivulet which separated
the two armies. Each had gazed upon the other for some time in sus
pense, when the signal for the onset was given by the parliamentarians,
whose left, commanded by Fairfax and Cromwell, pressed with such
compactness and force on the right of the royalists, consisting of the
cavalry, and great part of the infantry, under the command of the
prince, that a complete rout ensued. But on the right the scale turned
on the side of the royalists, who broke the ranks of the Scots, and
chased them with much slaughter to a considerable distance. On
returning to the spot Avhere the conflict had commenced, the victorious
divisions of both armies were again confronted with each other, each
now forming their line on the ground which a little before had been
occupied by their enemies. The signal for battle had been given at
seven o'clock; it was nine when this renewal of the conflict began.
But the fortunes of the day were soon decided : — the royalists gave way
at all points before the impetuous valour of their opponents ; and as
their retreat to York was now cut off, their baggage, their artillery, and
a 'considerable number of prisoners, fell into the hands of the victors.
The battle of Marston Moor totally destroyed the power of the king in
the northern counties, partly by the direct loss which it inflicted, and
partly by the disunion which it occasioned among the royalist leaders *.
At this juncture, nothing but the obstinacy and misconduct evinced by
Essex, could have saved the king from at once becoming „ . , .
• , •, T i n ,. ¦, ¦ , ¦ Capitulation
either an exile, or a captive in the hands of his subjects 0f the army
who were in arms against him. In the hope of destroying under Essex.
the power of the royalists in the west, the parliament general
extended his operations to the heart of Cornwall, and allowed himself,
by some strange oversight, to be cut off from communication with the
capita], and hemmed in by the accumulating force of his pursuers. His
* Rushworth. v. 023. 631—636. Evelvn's Memoirs, ii. Ap. p. 88. Clarendon,
Hist.iv. 509, 510. Baillie, ii. 36— 41. VVhitelocke, 89.
2 C 2

388 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH\ VIIT.
error was irretrievable ; he was indebted to flight for his personal safety,
and nearly the whole army under luVcommand was obliged to capitulate*.
This event completely restored the hopes of the royalists. It was
soon folloAved by the third battle of Newbury, in which
T^">Td Rattle the strength of both parties was engaged. The parlia-
of Newbury. . ° , . ... , , . „ ,
Nov. 9. mentanans claimed the victory, but the issue of the con
flict was not greatly in their favour ; and in consequence
of dissensions which had been for some time growing between their
leading officers, they not only remained stationary, instead of fol
lowing up their supposed advantages, but shrunk from the regular
action to which they were challenged by the king about a fortnight
afterwardsf. These indications of timidity or indecision were the result of causes
Dissensions in °f which distinct mention should be made. While in one
the army of division of the army, the jealousy which subsisted between
mentf" '"' Essex and Waller had proved the occasion of material
inconveniences and losses; in another, commanded by
the earl of Manchester, formerly lord Kimbolton, there were differences
relating to great principles and public measures, which were daily kin
dling the most dangerous passions, and threatened the destruction of the
cause which the several parties were pledged to support. Manchester
had become a favourite with the parliament and the people from his
being the only peer impeached with the five members. He accepted
the office of commander with reluctance, his modesty and judgment
being such as to render him by no means insensible of his deficiencies
in that capacity. He was a presbyterian, and his great fault as such
was in allowing himself to be prevailed upon so as to favour the intolerant
schemes of that class of religionists in both kingdoms.
But the controul of this division of the parliament army did not rest
Oliver with Manchester, so much as with the person who was
Cromwell, second in command ; and that person had learnt to affirm
on all occasions, that men should be left to a full liberty of conscience
in the worship of their Maker. This individual was Oliver Cromwell,
the near kinsman, and sincere disciple of the lamented Hampden.
Cromwell's first seat in the legislature was as member for Huntingdon
in 1640. On the meeting of the Long Parliament he was returned for
Cambridge. His dress was at that time so plain, and so little according
to the taste of the age, as to be a topic for merriment with the younger
and more fashionable members of the house who were called to listen to
him. But the mirth of that class of senators was restrained as they
witnessed the impression which this homely stranger could produce by
the vigour of his understanding and the energy of his appealsj".

* Rushworth, v. 677—698.
f Clarendon, iv. 582—594. X Warwick.

A. D. 1644.] CHARLES I. 389
At the commencement of the Avar, Cromwell had raised a troop of
cavalry, consisting exclusively of freeholders, or of the sons of such per
sons — men Avho understood the ground of the present quarrel as it re
spected the constitution, and who Avere prepared to contend for religious,
as much as for civil freedom *. Their leader secured their obedience
by meriting their confidence and attachment, and at the time to which
we now refer he had risen before them to the rank of lieutenant-general.
The protection which Cromwell extended to the independents had
brought many of that sect, and of several others, to his standard — a cir
cumstance which could not fail to provoke the jealousy and resentment
of the Scotch presbyterians. That this new heresy — liberty of con
science — might be checked, and that the conduct of a man supposed
to be no friend to the Scottish army might be under due inspection,
the commissioners from the north contrived to place one of their trusty
countrymen near the person of Cromwell in the capacity of major-
general. The rivalry and dissension between Cromwell and this major-
general Avhose name was Crawford, had been manifest, and had been
shared considerably by their respective partisans in the army before the
memorable battle of Marston Moor. It was said, and with some truth,
that on that day the Scots under CraAvford were more easily routed than
brave men ought to have been ; and the independents not only ventured
to remind their brethren of the covenant of that fact, but attributed the
victory, which nevertheless followed, to those qualities in their leader
Avhich some other leaders would do well to make their OAvn. Crawford
and Cromwell brought their accusations against each other before the
committee of war, and the latter insisted that the former should be
dismissed ; but the more zealous presbyterians, particularly the chap
lains, saw nothing but rebgious persecution in this treatment of Craw
ford, and Manchester, leaning to their side, soon became aAvare that he
had excited the displeasure of Cromwellf.
In truth, the situation of Cromwell at this moment was one of con
siderable danger. He had become an object of jealousy with the Scots,
not only from his opinions respecting toleration, but on account of some
contemptuous expressions in which he had indulged concerning them as
a people. Essex regarded him with suspicion ; and Manchester, Avho
could appreciate and admire his genius while acting in concurrence with
him, looked upon him with alarm when he seemed to be placing himself

* Whiteloeke, 72.
t Baillie, ii. 30. 40. 49. 60—62. 66. Baillie is indignant that the courage of his
countrymen should be questioned, but in his private communications he clearly
admits something of this nature. He congratulates lord Eglinton on acquitting
himself " with so great honour, when so many in cowardice fell in disgrace Avorse
than death. — Shame hath fallen on particular men Avhen they turned their backs
who were most obliged and most expected to have stood still." The 6rst hundred
pages in Baillie's second volume are full of allusions to these disagreements in the
army.

390 I HISTORY OF ENGLAND. £cH. VIII.
in the position of an antagonist. The conditions of peace moreover with
which these persons would probably have been satisfied, were not hkely
to afford to Cromwell and his adherents those securities, either with
respect to their personal safety or the interests of civil liberty, which
they were inclined to demand; and with regard to religion, would be
attended, at least, by an establishment of the inquisitorial powers of a
presbytery, in the place of those which had been exercised by the prelates.
The manner, indeed, in which the war had been until this time con
ducted seemed to baffle all calculation with regard either to the time
of its continuance, or the state of things in which it would terminate.
Advantages, instead of being improved, had been allowed to pass away, as
though something short of necessity would suffice to bring the monarch
to the terms insisted on by the parliament. Cromwell saw this mis
taken policy in its proper light, and his ardent nature was not a little
irritated byjit. There were, in consequence, two points about which he
became much concerned — the pressing of the war,to an issue by more
vigorous measures, and the destruction of every form of ecclesiastical
intolerance. The first was not to be expected from the dilatory temper
of the present commanders ; and to the second, the Presbyterians, par
ticularly those from Scotland, were the great impediment. This scheme
of course involved an abandonment of the covenant. That Cromwell
meditated any thing beyond these objects at this time is not proved,
nor is it probable.
The enemies of Cromwell, consisting of Essex and the Scotch Com-
Intrieue missioners, to whom Manchester now joined himself, held
against Crom- a conference with certain lawyers, in order that they
we might institute a prosecution against him as an incen
diary. But the lawyers declared that the evidence adduced would not
sustain such an accusation. Notwithstanding this declaration, a state
ment was submitted to the house of commons by these parties, which
charged the Lieutenant-general with .being an enemy to the peerage,
and with having uttered seditious language, both concerning the Scots,
and as to the conduct that should be pursued towards the king and the
parliament. The house referred the investigation of this business to a
committee, and, as in one or two similar cases, contrived to avoid be
coming a party to the dispute*
The more violent presbyterians were not without hope that these
proceedings Avould lead to an expulsion of this " darling
Independents. °f tne sectaries," from all connexion with the army. But
one of their number, who records this fact, is constrained
to acknowledge that the Independents had so managed their affairs,
that in the army under Cromwell and Manchester, and, according to
* Whitelock, 111, 112. Baillie, ii. 76. 79. Rushworth, v. 732—736. vi. 1—4.
Clarendon, v. 14.

A. D. 1645.] , CHARLES I. 391
report, in that under Waller, they were, both among officers and men,
as two to one — " and those of the far most resolute and confident men
for the parliament party*."
It was not to be expected that Cromwell, conscious of being thus
supported, would remain passive under the present attack.
From his place in the commons, he recommended what Ordinance^
has since been well known by the name of the self-deny
ing ordinance. This ordinance, the necessity of which was strenuously
supported by Vane, required that no member of either house of parlia
ment should hold any military office beyond a certain day. The
effect of this measure would be to remove Essex and Manchester from
their place as commanders, a loss to which the Scots might be recon
ciled, as it taught them to expect the removal of Cromwell, and at
the same time would leave them the talents and the orthodoxy of sir
Thomas Fairfax, and general Skippon. But the proposal was resisted
in the upper house, on the reasonable ground, that it excluded the whole
peerage from the offices to which it referred, while all commoners, not
members of parliament, remained eligible to them. Nor was it until
this measure, which many of the lords regarded as an attempt in
tended to lead the way toward an ultimate extinction of their
rights and privileges, was declared by the commons to have been adopted
without any such design, nor until it was so constructed as to have
a retrospective bearing only, that the peers were induced to give it their
sanction. In the shape it ultimately assumed, the measure simply
required that such members as held commissions should resign them ;
it was a resolution for the moment, and no law or rule for the future f.
While this ordinance was a matter of debate in the upper house, a
committee of the two kingdoms proceeded with the remo
delling of the army according to a plan upon which they mojei'[e*5y new
had been for some time deliberating. It was determined
that the army upon the new model should consist of twenty-two thou
sand men, the cavalry being as one-third. The members of both houses
who held commissions resigned them, with the exception of Cromwell —
the person who had been the proposer of this self-denying regulation.
This circumstance has a suspicious appearance, and has been alleged
by many writers as an instance of that deep-laid policy
with which Cromwell applied himself to remove impedi- comes except_
ments from the path of his ambition. But the occur- ed from the
rences which led to the exception in his case have been sell;denying
1 , ordinance.
little attended to by his censors. They were certainly such
as he could not have foreseen ; though he no doubt saw that to be ex
cluded from the army was to be separated from the sphere ih which he
was eminently qualified to serve the cause in which he felt so deep an in-
* Baillie, ii. 5. -f Rushworth, vi. 4 — 16.

392 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. VIII.
terest. The self-denying ordinance passed the upper house on the third
of April, and it was to take effect at the end of forty days from that date.
When that interval drew near its close, Cromwell, who had been occu
pied in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, joined the parliament army under
Fairfax, then quartered near Windsor. On the day following, Fairfax
received a command from the committee of both kingdoms, requiring him
to send Cromwell into Oxfordshire to prevent a junction between the
king's army and a body of cavalry under the command of prince Ru
pert. Cromwell discovered the enemy, consisting of four regiments, near
Islip bridge in that county, and putting them to flight, he slew many,
possessed himself of the queen's standard, and returned with about two
hundred prisoners. He was then sent to protect the associated coun
ties, the royalists having assembled in considerable force in their neigh
bourhood, while the Scots, dissatisfied with some recent proceedings,
refused to advance southward. The first order from the committee to
the army under Fairfax was, that it should march into the west; but
the lord general was soon called from Taunton to watch the motions of
the grand army under the king, Avhich moved in the direction of the
midland counties. In prospect of an engagement, which would probably
decide this great controversy, Fairfax was anxious that his cavalry
should be placed under the command of Cromwell. He wrote to the
parliament to that effect, and Cromwell was immediately required, by a
vote of the two houses, to join the grand army near Northampton. He
did so on the thirteenth of June, and on the day following the battle of
Naseby was fought. The victory of that day was mainly attributable to
his courage and capacity ; and the respect entertained for his services, as
well as the probability of their being as important in the future as they
had been in the past, produced a further suspension of the ordinance
from time to time in his favour*.
In the spring of this year Charles left Oxford with an army of ten
thousand men, a force more considerable than its numbers would suggest,
as the cavalry were more numerous than the infantry. Early in June,
Fairfax marched in search of the royal army, and was no sooner joined
by Cromwell than he advanced upon the rear-guard of the royalists near
Harborough in Leicestershire. This decisive movement spread the utmost
joy through the ranks of the parliamentarians. The cavaliers had sneered
at the " new model," from which so much was expected, calling it the
" new noddle." The presbyterians had predicted every sort of evil as
about to result from entrusting so important an enterprise in so great a
measure to sectaries ; and some old soldiers who had been removed by
the late ordinance professed to see the utmost danger as attendant on this
strange substitution of rashness for discretion, and of fanaticism for ex-
• Rushworth, vi. 16, 23—25, 27, 30, 34, 37, 39. Whiteloeke, 144. The ordi
nance was dispensed with for a time in favour of several other persons. See White
loeke, 140, 140. .

A. D. 1645.] CHARLES I. 393
perience. These reflections had haunted the imaginations of the Inde
pendents, and their kindred sectaries for some time, making them long
for the hour in Avhich they might put their many adversaries to scorn
by such proofs of their skill and proAvess as it would not be in the
power of any to gainsay. That hour was now at hand.
Charles would have declined an engagement until strengthened by
some reinforcements which were on their way to join him,
the advantage of numbers at present being on the side of j^e^y
his opponents ; but the passions of his followers made July 14.
them deaf to the suggestions of prudence. The two armies t..
faced each other near the village of Naseby. The infantry of both
was placed in the centre, their Avings being formed as usual of cavalry.
The attack Avas made with much order and courage by the royalists, and
their right wing, under the command of prince Rupert, after some vigor
ous checks from the men under Ireton, carried every thing before them,
pursuing the fugitives to some distance from the field. But the right
Aving of the parliamentarians, under the command of Cromwell, sus
tained the shock of their assailants, and, shouting aloud the name of
their leader, dispersed or trod down their enemies in all directions.
Cromwell possessed a self-controul which Rupert was never to learn :
leaving several troops to prevent any rallying of the enemy, he returned
to the field with the main body of his folloAvers, and falling upon the
rear of the royal infantry, gave a complete victory to the arms of the
Parliament. The royalists never fought with more heroic valour, and
had never experienced so total a defeat. Charles himself displayed
great courage, and when all reasonable hope of victory had ceased, was
with difficulty withdraAvn from the contest. Those who fell in the field
were little more than six hundred; but more than four thousand, includ
ing a large proportion of officers and distinguished persons, were made
prisoners. The king also lost, on that da)', nine thousand stand of arms,
and the whole of his artillery and baggage, also his private cabinet,
containing papers which it was of the utmost importance to have saved
from the hands of his enemies *.
» Rushworth, vi. 42—49. Clarendon, v. 183—186.

394 HISTORY. OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.

Chapter IX.
Disunion among the leaders of both parties — Character of the Royalists and Parlia
mentarians who were most distinguished in supporting or conducting the war to
this period — Diversity of character every where called forth by the conflict —
Methods of raising money — Ecclesiastical affairs — Relative position of the Civil
and Ecclesiastical power — Assembly of divines — Erastians — Presbyterians — In
dependents — New Directory — Proceedings against the Clergy— Trial and death
of Laud— Treaty of Uxbridge — Depressed state of the Royalists — Publication of
the King's letters — Propositions for Peace — Change in the state of Parties —
Messages from the King — Commission of Glamorgan — New overture from the
King — Charles leaves Oxford, and surrenders himself to the Scots.
The battle of Naseby produced a marked change in the relative position
of the king, the parliament, and the army, and served to
among the S^ve 1;ne appearance of truth to those complaints which had
leaders of both ascribed the long continuance of the war to the want of
parties. vigorous conduct on the part of the parliamentary generals.
Nothing but experience and necessity, it seems, could teach even the
long parliament that there are seasons in the history of nations
when capacity is much more important than rank. No student of
history will have been surprised to find the camp of the parliamentarians
the seat of those dissensions which led to that new disposition of mili
tary power of which this victory was the early fruit : — the same circum
stances have rarely failed to produce them. Differences as numerous
and considerable pervaded both the court aud camp of the royalists.
Our authorities relating to those times abound with proofs of this fact.
The men who followed the royal standard well knew that in this respect
they could cast no stone at their opponents. The royal army,
no less than that of the parliament, consisted of voluntary soldiers, who
Avere to be humoured rather than commanded. There were parties about
the king's person who were ceaseless advocates for peace, and there were
others who called as constantly for Avar ; and Avhile some maintained
that the laws of the land should be suspended during civil commotion,
many insisted on an observance of those laws, in all possible cases, even
at such times. Charles frequently exercised his ingenuity to free him
self from troublesome attendants, and it sometimes required his utmost
patience to bear with such as were not to be dispensed with.
Our account of this memorable struggle has been hitherto for the
most part of a general nature ; but it may be well in this place to take a
review of the character of the persons who, until this period, had been
most prominently engaged, either in the actual prosecution of the war, or
in devising the means by which it was carried forward. On both sides,
the leading men were of those two classes, or at least so much so that
misunderstandings frequently arose with regard to the degree in which

a.d. 1642 — 1645.] charles i. 395
persons who were chiefly occupied in civil affairs should be allowed to
interfere Avith the course of military operations.
Charles appears to have excited some dissatisfaction in the mind of
Clarendon, and of some other persons, by the preference which he gene
rally manifested Avith regard to the opinion of the military chiefs, the
principal of Avhom, through the greater part of the kingdom until this
time, were Ruthen the general, recently created earl of Brentford,
prince Rupert, the lords Wilmot and Hopton, and sir Jacob Astley.
In his consultations with these persons, the king had been accustomed
to require the presence of lord Digby, secretary of state, and of sir
John Colepeper, master of the rolls ; the remaining members of the
privy council being rarely admitted to those conferences which related
to military affairs.
Ruthen was made field-marshal on the death of the earl of Lindsay,
who fell in the battle of Edgehill. He was confided in as an
cc r i- t_i j /? i • Character of
officer of unquestionable courage, and of much experience, Ruthen the
having distinguished himself during a long service in the commander-
German wars. But at this period, his capacity, which had in"c le '
never been characterised by vivacity or readiness, was much impaired, in
consequence, in a great degree, of the habit into which he had fallen of
excessive drinking. His mind had never received the benefit of anything
above the rudest elements of education ; he spoke little, and though he is
described as a person of integrity, his principal virtue appears to have
been that of a faithful mercenary, the avowed or supposed wishes of the
monarch, more than any regard to public principle, being the guide of
his decisions. He was wounded in the second battle of Newbury, and
prince Rupert, the nephew of the king, was then raised to the chief
command *-
This person, so distinguished in the military affairs of the civil war,
possessed considerable parts, but had passed his days amidst prjnce ru_
the politics and contentions of Germany, which were by no Pert'
means favourable to the culture of his mind, or to his acquaintance with
the state of society in the country of his mother. No amount of exer
tion seemed to diminish his physical energy, but his impetuous courage
often needed the curb of discretion. The want of reflection, which
always left him to the guidance of his first impulse in the field, was
obvious in his Avhole conduct ; so that from his natural temerity, his
ignorance of the real character of political parties in England, and his
frequent regardlessness of the courtesies due to those with whom he
acted, together with his manifest scorn of Avhat might be thought or said
by almost any person concerning him, he failed not to call forth enemies
* The character of the persons to Avhom reference will be made in this place is
given as the result of comparing the accounts supplied by Clarendon, Warwick,
Ludlow, Hutchinson, May, and Herbert.

396 history of England. [cii. ix.
at every step of his career. He sought nothing less than to destroy the
power of the parliament, and to place the king in circumstances that
might enable him to restore peace on his own terms. In this policy he
found himself opposed by persons of the greatest wisdom and authority
among the royalists themselves, who saw no hope of permanent tran
quillity except from a peace founded upon some equal adjustment of the
questions at issue. In short, the character of prince Rupert was that
of a mere military adventurer, who not unfrequently sacrificed by the
rashness of a moment, what he had secured by the skill and courage of
many days. The conduct of Charles in committing the chief command
to such a person, has been censured by his apologists as among the
principal causes of the disastrous issue of the civil war.
Prince Rupert and lord Wilmot were almost constantly opposed in opinion
to each' other. They agreed, however, in maintaining that
' mo military proceedings should be regulated by military men
only. Both were ambitious in their aims, and haughty in their manner of
pursuing them; but Wilmot kept his pride under much better controul
than his rival, and as he excelled in all the parts of good fellowship which
characterised the finished cavalier, he attached to himself a large party in
the army, particularly among the cavalry. In the absence of Rupert,
and as the faculties of the general were found to give way, Wilmot's
chief opponents were Digby and Colepeper, and he accordingly employed
every artifice to undermine the authority of those councillors both with
the general and the king. But though the wit and address of Wilmot
made him acceptable to a numerous class of persons, no man of discern
ment could place confidence in his judgment, or in the stability of any
of his plans. He not only Avanted the comprehensiveness necessary to
take an extended view of affairs, but the patience which might have
enabled him to understand the particular points to Avhich his attention
was directed. He was, however, very zealous in endeavouring to pro
mote a peace by adjustment, rather than by conquest; and on this
account, in part, he became subject to some suspicions and slights, which
led about this time to his withdrawing from the war. Lord Wilmot is
the person whose irregular life made him but too notorious in the reign
of Charles the second as lord Rochester.
Opposed to the rash or light counsels of Rupert and Wilmot, were the
more wise and patriotic views of Hopton and Astley.
ton. * P °P' Hopton is described as a man superior to any temptation.
" He abhorred enough," says Clarendon, "the licence and
the levities with which he saAv too many corrupted. He had a good under
standing, a clear courage, an industry not to be tired, and a generosity that
was not to be exhausted; a virtue that none of the rest had.'' His great
fault was, that he not only formed his opinions slowly, but was liable to
distrust his judgment even after he appeared to have decided. It was
this want of promptitude and steadiness which prevented his rising to so

A.D. 1642— 1645.] CHARLES I. 391
responsible a trust in the army as might otherwise have been safely com
mitted to him. At the commencement of the war he armed a troop of
horse at his own charge, and soon rendered important service to the
royalist cause in the western counties. He was made general of the
ordnance a short time before the battle of Naseby.
Sir Jacob Astley was major-general of the foot, and excelled in those
qualities in which Hopton was deficient. But though prompt
and energetic in action, he was a man of few words in ^'jtw00
council, and frequently complained that the time which
might have been so much better employed should be so often wasted
in long and passionate debates. It is reported of this gentleman,
that before leading his men to the charge at Edgehill, he was seen
lifting his eyes toward heaven, and heard to say — " 0 Lord, thou know-
est hoAV busy I must be this day ; — if I forget thee, do not thou forget
me :" — a prayer which bespoke the rationality as well as the fervour of
his piety.
The name of lord Digby occurs repeatedly in our narrative. He was
the eldest son of the earl of Bristol. The treatment which
his father had received from the court appears to have 01 '= y'
filled him with resentment ; and to the period of the death of Strafford he
brought a masculine eloquence to the support of the popular cause.
But the boldness of his imagination, and the force of his passions, which
contributed not a little to his efficiency as a speaker, betrayed him into
a preference of extravagant measures as a politician, and made his sub
sequent alliance Avith the royalists, upon the whole, rather injurious than
advantageous to the interests of that party. The more judicious of his con
temporaries soon learnt to regard him as an apt illustration of the saying
of lord Bacon, that " there are some things which have more wonder
in them than Avorth." Great care had been bestowed on his education ;
and such were his parts and acquirements, that he had pertinent obser
vations to make on nearly all subjects. But the romantic schemes
which he was continually forming, rarely met with approbation when
communicated to others ; and the circumstance of his having been
obliged to abandon them so frequently when made known, disposed him
to conceal his projects as much as possible, until the moment for carrying
them into effect approached— a practice which made him a most dan
gerous person to be near the king, inasmuch as Charles was generally
inclined to entertain neAV suggestions, though he as commonly began to he
sitate the moment he was called to act upon them. Ambition may be said
to have been the ruling passion of lord Digby, but an ambition which, from
its being connected with some weakness of principle, and a greater weak
ness of judgment, along with much energy of temperament in all other re
spects, partook of an eccentric vanity, producing a ceaseless anxiety to
make himself the object of applause and wonder. Not long subsequent to
the battle of Naseby, Digby made an effort to join the standard of Mon-

398 history of England. [ch. ix.
trose in Scotland,* a chieftain whose character bore in many respects a
strong resemblance to his own, but who was more fortunate, for a season
at least, in obtaining the sort of gratification which he coveted. Having
failed in this attempt, Digby made his escape to the continent, where he
attached himself to the exiled court, bestowed much time on the study
of astrology, and at length became a catholic. He returned at the
restoration, but from that period had little connexion with public life.
Sir John Colepeper, though now acting as master of the rolls, had
been more conversant with military than with civil life.
SepeJr!hnC°le" He did not Possess tne learning of Digby, but was distin
guished by a ready elocution, by some warmth of imagin
ation, and by the felicity with which he seemed to ascertain and report
nearly every thing generally advanced either for 'or against any matter
in discussion. But it sometimes appeared that he could better col
lect the judgment of others than determine his own. Though devoted
to the support of what he deemed the just pretensions of the monarchy,
he discovered little zeal in the cause of the church, and, on that account,
was regarded after a while by the king as a person of no religion. His
conclusions on most subjects were sound, and so well sustained by the
reasoning through which he had arrived at them, that when positive
himself, he rarely failed to produce conviction in others. But he was
somewhat harsh in temper, was more deficient in urbanity than became
a courtier, and needed all the aids to be derived from his understanding,
his memory, and his command of language, to efface the unfavourable
impression made by the natural roughness of his appearance and of
his manner of expressing himself.
Such were the persons with whom the monarch had hitherto prin
cipally conferred with regard to military concerns. On general affairs, the
other members of the privy council were consulted, their usual residence
being at Oxford. These persons were, the duke of Richmond, the
marquis of Hertford, the earls of Southampton, Leicester, Bristol,
Berkshire, and Newcastle, and the lords Dunsmore, Seymour, and
Saville, beside the secretary Nicholas, and others of less importance.
The duke of Richmond was nearly allied to the king, who had pro
vided for his education, settled much wealth upon him, and
Duke of Rich- gjven him ;n marriage the only surviving daughter of the
late duke of Buckingham. During his minority the duke
had visited France, Italy, and Spain ; and when the troubles in Scotland
began, he took up such extreme views with regard to the rights of the
crown, and discovered so much haughtiness and severity in his maimer of
expressing them, that few men were more obnoxious to the parliamentari
ans. His three brothers fell in the war. He lived himself, having spent no
small part of his fortune in the contest, to attend the remains of the king
when deposited in the royal chapel at Windsor. Those who possessed
the best means of judging with regard to the character of this nobleman

a. d. 1642—1645.] charles i. 399
describe him as a person of good general understanding; but decided as
he was Avith respect to the end to be pursued in the dispute between [the
king and the parliament, he appears to have been often diffident con
cerning the means by which it should be prosecuted, and failed, in con
sequence, to exert any considerable influence on the course of affairs.
The marquis of Hertford was a person of large wealth, and of con
siderable learning. In the early days of the long parliament
he gave his willing support to the labours of the patriots, Hertford °
and the integrity and hospitality which had marked his ge
neral conduct fully entitled himself to the popularity which he every
where possessed. But though he had married the sister of the earl of
Essex, and his connexions had been formed principally among the
leaders of the constitutional party in both houses, he withdrew to the
court as soon as the fate of Strafford was decided. With his change of
politics he lost his local influence, the body of the people in the parts
where he was best known continuing steady in their adherence to the
parliament, so that he sacrificed the pleasures of a country life, to which
he had always shown a strong attachment, without being able to render
the service he intended to the cause which he had espoused. Had
his influence proved greater, his natural love of ease would have
prevented his making the best use of his advantages. His deficiency
in this respect was the only exception taken to him when appointed in
1642 to superintend the education of the young prince of Wales. It
should be added, that the marquis of Hertford, lethargic as he was in his
general habits, never betrayed any want of courage or activity in the field.
The earl of Southampton was also one of the most popular noblemen
of his times. He had been much dissatisfied with the
course of the government previous to the meeting of the amr„t°n °u
long parliament, and particularly with the conduct of
Strafford. But though a party to the trial of that grand delinquent, he
shrunk from the conclusion to Avhich it was carried, and joined with
those peers and commoners who soon after the death of that offender
withdrew to the king. He manifested the greatest anxiety to prevent
the unsheathing of the sword, perceiving more clearly than almost any
other person, that if once drawn, it would be impossible to say when, or
in what circumstances, it would be restored to its scabbard ; and when
the hour which he deprecated had arrived, his voice was heard on
all occasions, beside that of Falkland, in the call for peace. His object
was to aid the crown — not that it might triumph over the parliament,
but that it might become strong enough to secure to itself that degree of
power which he regarded as most in accordance with the harmony of the
constitution, and the general welfare. The understanding which he
brought to the assistance of this course of policy was at once ready and
comprehensive, and few men were capable of expressing themselves at
the moment, with greater clearness, and ability.

400 HISTORf OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
The earl of Leicester had been little in England previous to the
beginning of these unsettled times, and partly from that
cester° "* cause, and from his being much more a student than a
mau of the world, he was so liable to change his judgment
with the shifting aspect of affairs, that though designed at one period for
so important a trust as the viceroyalty of Ireland, he was gradually laid
aside by the court as a person of whom no use could be made. Those
who knew him best were most satisfied that his principles were those of
a sound royalist, and of a man of honour, and that all the suspicions
cast upon him were the natural result of his want of experience and
firmness. The name of the" earl of Bristol is too intimately connected with the
story of the Spanish match, and of the early parliaments
ns o . un(jer Charles I., to be unknown to the reader. This
nobleman is described as a person of commanding presence, of great
moral and physical courage, and as possessing strong natural faculties,
improved by education, and by much experience in affairs. But he was
too voluminous in debate to be listened to with interest, and too fre
quently betrayed superciliousness and passion when opposed. He was
committed to the Tower by the popular party, on account of some strong
expressions uttered by him in the upper house ; and on being released a
day or two afterwards, he deserted the party with whom he had hitherto
acted, and became a determined royalist. But his influence at Oxford
was never considerable. At the close of the war he retired to France,
where he ended his days. Even his son, lord Digby, is said to have
been wanting in respect for his judgment as a member of the privy
council. The earl of Berkshire was a nobleman without power himself, and
without the means of influencing others. William Caven-
, JNew" dish, earl of Newcastle, was a person of more considera
tion, but unequal in many respects to the important affairs
Avhich circumstances assigned to his management. He was one of that
numerous class of persons whose conduct in this struggle was not influ
enced by any clearly apprehended public principle, so much as by certain
accidental notions and feelings, derived from education and temperament.
He was much more a man of accomplishments than of ability, and inclined
to seek his gratifications in music and poetry, and the softer pleasures
connected with them, rather than in acquiring any real knowledge of
questions of state, or of the tactics of war. His courage, however, was
never disputed ; and in such a controversy, it appeared to him highly
proper that a person of his station should take his place on the side of the
monarchy and the church, not only as he had been taught to look on these
as the natural support of each other, but on both as necessary to the great
ness of his own order. The earl of Newcastle, accordingly, was among
the peers who were earliest in declaring themselves on the side of the king,

a. d. 1642—1645.] charles i. 401
and his large Avealth was freely employed in the equipment and main
tenance of troops, in order that the northern counties might be retained
in obedience to him. His operations were confined to those parts, nor
was he to be removed from them by instructions from Oxford, or his
movements there to be much regulated by commands from that quarter.
In the case of both parties, and from the commencement of the war, this
want of subordination among the chiefs extended itself on many occa
sions to the ranks. In this instance, it produced such material dis
agreement between the earl and prince Rupert on the eve of the battle
of Marston Moor, that the former resolved, after the fate of that day, to
leave. England, and to await the issue of the contest at a distance. He
possibly despaired of seeing any favourable result after that event; and
was not, perhaps, sorry to find a plausible occasion on which to Avith-
draAV himself from the restraints and hardships of a course of life for
which he had been so little prepared by his previous habits. The earl of
Newcastle was also one of those persons whom the parliament ex
empted from its proposed act of oblivion, when negotiating with the
court. Lord Dunsmore was a person of restless passions and weak judgment,
rough and unpleasant in his manners, generally discontented Lords Duus-
himself, and disposed to employ himself in exciting the m°re> Sey-
same feeling in others. The little credit which he pos- gaVjiie . sec.
sessed he owed entirely to his connexion with the earl of retary Nicho-
Southampton, that nobleman having married his daughter.
Lord Seymour was much esteemed, and possessed some influence, but
Avas attached to the sort of duties which had made him popular as a
country gentleman, more than to such as were demanded of him by the
state of public affairs. Lord Saville, whose early apostacy from the
popular cause has been mentioned in another place, found his reAvard in
being made controller, and afterwards treasurer of the household. When
the king appeared at York, lord Saville was forward in his professions
of loyalty ; but though his wealth and interest lay in that quarter, those
most dependent on him refused to obey his summons, and many of the
local gentry could not be induced to hold communication with him. He
was admitted for a time to the deliberations at Oxford, but his restless
ambition, connected as it was with every excess in duplicity and false
hood, made him, in the end, an object of contempt Avith all parties.
Nicholas, one of the secretaries of state, was a person of integrity, in
dustry, and knoAvledge of business, and on account of the two last
qualifications was of eminent service to those with whom he acted.
Among the more considerable persons who had formed part of the
king's privy council, but Avho remained with the parliament at the crisis
of the king's separation from it, were the earls of Northumberland,
Pembroke, Essex, Salisbury, Warwick, Holland, and Manchester, and
the lord Say. The names of these personages are of such frequent occur-
2d

402 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
rence in the history df the times now under review, that the course of
events is not likely to be sufficiently intelligible without some nearer ac
quaintance with their character and personal history. There are other
names, indeed, which appear as often ; but the character of many of
those persons is indicated considerably in the account given of their
conduct ; and of others, more particular mention will be made in the
sequel. The house of Northumberland traced its descent by the paternal stock
from Charlemagne. The father of the present earl was
Parliament- • -, " . . n, ¦ . .-. j
arians— the imprisoned on suspicion of being privy to the gunpowder
earl of North- treason, and had little reason to look on the house of
umber and. Stuart with any measure of affection. His son, who, some
time after the accession of the present monarch, succeeded to the title
and ample fortune of his family, was a person of graceful appearance,
and remarkable on account of the great regularity of his personal con
duct, and the decorum of his household. He was not a man of many
words, either in private intercourse or in public discussion ; but on
important questions he rarely failed to speak with marked pertinence,
and with a self-possession and deliberation which added great weight to
his remarks, and assisted, perhaps, in procuring him the reputation of
being an able and a wise man. Charles endeavoured to attach him to
the court by conferring upon him the order of the garter, admitting him
to the privy council, and, in 1636, creating him lord high admiral of
England. But when the king withdrew to York, Northumberland con
tinued at Westminster — a course of proceeding which his enemies cen
sured as manifesting deep ingratitude, and which they knew not how to
explain, except by attributing it to a feeling of pride, that could not do
homage to a superior even in the person of the sovereign. The more
rational conclusion, however, is, that Northumberland had witnessed so
much in the case of his father, and in other instances, of the evils to be
apprehended from a government by prerogative, that he was sincerely
desirous to see that power placed under a more rigorous control than
comported with the doctrines of the court. In ecclesiastical affairs, he
became the advocate of a full liberty of conscience, and, on that account,
sided with the independents, though anxious at the same time to preserve
the great principles of the constitution both in church and state.
The earl of Pembroke was a person of large wealth, which enabled
him to live magnificently, and gave him great influence,
i.arl ot rem- ^th m parliament and in the places with which his pro
perty connected him. From the accounts of his enemies
we may gather that he was a nobleman of popular manners, and
somewhat deficient in that stately bearing which was so observable in
the earl of Northumberland. According to the same authorities, his
conduct in sanctioning the proceedings of the parliament so far as to
call upon his dependents to arm in its defence, and as to accept the

A. D. 1642—1645.] CHARLES I. 403
government of the Ise of Wight from its hands, must be ascribed to his
weakness, timidity, and want of steady principle. But such represen
tations must be received Avith much abatement. It is certain that there
are anecdotes recorded of him which are much opposed to so low an es
timate of his character. He placed much confidence in the judgment
of lord Say ; and in private life, as Avell as in parliament, he appeared to
enter fully into the feeling of opposition to the arbitrary measures which
had characterized the government previous, to the meeting of the long
parliament. The earl of Essex was a nobleman in high reputation, even among the
party to which he Avas decidedly opposed. He avowed
himself willing to peril his life in defence of the general Earl of Essex'
freedom demanded by the parliament, but without the remotest intention
of favouring any change that should appear to him hazardous either to
the civil or the ecclesiastical constitution. He would have abridged the
power Avhich the prelates had exercised so oppressively ; but his attach
ment to the protestant religion had led him to engage in the Palatine
war, and subsequently in the service of the United Provinces. Since
his return to England he had been made chamberlain of the household,
being one of the several persons in the popular party who were called
to office as an expedient of conciliation a little before the death of
Strafford. His call to the rank of commander-in-chief, by the unani
mous vote of the two houses, was a proceeding highly approved by the
parliamentarians generally, nor did he fail to discharge the trust reposed
in him with fidelity and courage. But his policy, in common with
many more, was not so much to conquer as to weaken the enemy, and
to bring about a settlement that should not be the result of arbitrary
dictation on either side. The course of events, however, ere long dis
covered that this method of proceeding could lead to no desirable issue;
and it was to rescue the cause of the parliament from the great danger
to which the indulgence of this delusive hope had exposed it, that the
self-denying ordinance was passed which removed Essex from his station
as commander-in-chief. Though his experience of the effect of that
measure was only in common with others, it is not to be doubted that
the adoption of it was by no means acceptable to him, and the two houses
endeavoured to allay his displeasure by strong expressions of obligation
to his services. Nor did he ever evince the slightest inclination to desert
their cause. His death happened in the spring of 1646, when the parlia
ment honoured him with a costly funeral. We learn from his opponents
that he was a man without any ambition of titles or preferments, and
incapable of acting dishonourably towards friend or foe. It is ad
mitted further, that he was constant and ingenuous in his friendships,
his faults consisting, according to his adversaries, in a too great anxiety
to be treated kindly, and spoken well of, and in a Aveakness of judg
ment, which not only prevented his seeing the questions in dispute in
their proper light, but allowed him to suppose that it would be in his
2d 2

404 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
power to retain the elements of civil contention within such bounds
as he was himself disposed to prescribe to them.
Of the earl of Salisbury, little more need be said than that neither the
care bestowed upon his education by the great minister of
burv * ' " *ne ^as* re'Sn> fr°m whom he derived his titles, nor the
recollection of the yet greater statesman Avho was his
grandsire, was sufficient to inspire him with any measure of their ability
or firmness. He was a person always borne away by the chance current
of the hour.
The earl of Wanvick had always been a stranger to the court, and
owed his recent connexion with it as a privy councillor to
Avick. tne Power of his party, and not at all to the inclination of
the sovereign. His house had been an asylum to the puri
tan ministers, when silenced and persecuted by the prelates ; and it was
his custom to attend their religious meetings. But nothing could be far
ther from his own habits than the sectarian gravity, the quaintness, and
the other little peculiarities, to which so much importance Avas attached
by the men whom he thus took under his patronage. His wit, and his
powers of conversation, always rendered him a pleasant companion,
though both were so little restrained, on some occasions, that it required
all the charity of the puritans to reconcile his indulgences in that respect
with any true regard to religion, while the royalists gave him little
credit for virtue of any kind. When the earl of Northumberland relin
quished the office of lord admiral, the earl of Warwick accepted it from
the hands of the parliament. He retained his place in the upper house
as long as that body continued to assemble, and, at a later period, cemented
his friendship with Cromwell by giving his eldest son in marriage to the
daughter of the protector.
The earl of Holland was younger brother to the earl of Warwick.
He had been engaged in two or three campaigns with the
land ° ° ' armv °f *ne United Provinces, which formed at that time
a usual part of the education of a young English noble
man. Subsequently, his handsome presence and agreeable manners
procured him the favour of the late king, which he contrived to retain
without exciting the jealousy of Buckingham. Through the patronage
of that favourite, he became possessed of an ample fortune by marriage,
was elevated to the rank of baron of Kensington, and created earl of Hol
land. After the death of Buckingham he attached himself to the queen's
party in the court, and at the time of the Scottish invasion was
employed in some military trusts, in which he acquitted himself Avith
little or no credit. His subsequent defection from the court, and con
nexion Avith the leaders of the parliament, must be traced to the
wounded passions of the courtier, more than to any better cause
 leaving him without any real sense of duty to sustain him under
the reproaches that were cast upon him by the king, the queen,
and all his former connexions. But the position assigned him by

A. D. 1642 — 1645.] CHARLES I. 405
the parliament after the commencement of the war was much below
that to Avhich he deemed himself entitled, and he suddenly with
drew to the king at Oxford; and being soon dissatisfied with the dubi
ous reception Avhich he obtained in the quarters of his old friends,
he again returned to those of the parliament, where he found himself
placed under arrest. We shall have occasion to advert to the rash con
duct and melancholy fate of this nobleman, and need only add, that the
inquietude of his life, and the calamity which marked its close, were the
effect in part of a weak understanding, but much more of a deficiency
in moral principle.
The earl of Manchester is first known in the history of his times as
lord Mandeville, and afterwards as baron of Kimbolton.
For this last title, which admitted him to the house of peers cnester
in the lifetime of his father, he AA'as indebted to the in
fluence of Buckingham, with Avhom he became connected by marriage.
After the assassination of the duke, which was soon followed by the
death of lady Kimbolton, he married a daughter of the earl of
Wanvick; and having previously absented himself from the court,
partly in consequence of the smalfness of his fortune, and partly,
as Ave may believe, from a feeling of dissatisfaction with its course
of proceeding, he by degrees adopted the. vieAvs of the popular party,
and soon became so conspicuous in connexion Avith its movements as
to be the only peer who was impeached with the five members. That
proceeding did much to confirm him in his distrust of the king, and to
place the cause of the parliament before him as that of justice, freedom,
and religion. The decision with which these views were formed, and
the boisterous scenes with which he afterwards became familiar, were
not suffered to impair the mildness and generosity of his temper, or the
great urbanity of his manners. He never forgot that the party to which
he was opposed consisted of his countrymen; and such as fell into his
hands, whether found to be old friends or strangers, received from him
every expression of sympathy compatible with the position in which he
stood toward them. No member of the upper house received more fre
quent or earnest assurances of the popular favour, and no man was more
solicitous that the influence which that favour conferred upon him should
be employed for the public good. But his error, both as a soldier and
a politician, was in supposing that a moderate turn of the balance against
the king would suffice to bring him to the terms of the parliament ; and
he shared in the dissatisfaction of Essex and others, when the self-
denying ordinance was adopted as the fittest expedient to remedy the
evils Avhich his feeble policy in that respect had induced. The royalist
writers insinuate that there were occasions on which even the earl of
Manchester looked more to the character of the end than of the means :
it is more certain that he saw little to approve in the course of affairs
after resigning his commission, until called upon, nearly twenty years
later, to concur in the restoration of the exiled family.

406 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
Lord Say began his political career toward the close of the last reign,
t d g when the duke of Buckingham, during the short period in
which he affected the character of a popular minister, endea
voured to secure his services. But the favourite soon began to speak of
the intelligence of his new coadjutor as the wisdom of a pedant, and of
the changes which he recommended as much too extended to be entered
upon with safety. Despairing of improvement through that medium,
Say retired from all connexion with the court, and employed himself in
watching and improving all circumstances which seemed to promise the
required checks on the arbitrary temper of the government. During the
twelve years that Charles governed without a parliament, no man did so
much as lord Say to influence the conduct of the party who spoke of
the suspension of such assemblies as an abeyance of their just and
prescriptive rights. But it will be remembered, that at one period,
so little prospect was there of those rights being restored, that Say
was one of that small band of ardent spirits who had actually embarked
with the intention of establishing a free commonwealth in the new
world. We learn from those who were no friends to his memory, that
he was a person of considerable scholarship, and that he never enter
tained the thought of overthrowing the monarchy, or of abolishing the
distinctions of rank. It is not improbable, as stated by the same par
ties, that the feeling with which he had long regarded public affairs
contributed to give an occasional roughness and severity to his manners.
He was opposed to a government by prerogative in any form, but the
ruling churchmen had always been the special object of his dislike.
The elder sir Harry Vane remained with the parliament in conse
quence of having fallen into irreparable disrepute with the
Sir Harry cour(;# "phe extent of his ambition had been to obtain mo-
Vane. derate patronage in the latter quarter, and failing in that
object he had not the ability necessary to prevent his sinking into ob
scurity. So diversified was the character of the men who formed the king's
privy council at the commencement of the war, and who
This diversity were afterwards separated into the two divisions of parlia-
geneKil10'6' rnentarians and royalists. In this diversity also we see
the counterpart of that which upon a close inspection would
be found to characterize the great body of their adherents in London
and Oxford, and in most of the towns and cities of the kingdom. We
have an instructive picture in Mrs. Hutchinson's memoirs of the
petty strife which prevailed just before this time among the parlia
mentarians in the town of Nottingham. Mention is made of a Doctor
Plumtre, who was a person of some celebrity in the practice of his
profession, but always liable to be carried away by his proud, selfish, and
boisterous passions, and ever ready to avail himself either of craft or
calumny in order to the accomplishment of his objects. This man, as
the natural effect of his aversion to every sort of control, or in conse-

A. D. 1642  1645.] CHARLES I. 401
quence of some general notion that justice Avas on the side of the parlia
ment, became loud and active in the cause of popular rights. There
Avas also one Chadwick, who, by the aid of the utmost duplicity, of a
voluble tongue, and of all possible acts of meanness, had risen from the
place of trenchard-scraper to be recorder of the town. His money,
which he generally acquired like a knave, he as commonly spent like a
fool ; and was an impure sensualist to a degree that does not admit of
description. Chadwick, however, never ceased to boast of being a great
patriot, and a great saint. These men found no unfitting ally in one
captain Palmer, a presbyterian minister, whose intolerance and vanity
disposed him to employ himself in destroying his enemies rather than in
praying for them. The folly and turbulence of these disinterested wor
thies often threw the little commonwealth of Nottingham into confusion,
and made it exceedingly difficult to preserve discipline, so as to
give effect to military operations. But opposed to the infirmities
and vices of such men were the good sense, the real piety, and
the generous patriotism of Pigott, Widmerpoole, and Lomax ; the un
tainted honour of the governor, colonel Hutchinson ; the Roman
heroism of his consort; and the wisdom in council and courage in
action which gave so much dignity to the many virtues of Sir Francis
Thornhagh — a gentleman who fell some years later at the battle of
Preston, in the moment of victory, and whose last request was that his
friends would stand aside and allow him to gaze on the tide of battle as
it turned against the invaders of bis country. But such are the varieties
of character, and such the elements of disunion, that never fail to make
their appearance in times of civil commotion, and which must always
render it so difficult to prescribe to such movements, either the course
which they shall take, or the point at which they shall stop.
Before we pass from this review of the civil and military affairs pre
vious to the battle of Naseby, to consider the ecclesiastical proceedings
which belong to the same period, it may be proper to mention
some of the expedients adopted by the two parties for the 1,IetJ10lJs of
... T, r raising
purpose of raising a revenue. In the commencement of the money.
war, the voluntary contributions of their respective partisans
were of considerable amount, and, in some cases, bespoke the most
generous enthusiasm. But the long continuance of the struggle was
as contrary to the expectations of those who contributed to it, as of
those who were engaged in it; and these spontaneous offerings soon
gave place to the more regular supplies that were demanded in the
name of the king or of the parliament through those parts of the country
where their respective authorities prevailed. Loans also of large extent
were obtained, upon the usual interest, — the parliament pledging the
public faith ; and the king his royal word, or portions of the crown
lands, for repayment. The estates of delinquents formed another source
of supply, persons who had distinguished themselves by their support of

408

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. IX.

one party being liable to heavy forfeitures when falling under the power
of the other. By advice of the parliament at Oxford, Charles issued
his privy seals, and the sum thus obtained was not less than a hundred
thousand pounds. But the parliament at Westminster derived greater
and more permanent assistance from the laws of excise, Avhich were in
troduced at this crisis merely as a temporary expedient. Without the
wealth of the capital the cause of the parliament would probably have
failed from the Avant of means, but its resources in that quarter always
placed it on vantage ground in this respect as compared with the
king *.
The ecclesiastical affairs of this period were various and important.
From the commencement of the civil war the greater num-
Ecclesiastical Der of the bishops were under impeachment, and the juris-
affa-.rs : rela- diction of that order was invaded at all points by the re-
of the civil"1 forrning spirit of the commons. But the commons could
and ecclesias- not need to be apprised that there must be some limit to
ical power, their interference in ecclesiastical matters, and that the
clergy who had thrown off the yoke of their episcopalian
masters with so much indignation, Avere not likely to prove altogether
passive in the hands of the civil power unless very prudently managed.
Those high church notions with respect to the province of the magis
trate, which regarded him as little more than the servant of the church,
were not altogether confined to such men as Laud and Cosens, or to their
immediate disciples. Many of the presbyterian clergy had adopted the
substance of them. It behoved the parliament, therefore, to proceed
Avith caution in reference to this body ; and, in fact, the conduct of both
parties manifested considerable jealousy and circumspection. The
majority of the present clergy, in escaping from the hands of the prelates,
Avere not prepared to submit to a similar vassalage from the hands of
the secular assemblies at Westminster ; and those assemblies, on the
other hand, while removing the old ecclesiastical authorities, which had
been found so inimical to general liberty, were concerned that measures
should be taken to prevent the establishment of any system that might
tend to perpetuate the same evils. It will appear, however, that in the
adjustment of these different pretensions at the present juncture, the
balance of authority was, upon the whole, much in favour of the ma
gistrate. To gratify this pretension on the part of the clergy, and at the same
Assembly of time to intimate the bounds to which it must be restricted,
divines. it AA'as arranged that an assembly of divines should meet at
June. Westminster to deliberate on the affairs of religion, some-
* Rushworth, v. 71, 84, 85, 118, 124, 150, 309, 301. Charles not only adopted
the excise, and other expedients, resorted to by his opponents, but issued proclama
tions prohibiiing compliance with any tax imposed by the parliament, all trade
with the capital, and even the payment of rents to persons in arms against him.
Ibid. 313, 364, 365. Clarendon, iv. 52, 418.

A. d. 1642 — 1645.] charles i. 409
thing in the manner of a house of convocation. The power of this as
sembly, hoAvever, Avas not in the least degree legislative, but strictly
limited to counsel or advice ; nor Avere its members to enter upon the
discussion of any matter not proposed to them for that purpose by the
lords or the commons. Their debates, moreover, on each topic Avere
not to be made public until concluded, and no matter agreed to by
them could be established or enforced Avithout the sanction of the two
houses of parliament. In this manner, that complete subjection of the
spiritual poAver to the secular, which from the age of Elizabeth the commons
had declared to be according to law, was fully exemplified. The church,
Avhether governed by princely bishops or homely presbyters, was to be
the dependent of the state ; and the assembly of divines, beguiled ap
parently by the semblance of authority which their deliberative cha
racter conferred upon them, seemed to be content with this arrange
ment. The clergy admitted to the assembly, one hundred and twenty
in number, Avere chosen equally from the different counties, and were
indebted for their election to the nomination of parliament, not to any
suffrage of their brethren. With these were associated ten peers and
tAventy commoners, and some other persons at the pleasure of the two
houses*. The prevailing sentiment of this body, judging from the result of its
labours, was strongly calvinistic. On points of church government the
diversity of its opinions accorded more nearly with the state of parties
through the nation. Several prelates and episcopal clergymen were
nominated to assist in its proceedings, but they soon relinquished the
doubtful honour of attending. The presbyterians formed the great
majority, and found their chief difficulty in contending with a small
body of returned exiles, who had embraced the principles of the inde
pendents, and whose friends in parliament had important reasons for
procuring their admission to this theological arena.
There was, indeed, a second party who gave the rigid presbyterians
considerable trouble, consisting of persons who Avould not TIle j;rast;ans
only have deprived the church of all secular jurisdic
tion, but would have made it dependent in all its internal proceedings
on rules supplied to it by the civil power, protesting especially against
the whole system of church censures except as sanctioned by the law of
the magistrate. These principles, which not only allied the church
with the state, but identified them, too much iu the manner of the
ancient Jew or the modern Arab, were those maintained by the
Erastians, who found their defenders among the lawyers, particularly in
Whiteloeke and Selden f.
* Rushworth, v. 337—339. Baillie, i. 398, 402.
f Baillie, i. 420. In April, 1645, this Avriter observes : — " The most of the house
of commons are downright Erastians ; they are like to create us more woe than all
the sects in England. This man (Selden) is the head of the Erastians ; his glory

4 - HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
Clarendon affirms that most of the clergy admitted to this synod were
The pres- " of no 'other reputation than of malice to the church of
England;" but opposed to that statement is the testimony
of Baxter, who, without obliging us to approve all their extrava
gances, would lead us to regard the assembly of divines as possessed
of as much learning, and of more piety than had at any time dis
tinguished that portion of our ecclesiastical convocations Avhich consisted
of delegates from among the parochial clergy. But the writer who
speaks of the presbyterians generally, so as to justify this conclusion,
has added :— " I disliked the course of some of the more rigid of them,
who drew too near to the way of prelacy by grasping at a kind of secular
power, not using it themselves, but binding the magistrate to confiscate
or imprison men, merely because they were excommunicated ; and so
corrupting the true discipline of the church, and turning the communion
of the saints into the communion of the multitude, who must keep in
the church for fear of being undone in the world. I disliked also some
of the presbyterians that they were not tender enough to dissenting
brethren, but too much against liberty, as others were too much for it,
and thought to do by votes and numbers, what should have been done
by love and reason*."
The dissenting brethren to whom Baxter adverts as too much con-
The Indepeu- cerned for liberty were the independents, of whom Clarendon
dents. saySj — « they were more learned and rational than the pres
byterians, and though they had not so great congregations of the
common people, yet they were followed by the more substantial and
wealthy citizens, as well as by others of better condition." Baxter,
also, though rarely so much prejudiced as when touching upon sec
taries, observes of this body, that " most of them were zealous, very
many learned, discreet, and godly men, fit to be serviceable in the
church t." The independent ministers in the assembly never amounted
to more than ten or twelve, but these were all men practised in the
work of discussion, and who, having exposed themselves to the suffer
ings of exile for liberty of conscience, were not to be dismayed in plead
ing for that liberty by the storms of the majority arrayed against them
at Westminster. Baillie, one of their most violent antagonists, says of
them : — " Truly they speak much, and exceedingly Avell : if the cause
is most in Jewish learning ; he avows everywhere that the Jewish church and
state were all one, and so in England it must be, the parliament is the church. If
L'Emperour would beat down this man's arrogance, as very well he can, to show, out
of the rabbins, that the Jewish state was diverse from the church, and that they
held the censure of excommunication among them, and a double sanhedrim, one
civil, and another ecclesiastical ; if he would confound him with Hebrew testi
monies, it would lay Selden's vanity, who is very insolent for his oriental litera
ture." ii. 96, 107. Whiteloeke, 163, 164. Neal, iii. 116, 117, 236, 242.
* Life and Times. Part i. 140—143.
f Life and Times, Part i. 140—143.

A.D. 1642  1645.] CHARLES I. 411
were good, the men have plenty of learning, wit, eloquence, and, above
all, boldness and stiffness to make it out* ."
The independents complained of the presbyterians, that, while so
much opposed to any gradation in ecclesiastical offices, they insisted on
the establishment of gradations in ecclesiastical authority ; that, resist
ing the government of the church by bishops, deans, and archdeacons,
they contended for its government by means of presbyteries, classes,
and synods; and that, while they condemned the subjection of the
congregations of a province or a nation to one man under the name of a
primate as an invention of antichrist, they pleaded for the subjection of
all the churches in a nation to a single tribunal called a general as
sembly, insisting that the decisions of that assembly should not only be
binding on the absent, but enforced by civil penalties. In all this they
professed to see great inconsistency, and the elements of the same
system of oppression which it had cost so much blood and treasure to
overthrow. They could agree with their opponents in depriving the
national worship of the superstitious observances included in it ; but no
secret influence, no violence of opposition, could induce them to abandon
the ground they had taken in declaring every christian congregation to
be a church independent of all foreign controul, and in " avowing that,
by God's command, the magistrate is discharged to put the least dis
courtesy on any man, JeAV, Turk, Papist, Socinian, or whatever, for his
religion f-" Weeks and even months passed in discussions on this
point, and still these men were in the field, amidst the fiercer onsets of
their antagonists, loud complaints from Scotland, and frequent admoni
tions from the parliament.
When their adversaries were about to accomplish by votes what they
had failed to achieve by other means, the weaker party narrowed their
claims to one point, viz., that, whatever the established religion might
be, it should not be without a provision for the toleration of those who
conscientiously dissented from it. If the state, said they, must provide
for presbyterianism, let it at least grant to independency the liberty to
provide for itself. This proposal led to the formation of a committee,
consisting of a deputation from the assembly, from the Scottish commis-

* Letters, i. 436.
f Baillie, ii. 18. " We hope, if once we had peace, with God's help, and -with
the spirit of meekness, mixed with a little justice, to get the most of these erroneous
spirits reduced. The independents have set up a number of private congregations
in the city. We hope God will provide remedies for that evil, independency, the
mother and true fountain of the church's distractions here. As yet their pride
continues, but we are hopeful the parliament will not own their way so muck as to
tolerate it." Ibid. 24, 26, 49. So completely had these men imbibed the spirit of
Intolerance, that there was scarcely an act in the obtrusive tyranny of Laud him
self which they were not capable of imitating. Thus the merchant adventurers
were required to send the Covenant " to all of their company at home and abroad
and return the names of such as should refuse to take it ;" and the same was to be
done in the case of " all physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries in London, and the
several counties." Whiteloeke, 88, 140.

412

HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.

sioners, and from the tAvo houses, in whose^ hands this important and
novel question became subject to new difficulties and delays, until the
army Avas new modelled, and the battle of Naseby Avas fought. By the
victory of that day the independents were raised to a position which
Avould have made any public refusal of so reasonable a demand as dan
gerous, as it would have been ungenerous and unjust.
By this assembly a new directory of worship was adopted, which was
approved by parliament, and substituted in the room of
'ory- the prayer-book in the churches of England and Scotland.
It consisted principally of instructions with respect to the manner in
which the several parts of divine AA'orship should be conducted, and also
Avith respect to the ceremony of marriage, visiting the sick, and the
service at funerals. The manner of performing those duties, indeed,
was left in a great degree to the judgment of the officiating minister,
but, at the same time, a considerable outline was supplied for his
guidance *.
While this new directory was preparing other changes were taking
place, which prevented its appearance from being a matter
AvHhresDect °^ surPrise- We have seen that part of the price to be
to the epis- paid by the parliament for the assistance of the Scots Avas
copalian jts adoption of the covenant. The oath required by that in-
clergy. . , .
strument, which was meant to bind its partizans in a re
lentless hostility against the late ecclesiastical hierarchy, was taken,
with some reservations, by both houses, and was exacted frequently,
though by no means universally, from the clergy. Many of the
episcopalian clergy were deprived of their livings on the charge of
their being scandalous ministers, and not unjustly. But men, whose
only delinquency consisted in refusing to become parties to this cove
nant, were called " malignants;" and, on account of the malignancy
said to be thus manifested with respect both to the gospel and the par
liament, persons of this discription were sometimes expelled to make
room for others more conformable to the new standard of orthodoxy.
Such sufferers deserve a place among the confessors of the seventeenth
century no less than the puritans, whose religious scruples, though of a
different complexion, had subjected them to the same evils. But, if we
may credit Baxter or Fuller, two of the most honest writers in our lan
guage, and both contemporary with the events which they describe, the
instances in which the episcopalian clergy were subject to such penalties
purely as the consequence of their conscientiousness, were comparatively

* On this subject Baillie thus expressed himself to the general assembly in Scot
land : — " That, in place of episcopacy, a Scotch presbytery should be concluded in
an English assembly, and ordained in an English parliament, as it is already or
dained in the house of commons ; that the practice of the church of Scotland, set
down in a most pious, Avholesome, and prudent directory, should come, in the place
of a liturgy, in all the three kingdoms ; such stories lately told would have been
counted fancies, dreams, mere impossibilities." ii, 87.

a. d. 1642—1645.] charles i. 413
few. Baxter writes: — " In all the countries Avhere I am acquainted,
six to one, at least," if not many more, that Avere sequestered by the
committees, were, by the oaths of Avitncsses, proved insufficient or scan
dalous, or especially guilty of drunkenness and swearing. This, I know,
Avill not please the party, but I am sure that this is true*." Fuller,
while justly sympathising Avith those Avho were sequestered " only for
their loyalty," speaks of others as chargeable Avith offences that would
not bear repeating, " crying to heaven for justice j-.''
Those arbitrary proceedings in ecclesiastical affairs Avhich had produced
so strong a reaction against the episcopal clergy at this
period, had been carried to their furthest extent under ^^ '0f r^j
the primacy of Laud. During somewhat more than twelve
months from the time when the primate was committed to the Tower,
his name was scarcely mentioned; but a little subsequent to that time,
an incident occurred which exposed him anew to the resentment of his
opponents. The lords required him to confirm their nomination of a
clergyman to a vacant benefice; another clergyman was nominated by
the king, and the monarch prohibited the archbishop from complying
with the demand of the upper house. The primate hesitated ; the lords
became indignant, and called upon the commons, more perhaps for the
purpose of intimidation than from any intention of proceeding Avith such
a measure, to prosecute their impeachment of the great ecclesiastical
delinquent without delay. But the message was hailed
with no ordinary delight by the Scots commissioners, by ad_:i 91
many of the English Presbyterians, and particularly by
Prynne, Avhose sufferings under the barbarous rule of the accused had
been so merciless and revolting. This person Avas one of a committee
appointed to collect evidence against the impeached prelate, and for this
purpose he not only summoned a multitude of persons who had suffered
from the real or alleged tyranny of the archbishop, but seized the private
papers of the prisoner, including his diary, and a paper Avhich he had
prepared with a view to his defence.
The substance of the charges preferred against the primate was, that
he had endeavoured to subvert the rights of parliament, to
abolish the laws, and to change the religion of the king- '
dom. The evidence adduced in support of these accusations Avas of
the most various description ; its weight, however, as a Avhole, was such,
that the lords declared these charges to have been proved ; but the
house also declared that these intentions should not, even when proved,
be regarded as amounting to treason. The commons, in a conference
* Life. Part i. 74.
f Hist. Lib. xi. 207- Neal, ii. 68. Of the hundred included in White's First
Century of Scandalous Ministers, eighty were convicted, by many witnesses, of
gross immoralities, beside their disaffection to the parliament. Dr. Walker, in his
Sufferings of the Clergy, had endeavoured to lessen the number of moral delin
quents, but it is not more than seven or eight who have been at all served in their
reputation by his labours.

4l4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. fCH. IX".
with the lords, maintained that beside the treason against the king,
which the statute law has defined, and of which the courts of law took
cognizance, there was a treason against the state, determined by common
law, and of which the court of parliament was the sole judge. On these
grounds a bill of attainder was introduced, which adjudged the charges
proved against the primate to be treason. The lords after much hesita
tion, and by a small majority, passed this bill; and Laud,
Jan. 10. some ^ays later> closed his restless career upon a scaffold,
in the seventy-second year of his age.
This proceeding, in every view of it, reflects nothing but disgrace on
the long parliament. It exhibited, in several respects, a wider depar
ture from the forms usually observed in such cases than the attainder
of Strafford, and without the plea of necessity, which greatly extenuated,
if it did not justify, the sentence passed on that offender. The advanced
age of the primate, his growing infirmities, and the wonderfully altered
condition of public affairs, all contributed to render him an object rather
of pity than apprehension, and to make it the policy of his enemies td
leave him in the insignificance into which he had fallen. By proceeding
against him as a traitor, they could not fail to raise him to the dignity of
a martyr, and to create a sympathy in his favour in many quarters where
it would not otherwise have existed. That he would have been a party
to the introduction of popery, is highly improbable ; but that he would
have destroyed the constitution by causing the monarchy to usurp" its
place is beyond doubt, and his moral delinquency on this account was *
as great as could attach to any treason defined by statute ; particularly
as it stood connected with so many acts of oppression and cruelty.
But no statute had pronounced such conduct to be treason, and the
extreme measures resorted to for the purpose of bringing the primate
within the penalties of that offence, inasmuch as no great public
interest demanded them, deserve to be reprobated, as contrary to huma
nity, justice, and sound policy*
About three weeks after the death of Laud, and a little more than
four months before the battle of Naseby, the parliament,
reaty ot Ux- jQ compliance with overtures made to them by the king,
sent commissioners to Uxbridge to negotiate with a view
to the restoration of peace. The affairs of the king at that time
were such as to afford him small hope of success from prosecuting the
war. Negotiation would produce delay, and it would afford an oppor
tunity moreover to increase the disagreement between the presbyte
rians and the independents, and possibly to attach the one or the other
of them to his cause. The royal authority was not acknowledged in
* It was resolved after this bill of attainder was passed, as it had been on the
passing of that against Strafford, " that no judge or judges should interpret any act
or thing to be treason, in other manner than they should or ought to have done, if
this ordinance had never been made." Such bills were not only confined, as pre
cedents, to the parliament, but even there, were to be regarded more as warnings
than as examples, as cases of exception rather than as the rule of its judicial
proceedings.

A. D. 1642—1645.] CHARLES I. 415
more than a third of the kingdom, and the forces under the king were
not only much inferior to those at the command of the parliament, but
were weakened everywhere by division and insubordination, while their
licentiousness and profanity made them the terror even of their friends.
The claims of the parliamentary commissioners at Uxbridge, accordingly,
were as formidable as they had ever been. The leading articles insisted
upon were, the abolition of episcopacy, the substitution of the directory
put forth by the assembly of divines, in the place of the common prayer,
and that ever returning subject — the command of the forces. Episco
pacy was made a question of conscience by both parties. On this
account the king could not agree to its destruction, nor could the com
missioners of the parliament agree to its continuance. Twenty-one
days were spent in discussions on these points without anything being
concluded, Avhen the two houses recalled their deputation and put an
end to the treaty. But enough had appeared in the course of these
debates to show that while the presbyterians were favourable to the
preservation of monarchy under the specified restrictions, the indepen
dents were beginning to entertain opinions hostile to its existence, and
to the existence of any privileged class in the community.
If the independents began to entertain these views before the battle
of Naseby, they would not be less disposed to do so
after that event. From that period, to restore the mo- Depressed
iii i iii -ii state °f ttle
narchy by the sword was no longer regarded as possible, royalists.
Instances of resistance still occurred, but they had more
respect to private interests than to those of the sovereign. Charles
alone spoke in the language of hope, and even his expectations, if
they were really indulged, proceeded more from a reliance on some
almost miraculous interposition of providence, than from any rational
estimate of his affairs. Every day brought the news of defeat or defec
tion on the side of his friends ; and having avoided the enemy by the
rapidity of his movements during several months, he returned, early in
November, with the remnant of his army, to seek his winter quarters in
Oxford. In the mean time, the principles and conduct of the court party, so
far as that party may be said to have retained a visible existence, had
only become more desperate as the consequence of these reverses.
Baillie, who, in common with the great majority of the presbyterians,
had become by this time almost as much afraid of the independents as
of the royalists, describes the latter as still anxious to see the most com
plete despotism established, and as prepared to adopt means of any
description for that object*. It was this jealousy of the indepen
dents on the part of the presbyterians which formed the only source of
* " Daily more and more it appears to the world, that the design of the misled
court was, and is, by all means out of hell, to fasten the yoke of tyranny on our
bodies and souls, for owr times, and the days of our posterity." ii. 148.

416 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
hope to the king with respect to any tolerable settlement of his affairs ;
and it became the] policy of that body from this time to promote an
adjustment of public questions on some middle plan equally remote from
the iron rule which the royalists would have restored, and the more equal
system of freedom which the sectaries were desirous of introducing*.
But with regard to the king, what confidence could either of those
parties repose in him ? In the conversation, and the public
Publication of correspondence of the monarch, few Avords were of more
the king s r
letters. frequent occurrence than those of honour and conscience;
but his life demonstrates, that feAV things were of less con
sideration with him when adopting measures with a view to objects
which his honour and conscience pointed out as proper to be secured.
The preservation of ^episcopacy was a point of conscience with him, but
his conscience did not deter him from seeking the accomplishment of
that object by acts of gross insincerity. We refer to this topic again,
because the subsequent course of affairs will not be understood without
its being borne in mind : — a strong exposure of this vice in the cha
racter of the monarch having been made about this time to the whole
nation, by the publication of certain letters found in his cabinet taken
at Naseby.
Many of those letters were addressed to the queen, and proved Avhat
had abvays been affirmed concerning her irreconcileable enmity to
the liberties of the kingdom, and her pernicious influence over the
mind of her husband. Some of the papers discovered the earnest
applications made by the king to obtain assistance from abroad, not
withstanding his declarations to the contrary; while others betrayed
the insincerity of his public professions with regard to the catholics
of Ireland. We have seen that only a few months before, the king,
on taking the sacrament at Oxford, delivered a solemn protest, by
Avhich he bound himself to maintain the protestantism of the esta
blished church, without any connivance at popery. But in one of these
letters, the queen Avas empoAvered to promise the English catholics an
entire removal of the laAvs enacted against them, as soon as they should
enable him by their assistance to perform that service for them. Charles
* " Some fear the king's obstinacy ; others wish it to increase ; but the best and
the most here think it exceeding necessary to essay if we can have peace. If the
Lord harden his heart that it be refused, one other stroke may break his party with
out recovery. But when that is done, and we freed from all fears of them, we see a
new sea of troubles wherein we must enter.'' Ibid. Let. July 15, 1645. A few days
before, the same writer observes, " AVe hope shortly to get the independents put
to it to declare themselves either to be for the rest of the sectaries or against them.
If they declare against them, they will be but a small inconsiderable company ; if
for them, all honest men will cry out upon them, for separating from all the re
formed churches, to join with the anabaptists and libertines." Ibid. 142. Baillie
saw more difficulty in this dilemma than was felt by the independents, 146, 147, 169.
Baxter's Life and Times presents a striking, and perhaps a somewhat unfavourable
picture, of the mixture of republicanism and religious extravagance which began
to characterise the CromAvellian army from the day of " Naseby fight." 50 — 55.

A. D. 1645.] CHARLES I. 417
had refused for some time to call the two houses at Westminster — the
parliament, and when constrained by the necessity of his affairs to do
so, he deemed it proper in writing to Henrietta to express himself in the
folloAving terms on that subject : "As to my calling them at London a
parliament, I shall refer thee to Digby for particular ^satisfaction ; this
in general — if there had been but two beside myself of my opinion, I
had not done it, and the argument that prevailed with me w as, that the
calling them did not by any means acknowledge tlwm to be a parlia
ment, upon which condition and construction I did it, and no other
wise." In another letter, the queen Avas desired to comfort herself Avith
the assurance, that should the campaign of 1645 be successful, "a short
period" should be given "to this perpetual parliament:" and this was
the determination of the monarch, though he had ceased of late to make
any difficulty about promising a continuance of the parliament, the
great points with him being the preservation of episcopacy, and the
command of the forces.
These letters were read by Cronrwell and the officers at Naseby; they
were then sent to the parliament ; and a selection from
them was afterwards printed, by order of the two houses, fo, peace,
and circulated through the kingdom. The victory which
placed these papers in the hands of the parliament was hardly more
injurious to the royal cause than the disclosures which were thus made.
It Avas, accordingly, with a stronger conviction than ever that no confi
dence could be placed in any pledge that might be given to them by the
king, that the commons listened to the earnest recommendations of the
lords, and of the Scots commissioners, in favour of peace. On the four
teenth of October, the house went into committee on the proposals that
should be made, and having given two days a week to this subject for
six weeks, a series of articles, in substance the same with those which
had been insisted on by the parliamentary commissioners in the treaty
of Uxbridge, was agreed upon. The principal difference between the
present articles and those produced ou the former occasion was, that the
command of the militia should be entrusted to commissioners nominated
by Englishmen for England, and by Scotsmen for Scotland ; and that the
militia of Loudon and its environs should be placed at the disposal of the
commissioners, instead of being left in the hands of the corporation.
These variations should be noted, as they were the natural con
sequence of the material change which had now taken place
in the position and temper of parties. By a majority in Change in
the parliament, the Scots army and the city were regarded parties.
as so much under the controul of the intolerant spirit
which animated the majority of the presbyterians, that it was probable
they Avould be found Avilling to join in some hollow compact with
the king, rather than submit to see their exclusive schemes put
aside by the more liberal policy which prevailed in the house of
commons. About this time, more than a hundred and fifty neAv meni-
2e

418 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
bers were added to the lower house, in the place of those who had
withdrawn, or had been declared incapable by the votes of that as
sembly; and the effect of these new elections was not only to add
much weight to the decisions of the parliament, but to bring the inde
pendents into a more equal balance against the presbyterians. Other
causes, indeed, had operated to produce some disaffection between the
Scottish army and their southern neighbours, for while the latter com
plained of the disorderly conduct, or of the inaction or inefficiency of
their allies, the former murmured in their turn about neglect of pay,
and similar matters. But the great object of the presbyterians was the
overthrow of episcopacy and the enforcement of the covenant, and with
the independents it was a matter of no less importance to maintain that
Avhatever might be the established religion, there should be liberty of
conscience for all who dissented from it.
Both parties had good cause, as well from past experience as from
present circumstances, to guard against exposing their leading men by
protracted negotiation to the tampering of the court, and it was the
determination of the parliament, in consequence, to proceed — not by
treaty, but by tendering certain propositions in the form of bills to
receive the royal assent. The Scots were opposed to this course of
proceeding, particularly as the propositions to be submitted were those
of the English parliament only, and not strictly the same with those
to which the two nations had agreed at the treaty of Uxbridge.
The royalists made the best possible use of the delay, by imputing
the whole blame of the continuance of the war to the
Messages selfish and malevolent passions of their enemies. Charles
from the . ....
king. sent two messages, full of appeals to humanity and religion
in favour of peace; and even proposed to go to the
capital in person for forty days, under a safe conduct from the two
houses, rather than see the restoration of tranquillity any longer
deferred. He also expressed his willingness to place the militia
in the hands of commissioners for three years, the one half to
be nominated by himself, the other by the parliament. The parlia
ment declined the proposed visit of the king to the metropolis, which
called forth a third and a fourth message, in the last of which — that he
might appear anxious for peace, in proportion as his opponents seemed
to be unable or unwilling to promote it — Charles proposed that, with
the restoration of the church as 'it was in the times of Elizabeth and
James, there should be " full liberty for the ease of tender consciences ;
and the free use of the directory, to such as desired it."
It was the policy of Charles, by this show of moderation, and still
more by professing his willingness to make his appearance again in
London, either to extort a peace from his opponents on the terms which
he had named at Uxbridge, or to expose them to the reproach of inhu
manity toward their sovereign, and to the charge of adhering to extrava
gant proposals for factious purposes. The terms adhered to by the

A. D. 1645  6.] CHARLES I. 419
royal commissioners at Uxbridge embraced a complete re-establishment
of the church, and a restoration to the crown of the command of the
militia at the close of three years ; and, had the king been permitted
to appear in London, the impression made by his presence on those
sentiments of loyalty Avhich, in the great majority of minds, operate
with all the power of an instinctive and hereditary superstition, would
probably have obliged the parliament to accept of peace on those con
ditions. And to us it may well seem a matter to be regretted, that
peace was not concluded on such terms, joined as they now were with
a provision for liberty of conscience, and some other concessions that
were not without value. But the Scots would not forego their covenant ;
the patriots looked Avith alarm on the large powers which such a settle
ment Avould soon place in the hands of the king; and the parliament,
accordingly, clung to its propositions, and would hear nothing of negotia
tion, either with the monarch in person, or with any deputation from him.
When Charles found that this policy had failed to move his opponents
from the position which they had taken, his tone of moderation Avas
changed for that of censure and invective, and they were charged with
all the blood which had been shed, and with having trampled on all
law, that they might draw an exorbitant power to themselves. The
only effect of this message was to satisfy the commons that in ad
hering to their propositions and declining a treaty they had acted wisely ;
and a few days later, this conviction was much strengthened, by dis
closures relating to certain secret transactions between the king and the
insurgent catholics of Ireland*.
From the beginning of these troubles Charles had never ceased to
expect important assistance from that kingdom. But the
demands of the Irish catholics not only embraced the full Commission
toleration, but the legal establishment of their worship ; _
and with such terms the king could not openly comply
without creating disaffection in England, much greater than any
assistance to be obtained from Ireland would be sufficient to controul.
It was agreed, accordingly, between Charles and the earl of Glamorgan,
that the latter should proceed to Ireland, and with documents for the
purpose under the royal seal, should be empowered to settle a private
treaty, conceding to the catholics the whole of their claims, with the
proviso that this concession should remain a secret until the king should
be in circumstances to acknowledge it with safety. These instruments
pledged the monarch to everything concluded by Glamorgan, without
any respect to warrant of law, and included letters to the pontiff, and to
a nuncio of the Roman see then resident in that island f. These terms
* Journals of Lords, Oct. — Jan., passim.
t For the documents relating to this commission see Birch's Inquiry respecting
it. Clarendon's State; Papers, ii. 201, 346. Carte's Ormond, iii. 436—440. Rush-
worth, vi. 239, 240. Leland's History of Ireland, iii. 247—296. Liugard, x. 319
—325. And note B.
2e2

420 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
were accepted by the supreme council of the catholics at Kilkenny, and
an army of ten thousand men was at once promised, which might be
employed by the earl in support of the royal cause in any part of Great
.. _ Britain. Charles had kept this scheme a secret, not only
°" from the parliament and council in Ireland, but from every
person about him in this country — being well aware that the open con
currence of his usual advisers in either kingdom with such a project,
if solicited, would be solicited in vain. This enterprise had nearly
reached maturity when accident led to its discovery, and the papers re
lating to it were laid before the council in Dublin, and the two houses
at Westminster. '.
The feeling of indignation produced by this disclosure Avas of the most
violent description, and spread rapidly among all classes in "adherence
with the parliament. About eighteen months before, Charles had
SAVorn openly, when receiving the sacrament at Oxford, that his power
should be employed to the utmost for the preservation of protestantism,
and the suppression of popery, and that declaration he had often repeated ;
but from these papers it appeared, that he had been secretly occupied,
during a considerable period since, in forwarding negotiations which
pledged him to a re-establishment of that system through a large por
tion of his dominions, and that he had been induced to make that
pledge in order that the catholics of Ireland might be employed in the
work of subduing his protestant subjects in these kingdoms. There is
enough in the documents relating to this affair, and in the conduct of
Charles on similar occasions, to justify the conclusion that he intended
Glamorgan should proceed to the extent of the treaty which he formed,
should his doing so be found necessary in order to obtain the required
assistance. Could any doubt be entertained on this point, the con
fidential letters which the king subsequently wrote to Glamorgan are
sufficient to remove it, even from the most incredulous.
In one of these letters Charles refers Glamorgan to the bearer as pre
pared to explain why he had not done everything which had been de
sired. " Want of confidence," he observes, " being so far from being the
cause, that I am every day more confirmed in the trust I have in you, it
not being in the power of any to make you suffer in my opinion by ill
offices." This was written in February, immediately after his proceed
ings had been discovered ; and in the following April the king writes to
the same person in these terms : — " As I doubt not but you have too
much courage to be dismayed at the usage you have had, so I assure
you my estimation of you is nothing diminished by it, but that it rather
begets in me a desire of revenge and reparation to us both." The
"usage" referred tio in this extract was the arrest of Glamorgan in
Dublin Castle, by an order of council, a proceeding which arose from
the concern of Ormond to save the credit of the monarch by accusing
his instrument. About three months later Charles wrote to the

a.d. 1646.] ciiarles i. 421
earl again, expressing the love which he had always borne him, the
pleasure which he had ever found in his conversation, his earnest Avish
to be with [him and the nuncio in Ireland, where he might hope for the
respect of Avhich he found no share in England, declaring that there
Avas not another man to Avhom he was " so much obliged," and adding,
" your merits toward me exceed all expression." It was by producing
his private authority from the king that Glamorgan had obtained his en
largement after his arrest in Dublin; and he subsequently appeared in
the neighbourhood of Cork, conducting an army of five thousand men to
join the royal standard in England.
The Scots regarded this unhappy exposure as precluding all hope of
a reasonable settlement, and the duplicity of the monarch was felt by
his best friends as much as by his enemies ; for no man could credit
his statement to the parliament, that he had given to Glamorgan a
commission to raise men, and " to that purpose only," in opposition to
the evidence furnished by so many circumstances and documents.
The authority given to Glamorgan under the private signet of the mo
narch on the twelfth of January, 1645, and which was renewed, in sub
stance, on the twelfth of March, is, of itself, sufficient to show that the
earl did no more than it was intended he should do, — that is, exercise
at his discretion the powers entrusted to him ; and Ave have seen what
the king's real judgment was with respect to the manner in which his
servant had acquitted himself. Ormoud, the lieutenant of Ireland, was
the only person in the confidence of the king who was privy to this
transaction previous to the accident which made it generally known,
and the lieutenant was not to be officially connected with the more diffi
cult points of the proceeding *.
* The following is a copy of the commission of the twelfth of January, as printed
by Dr. Lingard from a manuscript with the signature of the earl attached to it : —
" Charles, by the grace of God, king of England, Scotland, France, and' Ireland,
Defender of the Faith. To our right trusty and right Avell beloved cousin, Edward,
earl of Glamorgan, greeting. Whereas we have had sufficient and ample testimony
of your approved Avisdom and fidelity. So great is the confidence we repose in yon,
as that whatsoever you shall perform as warranted only under our sign manual,
pocket signet, or private mark, or even by word of mouth, without further cere
mony, Ave do, on the word of a king and a Christian, promise to make good to all
intents and purposes as effectually as if your authority from us had been under our
great seal of England ; with this advantage, that we shall esteem ourself far the
more obliged to you for your gallantry in not standing upon such nice terms to do
us service, which we shall, God willing, reward. And although you exceed Avhat
law can warrant, or any power of ours reach unto, as not knoAving Avhat you may
have need of, yet, it being for our service, we oblige ourself not only to give you
our pardon, but to maintain the same Avith all our might and power ; and though,
either by accident, you lose, or by any other occasion you shall deem necessary to
deposit any of our warrants, and so want them at your return, and to supply any
thing wherein they shall be found defective, it not being convenient for us at this
time to dispute upon them, for of what we have here set down you may rest confi
dent, if there be faith or truth in man ; proceed, therefore, cheerfully, speedily, and
boldly, and for your so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given at our
court at Oxford, under our sign manual and private signet, this twelfth of January,
1644-5. Glamorgan." Indorsed, " The earl of Glamorgan's further authority."

422 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
Charles himself appears to have seen that much additional injury had
„ been done to his cause by the detection of this artifice ;
WeAv over-
ture from anu> accordingly, he now proceeded so far in the way of
the king. concession as to propose that the militia should be assigned
an" ' to commissioners nominated solely by the two houses, who
should retain their trust, as previously required, for seven years ;
that the parliament should also appoint a lord high admiral, the
officers of state, and judges, for life, and that acts of oblivion should
be passed in both kingdoms. And as, even with these concessions
before them, the Scots commissioners were slow in coming to an
agreement with the two houses upon many other matters which required
adjustment, Charles, at length, proffered to disband his forces, and to
remove to London, confiding in the generosity or the justice of the par
liament for the nature of the settlement to be resolved upon.
It was on the twenty-third of March that the king made this over
ture, and in a letter written by him to lord Digby, only three days later,
we learn the intentions with which it was accompanied. " Now for
my own particular resolution," he writes, " I am endeavouring to get to
London, so that the conditions may be such as a gentleman may
own ; and that the rebels may acknowledge me king, being not
without hope that I shall be able to draw either the presbyterians or
independents to side with me for extirpating one the other, that I shall
be really king again. I will conclude with this assurance, that whatever
becomes of me, by the grace of God, I will never forsake the church, my
friends, or my crown * !"
The commons needed not half the sagacity which they possessed in
order to perceive the probability, or, in fact, the certainty, that Charles
would be found to act on the policy set forth in this letter if admitted
to the capital before the completion of some definite and solemn com
pact. Accordingly, instead of encouraging his approach without the
Dr. Lingard has also in his possession the original warrant of the twelfth of March,
with the king's signature aud private seal, bearing the arms of the three kingdoms,
a croivn above, and C. R. on the sides, and indorsed in the same handwriting with
the body of the warrant, " The earl of Glamorgan's especial warrant for Ireland."
Dr. Lingard thinks it probable that his MS., bearing date the twelfth of January,
is the very same which Glamorgan gave to Ormond after his arrest. Both docu
ments are to the same effect, x. 472 — 478.
It is in the following terms that Clarendon speaks on this subject when writing
to secretary Nicholas : — " I must tell you I care not how little I say in that busi
ness of Ireland," referring to his intended history, " since those strange powers and
instructions given to your favourite Glamorgan, which appears to me so inexcusable
to justice, piety, and prudence. And I fear there is very much in that transaction
of Ireland, both before and since, that you and I were never thought wise enough
to be advised with in. Oh ! Mr. Secretary, those stratagems have given me more
sad hours than all the misfortunes in Avar Avhich have befallen the king, and look
like the effects of God's anger towards us." Clarendon Papers, ii. 337. The whole,
according to Glamorgan, was so done, that " the king might have a starting hole to
deny the commissions, if excepted against by his own subjects." Ibid. 201, 202.
Rushworth, vi. 239—249.
* Carte's Ormond, iii. 452.

A. D. 1646.] CHARLES I. 423
protection of that preliminary, they passed a resolution, declaring, that
should he venture within the lines of the metropolis, means should be
immediately employed to prevent tumult, and all resort to him — and,
as an amendment of the lords, " to secure his person from danger." The
royalists, who came to the city and its neighbourhood, at this crisis, in
great numbers from all parts, were prepared to join in any enterprise
which promised to give strength to their expiring cause ; and they every
where denounced the distrust of the king expressed by the commons as the
pretext of ambition. But there was firmness enough in the lower house
to resist the pressure that would have forced them into the path of
danger, whether proceeding from the sinister purposes of their enemies,
or from the imperfect discernment of their friends *.
Oxford now began to be an unsafe residence for the king, and no time
was to be lost in choosing the party upon which to throAV
himself. His first overture was to the independents, p'caPe °{
through sir Harry Vane, in which he declared, that should Oxford.
presbyterianism " be too strongly insisted upon," on his
coming to London, all his power should be employed " in rooting that
tyrannical government out of the kingdom f." But he soon found that
his character was less acceptable to that party than to their opponents,
and that their greater distrust of his professions Avas a strong barrier
in the way of all advantage from that quarter. In the mean while,
the forces of the parliament were approaching nearer to Oxford from
different points ; and the dangers which presented themselves to his
view disposed him to entertain the thought of making his appearance
in the Scottish camp — trusting that the sight of a king, with all the
signs of his departed greatness about him, would call forth a feeling,
which it might be in his power to use so as to procure a settlement
on the points at issue more favourable to his wishes than could be
otherwiso obtained. It was only by this expedientthat he could hope
to avoid the necessity of subscribing to the covenant.
The Scots, through Montreville, the French ambassador, had intimated
their willingness to receive the king, but it was to be with not more than
three attendants, and in a manner that was to have the appearance of his
being made captive while on his way toward Scotland. But this plan was
frustrated by the delay and vacillation of the monarch ; and when the
prince who had so long governed these realms almost by his single will,
and who had of late traversed the length and breadth of England at the
head of powerful armies, found himself obliged to leave Oxford, so
reduced was his condition, that he consulted his safety by disguising
himself as the servant of Mr. Ashburnham. Following that gentle
man, and a clergyman named Hudson, who was of the party prin
cipally on account of his being well acquainted with the cross roads,
Charles bade farewell to the city which had been honoured as the resi-
* Journals, March, April, passim. f Clarendon Papers, ii. 227.

424 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. IX.
dence of his court, on the twenty-seventh of April, about the hour of
midnight. His council, who were not ignorant of his departure, were left
in uncertainty concerning his plans, and the point toward which his
steps would be directed. Their strongest impression appears to have been
that his inclination would lead him toAvard London, and it is certain
that he continued his journey with little variation in the direction of
the capital until he came almost within sight of it. It had been one of
his projects to enter the city in disguise, and to remain concealed there ;
but the dangers of such an adventure seemed to thicken as the moment
for entering upon it drew near.
Having passed through Brentford, Charles instructed Ashburnham
and Hudson to turn from the main road toward Harrow, and, with a
portmanteau behind him on his horse, followed them through by-roads
to the neighbourhood of St. Albans, and at the close of the second
day the party reached Market-Harborough. At this place the king
hoped to have met Montreville, or an escort of horse, and, thus pro
tected, it is not improbable that he would still have passed into
Scotland to Montrose ; but his arrangement with the French ambassador
had not been understood, or not acted upon at the proper time. It is
supposed that the unhappy prince never felt the evils of his condition
so acutely as at this moment. From Market-Harborough he journeyed
to Stamford, from Stamford to Downham, and having passed
Surrenders four days at the latter place, in a state of great suffer-
Scots. May 5. *nS fr°m tne want °f some steady persuasion as to the
best course of action, he at length determined on pro
ceeding to the Scottish army which then lay before Newark.
The flight of the king gave rise to many conjectures and alarms both
in the parliament and the city. When letters arrived stating that he
was with the Scots army, the commons came to a vote requiring that his
person should be given up to be disposed of by the authority of par
liament. Warwick castle was named as a proper residence for the
present *.
* Rushworth, vi. 267- et seq. As a means of disguising himself Charles parted Avith
his long hair, and a barber whom he employed at Downham complained much of
the unworkmanlike manner in which the scissars had been applied. Ibid. Claren
don, Hist. v. 363—394. State Papers, ii. 220—230.

A. D. 1646.] CHARLES I. 425

Chapter X.
General view of affairs at this period — Passive conduct of the King — His ad
herence to Episcopacy— Disputes with Henderson — His position Avith respect
to the two great parties — Meditates an escape from the Scots — Comparative
strength of the Presbyterians and Independents — Presbyterian form of
Church Government established — Modified by the Independents — Discontent
of the Presbyterian Clergy — Intolerant act against Blasphemy — Several of
the Propositions rejected by the King passed as Ordinances — The Scots sur
render the King to the English Parliament — Relative position of Parties in
England from that time — Confidence of the Presbyterians— Complaints of the
Army — Advances towards the Capital — Deputation from the Parliament —
Violent measures of the Presbyterians — Second Deputation — The Officers are
interdicted from acting with the Men in seeking a redress of Grievances —
Rise of the Agitators — Letter addressed by them to their Generals and
the Commons — Third Deputation — Votes of the Commons to disband — Further
advance of the Army, and a refusal to disband — Conciliatory votes of the tAvo
Houses — The Army obtains possession of the King's person — The Engagement
adopted — A fourth Deputation — The Army resolves on advancing to London —
Submission of the City and Parliament — Declaration of the Army, accusation of
eleven Members — Excitement in the City — Votes extorted from the Parliament
by Tumult — Scheme for the settlement of the Constitution prepared by the Army
— Submitted to the King, and rejected — The Army enters London.
From this period, the supreme authority openly acknowledged by the
people of England, ^was no longer divided, according to
local feeling or circumstances, between the king and the GcenZ . vlew
mi t ¦ /* • ¦ Until rs Jit
parliament. The condition of the sovereign became in tm3 period.
effect that of a private person, and the two houses exer
cised tha functions of an independent commonwealth. But these
powers were too recent in their origin, and the parties Avho wielded
them were too little agreed among themselves, to allow of their working
without hindrance or disorder. The puritan spirit, with its ardent love
of freedom up to a certain point, and its lamentable intolerance with
respect to every thing beyond it, still animated the presbyterian body in
both kingdoms ; while the independents, as they gradually rose into
importance, by the sagacity which they brought to the management of
public affairs, hardly less than by their exploits in the field, became
more fixed and definite in their demands ou the side of the rights of
conscience, and of a more equal liberty. The army under Fairfax, con
sisting of twenty-two thousand men, was made up almost entirely from
the independents, and greatly outnumbered the presbyterians, who were
in arms under Massey and Poyntz. The independents could also boast
at this juncture of a small majority on many questions even in the house
of commons ; but the city was still mostly presbyterian, and found its
great ally in the Scots army, which, by possessing the king's person,
had become capable of negociating with increased authority. Added
to which, as a further element of probable discord, the royalists, though
scattered, were by no means extinct. The number of the slain in the
late struggle was comparatively small, and the passions of those Avho

426 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
survived the conflict must have been rather exasperated than allayed
by what had befallen them.
In Scotland, the marquis of Montrose, by a series of rapid achieve
ments, had revived the hopes of this party, and though the reverses
which attended him had followed in as quick succession, it Avas the great
hope of Charles in surrendering himself to the Scots, that he might be
able to induce the leaders of that army to take part with Montrose, for
the purpose of humbling the pride of the independents and putting down
the sectaries. With respect to Ireland, the possession of Dublin, and
of some other places of strength, constituted almost the only power of the
government in that country, much the greater part of it being in subjection
to the insurgent catholic confederacy. As soon as the battle of Naseby
afforded the opportunity and the means, it became the concern of the
parliament that vigorous measures should be adopted for the full resto
ration of the English government in that island, and the command of
forces for that object was entrusted to Viscount Lisle ; but at the present
moment the fate of these arrangements was uncertain*.
Charles was not ignorant that in the circumstances now enumerated
there were difficulties sufficient to exercise all the genius
Passive con- anci energy 0f his opponents, and he resolved to watch
king. the elements of conflict about him, so as to derive his
advantage from the perplexities and collisions which must
very soon occur. In the Scottish camp he found himself treated as a
prisoner, in consequence of refusing the covenant ; and within a fort
night of his appearance there, the English parliament manifested its
jealousy of the army from Scotland, by declaring that its services
were no more required south of the TAveed. The estates at Edin
burgh feared the probable intrigues of the king with their officers hardly
less than the commons at Westminster, and sent some of their most trusty
members to employ all proper means in order that the monarch might
be brought without delay to the terms of the covenant, and the public
tranquillity be preserved. On the matter of the covenant they employed
their powers in vain; but at their instance the king issued orders which
required Montrose to disband his forces, and transport himself to France;
Avhich called upon the garrisons holding Oxford, Worcester, and all
other fortified places under his banner, to surrender them ; and Avhich
instructed Ormond to abstain from any conditional treaty with the Irish
insurgents j-.
Charles knew while he thus wrote that the treaty with the catholic
confederates was already completed ; and there is a secret letter which
he found means to send at this time to the queen, the prince of
Wales, and others, which discloses his state of mind while issu
ing these orders, and makes it difficult indeed to suppose that he was
* Rushworth, vi. 228, 229, 239—249. Montrose's Memoirs, 162—208.
f Rushworth, vi, 270 — 308. passim.

A. D. 1646.] CHARLES 1. 42*J
prevented from expressing an approval of the covenant by any real
homage to sincerity. In this letter he complains of the perfidy and
barbarity of the Scots, none but his enemies being allowed access to him.
Subject to such restraints, it Avas probable that this would be the only
communication they Avould for some time receive from him containing
the free expression of his mind. Their conduct, therefore, in relation
to his affairs, was to be regulated according to those orders which he had
given before submitting to his present captivity ; and with respect to all
things not included in those orders, the prince was to act with those
about him, in the manner deemed best for the royal interests, notwith
standing any contrary instructions that he might himself be prevailed
upon in his present circumstances to send forth. The treaty with the
catholic confederates of Ireland, in particular, was to be kept inviolate
and acted upon, as of the greatest importance to his cause; and neither
on that subject nor any other was he to be understood as expressing any
countermand, except in cipher, and written with his own hand *. The
prince who could act thus systematically upon such a policy was surely
not a person in whom the parliament, or any of the parties who com
mitted themselves against him, could be expected to confide. He was,
indeed, in circumstances which plead strongly in extenuation of his
conduct, but they were not such as exposed his person to danger, nor
such as could justify the course which he pursued.
But Charles was sincerely of opinion that an intimate connexion
subsisted between the preservation of episcopacy and
the stability of the throne. He was also by this time Adheres t0
3 . J Episcopacy —
aware that the presbyterians were more hostile to any his dispute
continuance of that form of ecclesiastical polity than wlt" Hender-
the independents ; while the leaders of the former party,
as including many of the wealthy and the noble in both kingdoms,
were deemed less accessible to intrigue than those of the latter —
the chiefs of the independents being considered rather in the light of
fortunate adventurers, who held their position as the effect of their
capacity, more than as the consequence of their original station in
society. These impressions disposed the king to resist all the attempts
that were now made to convert him to presbyterianism. In the hope
of subduing this opposition, it was arranged that a solemn conference
should take place on this subject between the sovereign and a Scotch
divine, of much polemical celebrity, named Henderson. The disputants
ended where they had begun, and victory was claimed by the partisans
of each ; but it is no reflection on the monarch to suppose him the infe
rior of a man whose days had been spent in exploring the sources of
ecclesiastical learning, instead of being given to the frivolities of a court,
or distracted by the cares of government and of civil war f. So pertina-
* Carte's Ormond, iii. 463.
t There is good reason to believe that the papers said to have been produced by

428 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
cious was the feeling of Charles in favour of episcopacy, that he was not to
be moved from it by the entreaties of the new French ambassador Bel-
lievre, though supported by the whole Aveight of the presbyterian party,
the earnest advice of the queen, and the promise of thirty thousand
French soldiers, to be employed by the prince of Wales in restoring
the fallen monarch with proper dignity to his throne. Bellievre had
been deputed in the place of Montreville at the suggestion of the queen,
as a person more equal to the duties of so difficult a mission ; and Sir
William Davenant Avas next sent as still more competent to prevail with
the king on the one point upon which every thing now seemed to depend.
But the expostulations of Davenant produced displeasure rather than
the desired change, and he was even forbade to come into the royal pre
sence*. It was the immovable purpose of the king on this point which frus
trated the policy of the presbyterians, who, so long as this
KinV with re-6 Pertinacity continued, could think of no means by which
spect to the to preserve the ancient constitution, except by the appoint -
two great par. men(; 0f a regency, or the transfer of the crown to some
other member of the royal familyf. The independents were
not less aware than the presbyterians of the weight, and the probable
preponderance, which the compliance of the king in this particular would
give to that party, and were accordingly resolved that no pains should be
spared to preserve their present ascendancy both in the army and the
house of commons, their strength in those quarters being sufficient, if
supported by the confidence of the monarch, to enable them to pro
vide against all the power and intolerance of the rival sect. Hence,
while the presbyterians were urging the king by every possible induce
ment to accept the terms of peace which they proffered him, the indepen
dents did all they could to render the efforts of that party ineffectual.
The presbyterians submitted their propositions to the king at New
castle on the twenty-fourth of July, and some of the most
Rejects the distinguished men m Dotn kingdoms, the estates at Edin-
proposi tions. ° . .
burgh, and the Scots army, united in pressing his imme
diate acceptance of them. One of the first measures consequent on
such an adjustment would have been to disband a large portion of the
English army, and by that proceeding a fatal blow would have been
inflicted on the power of the independents. Hence, to guard against
such a course of affairs became the great policy of that party ; and
for this object their leaders in the army, particularly Cromwell and
Ireton, did not scruple in their turn to avail themselves of the aids of
Charles during this controversy, and Avhich may be seen in his Avorks"(155 — 188)
Avere the production of another pen, probably that of Clarendon. See this subject
discussed in Godwin's History of the Commonwealth, ii. 179 — 183.
* Baillie, ii. 218, 219. Clarendon, Hist. v. 378, 405, 409, 411, 412. Ludlow,
i. 161.
t Baillie, ii. 208, 214.

A.D. 1646.] CHARLES I. 429
duplicity, by making secret overtures to the king, which promised him
restoration to the throne on terms much less objectionable to him
than those laid before him by their opponents. Influenced by these
secret proposals, and probably by the hope of foreign aid, Charles
expressed his real aversion to the presbyterian propositions, by declining
the simple acceptance of them which was demanded, and by again
claiming that he should be allowed to proceed to London for the purpose
of negociation*.
This answer, which Avas a virtual negative, produced a strong feeling
of exultation among the independents in the commons. The presby
terians, in the excitement of the moment, gave out that a motion would
probably be introduced and carried, declaring the king deposed from his
throne. But an extreme measure of that nature would have failed to
obtain the unanimous concurrence of the independents themselves, and
would have been far from acceptable to a considerable class of persons
who Avere found among their supporters, more on account of their tole
rant principles, than from being strictly of their party f.
Even the rumour of such a proceeding as possible produced a reaction
in public feeling, and a degree of combination between the royalists
and presbyterians unfavourable to objects much more moderate than
those which Avould have been most agreeable to that small body of per
sons, Avho would have preferred a republican to a monarchical govern
ment. This loss of ground, Avhich occurred between the twenty-seventh
of August and the first of September, became evident in the votes upon
the amount of payment to be made to the Scots, when the independents
were outvoted, ]in one instance by nine, and in another, by thirty -nine ; —
the policy of the English presbyterians being to dispense with the Scottish
army ; to reduce their own ; and by possessing the person of the king,
and bringing him to their terms, to make themselves ascendant }.
With a view to this object, a vote was obtained from the commons
and from the lords, which declared that the disposal of the king's
person should be left with the two houses. But the Scots contended
that the safety of the person of the monarch was a trust which
pertained to both kingdoms §. So confident also were they of their
power, as to declare through the medium of their parliament, that
should the monarch enter Scotland, it could not be to exercise any
function of royalty, nor would they engage to vindicate his pretensions,
should he be deposed by his English subjects, so long as the proposi
tions submitted to him were not accepted ||.
* Burnet's Memoirs of Hamilton, 277, 281, 282. RushAvorth, vi. 319—321.
vii. 1145. Charles's Works, 239—243. Clarendon, Hist. v. 417—419. Bamfield's
Apology, 16—18.
f Baillie, ii. 225.
j Journals, Aug. 27, Sept. 1.
§ Ibid. Sept. 18. Rushworth, vi. 329, et seq.
|| Ibid. 390, 392. Burnet, 298,302, 306. Charles was playing at chess when
this decision of the Scots parliament Avas communicated_ to him, and exercised

430 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
While such was the temper of the Scottish parliament, it is not sur
prising that Charles should have meditated an escape from
Charles medi- - tne a at Newcastle, in the hope of reaching France,
tates an escape J r ° '
from the Scots. and of obtaining assistance from that quarter. But though
a plan was devised for this object, he shrunk, as the mo
ment approached, from acting upon it, and the suspicions excited by a
partial discovery of the project occasioned his being put under greater
restraint *.
The struggle between the presbyterians and independents in the corn-
Comparative mons, which, during the present year, had appeared, in
strength of __ some important instances, to be in favour of the former,
rians and In- na<l not Deen sucn uniformly. A motion which ^required
pendents in that part of the army under Fairfax should embark for
ommons. jreian(i was defeated by a majority of ninety-one to ninety ;
and a resolution to disband the troops under Massey, consisting mostly
of presbyterians, was carried in the commous, and executed by
Ludlow, with the concurrence of Fairfax, notwithstanding a re
monstrance against it by the lords. Fairfax defended what he
had done by alleging that the remonstrance did not reach him
until the disbanding had commenced, and much of the money
entrusted to him had been distributed; he was also careful to state
that certain grounds of exception taken by the lords did not apply
to the case, and that what he had done had been with the concurrence
of a committee of the house of commons, and of, the committee of lords
and commons for the safety of the west t. But the two parties were so
nearly balanced in the commons during this year, that questions affect
ing either were rarely carried by a majority of more than eight or ten
A'otes; and some instances of understood compromise were necessary
that the ordinary business of government might proceed J.
Another matter which served to manifest the power of the indepen
dents in public affairs at this juncture, was the settlement
form of Uan °f tne exact form in which the presbyterian government
church go- should be established. By the ordinance issued on this
est'bi^h'd subject in 1645, it was determined that the country should
be divided into provinces, and that each province should
that controul over his feelings for which he was remarkable, by going on with the
game as though nothing had happened, ibid.
* Clarendon, ubi supra. Burnet's Hamilton, 307.
f Whiteloeke, Oct. 22. Journals, Oct. passim.
X On the question of preserving the covenant, either entire, or with no
very material modifications, a larger majority could be secured by the presbyte
rians. In a vote of the lords relative to the preservation and defence of the king's
person, it was proposed to add the words " according to the covenant," and this
addition was carried by a hundred and thirty-three against ninety-one. Com
mons' Journals, Dec. 25, 1646. On a question of this nature, in this same Decem
ber, the majority on the side of the presbyterians seems to have been something
greater, but their opponents, by more regular attendance, proved to be more nearly
equal to them on general occasions. Ibid. Dec. 22.

A.D. 1646.] CHARLES I. 431
be separated into parochial or congregational assemblies. It was also
provided, that distinct from these congregational assemblies, classical
or district assemblies should be instituted, and that the further process
of appeal should be, from the assembly of the district to that of the
province, and from the assembly of the province to the general assembly —
constituted of delegates from the whole nation. For the preservation of
discipline, the congregational assembly was to meet once a week, the
classical assembly once a month, the provincial assemblies every half
year, and the national assembly only at such times, and for so long, as
the civil power should deem expedient. It was also a part of this plan,
that in forming these assemblies, the election should be in the average
of two laymen to one clergyman.
But the independents placed some material checks on the working of
this formidable apparatus. It was not before 1648 that
the congregational assembly was allowed to possess the Modifications
"i * imposed by the
power necessary to create the classical assembly ; com- independents.
missioners being appointed until that period by par
liament to choose the persons deemed proper to be entrusted with
the authority committed to those bodies. Not only was the national
assembly dependent for existence on the pleasure of the parliament,
but an appeal lay in all cases from the ecclesiastical to the civil
power as the last resort. On the principle, moreover, which re
cognised an appeal from the national assembly to the parliament, an
ordinance was passed which gave existence to a body of government
commissioners in each province, to whom an appeal might be made
from the provincial ecclesiastical tribunals ; but this measure called
forth such loud complaints, that it was not until it had been consi
derably modified that the presbyterian form of church government
received the temporary establishment which was now assigned to it *.
The independents, as we have before remarked, were opposed to any
civil establishment of religion ; and those who aided them
in their present struggle, without being strictly of their Dissatisfac-
opinion in that respect, were careful that the mode of pr°e"byterian
its establishment should be such as to give a secure as- clergy.
cendancy to the civil power. Nothing, however, could be
more unacceptable to the presbyterian clergy than such doctrines, inas
much as their principles taught them to regard the secular establishment
of religion as the first duty of a state ; and, at the same time, to assert
their own pure independence of the civil power, even while looking to it
for protection and endowments, and for the force with which to main
tain their particular species of dominion. So fixed were their views on
* Rushworth, vii. 203—207, 257—260, 261. Hume says that the provincial and
national assemblies Avere to consist of clergy only, and having stated this error,
breaks off into some philosophical reflections in order to account for such an
arrangement. Scobell's Acts and Ordinances, 75 — 92, 97, 99.

432 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
these points, that at a time Avhen their opponents were so powerful,
they ceased not to iterate their complaints about the increase of sects,
and the mischiefs which ensued in consequence of Avithholding from
the authorities whichhad been set up the coercive powers necessary to
suppress them.
There was a bill against blasphemy which this party endeavoured to
carry in 1646, and which they succeeded in passing two years
tolerance later> tae provisions of which bespeak a frightful spirit of in
tolerance, reminding us very forcibly of the many similar
decrees which occur in the pages of ecclesiastical history, and which were
made the ground of proceedings so disgraceful to Christianity. By this
act, any denial of the Trinity, of the proper deity or humanity of Christ,
of his death as an atonement for the guilty, pof his freedom from sin, of
his resurrection, of the general rising from the dead, of the day of
judgment, or of the authenticity of the canonical scriptures, — was
declared to be a capital offence ! Many less considerable heresies are
named as to be punished by other penalties *. The authors of this
enactment had imbibed the sentiment that truth must be one ; that to
themselves pertained the rare felicity of having discovered it ; and that
the most consistent evidence of their_hallowed attachment to its interests
was in the adoption even of such means with a view to its support. Thus
the reasoning which had descended from Bonner to Laud, passed from
the latter to the men who brought him to the block !
By the influence of the independents, which operated to delay the act
concerning blasphemy, the commons were induced to pass
Several of several of the most important of the propositions that
moposHions had been reJected bv tne king> in tne snaPe of ordinances -a
passed as proceeding which gave them the force of acts of parlia-
ordinauces. ment -without Avaiting for the royal sanction. This repub
lican principle was acted upon with respect to those parts
of the propositions which related to the abolition of episcopacy, and
the sale of the bishops' lands ; to a justification of the proceedings in
parliament in both kingdoms since the commencement of hostilities ;
to the appointment of the great officers of state by the parliament ;
and to its retaining the command of the forces during the next twenty
years f-
These proceedings, though the lords did not, for the present, coucur
with them, were important as indicating the temper of the
Scots sur- loAver house. They belong to the month of October, and
render the abou(. tv/Q morjths later a committee of both kingdoms laid
king to the i,,ii i f
English a report before the commons, which led to the payment ot
parliament. ]arge arrears to the Scottish army, and to the surrender of
the king into the hands of the English parliament. As
* Rushworth, 149, 150.
f Journals of Commons. Sept. 22, 29. Oct. 9. Nov. 2, 16, et alibi.

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 433
these transactions were coincident in point of time, the Scots were
reproached by their enemies with having sold their king. But it was
deemed important by both parties that the Scots should evacuate the
kingdom and disband ; and not less so that the king should be retained
in England ; and these objects could not have been otherwise accom
plished. The demands of the Scots, and of the English presbyterians,
Avere the same ; Charles had refused those demands ; and he Avas
delivered by the former to the latter until such time as he should be
brought to consent to their common terms. The monarch was received
by a body of parliamentary commissioners, Avho conducted him to Hol-
denby House, in the county of Northampton.
But this proceeding, which was viewed with much satisfaction by
the English presbyterians, both as it would materially reduce
the expenditure of the government, and as it seemed, by Relative
placing the king in their hands, to confer on them the parties^n
power of dictating the conditions of a settlement, was soon England
found to have placed the affairs of the kingdom, as a matter . om *
at issue, between an unarmed presbyterian majority in the
parliament and the capital, and the independent minority of the lower
house, sustained by nearly the whole strength of the army. On the
departure of the Scots, the presbyterians ceased to have a military force
in which they could confide ; and it accordingly became their great
object to disband the army under Fairfax, which, they Avell knew, had
been for some time governed by principles and passions most hostile to
their plans. It was given out, with this view, that the war had reached
its close, and that the time for returning to a peace establishment had
arrived. Nor was this considered a difficult work to perform. The presby
terians in the city, in the fullness of their confidence, pre
pared a petition to be presented to the two houses, which Confidence
prayed that no person disaffected to the covenant should be ? te^Pr6S"
promoted to, or allowed to retain, any public trust; that
persons not duly ordained should be no more suffered to preach, nor
the meetings of separate congregations be tolerated ; and that an ordi
nance should be passed to put down all heresies and schisms, by visiting
their abettors with exemplary punishments. The petition further
stated, that, not to disband the army, Avould be to justify the imputation
that those who were in arms had taken to them as a trade, and not from
regard to the public cause; and while speedy assistance should be
afforded to Ireland, means, it was added, should be used to bring those
persons to deserved punishment who had sought to forward their private
ends by acting the part of firebrands between England and Scotland.
This significant petition was presented by the common council, who
coupled it with another from themselves, in which they prayed that all
2f

434 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [CH. X.
persons in the army, whether officers or privates, who were known to be
opposed to the covenant, should be dismissed; and expressed their
persuasion that no difficulty would be found in supplying the place of
such persons by others more trustworthy *. This last expression dis
closes something of the real state of parties at this moment : the motive
to disband the army was not that the services of so powerful a body
were no more needed, but that an army pledged to the covenant was
deemed much more desirable than an army so far wedded to indepen
dency. The royalists, though dispersed, were still formidable, and the
Irish catholics continued in open revolt.
It was agreed that Fairfax should retain his office as commander-in-
chief. But it was also voted that every officer under his command
should take the covenant, and conform to the government of the church
as established by ordinance ; that no commander of a garrison should
remain a member of parliament ; and that all offices above that of a
colonel should be abolished, excepting, of course, the rank of com
mander-in-chief f. The object of the presbyterians in these votes was
to purify the army generally from its leaven of independency, and to
compel Cromwell, and other formidable opponents, such as Ludlow,
Hutchinson, Ireton, and Algernon Sidney, to relinquish their connexion
either with the army or with the parliament.
Hollis and Stapleton were the recognised leaders of the presbyterians
in these courses, and it was altogether consistent with the narrow con
ceptions and angry intolerance of such persons to suppose that the
acknowledged supremacy of parliament would be a sufficient protection
against those expressions of resentment on the part of the army which it
was natural to expect as the consequence of such proceedings J. It
should be added, that with the votes already mentioned was another,
which ordered an immediate embarkation of a great part of the army
under Fairfax to serve against the insurgent catholics in Ireland. At
the same time, the discussions in parliament with respect to' the pay
ment of arrears, were attended with so many difficulties and delays as

* Tracts of George III. in the British Museum, vol. 290. The house of commons
gave these " covenant-engaged citizens thanks for their constant good affections,"
and appointed the following Tuesday for taking it into consideration. When that
day came, the independent party opposed the consideration of the petition, but were
in a minority of ninety-nine to one hundred and fifty-six. Journals, Dec. 19, 22.
The presbyterians, however, did not judge it prudent to bring the questions referred
to in the petition to a decision at this juncture, and suffered the intended debate to
• be postponed from day to day.
•f Tracts of George III. ibid. March 5.
X Hollis left some account of the times in which he lived ; but it has been justly
remarked that the dedication to his Memoirs is a significant warning as to the
temper in which they are written : — " To the Unparalleled Couple, Mr. Oliver St.
John, his Majesty's Solicitor General, and Mr. Oliver Cromwell, the Parliament's
Lieutenant General, the Two Grand Designers of the Ruin of Three Kingdoms.
Normandy, Feb. 14, 1648."

A. D. 1641.] CHARLES I. 435
to warrant suspicion of a design to elude the just demands of the army
even in that respect.
The crisis between the presbyterians and the independents was now
at hand. The latter found themselves called upon to submit
to a yoke under the name of presbyterianism, hardly less Complaints
oppressive than they had fought against under the name of ° e !lTm^'
prelacy. They saAv every practicable slight cast upon their leaders ;
their boasted liberty of conscience about to be wrested from them ;
their dismission meditated, even without a just settlement of their pe
cuniary claims on the power which they had protected and established
at the hazard of their lives ; and, above all, one division of their strength
on the eve of being drafted to Ireland, that the remainder might not
be sufficient to impede measures designed to place the whole kingdom,
with its new ecclesiastical establishment, under the guardianship of an
army pledged to the covenant.
It Avas in order to intimate a determination not to submit to such
a course of affairs, that the forces under Fairfax began an
advance towards London. This movement led to proceed- Its first ad-
ings in the commons which were designed to show the will- war(]s tm3
ingness of the house to make its promised payments to the capital.
army, and to provide for its support. But a petition was
at the same time presented by the common council, which prayed that
an order might be issued enjoining that body to withdraw to a greater
distance from the capital, and that it should be disbanded without delay.
These petitioners also complained of a counter-petition said to be pre
paring in the city, and urged, with characteristic heedlessness and intole
rance, that means should be employed to suppress it, and to ascertain
who were its promoters. The obnoxious petition adverted to purported to
be from " many thousands desiring the glory of God, the freedom of the
commonwealth, and the peace of all men," and complained particularly of
the burden of tithes ; of the exclusion of all persons from public trusts
who did not conform to the established church; and of the many per
secutions inflicted on such persons under the name of roundheads,
independents, sectaries, schismatics, and heretics*.
The arrears at this time due to the army were forty- three weeks' pay
to the horse, and eighteen weeks' to the foot, a sum, in the
whole, considerably above three hundred thousand pounds. Deputation
By a deputation for the purpose, the commons apprised the pjl°]j1am1e3nt
army of the vote in which they had pledged themselves to March 20.
raise sixty thousand pounds a month for its support,
and promised tAvo months' pay to such regiments as should be dis
banded. This, it will be perceived, was not one-fifth of the sum
due to the'cavalry, and less than half the amount owing to the infantry.
* Journals of Commons, March 11, 15, 17- Journals of Lords.
2f2

436 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
But the great object of this deputation, was to make arrangements for
the embarkation of a large portion of the army to Ireland. Many diffi
culties were thrown in the way of this object by the council of officers
in their conference with the deputation ; and a petition was prepared, to
express the desires both of the officers and soldiers on various matters,
but particularly with respect to an act of indemnity securing them
against all proceedings on account of anything in their conduct during
the war — and also that measures should be adopted to satisfy them with
respect to their arrears before disbanding *.
The commons became aware of this proceeding, and, in order to
repress it, and to prevent any similar attempt, summoned several officers
who were suspected of being its promoters to their bar f. On the
Violent con- same day it was voted that three regiments, commanded
duct of the by colonels who were known to be zealous presbyterians,
terians should form part of the force to be retained in Eng
land. Hollis, who was not Avithout that sort of courage
which arises from an insensibility to danger, concluded this day of bold
measures by proposing that all persons adhering to the said petition
should be prosecuted as enemies of the state, and this motion, carried at
a late hour in the commons, was approved the next day by the lords J.
Such proceedings, against an army consisting of such men, were unjust
and singularly impolitic.
The deputation to the army from the commons on the twentieth of
March, was followed by another, Avhich appeared in its
Second de- quarters on the thirteenth of April. Colonel Lambert, in
putation. behalf of the assembled officers, insisted on the terms stated
in the former conference. He wished also to know who
would be entrusted with the command of the force which it was pro
posed should go to Ireland. The answer was that general Skippon, an
officer acceptable to all parties, had been named as commander-in-
chief; and that colonel Massey had been chosen to act as his general of
the horse, an arrangement having been made to retain the regiments of
Fairfax and Cromwell among those which should remain in England.
The name of Massey, who was a known adherent of the presbyterians,
was not heard with approbation. Skippon, it was said, must be too
sensible of his years and infirmities to accept of such a trust; and, in
conclusion, it was stated that no objection would be made to the service
in Ireland if the men were allowed to embark for that kingdom under
their present commanders §.
About ten days subsequent, the commons went into a debate on the
* Waller's Vindication, 42 — 45.
+ Rushworth, vi. 444. Journals of Commons, April 1.
X Ibid., March 29, 30. Waller, 61—63. Rushworth, vi. 4/0.
§ Commons' Journals, April 1, 8, 23, 27. Journals of Lords, Waller, 77 — 85.
Rushworth, vi, 444 — 474.

a. d. 1647.] ciiarles i. 437
propriety of accepting the" offer thus made by the convention of
officers. But the report of their deputation a few days later The officers
being somewhat more favourable, their old persuasion ^'^
— that nothing but firmness was wanting to accomplish for the men
their objects — returned, and they voted that such of the army "I1 ™8ar.d t0
i-i ii ¦ • r i i ,• their gnev-
as did not proceed to the service in Ireland according to ances.
order shouldbe paid arrears for six Aveeks and disbanded.
Filled with this ill-grounded confidence, mainly in consequence of the
majority which they could command in the two houses and the city,
they continued to summon the most popular officers to their bar, on the
charge of tampering with the soldiery in opposition to the wishes of
the government. Some they committed to prison, and the whole
body AA-as not only threatened with punishment should they be de
tected in fomenting discontents, but Avere commanded to abstain from
taking any part with the men under them in their attempts to obtain
a redress of their pretended grievances *.
One immediate effect of the separation thus produced between
the men and the officers, was the institution of a sort
of representative body from among the former, consisting Rise of the
mostly of non-commissioned officers, which subsequently Agltators-
became so memorable under the name of the council of
agitators — a designation Avhich originated in a corruption of the word
adjutators, or helpers. If the civilians at Westminster had found the
convention of officers unmanageable, their difficulties were of necessity
multiplied by the imprudence Avhich called forth this neAV power. The
officers Avere a kind of middle class betAveen the men whom they com
manded, and the parliament with Avhich they were at issue, having
interests and sympathies in common with both ; but this new council
promised to embody the extreme principles and passions of the great
body of the military, without the benefit of those modifications which
the superior intelligence of their leaders would naturally have suggested.
The officers had been censured Avhen appearing in the character of pe
titioners, though on matters strictly military ; but a more dangerous body
was now about to appear in that character, and one which was not
likely to be content Avith an interference on military affairs alone.
* Rushworth, 485. " We hope, by being soldiers, we have not lost the capacity
of subjects, nor divested ourselves thereby of our interest in the commonAvealth ;
that, in purchasing the freedom of our brethren we have not lost our own."
Vindication of the Officers of the Army under sir Thomas Fairfax. Rushworth, vi.
469, 470. " Many complaints and cavils were made against the officers and soldiers
of the army, as holding erroneous and schismatical opinions contrary to true
doctrine ; and that they took upon them to preach and expound scripture, not
being learned or ordained ; those who were lately in the highest esteem and respect,
as freers of their country from servitude and oppression, are now, by the same
people, looked upon as sectaries : — thus Ave see the inconstancy of the giddy multi
tude." Whiteloeke, Feb. 2, 1646.

438 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. X.
The first public act of the council of agitators Avas to present a letter
Letter pre- to t^ie*r generals, Fairfax, CromAvell, and Skippon, bearing
sented by date the twenty-eighth of April, in which they complained
them to 0£ jj^jjjg keen denounced as enemies of their country, and
rals and that by men, who, suddenly tasting the sweets of power,
the com- had forgotten their duties and professions, and were dege
nerating into tyrants. They spoke of the expedition to
Ireland as an affair which had been so managed as to become a manifest
expedient for putting an end to the army ; and they were not disposed
to witness its dissolution, until those rights of the subject, for the sake
of which they had become soldiers, should be conceded and secured.
When this document was presented to the commons, it was moved
that the three soldiers from whom it had been received
A third de- should be sent to the Tower. Cromwell considered it im
portant to check this vindictive course for the present, and
by his strong assurances that the army was by no means in
so unmanageable a condition as the house seemed to conclude, put an
end to the debate. He also accepted a commission with Skippon,
Ireton, and Fleetwood, to go to the quarters of the military, and, by
promising a bill of indemnity, and a further payment of arrears, to
bring about, if possible, a settlement of differences *.
It may be safely credited, that all these commissioners, except
Skippon, had been chief parties in encouraging and directing the agita
tion which they were sent to allay. But, with a majority against them
in the two houses, it was only by such subtle policy, or by an immediate
appeal to force, that their objects could be accomplished f.
This military deputation stated the matter of their errand to a council
Mav 8 °^ onicers > Dut tne officers observed that they were not
competent to express the opinion of the army without con
sulting the several regiments; and the commissioners agreed to defer
their answer for a Aveek, that the proposed conferences might take
place. When the officers next assembled, it was reported as the wish
of the army, that its grievances should be the first matter of considera
tion, and with this method of proceeding Skippon concurred, though a
small minority of officers in the army, who afterwards proved to be per
sons of no influence, dissented from it, and subsequently expressed
their dissent by protest f.
The commissioners wrote to the two houses, stating that their nego-
* Rushworth, v. 474, 475, 485, 486. Ludlow, i. 164. Warwick, Memoirs, 329.
t Cromwell's great aim in parliament at this crisis was to deceive the presby
terians, but that he succeeded by artifices of so vulgar a description that the most
short-sighted must have seen through, Avhich is the account of his enemies, is
hardly credible.
-j- Rushworth, vi. 480, 491. Journals.

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 439
tiations were beset with many difficulties, and requesting that the
time allotted them might be extended. The answer to votestodis-
this application was an order that one or more] of the band the
deputation should report their proceedings to the house ai'my-
personally Avithout delay, and the report made, accordingly,
by Cromwell and Fleetwood, was followed by votes which declared that
the soldiers should have satisfactory security for their arrears, and a bill
of indemnity for their conduct during the war, and that they should not
be liable to impressment for any service beyond sea. Four days later,
several votes Avere recorded, stating when and where the M 25
regiments not included in the expedition to Ireland should
be disbanded ; and by these votes the ill-concealed struggle between
the two great parties was brought to an open crisis *.
The first march of the army in its advance toward the capital Avas to
Saffron Walden, where it had continued until this time. It
was iioav removed from that place, and its quarters were Further ad-
fixed at Bury St. Edmunds. On the twenty-ninth of May, army— re- "
four days afterwards, a council of war was convened at fusal to dis
Bury, at which about two hundred officers were present. band'
Before that assembly, the council of agitators presented a
petition, in which they described themselves as astonished that tne
measure of disbanding should have been determined upon so suddenly,
while the grievances of the army remained unredressed, and its cha
racter without any vindication from the aspersions which had been cast
upon it, — aspersions which would be perpetuated rather than wiped
away by disbanding the several regiments in the manner proposed, each
being removed to a distance from the rest. They had been called ene
mies of their country, because they had presumed to appear as humble
petitioners on a matter of right ; and what Avould men see in this
strange method of disbanding except suspicions tending to give strength
to that calumny ? They accordingly entreat that the army mio-ht be
brought together, and that no disbanding should be permitted so lone
as they were without a redress of their grievances ; and the general, by
assisting them to accomplish this object in an orderly manner, would
fill them with joy, and cause them to " acknowledge themselves his
faithful servants." The council of officers were all but unanimous in
deciding that the advice of this petition should be acted upon. This
result was communicated to the two houses, and Fairfax himself de
clined meeting the commissioners at Chelmsford, the place where his
regiment was to have resigned its arms. The commissioners were in
consequence recalled; and CromAvell, finding that his policy would no
longer avail to protect him from the resentment of the party which
he had been labouring to counterwork, withdrew from the senate to the
* Rushworth, vi. 483— 485. Journals, May 21, 25. The motion for disbanding
was carried by 136 against 115.

440 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
camp. This was early in the morning of the third of June — the day on
which his enemies had intended committing him to the Tower*.
That day the commons voted, upon the advice of Skippon, that the pri •
vate soldiers should receive their full arrears, instead of the
Conciliatory seventh part only, which was the last offer made on that
two houses point ; that one month's pay, beyond what was before
June 3. voted, should be added to the sum received by the commis
sioned officers; and that the declaration which had de
nounced military petitioners as enemies of their country should be
erased from their journals f. But much of the wisdom of govern
ment consists in knowing when to concede with advantage. What is
yielded from necessity is never accepted as a boon. In such cases, the
party extorting, and the party who surrenders, too commonly acquire a
fixed jealousy and dislike of each other before the moment of victory or
defeat has arrived, and the first concession, in consequence, is rarely the
final one.
The morning on which Cromwell left London, one of his favourite
officers, cornet Joyce, presented himself before Holdenby
The army House at the head of a troop of horse, and, without oppo-
sessTon oT" s'tion, obtained possession of the king's person. Fairfax
the king's looked on this bold proceeding, which originated in the
person. more profound policy of Cromwell, with surprise and alarm,
and despatched a regiment of horse to restore the monarch
to his residence at Holdenby. But Charles would not be recon
ducted thither. He complained that since his surrender at New
ark he had been denied the service of his own chaplains, had been
secluded almost entirely from his friends, and subject to much vexatious
treatment. From his new protectors he professed to expect better con
duct ; and the men who had conquered him in the field were no doubt
sincere in condemning the domestic intolerance which he had experi
enced, and in promising to be more considerate of his feelings and con
dition J.
The spot chosen by the army as its place of rendezvous was New
market, where a document was produced which bore the name of " a
solemn engagement." This paper bound the officers and soldiers sub
scribing to it, neither to disband nor separate until their alleged griev
ances were redressed, nor until means should be adopted
Engagement to protect themselves, and other freeborn people of Eng-
th nw lan(l» against such abuses and oppressions as had been
of late practised towards them. At the same time the
* Rushworth, vi. 497 — 499. Clarendon, Hist., v. 435, 436. Ludlow, i. 165.
f Journals of Commons, June 1, 3. Lords, 5. Waller, 180, 134. Rushworth
vi. 500—503, 518, 547- .
+ Wood's Fasti, ii. 80— 83. Rushworth, vi. 513 — 517. Uanvicks Mem, 331
Lords- Journals, 237, 240, 248—250. Somers' Tracts, v. 394.

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 441
parties to this engagement disavoAved all hostility either to magis
tracy or to presbyterianism, declaring that their sole object was to
obtain for themselves and others liberty of conscience and equality of civil
rights. This object accomplished, it would not be found that they were
unwilling to obey the parliament by disbanding, or by proceeding to the
service in Ireland. One important preliminary, indeed, was mentioned
as necessary to the security of this general object, — the placing of the
government in other hands. Its present possessors were described as
having added calumny to oppression in their conduct toward the army,
and as being, on many accounts, no longer trustAvorthy *.
The engagement was adopted on Saturday, the fifth of June, and on
the following Monday the commons sent a deputation to
the army, including Vane and Skippon, for the purpose of Another de-
stating that no time would be lost in completing measures £"m I?"
to remove the present discontents. The deputies were also liament — de-
required to read to the several regiments the conciliatory termination
„ , i i • i i i , ii, 'of the army
votes of the two houses, which had been recorded about a to proceed to
Aveek before. But no regiment could be induced to return London.
any answer to these communications until the council of
agitators should be consulted f. On the evening of the same day, a
letter, signed by Fairfax, Cromwell, and the principal officers, an
nounced to the corporation of London, that the army was about to make
its appearance in the vicinity of the metropolis. Their object in this
movement was not to disturb the existing 'government, either civil or
ecclesiastical, but to claim, as a matter not less due to them than their
wages as soldiers, that all men, conducting themselves as peaceable
members of the state, may be secured in the enjoyment of the same
measure of civil and religious freedom. The city authorities were also
reminded, that, however tempting the spoil of so rich a capital might
be to a multitude of famishing mercenaries, its wealth would not be
in the slightest degree endangered by the army about to appear at
its gates — unless, indeed, some considerable portion of its inhabitants
should be so misguided as to oppose themselves to those reasonable
objects which the men who had put doAvn the despotism of the throne
and the hierarchy were determined through all possible hazards to secure j.
* Rushworth, vi. 510 — 512. Whiteloeke observes, under the date of the nine
teenth of June : — " It was strange to see how several counties and citizens of London
began to make all their applications to the general and the army, omitting the par
liament." — p. 257.
, f Rushworth, vi. 545, 556.
X Rushworth, vi. 554, 555. " In these declarations and transactions of the army,
colonel Ireton AA'as chiefly employed, or took upon him the business of the pen ; and
having been bred in the Middle Temple, and learned some grounds of the laws of
England, and being of a working and laborious brain and fancy, he set himself
much upon these businesses, and Avas therein encouraged and assisted by lieutenant-
general Cromwell, his father-in-law, and by colonel Lambert, who had likewise
studied in the Inns of Court, and was of a subtle and working brain." Whiteloeke,
257.

442 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [CH. X.
This letter was immediately presented to the two houses, and a mes-
Submission sage was sent the same day which ordered that the army
of the city should choose its quarters at the distance of at least forty
and parlia- . „ . .
ment. miles from the city. But its march was continued, and
June 12. the next evening it halted in the neighbourhood of St.
Albans. This resolute conduct spread dismay among the presby
terians. The common council now deputed four aldermen, and
some leading citizens, to assure the commander-in-chief that they
felt anxious to see the just demands of the army complied with,
and that certain warlike preparations which the city had just made,
had not been resorted to with any intention of opposing the army, but for
the purpose of protecting the capital against injuries, which, in such an
unusual posture of affairs, might proceed from other quarters. It was
expressed, however, as a hope, that Fairfax, with this understanding,
would not quarter his forces at a less distance from the metropolis than
thirty miles ; and the majority in parliament, obstinate and passionate
as they had shown themselves, forsaken thus by their great ally the
citv, were obliged to concur in this virtual surrender to the power of
the military *. The military defended themselves by saying, that in the
parliament which they opposed it was only by a very small majority
that their enemies prevailed ; that the power, and the very existence of
that authority, was the fruit of what the army had done in its cause ;
that the army which had thus served the parliament was not of a cha
racter to be judged according to ordinary rules in such cases ; that
the plans of the ascendant party in both houses embraced a system
of rekgious tyranny even more inquisitorial, and more sanguinary,
in some respects, than that which had been exercised by the bishops ;
and that the scornful and headstrong demeanour of that party toward
all who presumed to dissent from them, even while the opinions, the
feeling, and the strength of the army were Avell known, afforded but a
o-loomv prospect to the friends of equal rights and liberty of conscience,
Avhen the present army should be disbanded, and the whole power of
the country should pass into such hands.
The pacific communication from the common council and the two
houses was received on the twelfth of June, and tAvo days
Declaration afterwards a declaration was agreed to by the army, which
of the army ca]je(j for th.e removal of several members from the lower
— accusation .
of eleven house, as being persons who had either acted against the
members, parliament during the Avar, or had been conspicuous in the
late unjust proceedings with respect to the army. This
declaration referred also to the importance of fixing upon some expe
dient time for the dissolution of the present parliament ; and recom
mended the passing of certain ordinances for the purpose of rendering
* Rushworth, vi. 557, 558. Journals, Commons, June 11, 12.

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 443
the times when such assemblies should meet, and their course of pro
ceeding, more independent of the pleasure of the crown. It further
recommended that such measures should be adopted with regard to the
command of the militia, and other questions, as should not fail to secure
the liberty of the subject, both for the present and the future. Eleven
members, including Hollis and Stapleton, were mentioned by name, as
persons Avho had proved themselves unfit to be entrusted Avith any place
in the government or the legislature *.
The ansAver of the presbyterian majority in the commons to this
declaration, was by an order Avhich required the army to
withdraw to the distance of forty miles from London, and The army at
demanded that the king should be conducted to Richmond. yxbrl5Se-
They must have been weak men who did not see that so
poor an artifice would be at once detected and resisted by the military
chiefs. No sooner were these demands reported, than the army, which
had withdrawn to Berkhampstead the day before, marched in three divi
sions into the neighbourhood of Uxbridge, Brentford, and Harrow, and
the accused members consulted their safety by absenting themselves from
their places. Charles manifested a strong disposition to remove to
Richmond, but was deterred from doing so, partly by the policy of the
officers, Avho, contrary to the practice of the presbyterians, allowed his
friends and chaplains free access to him, and partly by a further vote of
the two houses which recommended his still remaining at Royston f. In
consequence of some favourable votes in parliament, the army again re
tired from Uxbridge to Wycombe ; but on the next day the accused mem
bers suddenly demanded that they should be brought to trial ; and cer
tain attempts, which had been made for some time to seduce the officers
and soldiers from serving under their old leaders, and, by that means,
to augment the force in the capital, were renewed. The charge against
the eleven members was presented on the appointed day, and an answer
was returned, but both parties appear to have judged that their advan
tage Avould be found on the side of delay j. In the meantime the
principal officers endeavoured to interest the feeling and judgment of
the king in their favour, by permitting him to have his children about
him for some days, and by assuring him of the disposition of the mili
tary to restore him to his throne on reasonable conditions. They also
required from the two houses, that the command of the city militia
should be placed in other hands, the persons to whom it was at present
* Rushworth, vi. 564 — 571- Commons' Journals, June 6, 8, 15.
f Rushworth, vi. 562, 580, 592, 593. There Avere two divisions in the commons
relative to the king's being removed to Richmond, on the first of which the ma
jority Avas 140 to 110, the second 146 to 115. Journals, June 15. Ludlow, i. 171.
This writer states that the king began to be displeased just now Avith the army,
because its officers declined accepting " honours or advantages from him." Ibid.
Charles had conferred titles on several persons since his surrender to the Scots.
| Rushworth, vi. 595, 607, 627- Whiteloeke, 259—262.

444 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. X.
entrusted being all presbyterians. The partisans of the independents in
the city supported this demand by a petition to parliament, praying that
a former committee, which had been removed to make way for the pre
sent, might be restored. But this was followed by a petition of an
opposite tendency, strongly expressed, and signed by ten thousand per
sons ; and by a declaration called " the engagement," which bound the
multitudes who joined in it, to support all proceedings which promised to
bring the king to London and to facilitate a settlement between the
monarch and the parliament *.
The house of commons condemned the engagement as treasonable ;
and the eleven members, with a vacillation which had
Excitement marked the recent conduct of the presbyterian leaders, ob-
'julv^O ^' tained permission not only to withdraw from their places,
but to go beyond sea, for a time not exceeding six months.
This appearance of moderation or timidity on the part of their chief men
in the commons, and a vote of the two houses which put aside the
authority of the corporation by restoring the old committee for the
command of the militia, were so ill taken by the presbyterians in the city,
that petitions from various classes of persons were immediately prepared,
complaining, in strong terms, that so much injustice should have been
done to the corporation, and that " the engagement," which had been
agreed to for purposes so loyal, and so consonant with all good govern
ment, should have been not merely discountenanced, but denounced as
treasonable. The petition to this effect from the common council was
presented on the twenty-sixth of July, and the next morning Avas
appointed for deliberating upon it f.
But the impatience of the multitude would not brook even so short a
delay. Crowds, in which rude boys and apprentices formed
Votes extort- a large proportion, gathered round the house, and while
parliament6 some ^e^ °Pen tne ^00rs °*" tne commons, others rushed in,
by tumult. and, with their hats on, continued to shout " Vote ! vote ! "
To satisfy these assailants, the obnoxious ordinances with
respect to the engagement and the militia were rescinded. The con
fidence of the crowd engaged in these disorders arose from the known
sentiments of their superiors. But after the common council and others,
who were the real authors of this violence, had made their appearance
to restore order, and had retired, another body of persons forced their
way into the house, and, compelling the speaker to resume the chair
after an adjournment, extorted a declaration that measures should be
forthwith taken for bringing the king to London \.
P Rushworth, vi.C29— 642. Whiteloeke, 261, 262. Commons' Journals, July 13, 14.
-f- Rushworth, vi. 628— 642. Whiteloeke, 262, 263. Journals' Commons, June
36, July, 20, 22, 23.
J Whiteloeke, 263. Rushworth, vi. 643, 644. Waller, 183. Journals' Com
mons, July 26. " While the two houses were in debate some of this insolent mul
titude, getting to the Avindows of the house of lords, threw stones in upon them,

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 445
It is probable that the accused members expected some strong
expression of popular feeling to follow the appearance of a solicitude for
peace, Avhich they assumed in their profession of a Avish to withdraw
altogether from the present contentions. But it is easier to raise the
passions of the populace, than to keep them within the bounds of pru
dence; and nothing could have tended more strongly to justify a nearer
interference of the military Avith the conduct of parliament, than the
necessity thus presented of protecting it against the assaults of a lawless
multitude. Charles was not inobservant of these violent proceedings in the
city, and secretly expressed his approval of them, everything Avhich served
to place the two parties in an equipoise, or to embroil their affairs, being
regarded by him as favourable to the part Avhich he was disposed to act
as an umpire between them *.
As the natural consequence of such proceedings, and of the attempts
Avhich Avere continually made to detach the disaffected and the Avavering
from its ranks, the army had become more and more united and or
ganised Avith a view to the accomplishment of its objects, and much less
scrupulous about an immediate proposal of those political reforms and
arrangements which were deemed expedient for the public interest.
While the city was the scene of the excitement and disorder now de
scribed, the wisest men in the army, some of Avhom had been educated
as lawyers, and others Avere naturally profound politicians, were employ
ing themselves in framing a scheme for the settlement of affairs which
Avas to be submitted to the approval of the king and of the tAvo houses.
This scheme provided that a new parliament should be convened
every two years, upon a principle of election which required
the'extinction of decayed boroughs, and which regulated the Scheme for
number of members for boroughs and counties according to mentofthe
their relative extent and property. In its first session each constitution
parliament Avas to deliberate for one hundred and tAventy Prorosca by
r J the army.
days, after which space, and not before, it might be ad- Aug. 2.
journed or dissolved by the king ; and at the close of a
second session of the same extent it dissolved of course. In all cases of
impeachment, the judgment of the commons was made to be necessary
to any sentence of condemnation pronounced by the lords, and the king
was not to have the power to pardon when the two houses agreed in
their verdict. The command of the militia Avas to be vested in the
and threatened them Avith worse usage, unless they gave them an answer to their
liking; others knocked at the door of the house of commons, requiring to be ad
mitted, but some of us with our swords forced them to retire for the present ; and
the house resolved to rise Avithout giving any ansAver, judging it below them to do
anything by compulsion. Whereupon the speaker went out of the house, but being
in the lobby, was forced back into the chair by the violence of the insolent rabble,
whereof above a thousand attended without doors, and about forty or fifty were got
into the bouse, so that it was thought convenient to give way to their rage."
Ludlow, i. 178.
* Bamfield, sect. 68. Berkeley, 28, 33.

446 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. {CH. X.
two houses for the next ten years, and to be resumed by the king at the
close of that interval with the consent of parliament. The persons who
should constitute the council of state now to be appointed were to be
chosen with the concurrence of all the negotiating parties, and to hold
their offices during good behaviour, but not for a longer period than
seven years. The parliament, which was to retain the power of war
and peace, was also to nominate the officers of state for the next ten
years, and after that time was to be empowered to present three candi
dates for each of such offices, from which the king might make his
selection. The prelates might be restored, but without the power to
inflict any civil penalty upon any man on account of religion ; nor were
any means to be employed to compel the use of the common prayer, or
the adoption of the covenant. With these more important provisions,
were some enlightened proposals with respect to the choosing of grand
jurymen, the appointment of sheriffs, the right of petitioning, and the
reform of various evils connected with tithes, law-suits, and imprison
ment for debt *.
Some of the men who had been most occupied in the preparation of
this scheme — a scheme which, all circumstances considered, was singu
larly wise and moderate — were determined republicans ; but they felt
that they had to negotiate for a nation in which an attachment to mo
narchy was still the prevailing sentiment, and not for the compara
tively small sect which shared with them in their greater admiration of
the commonwealths of the ancient world t.
The conduct of the monarch, however, made this effort in the way of
compromise wholly unavailing. His language, when these
Submitted to overtures were made to him, was so haughty and irritating
and rejected as to destroy all hope of conciliation in those who proposed
July 24—26. them, and excited regret and astonishment among his
friends who listened to it. Berkeley, one of his attendants,
ventured, at length, to whisper to him, — " Sir, you speak as though
you possessed some secret strength unknown to me, and, since it is
unknown to your friends, I wish it had also been kept a secret from
these men." Charles felt the prudence of the suggestion, and made some
attempt to soften his expressions — but the mischief was not to be
repaired \.
» Rushworth, vii. 731— 73G, 738, 739. " The king was strongly urged by some
of the officers, through sir John Berkeley, to close with these proposals, as the army
was certainly with him now, but could not be confided in, if exposed to disappoint
ment or delay." LudloAv, i. 173, 174.
t Ludlow states that when the king was conducted from Newcastle to Holmby
many " flocked from all parts to see him, falling down before him, bringing their
sick to be touched by him, and courting him as only able to restore to them their
peace and settlement." i. 162.
X Berkeley, 34, 35. Ludlow, i. 174, 177. Not more than two or three days after
this conference, the ruling party in the commons issued an order which required
that the duke of Richmond, and the royal chaplains Sheldon and Hammond, and all
persons "of like condition," should be denied access to the king— a proceeding Avhich

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 447
The mobs of the capital extorted the required votes from the parlia
ment on Monday the twenty-sixth of June, and on the fol
lowing Thursday the speakers of both houses, Avith about The speaker
fourteen lords, and one hundred commoners, left the city, and j^m™*"/
two days later placed themselves under the protection of from both
the army on Hounslow Heath. Little authority attached houses with-
J .... draw to the
to the fragments of the two houses which remained at army.
Westminster, and though the force at the command of the
city was more numerous than the army advancing against it, the want
of that discipline, and deep interest in the matters at issue which
characterized the army under Fairfax, rendered all the hostile prepa
rations made by his opponents rather ridiculous than formidable.
On the seventh of August the army marched through London without
the slightest appearance of opposition or disorder; the two houses
assembled ; the speakers resumed "their seats ; Fairfax received their
thanks, and accepted from the bands of the lords and commons the
office of constable of the Tower*.
should have made Charles still more sensible of the impolicy ot his conduct toward
the army. Journals, June 28.
* Rushworth, vii. 750, 751. Whiteloeke, 265, 266. Fairfax says, that after the
tenth of June, he gave a formal but not a real consent to anything that Avas done
by the council of officers. Somers' Tracts, v. 396. It must be remembered in
connexion with remarks of this nature, that Fairfax wrote his Memoirs after the
Restoration, and then manifested the prevalent solicitude to propitiate the new
power. Journals' Commons, ubi supra. Great effort was made to procure as large
an attendance in the commons as possible after the withdrawing of the inde
pendents, even the accused members being commanded to be present, but the
greatest number assembled on any division was 105. Ludlow, i. 179 — 182.

448 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. tCH- XI-

Chapter XI.
Unfavourable position of the King after rejecting the proposals of the Army— Ne
gotiations renewed— Intrigues of the King against the Army— The Levellers-
Check given to them— Rendezvous atWare, Mutiny suppressed— The King escapes
from Hampton Court— Hostility of the Army to him— The four Bills tendered
to him— They are rejected — His hope of escape frustrated — Vote of non-addresses
 Popular feeling in favour of the King — War declared in Scotland — Risings of
the Royalists in England— Defeat of the Scots at Preston— Surrender of Col
chester—Death of Lucas and Lisle — Cromwell in Edinburgh — State of parties in
England— Treaty of Newport — Menacing language concerning the King —
Charles accepts the Newport propositions — He is conducted to Hurst Castle —
Members excluded from the House of Commons by the Military— Cromwell
returns from Scotland — Conduct of the Army in proceeding against the King
considered — Trial of the King — Judgment pronounced against him — Preparations
for death — His execution — Character.
When Charles rejected the proposals of the army, he said — " I shall
Unfavourable see them glad ere long to accept of more equal terms ; "
position of the and even Clarendon at that juncture was of opinion that
lectin^ the™" tne army ^a(* " as muc^ or more neea °^ tne ^no tnan ne
proposals of of them*." It was this misconception with respect to the
the army. use which it would be possible to make of the dissensions
between the military and the parliament, and the difficulty of bringing
himself to suppose that his condition was really so powerless as circum
stances seemed to demonstrate, that led the king to trifle with an oppor
tunity of recovering his throne on conditions more honourable to himself
and advantageous to his people than had hitherto been placed before him,
or than were again to be submitted to himf. Colonel Bainsborough left
the conference in disgust, and made a faithful report to the army of the
high and sharp expressions in which the monarch had indulged; and
from this time, all the attempts of the officers to procure a settlement
which should include the restoration of the king, only served to bring
upon themselves the suspicion aud resentment of the body of the men,
and of the agitators.
The parliament, being reassembled after the interval of disorder from
the twenty-sixth of July to the sixth of August, was pre-
renewedtU>nS vailed uPon DY tne officers to make one more effort for the
restoration of peace, which was done by recommending
the old propositions submitted to the king at Newcastle to his further
consideration. But those propositions were based upon the league and
covenant, and the military leaders heard Avith much pleasure that the
* Ludlow, i. 176. Clarendon Papers, ii. 379.
f Berkeley had declared to the king, previous to that ill-fated conference, that
never had a lost sceptre been tended again on such favourable terms. Mem. ubi
supra.

A.D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 449
king professed to look upon the recent propositions of the army as more
tolerant and equitable, and as being in consequence more adapted to
become the groundwork of an adjustment. It was hoped that not
more than three weeks would be required to complete a settlement
upon that basis. But nearly two months passed, and Cromwell and his
colleagues were still, notwithstanding all their labour, at some distance
from their object — so difficult was it to bring the council of officers and
the agitators, and the lords and commons, to such an agreement as might
be expected to obtain the approval of the king.*
In the mean time it was ascertained that the monarch had no sincere
intentions toward peace upon such terms. He still indulged intrigues of
the hope of obtaining military aid from Ireland and Scot- the king
land, and flattered himself that, by bringing an army of ^my?
covenanters from the north against the army of the inde- Oct.
pendents, he should soon be placed in a position to summon the scattered
royalists in both kingdoms to his standard, and so to recover Avhat he had
lost. His intrigues with all these parties had led to the adoption of some
extended and definite plans of action, when they were detected by Crom
well and Ireton,who, at their next meeting with Ashburnham, expressed
high indignation on account of the perfidy which they had discovered in
his master. It was the proposal of the king, they said, to renew negotia
tions with the army ; and its leaders, with much labour, and at consider
able hazard to their reputation, had endeavoured to serve him — in
return they found him laying plans for their ruin. Ashburnham affects
to treat these accusations as a malicious invention, but the contrary
appears from Clarendon. t
* Journals. Berkeley, 39—43.
+ Ashburnham, 94, 95. Clarendon, Hist. v. 476 — 479. — The army allowed
the king to see his friends without restraint, and it was for the purpose of ma
turing the plans adverted to that he held frequent conferences Avith the mar
quis of Ormond, lord Capel, and the Scotch commissioners. Of the disposition
of the Scots, Baillie thus writes— "If the king be willing to ratify our conve-
nant, Ave are all as one man to restore him to all his rights, or die by the
way." ii. 260. Clarendon Papers, 70 — 72. Rushworth, vii. 795. Burnet's Hamil-
tons, 324. Berkeley, 48, et seq. There is some reason to believe that the particulars
mentioned iu the text were not the worst of their kind that occurred at this time.
Cromwell and Ireton agreed, according to lord Broghil, in stating that, by the
assistance of a spy from the king's bedchamber, they succeeded in discovering a
letter which Avas sent at this juncture by Charles to Henrietta, in which, to lessen
her displeasure on account of his reputed concessions to those persons and the army,
he assured her that he should " know in due time how to deal with the rogues, who
instead of a silken garter should be fitted with a hempen cord." Cromwell and his
son-in-law, according to Broghil's account, disguised themselves as troopers, and
found the letter concealed in a saddle at the Blue Boar, in Holborn. Morris's
Life of Orrery, Orrery State Papers. Suspicion attaches to this anecdote, from the
circumstance that Cromwell should have made no public use of it. But his ill-
grounded confidence in the king had exposed him to censure enough, without his
giving strength to such invectives by disclosing a circumstance of this nature. Coke,
in his Detection, mentions the letter without the least doubt of its authenticity, ii. 398.
And lord Oxford assured lord Bolingbroke, that he had seen the original. Richard-
soniana, 132.
2g

450 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
Charles soon experienced the evil effects of this conduct. The spirit of
the army became daily more violent ; and those who had been accustomed
Revolutionary to exercise the greatest control over it, began to look upon
army6' The6 their P0Trer with apprehension. The agitators were heard
Levellers. to change their discourse, and to complain openly in coun
cil, both of the king, and of the malignants about him. The monarch had
rejected their proposals, and they now knew of no relation subsisting
between him and themselves. It only remained that they should con
sult their own safety and the public good, and, as those objects would be
much better secured by a commonwealth than by a monarchical consti
tution, they spoke of being empowered by the right of the sword, to
which both parties had appealed, and which Providence had awarded
to themselves, to make this desirable change in the institutions of the
country*. Much of the dangerous efficiency which these men possessed as speakers
was the effect of their having taken upon them the office of preaching.
The clergy who were at first connected with the several regiments as
chaplains, soon retired from a mode of life so little congenial with their
habits. They first saw war at the battle of Edge-hill, and few of them
exposed themselves to the sight a second time. But the consequence
was, that the services of religion were left to fall almost into disuse, or
to be conducted by military men. Baxter saw the evil which had arisen
from this source much before the present time, and spoke of himself
and his brethren as censurable in having so soon relinquished their con
nection with the army.f Preachers were ere long found to supply their
place, but they were mostly little competent to the office they assumed,
and too soon became characterized by a conceit and dogmatism affecting
all their views both of religion and politics. Mrs. Hutchinson, indeed,
describes this class of republicans as consisting, at the present juncture,
for the most part, of " public-spirited and good-hearted men," who aimed
at little more than to counteract the ambition of certain leaders both in the
parliament and the army ; and the same writer has been careful to dis
tinguish between these persons, " as men of just and sober principles, and
honest and religious ends," and the people who afterwards appeared under
the nickname of levellers, and who " endeavoured the levelling of all estates
and qualities J." It is not to be doubted, however, that the republicanism
of the private soldiers had been connected from the first with not a little
fanatical extravagance; and as this feeling increased in that quarter,
aud as more moderate men sometimes deemed it prudent to make use
of it in the struggle of parties, it is not surprising that the more sober
commonwearthmen and the levellers should have been confounded by
their enemies, and that the same obnoxious appellation should often
have been given to both§. The individuals who placed themselves at
* Ludlow, i. 184—186. t Life, Lib. i. part i. p. 51.
X Memoirs, ii. 427, 128. § Baxter's Life, 50—55.

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 451
the head of the malcontents in the army at this moment were major
Scot, and the colonels Ewer and Rainsborough ; and their jealousy was-
particularly directed against Cromwell, Ireton, and Vane.
On the first of November the agents of no less than sixteen regiments
concurred in the adoption of a paper bearing the title of an agreement of
the people, and containing the leading principles of this sect*. Accord
ing to this avowal of their opinions, they were concerned to vest the
sovereign power in the representatives of the nation, independent of the
consent or concurrence of any other person or persons — their constituents
being their only superior. They claimed equal protection from the
laws ; exemption from all forced service either in the army or navy ; and
full liberty of religious worship. That parliaments might be a more
adequate representation and exercise of the popular sovereignty, it was
urged that the right of suffrage should be much extended, and that all
such assemblies should be convened anew at the close of every two years,
and the session of each year be a sitting of six months f.
These proceedings were opposed with some spirit by the two houses,
and were discountenanced in every practicable way by
Cromwell and Ireton, who, whatever may have been ^ 5°k glven
their private speculations, were satisfied that the country
was in no state to be governed by such principles, and still less by such
menj. That something might be conceded to the temper of this faction,
the parliament agreed to deprive the crown of its negative voice on bills,
after passing the lords and commons ; and Cromwell so far yielded to
the stream as to vote with the council of officers upon the resolution that
no further attempt should be made toward negotiating with the king.
But these concessions did little to check the present spirit of insubor-
* These " agents," though they sometimes called themselves " agitators," were
a distinct class ; — the agitators, in their turn, having failed to be sufficiently ani
mated by the growing revolutionary spirit.
f Rushworth, vii. 859, 860. Five of these regiments had adopted a similar
paper, but drawn up in more general terms, a fortnight before, entitled, " The Case
of the Army." Ibid, 845.
j; Ludlow, with his usual prejudice against Cromwell, ascribes his conduct in this
particular to a desire of making the army more subservient to his plans of personal
ambition. But of this there is no proof. His plans, so far as they can be known,
no doubt promised more advantage to himself than those which obtained the
suffrage of the agitators and their adherents, but they were such as may have
originated in a more enlightened regard to the claims of his country, i. 192, 193.
Mr. Godwin, also, has represented Cromwell as insincere in his transactions with the
king, but founds his views on a tissue of surmisings Avhich are much more amusing
than satisfactory. Berkeley states that the king distrusted the officers, particularly
Cromwell and Ireton, because they would not accept of favours from him. Such
conduct seems to bespeak the sincerity of their dealing with the king, and to
refute the slanders which Avere circulated as to their intended promotion in the
king's government. Mrs. Hutchinson expresses herself fully satisfied as to Crom
well's sincerity in these proceedings. Mem. ii. 111. According to a rumour
sent abroad by that notorious court gossip the countess of Carlisle, Charles was
pledged to create Cromwell earl of Essex, and to make him commander of the
guard.
2g 2

452 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [cH. XI.
dination, and it Avas manifest to sagacious men that, without prompt
and decisive measures to curb this arrogance, all Avould be lost.
Fairfax, who had always looked on the proceedings of the agitators
with suspicion and displeasure, assembled a council of
at^are— S officers to deliberate on the best means of counteracting
Mutiny sup- these projects, and of removing the distempered feeling
pressed. in wj,ich they originated. It was resolved that the' officers
and agitators should repair from the head-quarters at
Putney to their different regiments, in order that their influence might be
employed in restoring discipline— the " agents" having been the parties
just noAV most employed in producing this spirit of discontent, on which
both the country and the parliament began to look with alarm. Several
places of rendezvous were accordingly appointed, in the hope of finally
adjusting all differences. In the mean time, the general urged on the
parliament the importance of making some speedy arrangement for the
payment of arrears, and on similar matters, as a course of proceeding that
could not fail of rendering it manifest that the army was still intent on
the good of the kingdom. This was on the ninth of November, the day
after the meeting of the council of officers at Putney. On the same
day a petition was presented to the house from certain agents of the
army, — the same who had drawn up " the case" of that body,- — praying
the house to take the latter document into consideration. The " peti
tion" and the " case " were both condemned, as opposed to the privi
leges of parliament, and to the fundamental government of the kingdom ;
but some steps were taken with a view to the payment of arrears, and
toward making a better provision for the wants of the soldiers.
On the thirteenth, the appointed rendezvous took place at Ware, the
head-quarters having been removed tAvo days previously to Hertford.
One brigade only had received orders to be present on that day ; but
besides the six regiments Avhich it included, two others made their ap
pearance. The general began by reading to each regiment a remon
strance agreed upon by the council of officers, and addressed the men
in such terms as called forth loud applause, and all seemed to join in
the pledge ': to adhere to the general," notwithstanding the efforts made
by Scot, Eyre, and others to induce them to declare for " the agreement
of the people." But the two regiments present without orders were those
commanded by Harrison and Lilburne, long known/particularly the latter,
as the most mutinous in the army. Harrison's regiment appeared with
a motto in their hat — " England's freedom and soldiers' rights ;" but
were prevailed on by the general to destroy the mottoes, and to promise
obedience. Cromwell noAV rode up to Lilburne's regiment, and called
upon them to follow so proper an example. But he called in vain.
The moment required decision. A council of war was called on the
field, some fourteen of the more mutinous were seized, three were con
demned, and one of this number, chosen by lot, was instantly shot at the

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 453
head of his regiment. Eleven were placed in the hands of the marshal
as a security for the obedience of the rest. By this decided method of
proceeding the boldest Avere intimidated, and discipline was restored*.
Five days before this occurrence, Charles had made his escape from
Hampton Court. He had been led to regard the changing
temper of the army Avith apprehension. The officers who esrapesfrom
endeavoured to serve him had become on that account Hampton
exceedingly unpopular. Ireton was excluded from the Court'
council of his colleagues, and Cromwell was threatened with impeach
ment; and the monarch saAv, that, should the effort about to be
made to restore subordination prove unsuccessful, not only his throne,
but his life might be in imminent danger. But in Avhat quarter should
he seek an asylum ? It was the advice of some that he should go to
London and present himself at once in the house of lords. But it was
objected that such a proceeding would probably lead to a collision between
the city and the army, and subject the king to the charge of encouraging
a second Avar. The recommendation of others was that he should leave
the kingdom, but Charles, with his wonted confidence in the use that
might be made of contingencies, spoke of the expected rendezvous at
Ware as likely to make the officers more than ever dependent upon him,
either for security if they failed, or for the accomplishment of their ulti
mate object if successful. An escape to Jersey Avas mentioned, but not
entertained ; concealment in some secluded part of the country, but that
Avas deemed impossible. In the mean time, the Scots commissioners
pressed him to deliver himself at once from his perplexities by ac
cepting their propositions. His final resolution, and one formed pro
bably under the direction of the parties who had connived at his escape,
Avas to go to the Isle of Wight f.
Charles AvithdreAV from Hampton Court on the evening of the
eleventh of November, and after riding Avith his attendants the whole
of the night, which was dark and stormy, reached Sutton in Hamp
shire the next morning at day-break. At that place a relay of horses
had been provided by sir John Berkeley and Mr. Ashburnham, the
companions of his journey ; but the king had no sooner reached the
inn than he heard that a committee of the county was sitting there on
the business of parliament, and, ordering his horses, he departed imme-
* Ludlow, i. 192. Rushworth, vii. 866—876. Journals. Clarendon, v. 505, 506.
Clarendon is referred to here, though his account, in several particulars, is raihera
fiction, adapted by his imagination to the character of Cromwell, than a description
of what really happened. In fact, after seven regiments out of eight had pledged
themselves to obedience, it required no great courage to do what was done. At a
council of war, nine days later, " some officers acknowledged their errors upon
former passages, and desired to be re-admitted into the favour of the general and
his council, which was approved, and the officers kept a fast, where Crormvell
Ireton, colonel Tichbourne, and some other officers prayed, and from Scripture
exhorted to unity and obedience." Whiteloeke, 285, 286. Colonel Rainsborough,
a known patron of the levellers, was in the number of these penitents. — Ibid.
f Berkeley, 163—166. Ludlow, 185, 186.

454 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
diately. The royal party walked down the hill from Sutton, leading
their horses, and conferring as to the best course to be pursued. Charles
at length determined that Ashburnham and Berkeley should proceed at
once to the Isle of Wight, and that, having apprized the governor, colonel
Hammond, of the assurance the king had received from Cromwell and
others concerning the dangers which threatened him at Hampton Court,
they should express to him the confidence of the monarch in his readi
ness to serve him at such a crisis, either by affording him protection or
favouring his escape. In pursuance of this arrangement, Ashburnham
and Berkeley parted from the king to proceed toward the island through
Lymington, Avhile Charles, attended by Will Legge, made his way to
ward Tichfield, a seat belonging to the earl of Southampton, where he
found a welcome reception*- Hammond listened to the communication of
his visitors with distrust and alarm. He at length professed his readiness
to receive the monarch, but it was in terms so cautious as to justify suspi
cion. The governor accompanied his guests on their return to Tichfield,
where Ashburnham, leaving him with Berkeley and another military officer
beloAV, ascended to the king's apartment, and, stating what had passed,
added that the governor was in the house, prepared to fulfil the pledges he
had given. Charles, with that Avavering judgment which he so often
manifested during these vicissitudes, immediately laid his hand upon his
breast, and exclaimed, " What ! have you brought Hammond with you ?
then I am undone, for I can now stir no more !" Ashburnham was
much affected on hearing this expression, and others to the same effect ;
but the king added, that things must now take the course they had as
sumed, and he so far suppressed his feelings, as to receive the governor
with an air of cheerfulness and apparent cordiality f. The monarch,
on his landing in the island, was lodged with much courtesy in Caris-
brook castle ; and the two houses were immediately apprized of his being
there. Four days subsequent to his landing in the Isle of Wight, Charles sent
Hostility of a message to the parliament, stating the reasons which pre-
h w™y t0 vented his consenting to the abolition of episcopacy, and
Nov. 17. to some other things proposed. About the same time
Berkeley was sent to the head quarters of the army at Windsor, to as
certain from the officers whether, as they had succeeded in their attempt
to subdue the spirit of the mutineers, they were now prepared to for
ward a settlement on the basis of their late propositions. His com
munication was made to a council of officers, but was received in a
* Berkeley, 168, 169. Ashburnham, 112— 114, ed. 1830.
f Ludlow, i. 185 — 190. RushAvorth, vii. 874. Journals, Commons, Nov. 12, 13,
15. Berkeley, 176, 177. Ashburnham, 113— 119. Clarendon, Hist. v. 488— 492.
The pledge which Charles instructed his messengers to obtain from Hammond
Avas, that neither himself nor his attendants should be delivered up to the parlia
ment. But it is certain that he had much more to apprehend from the army at
this time than from the parliament.

A. D. 1647.] CHARLES I. 455
manner which gave no promise of success; and Avhen Berkeley inquired
privately Avith respect to the cause of this marked change in the dispo
sition of the military leaders toward an agreement Avith his master, he
was informed, that though the spirit of mutiny had been curbed in the
late meeting at Ware, more than two-thirds of the army had since found
means to assure their officers that they adhered to the principles avowed
in " the agreement of the people," and that they would spare no effort
to bring the remainder to their views ; and, it was added, that these
communications, Avhich had been made by one regiment after another,
had so far intimidated the more moderate men in the council of officers,
that even CromAvell had confessed himself in fault, in having gone so
far in his endeavours topromote an agreement Avith the king. It was
also stated, that the leaders in this disaffection had formed a resolution
to bring the king to trial, and that many trembled to think of Avhat might
in that case ensue *.
The parliament, in answer to the letter received from the king, de
termined that four bills, relating to the most material Fonr bills pro-
points at issue, should be submitted for his assent, and that posed as pre-
a treaty should be commenced to settle the minor questions settlement? &
which remained. The first of these bills provided that the Dec. 14.
command of the military should be vested in the parliament during the
next twenty years, together with a power of resuming that command
even after that period, Avhenever the two houses should deem such a pro
ceeding necessary to the safety of the kingdom ; the second required a
proclamation to be issued, justifying the acts of the parliament in the
late war, and making void all declarations to the contrary ; the third
called upon the king to annul all patents of peerage of a date subse
quent to the removal of the great seal from London in 1642, and de
clared that peers created in future should not have the power of sitting
and voting in parliament Avithout the consent of the lords and commons •
and the fourth gave the two houses the power of adjournment from place
to place, and from time to time, at their own pleasure f.
The answer of the king was, that nothing which he had hitherto suffered,
or could at present apprehend, would induce him to give his assent
* Rushworth, vii. 880— 883. Berkeley, 179—184. The king, in the language
of Cromwell, " could not be trusted." The army was more thoroughly persuaded
of that fact than himself ; and these two circumstances at once determined the
conduct of Cromwell and the fate of the monarch. Ibid.
f Journal of Lords, ix. 575. The following is the account given by Clarendon
of the import of these bills : — " By one of them he was to confess the war to have
been raised by him, and that he was guilty of all the blood that had been spilt. By
another, he was totally to dissolve the government of the church by bishops, and to
grant all the lands belonging to the church to such uses as they proposed, leaving
the settling a future government in the place thereof to further time and council^
By a third, he was to grant and settle the militia in the manner and in the per
sons proposed, reserving not so much power in himself as any subject was capable
of. In the last place, he was to sacrifice all those who had served or adhered to
him to the mercy of the parliament." Hist. v. 506. Oxford ed., 1826. How are
we to account for such misrepresentation ?

456 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [di. XI.
to these preliminaries so long as the matters Avhich were to follow re-
t. ~~ . j v. mained undetermined. Charles appears to have been dis-
Rejected by . * ' , ,.
the king. posed to this course, partly by his fear that the parliament
Dec. 28. might not be able to make good its overtures against the
less friendly temper of the army ; and still more by the interference of
the Scotch commissioners, Avho assured him that Scotland was willing to
forego her absolute demands on the matter of the covenant, for the
sake of a peace with him, and in order to prevent the affairs of the
country from passing into the hands of the independents. In fact, a
treaty to this effect was signed at Carisbrook, before the king returned
his ansAver to the two houses *.
When Charles despatched that message, it was in the hope of being
H's hoDe of a^e *° ma^e ms escape, and, by placing himself at the
escape frus- head of an army of covenanters and royalists on the borders
trated. 0f jjjg two kingdoms, to accomplish by a second Avar Avhat
he had failed to achieve in the first. But every attempt so far to elude
the vigilance of Hammond was Avithout effect, though the monarch found
means of frequent correspondence with his family and adherents f.
Parliament, on receiving his message, decided that no further address
Vote of non- snou^Q De ma(le to him, and the army pledged itself to sup-
addresses, port the two houses in that resolution ; and, with a reference
Jan. 3. t0 jjjg conduct of the Scots, it was declared that all persons
making an overture to the monarch Avithout consent of parliament
should be liable to the penalties of high treason \.
But while the feeling both of the army and of the parliament was
Pod tlar fe 1- Decoming more and more hostile to the king, a deep sym-
ing in favour pathy with his sufferings, and a disposition to make large
of the king, concessions to his wounded feelings, spread themselves to an
unprecedented extent among the mass of the people. Hitherto it was
felt, that, though the war had terminated, the objects for which it had
been waged were but very partially secured ; and that instinctive sen
timent of loyalty, which in old monarchical governments is so preva
lent and powerful a feeling with the great portion of the community,
was naturally strengthened by this deferring of long-cherished hopes,
and not less by the weight of those burdens, which, in consequence,
continued to press on all classes of the people §.
* Charles's Works, 261—263. Memoirs of Hamiltons, 330, 334. Clarendon, v.
507—509. { Ibid. 509— 511. Herbert's Memoirs, 187- Ashburnham, 121— 123. Rush-
worth, vii. 984, 1002. Berkeley, 79—91.
J Journals, Commons, Jan. 3, 11, 15. The vote for declining all further nego
tiation Avith the king passed in the commons by a majority of 141 against 92,
in the council of officers unanimously. Rushworth, vii. 953, 961, 965. The
commons issued a declaration of the reasons which influenced them in this pro
ceeding. Ibid. 998 — 1000. It treats of the king's faults from his accession, and
dwells particularly on the fact that seven distinct overtures for peace had been
made to him without success.
§ May's Breviary. " The king Avas more formidable this summer than in auv

A. D. 1648.] CHARLES I. 457
In the mean time, Scotland Avas the scene of greater and more mani
fest excitement. An army of almost any extent might vVar declared
have been conducted to a new Avar in England, had the king in Scotland.
given his absolute assent to the covenant ; but his promise to the com
missioners at Carisbrook merely Avent to the establishment of presby
terianism for three years, Avith the reserve of a right to dissent from it on
his OAvn part, and on the part of others. Hamilton placed himself at the
head of those Avho Avere willing to prosecute a war against the English
sectaries, and to restore the king, even upon these terms. This proposal
Avas carried by a small majority in the estates of the people, and by
one still smaller among the clergy. But the greater part of the com
munity denounced their commissioners, as having made an agreement
with the king contrary to their instructions and their oaths, and de
manded, as loudly as ever, that the adoption of the covenant by the
monarch should precede the slightest movement in his favour *.
The treaty at Carisbrook was signed in December ; but it was not
before the folloAving July that Hamilton crossed the borders Rising 0f the
Avith the promised army of covenanters. During this six royalists iu
months the English royalists had spoken and acted with in?lall(1'
fearlessness and vigour in many parts of the country. They possessed
themselves of Pembroke castle and Chepstow, and besieged Carnarvon.
This insurrection was suppressed by Cromwell ; but Fairfax was sum
moned to contend Avith one more formidable in Kent. Five ships of
war, at anchor off that county, had declared themselves for the king,
and, choosing their own~commander-in-chief, bad sailed to the Hague in
search of the young duke of York. Fairfax defeated a party of cava
liers at Maidstone; but Goring, earl of Norwich, soon appeared with
another body on Blackheath, and would have thrown himself upon
the aid of the king's friends in the city, had the authorities consented to
open its gates. Disappointed in that object, he marched from Black-
heath to Colchester, which he defended with vigour, mainly in the hope
of dividing the strength of his opponents, and, by that means, of fa
cilitating the advance of the army expected from Scotland. While the
independents were thus employed in the field, the presbyterians recovered
their ascendancy in the senate; and much discussion ensued on the
subject of new proposals to be made to the king. Many petitions were
presented, praying that the king might be brought back to London ;
insurgent multitudes appeared in the capital and other places, whose
cry Avas "God and the king;" and the parliament was so far con
trolled by this returning feeling in favour of royalty, as to declare
other when he was followed by his strongest armies. The pity of the vulgar gave
majesty to his person." Ibid. 143.
* Memoir of the Hamiltons, 339, 347, 353. Baillie, ii. 280, et seq. Rushworth,
vii. 1031— 1132, passim. Breviary, 148, 149.

458 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
that the government by king, lords, and commons, should not be
changed*. So unsettled was the state of England when it was announced
Defeat of the t^lat Hamilton had entered the kingdom at the head
Scots at of thirty thousand men. His followers proved to be not
Preston. quite two-thirds of that number ; but they were joined
by four thousand English royalists under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, and
included a considerable body of experienced soldiers from the service in
Ireland. The English army under Cromwell and Lambert, which met
the invaders near Preston, did not much exceed seven thousand ; but the
victory of the following day justified the confidence which they placed in
their discipline and valour. In the conduct of Hamilton, there was the
unsteadiness and inefficiency on that day, which had marked all his re
cent movements. The battle lasted six hours, but was maintained
chiefly by the cavaliers, who fought with the courage of men sensible
that their all depended upon the issue of the struggle. As they
retreated from one position to another, they called often, but in
vain, on their new allies for help and ammunition ; and when they
sought their last shelter in the town, all was lost. Hamilton, and the
greater part of the Scots, were made prisoners ; the unfortunate cavaliers
disbanded in Derbyshire ; and Langdale, escaping in disguise to the
neighbourhood of Nottingham, was there taken f.
The battle of Preston was fought on the seventeenth of August, and
„ ten days later, the garrison of Colchester, after enduring
Colchester, greater hardships, and evincing greater determination,
than any body of men since the commencement of the
civil war, was compelled to surrender. The terms were, that the privates
should retire unmolested, but that the toAvn's people should be subject
to a fine, and the officers be left to the discretion of the besiegers.
Among the royalist chiefs who became prisoners on these conditions,
were Goring, Capel, Loughborough, and Sir Charles Lucas. At the
commencement of this second war, a resolution had passed
ay ' in the parliament, which declared that no quarter should be
given to the persons found in arms on the pretence of serving the king.
Two years had passed since a war waged against the king had ended in
making him prisoner ; and as the parliament was now, in fact, the great
* Rushworth, vii. 1016— 1129, passim. Breviary, 143— 150. The royalists as
sembled in Wales amounted to eight thousand ; the rising in Kent was carried
on by "more than twenty knights, esquires, and gentlemen of the county." Ibid.
Goring's party consisted of about two thousand.— Journals of Lords, x. 243—304,
passim. Commons, April, May, June, and July. Whiteloeke, 299—310. It was
at this crisis that the presbyterians passed their memorable ordinance against
blasphemy. f Memoirs of the Hamiltons, 355, et seq. Rushworth, vii. 1237, 1238, 1242.
Journals of Lords, x. 455 — 458.

A. D. 1648.] CHARLES I. 459
authority of the nation, all men taken in arms against it were to be
treated as rebels, and became liable to the penalties of treason *.
A council of war was accordingly convened at Colchester, on the fate
of the leading delinquents who had now become prisoners ;
and it was determined that, in consequence of the innocent ,^^^1.
blood which they had caused to be shed, three of their
number should suffer death, two of the condemned persons being Sir
Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle. Capel, and several others, ge
nerously declared that they were themselves as guilty as the men doomed
to die, and requested to share in their fate. But the council adhered to
its decision. Lucas, making bare his chest, shouted in defiance, " Fire,
rebels!" His body fell lifeless ; Lisle embraced it affectionately, and,
turning to the soldiers, bid them approach nearer. One of them said,
" Fear not, sir, we shall hit you." He replied, " I have been nearer to
you, my friends, and you have missed me." This sanguinary deed, who
ever may have been its great mover, attaches indelible disgrace to all
who were parties to it. The royalists had descended to many acts of
cruelty ; but this proceeding was without parallel in the history of the
civil war. After the ordinance of the eleventh of May, these sufferers
might have been dealt with by the civil power as traitors, with as much
appearance of justice as was usually attendant on state prosecutions ;
but their death, inflicted under such circumstances, could not fail to
exhibit them, in the view of dispassionate men, as the victims of re
venge, and the martyrs of loyalty t-
It was with great difficulty that Hamilton had prevailed on the estates
in Scotland to concur in the proposed invasion of England ; Cromwell in
and the news of his defeat at once turned the scale against Edinburgh.
him in that country. Argyle, his great opponent, took possession of the
government. Cromwell himself soon made his appearance in Edinburgh,
and, having done what was considered expedient to secure the ascend
ancy of the party of Argyle, contented himself with procuring that no
person who had taken arms against the English parliament should be
deemed eligible to any place of trust or emolument J.
From the extent and the determination of the efforts which were
made during this summer in favour of the king, it is ma- gt . f
nifest that the presbyterians, in proposing so considerable parties in
a reduction of the army, must have been insincere, or England-
have been almost entirely ignorant of the feeling of the country which
they aspired to govern. The army in which, according to their policy,
it would have been necessary to confide at this juncture, must have been
one having its discipline and valour m a great degree to acquire, and
one, in consequenee, that would, in all probability, have been speedily
* Journals of Commons, May 11. Ludlow, i. 224, 225.
t Rushivorth, vii. 1235—1244. Clarendon, vi. 99—101.
X RushAvortb, vii. 1295. 1296.

460 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
subdued by the English royalists alone. The assistance of Scotland
was hailed by this party, because they persuaded themselves that the
poAver of the cavaliers, under any circumstances that could now occur,
must be less difficult to control than that of the independents. During
nearly the whole of this summer, the two parties in the commons were
very nearly balanced ; and the votes recorded frequently indicate alter
nate fears on the part of the presbyterians, Avith respect to the royalists
in the one extreme, and the republicans in the other. It was at this
time that Skippon, who, notwithstanding his moderation in such mat
ters, had been generally regarded as a presbyterian, gave the weight of
his character and experience to the side of the independents. At the
same time, the party which he left were sensible that the monarch Avas
looking forward to the expected rising in England, and the invasion from
Scotland, with feelings which promised much more to the bishop than
to the presbyter ; and their main hope was, that, the pride and poAver of
the independents being once broken, numbers would suffice, in their
own case, to extort important concessions in their favour.
But by a series of actions, Avhich the bravest and the most disciplined
army in Europe could alone have achieved, the risings in the south Avere
suppressed, and the invasion from the north was made to end in the
subjection of the invaders. The presbyterians, however, continued to
flatter themselves with having acted prudently, inasmuch as this double
overthroAv of the royalists must senre to destroy all hope in the king of
assistance from bis more immediate adherents, Avhile the avoAved hostility
of the soldiery must shoAV that from them he had everything to fear, —
leaving him no prospect of regaining his throne, except by such a con
currence Avith the overtures of the presbyterians as should unite them
entirely in his favour, and enable them to resist the machinations and
the power of his more relentless opponents.
Such Avas the condition and temper of parties, Avhen, the vote of non-
addresses being repealed, further negotiation was entered
Nw'io't; upon between the parliament and the king. This treaty,
Sept. 1  known by the name of the treaty of Newport, was based
Nov. 23. upon the propositions which had been submitted to the
monarch at Hampton Court ; and Charles, after many attempts to evade
or modify the proposals of the parliamentary commissioners, assented to
the whole, with the following exceptions only : — that the office of the
bishops should be suspended for three years, but not abolished ; that
the episcopal lands which had been sold should be reclaimed, at the
farthest after ninety-nine years ; that an act of indemnity should be passed
in favour of his followers, without exception — so far as to admit the most
obnoxious of the excepted persons to compound for their offences ; and
that the adoption of the covenant should not be enforced either iu his
own case, or in that of any other person. The large demands of the
presbyterians in this treaty with regard to civil liberty, were prompted

A.D. 1648.] CHARLES I. 461
in part by the manifest necessities of the king ; and in part by the con
viction that more moderate terms Avould only serve to give the appear
ance of justice to the invectives of the army, when describing them as
unmindful of the great objects for Avhich the war had been maintained,
so long as their oavii party purposes were realized *.
But it soon became evident that the army and the party which
adhered to it iu the city were not disposed to an agree-
. , , J .. ,„ . ., Menacing lan-
ment with the king even upon his full acceptance ot the gUage con.
propositions noAV submitted to him. A petition was pre- cerning the
sented to the commons from "thousands of well-affected in|' t ,j
persons in and near London," which, while it recognised
the monarchy and the peerage, deprived them of nearly all their pri
vileges, and prayed that the parliament " would lay to heart the blood
spilt, and the infinite spoil and havoc that had been made of peaceable,
harmless people, by express commission from the king, and to consider
whether an act of oblivion Avas likely to satisfy the justice of God, and to
appease his remaining wrath."
The course of proceeding thus suggested from the city was dwelt
upon, with the greatest confidence in its rectitude, by one to another in
the armyj-. It was commonly said that the land had been defiled with
blood, and could not be cleansed but by the blood of him who had shed it;
and petitions Avere presented to Fairfax from the regiments under Ireton
and Ingoldsby, which urged that " impartial and steady justice should
be done upon all criminal persons, that the same course should be taken
in the case of king or lord, as in that of the poorest commoner ; and that all
persons who should speak or act in behalf of the king, until acquitted of
the charge of shedding innocent blood, might be proceeded against as
traitors." This petition was presented on the eighteenth of October.
On the tAventieth of November, a remonstrance, adopted unanimously
by the council of officers, was presented by a deputation from that body,
and recommended to the attention of the house by Fairfax, in which it was
urged that the present treaty with the king should be abandoned, and
that judicial proceedings should be instituted against him, on account of
the evils done by him ; that the monarchy should be elective ; that
future parliaments should be annual or biennial, with a sure provision
for their being regularly convened ; that the elective franchise should
be rendered more general and equal ; and that no monarch should be
allowed a negative voice on bills J.
The presbyterians, Avhen these demands came before them, opposed
them with courage and perseverance, and on a division exhibited a large
majority. They knew the feeling of the country to be against such
* Clarendon Papers, ii. 425—429. Lords' Journals, x. 478, et seq. Whiteloeke,
335—337- See p. 493 of this volume,
t Whiteloeke, 330, 331.
X Rushworth, vii. 1297, 1298. 1311. 1331, Pail. Hist, iii. 1077—1127.

462 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
extreme measures ; and they hoped, by a speedy agreement with the
Charles ac- king, to overAvhelm the abettors of them with confusion.
cepts the pro- But the military leaders were not ignorant that such was
positions. ^ p0ijcv 0£ t},ejr 0pp0nents, and they adopted means
for the greater security of the king's person. Nor could Charles avoid
seeing the danger which threatened him. He accordingly, as in the
eleventh hour, consented, with still smaller modifications, to the most
obnoxious of the propositions from the two houses. He did not agree,
even at this time, to abolish episcopacy, or to alienate its wealth for
ever, but he allowed the restoration of them to be matters dependent on
the pleasure of parliament*.
Charles, in parting from the parliamentary commissioners, expressed
his fears that what he had now done would prove to have
Hurst1 Castle keen ^one to° ^ate t- On the following morning news was
privately conveyed to him that an armed force was on its
way to make him prisoner. His attendants entreated him to consult his
safety by an immediate escape ; but he spoke of his promise to wait
twenty days for the answer of parliament ; of his pledge not to
break the parole which had been granted to him ; and clung to so
many sources of hesitation, that night came, and, instead of flying for
his life, he retired to his chamber. About midnight the expected force
arrived ; early in the morning the king was summoned to leave his
present lodgings ; and in the course of that day was committed a pri
soner to Hurst Castle, an edifice standing on a low projecting piece of
land, joined by a narrow causeway to the coast of Hampshire^.
The removal of the king from Carisbrook was on the thirtieth of No
vember. On the day preceding, a declaration was issued by the officers,
which described the majority of the parliament as consisting of men
who, in the possession of power, had ceased to value their principles,
and set forth, in obscure, but significant terms, the high trust which
at this extraordinary crisis had been committed by the manifest will
of Providence to the army. On the second of December, Fairfax ap
peared at Whitehall, followed by several regiments, which he quartered
in the neighbourhood. These threatening appearances did not deter the
presbyterian members from assembling, nor from expressing their cen
sure of the conduct of the army in the strongest terms. The debate
which took place on the king's ansAver extended over three
days, and until the morning of the fourth, when it was
* Whiteloeke, 351. Pari. Hist. iii. 1025—1137- Clarendon Papers, ii. 449—
454. Had Charles consented to these propositions at once, instead of alloAving
them to appear as matters wrung from him by an obstinate negotiation of three
months, he might still have been restored. But by the close of that interval the
army was in circumstances to carry its measures against him.
f Evelyn's Memoirs, ii. App. 128.
X Rushworth, vii. 1344 — 148. Herbert's Memoirs, 113 — 122. Whiteloeke,
352, 353.

A.D. 1648.] CHARLES I. 463
declared to be satisfactory by a majority of forty-six, in a house of two
hundred and twelve *.
The meu who had resolved on entertaining no further thought of an
agreement with Charles Stuart, were not likely to be re-
° ., , , ,. \ -i v .. ¦ .. 4-l • Members ex-
conciled to such a proceeding while listening to the mvec- cluded uy tho
tives which were directed against them by their opponents military.
throughout this memorable debate. The day after it Uec' °-
had closed, Skippon discharged the city trained bands from acting as a
guard to the two houses, and supplied their place by a regiment of foot
under the command of colonel Pride, and a regiment of cavalry under
colonel Rich. Colonel Pride placed himself near the door in the lobby,
soon after the speaker had taken the chair, for the purpose of ordering
certain obnoxious members as they arrived, and others as they came
out, into custody. Thirty-nine were placed under restraint on the first
day, some additions Avere made to that number on the second, others
withdrew from the neighbourhood, and the house, which had included
three hundred and forty members some days before, was reduced to
little more than a seventh of that number. This fragment of the
national representation was afterwards distinguished by the name of the
"rump" parliament-)-.
On the day following this purification of the commons, as it was
called, Cromwell completed his march from Edinburgh to Cromwell re-
London. He spoke with approbation of what had been turns from
done. In the royal apartments at Whitehall, a congratu- Scotland.
latory address was presented to him from the lower house, on account of
the eminent services which he had rendered to his country ; and the
loud acclamations of the soldiers bespoke the restoration of perfect con
fidence between them and their general. The smallbody of representatives
* Pari. Hist. iii. 1137 — 1240. Prynne published the speech which he delivered
on this question, and states in the preface that the debate of the last day extended
from Monday morning until nine o'clock on Tuesday morning, about 340 members
being generally present during the day, that number having diminished to 244 in
the course of the night. — Ibid. 1239. Ruslnvorth, vii. 1341 — 1350.
f Whiteloeke, 354. Commons' Journals, Dec. 6, 7- Prynne, with his usual
spirit, protested loudly before the bystanders against the conduct of the military,
adding, " that they were more and stronger than he, and all armed, and he un
armed, and that they might forcibly carry him whither they pleased, but stir he
would not of his own accord." He Avas, in consequence, forced by the soldiers into
an adjoining room, called the Queen's Court. Two of the obnoxious members in
the house were called out by false cards, and one of them, colonel Birch, on being
seized, held fast by the door, and, with his head thrust in, " called to the speaker to
know whether the house could sit still and allow its members to be pulled out
thus violently before their faces." To add to these indignities, the members under
arrest were confined during the night in a common victualling-house in the neigh
bourhood. The next night they were lodged in two inns in the Strand, under a
guard. Most of them were released some days afterward, but Avithout any cause
for their confinement being assigned. The Avhole number of arrested members
Avas 47,theexcluded, 96 — diminishingthe house 143, and there were others who after
these proceedings seldom or never appeared in their places. Pari. Hist. iii. 1240 —
1249. Rushworth, vii. 1356, 1369.

464 HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [di. XI.
Avho now constituted the house of commons reversed all the late pro
ceedings in favour of a treaty, and returned to the vote of non-addresses.
In the mean time the leading officers were watched with some jealousy,
and urged to the most daring expedients by their inferiors, who were in
nearer communication with the soldiery. On the other hand, the royalists
were never so desperate ; assassination appears to have been exten
sively meditated; colonel Rainsborough, an officer of great influence
among the republicans in the army, was murdered by a party of cava
liers, who forced their Avay into his bed-chamber ; and the greatest pre
cautions were deemed necessary to protect the lives of others*.
The reasoning of the council of officers at this crisis was, that, had
they alloAved the treaty of Newport to take effect, and the
army in pro- ^mS> m virtue of it, to return to London, this' bursting
ceedingagainst indignation, which had proved fatal to Rainsborough,
& ¦ "d8 C°n* wou^ no uoubt have broken forth in many similar acts of
violence; and, what was more to be feared, the disbanding
of the army, as another consequence of that event, would in all proba
bility have been followed by the ascendancy, first of the presbyterians,
and then of the royalists, and, in both cases, by the return of an
ecclesiastical, if not of a civil government, in substance the same with
those against which the war had been waged from the beginning. The
known maxims, and the present passions, both of the royalists and of
the presbyterians, were not, they said, to be trusted ; and of late they
had found as much in the conduct of the latter as in that of the former
to justify their displeasure. These, they affirmed, were the consider
ations which had led to the exclusion of the late members from the
commons, and which constrained them to think of some decisive measure
which should free them for ever from all dependence on the king.
But how was this freedom to be obtained? The king, it was said,
might be deposed, and doomed to spend his remaining days in captivity;
but his opponents could not fail to see, that, with the monarch in such
circumstances, it would be vain to expect any permanent quiet among his
adherents. His removal by assassination is said to have been spoken of,
but to such a course, if really proposed, few could have been reconciled.
His death by a judicial process, it was argued, would not only be free from
the impolicy of the first expedient, and the baseness of the second, but
* Whiteloeke, 335. 341. 355, 356. Commons' Journals, Dec. 8. Rushworth, vii.
1279. 1315. 1349. 1362. The murderers of Rainsborough hoped to have secured
him as a hostage, it is said, for the purpose of extorting a lenient treatment of the
captive royalists. He resisted, and they put him to death. Clarendon describes
the affair as the " noble attempt " of a " gallant party." vi. 119 — 122. " A cap
tain of the army and a major were in like manner assaulted in London, and both
killed. It Avas dangerous for any members of the house or of the army to walk
Avithout company, for fear of being assassinated : and the committee of Derby-
house was informed that a certain number of the king's party had combined to mas
sacre eighty members of the house of commons, Avhom they suspected averse to their
hopes." Whiteloeke, Sept. 30,

A. D. 1648.] CHARLES I. 465
would furnish a memorable lesson on the aceountableness of kings, and
Avould declare to the world their own conviction of the rectitude of their
conduct. This last method of proceeding was strenuously urged by
colonels Harrison and Ireton *.
But these reasonings in support of so extraordinary and aAvful a pro
ceeding Avere not found without being sought after; and they would not
have been sought after, had not a deep aversion to the king, and a
settled distrust of his sincerity, taken possession of the minds of these
men, and created, in their vieAv, a necessity for going to so great a
length. It is in these circumstances that we must find our explanation
of the conduct of such men as Ludlow and Hutchinson, in passing with
so much satisfaction through forms of justice in regard to the monarch
Avhich exhibited so gross a mockery of its spirit. The regicides declared
that they were supported in their conduct by the voice of the people of
England, and in proofof this assertion they appealed to certain votes of
the house of commons which had instituted the high court of justice
for the trial of the sovereign, and had prescribed its course of pro
ceeding ; and this appeal they made, though they kneAV that their swords
had been employed in so signal a manner to render that house the
voice of their faction, rather than the voice of the people.
In the army there had always been persons who were not governed by
religious principles, but rather, in some instances, by sentiments of an op
posite description, — men Avho fought for general liberty, and for liberty of
conscience as being a part of it. With such men, the question concern
ing the disposal of the king was simply one of social expediency, and the
reasonings which influenced them, derived principally from the maxims
of the ancient republics, Avere perfectly familiar to the men of every
guard-room in the kingdom, and probably did as much as the interpretation
given to certain passages of Scripture toward deciding the fate of the un
happy monarch. Ludlow, who laid much stress on the command of Scrip
ture regarding the capital punishment of those Avho were the occasion of
bloodshed, as though someAvhat aAvare of the doubtful character of this
argument, speaks of the obligation to inflict such punishment as was made
imperative in this case by the duplicity and obstinacy of the king, Avhich,
he affirmed, were such as to render any accommodation with him
" unsafe to the people of England f ".
The act of the commons, which gave existence to the tribunal for
proceedings against the king, was followed by an ordinance which de
clared the conduct of Charles Stuart, in his having appeared in arms
against the parliament, to be treason, and limited the inquiry of the
* Clarendon, Hist. vi. 224—227.
| " A day of humiliation kept by the officers, for the atheism and profaneness
which had crept into the army.'' Whiteloeke, Sept. 27, 1649. LudloAv Mem. i.
267. It should be added, that petitions calling for proceedings against the king on
these grounds Avere sent from various parts of the country. Rushivorth, vii. 1372
1391. 1395. et alibi. : ' '
2 H

466 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
court to the fact of his having so appeared. The lords could not be
induced to concur in this measure ; Fairfax, who, for some time, had
been more frequently led by the judgment of others than capable of
trusting his own, refused to act with his . colleagues in this proceeding,
and even Cromwell is said to have shoAvn signs of hesitation*-
But on the twentieth of January the commissioners made their
appearance in the part of Westminster Hall which had
kint ° 6 ^een PrePare(l rar tuefr reception. The president of the
court was John Bradshaw, serjeant-at-law. The com
missioners, sixty-six in number, took their seats on either side the
chair, upon benches overlaid with scarlet cloth and raised slightly one
above another. Before the chair of the president was a table, upon
which the mace and a sword were exhibited. At the end of the space
between the opposite benches of the commissioners, and fronting the
throne of the president, was a crimson velvet chair provided for the
king. There was also a gallery, to which spectators were admitted; and
the neighbourhood and avenues of the court were crowded with soldiers
and the populace. The commissioners consisted of members of the
house of commons, officers of the army, and citizens of London f.
Charles had been removed from Hurst Castle to Windsor a month
ago, where he had seen and heard enough to make it probable that
such scenes were awaiting him. Still, with his usual confidence
in the sacredness of his pretensions, he had continued to persuade
himself from day to day that some interference Avould take place to pre
vent matters from passing to such extremity as seemed to be before
him J. But the Scots were found incapable of rendering him any
assistance ; and the continental states all proved deficient either in the
inclination or the power to serve him ; while at home, his adherents were
so scattered and subdued, that no help could be derived from that
quarter. The day of trial accordingly arrived, and Charles found him
self defenceless in the hands of his opponents. On that day he was
removed in a sedan chair from Whitehall to the house of sir Robert
Cotton, near the west end of Westminster Hall — King-street, and the
Palace-yard being lined with military. His only attendant was sir
Thomas Herbert, who walked beside him uncovered. At Cotton-house,
the monarch was received by a guard of soldiers under colonel Hacker,
and, at the call of the serjeant-at-arms, was led to the door of the hall.
He was then conducted to the chair provided for him, and presently
rising, still covered, he looked round on the court, with an air which
his judges regarded as expressive of contempt and defiance.
* RushAvorth, vii. 1370. 1373. 1379, 1380. 1382—1384. 1387.
f Rushworth, vii. 1395—1398.
X " Letters from Windsor, that the king was cheerful, and took no notice of
any proceedings against him as to his trial, and saith that he doubts not to see
peace in England within six months ; and, in case of not being restored, to be
righted from Denmark, Ireland, and other places." Whiteloeke, Jan. 2. Herbert's
Mem. 155. 157. Leicester's Journal, 48,

A. D. 1649.] CHARLES I. 467
In the charge against him, the king was described as a " tyrant,
traitor, murderer, and implacable enemy to the commonwealth of
England," — and a smile Avas observed to pass over his countenance as
he listened to the reading of these words. In proof of these accusa
tions, it was alleged that the prisoner had been intrusted with a power
limited by law, and to be exercised for the good of the people of Eng
land, particularly for the preservation of their rights and liberties ; that,
instead of so employing the power committed to him, he had endea
voured to introduce an absolute power in its place, and to deprive the
people of their only remedy against bad government provided by those
fundamental principles and usages of the constitution which declare their
right to be convened in the persons of their representatives in frequent
parliaments, and which determine the powers that should belong to
such assemblies ; and that the said Charles Stuart, in support of the
power thus assumed to himself and family, and contrary to the common
interest and liberty of the people of England, had levied war on the
parliament, and caused the blood of many thousands to be shed *.
The charge being read, the president called' on the accused to an
swer. But Charles refused to acknowledge the authority of the court.
He denied that his judges sat before him by delegation from the par
liament, the concurrence of the lords and of the crown being necessary
by law to"every proper act of the parliament of England. He could see
no kind of legality in the power which brought him there. His power
as a sovereign, he maintained, was a trust committed to him by Gad,
and he would not relinquish what it behoved him to transmit unimpaired
to his posterity, by acknowledging any tribunal unauthorized by law.
Thus three days passed — the king objecting to the authority of the court,
and the court refusing to take cognizance of such objections. The
result was, that the court recorded his refusal to plead, and' proceeded to
the examination of evidence for the purpose of pronouncing its sentence,
though no defence had been heardf.
Three days had been occupied Avith the trial, and three with the
forms of hearing evidence, when Charles was brought again
into court to hear his sentence. The king now desired that pro^™™^
he might be permitted, before judgment was pronounced, against him.
to address himself to the two houses, as he had somewhat ^an- 27-
to communicate to them which greatly concerned the peace and liberty
of the kingdom. At the request of one of the commissioners, the court
retired to deliberate on this proposal, but returned in somewhat more
than half an hour, stating that " what the king had proposed tended to
delay; but if he would speak anything for himself in the court, before
sentence, he might be heard." Charles replied that he had nothing to
say, and sentence was accordingly given. It was argued, that the conduct
* Ibid. 1396—1398. 1415. Whiteloeke, 365. Warwick's Memoirs, 376—379.
•f- Rushworth, vii. 1399—1415. Whiteloeke, 365, 366.
2h 2

468 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
of the court, had it "consented to refer the question with respect to the
disposal of the king's person once more to the lords, would have been an
abandonment of the ground which the commons had assumed some weeks
before, and a virtu-al relinquishment of its OAvn authority ; and it was
natural to add, that if it was the intention of the king, as was after -
Avards stated, not to have proffered frivolous things merely to gain time
and breed division, but to surrender his crown in favour of his son, it
surely was not necessary to have the two houses before him, in order to
make such a proposal with all the advantage that could attach to it. It
is not impossible, however, that the refusal of the commissioners may
have led the monarch to conclude, that even such an overture, matters
having proceeded so far, Avould have been without effect ; though it
certainly would have had this effect — that, while it could have been no
sacrifice to him, it would have served to put his opponents more than
ever in the wrong *-
Throughout these trying scenes, Charles conducted himself with a
composure and a natural dignity, which even his opponents
f 1'eIlaratlon were constrained to admire t • His parting from his chil
dren, the princess Elizabeth, in her thirteenth year, and
the duke of Gloucester, in his ninth, was an affecting sight to those Avho
witnessed it. By the intercession of Hugh Peters, the notorious army
chaplain, Juxon. the bishop of London was allowed to attend the mo
narch in preparing himself for his appearance before a higher tribunal.
On the night before his death, the king slept soundly about four hours ;
and early the next morning bestowed more than usual attention upon his
dress, observing that it was his second marriage day, and adding, that
he feared not death, but hoped to be espoused to his " blessed Jesus "
before night J.
About ten o'clock, he was conducted from St. James's to Whitehall,
in front of which the scaffold had been prepared. Having spent nearly
two hours in prayer, or discourse, with bishop Juxon, a messenger was
admitted, to present a letter to the king from the prince of Wales, which
apprized the monarch that his son had sent a blank paper to Fairfax,
that it might be filled up with such conditions as the general should
consider a sufficient price for the 'life of his father §.
* Rushworth, 1416—1425. Whiteloeke, 367, 368.
f " And yet, as he confessed himself to the bishop of London that attended him,
one action shocked him very much ; for, whilst he was leaning in the court upon
his staff, which had a head of gold, the head broke off on a sudden ; he took it up,
and seemed unconcerned, but told the bishop, ' it really made a great impression
on him ; and to this hour,' said he, ' I know not possibly how it should come.' " —
Warwick, 380.
X Whiteloeke, 368. Warwick, 381, 382. Herbert. 169—180.
5 Warn'ick, 383, 384. Ellis's Original Letters, iii. Journals, Commons, Jan.
26. The delay which took place betiveen the king's arrival at Whitehall, and his
proceeding to the scaffold, is supposed, Avith much probability, to have been occa
sioned by the arrival of this communication. Lingard, x. 455. Fairfax, and many
of the leading officers, Avere not present at the execution ; and the general is be-

A. D. 1649.] CHARLES I. 469
The monarch had scarcely concluded the instructions which he Avished
to be conveyed to the prince, Avhen the fatal summons Avas Tj- —-„,.,•
announced. The countenances of the soldiers, through
whose ranks he passed, bespoke their compassion with his fate, rather
than any feeling of triumph over him. At the end of the galleries,
he passed to the floor of the scaffold through an opening made in the wall.
At some distance before him were the block, the axe, and the executioner
in a mask. The platform was hung with black ; around it were several
lines of infantry and cavalry ; and in the distance, an immense multitude
of spectators. The distance to which the people Avere removed prevented
the king from addressing himself to them ; but he delivered a short speech
to those who were near him. He declared that he forgave all who were
concerned in bringing him to such an end ; that he did not consider the
sentence passed upon him as approved by the parliament or the people
of England ; that, though he had not been without his faults, particularly
in consenting to the death of Strafford, he would declare that the whole
guilt of the late war rested with his opponents ; that before God he could
aver it had never been his intention to encroach on the privileges of the
two houses ; and that happiness jwould never return to the people of Eng
land, for whose happiness he was as truly anxious as any man, until a
king should be among them, possessed of the powers Avhich belong to
him by law ; until the church should be restored according to law and
scripture ; nor until men should learn to admit that " sovereign and
subject are clean different things," all government being a matter be
longing to the former, and " in nothing pertaining to the latter."
Having expressed these sentiments, and again conversed for a short
time with Juxon, the monarch laid his neck upon the block, gave the
appointed signal, and at one blow the head was severed from the body*.
Such was the end of Charles the first, — a prince whose character,
like that of all the great parties who were active in his
reign, is not to be learnt from the extravagant commenda
tion bestowed upon it in some quarters, nor from the indiscriminate
censure to which it is subject in others. In his person, this monarch
was of a middle stature, and well proportioned. His habits Avere suf
ficiently active to have rendered him capable of bearing much fatigue,
and of making, upon occasions, vigorous exertion. His features were
rather handsome than otherwise. His fair complexion in early life, was
considerably darkened in his later days; and over the whole counte
nance there was a shade of thoughtfulness, which gave it an air of
lieved to have been kept in ignorance of the immediate preparations for it until it
was over. That he was detained by the officers at a meeting for prayer and con
ference upon the proceeding, until it was concluded, is not proved ; but the excite
ment and fanaticism which led to the deed, and which became the more intense as
its hour approached, Avere such as to have left little room for surprise even at such an
occurrence. Herbert, 194.
* Rushworth, vii. 1428—1430. Herbert, 192, 193.

470 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [cH. XI.
melancholy — an aspect, "however, which seems to have been derived,
more from the manner in which he was accustomed to regard the
past or the present, than from any want of sanguine feeling in
relation to the future. Charles gave many proofs of courage ; but
this virtue, from the want of being guided by a more sound dis
cretion, frequently partook, in civil affairs, of the nature of rashness.
There Avas also much dignity in his demeanour, but coupled generally
with a coldness and reserve, which was repulsive to strangers, and
tended to keep up a stately distance between him and the persons who
were most in his confidence. His temperance and chastity — when we
call to mind the scenes with which he had been familiar in his youth —
will appear among his most praiseworthy qualities ; and his economy,
without descending to meanness, or bordering upon avarice, was a
marked improvement upon the example set before him by his prede
cessor. Nor could this prince be charged with cruelty, except in a few
cases, when his favourite objects Avere opposed in a manner to affect his
resentments in a greater degree than Avas in the power of the ordinary
course of affairs. In all these respects, had his lot been cast iu private
life, Charles the first might have obtained general esteem ; but while a
stranger to adversity, there would have been little in him in that con
dition, any more than in his real history, to have made him an object of
affection. In religion, the defects of his character were more manifest, in con
sequence of the degree in Avhich his views on that subject Avere connected
with superstitious feeling and with the maxims of intolerance. But his
ruling passion Avas a love of arbitrary power. Not that he was intent on
exercising such power in the more extravagant acts of tyranny; but
rather, after the example of the late king, that he might indulge in the
consciousness of possessing it. One effect of this passion Avas to stimu
late his efforts in support of episcopacy ; and in the progress of his career,
he became less and less scrupulous in the matters of truth and sincerity,
whenever the gratification of this feeling was the end pursued. So
earnest and so fixed Avas his desire to possess larger poAvers than the
constitution had ceded to him, that nothing short of the constant pres
sure of necessity sufficed to keep him within those limits — the moment
in which such pressure Avas withdraAvn being that in which he always
showed himself determined to resume whatever he had appeared to re
linquish. Nor was it by such acts only that Charles taught his subjects
to regard him as a prince not to be trusted. If he did not avow the
favourite maxim of his father, that to rule by craft is necessary to ruling
well, it is certain that he never ceased to act as though guided by that
notion, his public declarations and proceedings, with hardly an excep
tion, and even to the last, being contemporaneous with secret corre
spondence and negotiations by which they were falsified *. Even upon
* It is gratifying to be able to think that Charles did not die without perceiving

A.D. 1649.] CHARLES I. 471
the scaffold, he expressed himself on the subject of popular government,
in terms which show that he died as he lived, SAvayed by sentiments
alien from the most essential elements of the English constitution.
So much more important had the middle class in England become
during this reign, that the nation was in no temper to submit even to
those more moderate exercises of the prerogative which had been some
times resorted to by the less arbitrary of our princes ; but Charles, in
defiance of this spirit, was not content to take his precedents from some of
the most lawless of his predecessors, but would have raised the exceptions
supplied by such occasional exercises of the prerogative, into the place
of the rule provided by the laAv. Concessions, indeed, were at length
made, but these were granted so late, and with so much visible re
luctance, and ill feeling, as must prevent any reflecting man from being
surprised on finding that each in its turn became no more than a
point from which still further demands were to be made.
But, while we deem these considerations to be of great weight, Ave
do not mean to be understood as affirming that they constitute a
sufficient ground for the severe proceedings adopted in relation to this
unhappy prince. Vane, and St. John, and Algernon Sydney, were
all of opinion, that, in the case of Charles the first, an act of de
position Avould have been a more just apportionment of the penalty to
the offence. Yet Avho can read the account AA'hich Mrs. Hutchinson has
given of the manner in which her husband proceeded to perform the
part assigned him in this tragedy, and not do homage to the con
scientiousness and feeling by which he was influenced. "As for Mr.
Hutchinson," says this extraordinary woman, " although he was very
much confirmed in his judgment concerning the cause, yet being here
called to an extraordinary action, whereof many Avere of several minds,
he addressed himself to God by prayer, desiring the Lord, that if,
through any human frailty, he were led into any error or false opinion
in those great transactions, he Avould open his eyes, and not suffer him
to proceed, but that he Avould confirm his spirit in the truth, and lead
him by a right-enlightened conscience ; and finding no check, but a
something of the evil and impolicy of his conduct in this respect. In the end of
the report made to the prince of Wales concerning the treaty of Newport, he
writes, " So conclude, if God give you success, use it humbly, and far from revenge ;
if he restore you to your rights upon hard conditions, whatever your promise, keep.
Do not think anything in the world worth obtaining by foul or unjust means."
Clarendon Papers, ii. 449. It would lie easy, however, to shoAV, that the king's con
duct, even in the treaty of Newport, Avas not in strict keeping Avith these instruc
tions. See the papers in Clarendon, and Laing's History of Scotland, i. 368  373.
In consenting to Avhat was required by the parliament concerning the great seal
he says, "This part of the propositions, Ave understood, made not the grants under
it valid, if they were not so before." The same sort of casuistry is confessed with
respect to the article concerning Ormond and the Avar in Ireland. Ibid. His re
mark, that the treaty " would come to nothing," noticed by Mr. Laing, refers pro
bably to the fact that, in consequence of the present temper and poAver of the
army, to satisfy the parliament was no longer the great preliminary to a settle
ment.

472 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. [CH. XI.
confirmation, in his conscience, that it was his duty to act as'he did, he,
upon serious debate, both privately, and in his addresses to God, and in
conferences with conscientious, upright, and unbiassed persons, pro
ceeded to sign the sentence against the king. Although he did not then
believe but it might one day come to be again disputed among men, yet
both he and others thought they could not refuse it Avithout giving up
the people of God, whom they had led forth and engaged themselves unto
by the oath of God, into the hands of God's and their enemies ; and
therefore he cast himself upon God's protection, acting according to the
dictates of a conscience which he had sought the Lord to guide ; and
accordingly the Lord did signalize his favour afterwards to him."*
* Memoirs, ii. 158.

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