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diff --git a/42179-0.txt b/42179-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a30a35b --- /dev/null +++ b/42179-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21033 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42179 *** + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/constitutionalh02hall + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + The book uses both Richelieu and Richlieu. + + On Page 47, the phrase "any their progenitors" possibly should + be "any of their progenitors". + + Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document + have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been + corrected. + + + + + +Everyman's Library +Edited by Ernest Rhys + +History + +HALLAM'S +CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY +WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY +PROFESSOR J. H. MORGAN + + * * * * * * + +THE PUBLISHERS OF _EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY_ WILL BE PLEASED TO SEND +FREELY TO ALL APPLICANTS A LIST OF THE PUBLISHED AND PROJECTED +VOLUMES TO BE COMPRISED UNDER THE FOLLOWING THIRTEEN HEADINGS: + +TRAVEL · SCIENCE · FICTION +THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY +HISTORY · CLASSICAL +FOR YOUNG PEOPLE +ESSAYS · ORATORY +POETRY & DRAMA +BIOGRAPHY +REFERENCE +ROMANCE + +IN FOUR STYLES OF BINDING: CLOTH, FLAT BACK, COLOURED TOP; +LEATHER, ROUND CORNERS, GILT TOP; LIBRARY BINDING IN CLOTH, & +QUARTER PIGSKIN + +LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. + +NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. + + * * * * * * + + "CONSIDER + HISTORY + WITH THE + BEGINNINGS OF + IT STRETCHING + DIMLY INTO THE + REMOTE TIME; EMERGING + DARKLY + OUT OF THE + MYSTERIOUS + ETERNITY: + THE TRUE EPIC + POEM AND UNIVERSAL + DIVINE + SCRIPTURE.···" + + CARLYLE + + * * * * * * + + +CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY of ENGLAND +HENRY VII TO GEORGE II. + +by + +HENRY HALLAM + +VOL 2 + + + + + + + +London: Published +by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd +and in New York +by E. P. Dutton & Co + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER VIII + + FROM THE DISSOLUTION OF CHARLES'S THIRD PARLIAMENT TO THE + MEETING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT + + Declaration of the King after the Dissolution -- Prosecutions + of Eliot and others for Conduct in Parliament -- Of Chambers + for refusing to pay Customs -- Commendable Behaviour of Judges + in some Instances -- Means adopted to raise the Revenue -- + Compositions for Knighthood -- Forest Laws -- Monopolies -- + Ship-Money -- Extension of it to inland Places -- Hampden's + Refusal to pay -- Arguments on the Case -- Proclamations -- + Various arbitrary Proceedings -- Star-Chamber Jurisdiction -- + Punishments inflicted by it -- Cases of Bishop Williams, + Prynne, etc. -- Laud, his Character -- Lord Strafford -- + Correspondence between these two -- Conduct of Laud in the + Church -- Prosecution of Puritans -- Favour shown to Catholics + -- Tendency to their Religion -- Expectations entertained by + them -- Mission of Panzani -- Intrigue of Bishop Montagu with + him -- Chillingworth -- Hales -- Character of Clarendon's + Writings -- Animadversions on his Account of this Period -- + Scots Troubles, and Distress of the Government -- Parliament of + April 1640 -- Council of York -- Convocation of Long + Parliament Page 1 + + + CHAPTER IX + + FROM THE MEETING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE BEGINNING OF THE + CIVIL WAR + + Character of Long Parliament -- Its salutary Measures -- + Triennial Bill -- Other beneficial Laws -- Observations -- + Impeachment of Strafford -- Discussion of its Justice -- Act + against Dissolution of Parliament without its Consent -- + Innovations meditated in the Church -- Schism in the + Constitutional Party -- Remonstrance of November 1641 -- + Suspicions of the King's Sincerity -- Question of the Militia + -- Historical Sketch of Military Force in England -- + Incroachments of the Parliament -- Nineteen Propositions -- + Discussion of the respective Claims of the two Parties to + Support -- Faults of both Page 85 + + + CHAPTER X + + FROM THE BREAKING OF THE CIVIL WAR TO THE RESTORATION + + PART I + + Success of the King in the first Part of the War -- Efforts by + the moderate Party for Peace -- Affair at Brentford -- Treaty + of Oxford -- Impeachment of the Queen -- Waller's Plot -- + Secession of some Peers to the King's Quarters -- Their + Treatment there impolitic -- The anti-pacific Party gain the + Ascendant at Westminster -- The Parliament makes a new Great + Seal -- And takes the Covenant -- Persecution of the Clergy who + refuse it -- Impeachment and Execution of Laud -- Decline of + the King's Affairs in 1644 -- Factions at Oxford -- Royalist + Lords and Commoners summoned to that City -- Treaty of Uxbridge + -- Impossibility of Agreement -- The Parliament insist on + unreasonable Terms -- Miseries of the War -- Essex and + Manchester suspected of Lukewarmness -- Self-denying Ordinance + -- Battle of Naseby -- Desperate Condition of the King's + Affairs -- He throws himself into the Hands of the Scots -- His + Struggles to preserve Episcopacy, against the Advice of the + Queen and others -- Bad Conduct of the Queen -- Publication of + Letters taken at Naseby -- Discovery of Glamorgan's Treaty -- + King delivered up by the Scots -- Growth of the Independents + and Republicans -- Opposition to the Presbyterian Government -- + Toleration -- Intrigues of the Army with the King -- His Person + seized -- The Parliament yield to the Army -- Mysterious + Conduct of Cromwell -- Imprudent Hopes of the King -- He + rejects the Proposals of the Army -- His Flight from Hampton + Court -- Alarming Votes against him -- Scots' Invasion -- The + Presbyterians regain the Ascendant -- Treaty of Newport -- + Gradual Progress of a Republican Party -- Scheme among the + Officers of bringing Charles to Trial -- This is finally + determined -- Seclusion of Presbyterian Members -- Motives of + some of the King's Judges -- Question of his Execution + discussed -- His Character -- Icon Basilike Page 138 + + PART II + + Abolition of the Monarchy -- and of the House of Lords -- + Commonwealth -- Schemes of Cromwell -- His Conversations with + Whitelock -- Unpopularity of the Parliament -- Their Fall -- + Little Parliament -- Instrument of Government -- Parliament + called by Cromwell -- Dissolved by him -- Intrigues of the King + and his Party -- Insurrectionary Movements in 1655 -- Rigorous + Measures of Cromwell -- His arbitrary Government -- He summons + another Parliament -- Designs to take the Crown -- the Project + fails -- But his Authority as Protector is augmented -- He aims + at forming a new House of Lords -- His Death -- and Character + -- Richard his Son succeeds him -- Is supported by some prudent + Men -- But opposed by a Coalition -- Calls a Parliament -- The + Army overthrow both -- Long Parliament restored -- Expelled + again -- and again restored -- Impossibility of establishing a + Republic -- Intrigues of the Royalists -- They unite with the + Presbyterians -- Conspiracy of 1659 -- Interference of Monk -- + His Dissimulation -- Secluded Members return to their Seats -- + Difficulties about the Restoration -- New Parliament -- King + restored -- Whether previous Conditions required -- Plan of + reviving the Treaty of Newport inexpedient -- Difficulty of + framing Conditions -- Conduct of the Convention about this not + blameable -- Except in respect of the Militia -- Conduct of + Monk Page 212 + + + CHAPTER XI + + FROM THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. TO THE FALL OF THE CABAL + ADMINISTRATION + + Popular Joy at the Restoration -- Proceedings of the Convention + Parliament -- Act of Indemnity -- Exclusion of the Regicides + and others -- Discussions between the Houses on it -- Execution + of Regicides -- Restitution of Crown and Church Lands -- + Discontent of the Royalists -- Settlement of the Revenue -- + Abolition of Military Tenures -- Excise granted instead -- Army + disbanded -- Clergy restored to their Benefices -- Hopes of the + Presbyterians from the King -- Projects for a Compromise -- + King's Declaration in Favour of it -- Convention Parliament + dissolved -- Different Complexion of the next -- Condemnation + of Vane -- Its Injustice -- Acts replacing the Crown in its + Prerogatives -- Corporation Act -- Repeal of Triennial Act -- + Star-chamber not restored -- Presbyterians deceived by the King + -- Savoy Conference -- Act of Uniformity -- Ejection of + Nonconformist Clergy -- Hopes of the Catholics -- Bias of the + King towards them -- Resisted by Clarendon and the Parliament + -- Declaration for Indulgence -- Objected to by the Commons -- + Act against Conventicles -- Another of the same Kind -- Remarks + on them -- Dissatisfaction increases -- Private Life of the + King -- Opposition in Parliament -- Appropriation of Supplies + -- Commission of public Accounts -- Decline of Clarendon's + Power -- Loss of the King's Favour -- Coalition against him -- + His Impeachment -- Some Articles of it not unfounded -- Illegal + Imprisonments -- Sale of Dunkirk -- Solicitation of French + Money -- His Faults as a Minister -- His pusillanimous Flight + -- and consequent Banishment -- Cabal Ministry -- Scheme of + Comprehension and Indulgence -- Triple Alliance -- Intrigue + with France -- King's Desire to be absolute -- Secret Treaty of + 1670 -- Its Objects -- Differences between Charles and Louis as + to the Mode of its Execution -- Fresh Severities against + Dissenters -- Dutch War -- Declaration of Indulgence -- Opposed + by Parliament -- and withdrawn -- Test Act -- Fall of + Shaftesbury and his Colleagues Page 278 + + + CHAPTER XII + + EARL OF DANBY'S ADMINISTRATION -- DEATH OF CHARLES II. + + Earl of Danby's Administration -- Opposition in the Commons -- + Frequently corrupt -- Character of Lord Danby -- Connection of + the popular Party with France -- Its Motives on both Sides -- + Doubt as to their Acceptance of Money -- Secret Treaties of the + King with France -- Fall of Danby -- His Impeachment -- + Questions arising on it -- His Commitment to the Tower -- + Pardon pleaded in Bar -- Votes of Bishops -- Abatement of + Impeachments by Dissolution -- Popish Plot -- Coleman's Letters + -- Godfrey's Death -- Injustice of Judges on the Trials -- + Parliament dissolved -- Exclusion of Duke of York proposed -- + Schemes of Shaftesbury and Monmouth -- Unsteadiness of the + King -- Expedients to avoid the Exclusion -- Names of Whig and + Tory -- New Council formed by Sir William Temple -- Long + Prorogation of Parliament -- Petitions and Addresses -- + Violence of the Commons -- Oxford Parliament -- Impeachment of + Commoners for Treason constitutional -- Fitzharris impeached -- + Proceedings against Shaftesbury and his Colleagues -- Triumph + of the Court -- Forfeiture of Charter of London -- And of other + Places -- Projects of Lord Russell and Sidney -- Their Trials + -- High Tory Principles of the Clergy -- Passive Obedience -- + Some contend for absolute Power -- Filmer -- Sir George + Mackenzie -- Decree of University of Oxford -- Connection with + Louis broken off -- King's Death Page 361 + + + + +CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +FROM HENRY VII. TO GEORGE II. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FROM THE DISSOLUTION OF CHARLES'S THIRD PARLIAMENT TO THE MEETING OF +THE LONG PARLIAMENT + + +The dissolution of a parliament was always to the prerogative what the +dispersion of clouds is to the sun. As if in mockery of the transient +obstruction, it shone forth as splendid and scorching as before. Even +after the exertions of the most popular and intrepid House of Commons +that had ever met, and after the most important statute that had been +passed for some hundred years, Charles found himself in an instant +unshackled by his law or his word; once more that absolute king, for +whom his sycophants had preached and pleaded, as if awakened from a +fearful dream of sounds and sights that such monarchs hate to endure, +to the full enjoyment of an unrestrained prerogative. He announced his +intentions of government for the future in a long declaration of the +causes of the late dissolution of parliament, which, though not +without the usual promises to maintain the laws and liberties of the +people, gave evident hints that his own interpretation of them must be +humbly acquiesced in.[1] This was followed up by a proclamation that +he "should account it presumption for any to prescribe a time to him +for parliament, the calling, continuing, or dissolving of which was +always in his own power; and he should be more inclinable to meet +parliament again, when his people should see more clearly into his +intents and actions, when such as have bred this interruption shall +have received their condign punishment." He afterwards declares that +he should "not overcharge his subjects by any more burthens, but +satisfy himself with those duties that were received by his father, +which he neither could nor would dispense with; but should esteem them +unworthy of his protection who should deny them."[2] + +_Prosecutions of Eliot and others for conduct in parliament._--The +king next turned his mind, according to his own and his father's +practice, to take vengeance on those who had been most active in their +opposition to him. A few days after the dissolution, Sir John Eliot, +Holles, Selden, Long, Strode, and other eminent members of the +Commons, were committed, some to the Tower, some to the King's Bench, +and their papers seized. Upon suing for their habeas corpus, a return +was made that they were detained for notable contempts, and for +stirring up sedition, alleged in a warrant under the king's sign +manual. Their counsel argued against the sufficiency of this return, +as well on the principles and precedents employed in the former case +of Sir Thomas Darnel and his colleagues, as on the late explicit +confirmation of them in the Petition of Right. The king's counsel +endeavoured, by evading the authority of that enactment, to set up +anew that alarming pretence to a power of arbitrary imprisonment, +which the late parliament had meant to silence for ever. "A petition +in parliament," said the attorney-general Heath, "is no law, yet it is +for the honour and dignity of the king to observe it faithfully; but +it is the duty of the people not to stretch it beyond the words and +intention of the king. And no other construction can be made of the +petition, than that it is a confirmation of the ancient liberties and +rights of the subjects. So that now the case remains in the same +quality and degree as it was before the petition." Thus, by dint of a +sophism which turned into ridicule the whole proceedings of the late +parliament, he pretended to recite afresh the authorities on which he +had formerly relied, in order to prove that one committed by the +command of the king or privy council is not bailable. The judges, +timid and servile, yet desirous to keep some measures with their own +consciences, or looking forward to the wrath of future parliaments, +wrote what Whitelock calls "a humble and stout letter" to the king, +that they were bound to bail the prisoners; but requested that he +would send his direction to do so.[3] The gentlemen in custody were, +on this intimation, removed to the Tower; and the king, in a letter to +the court, refused permission for them to appear on the day when +judgment was to be given. Their restraint was thus protracted through +the long vacation; towards the close of which, Charles, sending for +two of the judges told them he was content the prisoners should be +bailed, notwithstanding their obstinacy in refusing to present a +petition, declaring their sorrow for having offended him. In the +ensuing Michaelmas term accordingly they were brought before the +court, and ordered not only to find bail for the present charge, but +sureties for their good behaviour. On refusing to comply with this +requisition, they were remanded to custody. + +The attorney-general, dropping the charge against the rest, exhibited +an information against Sir John Eliot for words uttered in the house; +namely, That the council and judges had conspired to trample under +foot the liberties of the subject; and against Mr. Denzil Holles and +Mr. Valentine for a tumult on the last day of the session; when the +speaker having attempted to adjourn the house by the king's command, +had been forcibly held down in the chair by some of the members, while +a remonstrance was voted. They pleaded to the court's jurisdiction, +because their offences were supposed to be committed in parliament, +and consequently not punishable in any other place. This brought +forward the great question of privilege, on the determination of which +the power of the House of Commons, and consequently the character of +the English constitution, seemed evidently to depend. + +Freedom of speech, being implied in the nature of a representative +assembly called to present grievances and suggest remedies, could not +stand in need of any special law or privilege to support it. But it +was also sanctioned by positive authority. The speaker demands it at +the beginning of every parliament among the standing privileges of the +house; and it had received a sort of confirmation from the legislature +by an act passed in the fourth year of Henry VIII., on occasion of one +Strode, who had been prosecuted and imprisoned in the Stannary court, +for proposing in parliament some regulations for the tinners in +Cornwall; which annuls all that had been done, or might hereafter be +done, towards Strode, for any matter relating to the parliament, in +words so strong as to form, in the opinion of many lawyers, a general +enactment. The judges however held, on the question being privately +sent to them by the king, that the statute concerning Strode was a +particular act of parliament extending only to him and those who had +joined with him to prefer a bill to the Commons concerning tinners; +but that, although the act were private and extended to them alone, +yet it was no more than all other parliament men, by privilege of the +house, ought to have; namely, freedom of speech concerning matters +there debated.[4] + +It appeared by a constant series of precedents, the counsel for Eliot +and his friends argued, that the liberties and privileges of +parliament could only be determined therein, and not by any inferior +court; that the judges had often declined to give their opinions on +such subjects, alleging that they were beyond their jurisdiction; that +the words imputed to Eliot were in the nature of an accusation of +persons in power which the Commons had an undoubted right to prefer; +that no one would venture to complain of grievances in parliament, if +he should be subjected to punishment at the discretion of an inferior +tribunal; that whatever instances had occurred of punishing the +alleged offences of members after a dissolution, were but acts of +power, which no attempt had hitherto been made to sanction; finally, +that the offences imputed might be punished in a future parliament. + +The attorney-general replied to the last point, that the king was not +bound to wait for another parliament; and moreover, that the House of +Commons was not a court of justice, nor had any power to proceed +criminally, except by imprisoning its own members. He admitted that +the judges had sometimes declined to give their judgment upon matters +of privilege; but contended that such cases had happened during the +session of parliament, and that it did not follow, but that an offence +committed in the house might be questioned after a dissolution. He set +aside the application of Strode's case, as a special act of +parliament; and dwelt on the precedent of an information preferred in +the reign of Mary against certain members for absenting themselves +from their duty in parliament, which, though it never came to a +conclusion, was not disputed on the ground of right. + +The court were unanimous in holding that they had jurisdiction, though +the alleged offences were committed in parliament, and that the +defendants were bound to answer. The privileges of parliament did not +extend, one of them said, to breaches of the peace, which was the +present case; and all offences against the crown, said another, were +punishable in the court of King's Bench. On the parties refusing to +put in any other plea, judgment was given that they should be +imprisoned during the king's pleasure, and not released without giving +surety for good behaviour, and making submission; that Eliot, as the +greatest offender and ringleader, should be fined in £2000, Holles and +Valentine to a smaller amount.[5] + +Eliot, the most distinguished leader of the popular party, died in the +tower without yielding to the submission required. In the long +parliament, the commons came to several votes on the illegality of all +these proceedings, both as to the delay in granting their habeas +corpus, and the overruling their plea to the jurisdiction of the +King's Bench. But the subject was revived again in a more distant and +more tranquil period. In the year 1667, the Commons resolved that the +act of 4 H. VIII. concerning Strode was a general law, "extending to +indemnify all and every the members of both houses of parliament, in +all parliaments, for and touching any bills, speaking, reasoning or +declaring of any matter or matters, in and concerning the parliament +to be communed and treated of, and is a declaratory law of the ancient +and necessary rights and privileges of parliament." They resolved also +that the judgment given 5 Car. I. against Sir John Eliot, Denzil +Holles, and Benjamin Valentine, is an illegal judgment, and against +the freedom and privilege of parliament. To these resolutions the +Lords gave their concurrence. And Holles, then become a peer, having +brought the record of the King's Bench by writ of error before them, +they solemnly reversed the judgment.[6] An important decision with +respect to our constitutional law, which has established beyond +controversy the great privilege of unlimited freedom of speech in +parliament; unlimited, I mean, by any authority except that by which +the house itself ought always to restrain indecent and disorderly +language in its members. It does not, however, appear to be a +necessary consequence from the reversal of this judgment, that no +actions committed in the house by any of its members are punishable in +a court of law. The argument in behalf of Holles and Valentine goes +indeed to this length; but it was admitted in the debate on the +subject in 1667, that their plea to the jurisdiction of the King's +Bench could not have been supported as to the imputed riot in +detaining the speaker in the chair, though the judgment was erroneous +in extending to words spoken in parliament. And it is obvious that the +house could inflict no adequate punishment in the possible case of +treason or felony committed within its walls; nor, if its power of +imprisonment be limited to the session, in that of many smaller +offences. + +_Prosecution of Chambers for refusing to pay customs._--The customs on +imported merchandises were now rigorously enforced.[7] But the late +discussions in parliament, and the growing disposition to probe the +legality of all acts of the Crown, rendered the merchants more +discontented than ever. Richard Chambers, having refused to pay any +further duty for a bale of silks than might be required by law, was +summoned before the privy-council. In the presence of that board he +was provoked to exclaim that in no part of the world, not even in +Turkey, were the merchants so screwed and wrung as in England. For +these hasty words an information was preferred against him in the +star-chamber; and the court, being of opinion that the words were +intended to make the people believe that his majesty's happy +government might be termed Turkish tyranny, manifested their laudable +abhorrence of such tyranny by sentencing him to pay a fine of £2000, +and to make a humble submission. Chambers, a sturdy puritan, +absolutely refused to subscribe the form of submission tendered to +him, and was of course committed to prison. But the court of King's +Bench admitted him to bail on a habeas corpus; for which, as Whitelock +tells us, they were reprimanded by the council.[8] + +_Commendable behaviour of judges in some instances._--There were +several instances, besides this just mentioned, wherein the judges +manifested a more courageous spirit than they were able constantly to +preserve; and the odium under which their memory labours for a servile +compliance with the court, especially in the case of ship-money, +renders it but an act of justice to record those testimonies they +occasionally gave of a nobler sense of duty. They unanimously +declared, when Charles expressed a desire that Felton, the assassin of +the Duke of Buckingham, might be put to the rack in order to make him +discover his accomplices, that the law of England did not allow the +use of torture. This is a remarkable proof that, amidst all the +arbitrary principles and arbitrary measures of the time, a truer sense +of the inviolability of law had begun to prevail, and that the free +constitution of England was working off the impurities with which +violence had stained it. For, though it be most certain that the law +never recognised the use of torture, there had been many instances of +its employment, and even within a few years.[9] In this public +assertion of its illegality, the judges conferred an eminent service +on their country, and doubtless saved the king and his council much +additional guilt and infamy which they would have incurred in the +course of their career. They declared, about the same time, on a +reference to them concerning certain disrespectful words alleged to +have been spoken by one Pine against the king, that no words can of +themselves amount to treason within the statute of Edward III.[10] +They resolved, some years after, that Prynne's, Burton's, and +Bastwick's libels against the bishops were no treason.[11] In their +old controversy with the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, they were +inflexibly tenacious. An action having been brought against some +members of the high-commission court for false imprisonment, the king, +on Laud's remonstrance, sent a message to desire that the suit might +not proceed till he should have conversed with the judges. The +chief-justice made answer that they were bound by their oaths not to +delay the course of justice; and after a contention before the +privy-council, the commissioners were compelled to plead.[12] + +Such instances of firmness serve to extenuate those unhappy +deficiencies which are more notorious in history. Had the judges been +as numerous and independent as those of the parliament of Paris, they +would not probably have been wanting in equal vigour. But holding +their offices at the king's will, and exposed to the displeasure of +his council whenever they opposed any check to the prerogative, they +held a vacillating course, which made them obnoxious to those who +sought for despotic power, while it forfeited the esteem of the +nation. + +_Means adopted to raise the revenue. Compositions for knighthood._--In +pursuance of the system adopted by Charles's ministers, they had +recourse to exactions, some odious and obsolete, some of very +questionable legality, and others clearly against law. Of the former +class may be reckoned the compositions for not taking the order of +knighthood. The early kings of England, Henry III. and Edward I., very +little in the spirit of chivalry, had introduced the practice of +summoning their military tenants, holding £20 per annum, to receive +knighthood at their hands. Those who declined this honour were +permitted to redeem their absence by a moderate fine.[13] Elizabeth, +once in her reign, and James, had availed themselves of this ancient +right. But the change in the value of money rendered it far more +oppressive than formerly, though limited to the holders of £40 per +annum in military tenure. Commissioners were now appointed to compound +with those who had neglected some years before to obey the +proclamation, summoning them to receive knighthood at the king's +coronation.[14] In particular instances, very severe fines are +recorded to have been imposed upon defaulters, probably from some +political resentment.[15] + +_Forest laws._--Still greater dissatisfaction attended the king's +attempt to revive the ancient laws of the forests,--those laws, of +which, in elder times, so many complaints had been heard, exacting +money by means of pretensions which long disuse had rendered dubious, +and showing himself to those who lived on the borders of those domains +in the hateful light of a litigious and encroaching neighbour. The +Earl of Holland held a court almost every year, as chief-justice in +eyre, for the recovery of the king's forestal rights, which made great +havoc with private property. No prescription could be pleaded against +the king's title, which was to be found, indeed, by the inquest of a +jury, but under the direction of a very partial tribunal. The royal +forests in Essex were so enlarged, that they were hyperbolically said +to include the whole county.[16] The Earl of Southampton was nearly +ruined by a decision that stripped him of his estate near the New +Forest.[17] The boundaries of Rockingham forest were increased from +six miles to sixty, and enormous fines imposed on the trespassers; +Lord Salisbury being amerced in £20,000, Lord Westmoreland in £19,000, +Sir Christopher Hatton in £12,000.[18] It is probable that much of +these was remitted. + +_Monopolies._--A greater profit was derived from a still more +pernicious and indefensible measure, the establishment of a chartered +company, with exclusive privileges of making soap. The recent statute +against monopolies seemed to secure the public against this species of +grievance. Noy, however, the attorney-general, a lawyer of uncommon +eminence, and lately a strenuous asserter of popular rights in the +House of Commons, devised this project, by which he probably meant to +evade the letter of the law, since every manufacturer was permitted to +become a member of the company. They agreed to pay eight pounds for +every ton of soap made, as well as £10,000 for their charter. For this +they were empowered to appoint searchers, and exercise a sort of +inquisition over the trade. Those dealers who resisted their +interference were severely fined, on informations in the star-chamber. +Some years afterwards, however, the king received money from a new +corporation of soap-makers, and revoked the patent of the former.[19] + +This precedent was followed in the erection of a similar company of +starch-makers, and in a great variety of other grants, which may be +found in Rymer's _Foedera_, and in the proceedings of the long +parliament; till monopolies, in transgression or evasion of the late +statute, became as common as they had been under James or Elizabeth. +The king, by a proclamation at York in 1639, beginning to feel the +necessity of diminishing the public odium, revoked all those +grants.[20] He annulled at the same time a number of commissions that +had been issued in order to obtain money by compounding with offenders +against penal statutes. The catalogue of these, as well as of the +monopolies, is very curious. The former were, in truth, rather +vexatious than illegal, and sustained by precedents in what were +called the golden ages of Elizabeth and James, though at all times the +source of great and just discontent. + +The name of Noy has acquired an unhappy celebrity by a far more famous +invention, which promised to realise the most sanguine hopes that +could have been formed of carrying on the government for an indefinite +length of time without the assistance of parliament. Shaking off the +dust of ages from parchments in the Tower, this man of venal diligence +and prostituted learning discovered that the sea-ports and even +maritime counties had in early times been sometimes called upon to +furnish ships for the public service; nay, there were instances of a +similar demand upon some inland places. Noy himself died almost +immediately afterwards. Notwithstanding his apostasy from the public +cause, it is just to remark that we have no right to impute to him the +more extensive and more unprecedented scheme of ship-money as a +general tax, which was afterwards carried into execution. But it +sprang by natural consequence from the former measure, according to +the invariable course of encroachment, which those who have once bent +the laws to their will ever continue to pursue. The first writ issued +from the council in October 1634. It was directed to the magistrates +of London and other sea-port towns. Reciting the depredations lately +committed by pirates, and slightly adverting to the dangers imminent +in a season of general war on the continent, it enjoins them to +provide a certain number of ships of war of a prescribed tonnage and +equipage; empowering them also to assess all the inhabitants for a +contribution towards this armament according to their substance. The +citizens of London humbly remonstrated that they conceived themselves +exempt, by sundry charters and acts of parliament, from bearing such a +charge. But the council peremptorily compelled their submission; and +the murmurs of inferior towns were still more easily suppressed. This +is said to have cost the city of London £35,000.[21] + +There wanted not reasons in the cabinet of Charles for placing the +navy at this time on a respectable footing. Algerine pirates had +become bold enough to infest the Channel; and what was of more serious +importance, the Dutch were rapidly acquiring a maritime preponderance, +which excited a natural jealousy, both for our commerce, and the +honour of our flag. This commercial rivalry conspired with a far more +powerful motive at court, an abhorrence of everything republican or +Calvinistic, to make our course of policy towards Holland not only +unfriendly, but insidious and inimical in the highest degree. A secret +treaty is extant, signed in 1631, by which Charles engaged to assist +the King of Spain in the conquest of that great protestant +commonwealth, retaining the isles of Zealand as the price of his +co-operation.[22] + +Yet, with preposterous inconsistency as well as ill-faith, the two +characteristics of all this unhappy prince's foreign policy, we find +him in the next year carrying on a negotiation with a disaffected +party in the Netherlands, in some strange expectation of obtaining the +sovereignty on their separation from Spain. Lord Cottington betrayed +this intrigue (of which one whom we should little expect to find in +these paths of conspiracy, Peter Paul Rubens, was the negotiator) to +the court of Madrid.[23] It was in fact an unpardonable and unprovoked +breach of faith, and accounts for the indifference, to say no more, +which that government always showed to his misfortunes. Charles, whose +domestic position rendered a pacific system absolutely necessary, +busied himself, far more than common history has recorded, with the +affairs of Europe. He was engaged in a tedious and unavailing +negotiation with both branches of the house of Austria, especially +with the court of Madrid, for the restitution of the Palatinate. He +took a much greater interest than his father had done in the fortunes +of his sister and her family; but, like his father, he fell into the +delusion that the cabinet of Madrid, for whom he could effect but +little, or that of Vienna, to whom he could offer nothing, would so +far realise the cheap professions of friendship they were always +making, as to sacrifice a conquest wherein the preponderance of the +house of Austria and the catholic religion in Germany was so deeply +concerned. They drew him on accordingly through the labyrinths of +diplomacy; assisted, no doubt, by that party in his councils, composed +at this time of Lord Cottington, Secretary Windebank, and some others, +who had always favoured Spanish connections.[24] It appears that the +fleet raised in 1634 was intended, according to an agreement entered +into with Spain, to restrain the Dutch from fishing in the English +seas, nay even, as opportunities should arise, to co-operate hostilely +with that of Spain.[25] After above two years spent in these +negotiations, Charles discovered that the house of Austria were +deceiving him; and, still keeping in view the restoration of his +nephew to the electoral dignity and territories, entered into stricter +relations with France; a policy which might be deemed congenial to the +queen's inclinations, and recommended by her party in his council, the +Earl of Holland, Sir Henry Vane, and perhaps by the Earls of +Northumberland and Arundel. In the first impulse of indignation at the +duplicity of Spain, the king yielded so far to their counsels as to +meditate a declaration of war against that power.[26] But his own +cooler judgment, or the strong dissuasions of Strafford, who saw that +external peace was an indispensable condition for the security of +despotism,[27] put an end to so imprudent a project; though he +preserved, to the very meeting of the long parliament, an intimate +connection with France, and even continued to carry on negotiations, +tedious and insincere, for an offensive alliance.[28] Yet he still +made, from time to time, similar overtures to Spain;[29] and this +unsteadiness, or rather duplicity, which could not easily be concealed +from two cabinets eminent for their secret intelligence, rendered both +of them his enemies, and the instruments, as there is much reason to +believe, of some of his greatest calamities. It is well known that the +Scots covenanters were in close connection with Richlieu; and many +circumstances render it probable, that the Irish rebellion was +countenanced and instigated both by him and by Spain. + +_Extension of writs for ship-money to inland places._--This desire of +being at least prepared for war, as well as the general system of +stretching the prerogative beyond all limits, suggested an extension +of the former writs from the sea-ports to the whole kingdom. Finch, +chief justice of the common pleas, has the honour of this improvement +on Noy's scheme. He was a man of little learning or respectability, a +servile tool of the despotic cabal; who, as speaker of the last +parliament, had, in obedience to a command from the king to adjourn, +refused to put the question upon a remonstrance moved in the house. By +the new writs for ship-money, properly so denominated, since the +former had only demanded the actual equipment of vessels, for which +inland counties were of course obliged to compound, the sheriffs were +directed to assess every landholder and other inhabitant according to +their judgment of his means, and to enforce the payment by +distress.[30] + +This extraordinary demand startled even those who had hitherto sided +with the court. Some symptoms of opposition were shown in different +places, and actions brought against those who had collected the money. +But the greater part yielding to an overbearing power, exercised with +such rigour that no one in this king's reign who had ventured on the +humblest remonstrance against any illegal act had escaped without +punishment. Indolent and improvident men satisfied themselves that the +imposition was not very heavy, and might not be repeated. Some were +content to hope that their contribution, however unduly exacted, would +be faithfully applied to public ends. Others were overborne by the +authority of pretended precedents, and could not yet believe that the +sworn judges of the law would pervert it to its own destruction. The +ministers prudently resolved to secure, not the law, but its +interpreters, on their side. The judges of assize were directed to +inculcate on their circuits the necessary obligation of forwarding the +king's service by complying with his writ. But, as the measure grew +more obnoxious, and strong doubts of its legality came more to +prevail, it was thought expedient to publish an extra-judicial opinion +of the twelve judges, taken at the king's special command, according +to the pernicious custom of that age. They gave it as their unanimous +opinion that, when the good and safety of the kingdom in general is +concerned and the whole kingdom in danger, his majesty might, by writ +under the great seal, command all his subjects, at their charge, to +provide and furnish such number of ships, with men, munition, and +victuals, and for such time as he should think fit, for the defence +and safeguard of the kingdom; and that by law he might compel the +doing thereof, in case of refusal or refractoriness; and that he was +the sole judge both of the danger, and when and how the same was to be +prevented and avoided. + +This premature declaration of the judges, which was publicly read by +the lord-keeper Coventry in the star-chamber, did not prevent a few +intrepid persons from bringing the question solemnly before them, that +the liberties of their country might at least not perish silently, nor +those who had betrayed them avoid the responsibility of a public +avowal of their shame. The first that resisted was the gallant Richard +Chambers, who brought an action against the lord-mayor for imprisoning +him on account of his refusal to pay his assessment on the former +writ. The magistrate pleaded the writ as a special justification; when +Berkley, one of the judges of the king's bench, declared that there +was a rule of law and a rule of government, that many things which +could not be done by the first rule might be done by the other, and +would not suffer counsel to argue against the lawfulness of +ship-money.[31] The next were Lord Say and Mr. Hampden, both of whom +appealed to the justice of their country; but the famous decision +which has made the latter so illustrious, put an end to all attempts +at obtaining redress by course of law. + +_Hampden's refusal to pay._--Hampden, it seems hardly necessary to +mention, was a gentleman of good estate in Buckinghamshire, whose +assessment to the contribution for ship-money demanded from his county +amounted only to twenty shillings.[32] The cause, though properly +belonging to the court of exchequer, was heard, on account of its +magnitude, before all the judges in the exchequer-chamber.[33] The +precise question, so far as related to Mr. Hampden, was, Whether the +king had a right, on his own allegation of public danger, to require +an inland county to furnish ships, or a prescribed sum of money by way +of commutation, for the defence of the kingdom? It was argued by St. +John and Holborne in behalf of Hampden; by the solicitor-general +Littleton and the attorney-general Banks, for the crown.[34] + +_Arguments on the case._--The law and constitution of England, the +former maintained, had provided in various ways for the public safety +and protection against enemies. First, there were the military +tenures, which bound great part of the kingdom to a stipulated service +at the charge of the possessors. The cinque ports also, and several +other towns, some of them not maritime, held by a tenure analogous to +this; and were bound to furnish a quota of ships or men, as the +condition of their possessions and privileges. These for the most part +are recorded in Domesday-book, though now in general grown obsolete. +Next to this specific service, our constitution had bestowed on the +sovereign his certain revenues, the fruits of tenure, the profits of +his various minor prerogatives; whatever, in short, he held in right +of his crown, was applicable, so far as it could be extended, to the +public use. It bestowed on him, moreover, and perhaps with more +special application to maritime purposes, the customs on importation +of merchandise. These indeed had been recently augmented far beyond +ancient usage. "For these modern impositions," says St. John, "of the +legality thereof I intend not to speak: for in case his majesty may +impose upon merchandise what himself pleaseth, there will be less +cause to tax the inland counties; and in case he cannot do it, it will +be strongly presumed that he can much less tax them." + +But as the ordinary revenues might prove quite unequal to great +exigencies, the constitution has provided another means, as ample and +sufficient as it is lawful and regular, parliamentary supply. To this +the kings of England have in all times had recourse; yet princes are +not apt to ask as a concession what they might demand of right. The +frequent loans and benevolences which they have required, though not +always defensible by law, are additional proofs that they possessed no +general right of taxation. To borrow on promise of repayment, to +solicit, as it were, alms from their subjects, is not the practice of +sovereigns whose prerogatives entitle them to exact money. Those loans +had sometimes been repaid, expressly to discharge the king's +conscience. And a very arbitrary prince, Henry VIII., had obtained +acts of parliament to release him from the obligation of repayment. + +These merely probable reasonings prepare the way for that conclusive +and irresistible argument that was founded on statute law. Passing +slightly over the charter of the Conqueror, that his subjects shall +hold their lands free from all unjust tallage, and the clause in +John's Magna Charta, that no aid or scutage should be assessed but by +consent of the great council (a provision not repeated in that of +Henry III.), the advocates of Hampden relied on the 25 E. I., commonly +called the Confirmatio Chartarum, which for ever abrogated all +taxation without consent of parliament; and this statute itself, they +endeavoured to prove, was grounded on requisitions very like the +present, for the custody of the sea, which Edward had issued the year +before. Hence it was evident that the saving contained in that act for +the accustomed aids and prises could not possibly be intended, as the +opposite counsel would suggest, to preserve such exactions as +ship-money; but related to the established feudal aids, and to the +ancient customs on merchandise. They dwelt less however (probably +through fear of having this exception turned against them) on this +important statute than on one of more celebrity, but of very equivocal +genuineness, denominated, De Tallagio non Concedendo; which is nearly +in the same words as the Confirmatio Chartarum, with the omission of +the above-mentioned saving. More than one law, enacted under Edward +III., re-asserts the necessity of parliamentary consent to taxation. +It was indeed the subject of frequent remonstrance in that reign, and +the king often infringed this right. But the perseverance of the +Commons was successful, and ultimately rendered the practice +conformable to the law. In the second year of Richard II., the realm +being in imminent danger of invasion, the privy council convoked an +assembly of peers and other great men, probably with a view to avoid +the summoning of a parliament. This assembly lent their own money, but +declared that they could not provide a remedy without charging the +Commons, which could not be done out of parliament, advising that one +should be speedily summoned. This precedent was the more important, as +it tended to obviate that argument from peril and necessity, on which +the defenders of ship-money were wont to rely. But they met that +specious plea more directly. They admitted that a paramount overruling +necessity silences the voice of law; that in actual invasion, or its +immediate prospect, the rights of private men must yield to the safety +of the whole; that not only the sovereign, but each man in respect of +his neighbour might do many things, absolutely illegal at other +seasons; and this served to distinguish the present case from some +strong acts of prerogative exerted by Elizabeth in 1588, when the +liberties and religion of the people were in the most apparent +jeopardy. But here there was no overwhelming danger; the nation was at +peace with all the world: could the piracies of Turkish corsairs, or +even the insolence of rival neighbours, be reckoned among those +instant perils, for which a parliament would provide too late? + +To the precedents alleged on the other side, it was replied, that no +one of them met the case of an inland county; that such as were before +the 25 E. I. were sufficiently repelled by that statute, such as +occurred under Edward III. by the later statutes, and by the +remonstrances of parliament during his reign; and there were but very +few afterwards. But that, in a matter of statute law, they ought not +to be governed by precedents, even if such could be adduced. Before +the latter end of Edward I.'s reign, St. John observes, "all things +concerning the king's prerogative and the subject's liberties were +upon uncertainties." "The government," says Holborne truly, "was more +of force than law." And this is unquestionably applicable, in a lesser +degree, to many later ages. + +Lastly, the petition of right, that noble legacy of a slandered +parliament, reciting and confirming the ancient statutes, had +established that no man thereafter be compelled to make or yield any +gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such-like charge, without common +consent by act of parliament. This latest and most complete +recognition must sweep away all contrary precedent, and could not, +without a glaring violation of its obvious meaning, be stretched into +an admission of ship-money. + +The king's counsel, in answer to these arguments, appealed to that +series of records which the diligence of Noy had collected. By far the +greater part of these were commissions of array. But several, even of +those addressed to inland towns (and, if there were no service by +tenure in the case, it does not seem easy to distinguish these in +principle from counties), bore a very strong analogy to the present. +They were, however, in early times. No sufficient answer could be +offered to the statutes that had prohibited unparliamentary taxation. +The attempts made to elude their force were utterly ineffectual, as +those who are acquainted with their emphatic language may well +conceive. But the council of Charles the First, and the hirelings who +ate their bread, disdained to rest their claim of ship-money (big as +it was with other and still more novel schemes) on obscure records, or +on cavils about the meaning of statutes. They resorted rather to the +favourite topic of the times, the intrinsic, absolute authority of the +king. This the attorney-general Banks placed in the very front of his +argument. "This power," says he, "is innate in the person of an +absolute king, and in the persons of the kings of England. All +magistracy it is of nature, and obedience and subjection it is of +nature. This power is not any ways derived from the people, but +reserved unto the king when positive laws first began. For the king of +England, he is an absolute monarch; nothing can be given to an +absolute prince but what is inherent in his person. He can do no +wrong. He is the sole judge, and we ought not to question him. Where +the law trusts, we ought not to distrust. The acts of parliament," he +observed, "contained no express words to take away so high a +prerogative; and the king's prerogative, even in lesser matters, is +always saved, wherever express words do not restrain it." + +But this last argument appearing too modest for some of the judges who +pronounced sentence in this cause, they denied the power of parliament +to limit the high prerogatives of the Crown. "This imposition without +parliament," says Justice Crawley, "appertains to the king originally, +and to the successor _ipso facto_, if he be a sovereign in right of +his sovereignty from the Crown. You cannot have a king without these +royal rights, no, not by act of parliament." "Where Mr. Holborne," +says Justice Berkley, "supposed a fundamental policy in the creation +of the frame of this kingdom, that in case the monarch of England +should be inclined to exact from his subjects at his pleasure, he +should be restrained, for that he could have nothing from them, but +upon a common consent in parliament; he is utterly mistaken herein. +The law knows no such king-yoking policy. The law is itself an old and +trusty servant of the king's; it is his instrument or means which he +useth to govern his people by: I never read nor heard that _lex_ was +_rex_; but it is common and most true, that _rex_ is _lex_." Vernon, +another judge, gave his opinion in few words: "That the king, _pro +bono publico_, may charge his subjects for the safety and defence of +the kingdom, notwithstanding any act of parliament, and that a statute +derogatory from the prerogative doth not bind the king; and the king +may dispense with any law in cases of necessity." Finch, the adviser +of the ship-money, was not backward to employ the same argument in +its behalf. "No act of parliament," he told them, "could bar a king of +his regality, as that no land should hold of him, or bar him of the +allegiance of his subjects or the relative on his part, as trust and +power to defend his people; therefore acts of parliament to take away +his royal power in the defence of his kingdom are void; they are void +acts of parliament to bind the king not to command the subjects, their +persons, and goods, and I say, their money too; for no acts of +parliament make any difference." + +Seven of the twelve judges, namely, Finch, chief justice of the common +pleas, Jones, Berkley, Vernon, Crawley, Trevor, and Weston, gave +judgment for the Crown. Brampston, chief justice of the king's bench, +and Davenport, chief baron of the exchequer, pronounced for Hampden, +but on technical reasons, and adhering to the majority on the +principal question. Denham, another judge of the same court, being +extremely ill, gave a short written judgment in favour of Hampden. But +Justices Croke and Hutton, men of considerable reputation and +experience, displayed a most praiseworthy intrepidity in denying, +without the smallest qualification, the alleged prerogative of the +Crown and the lawfulness of the writ for ship-money. They had +unfortunately signed, along with the other judges, the above-mentioned +opinion in favour of the right. For this they made the best apology +they could, that their voice was concluded by the majority. But in +truth it was the ultimate success that sometimes attends a struggle +between conscience and self-interest or timidity.[35] + +The length to which this important cause was protracted, six months +having elapsed from the opening speech of Mr. Hampden's counsel to the +final judgment, was of infinite disservice to the Crown. During this +long period, every man's attention was directed to the exchequer-chamber. +The convincing arguments of St. John and Holborne, but still more the +division on the bench, increased their natural repugnance to so +unusual and dangerous a prerogative.[36] Those who had trusted to the +faith of the judges were undeceived by the honest repentance of some, +and looked with indignation on so prostituted a crew. That respect for +courts of justice, which the happy structure of our judicial +administration has in general kept inviolate, was exchanged for +distrust, contempt, and desire of vengeance. They heard the speeches +of some of the judges with more displeasure than even their final +decision. Ship-money was held lawful by Finch and several other +judges, not on the authority of precedents, which must in their nature +have some bounds, but on principles subversive of any property or +privilege in the subject. Those paramount rights of monarchy, to which +they appealed to-day in justification of ship-money, might to-morrow +serve to supersede other laws, and maintain new exertions of despotic +power. It was manifest, by the whole strain of the court lawyers, that +no limitations on the king's authority could exist but by the king's +sufferance. This alarming tenet, long bruited among the churchmen and +courtiers, now resounded in the halls of justice. But ship-money, in +consequence, was paid with far less regularity and more reluctance +than before.[37] The discontent that had been tolerably smothered was +now displayed in every county; and though the council did not flinch +in the least from exacting payment, nor willingly remit any part of +its rigour towards the uncomplying, it was impossible either to punish +the great body of the country gentlemen and citizens, or to restrain +their murmurs by a few examples. Whether in consequence of this +unwillingness or for other reasons, the revenue levied in different +years under the head of ship-money is more fluctuating than we should +expect from a fixed assessment; but may be reckoned at an average sum +of £200,000.[38] + +_Proclamations._--It would doubtless be unfair to pass a severe +censure on the government of Charles the First for transgressions of +law, which a long course of precedents might render dubious, or at +least extenuate. But this common apology for his administration, on +which the artful defence of Hume is almost entirely grounded, must be +admitted cautiously, and not until we have well considered how far +such precedents could be brought to support it. This is particularly +applicable to his proclamations. I have already pointed out the +comparative novelty of these unconstitutional ordinances, and their +great increase under James. They had not been fully acquiesced in; the +Commons had remonstrated against their abuse; and Coke, with other +judges, had endeavoured to fix limits to their authority, very far +within that which they arrogated. It can hardly, therefore, be said +that Charles's council were ignorant of their illegality; nor is the +case at all parallel to that of general warrants, or any similar +irregularity into which an honest government may inadvertently be led. +They serve at least to display the practical state of the +constitution, and the necessity of an entire reform in its spirit. + +_Various arbitrary proceedings._--The proclamations of Charles's reign +are far more numerous than those of his father. They imply a +prerogative of intermeddling with all matters of trade, prohibiting or +putting under restraint the importation of various articles, and the +home growth of others, or establishing regulations for manufactures.[39] +Prices of several minor articles were fixed by proclamation, and in +one instance this was extended to poultry, butter, and coals.[40] The +king declares by a proclamation that he had incorporated all tradesmen +and artificers within London and three miles round; so that no person +might set up any trade without having served a seven years' +apprenticeship, and without admission into such corporation.[41] He +prohibits in like manner any one from using the trade of a maltster or +that of a brewer, without admission into the corporations of maltsters +or brewers erected for every county.[42] I know not whether these +projects were in any degree founded on the alleged pretext of +correcting abuses, or were solely designed to raise money by means of +these corporations. We find, however, a revocation of the restraint on +malting and brewing soon after. The illegality of these proclamations +is most unquestionable. + +The rapid increase of London continued to disquiet the court. It was +the stronghold of political and religious disaffection. Hence the +prohibitions of erecting new houses, which had begun under Elizabeth, +were continually repeated.[43] They had indeed some laudable objects +in view; to render the city more healthy, cleanly, and magnificent, +and by prescribing the general use of brick instead of wood, as well +as by improving the width and regularity of the streets, to afford the +best security against fires, and against those epidemical diseases +which visited the metropolis with unusual severity in the early years +of this reign. The most jealous censor of royal encroachments will +hardly object to the proclamations enforcing certain regulations of +police in some of those alarming seasons. + +It is probable, from the increase which we know to have taken place in +London during this reign, that licences for building were easily +obtained. The same supposition is applicable to another class of +proclamation, enjoining all persons who had residences in the country +to quit the capital and repair to them.[44] Yet, that these were not +always a dead letter, appears from an information exhibited in the +star-chamber against seven lords, sixty knights, and one hundred +esquires, besides many ladies, for disobeying the king's proclamation, +either by continuing in London, or returning to it after a short +absence.[45] The result of this prosecution, which was probably only +intended to keep them in check, does not appear. No proclamation could +stand in need of support from law, while this arbitrary tribunal +assumed a right of punishing misdemeanours. It would have been a +dangerous aggravation of any delinquent's offence to have questioned +the authority of a proclamation, or the jurisdiction of the council. + +The security of freehold rights had been the peculiar boast of the +English law. The very statute of Henry VIII., which has been held up +to so much infamy, while it gave the force of law to his +proclamations, interposed its barrier in defence of the subject's +property. The name of freeholder, handed down with religious honour +from an age when it conveyed distinct privileges, and as it were a +sort of popular nobility, protected the poorest man against the +Crown's and the lord's rapacity. He at least was recognised as the +_liber homo_ of Magna Charta, who could not be disseised of his +tenements and franchises. His house was his castle, which the law +respected, and which the king dared not enter. Even the public good +must give way to his obstinacy; nor had the legislature itself as yet +compelled any man to part with his lands for a compensation which he +was loath to accept. The council and star-chamber had very rarely +presumed to meddle with his right; never perhaps where it was +acknowledged and ancient. But now this reverence of the common law for +the sacredness of real property was derided by those who revered +nothing as sacred but the interests of the Church and Crown. The privy +council, on a suggestion that the demolition of some houses and shops +in the vicinity of St. Paul's would show the cathedral to more +advantage, directed that the owners should receive such satisfaction +as should seem reasonable; or on their refusal the sheriff was +required to see the buildings pulled down, "it not being thought fit +the obstinacy of those persons should hinder so considerable a +work."[46] By another order of council, scarcely less oppressive and +illegal, all shops in Cheapside and Lombard Street, except those of +goldsmiths, were directed to be shut up, that the avenue to St. Paul's +might appear more splendid; and the mayor and aldermen were repeatedly +threatened for remissness in executing this mandate of tyranny.[47] + +In the great plantation of Ulster by James, the city of London had +received a grant of extensive lands in the county of Derry, on certain +conditions prescribed in their charter. The settlement became +flourishing, and enriched the city. But the wealth of London was +always invidious to the Crown, as well as to the needy courtiers. On +an information filed in the star-chamber for certain alleged breaches +of their charter, it was not only adjudged to be forfeited to the +king, but a fine of £70,000 was imposed on the city. They paid this +enormous mulct; but were kept out of their lands till restored by the +long parliament.[48] In this proceeding Charles forgot his duty +enough to take a very active share, personally exciting the court to +give sentence for himself.[49] Is it then to be a matter of surprise +or reproach, that the citizens of London refused him assistance in the +Scottish war, and through the ensuing times of confusion, harboured an +implacable resentment against a sovereign who had so deeply injured +them? + +We may advert in this place to some other stretches of power, which no +one can pretend to justify, though in general they seem to have +escaped notice amidst the enormous mass of national grievances. A +commission was issued in 1635, to the recorder of London and others, +to examine all persons going beyond seas, and tender to them an oath +of the most inquisitorial nature.[50] Certain privy-councillors were +empowered to enter the house of Sir Robert Cotton, and search his +books, records, and papers, setting down such as ought to belong to +the Crown.[51] This renders probable what we find in a writer who had +the best means of information, that Secretary Windebank, by virtue of +an order of council, entered Sir Edward Coke's house while he lay on +his death-bed, took away his manuscripts, together with his last will, +which was never returned to his family.[52] The high commission court +were enabled, by the king's "supreme power ecclesiastical," to examine +such as were charged with offences cognisable by them on oath, which +many had declined to take, according to the known maxims of English +law.[53] + +It would be improper to notice as illegal or irregular the practice of +granting dispensations in particular instances, either from general +acts of parliament or the local statutes of colleges. Such a +prerogative, at least in the former case, was founded on long usage +and judicial recognition. Charles, however, transgressed its admitted +boundaries, when he empowered others to dispense with them as there +might be occasion. Thus, in a commission to the president and council +of the North, directing them to compound with recusants, he in effect +suspends the statute which provides that no recusant shall have a +lease of that portion of his lands which the law sequestered to the +king's use during his recusancy; a clause in this patent enabling the +commissioners to grant such leases notwithstanding any law or statute +to the contrary. This seems to go beyond the admitted limits of the +dispensing prerogative.[54] + +The levies of tonnage and poundage without authority of parliament, +the exaction of monopolies, the extension of the forests, the +arbitrary restraints of proclamations, above all, the general exaction +of ship-money, form the principal articles of charge against the +government of Charles, so far as relates to its inroads on the +subject's property. These were maintained by a vigilant and unsparing +exercise of jurisdiction in the court of star-chamber. I have, in +another chapter, traced the revival of this great tribunal, probably +under Henry VIII., in at least as formidable a shape as before the +now-neglected statutes of Edward III. and Richard II., which had +placed barriers in its way. It was the great weapon of executive power +under Elizabeth and James; nor can we reproach the present reign with +innovation in this respect, though in no former period had the +proceedings of this court been accompanied with so much violence and +tyranny. But this will require some fuller explication. + +_Star-chamber jurisdiction._--I hardly need remind the reader that the +jurisdiction of the ancient Concilium regis ordinarium, or court of +star-chamber, continued to be exercised, more or less frequently, +notwithstanding the various statutes enacted to repress it; and that +it neither was supported by the act erecting a new court in the third +of Henry VII., nor originated at that time. The records show the +star-chamber to have taken cognisance both of civil suits and of +offences throughout the time of the Tudors. But precedents of usurped +power cannot establish a legal authority in defiance of the +acknowledged law. It appears that the lawyers did not admit any +jurisdiction in the council, except so far as the statute of Henry +VII. was supposed to have given it. "The famous Plowden put his hand +to a demurrer to a bill," says Hudson, "because the matter was not +within the statute; and, although it was then over-ruled, yet Mr. +Serjeant Richardson, thirty years after, fell again upon the same +rock, and was sharply rebuked for it."[55] The chancellor, who was +the standing president of the court of star-chamber, would always find +pretences to elude the existing statutes, and justify the usurpation +of this tribunal. + +The civil jurisdiction claimed and exerted by the star-chamber was +only in particular cases, as disputes between alien merchants and +Englishmen, questions of prize or unlawful detention of ships, and in +general such as now belong to the court of admiralty; some +testamentary matters, in order to prevent appeals to Rome, which might +have been brought from the ecclesiastical courts; suits between +corporations, "of which," says Hudson, "I dare undertake to show above +a hundred in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., or sometimes +between men of great power and interest, which could not be tried with +fairness by the common law."[56] For the corruption of sheriffs and +juries furnished an apology for the irregular, but necessary, +interference of a controlling authority. The ancient remedy, by means +of attaint, which renders a jury responsible for an unjust verdict, +was almost gone into disuse, and, depending on the integrity of a +second jury, not always easy to be obtained; so that in many parts of +the kingdom, and especially in Wales, it was impossible to find a jury +who would return a verdict against a man of good family, either in a +civil or criminal proceeding. + +The statutes, however, restraining the council's jurisdiction, and the +strong prepossession of the people as to the sacredness of freehold +rights, made the star-chamber cautious of determining questions of +inheritance, which they commonly remitted to the judges; and from the +early part of Elizabeth's reign, they took a direct cognisance of any +civil suits less frequently than before; partly, I suppose, from the +increased business of the court of chancery, and the admiralty court, +which took away much wherein they had been wont to meddle; partly from +their own occupation as a court of criminal judicature, which became +more conspicuous as the other went into disuse.[57] This criminal +jurisdiction is that which rendered the star-chamber so potent and so +odious an auxiliary of a despotic administration. + +The offences principally cognisable in this court were forgery, +perjury, riot, maintenance, fraud, libel, and conspiracy.[58] But +besides these, every misdemeanour came within the proper scope of its +enquiry; those especially of public importance, and for which the law, +as then understood, had provided no sufficient punishment. For the +judges interpreted the law in early times with too great narrowness +and timidity; defects which, on the one hand, raised up the +over-ruling authority of the court of chancery, as the necessary means +of redress to the civil suitor who found the gates of justice barred +against him by technical pedantry; and on the other, brought this +usurpation and tyranny of the star-chamber upon the kingdom by an +absurd scrupulosity about punishing manifest offences against the +public good. Thus corruption, breach of trust, and malfeasance in +public affairs, or attempts to commit felony, seem to have been +reckoned not indictable at common law, and came in consequence under +the cognisance of the star-chamber.[59] In other cases its +jurisdiction was merely concurrent; but the greater certainty of +conviction, and the greater severity of punishment, rendered it +incomparably more formidable than the ordinary benches of justice. The +law of libel grew up in this unwholesome atmosphere, and was moulded +by the plastic hands of successive judges and attorneys-general. +Prosecutions of this kind, according to Hudson, began to be more +frequent from the last years of Elizabeth, when Coke was +attorney-general; and it is easy to conjecture what kind of +interpretation they received. To hear a libel sung or read, says that +writer, and to laugh at it, and make merriment with it, has ever been +held a publication in law. The gross error that it is not a libel if +it be true, has long since, he adds, been exploded out of this +court.[60] + +Among the exertions of authority practised in the star-chamber which +no positive law could be brought to warrant, he enumerates +"punishments of breach of proclamations before they have the strength +of an act of parliament; which this court hath stretched as far as +ever any act of parliament did. As in the 41st of Elizabeth, builders +of houses in London were sentenced, and their houses ordered to be +pulled down, and the materials to be distributed to the benefit of the +parish where the building was; which disposition of the goods soundeth +as a great extremity, and beyond the warrant of our laws; and yet, +surely, very necessary, if anything would deter men from that horrible +mischief of increasing that head which is swoln to a great hugeness +already."[61] + +The mode of process was sometimes of a summary nature; the accused +person being privately examined, and his examination read in the +court, if he was thought to have confessed sufficient to deserve +sentence, it was immediately awarded without any formal trial or +written process. But the more regular course was by information filed +at the suit of the attorney-general, or in certain cases, of a private +relator. The party was brought before the court by writ of subpoena; +and having given bond with sureties not to depart without leave, was +to put in his answer upon oath, as well to the matters contained in +the information, as to special interrogatories. Witnesses were +examined upon interrogatories, and their dispositions read in court. +The course of proceeding on the whole seems to have nearly resembled +that of the chancery.[62] + +_Punishments inflicted by the star-chamber._--It was held competent +for the court to adjudge any punishment short of death. Fine and +imprisonment were of course the most usual. The pillory, whipping, +branding, and cutting off the ears, grew into use by degrees. In the +reign of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., we are told by Hudson, the fines +were not so ruinous as they have been since, which he ascribes to the +number of bishops who sat in the court, and inclined to mercy; "and I +can well remember," he says, "that the most reverend Archbishop +Whitgift did ever constantly maintain the liberty of the free charter, +that men ought to be fined, _salvo contenemento_. But they have been +of late imposed according to the nature of the offence, and not the +estate of the person. The slavish punishment of whipping," he proceeds +to observe, "was not introduced till a great man of the common law, +and otherwise a worthy justice, forgot his place of session, and +brought it in this place too much in use."[63] It would be difficult +to find precedents for the aggravated cruelties inflicted on Leighton, +Lilburne, and others; but instances of cutting off the ears may be +found under Elizabeth.[64] + +The reproach, therefore, of arbitrary and illegal jurisdiction does +not wholly fall on the government of Charles. They found themselves in +possession of this almost unlimited authority. But doubtless, as far +as the history of proceedings in the star-chamber are recorded, they +seem much more numerous and violent in the present reign than in the +two preceding. Rushworth has preserved a copious selection of cases +determined before this tribunal. They consist principally of +misdemeanours, rather of an aggravated nature; such as disturbances of +the public peace, assaults accompanied with a good deal of violence, +conspiracies, and libels. The necessity, however, for such a paramount +court to restrain the excesses of powerful men no longer existed, +since it can hardly be doubted that the common administration of the +law was sufficient to give redress in the time of Charles the First; +though we certainly do find several instances of violence and outrage +by men of a superior station in life, which speak unfavourably for the +state of manners in the kingdom. But the object of drawing so large a +number of criminal cases into the star-chamber seems to have been +twofold: first, to inure men's minds to an authority more immediately +connected with the Crown than the ordinary courts of law, and less +tied down to any rules of pleading or evidence; secondly, to eke out a +scanty revenue by penalties and forfeitures. Absolutely regardless of +the provision of the Great Charter, that no man shall be amerced even +to the full extent of his means, the councillors of the star-chamber +inflicted such fines as no court of justice, in the present reduced +value of money, would think of imposing. Little objection indeed seems +to lie, in a free country, and with a well-regulated administration of +justice, against the imposition of weighty pecuniary penalties, due +consideration being had of the offence and the criminal. But, adjudged +by such a tribunal as the star-chamber, where those who inflicted the +punishment reaped the gain, and sat, like famished birds of prey, with +keen eyes and bended talons, eager to supply for a moment, by some +wretch's ruin, the craving emptiness of the exchequer, this scheme of +enormous penalties became more dangerous and subversive of justice, +though not more odious, than corporal punishment. A gentleman of the +name of Allington was fined £12,000 for marrying his niece. One who +had sent a challenge to the Earl of Northumberland was fined £5000; +another for saying the Earl of Suffolk was a base lord, £4000 to him, +and a like sum to the king. Sir David Forbes, for opprobrious words +against Lord Wentworth, incurred £5000 to the king, and £3000 to the +party. On some soap-boilers, who had not complied with the +requisitions of the newly incorporated company, mulcts were imposed of +£1500 and £1000. One man was fined and set in the pillory for +engrossing corn, though he only kept what grew on his own land, asking +more in a season of dearth than the overseers of the poor thought +proper to give.[65] Some arbitrary regulations with respect to prices +may be excused by a well-intentioned, though mistaken, policy. The +charges of inns and taverns were fixed by the judges. But, even in +those, a corrupt motive was sometimes blended. The company of +vintners, or victuallers, having refused to pay a demand of the lord +treasurer, one penny a quart for all wine drank in their houses, the +star-chamber, without information filed or defence made, interdicted +them from selling or dressing victuals till they submitted to pay +forty shillings for each tun of wine to the king.[66] It is evident +that the strong interest of the court in these fines must not only +have had a tendency to aggravate the punishment, but to induce +sentences of condemnation on inadequate proof. From all that remains +of proceedings in the star-chamber, they seem to have been very +frequently as iniquitous as they were severe. In many celebrated +instances, the accused party suffered less on the score of any imputed +offence than for having provoked the malice of a powerful adversary, +or for notorious dissatisfaction with the existing government. Thus +Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, once lord-keeper, the favourite of King +James, the possessor for a season of the power that was turned against +him, experienced the rancorous and ungrateful malignity of Laud; who, +having been brought forward by Williams into the favour of the court, +not only supplanted by his intrigues, and incensed the king's mind +against his benefactor, but harassed his retirement by repeated +persecutions.[67] It will sufficiently illustrate the spirit of these +times to mention that the sole offence imputed to the Bishop of +Lincoln in the last information against him in the star-chamber was, +that he had received certain letters from one Osbaldiston, master of +Westminster School, wherein some contemptuous nickname was used to +denote Laud.[68] It did not appear that Williams had ever divulged +these letters. But it was held that the concealment of a libellous +letter was a high misdemeanour. Williams was therefore adjudged to pay +£5000 to the king, and £3000 to the archbishop, to be imprisoned +during pleasure, and to make a submission; Osbaldiston to pay a still +heavier fine, to be deprived of all his benefices, to be imprisoned +and make submission; and moreover to stand in the pillory before his +school in Dean's-yard, with his ears nailed to it. This man had the +good fortune to conceal himself, but the Bishop of Lincoln, refusing +to make the required apology, lay above three years in the Tower, +till released at the beginning of the long parliament. + +It might detain me too long to dwell particularly on the punishments +inflicted by the court of star-chamber in this reign. Such historians +as have not written in order to palliate the tyranny of Charles, and +especially Rushworth, will furnish abundant details, with all those +circumstances that portray the barbarous and tyrannical spirit of +those who composed that tribunal. Two or three instances are so +celebrated that I cannot pass them over. Leighton, a Scots divine, +having published an angry libel against the hierarchy, was sentenced +to be publicly whipped at Westminster and set in the pillory, to have +one side of his nose slit, one ear cut off, and one side of his cheek +branded with a hot iron, to have the whole of this repeated the next +week at Cheapside, and to suffer perpetual imprisonment in the +Fleet.[69] Lilburne, for dispersing pamphlets against the bishops, was +whipped from the Fleet prison to Westminster, there set in the +pillory, and treated afterwards with great cruelty.[70] Prynne, a +lawyer of uncommon erudition and a zealous puritan, had printed a +bulky volume, called _Histriomastix_, full of invectives against the +theatre, which he sustained by a profusion of learning. In the course +of this, he adverted to the appearance of courtesans on the Roman +stage, and by a satirical reference in his index seemed to range all +female actors in the class.[71] The queen, unfortunately, six weeks +after the publication of Prynne's book, had performed a part in a mask +at court. This passage was accordingly dragged to light by the malice +of Peter Heylin, a chaplain of Laud, on whom the archbishop devolved +the burthen of reading this heavy volume in order to detect its +offences. Heylin, a bigoted enemy of everything puritanical, and not +scrupulous as to veracity, may be suspected of having aggravated, if +not misrepresented, the tendency of a book much more tiresome than +seditious. Prynne, however, was already obnoxious, and the +star-chamber adjudged him to stand twice in the pillory, to be branded +in the forehead, to lose both his ears, to pay a fine of £5000, and to +suffer perpetual imprisonment. The dogged puritan employed the leisure +of a gaol in writing a fresh libel against the hierarchy. For this, +with two other delinquents of the same class, Burton a divine, and +Bastwick a physician, he stood again at the bar of that terrible +tribunal. Their demeanour was what the court deemed intolerably +contumacious, arising in fact from the despair of men who knew that no +humiliation would procure them mercy.[72] Prynne lost the remainder of +his ears in the pillory; and the punishment was inflicted on them all +with extreme and designed cruelty, which they endured, as martyrs +always endure suffering, so heroically as to excite a deep impression +of sympathy and resentment in the assembled multitude.[73] They were +sentenced to perpetual confinement in distant prisons. But their +departure from London, and their reception on the road, were marked by +signal expressions of popular regard; and their friends resorting to +them even in Launceston, Chester, and Carnarvon castles, whither they +were sent, an order of council was made to transport them to the isles +of the Channel. It was the very first act of the long parliament to +restore these victims of tyranny to their families. Punishments by +mutilation, though not quite unknown to the English law, had been of +rare occurrence; and thus inflicted on men whose station appeared to +render the ignominy of whipping and branding more intolerable, they +produced much the same effect as the still greater cruelties of Mary's +reign, in exciting a detestation for that ecclesiastical dominion +which protected itself by means so atrocious. + +_Character of Laud._--The person on whom public hatred chiefly fell, +and who proved in a far more eminent degree than any other individual +the evil genius of this unhappy sovereign, was Laud. His talents, +though enabling him to acquire a large portion of theological +learning, seem to have been by no means considerable. There cannot be +a more contemptible work than his Diary; and his letters to Strafford +display some smartness, but no great capacity. He managed indeed his +own defence, when impeached, with some ability; but on such occasions, +ordinary men are apt to put forth a remarkable readiness and energy. +Laud's inherent ambition had impelled him to court the favour of +Buckingham, of Williams, and of both the kings under whom he lived, +till he rose to the see of Canterbury on Abbot's death, in 1633. No +one can deny that he was a generous patron of letters, and as warm in +friendship as in enmity. But he had placed before his eyes the +aggrandisement, first of the church, and next of the royal +prerogative, as his end and aim in every action. Though not literally +destitute of religion, it was so subordinate to worldly interest, and +so blended in his mind with the impure alloy of temporal pride, that +he became an intolerant persecutor of the puritan clergy, not from +bigotry, which in its usual sense he never displayed, but systematic +policy. And being subject, as his friends call it, to some infirmities +of temper, that is, choleric, vindictive, harsh, and even cruel to a +great degree, he not only took a prominent share in the severities of +the star-chamber, but, as his correspondence shows, perpetually +lamented that he was restrained from going further lengths.[74] + +Laud's extraordinary favour with the king, through which he became a +prime adviser in matters of state, rendered him secretly obnoxious to +most of the council, jealous, as ministers must always be, of a +churchman's overweening ascendancy. His faults, and even his virtues, +contributed to this odium. For being exempt from the thirst of lucre, +and, though in the less mature state of his fortunes a subtle +intriguer, having become frank through heat of temper and +self-confidence, he discountenanced all schemes to serve the private +interest of courtiers at the expense of his master's exhausted +treasury, and went right onward to his object, the exaltation of the +Church and Crown. He aggravated the invidiousness of his own +situation, and gave an astonishing proof of his influence, by placing +Juxon, Bishop of London, a creature of his own, in the greatest of all +posts, that of lord high-treasurer. Though Williams had lately been +lord-keeper of the seal, it seemed more preposterous to place the +treasurer's staff in the hands of a churchman, and of one so little +distinguished even in his own profession, that the archbishop +displayed his contempt of the rest of the council, especially +Cottington, who aspired to it, by such a recommendation.[75] He had +previously procured the office of secretary of state for Windebank. +But, though overawed by the king's infatuated partiality, the faction +adverse to Laud were sometimes able to gratify their dislike, or to +manifest their greater discretion, by opposing obstacles to his +impetuous spirit. + +_Lord Strafford._--Of these impediments, which a rash and ardent man +calls lukewarmness, indolence, and timidity, he frequently complains +in his correspondence with the lord-deputy of Ireland--that Lord +Wentworth, so much better known by the title of Earl of Strafford, +which he only obtained the year before his death, that we may give it +him by anticipation, whose doubtful fame and memorable end have made +him nearly the most conspicuous character of a reign so fertile in +recollections. Strafford had in his early years sought those local +dignities to which his ambition probably was at that time limited, the +representation of the county of York and the post of _custos +rotulorum_, through the usual channel of court favour. Slighted by the +Duke of Buckingham, and mortified at the preference shown to the head +of a rival family, Sir John Saville, he began to quit the cautious and +middle course he had pursued in parliament, and was reckoned among the +opposers of the administration after the accession of Charles.[76] He +was one of those who were made sheriffs of their counties, in order to +exclude them from the parliament of 1626. This inspired so much +resentment, that he signalised himself as a refuser of the arbitrary +loan exacted the next year, and was committed in consequence to +prison. He came to the third parliament with a determination to make +the court sensible of his power, and possibly with some real zeal for +the liberties of his country. But patriotism unhappily, in his +self-interested and ambitious mind, was the seed sown among thorns. He +had never lost sight of his hopes from the court; even a temporary +reconciliation with Buckingham had been effected in 1627, which the +favourite's levity soon broke; and he kept up a close connection with +the treasurer Weston. Always jealous of a rival, he contracted a +dislike for Sir John Eliot, and might suspect that he was likely to be +anticipated by that more distinguished patriot in royal favours.[77] +The hour of Wentworth's glory was when Charles assented to the +petition of right, in obtaining which, and in overcoming the king's +chicane and the hesitation of the Lords, he had been pre-eminently +conspicuous. From this moment he started aside from the path of true +honour; and being suddenly elevated to the peerage and a great post, +the presidency of the council of the North, commenced a splendid but +baleful career, that terminated at the scaffold.[78] After this fatal +apostasy he not only lost all solicitude about those liberties which +the petition of right had been designed to secure, but became their +deadliest and most shameless enemy. + +The council of the North was erected by Henry VIII. after the +suppression of the great insurrection of 1536. It had a criminal +jurisdiction in Yorkshire and the four more northern counties, as to +riots, conspiracies, and acts of violence. It had also, by its +original commission, a jurisdiction in civil suits, where either of +the parties were too poor to bear the expenses of a process at common +law; in which case the council might determine, as it seems, in a +summary manner, and according to equity. But this latter authority had +been held illegal by the judges under Elizabeth.[79] In fact, the +lawfulness of this tribunal in any respect was, to say the least, +highly problematical. It was regulated by instructions issued from +time to time under the great seal. Wentworth spared no pains to +enlarge the jurisdiction of his court. A commission issued in 1632, +empowering the council of the North to hear and determine all +offences, misdemeanours, suits, debates, controversies, demands, +causes, things, and matters whatsoever therein contained, within +certain precincts, namely, from the Humber to the Scots frontier. +They were specially appointed to hear and determine divers offences, +according to the course of the star-chamber, whether provided for by +act of parliament or not; to hear complaints according to the rules of +the court of chancery, and stay proceedings at common law by +injunction; to attach persons by their serjeant in any part of the +realm.[80] + +These inordinate powers, the soliciting and procuring of which, +especially by a person so well versed in the laws and constitution, +appears to be of itself a sufficient ground for impeachment, were +abused by Strafford to gratify his own pride, as well as to intimidate +the opposers of arbitrary measures. Proofs of this occur in the +prosecution of Sir David Foulis, in that of Mr. Bellasis, in that of +Mr. Maleverer, for the circumstances of which I refer the reader to +more detailed history.[81] + +Without resigning his presidency of the northern council, Wentworth +was transplanted in 1633 to a still more extensive sphere, as +lord-deputy of Ireland. This was the great scene on which he played +his part; it was here that he found abundant scope for his commanding +energy and imperious passions. The Richelieu of that island, he made +it wealthier in the midst of exactions, and, one might almost say, +happier in the midst of oppressions. He curbed subordinate tyranny; +but his own left a sting behind it that soon spread a deadly poison +over Ireland. But of his merits and his injustice towards that nation +I shall find a better occasion to speak. Two well-known instances of +his despotic conduct in respect to single persons may just be +mentioned; the deprivation and imprisonment of the lord chancellor +Loftus for not obeying an order of the privy council to make such a +settlement as they prescribed on his son's marriage--a stretch of +interference with private concerns which was aggravated by the +suspected familiarity of the lord-deputy with the lady who was to reap +advantage from it;[82] and, secondly, the sentence of death passed by +a council of war on Lord Mountnorris, in Strafford's presence, and +evidently at his instigation, on account of some very slight +expressions which he had used in private society. Though it was never +the deputy's intention to execute this judgment of his slaves, but to +humiliate and trample upon Mountnorris, the violence and indecency of +his conduct in it, his long persecution of the unfortunate prisoner +after the sentence, and his glorying in the act at all times, and even +on his own trial, are irrefragable proofs of such vindictive +bitterness as ought, if there were nothing else, to prevent any good +man from honouring his memory.[83] + +_Correspondence between Laud and Strafford._--The haughty and +impetuous primate found a congenial spirit in the lord-deputy. They +unbosom to each other, in their private letters, their ardent thirst +to promote the king's service by measures of more energy than they +were permitted to exercise. Do we think the administration of Charles +during the interval of parliaments rash and violent? They tell us it +was over-cautious and slow. Do we revolt from the severities of the +star-chamber? To Laud and Strafford they seemed the feebleness of +excessive lenity. Do we cast on the Crown lawyers the reproach of +having betrayed their country's liberties? We may find that, with +their utmost servility, they fell far behind the expectations of the +court, and their scruples were reckoned the chief shackles on the +half-emancipated prerogative. + +The system which Laud was longing to pursue in England, and which +Strafford approved, is frequently hinted at by the word Thorough. "For +the state," says he, "indeed, my lord, I am for Thorough; but I see +that both thick and thin stays somebody, where I conceive it should +not, and it is impossible to go thorough alone."[84] "I am very glad" +(in another letter) "to read your lordship so resolute, and more to +hear you affirm that the footing of them that go thorough for our +master's service is not upon fee, as it hath been. But you are withal +upon so many Ifs, that by their help you may preserve any man upon +ice, be it never so slippery. As first, if the common lawyers may be +contained within their ancient and sober bounds; if the word Thorough +be not left out, as I am certain it is; if we grow not faint; if we +ourselves be not in fault; if we come not to a _peccatum ex te_ +Israel; if others will do their parts as thoroughly as you promise for +yourself, and justly conceive of me. Now I pray, with so many and such +Ifs as these, what may not be done, and in a brave and noble way? But +can you tell when these Ifs will meet, or be brought together? +Howsoever, I am resolved to go on steadily in the way which you have +formerly seen me go; so that (to put in one _if_ too) if anything fail +of my hearty desires for the king and the church's service, the fault +shall not be mine."[85] "As for my marginal note" (he writes in +another place), "I see you deciphered it well" (they frequently +corresponded in cipher), "and I see you make use of it too; do so +still, thorough and thorough. Oh that I were where I might go so too! +but I am shackled between delays and uncertainties! you have a great +deal of honour for your proceedings; go on a God's name." "I have +done," he says some years afterwards, "with expecting of Thorough on +this side."[86] + +It is evident that the remissness of those with whom he was joined in +the administration, in not adopting or enforcing sufficiently +energetic measures, is the subject of the archbishop's complaint. +Neither he nor Strafford loved the treasurer Weston, nor Lord +Cottington, both of whom had a considerable weight in the council. But +it is more difficult to perceive in what respects the Thorough system +was disregarded. He cannot allude to the church, which he absolutely +governed through the high-commission court. The inadequate +punishments, as he thought them, imposed on the refractory, formed a +part, but not the whole, of his grievance. It appears to me that the +great aim of these two persons was to effect the subjugation of the +common lawyers. Some sort of tenderness for those constitutional +privileges, so indissolubly interwoven with the laws they +administered, adhered to the judges, even while they made great +sacrifices of their integrity at the instigation of the Crown. In the +case of habeas corpus, in that of ship-money, we find many of them +display a kind of half-compliance, a reservation, a distinction, an +anxiety to rest on precedents, which, though it did not save their +credit with the public, impaired it at court. On some more fortunate +occasions, as we have seen, they even manifested a good deal of +firmness in resisting what was urged on them. Chiefly, however, in +matter of prohibitions issuing from the ecclesiastical courts, they +were uniformly tenacious of their jurisdiction. Nothing could expose +them more to Laud's ill-will. I should not deem it improbable that he +had formed, or rather adopted from the canonists, a plan, not only of +rendering the spiritual jurisdiction independent, but of extending it +to all civil causes, unless perhaps in questions of freehold.[87] + +The presumption of common lawyers, and the difficulties they threw in +the way of the church and Crown, are frequent themes with the two +correspondents. "The church," says Laud, "is so bound up in the forms +of the common law, that it is not possible for me or for any man to do +that good which he would, or is bound to do. For your lordship sees, +no man clearer, that they which have gotten so much power in and over +the church will not let go their hold; they have indeed fangs with a +witness, whatsoever I was once said in passion to have."[88] Strafford +replies: "I know no reason but you may as well rule the common lawyers +in England 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 in the business, +is able, by his wisdom and ministers, to carry any just and honourable +action through all imaginary opposition, for real there can be none; +that to start aside for such panic fears, fantastic apparitions as a +Prynne or an Eliot shall set up, were the meanest folly in the whole +world; that the debts of the Crown being taken off, you may govern as +you please; and most resolute I am that work may be done without +borrowing any help forth of the king's lodgings, and that it is as +downright a _peccatum ex te_ Israel as ever was, if all this be not +affected with speed and ease."[89]--Strafford's indignation at the +lawyers breaks out on other occasions. In writing to Lord Cottington, +he complains of a judge of assize who had refused to receive the +king's instructions to the council of the North in evidence, and +beseeches that he may be charged with this great misdemeanour before +the council-board. "I confess," he says, "I disdain to see the gownmen +in this sort hang their noses over the flowers of the crown."[90] It +was his endeavour in Ireland, as well as in Yorkshire, to obtain the +right of determining civil suits. "I find," he says, "that my Lord +Falkland was restrained by proclamation not to meddle in any cause +between party and party, which did certainly lessen his power +extremely: I know very well the common lawyers will be passionately +against it, who are wont to put such a prejudice upon all other +professions, as if none were to be trusted or capable to administer +justice but themselves; yet how well this suits with monarchy, when +they monopolise all to be governed by their year-books, you in England +have a costly experience; and I am sure his majesty's absolute power +is not weaker in this kingdom, where hitherto the deputy and +council-board have had a stroke with them."[91] The king indulged him +in this, with a restriction as to matters of inheritance. + +The cruelties exercised on Prynne and his associates have generally +been reckoned among the great reproaches of the primate. It has +sometimes been insinuated that they were rather the act of other +counsellors than his own. But his letters, as too often occurs, belie +this charitable excuse. He expresses in them no sort of humane +sentiment towards these unfortunate men, but the utmost indignation at +the oscitancy of those in power, which connived at the public +demonstrations of sympathy. "A little more quickness," he says, "in +the government would cure this itch of libelling. But what can you +think of Thorough when there shall be such slips in business of +consequence? What say you to it, that Prynne and his fellows should be +suffered to talk what they pleased while they stood in the pillory, +and win acclamations from the people? etc. By that which I have above +written, your lordship will see that the Triumviri will be far enough +from being kept dark. It is true that, when this business is spoken +of, some men speak as your lordship writes, that it concerns the king +and government more than me. But when anything comes to be acted +against them, be it but the execution of a sentence, in which lies the +honour and safety of all justice, yet there is little or nothing done, +nor shall I ever live to see it otherwise."[92] + +The lord deputy fully concurred in this theory of vigorous government. +They reasoned on such subjects as Cardinal Granville and the Duke of +Alva had reasoned before them. "A prince," he says in answer, "that +loseth the force and example of his punishments, loseth withal the +greatest part of his dominion. If the eyes of the Triumviri be not +sealed so close as they ought, they may perchance spy us out a shrewd +turn, when we least expect it. I fear we are hugely mistaken, and +misapply our charity thus pitying of them, where we should indeed much +rather pity ourselves. It is strange indeed," he observes in another +place, "to see the frenzy which possesseth the vulgar now-a-days, and +that the just displeasure and chastisement of a state should produce +greater estimation, nay reverence, to persons of no consideration +either for life or learning, than the greatest and highest trust and +employments shall be able to procure for others of unspotted +conversation, of most eminent virtues and deepest knowledge: a +grievous and overspreading leprosy! but where you mention a remedy, +sure it is not fitted for the hand of every physician; the cure under +God must be wrought by one Æsculapius alone, and that in my weak +judgment to be effected rather by corrosives than lenitives: less than +Thorough will not overcome it; there is a cancerous malignity in it, +which must be cut forth, which long since rejected all other means, +and therefore to God and him I leave it."[93] + +The honourable reputation that Strafford had earned before his +apostasy stood principally on two grounds; his refusal to comply with +a requisition of money without consent of parliament, and his +exertions in the petition of right which declared every such exaction +to be contrary to law. If any therefore be inclined to palliate his +arbitrary proceedings and principles in the executive administration, +his virtue will be brought to a test in the business of ship-money. If +he shall be found to have given countenance and support to that +measure, there must be an end of all pretence to integrity or +patriotism. But of this there are decisive proofs. He not only made +every exertion to enforce its payment in Yorkshire during the years +1639 and 1640, for which the peculiar dangers of that time might +furnish some apology, but long before, in his correspondence with +Laud, speaks thus of Mr. Hampden, deploring, it seems, the supineness +that had permitted him to dispute the Crown's claim with impunity. +"Mr. Hampden is a great brother [i.e. a puritan], and the very genius +of that people leads them always to oppose, as well civilly as +ecclesiastically, all that ever authority ordains for them; but in +good faith, were they right served, they should be whipt home into +their right wits, and much beholden they should be to any one that +would thoroughly take pains with them in that kind."[94] "In truth I +still wish, and take it also to be a very charitable one, Mr. H. and +others to his likeness were well whipt into their right senses; if +that the rod be so used as that it smarts not, I am the more +sorry."[95] + +Hutton, one of the judges who had been against the Crown in this case, +having some small favour to ask of Strafford, takes occasion in his +letter to enter on the subject of ship-money, mentioning his own +opinion in such a manner as to give the least possible offence, and +with all qualifications in favour of the Crown; commending even Lord +Finch's argument on the other side.[96] The lord deputy, answering his +letter after much delay, says, "I must confess, in a business of so +mighty importance, I shall the less regard the forms of pleading, and +do conceive, as it seems my Lord Finch pressed that the power of +levies of forces at sea and land for the very, not feigned, relief and +safety of the public, is a property of sovereignty, as, were the Crown +willing, it could not divest it thereof: Salus populi suprema lex; +nay, in cases of extremity even above acts of parliament," etc. + +It cannot be forgotten that the loan of 1626, for refusing which +Wentworth had suffered imprisonment, had been demanded in a season of +incomparably greater difficulty than that when ship-money was levied: +at the one time war had been declared against both France and Spain, +at the other the public tranquillity was hardly interrupted by some +bickerings with Holland. In avowing therefore the king's right to levy +money in cases of exigency, and to be the sole judge of that exigency, +he uttered a shameless condemnation of his former virtues. But lest +any doubt should remain of his perfect alienation from all principles +of limited monarchy, I shall produce still more conclusive proofs. He +was strongly and wisely against the war with Spain, into which +Charles's resentment at finding himself the dupe of that power in the +business of the Palatinate nearly hurried him in 1637. At this time +Strafford laid before the king a paper of considerations dissuading +him from this course, and pointing out particularly his want of +regular troops.[97] "It is plain indeed," he says, "that the opinion +delivered by the judges, declaring the lawfulness of the assessment +for the shipping, is the greatest service that profession hath done +the Crown in my time. But unless his majesty hath the like power +declared to raise a land army upon the same exigent of state, the +Crown seems to me to stand but upon one leg at home, to be +considerable but by halves to foreign powers. Yet this sure methinks +convinces a power for the sovereign to raise payments for land forces, +and consequently submits to his wisdom and ordinance the transporting +of the money or men into foreign states. Seeing then that this piece +well fortified for ever vindicates the royalty at home from under the +conditions and restraints of subjects, renders us also abroad even to +the greatest kings the most considerable monarchy in Christendom; +seeing again, this is a business to be attempted and won from the +subject in time of peace only, and the people first accustomed to +these levies, when they may be called upon, as by way of prevention +for our future safety, and keep his majesty thereby also moderator of +the peace of Christendom, rather than upon the bleeding evil of an +instant and active war; I beseech you, what piety to alliances is +there, that should divert a great and wise king forth of a path, which +leads so manifestly, so directly, to the establishing his own throne, +and the secure and independent seating of himself and posterity in +wealth, strength, and glory, far above any their progenitors, verily +in such a condition as there were no more hereafter to be wished them +in this world but that they would be very exact in their care for the +just and moderate government of their people, which might minister +back to them again the plenties and comforts of life, that they would +be most searching and severe in punishing the oppressions and wrongs +of their subjects, as well in the case of the public magistrate as of +private persons, and lastly to be utterly resolved to exercise this +power only for public and necessary uses; to spare them as much and +often as were possible; and that they never be wantonly vitiated or +misapplied to any private pleasure or person whatsoever? This being +indeed the very only means to preserve, as may be said, the chastity +of these levies, and to recommend their beauty so far forth to the +subject, as being thus disposed, it is to be justly hoped, they will +never grudge the parting with their monies.... + +"Perhaps it may be asked, where shall so great a sum be had? My answer +is, procure it from the subjects of England, and profitably for them +too. By this means preventing the raising upon them a land army for +defence of the kingdom, which would be by many degrees more +chargeable; and hereby also insensibly gain a precedent, and settle an +authority and right in the Crown to levies of that nature, which +thread draws after it many huge and great advantages, more proper to +be thought on at some other seasons than now." + +It is however remarkable that, with all Strafford's endeavours to +render the king absolute, he did not intend to abolish the use of +parliaments. This was apparently the aim of Charles; but, whether from +remains of attachment to the ancient forms of liberty surviving amidst +his hatred of the real essence, or from the knowledge that a +well-governed parliament is the best engine for extracting money from +the people, this able minister entertained very different views. He +urged accordingly the convocation of one in Ireland, pledging himself +for the experiment's success. And in a letter to a friend, after +praising all that had been done in it, "Happy it were," he proceeds, +"if we might live to see the like in England, everything in its +season; but in some cases it is as necessary there be a time to +forget, as in others to learn; and howbeit the peccant (if I may +without offence so term it) humour be not yet wholly purged forth, yet +do I conceive it in the way, and that once rightly corrected and +prepared, we may hope for a parliament of a sound constitution indeed; +but this must be the work of time, and of his majesty's excellent +wisdom; and this time it becomes us all to pray for and wait for, and +when God sends it, to make the right use of it."[98] + +These sentiments appear honourable and constitutional. But let it not +be hastily conceived that Strafford was a friend to the necessary and +ancient privileges of those assemblies to which he owed his rise. A +parliament was looked upon by him as a mere instrument of the +prerogative. Hence he was strongly against permitting any mutual +understanding among its members, by which they might form themselves +into parties, and acquire strength and confidence by previous concert. +"As for restraining any private meetings either before or during +parliament, saving only publicly in the house, I fully rest in the +same opinion, and shall be very watchful and attentive therein, as a +means which may rid us of a great trouble, and prevent many stones of +offence, which otherwise might by malignant spirits be cast in among +us."[99] And acting on this principle, he kept a watch on the Irish +parliament, to prevent those intrigues which his experience in England +had taught him to be the indispensable means of obtaining a control +over the Crown. Thus fettered and kept in awe, no one presuming to +take a lead in debate from uncertainty of support, parliaments would +have become such mockeries of their venerable name as the joint +contempt of the court and nation must soon have annihilated. Yet so +difficult is it to preserve this dominion over any representative +body, that the king judged far more discreetly than Strafford in +desiring to dispense entirely with their attendance. + +The passages which I have thus largely quoted will, I trust, leave +no doubt in any reader's mind that the Earl of Strafford was party +in a conspiracy to subvert the fundamental laws and liberties of +his country. For here are not, as on his trial, accusations of +words spoken in heat, uncertain as to proof, and of ambiguous +interpretation; nor of actions variously reported, and capable of some +explanation; but the sincere unbosoming of the heart in letters never +designed to come to light. And if we reflect upon this man's +cool-blooded apostasy on the first lure to his ambition, and on his +splendid abilities, which enhanced the guilt of that desertion, we +must feel some indignation at those who have palliated all his +iniquities, and even ennobled his memory with the attributes of +patriot heroism. Great he surely was, since that epithet can never be +denied without paradox to so much comprehension of mind, such ardour +and energy, such courage and eloquence; those commanding qualities of +soul, which, impressed upon his dark and stern countenance, struck his +contemporaries with mingled awe and hate, and still live in the +unfading colours of Vandyke.[100] But it may be reckoned as a +sufficient ground for distrusting any one's attachment to the English +constitution, that he reveres the name of the Earl of Strafford. + +_Conduct of Laud in the church prosecution of puritans._--It was +perfectly consonant to Laud's temper and principles of government to +extirpate, as far as in him lay, the lurking seeds of disaffection to +the Anglican church. But the course he followed could in nature have +no other tendency than to give them nourishment. His predecessor Abbot +had perhaps connived to a limited extent at some irregularities of +discipline in the puritanical clergy, judging not absurdly that their +scruples at a few ceremonies, which had been aggravated by a vexatious +rigour, would die away by degrees, and yield to that centripetal +force, that moral attraction towards uniformity and obedience to +custom, which Providence has rendered one of the great preservatives +of political society. His hatred to popery and zeal for Calvinism, +which undoubtedly were narrow and intolerant, as well as his avowed +disapprobation of those churchmen who preached up arbitrary power, +gained for this prelate the favour of the party denominated puritan. +In all these respects, no man could be more opposed to Abbot than his +successor. Besides reviving the prosecutions for nonconformity in +their utmost strictness, wherein many of the other bishops vied with +their primate, he most injudiciously, not to say wickedly endeavoured, +by innovations of his own, and by exciting alarms in the susceptible +consciences of pious men, to raise up new victims whom he might +oppress. Those who made any difficulty about his novel ceremonies, or +even who preached on the Calvinistic side, were harassed by the high +commission court as if they had been actual schismatics.[101] The most +obnoxious, if not the most indefensible, of these prosecutions were +for refusing to read what was called the Book of Sports; namely, a +proclamation, or rather a renewal of that issued in the late reign, +that certain feasts or wakes might be kept, and a great variety of +pastimes used on Sundays after evening service.[102] This was +reckoned, as I have already observed, one of the tests of puritanism. +But whatever superstition there might be in that party's judaical +observance of the day they called the sabbath, it was in itself +preposterous, and tyrannical in its intention, to enforce the reading +in churches of this licence or rather recommendation of festivity. The +precise clergy refused in general to comply with the requisition, and +were suspended or deprived in consequence. Thirty of them were +excommunicated in the single diocese of Norwich; but as that part of +England was rather conspicuously puritanical, and the bishop, one +Wren, was the worst on the bench, it is highly probable that the +general average fell short of this.[103] + +Besides the advantage of detecting a latent bias in the clergy, it is +probable that the high church prelates had a politic end in the Book +of Sports. The morose gloomy spirit of puritanism was naturally odious +to the young and to men of joyous tempers. The comedies of that age +are full of sneers at their formality. It was natural to think that, +by enlisting the common propensities of mankind to amusement on the +side of the established church, they might raise a diversion against +that fanatical spirit which can hardly long continue to be the +prevailing temperament of a nation. The church of Rome, from which no +ecclesiastical statesman would disdain to take a lesson, had for many +ages perceived, and acted upon the principle, that it is the policy of +governments to encourage a love of pastime and recreation in the +people; both because it keeps them from speculating on religious and +political matters, and because it renders them more cheerful, and less +sensible to the evils of their condition; and it may be remarked by +the way, that the opposite system, so long pursued in this country, +whether from a puritanical spirit, or from the wantonness of petty +authority, has no such grounds of policy to recommend it. Thus much at +least is certain, that when the puritan party employed their authority +in proscribing all diversions, in enforcing all the Jewish rigour +about the sabbath, and gave that repulsive air of austerity to the +face of England of which so many singular illustrations are recorded, +they rendered their own yoke intolerable to the youthful and gay; nor +did any other cause perhaps so materially contribute to bring about +the Restoration. But mankind love sport as little as prayer by +compulsion; and the immediate effect of the king's declaration was to +produce a far more scrupulous abstinence from diversions on Sundays +than had been practised before. + +The resolution so evidently taken by the court, to admit of no half +conformity in religion, especially after Laud had obtained an +unlimited sway over the king's mind, convinced the puritans that +England could no longer afford them an asylum. The state of Europe was +not such as to encourage their emigration, though many were well +received in Holland. But, turning their eyes to the newly-discovered +regions beyond the Atlantic Ocean, they saw a secure place of refuge +from present tyranny, and a boundless prospect for future hope. They +obtained from the Crown the charter of Massachusetts Bay in 1629. +About three hundred and fifty persons, chiefly or wholly of the +independent sect, sailed with the first fleet. So many followed in the +subsequent years, that these New England settlements have been +supposed to have drawn near half a million of money from the mother +country before the civil wars.[104] Men of a higher rank than the +first colonists, and now become hopeless alike of the civil and +religious liberties of England, men of capacious and commanding minds, +formed to be the legislators and generals of an infant republic, the +wise and cautious Lord Say, the acknowledged chief of the independent +sect, the brave, open, and enthusiastic Lord Brook, Sir Arthur +Haslerig, Hampden, ashamed of a country for whose rights he had fought +alone, Cromwell, panting with energies that he could neither control +nor explain, and whose unconquerable fire was still wrapt in smoke to +every eye but that of his kinsman Hampden, were preparing to embark +for America, when Laud, for his own and his master's curse, produced +an order of council to stop their departure.[105] Besides the +reflections which such an instance of destructive infatuation must +suggest, there are two things not unworthy to be remarked: first, that +these chiefs of the puritan sect, far from entertaining those schemes +of overturning the government at home that have been imputed to them, +looked only in 1638 to escape from imminent tyranny; and, secondly, +that the views of the archbishop were not so much to render the Church +and Crown secure from the attempts of disaffected men, as to gratify a +malignant humour by persecuting them. + +_Favour shown to catholics--Tendency to their religion._--These severe +proceedings of the court and hierarchy became more odious on account +of their suspected leaning, or at least notorious indulgence, towards +popery. With some fluctuations, according to circumstances or changes +of influence in the council, the policy of Charles was to wink at the +domestic exercise of the catholic religion, and to admit its +professors to pay compositions for recusancy which were not regularly +enforced.[106] The catholics willingly submitted to this mitigated +rigour, in the sanguine expectation of far more prosperous days. I +shall, of course, not censure this part of his administration. Nor can +we say that the connivance at the resort of catholics to the queen's +chapel in Somerset House, though they used it with much ostentation, +and so as to give excessive scandal, was any more than a just sense of +toleration would have dictated.[107] Unfortunately, the prosecution of +other sectaries renders it difficult to ascribe such a liberal +principle to the council of Charles the First. It was evidently true, +what the nation saw with alarm, that a proneness to favour the +professors of this religion, and to a considerable degree the religion +itself, was at the bottom of a conduct so inconsistent with their +system of government. The king had been persuaded, in 1635, through +the influence of the queen, and probably of Laud,[108] to receive +privately, as an accredited agent from the court of Rome, a secular +priest, named Panzani, whose ostensible instructions were to effect a +reconciliation of some violent differences that had long subsisted +between the secular and regular clergy of his communion. The chief +motive however of Charles was, as I believe, so far to conciliate the +pope as to induce him to withdraw his opposition to the oath of +allegiance, which had long placed the catholic laity in a very +invidious condition, and widened a breach which his majesty had some +hopes of closing. For this purpose he offered any reasonable +explanation which might leave the oath free from the slightest +appearance of infringing the papal supremacy. But it was not the +policy of Rome to make any concession, or even enter into any treaty, +that might tend to impair her temporal authority. It was better for +her pride and ambition that the English catholics should continue to +hew wood and draw water, their bodies the law's slaves, and their +souls her own, than, by becoming the willing subjects of a protestant +sovereign, that they should lose that sense of dependency and habitual +deference to her commands in all worldly matters, which states wherein +their faith stood established had ceased to display. She gave +therefore no encouragement to the proposed explanations of the oath of +allegiance, and even instructed her nuncio Con, who succeeded Panzani, +to check the precipitance of the English catholics in contributing men +and money towards the army raised against Scotland, in 1639.[109] +There might indeed be some reasonable suspicion that the court did not +play quite fairly with this body, and was more eager to extort what it +could from their hopes than to make any substantial return. + +The favour of the administration, as well as the antipathy that every +parliament had displayed towards them, not unnaturally rendered the +catholics, for the most part, asserters of the king's arbitrary +power.[110] This again increased the popular prejudice. But nothing +excited so much alarm as the perpetual conversions to their faith. +These had not been quite unusual in any age since the Reformation, +though the balance had been very much inclined to the opposite side. +They became however under Charles the news of every day; protestant +clergymen in several instances, but especially women of rank, becoming +proselytes to a religion so seductive to the timid reason and sensible +imagination of that sex. They whose minds have never strayed into the +wilderness of doubt, vainly deride such as sought out the beaten path +their fathers had trodden in old times; they whose temperament gives +little play to the fancy and sentiment, want power to comprehend the +charm of superstitious illusions, the satisfaction of the conscience +in the performance of positive rites, especially with privation or +suffering, the victorious self-gratulation of faith in its triumph +over reason, the romantic tenderness that loves to rely on female +protection, the graceful associations of devotion with all that the +sense or the imagination can require--the splendid vestment, the +fragrant censer, the sweet sounds of choral harmony, and the +sculptured form that an intense piety half endows with life. These +springs were touched, as the variety of human character might require, +by the skilful hands of Romish priests, chiefly jesuits, whose numbers +in England were about 250,[111] concealed under a lay garb, and +combining the courteous manners of gentlemen with a refined experience +of mankind, and a logic in whose labyrinths the most practical +reasoner was perplexed. Against these fascinating wiles the puritans +opposed other weapons from the same armoury of human nature; they +awakened the pride of reason, the stern obstinacy of dispute, the +names, so soothing to the ear, of free enquiry and private judgment. +They inspired an abhorrence of the adverse party that served as a +barrier against insidious approaches. But far different principles +actuated the prevailing party in the church of England. A change had +for some years been wrought in its tenets, and still more in its +sentiments, which, while it brought the whole body into a sort of +approximation to Rome, made many individuals shoot as it were from +their own sphere, on coming within the stronger attraction of another. + +The charge of inclining towards popery, brought by one of our +religious parties against Laud and his colleagues with invidious +exaggeration, has been too indignantly denied by another. Much indeed +will depend on the definition of that obnoxious word; which one may +restrain to an acknowledgment of the supremacy in faith and discipline +of the Roman see; while another comprehends in it all those tenets +which were rejected as corruptions of Christianity at the Reformation; +and a third may extend it to the ceremonies and ecclesiastical +observances which were set aside at the same time. In this last and +most enlarged sense, which the vulgar naturally adopted, it is +notorious that all the innovations of the school of Laud were so many +approaches, in the exterior worship of the church, to the Roman model. +Pictures were set up or repaired; the communion-table took the name of +an altar; it was sometimes made of stone; obeisances were made to it; +the crucifix was sometimes placed upon it; the dress of the +officiating priests became more gaudy; churches were consecrated with +strange and mystical pageantry.[112] These petty superstitions, which +would of themselves have disgusted a nation accustomed to despise as +well as abhor the pompous rites of the catholics, became more alarming +from the evident bias of some leading churchmen to parts of the Romish +theology. The doctrine of a real presence, distinguishable only by +vagueness of definition from that of the church of Rome, was generally +held.[113] Montagu, Bishop of Chichester, already so conspicuous, and +justly reckoned the chief of the Romanising faction, went a +considerable length towards admitting the invocation of saints; +prayers for the dead, which lead at once to the tenet of purgatory, +were vindicated by many; in fact, there was hardly any distinctive +opinion of the church of Rome, which had not its abettors among the +bishops, or those who wrote under their patronage. The practice of +auricular confession, which an aspiring clergy must so deeply regret, +was frequently inculcated as a duty. And Laud gave just offence by a +public declaration, that in the disposal of benefices he should, in +equal degrees of merit, prefer single before married priests.[114] +They incurred scarcely less odium by their dislike of the Calvinistic +system, and by what ardent men construed into a dereliction of the +protestant cause, a more reasonable and less dangerous theory on the +nature and reward of human virtue, than that which the fanatical and +presumptuous spirit of Luther had held forth as the most fundamental +principle of his Reformation. + +It must be confessed that these English theologians were less +favourable to the papal supremacy than to most other distinguishing +tenets of the catholic church. Yet even this they were inclined to +admit in a considerable degree, as a matter of positive, though not +divine institution; content to make the doctrine and discipline of the +fifth century the rule of their bastard reform. An extreme reverence +for what they called the primitive church had been the source of their +errors. The first reformers had paid little regard to that authority. +But as learning, by which was then meant an acquaintance with +ecclesiastical antiquity, grew more general in the church, it +gradually inspired more respect for itself; and men's judgment in +matters of religion came to be measured by the quantity of their +erudition.[115] The sentence of the early writers, including the fifth +and perhaps sixth centuries, if it did not pass for infallible, was of +prodigious weight in controversy. No one in the English church seems +to have contributed so much towards this relapse into superstition as +Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, a man of eminent learning in this kind, +who may be reckoned the founder of the school wherein Laud was the +most prominent disciple.[116] + +A characteristic tenet of this party was, as I have already observed, +that episcopal government was indispensably requisite to a Christian +church.[117] Hence they treated the presbyterians with insolence +abroad, and severity at home. A brief to be read in churches for the +sufferers in the Palatinate having been prepared, wherein they were +said to profess the same religion as ourselves, Laud insisted on this +being struck out.[118] The Dutch and Walloon churches in England, +which had subsisted since the Reformation, and which various motives +of policy had led Elizabeth to protect, were harassed by the primate +and other bishops for their want of conformity to the Anglican +ritual.[119] The English ambassador, instead of frequenting the +Hugonot church at Charenton, as had been the former practice, was +instructed to disclaim all fraternity with their sect, and set up in +his own chapel the obnoxious altar and the other innovations of the +hierarchy.[120] These impolitic and insolent proceedings gave the +foreign protestants a hatred of Charles, which they retained through +all his misfortunes. + +This alienation from the foreign churches of the reformed persuasion +had scarcely so important an effect in begetting a predilection for +that of Rome, as the language frequently held about the Anglican +separation. It became usual for our churchmen to lament the +precipitancy with which the Reformation had been conducted, and to +inveigh against its principal instruments. The catholic writers had +long descanted on the lust and violence of Henry, the pretended +licentiousness of Anne Boleyn, the rapacity of Cromwell, the pliancy +of Cranmer; sometimes with great truth, but with much of invidious +misrepresentation. These topics, which have no kind of operation on +men accustomed to sound reasoning, produce an unfailing effect on +ordinary minds. Nothing incurred more censure than the dissolution of +the monastic orders, or at least the alienation of their endowments; +acts accompanied, as we must all admit, with great rapacity and +injustice, but which the new school branded with the name of +sacrilege. Spelman, an antiquary of eminent learning, was led by +bigotry or subserviency to compose a wretched tract called the +"History of Sacrilege," with a view to confirm the vulgar superstition +that the possession of estates alienated from the church entailed a +sure curse on the usurper's posterity. There is some reason to suspect +that the king entertained a project of restoring all impropriated +hereditaments to the church. + +It is alleged by one who had much access to Laud, that his object in +these accommodations was to draw over the more moderate catholics to +the English church, by extenuating the differences of her faith, and +rendering her worship more palatable to their prejudices.[121] There +was, however, good reason to suspect, from the same writer's account, +that some leading ecclesiastics entertained schemes of a complete +re-union;[122] and later discoveries have abundantly confirmed this +suspicion. Such schemes have doubtless been in the minds of men not +inclined to offer every sacrifice; and during this very period Grotius +was exerting his talents (whether judiciously or otherwise we need not +enquire) to make some sort of reconciliation and compromise appear +practicable. But we now know that the views of a party in the English +church were much more extensive, and went almost to an entire +dereliction of the protestant doctrine. + +The catholics did not fail to anticipate the most favourable +consequences from this turn in the church. The _Clarendon State +Papers_, and many other documents, contain remarkable proofs of their +sanguine and not unreasonable hopes. Weston, the lord treasurer, and +Cottington, were already in secret of their persuasion; though the +former did not take much pains to promote their interests. No one, +however, showed them such decided favour as Secretary Windebank, +through whose hands a correspondence was carried on with the court of +Rome by some of its agents.[123] They exult in the peaceful and +flourishing state of their religion in England as compared with former +times. The recusants, they write, were not molested; and if their +compositions were enforced, it was rather from the king's want of +money than any desire to injure their religion. Their rites were +freely exercised in the queen's chapel and those of ambassadors, and, +more privately, in the houses of the rich. The church of England was +no longer exasperated against them; if there was ever any prosecution, +it was to screen the king from the reproach of the puritans. They drew +a flattering picture of the resipiscence of the Anglican party; who +are come to acknowledge the truth in some articles, and differ in +others rather verbally than in substance, or in points not +fundamental; who hold all other protestants to be schismatical, and +confess the primacy of the holy see, regretting the separation already +made, and wishing for re-union; who profess to pay implicit respect +to the fathers, and can best be assailed on that side.[124] + +These letters contain, no doubt, a partial representation; that is, +they impute to the Anglican clergy in general, what was only true of a +certain number. Their aim was to inspire the court of Rome with more +favourable views of that of England, and thus to pave the way for a +permission of the oath of allegiance, at least with some modification +of its terms. Such flattering tales naturally excited the hopes of the +Vatican, and contributed to the mission of Panzani, who was instructed +to feel the pulse of the nation, and communicate more unbiassed +information to his court than could be expected from the English +priests. He confirmed, by his letters, the general truth of the former +statements, as to the tendency of the Anglican church, and the +favourable dispositions of the court. The king received him secretly, +but with much courtesy; the queen and the catholic ministers, +Cottington and Windebank, with unreserved confidence. It required all +the adroitness of an Italian emissary from the subtlest of courts to +meet their demonstrations of friendship without too much committing +his employers. Nor did Panzani altogether satisfy the pope, or at +least his minister, Cardinal Barberini, in this respect.[125] + +During the residence of Panzani in England, an extraordinary +negotiation was commenced for the reconciliation of the church of +England with that of Rome; and, as this fact, though unquestionable, +is very little known, I may not be thought to digress in taking +particular notice of it. Windebank and Lord Cottington were the first +movers in that business; both calling themselves to Panzani catholics, +as in fact they were, but claiming all those concessions from the see +of Rome which had been sometimes held out in the preceding century. +Bishop Montagu soon made himself a party, and had several interviews +with Panzani. He professed the strongest desire for a union, and added +that he was satisfied both the archbishops, the Bishop of London, and +several others of that order, besides many of the inferior clergy, +were prepared to acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of the holy see; +there being no method of ending controversies but by recurring to some +centre of ecclesiastical unity. For himself, he knew no tenet of the +Roman church to which he would not subscribe, unless it were that of +transubstantiation, though he had some scruples as to communion in one +kind. But a congress of moderate and learned men, chosen on each side, +might reduce the disputed points into small compass, and confer upon +them. + +This overture being communicated to Rome by its agent, was of course, +too tempting to be disregarded, though too ambiguous to be snatched +at. The re-union of England to the catholic church, in itself a most +important advantage, might, at that particular juncture, during the +dubious struggle of the protestant religion in Germany, and its still +more precarious condition in France, very probably reduce its +adherents throughout Europe to a proscribed and persecuted sect. +Panzani was therefore instructed to flatter Montagu's vanity, to +manifest a great desire for reconciliation, but not to favour any +discussion of controverted points, which had always proved fruitless, +and which could not be admitted till the supreme authority of the holy +see was recognised. As to all usages founded on positive law, which +might be disagreeable to the English nation, they should receive as +much mitigation as the case would bear. This, of course, alluded to +the three great points of discipline, or ecclesiastical +institution--the celibacy of the clergy, the exclusion of the laity +from the eucharistical cup, and the Latin liturgy. + +In the course of the bishop's subsequent interviews, he again +mentioned his willingness to acknowledge the pope's supremacy; and +assured Panzani that the archbishop was entirely of his mind, but with +a great mixture of fear and caution.[126] Three bishops only, Morton, +Hall, and Davenant, were obstinately bent against the church of Rome; +the rest might be counted moderate.[127] The agent, however, took care +to obtain from another quarter a more particular account of each +bishop's disposition, and transmitted to Rome a report, which does not +appear. Montagu displayed a most unguarded warmth in all this treaty; +notwithstanding which, Panzani suspected him of still entertaining +some notions incompatible with the catholic doctrine. He behaved with +much greater discretion than the bishop; justly, I suppose, +distrusting the influence of a man who showed so little capacity for a +business of the utmost delicacy. It appears almost certain that +Montagu made too free with the name of the archbishop, and probably of +many others; and it is well worthy of remark, that the popish party +did not entertain any sanguine hopes of the king's conversion. They +expected doubtless that, by gaining over the hierarchy, they should +induce him to follow; but he had evidently given no reason to imagine +that he would precede. A few casual words, not perhaps exactly +reported, might sometimes elate their hopes, but cannot excite in us, +who are better able to judge than his contemporaries, any reasonable +suspicion of his constancy. Yet it is not impossible that he might at +one time conceive a union to be more practicable than it really +was.[128] + +The court of Rome omitted no token of civility or good will to +conciliate our king's favour. Besides expressions of paternal kindness +which Urban lavished on him, Cardinal Barberini gratified his +well-known taste by a present of pictures. Charles showed a due sense +of these courtesies. The prosecutions of recusants were absolutely +stopped, by cashiering the pursuivants who had been employed in the +odious office of detecting them. It was arranged that reciprocal +diplomatic relations should be established, and consequently that an +English agent should constantly reside at the court of Rome, by the +nominal appointment of the queen, but empowered to conduct the various +negotiations in hand. Through the first person who held this station, +a gentleman of the name of Hamilton, the king made an overture on a +matter very near to his heart, the restitution of the Palatinate. I +have no doubt that the whole of his imprudent tampering with Rome had +been considerably influenced by this chimerical hope. But it was +apparent to every man of less unsound judgment than Charles, that +except the young elector would renounce the protestant faith, he could +expect nothing from the intercession of the pope. + +After the first preliminaries, which she could not refuse to enter +upon, the court of Rome displayed no eagerness for a treaty which it +found, on more exact information, to be embarrassed with greater +difficulties than its new allies had confessed.[129] Whether this +subject continued to be discussed during the mission of Con, who +succeeded Panzani, is hard to determine; because the latter's memoirs, +our unquestionable authority for what has been above related, cease to +afford us light. But as Con was a very active intriguer for his court, +it is by no means unlikely that he proceeded in the same kind of +parley with Montagu and Windebank. Yet whatever might pass between +them was intended rather with a view to the general interests of the +Roman church, than to promote a reconciliation with that of England, +as a separate contracting party. The former has displayed so +systematic a policy to make no concession to the reformers, either in +matters of belief, wherein, since the council of Trent, she could in +fact do nothing, or even, as far as possible, in points of discipline, +as to which she judged, perhaps rightly, that her authority would be +impaired by the precedent of concession without any proportionate +advantage: so unvarying in all cases has been her determination to +yield nothing except through absolute force, and to elude force itself +by every subtlety that it is astonishing how honest men on the +opposite side (men, that is, who seriously intended to preserve any +portion of their avowed tenets, not such as Montagu or Heylin,) could +ever contemplate the possibility of reconciliation. Upon the present +occasion, she manifested some alarm at the boasted approximation of +the Anglicans. The attraction of bodies is reciprocal; and the English +catholics might, with so much temporal interest in the scale, be +impelled more rapidly towards the established church than that church +towards them. "Advise the clergy," say the instructions to the nuncio +in 1639, "to desist from that foolish, nay rather illiterate and +childish, custom of distinction in the protestant and puritan +doctrine; and especially this error is so much the greater, when they +undertake to prove that protestantism is a degree nearer to the +catholic faith than the other. For since both of them be without the +verge of the church, it is needless hypocrisy to speak of it, yea, it +begets more malice than it is worth."[130] + +This exceeding boldness of the catholic party, and their success in +conversions, which were, in fact, less remarkable for their number +than for the condition of the persons, roused the primate himself to +some apprehension. He preferred a formal complaint to the king in +council against the resort of papists to the queen's chapel, and the +insolence of some active zealots about the court.[131] Henrietta, who +had courted his friendship, and probably relied on his connivance, if +not support, seems never to have forgiven this unexpected attack. Laud +gave another testimony of his unabated hostility to popery by +republishing with additions his celebrated conference with the jesuit +Fisher, a work reckoned the great monument of his learning and +controversial acumen. This conference had taken place many years +before, at the desire and in the presence of the Countess of +Buckingham, the duke's mother. Those who are conversant with literary +and ecclesiastical anecdote must be aware that nothing was more usual +in the seventeenth century than such single combats under the eye of +some fair lady whose religious faith was to depend upon the victory. +The wily and polished jesuits had great advantages in these duels, +which almost always, I believe, ended in their favour. After fatiguing +their gentle arbitress for a time with the tedious fencing of text and +citation, till she felt her own inability to award the palm, they came +with their prejudices already engaged, to the necessity of an +infallible judge; and as their adversaries of the English church had +generally left themselves vulnerable on this side, there was little +difficulty in obtaining success. Like Hector in the spoils of +Patroclus, our clergy had assumed to themselves the celestial armour +of authority; but found that, however it might intimidate the +multitude, it fitted them too ill to repel the spear that had been +wrought in the same furnace. A writer of this school in the age of +Charles the First, and incomparably superior to any of the churchmen +belonging to it, in the brightness and originality of his genius, Sir +Thomas Brown, whose varied talents wanted nothing but the controlling +supremacy of good sense to place him in the highest rank of our +literature, will furnish a better instance of the prevailing bias than +merely theological writings. He united a most acute and sceptical +understanding with strong devotional sensibility, the temperament so +conspicuous in Pascal and Johnson, and which has a peculiar tendency +to seek the repose of implicit faith. "Where the Scripture is silent," +says Brown in his _Religio Medici_, "the church is my text; where it +speaks, 'tis but my comment." That jesuit must have been a disgrace to +his order, who would have asked more than such a concession to secure +a proselyte--the right of interpreting whatever was written, and of +supplying whatever was not. + +_Chillingworth._--At this time, however, appeared one man in the field +of religious debate, who struck out from that insidious tract, of +which his own experience had shown him the perils. Chillingworth, on +whom nature had bestowed something like the same constitutional +temperament as that to which I have just adverted, except that the +reasoning power having a greater mastery, his religious sensibility +rather gave earnestness to his love of truth than tenacity to his +prejudices, had been induced, like so many others, to pass over to the +Roman church. The act of transition, it may be observed, from a system +of tenets wherein men had been educated, was in itself a vigorous +exercise of free speculation, and might be termed the suicide of +private judgment. But in Chillingworth's restless mind there was an +inextinguishable scepticism that no opiates could subdue; yet a +scepticism of that species which belongs to a vigorous, not that which +denotes a feeble understanding. Dissatisfied with his new opinions, of +which he had never been really convinced, he panted to breathe the +freer air of protestantism, and after a long and anxious investigation +returned to the English church. He well redeemed any censure that +might have been thrown on him, by his great work in answer to the +jesuit Knott, entitled _The Religion of Protestants a Safe Way to +Salvation_. In the course of his reflections he had perceived the +insecurity of resting the reformation on any but its original basis, +the independency of private opinion. This, too, he asserted with a +fearlessness and consistency hitherto little known, even within the +protestant pale; combining it with another principle, which the zeal +of the early reformers had rendered them unable to perceive, and for +want of which the adversary had perpetually discomfited them, namely, +that the errors of conscientious men do not forfeit the favour of God. +This endeavour to mitigate the dread of forming mistaken judgments in +religion runs through the whole work of Chillingworth, and marks him +as the founder, in this country, of what has been called the +latitudinarian school of theology. In this view, which has practically +been the most important one of the controversy, it may pass for an +anticipated reply to the most brilliant performance on the opposite +side, _The History of the Variations of Protestant Churches_; and +those who, from a delight in the display of human intellect, or from +more serious motives of inquiry, are led to these two master-pieces, +will have seen, perhaps, the utmost strength that either party, in the +great schism of Christendom, has been able to put forth. + +This celebrated work, which gained its author the epithet of immortal, +is now, I suspect little studied even by the clergy. It is, no doubt, +somewhat tedious, when read continuously, from the frequent recurrence +of the same strain of reasoning, and from his method of following, +sentence by sentence, the steps of his opponent; a method which, while +it presents an immediate advantage to controversial writers, as it +heightens their reputation at the expense of their adversary, is apt +to render them very tiresome to posterity. But the closeness and +precision of his logic, which this mode of incessant grappling with +his antagonist served to display, are so admirable, perhaps, indeed, +hardly rivalled in any book beyond the limits of strict science, that +the study of Chillingworth might tend to chastise the verbose and +indefinite declamation so characteristic of the present day. His +style, though by no means elegant or imaginative, has much of a +nervous energy that rises into eloquence. He is chiefly, however, +valuable for a true liberality and tolerance; far removed from +indifference, as may well be thought of one whose life was consumed in +searching for truth, but diametrically adverse to those pretensions +which seem of late years to have been regaining ground among the +Anglican divines. + +_Hales._--The latitudinarian principles of Chillingworth appear to +have been confirmed by his intercourse with a man, of whose capacity +his contemporaries entertained so high an admiration, that he acquired +the distinctive appellation of the ever-memorable John Hales. This +testimony of so many enlightened men is not to be disregarded, even if +we should be of opinion that the writings of Hales, though abounding +with marks of an unshackled mind, do not quite come up to the promise +of his name. He had, as well as Chillingworth, borrowed from Leyden, +perhaps a little from Racow, a tone of thinking upon some doctrinal +points as yet nearly unknown, and therefore highly obnoxious in +England. More hardy than his friend, he wrote a short treatise on +schism, which tended, in pretty blunt and unlimited language, to +overthrow the scheme of authoritative decisions in any church, +pointing at the imposition of unnecessary ceremonies and articles of +faith, as at once the cause and the apology of separation. This having +been circulated in manuscript, came to the knowledge of Laud, who sent +for Hales to Lambeth, and questioned him as to his opinions on that +matter. Hales, though willing to promise that he would not publish the +tract, receded not a jot from his free notions of ecclesiastical +power; which he again advisedly maintained in a letter to the +archbishop, now printed among his works. The result was equally +honourable to both parties; Laud bestowing a canonry of Windsor on +Hales, which, after so bold an avowal of his opinion, he might accept +without the slightest reproach. A behaviour so liberal forms a +singular contrast to the rest of this prelate's history. It is a +proof, no doubt, that he knew how to set such a value on great +abilities and learning, as to forgive much that wounded his pride. But +besides that Hales had not made public this treatise on schism, for +which I think he could not have escaped the high commission court, he +was known by Laud to stand far aloof from the Calvinistic sectaries, +having long since embraced in their full extent the principles of +Episcopius, and to mix no alloy of political faction with the +philosophical hardiness of his speculations.[132] + +These two remarkable ornaments of the English church, who dwelt apart +like stars, to use the fine expression of a living poet, from the +vulgar bigots of both her factions, were accustomed to meet, in the +society of some other eminent persons, at the house of Lord Falkland +near Burford. One of those, who, then in a ripe and learned youth, +became afterwards so conspicuous a name in our annals and our +literature, Mr. Hyde, the chosen bosom-friend of his host, has dwelt +with affectionate remembrance on the conversations of that mansion. +His marvellous talent of delineating character, a talent, I think, +unrivalled by any writer (since, combining the bold outline of the +ancient historians with the analytical minuteness of De Retz and St. +Simon, it produces a higher effect than either), is never more +beautifully displayed than in that part of the memoirs of his life, +where Falkland, Hales, Chillingworth, and the rest of his early +friends, pass over the scene. + +For almost thirty ensuing years, Hyde himself becomes the companion of +our historical reading. Seven folio volumes contain his _History of +the Rebellion_, his _Life_, and the _Letters_, of which a large +portion are his own. We contract an intimacy with an author who has +poured out to us so much of his heart. Though Lord Clarendon's chief +work seems to me not quite accurately styled a history, belonging +rather to the class of memoirs,[133] yet the very reasons of this +distinction, the long circumstantial narrative of events wherein he +was engaged, and the slight notice of those which he only learned from +others, render it more interesting, if not more authentic. Conformably +to human feelings, though against the rules of historical composition, +it bears the continual impress of an intense concern about what he +relates. This depth of personal interest, united frequently with an +eloquence of the heart and imagination that struggles through an +involved, incorrect, and artificial diction, makes it, one would +imagine, hardly possible for those most alien from his sentiments to +read his writings without some portion of sympathy. But they are on +this account not a little dangerous to the soundness of our historical +conclusions; the prejudices of Clarendon, and his negligence as to +truth, being full as striking as his excellencies, and leading him not +only into many erroneous judgments, but into frequent inconsistencies. + +_Animadversions on Clarendon's account of this period._--These +inconsistencies are nowhere so apparent as in the first or +introductory book of his history, which professes to give a general +view of the state of affairs before the meeting of the long +parliament. It is certainly the most defective part of his work. A +strange mixture of honesty and disingenuousness pervades all he has +written of the early years of the king's reign; retracting, at least +in spirit, in almost every page what has been said in the last, from a +constant fear that he may have admitted so much against the government +as to make his readers impute too little blame to those who opposed +it. Thus, after freely censuring the exactions of the Crown, whether +on the score of obsolete prerogative or without any just pretext at +all, especially that of ship-money, and confessing that "those +foundations of right, by which men valued their security, were never, +to the apprehension and understanding of wise men, in more danger of +being destroyed," he turns to dwell on the prosperous state of the +kingdom during this period, "enjoying the greatest calm and the +fullest measure of felicity that any people in any age for so long +time together have been blessed with," till he works himself up to a +strange paradox, that "many wise men thought it a time wherein those +two adjuncts, which Nerva was edified for uniting, Imperium et +Libertas, were as well reconciled as is possible." + +Such wisdom was not, it seems, the attribute of the nation. "These +blessings," he says, "could but enable, not compel, us to be happy; we +wanted that sense, acknowledgement, and value of our own happiness +which all but we had, and took pains to make, when we could not find, +ourselves miserable. There was, in truth, a strange absence of +understanding in most, and a strange perverseness of understanding in +the rest; the court full of excess, idleness, and luxury; the country +full of pride, mutiny, and discontent; every man more troubled and +perplexed at that they called the violation of the law, than delighted +or pleased with the observation of all the rest of the charter; never +imputing the increase of their receipts, revenue, and plenty, to the +wisdom, virtue, and merit of the Crown, but objecting every small +imposition to the exorbitancy and tyranny of the government."[134] + +This strange passage is as inconsistent with other parts of the same +chapter, and with Hyde's own conduct at the beginning of the +parliament, as it is with all reasonable notions of government.[135] +For if kings and ministers may plead in excuse for violating one law, +that they have not transgressed the rest (though it would be difficult +to name any violation of law that Charles had not committed); if this +were enough to reconcile their subjects, and to make dissatisfaction +pass for a want or perversion of understanding, they must be in a very +different predicament from all others who live within the pale of +civil society, whose obligation to obey its discipline is held to be +entire and universal. By this great writer's own admissions, the +decision in the case of ship-money had shaken every man's security for +the enjoyment of his private inheritance. Though as yet not weighty +enough to be actually very oppressive, it might, and, according to the +experience of Europe, undoubtedly would, become such by length of time +and peaceable submission. + +We may acknowledge without hesitation, that the kingdom had grown +during this period into remarkable prosperity and affluence. The rents +of land were very considerably increased, and large tracts reduced +into cultivation. The manufacturing towns, the sea-ports, became more +populous and flourishing. The metropolis increased in size with a +rapidity that repeated proclamations against new buildings could not +restrain. The country houses of the superior gentry throughout England +were built on a scale which their descendants, even in days of more +redundant affluence, have seldom ventured to emulate. The kingdom was +indebted for this prosperity to the spirit and industry of the people, +to the laws which secure the Commons from oppression, and which, as +between man and man, were still fairly administered, to the opening of +fresh channels of trade in the eastern and western worlds (rivulets, +indeed, as they seem to us, who float in the full tide of modern +commerce, yet at that time no slight contributions to the stream of +public wealth); but above all, to the long tranquillity of the +kingdom, ignorant of the sufferings of domestic, and seldom much +affected by the privations of foreign, war. It was the natural course +of things, that wealth should be progressive in such a land. Extreme +tyranny, such as that of Spain in the Netherlands, might, no doubt, +have turned back the current. A less violent, but long-continued +despotism, such as has existed in several European monarchies, would, +by the corruption and incapacity which absolute governments engender, +have retarded its advance. The administration of Charles was certainly +not of the former description. Yet it would have been an excess of +loyal stupidity in the nation to have attributed their riches to the +wisdom or virtue of the court, which had injured the freedom of trade +by monopolies and arbitrary proclamations, and driven away industrious +manufacturers by persecution. + +If we were to draw our knowledge from no other book than Lord +Clarendon's _History_, it would still be impossible to avoid the +inference, that misconduct on the part of the Crown, and more +especially of the church, was the chief, if not the sole, cause of +these prevailing discontents. At the time when Laud unhappily became +Archbishop of Canterbury, "the general temper and humour of the +kingdom," he tells us, "was little inclined to the papist, and less to +the puritan. There were some late taxes and impositions introduced, +which rather angered than grieved the people, who were more than +repaired by the quiet peace and prosperity they enjoyed; and the +murmurs and discontent that was, appeared to be against the excess of +power exercised by the Crown, and supported by the judges in +Westminster Hall. The church was not repined at, nor the least +inclination to alter the government and discipline thereof, or to +change the doctrine. Nor was there at that time any considerable +number of persons of any valuable condition throughout the kingdom, +who did wish either; and the cause of so prodigious a change in so few +years after was too visible from the effects." This cause, he is +compelled to admit, in a passage too diffuse to be extracted, was the +passionate and imprudent behaviour of the primate. Can there be a +stronger proof of the personal prepossessions, which for ever distort +the judgment of this author, than that he should blame the remissness +of Abbot, who left things in so happy a condition; and assert that +Laud executed the trust of solely managing ecclesiastical affairs, +"infinitely to the service and benefit" of that church which he +brought to destruction? Were it altogether true, what is doubtless +much exaggerated, that in 1633 very little discontent at the measures +of the court had begun to prevail, it would be utterly inconsistent +with experience and observation of mankind to ascribe the almost +universal murmurs of 1639 to any other cause than bad government. But +Hyde, attached to Laud and devoted to the king, shrunk from the +conclusion that his own language would afford; and his piety made him +seek in some mysterious influences of Heaven, and in a judicial +infatuation of the people, for the causes of those troubles which the +fixed and uniform dispensations of Providence were sufficient to +explain.[136] + +_Scots troubles, and distress of the government._--It is difficult to +pronounce how much longer the nation's signal forbearance would have +held out, if the Scots had not precipitated themselves into rebellion. +There was still a confident hope that parliament must soon or late be +assembled; and it seemed equally impolitic and unconstitutional to +seek redress by any violent means. The patriots, too, had just cause +to lament the ambition of some whom the court's favour subdued, and +the levity of many more whom its vanities allured. But the unexpected +success of the tumultuous rising at Edinburgh against the service-book +revealed the impotence of the English government. Destitute of money, +and neither daring to ask it from a parliament nor to extort it by any +fresh demand from the people, they hesitated whether to employ force +or to submit to the insurgents. In the exchequer, as Lord +Northumberland wrote to Strafford, there was but the sum of £200; with +all the means that could be devised, not above £110,000 could be +raised; the magazines were all unfurnished, and the people were so +discontented by reason of the multitude of projects daily imposed upon +them, that he saw reason to fear a great part of them would be readier +to join with the Scots than to draw their swords in the king's +service.[137] "The discontents at home," he observes some months +afterwards, "do rather increase than lessen, there being no course +taken to give any kind of satisfaction. The king's coffers were never +emptier than at this time; and to us that have the honour to be near +about him, no way is yet known how he will find means either to +maintain or begin a war without the help of his people."[138] +Strafford himself dissuaded a war in such circumstances, though hardly +knowing what other course to advise.[139] He had now awaked from the +dreams of infatuated arrogance, to stand appalled at the perils of his +sovereign, and his own. In the letters that passed between him and +Laud after the Scots troubles had broken out, we read their hardly +concealed dismay, and glimpses of "the two-handed engine at the door." +Yet pride forbade them to perceive or confess the real causes of this +portentous state of affairs. They fondly laid the miscarriage of the +business of Scotland on failure in the execution, and an "over-great +desire to do all quietly."[140] + +In this imminent necessity, the king had recourse to those who had +least cause to repine at his administration. The catholic gentry, at +the powerful interference of their queen, made large contributions +towards the campaign of 1639. Many of them volunteered their personal +service. There was, indeed, a further project, so secret that it is +not mentioned, I believe, till very lately, by any historical writer. +This was to procure 10,000 regular troops from Flanders, in exchange +for so many recruits to be levied for Spain in England and Ireland. +These troops were to be for six months in the king's pay. Colonel +Gage, a catholic, and the negotiator of this treaty, hints that the +pope would probably contribute money, if he had hopes of seeing the +penal laws repealed; and observes, that with such an army the king +might both subdue the Scots, and at the same time keep his parliament +in check, so as to make them come to his conditions.[141] The treaty, +however, was never concluded. Spain was far more inclined to revenge +herself for the bad faith she imputed to Charles, than to lend him any +assistance. Hence, when, in the next year, he offered to declare war +against Holland, as soon as he should have subdued the Scots, for a +loan of 1,200,000 crowns, the Spanish ambassador haughtily rejected +the proposition.[142] + +The pacification, as it was termed, of Berwick in the summer of 1639 +has been represented by several historians as a measure equally +ruinous and unaccountable. That it was so far ruinous, as it formed +one link in the chain that dragged the king to destruction, is most +evident; but it was both inevitable and easy of explanation. The +treasury, whatever Clarendon and Hume may have said, was perfectly +bankrupt.[143] The citizens of London, on being urged by the council +for a loan, had used as much evasion as they dared.[144] The writs for +ship-money were executed with greater difficulty, several sheriffs +willingly acquiescing in the excuses made by their counties.[145] Sir +Francis Seymour, brother to the Earl of Hertford, and a man, like his +brother, of very moderate principles, absolutely refused to pay it, +though warned by the council to beware how he disputed its +legality.[146] Many of the Yorkshire gentry, headed by Sir Marmaduke +Langdale, combined to refuse its payment.[147] It was impossible to +rely again on catholic subscriptions, which the court of Rome, as I +have mentioned above, instigated perhaps by that of Madrid, had +already tried to restrain. The Scots were enthusiastic, nearly +unanimous, and entire masters of their country. The English nobility, +in general, detested the archbishop, to whose passion they ascribed +the whole mischief, and feared to see the king become despotic in +Scotland. If the terms of Charles's treaty with his revolted subjects +were unsatisfactory and indefinite, enormous in concession, and yet +affording a pretext for new encroachments, this is no more than the +common lot of the weaker side. + +There was one possible, though not under all the circumstances very +likely, method of obtaining the sinews of war; the convocation of +parliament. This many, at least, of the king's advisers appear to have +long desired, could they but have vanquished his obstinate reluctance. +This is an important observation: Charles, and he perhaps alone, +unless we reckon the queen, seems to have taken a resolution of +superseding absolutely and for ever the legal constitution of England. +The judges, the peers, Lord Strafford, nay, if we believe his dying +speech, the primate himself, retained enough of respect for the +ancient laws, to desire that parliaments should be summoned, whenever +they might be expected to second the views of the monarch. They felt +that the new scheme of governing by proclamations and writs of +ship-money could not, and ought not to be permanent in England. The +king reasoned more royally, and indeed much better. He well perceived +that it was vain to hope for another parliament so constituted as +those under the Tudors. He was ashamed (and that pernicious woman at +his side would not fail to encourage the sentiment) that his brothers +of France and Spain should have achieved a work, which the sovereign +of England, though called an absolute king by his courtiers, had +scarcely begun. All mention therefore of calling parliament grated on +his ear. The declaration published at the dissolution of the last, +that he should account it presumption for any to prescribe a time to +him for calling parliaments, was meant to extend even to his own +counsellors. He rated severely Lord-Keeper Coventry for a suggestion +of this kind.[148] He came with much reluctance into Wentworth's +proposal of summoning one in Ireland, though the superior control of +the Crown over parliaments in that kingdom was pointed out to him. +"The king," says Cottington, "at the end of 1638, will not hear of a +parliament; and he is told by a committee of learned men, that there +is no other way."[149] This repugnance to meet his people, and his +inability to carry on the war by any other methods, produced the +ignominious pacification at Berwick. But, as the Scots, grown bolder +by success, had after this treaty almost thrown off all subjection, +and the renewal of the war, or loss of the sovereignty over that +kingdom, appeared necessary alternatives, overpowered by the +concurrent advice of his council, and especially of Strafford, he +issued writs for that which met in April 1640.[150] They told him +that, making trial once more of the ancient and ordinary way, he would +leave his people without excuse, if that should fail; and have +wherewithal to justify himself to God and the world, if he should be +forced contrary to his inclinations to use extraordinary means, rather +than through the peevishness of some factious spirits to suffer his +state and government to be lost.[151] + +_Parliament of April 1640._--It has been universally admitted that the +parliament which met on the 13th of April 1640 was as favourably +disposed towards the king's service, and as little influenced by their +many wrongs, as any man of ordinary judgment could expect.[152] But +though cautiously abstaining from any intemperance, so much as to +reprove a member for calling ship-money an abomination (no very +outrageous expression), they sufficiently manifested a determination +not to leave their grievances unredressed. Petitions against the +manifold abuses in church and state covered their table; Pym, Rudyard, +Waller, Lord Digby, and others more conspicuous afterwards, excited +them by vigorous speeches; they appointed a committee to confer with +the Lords, according to some precedents of the last reign, on a long +list of grievances, divided into ecclesiastical innovations, +infringements of the propriety of goods, and breaches of the +privilege of parliament. They voted a request of the peers, who, +Clarendon says, were more entirely at the king's disposal, that they +would begin with the business of supply, and not proceed to debate on +grievances till afterwards, to be a high breach of privilege.[153] +There is not the smallest reason to doubt that they would have +insisted on redress in all those particulars, with at least as much +zeal as any former parliament, and that the king, after obtaining his +subsidies, would have put an end to their remonstrances, as he had +done before.[154] In order to obtain the supply he demanded, namely, +twelve subsidies to be paid in three years, which, though unusual, was +certainly not beyond his exigencies, he offered to release his claim +to ship-money, in any manner they should point out. But this the +Commons indignantly repelled. They deemed ship-money the great crime +of his administration, and the judgment against Mr. Hampden, the +infamy of those who pronounced it. Till that judgment should be +annulled, and those judges punished, the national liberties must be as +precarious as ever. Even if they could hear of a compromise with so +flagrant a breach of the constitution, and of purchasing their +undoubted rights, the doctrine asserted in Mr. Hampden's case by the +Crown lawyers, and adopted by some of the judges, rendered all +stipulations nugatory. The right of taxation had been claimed as an +absolute prerogative so inherent in the Crown, that no act of +parliament could take it away. All former statutes, down to the +petition of right, had been prostrated at the foot of the throne; by +what new compact were the present parliament to give a sanctity more +inviolable to their own?[155] + +It will be in the recollection of my readers, that while the Commons +were deliberating whether to promise any supply before the redress of +grievances, and in what measure, Sir Henry Vane, the secretary, told +them that the king would accept nothing less than the twelve subsidies +he had required; in consequence of which the parliament was dissolved +next day. Clarendon, followed by several others, has imputed treachery +in this to Vane, and told us that the king regretted so much what he +had done, that he wished, had it been practicable, to recall the +parliament after its dissolution. This is confirmed, as to Vane, by +the queen herself, in that interesting narrative which she +communicated to Madame de Motteville.[156] Were it not for such +authorities, seemingly independent of each other, yet entirely +tallying, I should have deemed it more probable that Vane, with whom +the solicitor-general Herbert had concurred, acted solely by the +king's command. Charles, who feared and hated all parliaments, had not +acquiesced in the scheme of calling the present, till there was no +other alternative; an insufficient supply would have left him in a +more difficult situation than before, as to the use of those +extraordinary means, as they were called, which his disposition led +him to prefer: the intention to assail parts of his administration +more dear to him than ship-money, and especially the ecclesiastical +novelties, was apparent. Nor can we easily give him credit for this +alleged regret at the step he had taken, when we read the declaration +he put forth, charging the Commons with entering on examination of his +government in an insolent and audacious manner, traducing his +administration of justice, rendering odious his officers and ministers +of state, and introducing a way of bargaining and contracting with the +king, as if nothing ought to be given him by them, but what he should +purchase either by quitting somewhat of his royal prerogative, or by +diminishing and lessening his revenue.[157] The unconstitutional +practice of committing to prison some of the most prominent members, +and searching their houses for papers, was renewed. And having broken +loose again from the restraints of law, the king's sanguine temper +looked to such a triumph over the Scots in the coming campaign, as no +prudent man could think probable. + +This dissolution of parliament in May 1640 appears to have been a very +fatal crisis for the king's popularity. Those who, with the loyalty +natural to Englishmen, had willingly ascribed his previous +misgovernment to evil counsels, could not any longer avoid perceiving +his mortal antipathy to any parliament that should not be as +subservient as the cortes of Castile. The necessity of some great +change became the common theme. "It is impossible," says Lord +Northumberland, at that time a courtier, "that things can long +continue in the condition they are now in; so general a defection in +this kingdom hath not been known in the memory of any!"[158] Several +of those who thought most deeply on public affairs now entered into a +private communication with the Scots insurgents. It seems probable +from the well-known story of Lord Saville's forged letter, that there +had been very little connection of this kind until the present +summer.[159] And we may conjecture that during this ominous interval, +those great projects, which were displayed in the next session, +acquired consistence and ripeness by secret discussions in the houses +of the Earl of Bedford and Lord Say. The king meanwhile experienced +aggravated misfortune and ignominy in his military operations. +Ship-money indeed was enforced with greater rigour than before, +several sheriffs and the lord mayor of London being prosecuted in the +star-chamber for neglecting to levy it. Some citizens were imprisoned +for refusing a loan. A new imposition was laid on the counties, under +the name of coat-and-conduct-money, for clothing and defraying the +travelling charges of the new levies.[160] A state of actual invasion, +the Scots having passed the Tweed, might excuse some of these +irregularities, if it could have been forgotten that the war itself +was produced by the king's impolicy, and if the nation had not been +prone to see friends and deliverers rather than enemies in the +Scottish army. They were, at the best indeed, troublesome and +expensive guests to the northern counties which they occupied; but +the cost of their visit was justly laid at the king's door. Various +arbitrary resources having been suggested in the council, and +abandoned as inefficient and impracticable, such as the seizing the +merchants' bullion in the mint, or issuing a debased coin; the unhappy +king adopted the hopeless scheme of convening a great council of all +the peers at York, as the only alternative of a parliament.[161] It +was foreseen that this assembly would only advise the king to meet his +people in a legal way. The public voice could no longer be suppressed. +The citizens of London presented a petition to the king, complaining +of grievances, and asking for a parliament. This was speedily followed +by one signed by twelve peers of popular character.[162] The lords +assembled at York almost unanimously concurred in the same advice, to +which the king, after some hesitation, gave his assent. They had more +difficulty in bringing about a settlement with the Scots; the English +army, disaffected and undisciplined, had already made an inglorious +retreat; and even Strafford, though passionately against a treaty, did +not venture to advise an engagement.[163] The majority of the peers +however over-ruled all opposition; and in the alarming posture of his +affairs, Charles had no resource but the dishonourable pacification of +Rippon. Anticipating the desertion of some who had partaken in his +counsels, and conscious that others would more stand in need of his +support than be capable of affording any, he awaited in fearful +suspense the meeting of parliament. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] "It hath so happened," he says, "by the disobedient and seditious +carriage of those said ill-affected persons of the House of Commons, +that we and our regal authority and commandment have been so highly +contemned as our kingly office cannot bear, nor any former age can +parallel." Rymer, xix. 30. + +[2] Rymer, xix. 62. + +[3] Whitelock's _Memorials_, p. 14. Whitelock's father was one of the +judges of the king's bench; his son takes pains to exculpate him from +the charge of too much compliance, and succeeded so well with the long +parliament that when they voted Chief-Justice Hyde and Justice Jones +guilty of delay in not bailing these gentlemen, they voted also that +Croke and Whitelock were not guilty of it. The proceedings, as we now +read them, hardly warrant this favourable distinction. _Parl. Hist._ +ii. 869, 876. + +[4] Strode's act is printed in Hatsell's _Precedents_, vol. i. p. 80, +and in several other books, as well as in the great edition of +_Statutes of the Realm_. It is worded, like many of our ancient laws, +so confusedly, as to make its application uncertain; but it rather +appears to me not to have been intended as a public act. + +[5] _State Trials_, vol. iii. from Rushworth. + +[6] Hatsell, pp. 212, 242. + +[7] Rushworth. + +[8] Rushworth; _State Trials_, iii. 373; Whitelock, p. 12. Chambers +applied several times for redress to the long parliament on account of +this and subsequent injuries, but seems to have been cruelly +neglected, while they were voting large sums to those who had suffered +much less, and died in poverty. + +[9] I have remarked in former passages that the rack was much +employed, especially against Roman catholics, under Elizabeth. Those +accused of the gunpowder conspiracy were also severely tortured; and +others in the reign of James. Coke, in the Countess of Shrewsbury's +case, 1612 (_State Trials_, ii. 773), mentions it as a privilege of +the nobility, that "their bodies are not subject to torture in causâ +criminis læsæ majestatis." Yet, in his third Institute, p. 35, he +says, the rack in the Tower was brought in by the Duke of Exeter, +under Henry VI., and is, therefore, familiarly called the Duke of +Exeter's daughter; and after quoting Fortescue to prove the practice +illegal, concludes--"There is no law to warrant tortures in this land, +nor can they be justified by any prescription, being so lately brought +in." Bacon observes, in a tract written in 1603: "In the highest cases +of treason, torture is used for discovery, and not for evidence."--i. +393. See also Miss Aikin's _Memoirs of James I._ ii. 158. + +[10] _State Trials_, iii. 359. This was a very important +determination, and put an end to such tyrannical persecution of Roman +catholics for bare expressions of opinion as had been used under +Elizabeth and James. + +[11] Rushworth (Abridged), ii. 253; Strafford's _Letters_, ii. 74. + +[12] Whitelock, 16; Kennet, 63. We find in Rymer, xix. 279, a +commission, dated May 6, 1631, enabling the privy-council at all times +to come, "to hear and examine all differences which shall arise +betwixt any of our courts of justice, especially between the civil and +ecclesiastical jurisdictions," etc. This was in all probability +contrived by Laud, or some of those who did not favour the common law. +But I do not find that anything was done under this commission, which, +I need hardly say, was as illegal as most of the king's other +proceedings. + +[13] 2 Inst. 593. The regulations contained in the statute de +militibus, 1 Ed. II., though apparently a temporary law, seem to have +been considered by Coke as permanently binding. Yet in this statute +the estate requiring knighthood, or a composition for it, is fixed at +£20 per annum. + +[14] According to a speech of Mr. Hyde in the long parliament, not +only military tenants, but all others, and even lessees and merchants, +were summoned before the council on this account. _Parl. Hist._ ii. +948. This was evidently illegal; especially if the Statutum de +militibus was in force, which by express words exempts them. See Mr. +Brodie's _Hist. of British Empire_, ii. 282. There is still some +difficulty about this, which I cannot clear up, nor comprehend why the +title, if it could be had for asking, was so continually declined; +unless it were, as Mr. B. hints, that the fees of knighthood greatly +exceeded the composition. Perhaps none who could not prove their +gentility were admitted to the honour, though the fine was extorted +from them. It is said that the king got £100,000 by this resource. +Macauley, ii. 107. + +[15] Rushworth Abr. ii. 102. + +[16] Strafford's _Letters_, i. 335. + +[17] _Id._ pp. 463, 467. + +[18] _Id._ ii. 117. It is well known that Charles made Richmond Park +by means of depriving many proprietors not only of common rights, but +of their freehold lands. Clarendon, i. 176. It is not clear that they +were ever compensated; but I think this probable, as the matter +excited no great clamour in the long parliament. And there is in +Rymer, xx. 585, a commission to Cottington and others, directing them +to compound with the owners of lands within the intended enclosures. +Dec. 12, 1634. + +[19] Kennet, 64; Rushworth's Abridg. ii. 132; Strafford's _Letters_, +i. 446; Rymer, xix. 323; Laud's _Diary_, 51. + +[20] Rymer, xx. 340. + +[21] Kennet, 74, 75. _Strafford Letters_, i. 358. Some petty sea-ports +in Sussex refused to pay ship-money; but finding that the sheriff had +authority to distrain on them, submitted. The deputy-lieutenants of +Devonshire wrote to the council in behalf of some towns a few miles +distant from the sea, that they might be spared from this tax, saying +it was a novelty. But they were summoned to London for this, and +received a reprimand for their interference. _Id._ 372. + +[22] _Clarendon State Papers_, i. 49, and ii. Append. p. xxvi. + +[23] This curious intrigue, before unknown, I believe, to history, was +brought to light by Lord Hardwicke. _State Papers_, ii. 54. + +[24] See _Clarendon State Papers_, i. 490, for a proof of the manner +in which, through the Hispano-popish party in the cabinet, the house +of Austria hoped to dupe and dishonour Charles. + +[25] _Clarendon State Papers_, i. 109, _et post_. Five English ships +out of twenty were to be at the charge of the King of Spain. Besides +this agreement, according to which the English were only bound to +protect the ships of Spain within their own seas, or the limits +claimed as such, there were certain secret articles, signed Dec. 16, +1634; by one of which Charles bound himself, in case the Dutch should +not make restitution of some Spanish vessels taken by them within the +English seas, to satisfy the court of Spain himself out of ships and +goods belonging to the Dutch; and by the second, to give secret +instructions to the commanders of his ships, that when those of Spain +and Flanders should encounter their enemies at open sea, far from his +coasts and limits, they should assist them if over-matched, and should +give the like help to the prizes which they should meet, taken by the +Dutch, that they might be freed and set at liberty; taking some +convenient pretext to justify it, that the Hollanders might not hold +it an act of hostility. But no part of this treaty was to take effect +till the Imperial ban upon the Elector Palatine should be removed. +_Id._ 215. + +[26] _Clarendon State Papers_, i. 721, 761. + +[27] _Strafford Papers_, ii. 52, 53, 60, 66. Richlieu sent d'Estrades +to London, in 1637, according to Père Orleans, to secure the +neutrality of England in case of his attacking the maritime towns of +Flanders conjointly with the Dutch. But the ambassador was received +haughtily, and the neutrality refused; which put an end to the scheme, +and so irritated Richlieu, that he sent a priest named Chamberlain to +Edinburgh the same year, in order to foment troubles in Scotland. +_Revol. d'Anglet._ iii. 42. This is confirmed by d'Estrades himself. +See note in _Sidney Papers_, ii. 447, and Harris's _Life of Charles_, +189; also Lingard, x. 69. The connection of the Scotch leaders with +Richlieu in 1639 is matter of notorious history. It has lately been +confirmed and illustrated by an important note in Mazure, _Hist. de la +Revolution en 1688_, ii. 402. It appears by the above-mentioned note +of M. Mazure, that the celebrated letter of the Scots lords, addressed +"Au Roy," was really sent, and is extant. There seems reason to think +that Henrietta joined the Austrian faction about 1639; her mother +being then in England, and very hostile to Richlieu. This is in some +degree corroborated by a passage in a letter of Lady Carlisle. _Sidney +Papers_, ii. 614. + +[28] _Sidney Papers_, ii. 613. + +[29] _Clarendon State Papers_, ii. 16. + +[30] See the instructions in Rushworth, ii. 214. + +[31] Rushworth, 253. The same judge declared afterwards, in a charge +to the grand jury of York, that ship-money was an inseparable flower +of the Crown, glancing at Hutton and Croke for their opposition to it. +_Id._ 267. + +[32] As it is impossible to reconcile the trifling amount of this +demand with Hampden's known estate, the tax being probably not much +less than sixpence in the pound, it has been conjectured that his +property was purposely rated low. But it is hard to perceive any +motive for this indulgence; and it seems more likely that a nominal +sum was fixed upon in order to try the question; or that it was only +assessed on a part of his estate. + +[33] There seems to have been something unusual, if not irregular, in +this part of the proceeding. The barons of the exchequer called in the +other judges, not only by way of advice but direction, as the chief +baron declares. _State Trials_, 1203. And a proof of this is, that the +court of exchequer being equally divided, no judgment could have been +given by the barons alone. + +[34] _State Trials_, iii. 826-1252. + +[35] Croke, whose conduct on the bench in other political questions +was not without blemish, had resolved to give judgment for the king, +but was withheld by his wife, who implored him not to sacrifice his +conscience for fear of any danger or prejudice to his family, being +content to suffer any misery with him, rather than to be an occasion +for him to violate his integrity. Whitelock, p. 25. Of such +high-minded and inflexible women our British history produces many +examples. + +[36] Laud writes to Lord Wentworth, that Croke and Hutton had both +gone against the king very sourly. "The accidents which have followed +upon it already are these: First, the faction are grown very bold. +Secondly, the king's monies come in a great deal more slowly than they +did in former years, and that to a very considerable sum. Thirdly, it +puts thoughts into wise and moderate men's heads, which were better +out; for they think if the judges, which are behind, do not their +parts both exceeding well and thoroughly, it may much distemper this +extraordinary and great service." _Strafford Letters_, ii. 170. + +[37] It is notoriously known that pressure was borne with much more +cheerfulness before the judgment for the king, than ever it was +before. Clarendon, p. 122. + +[38] Rushworth Abr. ii. 341; _Clarendon State Papers_, i. 600. It is +said by Heylin that the clergy were much spared in the assessment of +ship-money. _Life of Laud_, 302. + +[39] Rymer, _passim_. + +[40] _Id._ xix. 512. It may be curious to mention some of these. The +best turkey was to be sold at 4_s._ 6_d._; the best goose at 2_s._ +4_d._; the best pullet, 1_s._ 8_d._; three eggs for a penny; fresh +butter at 5_d._ in summer, at 6_d._ in winter. This was in 1634. + +[41] _Id._ xx. 113. + +[42] _Id._ 157. + +[43] Rymer, xviii. 33, _et alibi_. A commission was granted to the +Earl of Arundel and others, May 30, 1625, to enquire what houses, +shops, etc., had been built for ten years past, especially since the +last proclamation, and to commit the offenders. It recites the care of +Elizabeth and James to have the city built in an uniform manner with +brick, and also to clear it from under-tenants and base people who +live by begging and stealing. _Id._ xviii. 97. + +[44] Rymer, xix. 375. + +[45] Rushworth Abr. ii. 232. + +[46] Rushworth, ii. 79. + +[47] _Id._ p. 313. + +[48] Rushworth Abr. iii. 123; Whitelock, p. 35; _Strafford Letters_, +i. 374, _et alibi_. See what Clarendon says, p. 293 (ii. 151, edit. +1826). The second of these tells us, that the city offered to build +for the king a palace in St. James's park by way of composition, which +was refused. If this be true, it must allude to the palace already +projected by him, the magnificent designs for which by Inigo Jones are +well known. Had they been executed, the metropolis would have +possessed a splendid monument of Palladian architecture; and the +reproach sometimes thrown on England, of wanting a fit mansion for its +monarchs, would have been prevented. But the exchequer of Charles the +First had never been in such a state as to render it at all probable +that he could undertake so costly a work. + +[49] _Strafford Letters_, i. 340. + +[50] Rymer, xix. 699. + +[51] _Id._ 198. + +[52] Roger Coke's _Detection of the Court of England_, i. 309. He was +Sir Edward's grandson. + +[53] Rymer, xx. 190. + +[54] _Id._ xix. 740. See also 82. + +[55] Hudson's "Treatise of the Court of Star-chamber," p. 51. This +valuable work, written about the end of James's reign, is published in +_Collectanea Juridica_, vol. ii. There is more than one manuscript of +it in the British Museum. + +In another treatise, written by a clerk of the council about 1590 +(Hargrave MSS. ccxvi. 195), the author says: "There was a time when +there grew a controversy between the star-chamber and the King's Bench +for their jurisdiction in a cause of perjury concerning tithes, Sir +Nicholas Bacon, that most grave and worthy counsellor, then being +lord-keeper of the great seal, and Sir Robert Catlyn, knight, then +lord chief justice of the bench. To the deciding thereof were called +by the plaintiff and defendant a great number of the learned +counsellors of the law: they were called into the inner star-chamber +after dinner, where before the lords of the council they argued the +cause on both sides, but could not find the court of greater antiquity +by all their books than Henry VII. and Richard III. On this I fell in +cogitation how to find some further knowledge thereof." He proceeds to +inform us, that by search into records he traced its jurisdiction much +higher. This shows, however, the doubts entertained of its +jurisdiction in the queen's time. This writer, extolling the court +highly, admits that "some of late have deemed it to be new, and put +the same in print, to the blemish of its beautiful antiquity." He then +discusses the question (for such it seems it was), whether any peer, +though not of the council, might sit in the star-chamber; and decides +in the negative. "Ao. 5to. of her majesty," he says, in the case +of the Earl of Hertford, "there were assembled a great number of the +noble barons of this realm, not being of the council, who offered +there to sit; but at that time it was declared unto them by the +lord-keeper that they were to give place; and so they did, and divers +of them tarried the hearing of the cause at the bar." + +This note ought to have been inserted in Chapter I., where the +antiquity of the star-chamber is mentioned, but was accidentally +overlooked. + +[56] P. 56. + +[57] P. 62. Lord Bacon observes, that the council in his time did not +meddle with _meum_ and _tuum_ as formerly; and that such causes ought +not to be entertained. Vol. i. 720; vol. ii. 208. "The king," he says, +"should be sometimes present, yet not too often." James was too often +present, and took one well-known criminal proceeding, that against Sir +Thomas Lake and his family, entirely into his own hands. + +[58] P. 82. + +[59] P. 108. + +[60] Pp. 100, 102. + +[61] P. 107. The following case in the queen's reign goes a great way: +An information was preferred in the star-chamber against Griffin and +another for erecting a tenement in Hog-lane, which he divided into +several rooms, wherein were inhabiting two poor tenants, that only +lived and were maintained by the relief of their neighbours, etc. The +attorney-general, and also the lord mayor and aldermen, prayed some +condign punishment on Griffin and the other, and that the court would +be pleased to set down and decree some general order in this and other +like cases of new building and division of tenements. Whereupon the +court, generally considering the great growing evils and +inconveniences that continually breed and happen by this new erected +building and divisions made and divided contrary to her majesty's said +proclamation, commit the offenders to the Fleet, and fine them £20 +each; but considering that if the houses be pulled down, other +habitations must be found, did not, as requested, order this to be +done for the present, but that the tenants should continue for their +lives without payment of rent, and the landlord is directed not to +molest them, and after the death or departure of the tenants the +houses to be pulled down. Harl. MSS. N. 299, fol. 7. + +[62] Harl. MSS. p. 142, etc. It appears that the court of star-chamber +could not sentence to punishment on the deposition of an eye-witness +(Rushw. Abr. ii. 114): a rule which did not prevent their receiving +the most imperfect and inconclusive testimony. + +[63] P. 36, 224. Instead of "the slavish punishment of whipping," the +printed book has "the slavish speech of whispering," which of course +entirely alters the sense, or rather makes nonsense. I have followed a +MS. in the Museum (Hargrave, N. 250), which agrees with the abstract +of this treatise by Rushworth, ii. 348. + +[64] Vallenger, author of seditious libels, was sentenced in the +queen's reign to stand twice in the pillory, and lose both his ears. +Harl. MSS. 6265, fol. 373. So also the conspirators who accused +Archbishop Sandys of adultery. _Id._ 376. And Mr. Pound, a Roman +catholic gentleman, who had suffered much before for his religion, was +sentenced by that court, in 1603, to lose both his ears, to be fined +£1000, and imprisoned for life, unless he declared who instigated him +to charge Serjeant Philips with injustice in condemning a neighbour of +his to death. Winwood, ii. 36. + +[65] The scarcity must have been very great this season (1631), for he +refused £2 18_s._ for the quarter of rye. Rushworth, ii. 110. + +[66] Rushworth, 340. Garrard, the correspondent of Wentworth, who sent +him all London news, writes about this: "The attorney-general hath +sent to all taverns to prohibit them to dress meat; somewhat was +required of them, a halfpenny a quart for French wine, and a penny for +sack and other richer wines, for the king: the gentlemen vintners grew +sullen, and would not give it, so they are all well enough served." +_Strafford Letters_, i. 507. + +[67] Hacket's _Life of Williams_; Rushworth Abr. ii. 315, _et post_; +Brodie ii. 363. + +[68] Osbaldiston swore that he did not mean Laud; an undoubted +perjury. + +[69] Mr. Brodie (_Hist. of Brit. Emp._ vol. ii. p. 309) observes, that +he cannot find in Leighton's book (which I have never seen) the +passage constantly brought forward by Laud's apologists, wherein he is +supposed to have recommended the assassination of the bishops. He +admits, indeed, as does Harris, that the book was violent; but what +can be said of the punishment? + +[70] Rushworth; _State Trials_. + +[71] _Id._ Whitelock, p. 18; Harris's _Life of Charles_, p. 262. The +unfortunate words in the index, "Women actors notorious whores," cost +Prynne half his ears; the remainder he saved by the hangman's mercy +for a second harvest. When he was brought again before the +star-chamber, some of the lords turned up his hair, and expressed +great indignation that his ears had not been better cropped. _State +Trials_, 717. The most brutal and servile of these courtiers seems to +have been the Earl of Dorset, though Clarendon speaks well of him. He +was also impudently corrupt, declaring that he thought it no crime for +a courtier that lives at great expense in his attendance, to receive a +reward to get a business done by a great man in favour. Rush. Abr. ii. +246. It is to be observed that the star-chamber tribunal was almost as +infamous for its partiality and corruption as its cruelty. See proofs +of this in the same work. P. 241. + +[72] The intimidation was so great, that no counsel dared to sign +Prynne's plea; yet the court refused to receive it without such +signature. Rushworth, ii. 277; _Strafford Letters_, ii. 74. + +[73] _Id._ 85; Rushw. 295; _State Trials_. Clarendon, who speaks in a +very unbecoming manner of this sentence, admits that it excited +general disapprobation. P. 73. + +[74] Laud's character is justly and fairly drawn by May, neither in +the coarse caricature style of Prynne, nor with the absurdly +flattering pencil of Clarendon. "The Archbishop of Canterbury was a +main agent in this fatal work; a man vigilant enough, of an active or +rather of a restless mind; more ambitious to undertake than politic to +carry on; of a disposition too fierce and cruel for his coat; which +notwithstanding he was so far from concealing in a subtle way, that he +increased the envy of it by insolence. He had few vulgar and private +vices, as being neither taxed of covetousness, intemperance, or +incontinence; and in a word a man not altogether so bad in his +personal character, as unfit for the state of England." _Hist. of +Parliament_, 19. + +[75] The following entry appears in Laud's Diary (March 6, 1636): +"Sunday, William Juxon, lord bishop of London, made lord +high-treasurer of England: no churchman had it since Hen. VII.'s time. +I pray God bless him to carry it so that the church may have honour, +and the king and the state service and contentment by it. And now, if +the church will not hold themselves up under God, I can do no more." + +Those who were far from puritanism could not digest this strange +elevation. James Howell writes to Wentworth: "The news that keeps +greatest noise here at this present, is that there is a new +lord-treasurer; and it is news indeed, it being now twice time out of +mind since the white robe and the white staff marched together; we +begin to live here in the church triumphant; and there wants but one +more to keep the king's conscience, which is more proper for a +churchman than his coin, to make it triumvirate." _Straff. Letters_, +i. 522. Garrard, another correspondent expresses his surprise, and +thinks Strafford himself, or Cottington, would have done better. P. +523. And afterwards (vol. ii. p. 2), "The clergy are so high here +since the joining of the white sleeves with the white staff, that +there is much talk of having as secretary a bishop, Dr. Wren, Bishop +of Norwich, and as chancellor of the exchequer, Dr. Bancroft, Bishop +of Oxford; but this comes only from the young fry of the clergy; +little credit is given to it, but it is observed, they swarm mightily +about the court." The tone of these letters shows that the writer +suspected that Wentworth would not be well pleased at seeing a +churchman set over his head. But in several of his own letters he +positively declares his aversion to the office, and perhaps with +sincerity. Ambition was less predominant in his mind than pride, and +impatience of opposition. He knew, that as lord-treasurer he would be +perpetually thwarted and undermined by Cottington and others of the +council. They, on the other hand, must have dreaded that such a +colleague might become their master. Laud himself, in his +correspondence with Strafford, never throws out the least hint of a +wish that he should succeed Weston, which would have interfered with +his own views. + +It must be added that Juxon redeemed the scandal of his appointment by +an unblemished probity, and gave so little offence in this invidious +greatness, that the long parliament never attacked him, and he +remained in his palace at Fulham without molestation till 1647. + +[76] _Strafford's Letters_, i. 33, etc. The letters of Wentworth in +this period of his life show a good deal of ambition and resentment, +but no great portion of public spirit. This collection of the +Strafford letters forms a very important portion of our historical +documents. Hume had looked at them very superficially, and quotes them +but twice. They furnished materials to Harris and Macaulay; but the +first is little read at present, and the second not at all. In a +recent and deservedly popular publication, Macdiarmid's _Lives of +British Statesmen_, the work of a young man of letters, who did not +live to struggle through the distresses of that profession, the +character of Strafford is drawn from the best authorities, and with +abundant, perhaps excessive candour. Mr. Brodie has well pointed out +that he has obtained more credit for the early period of his +parliamentary life than he deserves, by being confounded with Mr. +Wentworth, member for Oxford. Vol. ii. p. 249. Rushworth has even +ascribed to Sir Thomas Wentworth the speeches of this Mr. Wentworth in +the second parliament of Charles, from which it is notorious that the +former had been excluded. + +[77] Hacket tells us, in his elegant style, that "Sir John Eliot of +the west, and Sir Thomas Wentworth of the north, both in the prime of +their age and wits, both conspicuous for able speakers, clashed so +often in the house, and cudgelled one another with such strong +contradictions, that it grew from an emulation between them to an +enmity. The lord-treasurer Weston picked out the northern cock, Sir +Thomas, to make him the king's creature, and set him upon the first +step of his rising; which was wormwood in the taste of Eliot, who +revenged himself upon the king in the Bill of Tonnage, and then fell +upon the treasurer, and declaimed against him, that he was the author +of all the evils under which the kingdom was oppressed." He proceeds +to inform us, that Bishop Williams offered to bring Eliot over, for +which Wentworth never forgave him. _Life of Williams_, p. 82. The +magnanimous fortitude of Eliot forbids us to give credit to any +surmise unfavourable to his glory, upon such indifferent authority; +but several passages in Wentworth's letters to Laud show his malice +towards one who had perished in the great cause which he had so basely +forsaken. + +[78] Wentworth was brought over before the assassination of +Buckingham. His patent in Rymer bears date 22nd July 1628, a month +previous to that event. + +[79] Fourth Inst. c. 49. See also 13 Reports, 31. + +[80] Rymer, xix. 9; Rushworth, ii. 127. + +[81] Rushworth; Strafford's Trial, etc.; Brodie, ii. 319; _Straff. +Letters_, i. 145. In a letter to Lord Doncaster, pressing for a severe +sentence on Foulis, who had been guilty of some disrespect to himself +as president of the North, Wentworth shows his abhorrence of liberty +with all the bitterness of a renegado; and urges the "seasonable +correcting an humour and liberty I find reign in these parts, of +observing a superior command no farther than they like themselves, and +of questioning any profit of the Crown, called upon by his majesty's +ministers, which might enable it to subsist of itself, without being +necessitated to accept of such conditions, as others might easily +think to impose upon it." Sept. 1632. _Somers Tracts_, iv. 198. + +[82] Rushworth Abr. iii. 85; Clarendon, i. 390 (1826). The original +editors left out some words which brought this home to Strafford. And +if the case was as there seems every reason to believe, I would ask +those who talk of this man's innocence, whether in any civilised +country, a more outrageous piece of tyranny has been committed by a +governor than to compel a nobleman of the highest station to change +the disposition of his private estate, because that governor carried +on an adulterous intercourse with the daughter-in-law of the person +whom he treated thus imperiously? + +[83] _Clarendon Papers_, i. 449, 543, 594; Rushworth Abridg. iii. 43; +_Clar. Hist._ i. 386 (1826); _Strafford Letters_, i. 497, _et post_. +This proceeding against Lord Mountnorris excited much dissatisfaction +in England; those of the council who disliked Strafford making it a +pretext to inveigh against his arrogance. But the king, invariably on +the severe and arbitrary side, justified the measure, which silenced +the courtiers. P. 512. Be it added, that the virtuous Charles took a +bribe of £6000 for bestowing Mountnorris's office on Sir Adam Loftus, +not out of distress through the parsimony of parliament, but to +purchase an estate in Scotland. _Id._ 511. + +Hume, in extenuating the conduct of Strafford as to Mountnorris's +trial, says, that, "_sensible of the iniquity of the sentence_, he +procured his majesty's free pardon to Mountnorris." There is not the +slightest evidence to warrant the words in italics; on the contrary, +he always justified the sentence, and had most manifestly procured it. +The king, in return to a moving petition of Lady Mountnorris, +permitted his release from confinement, "on making such a submission +as my lord-deputy shall approve." + +[84] _Strafford Letters_, i. 111. + +[85] P. 155. + +[86] _Strafford Letters_, p. 329. In other letters they complain of +what they call the Lady Mora, which seems to be a cant word for the +inefficient system of the rest of the council, unless it is a personal +nickname for Weston. + +[87] The bishops, before the Reformation, issued process from their +courts in their own names. By the statute of 1 Edw. VI. c. 2, all +ecclesiastical jurisdiction is declared to be immediately from the +Crown; and it is directed that persons exercising it shall use the +king's arms in their seal, and no other. This was repealed under Mary; +but her act is itself repealed by 1 Jac. I. c. 25, § 48. This seems to +revive the act of Edward. The spiritual courts, however, continued to +issue process in the bishop's name, and with his seal. On some +difficulty being made concerning this, it was referred by the +star-chamber to the twelve judges, who gave it under their hands that +the statute of Edward was repealed, and that the practice of the +ecclesiastical courts in this respect was agreeable to law. Neal, 589; +Kennet, 92; Rushw. Abr. iii. 340. Whitelock says (p. 22), that the +bishops all denied that they held their jurisdiction from the king, +for which they were liable to heavy penalties. This question is of +little consequence; for it is still true that ecclesiastical +jurisdiction, according to the law, emanates from the Crown; nor does +anything turn on the issuing of process in the bishop's name, any more +than on the holding courts-baron in the name of the lord. In Ireland, +unless I am mistaken, the king's name is used in ecclesiastical +proceedings. Laud, in his famous speech in the star-chamber, 1637, and +again on his trial, asserts episcopal jurisdiction (except what is +called in foro contentioso) to be of divine right; a doctrine not +easily reconcilable with the Crown's supremacy over _all_ causes under +the statute of Elizabeth; since any spiritual censure may be annulled +by a lay tribunal, the commission of delegates; and how this can be +compatible with a divine authority in the bishop to pronounce it, +seems not easy to prove. Laud, I have no doubt, would have put an end +to this badge of subordination to the Crown. The judges in Cawdrey's +Case (5 Reports) held a very different language; nor would Elizabeth +have borne this assumption of the prelates as tamely as Charles, in +his poor-spirited bigotry, seems to have done. Stillingfleet, though +he disputes at great length the doctrine of Lord Coke, in his fifth +Report, as to the extent of the royal supremacy before the first of +Elizabeth, fully admits that since the statute of that year, the +authority for keeping courts, in whose name soever they may be held, +is derived from the king. Vol. iii. 768, 778. + +This arrogant contempt of the lawyers manifested by Laud and his +faction of priests led to the ruin of the great churchmen and of the +church itself--by the hands, chiefly, of that powerful body they had +insulted, as Clarendon has justly remarked. + +[88] P. 111. + +[89] P. 173. + +[90] P. 129. + +[91] P. 201. See also p. 223. + +[92] Vol. ii. p. 100. + +[93] _Id._ ii. 136. + +[94] P. 138. + +[95] P. 158. + +[96] P. 178. + +[97] P. 60. + +[98] Vol. i. p. 420. + +[99] P. 246; see also p. 370. + +[100] The unfavourable physiognomy of Strafford is noticed by writers +of that time. _Somers Tracts_, iv. 231. It did not prevent him from +being admired by the fair sex, especially at his trial, where, May +says, they were all on his side. The portraits by Vandyke at Wentworth +and Petworth are well known; the latter appears eminently +characteristic. + +[101] See the cases of Workman, Peter Smart, etc., in the common +histories: Rushworth, Rapin, Neal, Macauley, Brodie, and even Hume, on +one side; and for what can be said on the other, Collier, and Laud's +own defence on his trial. A number of persons, doubtless inclining to +the puritan side, had raised a sum of money to buy up impropriations, +which they vested in trustees for the purpose of supporting lecturers; +a class of ministers to whom Laud was very averse. He caused the +parties to be summoned before the star-chamber, where their +association was dissolved, and the impropriations already purchased +were confiscated to the Crown. Rushworth Abr. ii. 17; Neal, i. 556. + +[102] This originated in an order made at the Somerset assizes by +Chief Justice Richardson, at the request of the justices of peace, for +suppressing these feasts, which had led to much disorder and +profaneness. Laud made the privy council reprove the judge, and direct +him to revoke the order. Kennet, p. 71; Rushw. Abr. ii. 166. Heylin +says, the gentlemen of the county were against Richardson's order, +which is one of his habitual falsehoods. See Rushw. Abr. ii. 167. I +must add, however, that the proclamation was perfectly legal, and +according to the spirit of the late act (1 Car. I. c. 1) for the +observance of the Lord's day. It has been rather misrepresented by +those who have not attended to its limitations, as Neal and Mr. +Brodie. Dr. Lingard, ix. 422, has stated the matter rightly. + +[103] Neal, 569; Rushworth Abr. ii. 166; Collier, 758; Heylin's _Life +of Laud_, 241, 290. The last writer extenuates the persecution by +Wren; but it is evident by his own account that no suspension or +censure was taken off till the party conformed and read the +declaration. + +[104] Neal, p. 546. I do not know how he makes his computation. + +[105] A proclamation, dated May 1, 1638, reciting that the king was +informed that many persons went yearly to New England in order to be +out of the reach of ecclesiastical authority, commands that no one +shall pass without a licence, and a testimonial of conformity from the +minister of his parish. Rymer, xx. 223. Laud, in a letter to Strafford +(ii. 169), complains of men running to New England, when there was a +want of them in Ireland. And why did they so, but that any trackless +wilderness seemed better than his own or his friend's tyranny? In this +letter he laments that he is left alone in the envious and thorny part +of the work, and has no encouragement. + +[106] In thirteen years, ending with 1640, but £4080 was levied on +recusants by process from the exchequer, according to Commons' +Journals, 1 Dec. 1640. But it cannot be denied that they paid +considerable sums by way of composition, though less probably than in +former times. Lingard, ix. 424, etc., note G. Weston is said by +Clarendon to have offended the catholics by enforcing penalties to +raise the revenue. One priest only was executed for religion, before +the meeting of the long parliament. Butler, iv. 97. And though, for +the sake of appearance, proclamations for arresting priests and +recusants sometimes came forth, they were always discharged in a short +time. The number pardoned in the first sixteen years of the king is +said to have amounted, in twenty-nine counties only, to 11,970. Neal, +604. Clarendon, i. 261, confirms the systematic indulgence shown to +catholics, which Dr. Lingard seems, reluctantly and by silence, to +admit. + +[107] Strafford Letters, i. 505, 524; ii. 2, 57. + +[108] Heylin, 286. The very day of Abbot's death, an offer of a +cardinal's hat was made to Laud, as he tell us in his Diary, "by one +that avowed ability to perform it." This was repeated some days +afterwards (Aug. 4th and 17th, 1633). It seems very questionable +whether this came from authority. The new primate made a strange +answer to the first application, which might well encourage a second; +certainly not what might have been expected from a steady protestant. +If we did not read this in his own Diary, we should not believe it. +The offer at least proves that he was supposed capable of acceding to +it. + +[109] _Clarendon State Papers_, ii. 44. It is always important to +distinguish dates. By the year 1639, the court of Rome had seen the +fallacy of those hopes she had previously been led to entertain, that +the king and church of England would return to her fold. This might +exasperate her against him, as it certainly did against Laud; besides +which, I should suspect the influence of Spain in the conclave. + +[110] Proofs of this abound in the first volume of the collection just +quoted, as well as in other books. The catholics were not indeed +unanimous in the view they took of the king's prerogative, which +became of importance in the controversy as to the oath of allegiance; +one party maintaining that the king had a right to put his own +explanation on that oath, which was more to be regarded than the sense +of parliament; while another denied that they could conscientiously +admit the king's interpretation against what they knew to have been +the intention of the legislature who imposed it. A Mr. Courtney, who +had written on the latter side, was imprisoned in the Tower, on +pretext of recusancy, but really for having promulgated so obnoxious +an opinion. P. 258, _et alibi_; _Memoirs of Panzani_, p. 140. The +jesuits were much against the oath, and, from whatever cause, threw +all the obstacles they could in the way of a good understanding +between the king and the pope. One reason was their apprehension that +an article of the treaty would be the appointment of a catholic bishop +in England; a matter about which the members of that church have been +quarrelling ever since the reign of Elizabeth, but too trifling for +our notice in this place. More than half Panzani's _Memoirs_ relate to +it. + +[111] _Id._ p. 207. This is a statement by Father Leander; in another +place (p. 140), they are reckoned at 360. There were about 180 other +regulars, and five or six hundred secular priests. + +[112] Kennet, 73; Harris's _Life of Charles_, 220; Collier, 772; +Brodie, ii. 224 note; Neal, p. 572, etc. Laud, in his defence at his +trial, denies or extenuates some of the charges. There is, however, +full proof of all that I have said in my text. The famous consecration +of St. Catharine's Creed church in 1631 is mentioned by Rushworth, +Welwood, and others. Laud said in his defence, that he borrowed the +ceremonies from Andrews, who had found them in some old liturgy. + +[113] In Bishop Andrews's answer to Bellarmine, he says: Præsentiam +credimus non minus quam vos veram; de modo præsentiæ nil temere +definimus. And soon afterwards: Nobis vobiscum de objecto convenit, de +modo lis omnis est. De hoc est, fide firmâ tenemus quod sit, de hoc +modo est, ut sit Per, sive In, sive Cum, sive Sub, sive Trans, nullum +inibi verbum est. I quote from Casaubon's _Epistles_, p. 393. This is, +reduced to plain terms: We fully agree with you that Christ's body is +actually present in the sacramental elements, in the same sense as you +use the word; but we see no cause for determining the precise mode, +whether by transubstantiation or otherwise. + +The doctrine of the church of England, as evidenced by its leading +ecclesiastics, underwent a change in the reign of James through +Andrews, Casaubon, and others, who deferred wholly to antiquity. In +fact, as I have elsewhere observed, there can be but two opinions, +neglecting subordinate differences, on this famous controversy. It is +clear to those who have attended to the subject, that the Anglican +reformers did not hold a local presence of Christ's human body in the +consecrated bread itself, independent of the communicant, or, as the +technical phrase was, extra usum: and it is also clear, that the +divines of the latter school did so. This question is rendered +intricate at first sight, partly by the strong figurative language +which the early reformers employed in order to avoid shocking the +prejudices of the people; and partly by the incautious and even absurd +use of the word _real presence_ to mean _real absence_; which is +common with modern theologians. + +[114] Heylin's _Life of Laud_, p. 212. He probably imbibed this, like +many other of his prejudices, from Bishop Andrews, whose epitaph in +the church of St. Saviour's in Southwark speaks of him as having +received a superior reward in heaven on account of his celibacy; +coelebs migravit ad aureolam coelestem. _Biog. Britannica._ +Aureola, a word of no classical authority, means, in the style of +popish divinity, which the author of this epitaph thought fit to +employ, the crown of virginity. See Du Cange _in voc._ + +[115] See "Life of Hammond," in Wordsworth's _Eccles. Biography_, vol. +v. 343. It had been usual to study divinity in compendiums, chiefly +drawn up in the sixteenth century. King James was a great favourer of +antiquity, and prescribed the study of the fathers in his Instructions +to the Universities in 1616. + +[116] Andrews gave scandal in the queen's reign by preaching at court, +"that contrition, without confession and absolution and deeds worthy +of repentance, was not sufficient; that the ministers had the two keys +of power and knowledge delivered unto them; that whose sins soever +they remitted upon earth, should be remitted in heaven.--The court is +full of it, for such doctrine was not usually taught there." _Sidney +Letters_, ii. 185. Harrington also censures him for an attempt to +bring in auricular confession. _Nugæ Antiquæ_, ii. 192. In his own +writings against Perron, he throws away a great part of what have +always been considered the protestant doctrines. + +[117] Hall, Bishop of Exeter, a very considerable person, wrote a +treatise on the _Divine Institution of Episcopacy_, which, according +to an analysis given by Heylin and others of its leading positions, is +so much in the teeth of Hooker's _Ecclesiastical Polity_, that it +might pass for an answer to it. Yet it did not quite come up to the +primate's standard, who made him alter some passages which looked too +like concessions. Heylin's _Life of Laud_, 374; Collier, 789. One of +his offences was the asserting the pope to be Antichrist, which +displeased the king as well as primate, though it had been orthodox +under James. + +[118] Collier, 764; Neal, 582; Heylin, 288. + +[119] Collier, 753; Heylin, 260. + +[120] Clarendon, iii. 366; _State Papers_, i. 338. "Lord Scudamore, +the English ambassador, set up an altar, etc., in the Laudean style. +His successor, Lord Leicester, spoke to the archbishop about going to +Charenton; and telling him Lord Scudamore did never go thither, Laud +answered, 'He is the wiser.' Leicester requested his advice what he +should do, in order to sift his disposition, being himself resolved +how to behave in that matter. But the other would only say that he +left it to his discretion. Leicester says, he had many reasons to +think that for his going to Charenton the archbishop did him all the +ill offices he could to the king, representing him as a puritan, and +consequently in his method an enemy to monarchical government, though +he had not been very kind before. The said archbishop, he adds, would +not countenance Blondel's book against the usurped power of the pope." +Blencowe's _Sydney Papers_, 261. + +"To think well of the reformed religion," says Northumberland, in +1640, "is enough to make the archbishop an enemy; and though he cannot +for shame do it in public, yet in private he will do Leicester all the +mischief he can." Collins's _Sydney Papers_, ii. 623. + +Such was the opinion entertained of Laud, by those who could not +reasonably be called puritans, except by such as made that word a +synonym for protestant. It would be easy to add other proofs. The +prosecution in the star-chamber against Sherfield, recorder of +Salisbury, for destroying some superstitious pictures in a church, led +to a display of the aversion many of the council entertained for +popery, and their jealousy of the archbishop's bias. They were with +difficulty brought to condemn Sherfield, and passed a sentence at last +very unlike those to which they were accustomed. Rushworth; _State +Trials_. Hume misrepresents the case. + +[121] Heylin's _Life of Laud_, 390. + +[122] Heylin's _Life of Laud_, 388. The passage is very remarkable, +but too long to be extracted in a work not directly ecclesiastical. It +is rather ambiguous; but the _Memoirs_ of Panzani afford the key. + +[123] The Spanish ambassador applies to Windebank, 1633, to have a +case of books restored, that had been carried from the custom-house to +Archbishop Abbot.--"Now he is dead, I make this demand upon his +effects and library, that they may be restored to me; as his majesty's +order at that time was ineffectual, as well as its appearing that +there was nothing contraband or prohibited." A list of these books +follows, and is curious. They consisted of English popish tracts by +wholesale, intended, of course, for circulation. _Clar. State Papers_, +66. + +[124] _Id._ 197, etc. + +[125] _Clarendon State Papers_, 249. The _Memoirs of Panzani_, after +furnishing some materials to Dodd's _Church History_, were published +by Mr. Berington, in 1794. They are, however, become scarce, and have +not been much quoted. It is plain that they were not his own work, but +written by some dependant, or person in his confidence. Their truth, +as well as authenticity, appears to me quite beyond controversy; they +coincide, in a remarkable manner, with all our other information; the +names and local details are particularly accurate for the work of a +foreigner; in short, they contain no one fact of any consequence which +there is reason to distrust. Some account of them may be found in +Butler's _Engl. Cath._ vol. iv. + +A small tract, entitled "The Pope's Nuncio," printed in 1643, and said +to be founded on the information of the Venetian ambassador, is, as I +conceive, derived in some direct or indirect manner from these +_Memoirs_. It is republished in the _Somers Tracts_, vol. iv. + +Mr. Butler has published, for the first time, a long and important +extract from Panzani's own reports to the pope concerning the state of +the catholic religion in England. _Mem. of Catholics_, iv. 55. He +reckons them at 150,000; many of them, however, continuing so +outwardly to live as not to be known for such, among whom are many of +the first nobility. From them the neighbouring catholics have no means +of hearing mass or going to the sacraments. Others, more bold, give +opportunity, more or less, to their poorer neighbours to practise +their duty. Besides these, there are others, who, apprehensive of +losing their property or places, live in appearance as protestants, +take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, frequent the churches, and +speak occasionally against catholics; yet in their hearts are such, +and sometimes keep priests in their houses, that they may not be +without help, if necessary. Among them he includes some of the first +nobility, secular and ecclesiastical, and many of every rank. While he +was in London, almost all the nobility who died, though reputed +protestants, died catholics. The bishops are protestants, except four, +Durham, Salisbury, Rochester, and Oxford, who are puritans. The latter +are most numerous among the people, and are more hated by moderate +protestants than are the catholics. A great change is apparent in +books and sermons, compared with former times; auricular confession +praised, images well spoken of, and altars. The pope is owned as +patriarch of the West; and wishes are expressed for re-union. The +queen has a public chapel besides her private one, where service is +celebrated with much pomp; also the ambassadors; and there are others +in London. The laws against recusants are much relaxed; though +sometimes the king, being in want of money, takes one-third of their +incomes by way of composition. The catholics are yet molested by the +pursuivants, who enter their houses in search of priests, or sacred +vessels; and though this evil was not much felt while he was in +London, they might be set at work at any time. He determined, +therefore, to obtain, if possible, a general order from the king to +restrain the pursuivants; and the business was put into the hands of +some counsellors, but not settled at his departure. The oath of +allegiance divided the ecclesiastics, the major part refusing to take +it. After a good deal about the appointment of a catholic bishop in +England, he mentions Father Davenport or Sancta Clara's book, entitled +_Deus, Natura, Gratia_, with which the king, he says, had been +pleased, and was therefore disappointed at finding it put in the Index +Expurgatorius at Rome.--This book, which made much noise at the time, +was an attempt to show the compatibility of the Anglican doctrines +with those of the catholic church; the usual trick of popish +intriguers. See an abstract of it in Stillingfleet's Works, vol. v. p. +176. + +[126] If we may believe Heylin, the queen prevailed on Laud to use his +influence with the king that Panzani might come to London, promising +to be his friend. _Life of Laud_, 286. + +[127] P. 246. It may seem extraordinary that he did not mention +Williams; but I presume he took that political bishop's zeal to be +insincere. Williams had been, while in power, a great favourer of the +toleration of papists. If, indeed, a story told of him, on Endymion +Porter's authority, in a late work, be true, he was at that time +sufficiently inclined to have accepted a cardinal's hat, and made +interest for it. Blencowe's _Sydney Papers_, p. 262. One bishop, +Goodman of Gloucester, was undoubtedly a Roman catholic, and died in +that communion. He refused, for a long time, to subscribe the canons +of 1640, on account of one that contained a renunciation of popery; +but yielded at length for fear of suspension, and charged Montagu with +having instigated his refusal, though he subscribed himself. Nalson, +i. 371; Rushw. Abr. iii. 168; Collier, 793; Laud's defence on his +trial. + +[128] Henrietta Maria, in her communication to Madame de Motteville, +has the following passage, which is not undeserving of notice, though +she may have been deceived: "Le Roi Jacques ... composa deux livres +pour la défense de la fausse religion d'Angleterre, et fit réponse à +ceux que le Cardinal du Perron écrivit contre lui. En défendant le +mensonge, il conçut de l'amour pour la vérité, et souhaita de se +retirer de l'erreur. Ce fut en voulant accorder les deux religions, la +nôtre et la sienne; mais il mourut avant que d'exécuter ce louable +dessein. Le Roi Charles Stuard, son fils, quand il vint à la couronne, +se trouva presque dans les mêmes sentimens. Il avoit auprès de lui +l'archevêque de Cantorberi, qui, dans son coeur étant très-bon +catholique, inspira au roi son maître un grand désir de rétablir la +liturgie, croyant que s'il pouvoit arriver à ce point, il y auroit si +peu de différence de la foi orthodoxe à la leur, qu'il seroit aisé peu +à peu d'y conduire le roi. Pour travailler à ce grand ouvrage, que ne +paroissoit au roi d'Angleterre que le rétablissement parfait de la +liturgie, et qui est le seul dessein qui ait été dans le coeur de ce +prince, l'archevêque de Cantorberi lui conseilla de commencer par +l'Ecosse, comme plus éloignée du coeur du royaume; lui disant, que +leur remuement seroit moins à craindre. Le roi, avant que de partir, +voulant envoyer cette liturgie en Ecosse, l'apporta un soir dans la +chambre de la reine, et la pria de lire ce livre, lui disant, qu'il +seroit bien aise qu'elle le vît, afin qu'elle sût combien ils +approchoient de créance." _Mém. de Motteville_, i. 242. A +well-informed writer, however, says Charles was a protestant, and +never liked the catholic religion. P. Orleans, _Révolut. d'Anglet._ +iii. 35. He says the same of Laud, but refers to Vittorio Siri for an +opposite story. + +[129] Cardinal Barberini wrote word to Panzani, that the proposal of +Windebank, that the church of Rome should sacrifice communion in one +kind, the celibacy of the clergy, etc., would never please; that the +English ought to look back on the breach they had made, and their +motives for it, and that the whole world was against them on the +first-mentioned points. P. 173. This is exactly what any one might +predict, who knew the long discussions on the subject with Austria and +France at the time of the council of Trent. + +[130] "Begets more malice" is obscure--perhaps it means "irritates the +puritans more." _Clar. Papers_, ii. 44. + +[131] Heylin, p. 338; Laud's Diary, Oct. 1637; _Strafford Letters_, i. +426. Garrard, a dependent friend whom Strafford retained, as was usual +with great men, to communicate the news of the court, frequently +descants on the excessive boldness of the papists. "Laud," he says +(vol. ii. p. 74), "does all he can to beat down the general fear +conceived of bringing on popery." So in p. 165 and many other places. + +It is manifest, by a letter of Laud to Strafford in 1638, that he was +not satisfied with the systematic connivance at recusancy. _Id._ 171. +The explanation of the archbishop's conduct with respect to the Roman +catholics seems to be, that, with a view of gaining them over to his +own half-way protestantism, and also ingratiating himself with the +queen, he had for a time gone along with the tide, till he found there +was a real danger of being carried farther than he intended. This +accounts for the well-known story told by Evelyn, that the jesuits at +Rome spoke of him as their bitterest enemy. He is reported to have +said, that they and the puritans were the chief obstacles to a +re-union of the churches. There is an obscure story of a plot carried +on by the pope's legate Con and the English jesuits against Laud, and +detected in 1640 by one Andrew Habernfield, which some have treated as +a mere fiction. Rushworth, iii. 232. + +[132] Heylin, in his _Life of Laud_, p. 340, tells this story, as if +Hales had recanted his opinions, and owned Laud's superiority over him +in argument. This is ludicrous, considering the relative abilities of +the two men. And Hales's letter to the archbishop, which is full as +bold as his treatise on schism, proves that Heylin's narrative is one +of his many wilful falsehoods; for, by making himself a witness to the +pretended circumstances, he has precluded the excuse of error. + +[133] It appears by the late edition at Oxford (1826) that Lord +Clarendon twice altered his intention as to the nature of his work, +having originally designed to write the history of his time, which he +changed to memorials of his own life, and again returned to his first +plan. The consequence has been, that there are two manuscripts of the +_History_ and of the _Life_, which in a great degree are transcripts +one from the other, or contain the same general fact with variations. +That part of the _Life_, previous to 1660, which is not inserted in +the _History of the Rebellion_, is by no means extensive. + +The genuine text of the _History_ has only been published in 1826. A +story, as is well known, obtained circulation within thirty years +after its first appearance, that the manuscript had been materially +altered or interpolated. This was positively denied, and supposed to +be wholly disproved. It turns out, however, that, like many other +anecdotes, it had a considerable basis of truth, though with various +erroneous additions, and probably wilful misrepresentations. It is +nevertheless surprising that the worthy editor of the original +manuscript should say, "that the genuineness of the work has rashly, +and for party purposes, been called in question;" when no one, I +believe, has ever disputed its genuineness; and the anecdote to which +I have alluded, and to which, no doubt, he alludes, has been by his +own industry (and many thanks we owe him for it) perfectly confirmed +in substance. For though he endeavours, not quite necessarily, to +excuse or justify the original editors (who seem to have been Sprat +and Aldrich, with the sanction probably of Lords Clarendon and +Rochester, the historian's sons), for what they did, and even +singularly asserts, that "the present collation satisfactorily proves +that they have in no one instance added, suppressed, or altered any +historical fact" (Advert. to edit. 1826, p.v.); yet it is certain +that, besides the perpetual impertinence of mending the style, there +are several hundred variations which affect the sense, introduced from +one motive or another, and directly contrary to the laws of literary +integrity. The long passages inserted in the appendixes to several +volumes of this edition contain surely historical facts that had been +suppressed. And, even with respect to subordinate alterations, made +for the purpose of softening traits of the author's angry temper, or +correcting his mistakes, the general effect of taking such liberties +with a work is to give it an undue credit in the eyes of the public, +and to induce men to believe matters upon the writer's testimony, +which they would not have done so readily, if his errors had been +fairly laid before them. Clarendon indeed is so strangely loose in +expression as well as incorrect in statement, that it would have been +impossible to remove his faults of this kind without writing again +half the history; but it is certain that great trouble was very unduly +taken to lighten their impression upon the world. + +[134] _Id. ibid._ + +[135] May thus answers, by a sort of prophetic anticipation, this +passage of Clarendon: "Another sort of men," he says, "and especially +lords and gentlemen, by whom the pressures of the government were not +much felt, who enjoyed their own plentiful fortunes, with little or +insensible detriment, looking no farther than their present safety and +prosperity, 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 those ungrateful factious spirits, who complained of the breach +of laws and liberties; that the kingdom abounded with wealth, plenty, +and all kinds 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 greater +esteems 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 +parliaments, 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 upon their subjects. +Thus did many of the English gentry, by way of comparison, in ordinary +discourse, plead for their own servitude. + +"The courtiers would begin to dispute against parliaments, in their +ordinary discourse, that they were cruel to those whom the king +favoured, and too injurious to his prerogative; that the late +parliament stood upon too high terms with the king, and that they +hoped the king should never need any more parliaments. Some of the +greatest statesmen and privy-counsellors would ordinarily laugh at the +ancient language of England, when the word liberty of the subject was +named. But these gentlemen, who seemed so forward in taking up their +own yoke, were but a small part of the nation (though a number +considerable enough to make a reformation hard) compared with those +gentlemen who were sensible of their birth-rights and the true +interest of the kingdom; on which side the common people in the +generality, and the country freeholders stood, who would rationally +argue of their own rights, and those oppressions that were laid upon +them." _Hist. of Parliament_, p. 12 (edit. 1812). + +[136] It is curious to contrast the inconsistent and feeble apologies +for the prerogative we read in Clarendon's _History_, with his speech +before the Lords, on impeaching the judges for their decision in the +case of ship-money. In this he speaks very strongly as to the +illegality of the proceedings of the judges in Rolls and Vassal's +cases, though in his _History_ he endeavours to insinuate that the +king had a right to tonnage and poundage; he inveighs also against the +decision in Bates's case, which he vindicates in his _History_. +_Somers Tracts_, iv. 302. Indeed the whole speech is irreconcilable +with the picture he afterwards drew of the prosperity of England, and +of the unreasonableness of discontent. + +The fact is, that when he sat down in Jersey to begin his _History_, +irritated, disappointed, afflicted at all that had passed in the last +five years, he could not bring his mind back to the state in which it +had been at the meeting of the long parliament; and believed himself +to have partaken far less in the sense of abuses and desire to redress +than he had really done. There may, however, be reason to suspect that +he had, in some respects, gone farther in the first draught of his +_History_ than appears at present; that is, I conceive, that he erased +himself some passages or phrases unfavourable to the court. Let the +reader judge from the following sentence in a letter to Nicholas +relating to his work, dated Feb. 12, 1647: "I will offer no excuse for +the entertaining of Con, who came after Panzani, and was succeeded by +Rosetti; which was a business of so much folly, or worse, that I have +mentioned it in my prolegomena (of those distempers and exorbitances +in government which prepared the people to submit to the fury of this +parliament), as an offence and scandal to religion, in the same degree +that ship-money was to liberty and property." _State Papers_, ii. 336. +But when we turn to the passage in the _History of the Rebellion_, p. +268, where this is mentioned, we do not find a single expression +reflecting on the court, though the catholics themselves are censured +for imprudence. This may serve to account for several of Clarendon's +inconsistencies; for nothing renders an author so inconsistent with +himself, as corrections made in a different temper of mind from that +which actuated him in the first composition. + +[137] _Strafford Letters_, ii. 186. + +[138] _Id._ 267. + +[139] _Id._ 191. + +[140] _Id._ ii. 250. "It was ever clear in my judgment," says +Strafford, "that the business of Scotland, so well laid, so pleasing +to God and man, had it been effected, was miserably lost in the +execution; yet it could never have so fatally miscarried, if there had +not been a failure likewise in this direction, occasioned either by +over-great desires to do all quietly without noise, by the state of +the business misrepresented, by opportunities and seasons slipped, or +by some such like." Laud answers in the same strain: "Indeed, my lord, +the business of Scotland, I can be bold to say without vanity, was +well laid, and was a great service to the crown as well as to God +himself. And that it should so fatally fail in the execution is a +great blow as well to the power as honour of the king," etc. He lays +the blame in a great degree on Lord Traquair. P. 264. + +[141] _Clarendon State Papers_, ii. 19. + +[142] _Id._ ii. 84, and Appendix xxvi. + +[143] Hume says that Charles had an accumulated treasure of £200,000 +at this time. I know not his authority for the particular sum: but +Clarendon pretends that "the revenue had been so well improved, and so +wisely managed, that there was money in the exchequer proportionable +for the undertaking any noble enterprise." This is, at the best, +strangely hyperbolical; but, in fact, there was an absolute want of +everything. Ship-money would have been a still more crying sin than it +was, if the produce had gone beyond the demands of the state; nor was +this ever imputed to the court. This is one of Lord Clarendon's +capital mistakes; for it leads him to speak of the treaty of Berwick +as a measure that might have been avoided, and even, in one place, to +ascribe it to the king's excessive lenity and aversion to shedding +blood; wherein a herd of superficial writers have followed him. + +[144] _Clarendon State Papers_, ii. 46, 54. Lest it should seem +extraordinary that I sometimes contradict Lord Clarendon on the +authority of his own collection of papers, it may be necessary to +apprise the reader, that none of these, anterior to the civil war, had +come in his possession till he had written this part of his _History_. + +[145] The grand jury of Northampton presented ship-money as a +grievance. But the privy-council wrote to the sheriff, that they would +not admit his affected excuses; and if he neglected to execute the +writ, a quick and exemplary reparation would be required of him. +Rushw. Abr. iii. 93. + +[146] _Id._ 47. The king writes in the margin of Windebank's letter, +informing him of Seymour's refusal: "You must needs make him an +example, not only by distress, but, if it be possible, an information +in some court, as Mr. Attorney shall advise." + +[147] _Strafford Letters_, ii. 308. + +[148] "The king hath so rattled my lord-keeper, that he is now the +most pliable man in England, and all thoughts of parliaments are quite +out of his pate." Cottington to Strafford, 29th Oct. 1633, vol. i. p. +141. + +[149] Vol. ii. p. 246. "So by this time," says a powerful writer, "all +thoughts of ever having a parliament again was quite banished; so many +oppressions had been set on foot, so many illegal actions done, that +the only way to justify the mischiefs already done was to do that one +greater; to take away the means which were ordained to redress them, +the lawful government of England by parliaments." May, _History of +Parliaments_, p. 11. + +[150] _Sidney Papers_, ii. 623; _Clarendon Papers_, ii. 81. + +[151] _Id. Ibid._ The attentive reader will not fail to observe, +that this is the identical language of the famous advice imputed to +Strafford, though used on another occasion. + +[152] May; Clarendon. The latter says, upon the dissolution of this +parliament: "It could never be hoped that so many sober and +dispassionate men would ever meet again in that place, or fewer who +brought ill purposes with them." This, like so many other passages in +the noble historian, is calculated rather to mislead the reader. All +the principal men who headed the popular party in the long parliament +were members of this; and the whole body, so far as their subsequent +conduct shows, was not at all constituted of different elements from +the rest: for I find, by comparison of the list of this parliament, in +Nalson's Collections, with that of the long parliament, in the +_Parliamentary History_, that eighty, at most, who had not sat in the +former, took the covenant; and that seventy-three, in the same +circumstances, sat in the king's convention at Oxford. The difference, +therefore, was not so much in the men, as in the times; the bad +administration and bad success of 1640, as well as the dissolution of +the short parliament, having greatly aggravated the public +discontents. + +The court had never augured well of this parliament. "The elections," +as Lord Northumberland writes to Lord Leicester at Paris (_Sidney +Papers_, ii. 641), "that are generally made of knights and burgesses +in this kingdom, give us cause to fear that the parliament will not +sit long; for such as have dependence upon the court are in divers +places refused, and the most refractory persons chosen." + +There are some strange things said by Clarendon of the ignorance of +the Commons as to the value of twelve subsidies, which Hume, who loves +to depreciate the knowledge of former times, implicitly copies. But +they cannot be true of that enlightened body, whatever blunders one or +two individuals might commit. The rate at which every man's estate was +assessed to a subsidy was perfectly notorious; and the burden of +twelve subsidies to be paid in three years, was more than the charge +of ship-money they had been enduring. + +[153] Journals; _Parl. Hist._; Nalson; Clarendon. + +[154] The king had long before said that "parliaments are like cats; +they grow curst with age." + +[155] See Mr. Waller's speech on Crawley's impeachment. Nalson, ii. +358. + +[156] _Mem. de Motteville_, i. 238-278; P. Orleans, _Rev. de +l'Angleterre_, tome iii., says the same of Vane; but his testimony may +resolve itself into the former. It is to be observed, that ship-money +which the king offered to relinquish, brought in £200,000 a year, and +that the proposed twelve subsidies would have amounted, at most, to +£840,000, to be paid in three years. Is it surprising that, when the +house displayed an intention not to grant the whole of this, as +appears by Clarendon's own story, the king and his advisers should +have thought it better to break off altogether? I see no reason for +imputing treachery to Vane, even if he did not act merely by the +king's direction. Clarendon says he and Herbert persuaded the king +that the house "would pass such a vote against ship-money as would +blast that revenue and other branches of the receipt; which others +believed they would not have the confidence to have attempted, and +very few that they would have had the credit to have compassed." P. +245. The word _they_ is as inaccurate, as is commonly the case with +this writer's language. But does he mean that the house would not have +passed a vote against ship-money? They had already entered on the +subject, and sent for records; and he admits himself, that they were +resolute against granting subsidies as a consideration for the +abandonment of that grievance. Besides, Hyde himself not only inveighs +most severely in his _History_ against ship-money, but was himself one +of the managers of the impeachment against six judges for their +conduct in regard to it; and his speech before the House of Lords on +that occasion is extant. Rushw. Abr. ii. 477. But this is merely one +instance of his eternal inconsistency. + +[157] _Parl. Hist._; Rushworth; Nalson. + +[158] June 4, 1640. _Sidney Papers_, ii. 654. + +[159] A late writer has spoken of this celebrated letter, as resting +on very questionable authority. Lingard, x. 43. It is, however, +mentioned as a known fact by several contemporary writers, and +particularly by the Earl of Manchester, in his unpublished Memorials, +from which Nalson has made extracts; and who could neither be +mistaken, nor have any apparent motive, in this private narrative, to +deceive. Nalson, ii. 427. + +[160] Rymer, xx. 432; Rushworth Abr. iii. 163, etc.; Nalson, i. 389, +etc. + +[161] Lord Clarendon seems not to have well understood the secret of +this Great Council, and supposes it to have been suggested by those +who wished for a parliament; whereas the _Hardwicke Papers_ show the +contrary. P. 116 and 118. His notions about the facility of composing +the public discontent are strangely mistaken: "Without doubt," he +says, "that fire at that time, which did shortly after burn the whole +kingdom, might have been covered under a bushel." But the whole of +this introductory book of his _History_ abounds with proofs that he +had partly forgotten, partly never known, the state of England before +the opening of the long parliament. In fact, the disaffection, or at +least discontent, had proceeded so far in 1640, that no human skill +could have averted a great part of the consequences. But Clarendon's +partiality to the king, and to some of his advisers, leads him to see +in every event particular causes, or an overruling destiny, rather +than the sure operation of impolicy and misgovernment. + +[162] These were Hertford, Bedford, Essex, Warwick, Paget, Wharton, +Say, Brook, Kimbolton, Saville, Mulgrave, Bolingbroke. Nalson, 436, +437. + +[163] This appears from the minutes of the council (_Hardwicke +Papers_), and contradicts the common opinion. Lord Conway's disaster +at Newburn was by no means surprising; the English troops, who had +been lately pressed into service, were perfectly mutinous; some +regiments had risen and even murdered their officers on the road. +Rymer, 414, 425. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FROM THE MEETING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL +WAR + + +_Character of the long parliament._--We are now arrived at that +momentous period in our history, which no Englishman ever regards +without interest, and few without prejudice; the period from which the +factions of modern times trace their divergence; which, after the +lapse of almost two centuries, still calls forth the warm emotions of +party-spirit, and affords a test of political principles; at that +famous parliament, the theme of so much eulogy and of so much +reproach; that synod of inflexible patriots with some, that conclave +of traitorous rebels with others; that assembly, we may more truly +say, of unequal virtue and chequered fame, which, after having +acquired a higher claim to our gratitude, and effected more for our +liberties, than any that had gone before or that has followed, ended +by subverting the constitution it had strengthened, and by sinking in +its decrepitude, and amidst public contempt, beneath a usurper it had +blindly elevated to power. It seems agreeable to our plan, first to +bring together those admirable provisions by which this parliament +restored and consolidated the shattered fabric of our constitution, +before we advert to its measures of more equivocal benefit, or its +fatal errors; an arrangement not very remote from that of mere +chronology, since the former were chiefly completed within the first +nine months of its session, before the king's journey to Scotland in +the summer of 1641. + +It must, I think, be admitted by every one who concurs in the +representation given in this work, and especially in the last chapter, +of the practical state of our government, that some new securities of +a more powerful efficacy than any which the existing laws held forth +were absolutely indispensable for the preservation of English +liberties and privileges. These, however sacred in name, however +venerable by prescription, had been so repeatedly transgressed, that +to obtain their confirmation, as had been done in the petition of +right, and that as the price of large subsidies, would but expose the +Commons to the secret derision of the court. The king, by levying +ship-money in contravention of his assent to that petition, and by +other marks of insincerity, had given too just cause for suspicion +that, though very conscientious in his way, he had a fund of casuistry +at command that would always release him from any obligation to +respect the laws. Again, to punish delinquent ministers was a +necessary piece of justice; but who could expect that any such +retribution would deter ambitious and intrepid men from the splendid +lures of power? Whoever, therefore, came to the parliament of November +1640 with serious and steady purposes for the public weal, and most, I +believe, except mere courtiers, entertained such purposes according to +the measure of their capacities and energies, must have looked to some +essential change in the balance of government, some important +limitations of royal authority, as the primary object of his +attendance. + +Nothing could be more obvious than that the excesses of the late +unhappy times had chiefly originated in the long intermission of +parliaments. No lawyer would have dared to suggest ship-money with the +terrors of a House of Commons before his eyes. But the king's known +resolution to govern without parliaments gave bad men more confidence +of impunity. This resolution was not likely to be shaken by the +unpalatable chastisement of his servants and redress of abuses, on +which the present parliament was about to enter. A statute as old as +the reign of Edward III. had already provided that parliaments should +be held "every year, or oftener, if need be."[164] But this enactment +had in no age been respected. It was certain that in the present +temper of the administration, a law simply enacting that the interval +between parliaments should never exceed three years, would prove +wholly ineffectual. In the famous act therefore for triennial +parliaments, the first fruits of the Commons' laudable zeal for +reformation, such provisions were introduced as grated harshly on the +ears of those who valued the royal prerogative above the liberties of +the subject, but without which the act itself might have been +dispensed with. Every parliament was to be _ipso facto_ dissolved at +the expiration of three years from the first day of its session, +unless actually sitting at the time, and, in that case, at its first +adjournment or prorogation. The chancellor or keeper of the great seal +to be sworn to issue writs for a new parliament within three years +from the dissolution of the last, under pain of disability to hold his +office, and further punishment; in case of his failure to comply with +this provision, the peers were enabled and enjoined to meet at +Westminster, and to issue writs to the sheriffs; the sheriffs +themselves, should the peers not fulfil this duty, were to cause +elections to be duly made; and, in their default, at a prescribed time +the electors themselves were to proceed to choose their +representatives. No future parliament was to be dissolved or adjourned +without its own consent, in less than fifty days from the opening of +its session. It is more reasonable to doubt whether even these +provisions would have afforded an adequate security for the periodical +assembling of parliament, whether the supine and courtier-like +character of the peers, the want of concert and energy in the electors +themselves, would not have enabled the government to set the statute +at nought, than to censure them as derogatory to the reasonable +prerogative and dignity of the Crown. To this important bill the king, +with some apparent unwillingness, gave his assent.[165] It effected, +indeed, a strange revolution in the system of his government. The +nation set a due value on this admirable statute, the passing of which +they welcomed with bonfires and every mark of joy. + +After laying this solid foundation for the maintenance of such laws as +they might deem necessary, the house of commons proceeded to cut away +the more flagrant and recent usurpations of the Crown. They passed a +bill declaring ship-money illegal, and annulling the judgment of the +exchequer chamber against Mr. Hampden.[166] They put an end to another +contested prerogative, which, though incapable of vindication on any +legal authority, had more support from a usage of fourscore years, the +levying of customs on merchandise. In an act granting the king tonnage +and poundage, it is declared and enacted that it is, and hath been, +the ancient right of the subjects of this realm, that no subsidy, +custom, impost, or other charge whatsoever, ought or may be laid or +imposed upon any merchandise exported or imported by subjects, +denizens or aliens, without common consent in parliament.[167] This is +the last statute that has been found necessary to restrain the Crown +from arbitrary taxation, and may be deemed the complement of those +numerous provisions which the virtue of ancient times had extorted +from the first and third Edwards. + +Yet these acts were hardly so indispensable, nor wrought so essential +a change in the character of our monarchy, as that which abolished the +star-chamber. Though it was evident how little the statute of Henry +VII. could bear out that overweening power it had since arrogated, +though the statute-book and parliamentary records of the best ages +were irrefragable testimonies against its usurpations; yet the course +of precedents under the Tudor and Stuart families were so invariable +that nothing more was at first intended than a bill to regulate that +tribunal. A suggestion, thrown out, as Clarendon informs us, by one +not at all connected with the more ardent reformers, led to the +substitution of a bill for taking it altogether away.[168] This +abrogates all exercise of jurisdiction, properly so called, whether of +a civil or criminal nature, by the privy-council, as well as the +star-chamber. The power of examining and committing persons charged +with offences is by no means taken away; but, with a retrospect to the +language held by the judges and Crown lawyers in some cases that have +been mentioned, it is enacted that every person committed by the +council or any of them, or by the king's special command, may have his +writ of habeas corpus; in the return to which, the officer in whose +custody he is shall certify the true cause of his commitment, which +the court, from whence the writ has issued, shall within three days +examine, in order to see whether the cause thus certified appear to be +just and legal or not, and do justice accordingly by delivering, +bailing, or remanding the party. Thus fell the great court of +star-chamber; and with it the whole irregular and arbitrary practice +of government, that had for several centuries so thwarted the +operation and obscured the light of our free constitution, that many +have been prone to deny the existence of those liberties which they +found so often infringed, and to mistake the violations of law for its +standard. + +With the court of star-chamber perished that of the high-commission, a +younger birth of tyranny, but perhaps even more hateful, from the +peculiar irritation of the times. It had stretched its authority +beyond the tenor of the act of Elizabeth, whereby it had been created, +and which limits its competence to the correction of ecclesiastical +offences according to the known boundaries of ecclesiastical +jurisdiction, assuming a right, not only to imprison, but to fine the +laity, which was generally reckoned illegal.[169] The statute +repealing that of Elizabeth, under which the high-commission existed, +proceeds to take away from the ecclesiastical courts all power of +inflicting temporal penalties, in terms so large, and doubtless not +inadvertently employed, as to render their jurisdiction nugatory. This +part of the act was repealed after the restoration; and like the other +measures of that time, with little care to prevent the recurrence of +those abuses which had provoked its enactments.[170] + +A single clause in the act that abolished the star-chamber was +sufficient to annihilate the arbitrary jurisdiction of several other +irregular tribunals, grown out of the despotic temper of the Tudor +dynasty:--the court of the president and council of the North, long +obnoxious to the common lawyers, and lately the sphere of Strafford's +tyrannical arrogance;[171] the court of the president and council of +Wales and the Welsh marches, which had pretended, as before mentioned, +to a jurisdiction over the adjacent counties of Salop, Worcester, +Hereford, and Gloucester; with those of the duchy of Lancaster and +county palatine of Chester. These, under various pretexts, had usurped +so extensive a cognisance as to deprive one-third of England of the +privileges of the common law. The jurisdiction, however, of the two +latter courts in matters touching the king's private estate has not +been taken away by the statute. Another act afforded remedy for some +abuses in the stannary-courts of Cornwall and Devon.[172] Others +retrenched the vexatious prerogative of purveyance, and took away that +of compulsory knighthood.[173] And one of greater importance put an +end to a fruitful source of oppression and complaint, by determining +for ever the extent of royal forests, according to their boundaries in +the twentieth year of James, annulling all the preambulations and +inquests by which they had subsequently been enlarged.[174] + +I must here reckon, among the beneficial acts of this parliament, one +that passed some months afterwards, after the king's return from +Scotland, and perhaps the only measure of that second period on which +we can bestow unmixed commendation. The delays and uncertainties of +raising troops by voluntary enlistment, to which the temper of the +English nation, pacific though intrepid, and impatient of the strict +control of martial law, gave small encouragement, had led to the usage +of pressing soldiers for service, whether in Ireland, or on foreign +expeditions. This prerogative seeming dangerous and oppressive, as +well as of dubious legality, it is recited in the preamble of an act +empowering the king to levy troops by this compulsory method for the +special exigency of the Irish rebellion, that "by the laws of this +realm, none of his majesty's subjects ought to be impressed or +compelled to go out of his country to serve as a soldier in the wars, +except in case of necessity of the sudden coming in of strange enemies +into the kingdom, or except they be otherwise bound by the tenure of +their lands or possessions."[175] The king, in a speech from the +throne, adverted to this bill while passing through the houses, as an +invasion of his prerogative. This notice of a parliamentary proceeding +the Commons resented as a breach of their privilege; and having +obtained the consent of the Lords to a joint remonstrance, the king, +who was in no state to maintain his objection, gave his assent to the +bill. In the reigns of Elizabeth and James, we have seen frequent +instances of the Crown's interference as to matters debated in +parliament. But from the time of the long parliament, the law of +privilege, in this respect, has stood on an unshaken basis.[176] + +These are the principal statutes which we owe to this parliament. They +give occasion to two remarks of no slight importance. In the first +place, it will appear, on comparing them with our ancient laws and +history, that they made scarce any material change in our constitution +such as it had been established and recognised under the house of +Plantagenet: the law for triennial parliaments even receded from those +unrepealed provisions of the reign of Edward III., that they should be +assembled annually. The court of star-chamber, if it could be said to +have a legal jurisdiction, traced it only to the Tudor period; its +recent excesses were diametrically opposed to the existing laws, and +the protestations of ancient parliaments. The court of ecclesiastical +commission was an offset of the royal supremacy, established at the +Reformation. The impositions on merchandise were both plainly illegal, +and of no long usage. That of ship-money was flagrantly, and by +universal confession, a strain of arbitrary power without pretext of +right. Thus, in by far the greater part of the enactments of 1641, the +monarchy lost nothing that it had anciently possessed; and the balance +of our constitution might seem rather to have been restored to its +former equipoise, than to have undergone any fresh change. + +But those common liberties of England which our forefathers had, with +such commendable perseverance, extorted from the grasp of power, +though by no means so merely theoretical and nugatory in effect as +some would insinuate, were yet very precarious in the best periods, +neither well defined, nor exempt from anomalous exceptions, or from +occasional infringement. Some of them, such as the statute for annual +sessions of parliament, had gone into disuse. Those that were most +evident, could not be enforced; and the new tribunals that, whether by +law or usurpation, had reared their heads over the people, had made +almost all public and personal rights dependent on their arbitrary +will. It was necessary, therefore, to infuse new blood into the +languid frame, and so to renovate our ancient constitution that the +present æra should seem almost a new birth of liberty. Such was the +aim, especially, of those provisions which placed the return of +parliaments at fixed intervals beyond the power of the Crown to elude. +It was hoped that by their means, so long as a sense of public spirit +should exist in the nation (and beyond that time it is vain to think +of liberty), no prince, however able and ambitious, could be free from +restraint for more than three years; an interval too short for the +completion of arbitrary projects, and which few ministers would +venture to employ in such a manner as might expose them to the wrath +of parliament. + +It is to be observed, in the second place, that by these salutary +restrictions, and some new retrenchments of pernicious or abused +prerogative, the long parliament formed our constitution such nearly +as it now exists. Laws of great importance were doubtless enacted in +subsequent times, particularly at the Revolution; but none of them, +perhaps, were strictly necessary for the preservation of our civil and +political privileges; and it is rather from 1641 than any other epoch, +that we may date their full legal establishment. That single statute +which abolished the star-chamber, gave every man a security which no +other enactments could have afforded, and which no government could +essentially impair. Though the reigns of the two latter Stuarts, +accordingly, are justly obnoxious, and were marked by several illegal +measures, yet, whether we consider the number and magnitude of their +transgressions of law, or the practical oppression of their +government, these princes fell very short of the despotism that had +been exercised, either under the Tudors, or the two first of their own +family. + +From this survey of the good works of the long parliament, we must +turn our eyes with equal indifference to the opposite picture of its +errors and offences; faults which, though the mischiefs they produced +were chiefly temporary, have yet served to obliterate from the +recollection of too many the permanent blessings we have inherited +through its exertions. In reflecting on the events which so soon +clouded a scene of glory, we ought to learn the dangers that attend +all revolutionary crises, however justifiable or necessary; and that, +even when posterity may have cause to rejoice in the ultimate result, +the existing generation are seldom compensated for their present loss +of tranquillity. The very enemies of this parliament confess that they +met in November 1640 with almost unmingled zeal for the public good, +and with loyal attachment to the Crown. They were the chosen +representatives of the commons of England, in an age more eminent for +steady and scrupulous conscientiousness in private life, than any, +perhaps, that had gone before or has followed; not the demagogues or +adventurers of transient popularity, but men well-born and wealthy, +than whom there could perhaps never be assembled five hundred more +adequate to redress the grievances, or to fix the laws of a great +nation. But they were misled by the excess of two passions, both just +and natural in the circumstances wherein they found themselves, +resentment and distrust; passions eminently contagious, and +irresistible when they seize on the zeal and credulity of a popular +assembly. The one betrayed them into a measure certainly severe and +sanguinary, and in the eyes of posterity exposed to greater reproach +than it deserved, the attainder of Lord Strafford, and some other +proceedings of too much violence; the other gave a colour to all their +resolutions, and aggravated their differences with the king till there +remained no other arbitrator but the sword. + +_Impeachment of Strafford._--Those who know the conduct and character +of the Earl of Strafford, his abuse of power in the north, his far +more outrageous transgressions in Ireland, his dangerous influence +over the king's counsels, cannot hesitate to admit, if indeed they +profess any regard to the constitution of this kingdom, that to bring +so great a delinquent to justice according to the known process of law +was among the primary duties of the new parliament. It was that which +all, with scarce an exception but among his own creatures (for most of +the court were openly or in secret his enemies),[177] ardently +desired; yet which the king's favour and his own commanding genius +must have rendered a doubtful enterprise. He came to London, not +unconscious of the danger, by his master's direct injunctions. The +first days of the session were critical; and any vacillation or delay +in the Commons might probably have given time for some strong exertion +of power to frustrate their designs. We must therefore consider the +bold suggestion of Pym, to carry up to the Lords an impeachment for +high treason against Strafford, not only as a master-stroke of that +policy which is fittest for revolutions, but as justifiable by the +circumstances wherein they stood. Nothing short of a commitment to the +Tower would have broken the spell that so many years of arbitrary +dominion had been working. It was dissipated in the instant that the +people saw him in the hands of the usher of the black rod; and with +his power fell also that of his master; so that Charles, from the very +hour of Strafford's impeachment, never once ventured to resume the +high tone of command congenial to his disposition, or to speak to the +Commons but as one complaining of a superior force.[178] + +_Discussion of its justice._--The articles of Strafford's impeachment +relate principally to his conduct in Ireland. For though he had begun +to act with violence in the court of York, as lord-president of the +North, and was charged with having procured a commission investing him +with exorbitant power, yet he had too soon left that sphere of +dominion for the lieutenancy of Ireland, to give any wide scope for +prosecution, but in Ireland it was sufficiently proved that he had +arrogated an authority beyond what the Crown had ever lawfully +enjoyed, and even beyond the example of former viceroys of that +island, where the disordered state of society, the frequency of +rebellions, and the distance from all control, had given rise to such +a series of arbitrary precedents, as would have almost excused any +ordinary stretch of power.[179] Notwithstanding this, however, when +the managers came to state and substantiate their articles of +accusation, though some were satisfied that there was enough to +warrant the severest judgment, yet it appeared to many dispassionate +men that, even supposing the evidence as to all of them to be legally +convincing, they could not, except through a dangerous latitude of +construction, be aggravated into treason. The law of England is silent +as to conspiracies against itself. St. John and Maynard struggled in +vain to prove that a scheme to overturn the fundamental laws and to +govern by a standing army, though as infamous as any treason, could be +brought within the words of the statute of Edward III., as a +compassing of the king's death. Nor, in fact, was there any conclusive +evidence against Strafford of such a design. The famous words imputed +to him by Sir Henry Vane, though there can be little reason to +question that some such were spoken, seem too imperfectly +reported,[180] as well as uttered too much in the heat of passion, to +furnish a substantive accusation; and I should rather found my +conviction of Strafford's systematic hostility to our fundamental laws +on his correspondence since brought to light, as well as on his +general conduct in administration, than on any overt acts proved on +his impeachment. The presumption of history, to whose mirror the +scattered rays of moral evidence converge, may be irresistible, when +the legal inference from insulated actions is not only technically, +but substantially, inconclusive. Yet we are not to suppose that the +charges against this minister appeared so evidently to fall short of +high treason, according to the apprehension of that age, as in later +times has usually been taken for granted. Accustomed to the unjust +verdicts obtained in cases of treason by the court, the statute of +Edward having been perpetually stretched by constructive +interpretations, neither the people nor the lawyers annexed a definite +sense to that crime. The judges themselves, on a solemn reference by +the House of Lords for their opinion, whether some of the articles +charged against Strafford amounted to treason, answered unanimously, +that upon all which their lordships had voted to be proved, it was +their opinion the Earl of Strafford did deserve to undergo the pains +and penalties of high treason by law.[181] And, as an apology, at +least, for this judicial opinion, it may be remarked that the +fifteenth article of the impeachment, charging him with raising money +by his own authority, and quartering troops on the people of Ireland, +in order to compel their obedience to his unlawful requisitions (upon +which, and one other article, not on the whole matter, the peers voted +him guilty), does in fact approach very nearly, if we may not say +more, to a substantive treason within the statute of Edward III., as +a levying war against the king, even without reference to some Irish +acts of parliament upon which the managers of the impeachment relied. +It cannot be extravagant to assert that if the colonel of a regiment +were to issue an order commanding the inhabitants of the district +where it is quartered to contribute certain sums of money, and were to +compel the payment by quartering troops on the houses of those who +refused, in a general and systematic manner, he would, according to a +warrantable construction of the statutes, be guilty of the treason +called levying war on the king; and that, if we could imagine him to +do this by an order from the privy council or the war office, the case +would not be at all altered. On the other hand, a single act of which +violence might be (in technical language) trespass, misdemeanour, or +felony, according to circumstances; but would want the generality, +which, as the statute has been construed, determines its character to +be treason. It is however manifest that Strafford's actual enforcement +of his order, by quartering soldiers, was not by any means proved to +be so frequently done as to bring it within the line of treason; and +the evidence is also open to every sort of legal objection. But in +that age, the rules of evidence, so scrupulously defined since, were +either very imperfectly recognised, or continually transgressed. If +then Strafford could be brought within the letter of the law, and was +also deserving of death for his misdeeds towards the commonwealth, it +might be thought enough to justify his condemnation, although he had +not offended against what seemed to be the spirit and intention of the +statute. This should, at least, restrain us from passing an +unqualified censure on those who voted against him, comprehending +undoubtedly the far more respectable portion of the Commons, though +only twenty-six peers against nineteen formed the feeble majority on +the bill of attainder.[182] It may be observed that the House of +Commons acted in one respect with a generosity which the Crown had +never shown in any case of treason, by immediately passing a bill to +relieve his children from the penalties of forfeiture and corruption +of blood. + +It is undoubtedly a very important problem in political ethics, +whether great offences against the commonwealth may not justly incur +the penalty of death by a retrospective act of the legislature, which +a tribunal restrained by known laws is not competent to inflict. Bills +of attainder had been by no means uncommon in England, especially +under Henry VIII.; but generally when the crime charged might have +been equally punished by law. They are less dangerous than to stretch +the boundaries of a statute by arbitrary construction. Nor do they +seem to differ at all in principle from those bills of pains and +penalties, which, in times of comparative moderation and tranquillity, +have sometimes been thought necessary to visit some unforeseen and +anomalous transgression beyond the reach of our penal code. There are +many, indeed, whose system absolutely rejects all such retrospective +punishment, either from the danger of giving too much scope to +vindictive passion, or on some more abstract principle of justice. +Those who may incline to admit that the moral competence of the +sovereign power to secure itself by the punishment of a heinous +offender, even without the previous warning of law, is not to be +denied, except by reasoning, which would shake the foundation of his +right to inflict punishment in ordinary cases, will still be sensible +of the mischief which any departure from stable rules, under the +influence of the most public-spirited zeal, is likely to produce. The +attainder of Strafford could not be justifiable, unless it were +necessary; nor necessary, if a lighter penalty would have been +sufficient for the public security. + +This therefore becomes a preliminary question, upon which the whole +mainly turns. It is one which does not seem to admit of a +demonstrative answer; but with which we can perhaps deal better than +those who lived at that time. Their distrust of the king, their +apprehension that nothing less than the delinquent minister's death +could ensure them from his return to power, rendered the leaders of +parliament obstinate against any proposition of a mitigated penalty. +Nor can it be denied that there are several instances in history, +where the favourites of monarchs, after a transient exile or +imprisonment, have returned, on some fresh wave of fortune, to mock or +avenge themselves upon their adversaries. Yet the prosperous condition +of the popular party, which nothing but intemperate passion was likely +to impair, rendered this contingency by no means probable; and it is +against probable dangers that nations should take precautions, without +aiming at more complete security than the baffling uncertainties of +events will permit. Such was Strafford's unpopularity, that he could +never have gained any sympathy, but by the harshness of his +condemnation and the magnanimity it enabled him to display. These have +half redeemed his forfeit fame, and misled a generous posterity. It +was agreed on all hands that any punishment which the law could award +to the highest misdemeanours, duly proved on impeachment, must be +justly inflicted. "I am still the same," said Lord Digby, in his +famous speech against the bill of attainder, "in my opinions and +affections, as unto the Earl of Strafford; I confidently believe him +to be the most dangerous minister, the most insupportable of free +subjects, that can be charactered. I believe him to be still that +grand apostate to the commonwealth, who must not expect to be pardoned +in this world till he be despatched to the other. And yet, let me tell +you, Mr. Speaker, my hand must not be to that despatch."[183] These +sentiments, whatever we may think of the sincerity of him who uttered +them, were common to many of those who desired most ardently to see +that uniform course of known law, which neither the court's lust of +power nor the clamorous indignation of a popular assembly might turn +aside. The king, whose conscience was so deeply wounded by his +acquiescence in this minister's death, would gladly have assented to +a bill inflicting the penalty of perpetual banishment; and this, +accompanied, as it ought to have been, by degradation from the rank +for which he had sold his integrity, would surely have exhibited to +Europe an example sufficiently conspicuous of just retribution. Though +nothing perhaps could have restored a tolerable degree of confidence +between Charles and the parliament, it is certain that his resentment +and aversion were much aggravated by the painful compulsion they had +put on him, and that the schism among the constitutional party began +from this, among other causes, to grow more sensible, till it +terminated in civil war.[184] + +But, if we pay such regard to the principles of clemency and +moderation, and of adherence to the fixed rules of law, as to pass +some censure on this deviation from them in the attainder of Lord +Strafford, we must not yield to the clamorous invectives of his +admirers, or treat the prosecution as a scandalous and flagitious +excess of party vengeance. Look round the nations of the globe, and +say in what age or country would such a man have fallen into the hands +of his enemies, without paying the forfeit of his offences against the +commonwealth with his life. They who grasp at arbitrary power, they +who make their fellow-citizens tremble before them, they who gratify a +selfish pride by the humiliation and servitude of mankind, have always +played a deep stake; and the more invidious and intolerable has been +their pre-eminence, their fall has been more destructive, and their +punishment more exemplary. Something beyond the retirement or the +dismissal of such ministers has seemed necessary to "absolve the +gods," and furnish history with an awful lesson of retribution. The +spontaneous instinct of nature has called for the axe and the gibbet +against such capital delinquents. If then we blame, in some measure, +the sentence against Strafford, it is not for his sake, but for that +of the laws on which he trampled, and of the liberty which he +betrayed. He died justly before God and man, though we may deem the +precedent dangerous, and the better course of a magnanimous lenity +unwisely rejected; and in condemning the bill of attainder, we cannot +look upon it as a crime. + +_Act against dissolution of parliament without its consent._--The same +distrustful temper, blamable in nothing but its excess, drew the House +of Commons into a measure more unconstitutional than the attainder of +Strafford, the bill enacting that they should not be dissolved without +their own consent. Whether or not this had been previously meditated +by the leaders is uncertain; but the circumstances under which it was +adopted display all the blind precipitancy of fear. A scheme for +bringing up the army from the north of England to overawe parliament +had been discoursed of, or rather in a great measure concerted, by +some young courtiers and military men. The imperfection and +indefiniteness of the evidence obtained respecting this plot +increased, as often happens, the apprehensions of the Commons. Yet, +difficult as it might be to fix its proper character between a loose +project and a deliberate conspiracy, this at least was hardly to be +denied, that the king had listened to and approved a proposal of +appealing from the representatives of his people to a military +force.[185] Their greatest danger was a sudden dissolution. The +triennial bill afforded indeed a valuable security for the future. Yet +if the present parliament had been broken with any circumstances of +violence, it might justly seem very hazardous to confide in the right +of spontaneous election reserved to the people by that statute, which +the Crown would have three years to defeat. A rapid impulse, rather +than any concerted resolution, appears to have dictated this hardy +encroachment on the prerogative. The bill against the dissolution of +the present parliament without its own consent was resolved in a +committee on the fifth of May, brought in the next day, and sent to +the Lords on the seventh. The upper house, in a conference the same +day, urged a very wise and constitutional amendment, limiting its +duration to the term of two years. But the Commons adhering to their +original provisions, the bill was passed by both houses on the +eighth.[186] Thus, in the space of three days from the first +suggestion, an alteration was made in the frame of our polity, which +rendered the House of Commons equally independent of their sovereign +and their constituents; and, if it could be supposed capable of being +maintained in more tranquil times, would, in the theory at least of +speculative politics, have gradually converted the government into +something like a Dutch aristocracy. The ostensible pretext was, that +money could not be borrowed on the authority of resolutions of +parliament, until some security was furnished to the creditors, that +those whom they were to trust should have a permanent existence. This +argument would have gone a great way, and was capable of an answer; +since the money might have been borrowed on the authority of the whole +legislature. But the chief motive, unquestionably, was a just +apprehension of the king's intention to overthrow the parliament, and +of personal danger to those who had stood most forward from his +resentment after a dissolution. His ready acquiescence in this bill, +far more dangerous than any of those at which he demurred, can only be +ascribed to his own shame and the queen's consternation at the +discovery of the late plot; and thus we trace again the calamities of +Charles to their two great sources; his want of judgment in affairs, +and of good faith towards his people. + +_Innovations meditated in the church._--The parliament had met with as +ardent and just an indignation against ecclesiastical as temporal +grievances. The tyranny, the folly, and rashness of Charles's bishops +were still greater than his own. It was evidently an indispensable +duty to reduce the overbearing ascendancy of that order, which had +rendered the nation, in regard to spiritual dominion, a great loser by +the Reformation. They had been so blindly infatuated, as even in the +year 1640, amidst all the perils of the times, to fill up the measure +of public wrath by enacting a series of canons in convocation. These +enjoined, or at least recommended, some of the modern innovations, +which, though many excellent men had been persecuted for want of +compliance with them, had not got the sanction of authority. They +imposed an oath on the clergy, commonly called the _et cætera_ oath, +binding them to attempt no alteration in the government of the church +by bishops, deans, archdeacons, etc. This oath was by the same +authority enjoined to such of the laity as held ecclesiastical +offices.[187] The king, however, on the petition of the council of +peers at York, directed it not to be taken. The House of Commons +rescinded these canons with some degree of excess on the other side; +not only denying the right of convocation to bind the clergy, which +had certainly been exercised in all periods, but actually impeaching +the bishops for a high misdemeanour on that account.[188] The Lords, +in the month of March, appointed a committee of ten earls, ten +bishops, and ten barons, to report upon the innovations lately brought +into the church. Of this committee Williams was chairman. But the +spirit which now possessed the Commons was not to be exorcised by the +sacrifice of Laud and Wren, or even by such inconsiderable alterations +as the moderate bishops were ready to suggest.[189] + +There had always existed a party, though by no means co-extensive with +that bearing the general name of puritan, who retained an insuperable +aversion to the whole scheme of episcopal discipline, as inconsistent +with the ecclesiastical parity they believed to be enjoined by the +apostles. It is not easy to determine what proportion these bore to +the community. They were certainly at the opening of the parliament by +far the less numerous, though an active and increasing party. Few of +the House of Commons, according to Clarendon and the best contemporary +writers, looked to a destruction of the existing hierarchy.[190] The +more plausible scheme was one which had the sanction of Usher's +learned judgment, and which Williams was said to favour, for what was +called a moderate episcopacy; wherein the bishop, reduced to a sort of +president of his college of presbyters, and differing from them only +in rank, not in species (_gradu, non ordine_), should act, whether in +ordination or jurisdiction, by their concurrence.[191] This +intermediate form of church-government would probably have contented +the popular leaders of the Commons, except two or three, and have +proved acceptable to the nation. But it was hardly less offensive to +the Scottish presbyterians, intolerant of the smallest deviation from +their own model, than to the high-church episcopalians; and the +necessity of humouring that proud and prejudiced race of people, who +began already to show that an alteration in the church of England +would be their stipulated condition for any assistance they might +afford to the popular party, led the majority of the House of Commons +to give more countenance than they sincerely intended to a bill, +preferred by what was then called the root and branch party, for the +entire abolition of episcopacy. This party, composed chiefly of +presbyterians, but with no small admixture of other sectaries, +predominated in the city of London. At the instigation of the Scots +commissioners, a petition against episcopal government with 15,000 +signatures was presented early in the session (Dec. 11, 1640), and +received so favourably as to startle those who bore a good affection +to the church.[192] This gave rise to the first difference that was +expressed in parliament: Digby speaking warmly against the reference +of this petition to a committee, and Falkland, though strenuous for +reducing the prelates' authority, showing much reluctance to abolish +their order.[193] A bill was however brought in by Sir Edward Dering, +an honest but not very enlightened or consistent man, for the utter +extirpation of episcopacy, and its second reading carried on a +division by 139 to 108.[194] This, no doubt, seems to show the +anti-episcopal party to have been stronger than Clarendon admits. Yet +I suspect that the greater part of those who voted for it did not +intend more than to intimidate the bishops. Petitions very numerously +signed, for the maintenance of episcopal government, were presented +from several counties;[195] nor is it, I think, possible to doubt +that the nation sought only the abridgment of that coercive +jurisdiction and temporal power, by which the bishops had forfeited +the reverence due to their function, as well as that absolute +authority over presbyters, which could not be reconciled to the +customs of the primitive church.[196] This was the object both of the +act abolishing the high commission, which, by the largeness of its +expressions, seemed to take away all coercive jurisdiction from the +ecclesiastical courts, and of that for depriving the bishops of their +suffrages among the peers; which, after being once rejected by a large +majority of the Lords in June 1641, passed into a law in the month of +February following, and was the latest concession that the king made +before his final appeal to arms.[197] + +This was hardly perhaps a greater alteration of the established +constitution than had resulted from the suppression of the monasteries +under Henry; when, by the fall of the mitred abbots, the secular peers +acquired a preponderance in number over the spiritual which they had +not previously enjoyed. It was supported by several persons, +especially Lord Falkland, by no means inclined to subvert the +episcopal discipline; whether from a hope to compromise better with +the opposite party by this concession, or from a sincere belief that +the bishops might be kept better to the duties of their function by +excluding them from civil power. Considered generally, it may be +reckoned a doubtful question in the theory of our government, whether +the mixture of this ecclesiastical aristocracy with the House of Lords +is advantageous or otherwise to the public interests, or to those of +religion. Their great revenues, and the precedence allotted them, seem +naturally to place them on this level; and the general property of the +clergy, less protected than that of other classes against the cupidity +of an administration or a faction, may perhaps require this peculiar +security. In fact, the disposition of the English to honour the +ministers of the church, as well as to respect the ancient +institutions of their country, has usually been so powerful, that the +question would hardly have been esteemed dubious, if the bishops +themselves (I speak of course with such limitations as the nature of +the case requires) had been at all times sufficiently studious to +maintain a character of political independence, or even to conceal a +spirit of servility, which the pernicious usage of continual +translations from one see to another, borrowed, like many other parts +of our ecclesiastical law, from the most corrupt period of the church +of Rome, has had so manifest a tendency to engender. + +The spirit of ecclesiastical, rather than civil, democracy, was the +first sign of the approaching storm that alarmed the Hertfords and +Southamptons, the Hydes and Falklands. Attached to the venerable +church of the English reformation, they were loth to see the rashness +of some prelates avenged by her subversion, or a few recent +innovations repressed by incomparably more essential changes. Full of +regard for established law, and disliking the puritan bitterness, +aggravated as it was by long persecution, they revolted from the +indecent devastation committed in churches by the populace, and from +the insults which now fell on the conforming ministers. The Lords +early distinguished their temper as to those points by an order on the +16th of January for the performance of divine service according to +law, in consequence of the tumults that had been caused by the heated +puritans under pretence of abolishing innovations. Little regard was +shown to this order;[198] but it does not appear that the Commons went +farther on the opposite side than to direct some ceremonial novelties +to be discontinued, and to empower one of their members, Sir Robert +Harley, to take away all pictures, crosses, and superstitious figures +within churches or without.[199] But this order, like many of their +other acts, was a manifest encroachment on the executive power of the +Crown.[200] + +_Schism in the constitutional party._--It seems to have been about the +time of the summer recess, during the king's absence in Scotland, that +the apprehension of changes in church and state far beyond what had +been dreamed of at the opening of parliament, led to a final schism +in the constitutional party.[201] Charles, by abandoning his former +advisers, and yielding, with just as much reluctance as displayed the +value of the concession, to a series of laws that abridged his +prerogative, had recovered a good deal of the affection and confidence +of some, and gained from others that sympathy which is seldom withheld +from undeserving princes in their humiliation. Though the ill-timed +death of the Earl of Bedford in May had partly disappointed an +intended arrangement for bringing the popular leaders into office, yet +the appointments of Essex, Holland, Say, and St. John from that party +were apparently pledges of the king's willingness to select his +advisers from their ranks; whatever cause there might be to suspect +that their real influence over him would be too inconsiderable.[202] +Those who were still excluded, and who distrusted the king's +intentions as well towards themselves as the public cause, of whom Pym +and Hampden, with the assistance of St. John, though actually +solicitor-general, were the chief, found no better means of keeping +alive the animosity that was beginning to subside, than by framing +the Remonstrance on the state of the kingdom, presented to the king +in November 1641. This being a recapitulation of all the grievances +and misgovernment that had existed since his accession, which his +acquiescence in so many measures of redress ought, according to the +common courtesy due to sovereigns, to have cancelled, was hardly +capable of answering any other purpose than that of re-animating +discontents almost appeased, and guarding the people against the +confidence they were beginning to place in the king's sincerity. The +promoters of it might also hope from Charles's proud and hasty temper +that he would reply in such a tone as would more exasperate the +Commons. But he had begun to use the advice of judicious men, +Falkland, Hyde, and Colepepper, and reined in his natural violence so +as to give his enemies no advantage over him. + +The jealousy, which nations ought never to lay aside, was especially +required towards Charles, whose love of arbitrary dominion was much +better proved than his sincerity in relinquishing it. But if he were +intended to reign at all, and to reign with any portion either of the +prerogatives of an English king, or the respect claimed by every +sovereign, the Remonstrance of the Commons could but prolong an +irritation incompatible with public tranquillity. It admits indeed of +no question, that the schemes of Pym, Hampden, and St. John, already +tended to restrain the king's personal exercise of any effective +power, from a sincere persuasion that no confidence could ever be +placed in him, though not to abolish the monarchy, or probably to +abridge in the same degree the rights of his successor. Their +Remonstrance was put forward to stem the returning tide of loyalty, +which not only threatened to obstruct the further progress of their +endeavours, but, as they would allege, might, by gaining strength, +wash away some at least of the bulwarks that had been so recently +constructed for the preservation of liberty. It was carried in a full +house by the small majority of 159 to 148.[203] So much was it deemed +a trial of strength, that Cromwell declared after the division that, +had the question been lost, he would have sold his estate, and retired +to America. + +_Suspicions of the king's sincerity._--It may be thought rather +surprising that, with a House of Commons so nearly balanced as they +appeared on this vote, the king should have new demands that +annihilated his authority made upon him, and have found a greater +majority than had voted the Remonstrance ready to oppose him by arms; +especially as that paper contained little but what was true, and might +rather be censured as an ill-timed provocation than an encroachment on +the constitutional prerogative. But there were circumstances, both of +infelicity and misconduct, which aggravated that distrust whereon +every measure hostile to him was grounded. His imprudent connivance at +popery, and the far more reprehensible encouragement given to it by +his court, had sunk deep in the hearts of his people. His ill-wishers +knew how to irritate the characteristic sensibility of the English on +this topic. The queen, unpopular on the score of her imputed arbitrary +counsels, was odious as a maintainer of idolatry.[204] The lenity +shown to convicted popish priests, who, though liable to capital +punishment, had been suffered to escape with sometimes a very short +imprisonment, was naturally (according to the maxims of those times) +treated as a grievance by the Commons, who petitioned for the +execution of one Goodman and others in similar circumstances, perhaps +in the hope that the king would attempt to shelter them. But he +dexterously left it to the house whether they should die or not; and +none of them actually suffered.[205] Rumours of pretended conspiracies +by the catholics were perpetually in circulation, and rather +unworthily encouraged by the chiefs of the Commons. More substantial +motives for alarm appeared to arise from the obscure transaction in +Scotland, commonly called the Incident, which looked so like a +concerted design against the two great leaders of the constitutional +party, Hamilton and Argyle, that it was not unnatural to anticipate +something similar in England.[206] In the midst of these +apprehensions, as if to justify every suspicion and every severity, +burst out the Irish rebellion with its attendant massacre. Though +nothing could be more unlikely in itself, or less supported by proof, +than the king's connivance at this calamity, from which every man of +common understanding could only expect, what actually resulted from +it, a terrible aggravation of his difficulties, yet, with that +distrustful temper of the English, and their jealous dread of popery, +he was never able to conquer their suspicions that he had either +instigated the rebellion, or was very little solicitous to suppress +it; suspicions indeed, to which, however ungrounded at this particular +period, some circumstances that took place afterwards gave an apparent +confirmation.[207] + +It was, perhaps, hardly practicable for the king, had he given less +real excuse for it than he did, to lull that disquietude which so many +causes operated to excite. The most circumspect discretion of a prince +in such a difficult posture cannot restrain the rashness of eager +adherents, or silence the murmurs of a discontented court. Those +nearest Charles's person, and who always possessed too much of his +confidence, were notoriously and naturally averse to the recent +changes. Their threatening but idle speeches, and impotent +denunciations of resentment, conveyed with malignant exaggeration +among the populace, provoked those tumultuous assemblages, which +afforded the king no bad pretext for withdrawing himself from a +capital where his personal dignity was so little respected.[208] It is +impossible, however, to deny that he gave by his own conduct no +trifling reasons for suspicion, and last of all by the appointment of +Lunsford to the government of the Tower; a choice for which, as it +would never have been made from good motives, it was natural to seek +the worst.[209] But the single false step which rendered his affairs +irretrievable by anything short of civil war, and placed all +reconciliation at an insuperable distance, was his attempt to seize +the five members within the walls of the house; an evident violation, +not of common privilege, but of all security for the independent +existence of parliament in the mode of its execution, and leading to a +very natural though perhaps mistaken surmise, that the charge itself +of high treason made against these distinguished leaders, without +communicating any of its grounds, had no other foundation than their +parliamentary conduct. And we are in fact warranted by the authority +of the queen herself to assert that their aim in this most secret +enterprise was to strike terror into the parliament, and regain the +power that had been wrested from their grasp.[210] It is unnecessary +to dwell on a measure so well known, and which scarce any of the +king's advocates have defended. The only material subject it affords +for reflection is, how far the manifest hostility of Charles to the +popular chiefs might justify them in rendering it harmless by wresting +the sword out of his hands. No man doubtless has a right, for the sake +only of his own security, to subvert his country's laws, or to plunge +her into civil war. But Hampden, Hollis, and Pym might not absurdly +consider the defence of English freedom bound up in their own, +assailed as they were for its sake and by its enemies. It is observed +by Clarendon that "Mr. Hampden was much altered after this accusation; +his nature and courage seeming much fiercer than before." And it is +certain that both he and Mr. Pym were not only most forward in all the +proceedings which brought on the war, but among the most implacable +opponents of all overtures towards reconciliation; so that although +both dying in 1643, we cannot pronounce with absolute certainty as to +their views, there can be little room to doubt that they would have +adhered to the side of Cromwell and St. John, in the great separation +of the parliamentary party. + +The noble historian confesses that not Hampden alone, but the +generality of those who were beginning to judge more favourably of the +king, had their inclinations alienated by this fatal act of +violence.[211] It is worthy of remark that each of the two most +striking encroachments on the king's prerogative sprung directly from +the suspicions roused of an intention to destroy their privileges: the +bill perpetuating the parliament having been hastily passed on the +discovery of Percy's and Jermyn's conspiracy, and the present attempt +on the five members inducing the Commons to insist peremptorily on +vesting the command of the militia in persons of their own nomination; +a security, indeed, at which they had been less openly aiming from the +time of that conspiracy, and particularly of late.[212] Every one +knows that this was the grand question upon which the quarrel finally +rested; but it may be satisfactory to show more precisely than our +historians have generally done, what was meant by the power of the +militia, and what was the exact ground of dispute in this respect +between Charles I. and his parliament. + +_Historical sketch of the military force in England._--The military +force which our ancient constitution had placed in the hands of its +chief magistrate and those deriving authority from him, may be classed +under two descriptions; one principally designed to maintain the +king's and the nation's rights abroad, the other to protect them at +home from attack or disturbance. The first comprehends the tenures by +knight's service, which, according to the constant principles of a +feudal monarchy, bound the owners of lands thus held from the Crown, +to attend the king in war, within or without the realm, mounted and +armed, during the regular term of service. Their own vassals were +obliged by the same law to accompany them. But the feudal service was +limited to forty days, beyond which time they could be retained only +by their own consent, and at the king's expense. The military tenants +were frequently called upon in expeditions against Scotland, and last +of all in that of 1640; but the short duration of their legal service +rendered it of course nearly useless in continental warfare. Even when +they formed the battle, or line of heavy armed cavalry, it was +necessary to complete the army by recruits of foot-soldiers, whom +feudal tenure did not regularly supply, and whose importance was soon +made sensible by their skill in our national weapon, the bow. What +was the extent of the king's lawful prerogative for two centuries or +more after the conquest as to compelling any of his subjects to serve +him in foreign war, independently of the obligations of tenure, is a +question scarcely to be answered; since, knowing so imperfectly the +boundaries of constitutional law in that period, we have little to +guide us but precedents; and precedents, in such times, are apt to be +much more records of power than of right. We find certainly several +instances under Edward I. and Edward II., sometimes of proclamations +to the sheriffs, directing them to notify to all persons of sufficient +estate that they must hold themselves ready to attend the king +whenever he should call on them, sometimes of commissions to +particular persons in different counties, who are enjoined to choose +and array a competent number of horse and foot for the king's +service.[213] But these levies being of course vexatious to the +people, and contrary at least to the spirit of those immunities which, +under the shadow of the great charter, they were entitled to enjoy, +Edward III., on the petition of his first parliament, who judged that +such compulsory service either was, or ought to be rendered illegal, +passed a remarkable act, with the simple brevity of those times: "That +no man from henceforth shall be charged to arm himself, otherwise than +he was wont in the time of his progenitors the kings of England; and +that no man be compelled to go out of his shire, but where necessity +requireth, and sudden coming of strange enemies into the realm; and +then it shall be done as hath been used in times past for the defence +of the realm."[214] + +This statute, by no means of inconsiderable importance in our +constitutional history, put a stop for some ages to these arbitrary +conscriptions. But Edward had recourse to another means of levying men +without his own cost, by calling on the counties and principal towns +to furnish a certain number of troops. Against this the parliament +provided a remedy by an act in the 25th year of his reign: "That no +man shall be constrained to find men at arms, hoblers, nor archers, +other than those who hold by such service, if it be not by common +consent and grant in parliament." Both these statutes were recited +and confirmed in the fourth year of Henry IV.[215] + +The successful resistance thus made by parliament appears to have +produced the discontinuance of compulsory levies for foreign warfare. +Edward III. and his successors, in their long contention with France, +resorted to the mode of recruiting by contracts with men of high rank +or military estimation, whose influence was greater probably than that +of the Crown towards procuring voluntary enlistments. Their pay, as +stipulated in such of those contracts as are extant, was extremely +high; but it secured the service of a brave and vigorous yeomanry. +Under the house of Tudor, in conformity to their more despotic scheme +of government, the salutary enactments of former times came to be +disregarded; Henry VIII. and Elizabeth sometimes compelling the +counties to furnish soldiers: and the prerogative of pressing men for +military service, even out of the kingdom, having not only become as +much established as undisputed usage could make it, but acquiring no +slight degree of sanction by an act passed under Philip and Mary, +which, without repealing or adverting to the statutes of Edward III. +and Henry IV., recognises, as it seems, the right of the Crown to levy +men for service in war, and imposes penalties on persons absenting +themselves from musters commanded by the king's authority to be held +for that purpose.[216] Clarendon, whose political heresies sprang in a +great measure from his possessing but a very imperfect knowledge of +our ancient constitution, speaks of the act that declared the pressing +of soldiers illegal, though exactly following, even in its language, +that of Edward III., as contrary to the usage and custom of all times. + +It is scarcely perhaps necessary to observe that there had never been +any regular army kept up in England. Henry VII. established the yeomen +of the guard in 1485, solely for the defence of his person, and rather +perhaps, even at that time, to be considered as the king's domestic +servants, than as soldiers. Their number was at first fifty, and seems +never to have exceeded two hundred. A kind of regular troops, however, +chiefly accustomed to the use of artillery, was maintained in the +very few fortified places where it was thought necessary or +practicable to keep up the show of defence; the Tower of London, +Portsmouth, the castle of Dover, the fort of Tilbury, and, before the +union of the crowns, Berwick and some other places on the Scottish +border. I have met with very little as to the nature of these +garrisons. But their whole number must have been insignificant, and +probably at no time equal to resist any serious attack. + +We must take care not to confound this strictly military force, +serving, whether by virtue of tenure or engagement, wheresoever it +should be called, with that of a more domestic and defensive character +to which alone the name of militia was usually applied. By the +Anglo-Saxon laws, or rather by one of the primary and indispensable +conditions of political society, every freeholder, if not every +freeman, was bound to defend his country against hostile invasion. It +appears that the alderman or earl, while those titles continued to +imply the government of a county, was the proper commander of this +militia. Henry II., in order to render it more effective in cases of +emergency, and perhaps with a view to extend its service, enacted, by +consent of parliament, that every freeman, according to the value of +his estate or movables, should hold himself constantly furnished with +suitable arms and equipments.[217] By the statute of Winchester, in +the 13th year of Edward I., these provisions were enforced and +extended. Every man, between the ages of fifteen and sixty, was to be +assessed, and sworn to keep armour according to the value of his lands +and goods; for fifteen pounds and upwards in rent, or forty marks in +goods, a hauberk, an iron breastplate, a sword, a knife, and a horse; +for smaller property, less expensive arms. A view of this armour was +to be taken twice in the year, by constables chosen in every +hundred.[218] These regulations appear by the context of the whole +statute to have more immediate regard to the preservation of internal +peace, by suppressing tumults and arresting robbers, than to the +actual defence of the realm against hostile invasion; a danger not at +that time very imminent. The sheriff, as chief conservator of public +peace and minister of the law, had always possessed the right of +summoning the _posse comitatûs_; that is, of calling on all the king's +liege subjects within his jurisdiction for assistance, in case of any +rebellion or tumultuous rising, or when bands of robbers infested the +public ways, or when, as occurred very frequently, the execution of +legal process was forcibly obstructed. It seems to have been in the +policy of that wise prince, to whom we are indebted for so many signal +improvements in our law, to give a more effective and permanent energy +to this power of the sheriff. The provisions, however, of the statute +of Winton, so far as they obliged every proprietor to possess suitable +arms, were of course applicable to national defence. In seasons of +public danger, threatening invasion from the side of Scotland or +France, it became customary to issue commissions of array, empowering +those to whom they were addressed to muster and train all men capable +of bearing arms in the counties to which their commission extended, +and hold them in readiness to defend the kingdom. The earliest of +these commissions that I find in Rymer is of 1324, and the latest of +1557. + +The obligation of keeping sufficient arms according to each man's +estate was preserved by a statute of Philip and Mary, which made some +changes in the rate and proportion as well as the kind of arms.[219] +But these ancient provisions were abrogated by James in his first +parliament.[220] The nation, become for ever secure from invasion on +the quarter where the militia service had been most required, and +freed from the other dangers which had menaced the throne of +Elizabeth, gladly saw itself released from an expensive obligation. +The government again may be presumed to have thought that weapons of +offence were safer in its hands than in those of its subjects. +Magazines of arms were formed in different places, and generally in +each county:[221] but, if we may reason from the absence of documents, +there was little regard to military array and preparation; save that +the citizens of London mustered their trained bands on holidays, an +institution that is said to have sprung out of a voluntary +association, called the artillery company, formed in the reign of +Henry VIII. for the encouragement of archery, and acquiring a more +respectable and martial character at the time of the Spanish +armada.[222] + +The power of calling into arms, and mustering the population of each +county, given in earlier times to the sheriff or justices of the peace +or to special commissioners of array, began to be entrusted, in the +reign of Mary, to a new officer, entitled the lord lieutenant. This +was usually a peer, or at least a gentleman of large estate within the +county, whose office gave him the command of the militia, and rendered +him the chief vicegerent of his sovereign, responsible for the +maintenance of public order. This institution may be considered as a +revival of the ancient local earldom; and it certainly took away from +the sheriff a great part of the dignity and importance which he had +acquired since the discontinuance of that office. Yet the lord +lieutenant has so peculiarly military an authority, that it does not +in any degree control the civil power of the sheriff as the executive +minister of the law. In certain cases, such as a tumultuous +obstruction of legal authority, each might be said to possess an equal +power; the sheriff being still undoubtedly competent to call out the +_posse comitatûs_ in order to enforce obedience. Practically, however, +in all serious circumstances, the lord lieutenant has always been +reckoned the efficient and responsible guardian of public +tranquillity. + +From an attentive consideration of this sketch of our military law, it +will strike the reader that the principal question to be determined +was, whether, in time of peace, without pretext of danger of invasion, +there were any legal authority that could direct the mustering and +training to arms of the able-bodied men in each county, usually +denominated the militia. If the power existed at all, it manifestly +resided in the king. The notion that either or both houses of +parliament, who possess no portion of executive authority, could take +on themselves one of its most peculiar and important functions, was so +preposterous that we can scarcely give credit to the sincerity of any +reasonable person who advanced it. In the imminent peril of hostile +invasion, in the case of intestine rebellion, there seems to be no +room for doubt that the king who could call on his subjects to bear +arms for their country and laws, could oblige them to that necessary +discipline and previous training, without which their service would be +unavailing. It might also be urged that he was the proper judge of the +danger. But that, in a season of undeniable tranquillity, he could +withdraw his subjects from their necessary labours against their +consent, even for the important end of keeping up the use of military +discipline, is what, with our present sense of the limitations of +royal power it might be difficult to affirm. The precedents under +Henry VIII. and Elizabeth were numerous; but not to mention that many, +perhaps most of these, might come under the class of preparations +against invasion, where the royal authority was not to be doubted, +they could be no stronger than those other precedents for pressing and +mustering soldiers, which had been declared illegal. There were at +least so many points uncertain, and some wherein the prerogative was +plainly deficient, such as the right of marching the militia out of +their own counties, taken away, if it had before existed, by the act +just passed against pressing soldiers, that the concurrence of the +whole legislature seemed requisite to place so essential a matter as +the public defence on a secure and permanent footing.[223] + +_Encroachments of the parliament._--The aim of the houses, however, in +the bill for regulating the militia, presented to Charles in February +1642, and his refusal to pass which led by rapid steps to the civil +war, was not so much to remove those uncertainties by a general +provision (for in effect they left them much as before), as to place +the command of the sword in the hands of those they could +control;--nominating in the bill the lords lieutenant of every county, +who were to obey the orders of the two houses, and to be irremovable +by the king for two years. No one can pretend that this was not an +encroachment on his prerogative.[224] It can only find a justification +in the precarious condition, as the Commons asserted it to be, of +those liberties they had so recently obtained, in their just +persuasion of the king's insincerity, and in the demonstrations he had +already made of an intention to win back his authority at the sword's +point.[225] But it is equitable, on the other hand, to observe that +the Commons had by no means greater reason to distrust the faith of +Charles, than he had to anticipate fresh assaults from them on the +power he had inherited, on the form of religion which alone he thought +lawful, on the counsellors who had served him most faithfully, and on +the nearest of his domestic ties. If the right of self-defence could +be urged by parliament for this demand of the militia, must we not +admit that a similar plea was equally valid for the king's refusal? +However arbitrary and violent the previous government of Charles may +have been, however disputable his sincerity at present, it is vain to +deny, that he had made the most valuable concessions, and such as had +cost him very dear. He had torn away from his diadem what all monarchs +would deem its choicest jewel, that high attribute of uncontrollable +power, by which their flatterers have in all ages told them they +resemble and represent the Divinity. He had seen those whose counsels +he had best approved, rewarded with exile or imprisonment, and had +incurred the deep reproach of his own heart by the sacrifice of +Strafford. He had just now given a reluctant assent to the extinction +of one estate of parliament, by the bill excluding bishops from the +house of peers. Even in this business of the militia, he would have +consented to nominate the persons recommended to him as lieutenants, +by commissions revocable at his pleasure; or would have passed the +bill rendering them irremovable for one year, provided they might +receive their orders from himself and the two houses jointly.[226] It +was not unreasonable for the king to pause at the critical moment +which was to make all future denial nugatory, and enquire whether the +prevailing majority designed to leave him what they had not taken +away. But he was not long kept in uncertainty upon this score. The +nineteen propositions tendered to him at York in the beginning of +June, and founded upon addresses and declarations of a considerably +earlier date,[227] went to abrogate in spirit the whole existing +constitution, and were in truth so far beyond what the king could be +expected to grant, that terms, more intolerable were scarcely proposed +to him in his greatest difficulties, not at Uxbridge, nor at +Newcastle, nor even at Newport. + +These famous propositions import that the privy council and officers +of state should be approved by parliament, and take such an oath as +the two houses should prescribe; that during the intervals of +parliament, no vacancy in the council should be supplied without the +assent of the major part, subject to the future sanction of the two +houses; that the education and marriages of the king's children should +be under parliamentary control; the votes of popish peers to be taken +away; the church government and liturgy be reformed as both houses +should advise; the militia and all fortified places put in such hands +as parliament should approve; finally, that the king should pass a +bill for restraining all peers to be made in future from sitting in +parliament, unless they be admitted with the consent of both houses. A +few more laudable provisions, such as that the judges should hold +their offices during good behaviour, which the king had long since +promised,[228] were mixed up with these strange demands. Even had the +king complied with such unconstitutional requisitions, there was one +behind, which, though they had not advanced it on this occasion, was +not likely to be forgotten. It had been asserted by the House of +Commons in their last remonstrance, that, on a right construction of +the old coronation oath, the king was bound to assent to all bills +which the two houses of parliament should offer.[229] It has been +said by some that this was actually the constitution of Scotland, +where the Crown possessed a counterbalancing influence; but such a +doctrine was in this country as repugnant to the whole history of our +laws, as it was incompatible with the subsistence of the monarchy in +anything more than a nominal pre-eminence. + +_Discussion of the respective claims of the two parties to +support._--In weighing the merits of this great contest, in judging +whether a thoroughly upright and enlightened man would rather have +listed under the royal or parliamentary standard, there are two +political postulates, the concession of which we may require: one, +that civil war is such a calamity as nothing but the most +indispensable necessity can authorise any party to bring on; the +other, that the mixed government of England by King, Lords, and +Commons, was to be maintained in preference to any other form of +polity. The first of these can hardly be disputed; and though the +denial of the second would certainly involve no absurdity, yet it may +justly be assumed where both parties avowed their adherence to it as a +common principle. Such as prefer a despotic or a republican form of +government will generally, without much further enquiry, have made +their election between Charles the First and the parliament. We do not +argue from the creed of the English constitution to those who have +abandoned its communion. + +_Faults of both._--There was so much in the conduct and circumstances +of both parties in the year 1642, to excite disapprobation and +distrust, that a wise and good man could hardly unite cordially with +either of them. On the one hand, he would entertain little doubt of +the king's desire to overthrow by force or stratagem whatever had been +effected in parliament, and to establish a plenary despotism; his +arbitrary temper, his known principles of government, the natural +sense of wounded pride and honour, the instigations of a haughty +woman, the solicitations of favourites, the promises of ambitious men, +were all at work to render his new position as a constitutional +sovereign, even if unaccompanied by fresh indignities and +encroachments, too grievous and mortifying to be endured. He had +already tampered in a conspiracy to overawe, if not to disperse, the +parliament; he had probably obtained large promises, though very +little to be trusted, from several of the presbyterian leaders in +Scotland during his residence there in the summer of 1641; he had +attempted to recover his ascendancy by a sudden blow in the affair of +the five members; he had sent the queen out of England, furnished with +the Crown-jewels, for no other probable end than to raise men and +procure arms in foreign countries;[230] he was now about to take the +field with an army, composed in part of young gentlemen disdainful of +a puritan faction that censured their licence, and of those soldiers +of fortune, reckless of public principle, and averse to civil control, +whom the war in Germany had trained, and partly of the catholics, a +wealthy and active body devoted to the Crown, from which alone they +had experienced justice or humanity, and from whose favour and +gratitude they now expected the most splendid returns. Upon neither of +these parties could a lover of his country and her liberties look +without alarm; and though he might derive more hope from those better +spirits who had withstood the prerogative in its exorbitance, as they +now sustained it in its decline, yet it could not be easy to foretell +that they would preserve sufficient influence to keep steady the +balance of power, in the contingency of any decisive success of the +royal arms. + +But, on the other hand, the House of Commons presented still less +favourable prospects. We should not indeed judge over severely some +acts of a virtuous indignation in the first moments of victory,[231] +or those heats of debate, without some excesses of which a popular +assembly is in danger of falling into the opposite extreme of +phlegmatic security. But, after every allowance has been made, he must +bring very heated passions to the records of those times, who does not +perceive in the conduct of that body a series of glaring violations, +not only of positive and constitutional, but of those higher +principles which are paramount to all immediate policy. Witness the +ordinance for disarming recusants passed by both houses in August +1641, and that in November, authorising the Earl of Leicester to raise +men for the defence of Ireland without warrant under the great seal; +both manifest encroachments on the executive power;[232] and the +enormous extension of privilege, under which every person accused on +the slightest testimony of disparaging their proceedings, or even of +introducing new-fangled ceremonies in the church, a matter wholly out +of their cognisance, was dragged before them as a delinquent, and +lodged in their prison.[233] Witness the outrageous attempts to +intimidate the minority of their own body in the commitment of Mr. +Palmer, and afterwards of Sir Ralph Hopton, to the Tower, for such +language used in debate as would not have excited any observation in +ordinary times;--their continual encroachments on the rights and +privileges of the Lords, as in their intimation that, if bills thought +by them necessary for the public good should fall in the upper house, +they must join with the minority of the Lords in representing the same +to the king;[234] or in the impeachment of the Duke of Richmond for +words, and those of the most trifling nature, spoken in the upper +house;[235]--their despotic violation of the rights of the people, in +imprisoning those who presented or prepared respectful petitions in +behalf of the established constitution,[236] while they encouraged +those of a tumultuous multitude at their bar in favour of +innovation;[237]--their usurpation at once of the judicial and +legislative powers in all that related to the church, particularly by +their committee for scandalous ministers, under which denomination, +adding reproach to injury, they subjected all who did not reach the +standard of puritan perfection to contumely and vexation, and +ultimately to expulsion from their lawful property.[238] Witness the +impeachment of the twelve bishops for treason, on account of their +protestation against all that should be done in the House of Lords +during their compelled absence through fear of the populace; a protest +not perhaps entirely well expressed, but abundantly justifiable in its +argument by the plainest principles of law.[239] These great abuses of +power, becoming daily more frequent, as they became less excusable, +would make a sober man hesitate to support them in a civil war, +wherein their success must not only consummate the destruction of the +Crown, the church, and the peerage, but expose all who had dissented +from their proceedings, as it ultimately happened, to an oppression +less severe perhaps, but far more sweeping, than that which had +rendered the star-chamber odious. + +But it may reasonably also be doubted whether, in staking their own +cause on the perilous contingencies of war, the House of Commons did +not expose the liberties for which they professedly were contending, +to a far greater risk than they could have incurred even from peace +with an insidious court. For let any one ask himself what would have +been the condition of the parliament, if by the extension of that +panic which in fact seized upon several regiments, or by any of those +countless accidents which determine the fate of battles, the king had +wholly defeated their army at Edgehill? Is it not probable, nay, in +such a supposition, almost demonstrable, that in those first days of +the civil war, before the parliament had time to discover the extent +of its own resources, he would have found no obstacle to his triumphal +entry into London? And, in such circumstances, amidst the defection +of the timid and lukewarm, the consternation of the brawling +multitude, and the exultation of his victorious troops, would the +triennial act itself, or those other statutes which he had very +reluctantly conceded, have stood secure? Or, if we believe that the +constitutional supporters of his throne, the Hertfords, the Falklands, +the Southamptons, the Spencers, would still have had sufficient +influence to shield from violent hands that palladium which they had +assisted to place in the building, can there be a stronger argument +against the necessity of taking up arms for the defence of liberties, +which, even in the contingency of defeat, could not have been +subverted? + +There were many indeed at that time, as there have been ever since, +who, admitting all the calamities incident to civil war, of which this +country reaped the bitter fruits for twenty years, denied entirely +that the parliament went beyond the necessary precautions for +self-defence, and laid the whole guilt of the aggression at the king's +door. He had given, it was said, so many proofs of a determination to +have recourse to arms, he had displayed so insidious an hostility to +the privileges of parliament, that, if he should be quietly allowed to +choose and train soldiers, under the name of a militia, through hired +servants of his own nomination, the people might find themselves +either robbed of their liberties by surprise, or compelled to struggle +for them in very unfavourable circumstances. The Commons, with more +loyal respect perhaps than policy, had opposed no obstacle to his +deliberate journey towards the north, which they could have easily +prevented,[240] though well aware that he had no other aim but to +collect an army; was it more than ordinary prudence to secure the +fortified town of Hull with its magazine of arms from his grasp, and +to muster the militia in each county under the command of lieutenants +in whom they could confide, and to whom, from their rank and personal +character, he could frame no just objection? + +These considerations are doubtless not without weight, and should +restrain such as may not think them sufficient from too strongly +censuring those, who, deeming that either civil liberty or the ancient +constitution must be sacrificed, persisted in depriving Charles the +First of every power, which, though pertaining to a king of England, +he could not be trusted to exercise. We are, in truth, after a lapse +of ages, often able to form a better judgment of the course that ought +to have been pursued in political emergencies than those who stood +nearest to the scene. Not only we have our knowledge of the event to +guide and correct our imaginary determinations; but we are free from +those fallacious rumours, those pretended secrets, those imperfect and +illusive views, those personal prepossessions, which in every age warp +the political conduct of the most well-meaning. The characters of +individuals, so frequently misrepresented by flattery or party rage, +stand out to us revealed by the tenor of their entire lives, or by the +comparison of historical anecdotes, and that more authentic +information which is reserved for posterity. Looking as it were from +an eminence, we can take a more comprehensive range, and class better +the objects before us in their due proportions and in their bearings +on one another. It is not easy for us even now to decide, keeping in +view the maintenance of the entire constitution, from which party in +the civil war greater mischief was to be apprehended; but the election +was, I am persuaded, still more difficult to be made by +contemporaries. No one, at least, who has given any time to the study +of that history, will deny that among those who fought in opposite +battalions at Edgehill and Newbury, or voted in the opposite +parliaments of Westminster and Oxford, there were many who thought +much alike on general theories of prerogative and privilege, divided +only perhaps by some casual prejudices, which had led these to look +with greater distrust on courtly insidiousness, and those with greater +indignation at popular violence. We cannot believe that Falkland and +Colepepper differed greatly in their constitutional principles from +Whitelock and Pierpoint, or that Hertford and Southamption were less +friends to a limited monarchy than Essex and Northumberland. + +There is, however, another argument sometimes alleged of late, in +justification of the continued attacks on the king's authority; which +is the most specious, as it seems to appeal to what are now +denominated the Whig principles of the constitution. It has been said +that, sensible of the maladministration the nation had endured for so +many years (which, if the king himself were to be deemed by +constitutional fiction ignorant of it, must at least be imputed to +evil advisers), the House of Commons sought only that security which, +as long as a sound spirit continues to actuate its members, it must +ever require--the appointment of ministers in whose fidelity to the +public liberties it could better confide; that by carrying frankly +into effect those counsels which he had unwisely abandoned upon the +Earl of Bedford's death, and bestowing the responsible offices of the +state on men approved for patriotism, he would both have disarmed the +jealousy of his subjects and ensured his own prerogative, which no +ministers are prone to impair. + +Those who are struck by these considerations may not, perhaps, have +sufficiently reflected on the changes which the king had actually made +in his administration since the beginning of the parliament. Besides +those already mentioned, Essex, Holland, Say, and St. John, he had, in +the autumn of 1641, conferred the post of secretary of state on Lord +Falkland, and that of master of the rolls on Sir John Colepepper; both +very prominent in the redress of grievances and punishment of +delinquent ministers during the first part of the session, and whose +attachment to the cause of constitutional liberty there was no sort of +reason to distrust. They were indeed in some points of a different way +of thinking from Pym and Hampden, and had doubtless been chosen by the +king on that account. But it seems rather beyond the legitimate bounds +of parliamentary opposition to involve the kingdom in civil war, +simply because the choice of the Crown has not fallen on its leaders. +The real misfortune was, that Charles did not rest in the advice of +his own responsible ministers, against none of whom the House of +Commons had any just cause of exception. The theory of our +constitution in this respect was very ill-established; and, had it +been more so, there are perhaps few sovereigns, especially in +circumstances of so much novelty, who would altogether conform to it. +But no appointment that he could have made from the patriotic bands of +parliament would have furnished a security against the intrigues of +his bed-chamber or the influence of the queen. + +The real problem that we have to resolve, as to the political justice +of the civil war, is not the character, the past actions, or even the +existing designs, of Charles; not even whether he had as justly +forfeited his crown as his son was deemed to have done for less +violence and less insincerity; not even, I will add, whether the +liberties of his subjects could have been absolutely secure under his +government; but whether the risk attending his continuance upon the +throne with the limited prerogatives of an English sovereign were +great enough to counterbalance the miseries of protracted civil war, +the perils of defeat, and the no less perils, as experience showed, +of victory. Those who adopt the words spoken by one of our greatest +orators, and quoted by another, "There was ambition, there was +sedition, there was violence; but no man shall persuade me that it was +not the cause of liberty on one side, and of tyranny on the other," +have for themselves decided this question.[241] But, as I know (and +the history of eighteen years is my witness) how little there was on +one side of such liberty as a wise man would hold dear, so I am not +yet convinced that the great body of the royalists, the peers and +gentry of England, were combating for the sake of tyranny. I cannot +believe them to have so soon forgotten their almost unanimous +discontent at the king's arbitrary government in 1640, or their +general concurrence in the first salutary measures of the parliament. +I cannot think that the temperate and constitutional language of the +royal declarations and answers to the House of Commons in 1642, known +to have proceeded from the pen of Hyde, and as superior to those on +the opposite side in argument as they were in eloquence, was intended +for the willing slaves of tyranny. I cannot discover in the extreme +reluctance of the royalists to take up arms, and their constant +eagerness for an accommodation (I speak not of mere soldiers, but of +the greater and more important portion of that party), that zeal for +the king's re-establishment in all his abused prerogatives which some +connect with the very names of a royalist or a cavalier.[242] + +It is well observed by Burnet, in answer to the vulgar notion that +Charles I. was undone by his concessions, that, but for his +concessions, he would have had no party at all. This is, in fact, the +secret of what seems to astonish the parliamentary historian, May, of +the powerful force that the king was enabled to raise, and the +protracted resistance he opposed. He had succeeded, according to the +judgment of many real friends of the constitution, in putting the +House of Commons in the wrong. Law, justice, moderation, once ranged +against him, had gone over to his banner. His arms might reasonably be +called defensive, if he had no other means of preserving himself from +the condition, far worse than captivity, of a sovereign compelled to a +sort of suicide upon his own honour and authority. For, however it may +be alleged that a king is bound in conscience to sacrifice his power +to the public will, yet it could hardly be inexcusable not to have +practised this disinterested morality; especially while the voice of +his people was by no means unequivocal, and while the major part of +one house of parliament adhered openly to his cause.[243] + +It is indeed a question perfectly distinguishable from that of the +abstract justice of the king's cause, whether he did not too readily +abandon his post as a constitutional head of the parliament; whether, +with the greater part of the peers, and a very considerable minority +in the Commons, resisting in their places at Westminster all violent +encroachments on his rights, he ought not rather to have sometimes +persisted in a temperate though firm assertion of them, sometimes had +recourse to compromise and gracious concession, instead of calling +away so many of his adherents to join his arms as left neither numbers +nor credit with those who remained. There is a remarkable passage in +Lord Clarendon's life, not to quote Whitelock and other writers less +favourable to Charles, where he intimates his own opinion that the +king would have had a fair hope of withstanding the more violent +faction, if, after the queen's embarkation for Holland in February +1642, he had returned to Whitehall; admitting, at the same time, the +hazards and inconveniences to which this course was liable.[244] That +he resolved on trying the fortune of arms, his noble historian +insinuates to have been the effect of the queen's influence, with +whom, before her departure, he had concerted his future proceedings. +Yet, notwithstanding the deference owing to contemporary opinions, I +cannot but suspect that Clarendon has, in this instance as in some +other passages, attached too great an importance to particular +individuals, measuring them rather by their rank in the state, than by +that capacity and energy of mind, which, in the levelling hour of +revolution, are the only real pledges of political influence. He +thought it of the utmost consequence to the king that he should gain +over the Earls of Essex and Northumberland, both, or at least the +former, wavering between the two parties, though voting entirely with +the Commons. Certainly the king's situation required every aid, and +his repulsive hardness towards all who had ever given him offence +displayed an obstinate unconciliating character, which deprived him of +some support he might have received. But the subsequent history of +these two celebrated earls, and indeed of all the moderate adherents +to the parliament, will hardly lead us to believe that they could have +afforded the king any protection. Let us suppose that he had returned +to Whitehall, instead of proceeding towards the north. It is evident +that he must either have passed the bill for the militia, or seen the +ordinances of both houses carried into effect without his consent. He +must have consented to the abolition of episcopacy, or at least have +come into some compromise which would have left the bishops hardly a +shadow of their jurisdiction and pre-eminence. He must have driven +from his person those whom he best loved and trusted. He would have +found it impossible to see again the queen, without awakening distrust +and bringing insult on them both. The royalist minority of parliament, +however considerable in numbers, was lukewarm and faint-hearted. That +they should have gained strength so as to keep a permanent superiority +over their adversaries, led as they were by statesmen so bold and +profound as Hampden, Pym, St. John, Cromwell, and Vane, is what, from +the experience of the last twelve months, it was unreasonable to +anticipate. But, even if the Commons had been more favourably +inclined, it would not have been in their power to calm the mighty +waters that had been moved from their depths. They had permitted the +populace to mingle in their discussions, testifying pleasure at its +paltry applause, and encouraging its tumultuous aggressions on the +minority of the legislature. What else could they expect than that, so +soon as they ceased to satisfy the city apprentices, or the trained +bands raised under their militia bill, they must submit to that +physical strength which is the ultimate arbiter of political +contentions? + +Thus, with evil auspices, with much peril of despotism on the one +hand, with more of anarchy on the other, amidst the apprehensions and +sorrows of good men, the civil war commenced in the summer of 1642. I +might now perhaps pass over the period that intervened, until the +restoration of Charles II., as not strictly belonging to a work which +undertakes to relate the progress of the English constitution. But +this would have left a sort of chasm that might disappoint the reader; +and as I have already not wholly excluded our more general political +history, without a knowledge of which the laws and government of any +people must be unintelligible, it will probably not be deemed an +unnecessary digression, if I devote one chapter to the most +interesting and remarkable portion of British history. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[164] 4 E. 3, c. 14. It appears by the Journals, 30th Dec. 1640, that +the Triennial Bill was originally for the yearly holding of +parliaments. It seems to have been altered in the committee; at least +we find the title changed, Jan. 19. + +[165] _Parl. Hist._ 702, 717; Stat. 16 Car. I, c. 1. + +[166] C. 14. + +[167] C. 8. The king had professed, in Lord-Keeper Finch's speech on +opening the parliament of April 1640, that he had only taken tonnage +and poundage _de facto_, without claiming it as a right, and had +caused a bill to be prepared, granting it to him from the commencement +of his reign. _Parl. Hist._ 533. See preface to Hargrave's _Collection +of Law Tracts_, p. 195, and Rymer, xx. 118, for what Charles did with +respect to impositions on merchandise. The long parliament called the +farmers to account. + +[168] 16 Car. I, c. 10. The abolition of the star-chamber was first +moved (March 5th, 1641) by Lord Andover, in the House of Lords, to +which he had been called by writ. Both he and his father, the Earl of +Berkshire, were zealous royalists during the subsequent war. _Parl. +Hist._ 722. But he is not, I presume, the person to whom Clarendon +alludes. This author insinuates that the act for taking away the +star-chamber passed both houses without sufficient deliberation, and +that the peers did not venture to make any opposition; whereas there +were two conferences between the houses on the subject, and several +amendments and provisos made by the Lords, and agreed by the Commons. +Scarce any bill, during this session, received so much attention. The +king made some difficulty about assenting to the bills taking away the +star-chamber and high-commission courts, but soon gave way. _Parl. +Hist._ 853. + +[169] Coke has strongly argued the illegality of fining and +imprisoning by the high commission. 4th Inst. 324. And he omitted this +power in a commission he drew, "leaving us," says Bishop Williams, +"nothing but the old rusty sword of the church, excommunication." +Cabala, p. 103. Care was taken to restore this authority in the reign +of Charles. + +[170] 16 Car. I, c. 11. + +[171] Hyde distinguished himself as chairman of the committee which +brought in the bill for abolishing the court of York. In his speech on +presenting this to the Lords, he alludes to the tyranny of Strafford, +not rudely, but in a style hardly consistent with that of his +_History_. _Parl. Hist._ 766. The editors of this, however, softened a +little what he did say in one or two places; as where he uses the word +_tyranny_, in speaking of Lord Mountnorris's case. + +[172] C. 15. + +[173] C. 19, 20. + +[174] C. 16. + +[175] C. 28. + +[176] Journals, 16th Dec.; _Parl. Hist._ 968; Nalson, 750. It is +remarkable that Clarendon, who is sufficiently jealous of all that he +thought encroachment in the Commons, does not censure their explicit +assertion of this privilege. He lays the blame of the king's +interference on St. John's advice; which is very improbable. + +[177] "A greater and more universal hatred," says Northumberland in a +letter to Leicester, Nov. 13, 1640 (_Sidney Papers_, ii. 663), "was +never contracted by any person than he has drawn upon himself. He is +not at all dejected, but believes confidently to clear himself in the +opinion of all equal and indifferent-minded hearers, when he shall +come to make his defence. The king is in such a straight that I do not +know how he will possibly avoid, without endangering the loss of the +whole kingdom, the giving way to the remove of divers persons, as well +as other things that will be demanded by the parliament. After they +have done questioning some of the great ones, they intend to endeavour +the displacing of Jermyn, Newcastle, and Walter Montague." + +[178] Clarendon, i. 305. No one opposed the resolution to impeach the +lord lieutenant, save that Falkland suggested the appointment of a +committee, as more suitable to the gravity of their proceedings. But +Pym frankly answered that this would ruin all; since Strafford would +doubtless obtain a dissolution of the parliament, unless they could +shut him out from access to the king. + +_The Letters of Robert Baillie_, Principal of the University of +Glasgow (two vols. Edinburgh, 1775), abound with curious information +as to this period, and for several subsequent years. Baillie was one +of the Scots commissioners deputed to London at the end of 1640, and +took an active share in promoting the destruction of episcopacy. His +correspondence breathes all the narrow and exclusive bigotry of the +presbyterian school. The following passage is so interesting that, +notwithstanding its length, it may find a place here:-- + +"The lieutenant of Ireland came but on Monday to town late, on Tuesday +rested, on Wednesday came to parliament, but ere night he was caged. +Intolerable pride and oppression cries to Heaven for a vengeance. The +lower house closed their doors; the speaker kept the keys till his +accusation was concluded. Thereafter Mr. Pym went up, with a number at +his back, to the higher house; and, in a pretty short speech, did, in +the name of the lower house, and in the name of the commons of all +England, accuse Thomas Earl of Strafford, lord lieutenant of Ireland, +of high treason; and required his person to be arrested till probation +might be heard; so Mr. Pym and his back were removed. The Lords began +to consult on that strange and unexpected motion. The word goes in +haste to the lord lieutenant, where he was with the king; with speed +he comes to the house; he calls rudely at the door; James Maxwell, +keeper of the black rod, opens: his lordship, with a proud glooming +countenance, makes towards his place at the board head: but at once +many bid him void the house; so he is forced, in confusion, to go to +the door till he was called. After consultation, being called in, he +stands, but is commanded to kneel, and on his knees to hear the +sentence. Being on his knees, he is delivered to the keeper of the +black rod, to be prisoner till he was cleared of these crimes the +House of Commons had charged him with. He offered to speak, but was +commanded to be gone without a word. In the outer room, James Maxwell +required him, as prisoner, to deliver his sword. When he had got it, +he cries with a loud voice, for his man to carry my lord lieutenant's +sword. This done, he makes through a number of people towards his +coach; all gazing, no man capping to him, before whom, that morning, +the greatest of England would have stood discovered, all crying, 'What +is the matter?' He said, 'A small matter, I warrant you.' They +replied, 'Yes, indeed, high treason is a small matter.' Coming to the +place where he expected his coach, it was not there; so he behoved to +return that same way, through a world of gazing people. When at last +he had found his coach, and was entering, James Maxwell told him, +'Your lordship is my prisoner, and must go in my coach;' so he behoved +to do."--P. 217. + +[179] The trial of Strafford is best to be read in Rushworth or +Nalson. The account in the new edition of the _State Trials_, I know +not whence taken, is curious, as coming from an eye-witness, though +very partial to the prisoner; but it can hardly be so accurate as the +others. His famous peroration was printed at the time in a loose +sheet. It is in the _Somers Tracts_. Many of the charges seem to have +been sufficiently proved, and would undoubtedly justify a severe +sentence on an impeachment for misdemeanours. It was not pretended by +the managers, that more than two or three of them amounted to treason; +but it is the unquestionable right of the Commons to blend offences of +a different degree in an impeachment. + +It has been usually said that the Commons had recourse to the bill of +attainder, because they found it impossible to support the impeachment +for treason. But St. John positively denies that it was intended to +avoid the judicial mode of proceeding. Nalson, ii. 162. And, what is +stronger, the Lords themselves voted upon the articles judicially, and +not as if they were enacting a legislative measure. As to the famous +proviso in the bill of attainder, that the judges should determine +nothing to be treason, by virtue of this bill, which they would not +have determined to be treason otherwise (on which Hume and many others +have relied, to show the consciousness of parliament that the measure +was not warranted by the existing law), it seems to have been +introduced in order to quiet the apprehensions of some among the +peers, who had gone great lengths with the late government, and were +astonished to find that their obedience to the king could be turned +into treason against him. + +[180] They were confirmed, in a considerable degree, by the evidence +of Northumberland and Bristol, and even of Usher and Juxon. Rushw. +Abr. iv. 455, 559, 586; Baillie, 284. But are they not also exactly +according to the principles always avowed and acted upon by that +minister, and by the whole phalanx of courtiers, that a king of +England does very well to ask his people's consent in the first +instance, but, if that is frowardly refused, he has a paramount right +to maintain his government by any means? + +It may be remarked, that Clarendon says: "the law was clear that less +than two witnesses ought not to be received in a case of treason." Yet +I doubt whether any one had been allowed the benefit of that law; and +the contrary had been asserted repeatedly by the judges. + +[181] Lords' Journals, May 6; _Parl. Hist._ 757. This opinion of the +judges which is not mentioned by Clarendon, Hume, and other common +historians, seems to have cost Strafford his life. It was relied on by +some bishops, especially Usher, whom Charles consulted whether he +should pass the bill of attainder, though Clarendon puts much worse +casuistry into the mouth of Williams. Parr's _Life of Usher_, p. 45; +Hacket's _Life of Williams_, p. 160. Juxon is said to have stood alone +among five bishops, in advising the king to follow his conscience. +Clarendon, indeed, does not mention this; though he glances at Usher +with some reproach (p. 451); but the story is as old as the _Icon +Basilike_, in which it is alluded to. + +[182] The names of the fifty-nine members of the Commons, who voted +against the bill of attainder, and which were placarded as +Straffordians, may be found in the _Parliamentary History_, and +several other books. It is remarkable that few of them are +distinguished persons; none so much so as Selden, whose whole +parliamentary career, notwithstanding the timidity not very fairly +imputed to him, was eminently honourable and independent. But we look +in vain for Hyde, Falkland, Colepepper, or Palmer. The first, +probably, did not vote; the others may have been in the majority of +204, by whom the bill was passed. Indeed, I have seen a MS. account of +the debate, where Falkland and Colepepper appear to have both spoken +for it. As to the Lords, we have, so far as I know, no list of the +nineteen who acquitted Strafford. It did not comprehend Hertford, +Bristol, or Holland, who were absent (Nalson, 316), nor any of the +popish lords, whether through fear or any private influence. Lord +Clare, his brother-in-law, and Lord Saville, a man of the most +changeable character, were his prominent advocates during the trial; +though Bristol, Hertford, and even Say, desired to have had his life +spared (Baillie, 243, 247, 271, 292); and the Earl of Bedford, +according to Clarendon, would have come into this. But the sudden and +ill-timed death of that eminent peer put an end to the negotiation for +bringing the parliamentary leaders into office, wherein it was a main +object with the king to save the life of Strafford; entirely, as I am +inclined to believe, from motives of conscience and honour, without +any views of ever again restoring him to power. Charles had no +personal attachment to Strafford; and the queen's dislike of him +(according to Clarendon and Burnet, though it must be owned, that +Madame de Motteville does not confirm this), or at least his general +unpopularity at court, would have determined the king to lay him +aside. + +It is said by Burnet that the queen prevailed on Charles to put that +strange postscript to his letter to the Lords, in behalf of Strafford, +"If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till Saturday;" by +which he manifestly surrendered him up, and gave cause to suspect his +own sincerity. Doubts have been thrown out by Carte as to the +genuineness of Strafford's celebrated letter, requesting the king to +pass the bill of attainder. They do not appear to be founded on much +evidence; but it is certain, by the manner in which he received the +news, that he did not expect to be sacrificed by his master. + +[183] _Parliamentary History_, ii. 750. + +[184] See some judicious remarks on this by May (p. 64), who generally +shows a good deal of impartiality at this period of history. The +violence of individuals, especially when of considerable note, +deserves to be remarked, as characteristic of the temper that +influenced the house, and as accounting for the disgust of moderate +men. "Why should he have law himself?" said St. John, in arguing the +bill of attainder before the peers, "who would not that others should +have any? We indeed give laws to hares and deer, because they are +beasts of chase; but we give none to wolves and foxes, but knock them +on the head wherever they are found, because they are beasts of prey." +Nor was this a mere burst of passionate declamation, but urged as a +serious argument for taking away Strafford's life without sufficient +grounds of law or testimony. Rushworth Abr. iv. 61; Clarendon, i. 407. +Strode told the house that, as they had charged Strafford with high +treason, it concerned them to charge as conspirators in the same +treason all who had before, or should hereafter, plead in that cause. +Baillie, 252. This monstrous proposal seems to please the presbyterian +bigot. "If this hold," he observes, "Strafford's council will be +rare." + +[185] Clarendon and Hume, of course, treat this as a very trifling +affair, exaggerated for factious purposes. But those who judge from +the evidence of persons unwilling to accuse themselves or the king, +and from the natural probabilities of the case, will suspect, or, +rather, be wholly convinced, that it had gone much farther than these +writers admit. See the accounts of this plot in Rushworth and Nalson, +or in the _Parliamentary History_. The strongest evidence, however, is +furnished by Henrietta, whose relation of the circumstances to Madame +de Motteville proves that the king and herself had the strongest hopes +from the influence of Goring and Wilmot over the army, by means of +which they aimed at saving Strafford's life; though the jealousy of +those ambitious intriguers, who could not both enjoy the place to +which each aspired, broke the whole plot. _Mem. de Motteville_, i. +253. Compare with this passage, Percy's letter, and Goring's +deposition (Nalson, ii. 286, 294), for what is said of the king's +privity by men who did not lose his favour by their evidence. Mr. +Brodie has commented in a long note (iii. 189) on Clarendon's apparent +misrepresentations of this business. But what has escaped the +acuteness of this writer is, that the petition to the king and +parliament drawn up for the army's subscription, and asserted by +Clarendon to have been the only step taken by those engaged in the +supposed conspiracy (though not, as Mr. Brodie too rashly conjectures, +a fabrication of his own), is most carelessly referred by him to that +period or to the agency of Wilmot and his coadjutors; having been, in +fact, prepared about the July following, at the instigation of Daniel +O'Neale, and some others of the royalist party. This is manifest, not +only from the allusions it contains to events that had not occurred in +the months of March and April, when the plot of Wilmot and Goring was +on foot, especially the bill for triennial parliaments, but from +evidence given before the House of Commons in October 1641, and which +Mr. Brodie has published in the appendix to his third volume, though, +with an inadvertence of which he is seldom guilty, overlooking its +date and purport. This, however, is of itself sufficient to display +the inaccurate character of Clarendon's history; for I can scarcely +ascribe the present incorrectness to design. There are, indeed, so +many mistakes as to dates and other matters in Clarendon's account of +this plot, that, setting aside his manifest disposition to suppress +the truth, we can place not the least reliance on his memory as to +those points which we may not be well able to bring to a test. + +[186] Journals; _Parliamentary Hist._ 784; May, 67; Clarendon. +According to Mrs. Hutchinson (p. 97) this bill originated with Mr. +Pierpoint. If we should draw any inference from the Journals, Sir John +Colepepper seems to have been the most prominent of its supporters. +Mr. Hyde and Lord Falkland were also managers of the conference with +the Lords. But in Sir Ralph Verney's manuscript notes, I find Mr. +Whitelock mentioned as being ordered by the house to prepare the bill; +which seems to imply that he had moved it, or at least been very +forward in it. Yet all these were moderate men. + +[187] Neal (p. 632) has printed these canons imperfectly. They may be +found at length in Nalson, i. 542. It is remarkable that the seventh +canon expressly denies a corporal presence in the eucharist, which is +quite contrary to what Laud had asserted in his speech in the +star-chamber. His influence does not seem to have wholly predominated +in this particular canon, which is expressed with a moderation of +which he was incapable. + +[188] Clarendon; _Parl. Hist._ 678, 896; Neal, 647, 720. These votes +as to the canons, however, were carried _nem. con._ Journals, 16th +Dec. 1640. + +[189] Neal, 709. Laud and Wren were both impeached Dec. 18: the latter +entirely for introducing superstitions. _Parl. Hist._ 861. He lay in +the Tower till 1659. + +[190] Neal says that the major part of the parliamentarians at the +beginning of the war were for moderated episcopacy (ii. 4), and +asserts the same in another place (i. 715) of the puritans, in +contradiction of Rapin. "How this will go," says Baillie, in April +1641, "the Lord knows; all are for the creating of 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."--i. 245. + +[191] Neal, 666, 672, 713; Collier, 805; Baxter's _Life_, p. 62. The +ministers' petition, as it was called, presented Jan. 23, 1641, with +the signatures of 700 beneficed clergymen, went to this extent of +reformation. Neal, 679. + +[192] _Parl. Hist._ 673; Clarendon, i. 356; Baillie's _Letters_, 218, +etc. Though sanguine as to the progress of his sect, he admits that it +was very difficult to pluck up episcopacy by the roots; for this +reason they did not wish the house to give a speedy answer to the city +petition. P. 241. It was carried by 36 or 37 voices, he says, to refer +it to the committee of religion. P. 245. No division appears on the +Journals. + +The whole influence of the Scots commissioners was directed to this +object; as not only Baillie's _Letters_, but those of Johnstone of +Wariston (Dalrymple's _Memorials of James and Charles I._, ii. 114, +etc.) show. Besides their extreme bigotry, which was the predominant +motive, they had a better apology for interfering with church-government +in England, with which the archbishop had furnished them: it was the +only sure means of preserving their own. + +[193] Rushworth; Nalson. + +[194] _Parl. Hist._ 814, 822, 828. Clarendon tells us, that being +chairman of the committee to whom this bill was referred, he gave it +so much interruption, that no progress could be made before the +adjournment. The house came, however, to a resolution, that the taking +away the offices of archbishops, bishops, chancellors, and +commissaries out of this church and kingdom, should be one clause of +the bill. June 12. Commons' Journals. + +[195] Lord Hertford presented one to the Lords, from Somersetshire, +signed by 14,350 freeholders and inhabitants. Nalson, ii. 727. The +Cheshire petition, for preserving the Common Prayer, was signed by +near 10,000 hands. _Id._ 758. I have a collection of those petitions +now before me, printed in 1642, from thirteen English and five Welsh +counties, and all very numerously signed. In almost every instance, I +observe, they thank the parliament for putting a check to innovations +and abuses, while they deprecate the abolition of episcopacy and the +liturgy. Thus it seems that the presbyterians were very far from +having the nation on their side. The following extract from the +Somersetshire petition is a good sample of the general tone: "For the +present government of the church we are most thankful to God, +believing it in our hearts to be the most pious and the wisest that +any people or kingdom upon earth hath been withal since the apostles' +days; though we may not deny but, through the frailty of men, and +corruption of times, some things of ill consequence, and other +needless, are stolen or thrust into it; which we heartily wish may be +reformed, and the church restored to its former purity. And, to the +end it may be the better preserved from present and future innovation, +we wish the wittingly and maliciously guilty, of what condition soever +they be, whether bishops or inferior clergy, may receive condign +punishment. But, for the miscarriage of governors, to destroy the +government, we trust it shall never enter into the hearts of this wise +and honourable assembly." + +[196] The house came to a vote on July 17, according to Whitelock (p. +46) in favour of Usher's scheme, that each county should be a diocese, +and that there should be a governing college or presbytery, consisting +of twelve, under the presidency of a bishop: Sir E. Dering spoke in +favour of this, though his own bill went much farther. Nalson, ii. +294; Neal, 703. I cannot find the vote in the journals; it passed, +therefore, I suppose, in the committee, and was not reported to the +house. + +[197] _Parl. Hist._ 774, 794, 817, 910, 1087. The Lords had previously +come to resolutions, that bishops should sit in the House of Lords, +but not in the privy council, nor be in any commission of the peace. +_Id._ 814. + +The king was very unwilling to give his consent to the bill excluding +the bishops from parliament, and was, of course, dissuaded by Hyde +from doing so. He was then at Newmarket on his way to the north, and +had nothing but war in his head. The queen, however, and Sir John +Colepepper, prevailed on him to consent. Clarendon, _History_, ii. 247 +(1826); _Life_, 51. The queen could not be expected to have much +tenderness for a protestant episcopacy; and it is to be said in favour +of Colepepper's advice, who was pretty indifferent in ecclesiastical +matters, that the bishops had rendered themselves odious to many of +those who wished well to the royal cause. See the very remarkable +conversation of Hyde with Sir Edward Verney, who was killed at the +battle of Edgehill, where the latter declares his reluctance to fight +for the bishops, whose quarrel he took it to be, though bound by +gratitude not to desert the king. Clarendon's _Life_, p. 68. + +This author represents Lord Falkland as having been misled by Hampden +to take an unexpected part in favour of the first bill for excluding +the bishops from parliament. "The house was so marvellously delighted +to see the two inseparable friends divided in so important a point, +that they could not contain from a kind of rejoicing; and the more +because they saw Mr. Hyde was much surprised with the contradiction, +as in truth he was, having never discovered the least inclination in +the other towards such a compliance."--i. 413. There is, however, an +earlier speech of Falkland in print, against the London petition; +wherein, while objecting to the abolition of the order, he intimates +his willingness to take away their votes in parliament, with all other +temporal authority. _Speeches of the Happy Parliament_, p. 188 +(published in 1641). Johnstone of Wariston says there were but four or +five votes against taking away civil places and seats in parliament +from the bishops. Dalrymple's _Memorials_, ii. 116. But in the +journals of the Commons (10th March 1640-1) it is said to be resolved, +after a long and mature debate, that the legislative power of bishops +is a hindrance to their function. + +[198] "The higher house," says Baillie, "have made an order, which was +read in the churches, that none presume of their own head to alter any +customs established by law: this procured ordinance does not +discourage any one."--P. 237. Some rioters, however, who had pulled +down rails about the altar, etc., were committed by order of the Lords +in June. Nalson, ii. 275. + +[199] _Parl. Hist._ 868. By the hands of this zealous knight fell the +beautiful crosses at Charing and Cheap, to the lasting regret of all +faithful lovers of antiquities and architecture. + +[200] _Parl. Hist._ 907; Commons' Journals, Sept. 1, 1641. It was +carried at the time on a division by 55 to 37, that the committee +"should propound an addition to this order for preventing all contempt +and abuse of the book of Common Prayer, and all tumultuous disorders +that might arise in the church thereupon." This is a proof that the +church party were sometimes victorious in the house. But they did not +long retain this casual advantage. For, the Lords having sent down a +copy of their order of 16th January above mentioned, requesting the +Commons' concurrence, they resolved (Sept. 9) "that the house do not +consent to this order; it being thought unreasonable at this time to +urge the severe execution of the said laws." They contented themselves +with "expecting that the Commons of this realm do, in the meantime, +quietly attend the reformation intended, without any tumultuous +disturbance of the worship of God and peace of the realm." _See_ +Nalson, ii. 484. + +[201] May, p. 75. See this passage, which is very judicious. The +disunion, however, had in some measure began not long after the +meeting of parliament; the court wanted, in December 1640, to have +given the treasurer's staff to Hertford, whose brother was created a +peer by the title of Lord Seymour. Bedford was the favourite with the +Commons for the same office, and would doubtless have been a fitter +man at the time, notwithstanding the other's eminent virtues. _Sidney +Letters_, ii. 665, 666. See also what Baillie says of the introduction +of seven lords, "all commonwealth's men," into the council, though, as +generally happens, he is soon discontented with some of them. P. 246, +247. There was even some jealousy of Say, as favouring Strafford. + +[202] Whitelock, p. 46. Bedford was to have been lord treasurer, with +Pym, whom he had brought into parliament for Tavistock, as his +chancellor of the exchequer; Hollis secretary of state. Hampden is +said, but not perhaps on good authority, to have sought the office of +governor to the Prince of Wales; which Hume, not very candidly, brings +as a proof of his ambition. It seems probable that, if Charles had at +that time (May 1641) carried these plans into execution, and ceased to +listen to the queen, or to those persons about his bed-chamber, who +were perpetually leading him astray, he would have escaped the +exorbitant demands which were afterwards made upon him, and even saved +his favourite episcopacy. But, after the death of the Earl of Bedford, +who had not been hostile to the church, there was no man of rank in +that party whom he liked to trust; Northumberland having acted, as he +thought, very ungratefully, Say being a known enemy to episcopacy, and +Essex, though of the highest honour, not being of a capacity to retain +much influence over the leaders of the other house. Clarendon +insinuates that, even as late as March 1642, the principal patriots, +with a few exceptions, would have been content with coming themselves +into power under the king, and on this condition would have left his +remaining prerogative untouched (ii. 326). But it seems more probable +that, after the accusation of the five members, no measure of this +kind would have been of any service to Charles. + +[203] Commons' Journals, 22nd November. On a second division the same +night, whether the remonstrance should be printed, the popular side +lost it by 124 to 101. But on 15th December the printing was carried +by 135 to 83. Several divisions on important subjects about this time +show that the royalist minority was very formidable. But the +attendance, especially on that side, seems to have been irregular; and +in general, when we consider the immense importance of these debates, +we are surprised to find the house so deficient in numbers as many +divisions show it to have been. Clarendon frequently complains of the +supineness of his party; a fault invariably imputed to their friends +by the zealous supporters of established authority, who forget that +sluggish, lukewarm, and thoughtless tempers must always exist, and +that such will naturally belong to their side. I find in the short +pencil notes taken by Sir Ralph Verney, with a copy of which I have +been favoured by Mr. Serjeant D'Oyly, the following entry on the 7th +of August, before the king's journey to Scotland: "A remonstrance to +be made how we found the kingdom and the church, and how the state of +it now stands." This is not adverted to in Nalson, nor in the Journals +at this time. But Clarendon says, in a suppressed passage (vol. ii. +Append. 591) that "at the beginning of the parliament, or shortly +after, when all men were inflamed with the pressures and illegalities +which had been exercised upon them, a committee was appointed to +prepare a remonstrance of the state of the kingdom, to be presented to +his majesty, in which the several grievances might be recited; which +committee had never brought any report to the house; most men +conceiving, and very reasonably, that the quick and effectual progress +his majesty made for the reparation of those grievances, and +prevention of the like for the future, had rendered that work +needless. But as soon as the intelligence came of his majesty being on +his way from Scotland towards London, that committee was, with great +earnestness and importunity, called upon to bring in the draft of such +remonstrance," etc. I find a slight notice of this origin of the +remonstrance in the Journals, Nov. 17, 1640. + +In another place, also suppressed in the common editions, Clarendon +says: "This debate held many hours, in which the framers and +contrivers of the declaration said very little, or answered any +reasons that were alleged to the contrary; the only end of passing it, +which was to incline the people to sedition, being a reason not to be +given; but called still for the question, presuming their number, if +not their reason, would serve to carry it; and after two in the +morning (for so long the debate continued, if that can be called a +debate, when those only of one opinion argued), etc., it was put to +the question." What a strange memory this author had! I have now +before me Sir Ralph Verney's MS. note of the debate, whence it appears +that Pym, Hampden, Hollis, Glyn, and Maynard, spoke in favour of the +remonstrance; nay, as far as these brief memoranda go, Hyde himself +seems not to have warmly opposed it. + +[204] The letters of Sir Edward Nicholas, published as a supplement to +Evelyn's _Diary_, show how generally the apprehensions of popish +influence were entertained. It is well for superficial pretenders to +lay these on calumny and misrepresentation; but such as have read our +historical documents, know that the royalists were almost as jealous +of the king in this respect as the puritans. See what Nicholas says to +the king himself, pp. 22, 25, 29. Indeed he gives several hints to a +discerning reader, that he was not satisfied with the soundness of the +king's intentions, especially as to O'Neale's tampering with the army, +p. 77. Nicholas, however, became afterwards a very decided supporter +of the royal cause; and in the council at Oxford, just before the +treaty of Uxbridge, was the only one who voted according to the king's +wish, not to give the members at Westminster the appellation of a +parliament. P. 90. + +[205] The king's speech about Goodman, Baillie tells us, gave great +satisfaction to all; "with _much humming_ was it received."--P. 240. +Goodman petitioned the house that he might be executed, rather than +become the occasion of differences between the king and parliament. +This was earlier in time, and at least equal in generosity, to Lord +Strafford's famous letter; or perhaps rather more so, since, though it +turned out otherwise, he had greater reason to expect that he should +be taken at his word. It is remarkable, that the king says in his +answer to the Commons, that no priest had been executed merely for +religion, either by his father or Elizabeth, which, though well meant, +was quite untrue. _Parl. Hist._ 712; Butler, ii. 5. + +[206] See what Clarendon says of the effect produced at Westminster by +the Incident, in one of the suppressed passages. Vol. ii. Append, p. +575, edit. 1826. + +[207] Nalson, ii. 788, 792, 804; Clarendon, ii. 84. The queen's +behaviour had been extraordinarily imprudent from the very beginning. +So early as Feb. 17, 1641, the French ambassador writes word: "La +reine d'Angleterre dit publiquement qu'il y a une trève arrestée pour +trois ans entre la France et l'Espagne, et que ces deux couronnes vont +unir leurs forces pour la défendre et pour venger les catholiques." +Mazure, _Hist. de la Révol. en 1688_, ii. 419. She was very desirous +to go to France, doubtless to interest her brother and the queen in +the cause of royalty. Lord Holland, who seems to have been the medium +between the parliamentary chiefs and the French court, signified how +much this would be dreaded by the former; and Richelieu took care to +keep her away; of which she bitterly complained. This was in February. +Her majesty's letter, which M. Mazure has been malicious enough to +print verbatim, is a curious specimen of orthography. _Id._ p. 416. +Her own party were equally averse to this step, which was chiefly the +effect of cowardice; for Henrietta was by no means the high-spirited +woman that some have fancied. It is well known that a few months +afterwards she pretended to require the waters of Spa for her health; +but was induced to give up her journey. + +[208] Clarendon, ii. 81. This writer intimates that the Tower was +looked upon by the court as a bridle upon the city. + +[209] Nalson, ii. 810, and other writers, ascribe this accusation of +Lord Kimbolton in the peers, and of the five members, as they are +commonly called, Pym, Hollis, Hampden, Haslerig, and Strode, to secret +information obtained by the king in Scotland of their former intrigues +with that nation. This is rendered in some measure probable by a part +of the written charge preferred by the attorney-general before the +House of Lords, and by expressions that fell from the king; such as, +"it was a treason which they should all thank him for discovering." +Clarendon, however, hardly hints at this; and gives, at least, a hasty +reader to understand that the accusation was solely grounded on their +parliamentary conduct. Probably he was aware that the act of oblivion +passed last year afforded a sufficient legal defence to the charge of +corresponding with the Scots in 1640. In my judgment, they had an +abundant justification in the eyes of their country for intrigues +which, though legally treasonable, had been the means of overthrowing +despotic power. The king and courtiers had been elated by the applause +he received when he went into the city to dine with the lord mayor on +his return from Scotland; and Madame de Motteville says plainly, that +he determined to avail himself of it in order to seize the leaders in +parliament (i. 264). + +Nothing could be more irregular than the mode of Charles's proceedings +in this case. He sends a message by the serjeant-at-arms to require of +the speaker that five members should be given up to him on a charge of +high treason; no magistrate's or counsellor's warrant appeared; it was +the king acting singly, without the intervention of the law. It is +idle to allege, like Clarendon, that privilege of parliament does not +extend to treason; the breach of privilege, and of all constitutional +law, was in the mode of proceeding. In fact, the king was guided by +bad private advice, and cared not to let any of his privy council know +his intention, lest he should encounter opposition. + +The following account of the king's coming to the house on this +occasion is copied from the pencil notes of Sir R. Verney. It has been +already printed by Mr. Hatsell (_Precedents_, iv. 106), but with no +great correctness. What Sir R. V. says of the transactions of Jan. 3 +is much the same as we read in the Journals. He thus proceeds: +"Tuesday, January 4, 1641. The five gentlemen which were to be accused +came into the house, and there was information that they should be +taken away by force. Upon this, the house sent to the lord mayor, +aldermen, and common council to let them know how their privileges +were like to be broken, and the city put into danger, and advised them +to look to their security. + +"Likewise some members were sent to the inns of court to let them know +how they heard they were tampered withal to assist the king against +them, and therefore they desired them not to come to Westminster. + +"Then the house adjourned till one of the clock. + +"As soon as the house met again, it was moved, considering there was +an intention to take these five members away by force, to avoid all +tumult, let them be commanded to absent themselves; upon this the +house gave them leave to absent themselves, but entered no order for +it. And then the five gentlemen went out of the house. + +"A little after the king came with all his guard, and all his +pensioners, and two or three hundred soldiers and gentlemen. The king +commanded the soldiers to stay in the hall, and sent us word he was at +the door. The speaker was commanded to sit still with the mace lying +before him, and then the king came to the door, and took the palsgrave +in with him, and commanded all that came with him upon their lives not +to come in. So the doors were kept open, and the Earl of Roxburgh +stood within the door, leaning upon it. Then the king came upwards +towards the chair with his hat off, and the speaker stepped out to +meet him; then the king stepped up to his place, and stood upon the +step, but sat not down in the chair. + +"And after he had looked a great while, he told us he would not break +our privileges, but treason had no privilege; he came for those five +gentlemen, for he expected obedience yesterday, and not an answer. +Then he called Mr. Pym and Mr. Hollis by name, but no answer was made. +Then he asked the speaker if they were here, or where they were? Upon +this the speaker fell on his knees, and desired his excuse, for he was +a servant to the house, and had neither eyes nor tongue to see or say +anything, but what they commanded him: then the king told him he +thought his own eyes were as good as his, and then said his birds were +flown, but he did expect the house should send them to him; and if +they did not, he would seek them himself, for their treason was foul, +and such a one as they would all thank him to discover: then he +assured us they should have a fair trial; and so went out, pulling off +his hat till he came to the door. + +"Upon this the house did instantly resolve to adjourn till to-morrow +at one of the clock, and in the interim they might consider what to +do. + +"Wednesday, 5th Jan. 1641.--The house ordered a committee to sit at +Guildhall in London, and all that would come had voices. This was to +consider and advise how to right the house in point of privilege +broken by the king's coming yesterday with a force to take members out +of our house. They allowed the Irish committee to sit, but would +meddle with no other business till this were ended; they acquainted +the Lords in a message with what they had done, and then they +adjourned the house till Tuesday next." + +The author of these memoranda in pencil, which extend, at intervals of +time, from the meeting of the parliament to April 1642, though +mistaken by Mr. Hatsell for Sir Edmund Verney, member for the county +of Bucks, and killed at the battle of Edgehill, has been ascertained +by my learned friend, Mr. Serjeant D'Oyly, to be his brother Sir +Ralph, member for Aylesbury. He continued at Westminster, and took the +covenant; but afterwards retired to France, and was disabled to sit by +a vote of the house, Sept. 22, 1645. + +[210] _Mém. de Motteville_, i. 264. Clarendon has hardly been +ingenuous in throwing so much of the blame of this affair on Lord +Digby. Indeed, he insinuates in one place, that the queen's +apprehension of being impeached, with which some one in the confidence +of the parliamentary leaders (either Lord Holland or Lady Carlisle) +had inspired her, led to the scheme of anticipating them (ii. 232). It +has been generally supposed that Lady Carlisle gave the five members a +hint to absent themselves. The French ambassador, however, Montereuil, +takes the credit to himself. "J'avois prévenu mes amis, et ils +s'étoient mis en sûreté." Mazure, p. 429. It is probable that he was +in communication with that intriguing lady. + +[211] Pp. 159, 180. + +[212] The earliest proof that the Commons gave of their intention to +take the militia into their hands was immediately upon the discovery +of Percy's plot, 5th May 1641, when an order was made that the members +of each county, etc., should meet to consider in what state the places +for which they serve are in respect of arms and ammunition, and +whether the deputy lieutenants and lord lieutenants are persons well +affected to the religion and the public peace, and to present their +names to the house, and who are the governors of forts and castles in +their counties. Commons' Journals. Not long afterwards, or at least +before the king's journey to Scotland, Sir Arthur Haslerig, as +Clarendon informs us, proposed a bill for settling the militia in such +hands as they should nominate, which was seconded by St. John, and +read once, "but with so universal a dislike, that it was never called +upon a second time." Clarendon, i. 488. I can find nothing of this in +the Journals, and believe it to be one of the anachronisms into which +this author has fallen, in consequence of writing at a distance from +authentic materials. The bill to which he alludes must, I conceive, be +that brought in by Haslerig long after (7th Dec. 1641), not, as he +terms it, for settling the militia, but for making certain persons, +leaving their names in blank, "lords general of all the forces within +England and Wales, and lord admiral of England." The persons intended +seem to have been Essex, Holland, and Northumberland. The Commons had +for some time planned to give the two former earls a supreme command +over the trained bands north and south of Trent (Journals, Nov. 15 and +16); which was afterwards changed into the scheme of lord lieutenants +of their own nomination for each county. The bill above mentioned +having been once read, it was moved that it be rejected, which was +negatived by 158 to 125. Commons' Journals, 7th Dec. Nalson, ii. 719, +has made a mistake about these numbers. The bill, however, was laid +aside, a new plan having been devised. It was ordered (31st Dec. 1641) +"that the house be resolved into a committee on Monday next (Jan. 3), +to take into consideration the militia of the kingdom." That Monday +(Jan. 3) was the famous day of the king's message about the five +members; and on Jan. 13 a declaration for putting the kingdom in a +state of defence passed the Commons, by which "all officers, +magistrates, etc., were enjoined to take care that no soldiers be +raised, nor any castles or arms given up, _without his majesty's +pleasure, signified by both houses of parliament_." Commons' Journals; +_Parl. Hist._ 1035. The Lords at the time refused to concur in this +declaration, which was afterwards changed into the ordinance for the +militia; but 32 peers signed a protest (_Id._ 1049), and the house not +many days afterwards came to an opposite vote, joining with the +Commons in their demand of the militia. _Id._ 1072, 1091. + +[213] Rymer, sub Edw. I. et II. _passim_. Thus, in 1297, a writ to the +sheriff of Yorkshire directs him to make known to all, qui habent 20 +libratas terræ et reditus per annum, tam illis qui non tenent de nobis +in capite quam illis qui tenent, ut de equis et armis sibi provideant +et se probarent indilatè; ita quod sint prompti et parati ad veniendum +ad nos et eundum cum propriâ personâ nostrâ, pro defensione ipsorum et +totius regni nostri prædicti quandocunque pro ipsis duxerimus +demandandum. ii. 864. + +[214] Stat. 1 Edw. III. c. 5. + +[215] 25 Edw. III. c. 8. 4 H. IV. c. 13. + +[216] 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, c. 3. The Harleian manuscripts are the +best authority for the practice of pressing soldiers to serve in +Ireland or elsewhere, and are full of instances. The Mouldys and +Bullcalfs were in frequent requisition. See vols. 309, 1926, 2219, and +others. Thanks to Humphrey Wanley's diligence, the analysis of these +papers in the catalogue will save the enquirer the trouble of reading, +or the mortification of finding he cannot read, the terrible scrawl in +which they are generally written. + +[217] Wilkins's _Leges Anglo-Saxonicæ_, p. 333; Lyttleton's _Henry +II._, iii. 354. + +[218] Stat. 13 E. I. + +[219] 5 Philip and Mary, c. 2. + +[220] 1 Jac. c. 25, § 46. An order of council, in Dec. 1638, that +every man having lands of inheritance to the clear yearly value of +£200 should be chargeable to furnish a light-horse man, every one of +£300 estate to furnish a lance, at the discretion of the lord +lieutenant, was unwarranted by any existing law, and must be reckoned +among the violent stretches of the prerogative at that time. Rushw. +Abr. ii. 500. + +[221] Rymer, xix. 310. + +[222] Grose's _Military Antiquities_, i. 150. The word artillery was +used in that age for the long-bow. + +[223] Whitelock maintained, both on this occasion, and at the treaty +of Uxbridge, that the power of the militia resided in the king and two +houses jointly. Pp. 55, 129. This, though not very well expressed, can +only mean that it required an act of parliament to determine and +regulate it. + +[224] See the list of those recommended, _Parl. Hist._ 1083. Some of +these were royalists; but on the whole, three-fourths of the military +force of England would have been in the hands of persons, who, though +men of rank, and attached to the monarchy, had given Charles no reason +to hope that they would decline to obey any order which the parliament +might issue, however derogatory or displeasing to himself. + +[225] "When this bill had been with much ado accepted, and first read, +there were few men who imagined it would ever receive further +countenance; but now there were very few who did not believe it to be +a very necessary provision for the peace and safety of the kingdom. So +great an impression had the late proceedings made upon them, that with +little opposition it passed the Commons, and was sent up to the +Lords." Clarend. ii. 180. + +[226] Clarendon, ii. 375; _Parl. Hist._ 1077, 1106, etc. It may be +added, that the militia bill, as originally tendered to the king by +the two houses, was ushered in by a preamble asserting that there had +been a most dangerous and desperate design on the House of Commons, +the effect of the bloody counsels of the papists, and other +ill-affected persons, who had already raised a rebellion in Ireland. +Clar. p. 336. Surely he could not have passed this, especially the +last allusion, without recording his own absolute dishonour: but it +must be admitted, that on the king's objection they omitted this +preamble, and also materially limited the powers of the lords +lieutenant to be appointed under the bill. + +[227] A declaration of the grievances of the kingdom, and the remedies +proposed, dated April 1, may be found in the _Parliamentary History_, +p. 1155. But that work does not notice that it had passed the Commons +on Feb. 19, before the king had begun to move towards the north. +Commons' Journals. It seems not to have pleased the House of Lords, +who postponed its consideration, and was much more grievous to the +king than the nineteen propositions themselves. One proposal was to +remove all papists from about the queen; that is, to deprive her of +the exercise of her religion, guaranteed by her marriage contract. To +this objection Pym replied that the House of Commons had only to +consider the law of God and the law of the land; that they must resist +idolatry, lest they incur the divine wrath, and must see the laws of +this kingdom executed; that the public faith is less than that they +owe to God, against which no contract can oblige, neither can any bind +us against the law of the kingdom. _Id._ 1162. + +[228] _Parl. Hist._ 702. + +[229] Clarendon, p. 452. Upon this passage in the remonstrance a +division took place, when it was carried by 103 to 61. _Parl. Hist._ +1302. The words in the old form of coronation oath, as preserved in a +bill of parliament under Henry IV., concerning which this +grammatico-political contention arose, are the following: "Concedis +justas leges et consuetudines esse tenendas, et promittis per te eas +esse protegendas, et ad honorem Dei corroborandas, _quas vulgus +elegerit_, secundum vires tuas?" It was maintained by one side that +_elegerit_ should be construed in the future tense, while the other +contended for the præterperfect. But even if the former were right, as +to the point of Latin construction, though consuetudines seems +naturally to imply a past tense, I should by no means admit the +strange inference that the king was bound to sanction all laws +proposed to him. His own assent is involved in the expression, "quas +vulgus elegerit," which was introduced, on the hypothesis of the word +being in the future tense, as a security against his legislation +without consent of the people in parliament. The English coronation +oath, which Charles had taken, excludes the future: Sir, will you +grant to hold and keep the laws and rightful customs, _which the +commonalty of this your kingdom have_? + +[230] See what is said as to this by P. Orleans, iii. 87, and by +Madame de Motteville, i. 268. Her intended journey to Spa, in July +1641, which was given up on the remonstrance of parliament, is highly +suspicious. The house, it appears, had received even then information +that the Crown jewels were to be carried away. Nalson, ii. 391. + +[231] The impeachments of Lord Finch and of Judge Berkeley for high +treason are at least as little justifiable in point of law as that of +Strafford. Yet, because the former of these was moved by Lord +Falkland, Clarendon is so far from objecting to it, that he imputes as +a fault to the parliamentary leaders their lukewarmness in the +prosecution, and insinuates that they were desirous to save Finch. See +especially the new edition of Clarendon, vol. i. Appendix. But they +might reasonably think that Finch was not of sufficient importance to +divert their attention from the grand apostate, whom they were +determined to punish. Finch fled to Holland; so that then it would +have been absurd to take much trouble about his impeachment: Falkland, +however, opened it to the Lords, 14 Jan. 1641, in a speech containing +full as many extravagant propositions as any of St. John's. Berkeley, +besides his forwardness about ship-money, had been notorious for +subserviency to the prerogative. The house sent the usher of the black +rod to the court of King's Bench, while the judges were sitting, who +took him away to prison; "which struck a great terror," says +Whitelock, "in the rest of his brethren then sitting in Westminster +Hall, and in all his profession." The impeachment against Berkeley for +high treason ended in his paying a fine of £10,000. But what appears +strange and unjustifiable is, that the houses suffered him to sit for +some terms as a judge, with this impeachment over his head. The only +excuse for this is, that there were a great many vacancies on that +bench. + +[232] Journals, Aug. 30 and Nov. 9. It may be urged in behalf of these +ordinances, that the king had gone into Scotland against the wish of +the two houses, and after refusing to appoint a _custos regni_ at +their request. But if the exigency of the case might justify, under +those circumstances, the assumption of an irregular power, it ought to +have been limited to the period of the sovereign's absence. + +[233] _Parl. Hist._ 678, _et alibi_; Journals, _passim_. Clarendon, i. +475, says this began to pass all bounds after the act rendering them +indissoluble. "It had never," he says, "been attempted before this +parliament to commit any one to prison, except for some apparent +breach of privilege, such as the arrest of one of their members, or +the like." Instances of this, however, had occurred before, of which I +have mentioned in another place the grossest, that of Floyd, in 1621. +The Lords, in March 1642, condemned one Sandford, a tailor, for +cursing the parliament, to be kept at work in Bridewell during his +life, besides some minor inflictions. Rushworth. A strange order was +made by the Commons, Dec. 10, 1641, that, Sir William Earl having +given information of some dangerous words spoken by certain persons, +the speaker shall issue a warrant to apprehend _such persons as Sir +William Earl should point out_. + +[234] The entry of this in the journals is too characteristic of the +tone assumed in the Commons to be omitted. "This committee (after +naming some of the warmest men) is appointed to prepare heads for a +conference with the Lords, and to acquaint them what bills this house +hath passed and sent up to their lordships, which much concern the +safety of the kingdom, but have had no consent of their lordships unto +them; and that, this house being the representative body of the whole +kingdom, and their lordships being but as particular persons, and +coming to parliament in a particular capacity, that if they shall not +be pleased to consent to the passing of those acts and others +necessary to the preservation and safety of the kingdom, that then +this house, together with such of the lords that are more sensible of +the safety of the kingdom, may join together and represent the same +unto his majesty." This was on December 3, 1641, before the argument +from necessity could be pretended, and evidently contains the germ of +the resolution of February 1649, that the House of Lords was useless. + +The resolution was moved by Mr. Pym; and on Mr. Godolphin's objecting, +very sensibly, that if they went to the king with the lesser part of +the Lords, the greater part of the Lords might go to the king with the +lesser part of them, he was commanded to withdraw (Verney MS.); and an +order appears on the journals, that on Tuesday next the house would +take into consideration the offence now given by words spoken by Mr. +Godolphin. Nothing further, however, seems to have taken place. + +[235] This was carried Jan. 27, 1642, by a majority of 223 to 123, the +largest number, I think, that voted for any question during the +parliament. Richmond was an eager courtier, and perhaps an enemy to +the constitution, which may account for the unusual majority in favour +of his impeachment, but cannot justify it. He had merely said, on a +proposition to adjourn, "Why should we not adjourn for six months?" + +[236] _Parl. Hist._ 1147, 1150, 1188; Clarendon, ii. 284, 346. + +[237] Clarendon, 322. Among other petitions presented at this time, +the noble author inserts one from the porters of London. Mr. Brodie +asserts of this, that "it is nowhere to be found or alluded to, so far +as I recollect, except in Clarendon's _History_; and I have no +hesitation in pronouncing it a forgery by that author, to disgrace the +petitions which so galled him and his party. The journals of the +Commons give an account of every petition; and I have gone over them +_with the utmost care_, in order to ascertain whether such a petition +ever was presented, and yet cannot discover a trace of it."--iii. 306. +This writer is much too precipitate and passionate. No sensible man +will believe Clarendon to have committed so foolish and useless a +forgery; and as to Mr. B.'s diligent perusal of the journals, this +petition is fully noticed, though not inserted at length, on the 3rd +of February. + +[238] Nalson, ii. 234, 245. + +[239] The bishops had so few friends in the House of Commons, that in +the debate arising out of this protest, all agreed that they should be +charged with treason, except one gentleman, who said he thought them +only mad, and proposed that they should be sent to Bedlam instead of +the Tower. Even Clarendon bears rather hard on the protest; chiefly, +as is evident, because it originated with Williams. In fact, several +of these prelates had not courage to stand by what they had done, and +made trivial apologies. _Parl. Hist._ 996. Whether the violence was +such as to form a complete justification for their absenting +themselves, is a question of fact which we cannot well determine. +Three bishops continued at their posts, and voted against the bill for +removing them from the House of Lords. See a passage from Hall's "Hard +Measure," in Wordsworth's _Eccles. Biogr._ v. 317. The king always +entertained a notion that this act was null in itself; and in one of +his proclamations from York, not very judiciously declares his +intention to preserve the privileges of the _three_ estates of +parliament. The Lords admitted the twelve bishops to bail; but, with +their usual pusillanimity, recommitted them on the Commons' +expostulation. _Parl. Hist._ 1092. + +[240] May, p. 187, insinuates that the civil war should have been +prevented by more vigorous measures on the part of the parliament. And +it might probably have been in their power to have secured the king's +person before he reached York. But the majority were not ripe for such +violent proceedings. + +[241] These words are ascribed to Lord Chatham, in a speech of Mr. +Grattan, according to Lord John Russell, in his _Essay on the History +of the English Government_, p. 55. + +[242] Clarendon has several remarkable passages, chiefly towards the +end of the fifth book of his _History_, on the slowness and timidity +of the royalist party before the commencement of the civil war. The +peers at York, forming, in fact, a majority of the upper house, for +there were nearly forty of them, displayed much of this. Want of +political courage was a characteristic of our aristocracy at this +period, bravely as many behaved in the field. But I have no doubt that +a real jealousy of the king's intentions had a considerable effect. + +They put forth a declaration, signed by all their hands, on the 15th +of June 1642, professing before God their full persuasion that the +king had no design to make war on the parliament, and that they saw no +colour of preparations or counsels that might reasonably beget a +belief of any such designs; but that all his endeavours tended to the +settlement of the protestant religion, the just privileges of +parliament, the liberty of the subject, etc. This was an ill-judged, +and even absurd piece of hypocrisy, calculated to degrade the +subscribers; since the design of raising troops was hardly concealed, +and every part of the king's conduct since his arrival at York +manifested it. The commission of array, authorising certain persons in +each county to raise troops, was in fact issued immediately after this +declaration. It is rather mortifying to find Lord Falkland's name, not +to mention others, in this list; but he probably felt it impossible to +refuse his signature, without throwing discredit on the king; and no +man engaged in a party ever did, or ever can, act with absolute +sincerity; or at least he can be of no use to his friends, if he does +adhere to this uncompromising principle. + +The commission of array was ill-received by many of the king's +friends, as not being conformable to law. Clarendon, iii. 91. +Certainly it was not so; but it was justifiable as the means of +opposing the parliament's ordinance for the militia, at least equally +illegal. This, however, shows very strongly the cautious and +constitutional temper of many of the royalists, who could demur about +the legality of a measure of necessity, since no other method of +raising an army would have been free from similar exception. The same +reluctance to enter on the war was displayed in the propositions for +peace, which the king, in consequence of his council's importunity, +sent to the two houses through the Earl of Southampton, just before he +raised his standard at Nottingham. + +[243] According to a list made by the House of Lords, May 25, 1642, +the peers with the king at York were thirty-two; those who remained at +Westminster, forty-two. But of the latter, more than ten joined the +others before the commencement of the war, and five or six afterwards; +two or three of those at York returned. During the war there were at +the outside thirty peers who sat in the parliament. + +[244] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 56. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE BREAKING OUT OF THE CIVIL WAR TO THE RESTORATION + + +PART I + +Factions that, while still under some restraint from the forms at +least of constitutional law, excite our disgust by their selfishness +or intemperance, are little likely to redeem their honour when their +animosities have kindled civil warfare. If it were difficult for an +upright man to enlist with an entire willingness under either the +royalist or the parliamentarian banner, at the commencement of +hostilities in 1642, it became far less easy for him to desire the +complete success of one or the other cause, as advancing time +displayed the faults of both in darker colours than they had +previously worn. Of the parliament--to begin with the more powerful +and victorious party--it may be said, I think, with not greater +severity than truth, that scarce two or three public acts of justice, +humanity, or generosity, and very few of political wisdom or courage, +are recorded of them from their quarrel with the king to their +expulsion by Cromwell. + +Notwithstanding the secession from parliament before the commencement +of the war, of nearly all the peers who could be reckoned on the +king's side, and of a pretty considerable part of the Commons, there +still continued to sit at Westminster many sensible and moderate +persons, who thought that they could not serve their country better +than by remaining at their posts, and laboured continually to bring +about a pacification by mutual concessions. Such were the Earls of +Northumberland, Holland, Lincoln, and Bedford, among the peers; +Selden, Whitelock, Hollis, Waller, Pierrepont, and Rudyard, in the +Commons. These however would have formed but a very ineffectual +minority, if the war itself, for at least twelve months, had not taken +a turn little expected by the parliament. The hard usage Charles +seemed to endure in so many encroachments on his ancient prerogative +awakened the sympathies of a generous aristocracy, accustomed to +respect the established laws, and to love monarchy, as they did their +own liberties, on the score of its prescriptive title; averse also to +the rude and morose genius of puritanism, and not a little jealous of +those upstart demagogues who already threatened to subvert the +graduated pyramid of English society. Their zeal placed the king at +the head of a far more considerable army than either party had +anticipated.[245] In the first battle, that of Edgehill, though he did +not remain master of the field, yet all the military consequences were +evidently in his favour.[246] In the ensuing campaign of 1643, the +advantage was for several months entirely his own; nor could he be +said to be a loser on the whole result, notwithstanding some reverses +that accompanied the autumn. A line drawn from Hull to Southampton +would suggest no very incorrect idea of the two parties, considered as +to their military occupation of the kingdom, at the beginning of +September 1643; for if the parliament, by the possession of Glocester +and Plymouth, and by some force they had on foot in Cheshire, and +other midland parts, kept their ground on the west of this line, this +was nearly compensated by the Earl of Newcastle's possession at that +time of most of Lincolnshire, which lay within it. Such was the +temporary effect, partly indeed of what may be called the fortune of +war, but rather of the zeal and spirit of the royalists, and of their +advantage in a more numerous and intrepid cavalry.[247] + +It has been frequently supposed, and doubtless seems to have been a +prevailing opinion at the time, that if the king, instead of sitting +down before Glocester at the end of August, had marched upon London, +combining his operations with Newcastle's powerful army, he would have +brought the war to a triumphant conclusion.[248] In these matters men +judge principally by the event. Whether it would have been prudent in +Newcastle to have left behind him the strong garrison of Hull under +Fairfax, and an unbroken though inferior force, commanded by Lord +Willoughby and Cromwell in Lincolnshire, I must leave to military +critics; suspecting however that he would have found it difficult to +draw away the Yorkshire gentry and yeomanry, forming the strength of +his army, from their unprotected homes. Yet the parliamentary forces +were certainly, at no period of the war, so deficient in numbers, +discipline, and confidence; and it may well be thought that the king's +want of permanent resources, with his knowledge of the timidity and +disunion which prevailed in the capital, rendered the boldest and most +forward game his true policy. + +_Efforts by the moderate party for peace._--It was natural that the +moderate party in parliament should acquire strength by the untoward +fortune of its arms. Their aim, as well as that of the constitutional +royalists, was a speedy pacification; neither party so much +considering what terms might be most advantageous to their own side, +as which way the nation might be freed from an incalculably protracted +calamity. On the king's advance to Colnbrook in November 1642, the two +houses made an overture for negotiation, on which he expressed his +readiness to enter. But, during the parley, some of his troops +advanced to Brentford, and a sharp action took place in that town. The +parliament affected to consider this such a mark of perfidy and +blood-thirstiness as justified them in breaking off the treaty; a step +to which they were doubtless more inclined by the king's retreat, and +their discovery that his army was less formidable than they had +apprehended. It is very probable, or rather certain, even from +Clarendon's account, that many about the king, if not himself, were +sufficiently indisposed to negotiate; yet, as no cessation of arms had +been agreed upon, or even proposed, he cannot be said to have waived +the unquestionable right of every belligerent, to obtain all possible +advantage by arms, in order to treat for peace in a more favourable +position. But, as mankind are seldom reasonable in admitting such +maxims against themselves, he seems to have injured his reputation by +this affair of Brentford. + +_Treaty at Oxford._--A treaty, from which many ventured to hope much, +was begun early in the next spring at Oxford, after a struggle which +had lasted through the winter within the walls of parliament.[249] But +though the party of Pym and Hampden at Westminster were not able to +prevent negotiation against the strong bent of the House of Lords, and +even of the city, which had been taught to lower its tone by the +interruption of trade, and especially of the supply of coals from +Newcastle; yet they were powerful enough to make the houses insist on +terms not less unreasonable than those contained in their nineteen +propositions the year before.[250] The king could not be justly +expected to comply with these; but, had they been more moderate, or if +the parliament would have in some measure receded from them, we have +every reason to conclude, both by the nature of the terms he proposed +in return, and by the positive testimony of Clarendon, that he would +not have come sincerely into any scheme of immediate accommodation. +The reason assigned by that author for the unwillingness of Charles to +agree on a cessation of arms during the negotiation, though it had +been originally suggested by himself (and which reason would have been +still more applicable to a treaty of peace), is one so strange that it +requires all the authority of one very unwilling to confess any +weakness or duplicity of the king to be believed. He had made a solemn +promise to the queen on her departure for Holland the year before, +"that he would receive no person who had disserved him into any favour +or trust, without her privity and consent; and that, as she had +undergone many reproaches and calumnies at the entrance into the war, +so he would never make any peace but by her interposition and +mediation, that the kingdom might receive that blessing only from +her."[251] Let this be called, as the reader may please, the +extravagance of romantic affection, or rather the height of +pusillanimous and criminal subserviency, we cannot surely help +acknowledging that this one marked weakness in Charles's character, +had there been nothing else to object, rendered the return of cordial +harmony between himself and his people scarce within the bounds of +natural possibility. In the equally balanced condition of both forces +at this particular juncture, it may seem that some compromise on the +great question of the militia was not impracticable, had the king been +truly desirous of accommodation; for it is only just to remember that +the parliament had good reason to demand some security for themselves, +when he had so peremptorily excluded several persons from amnesty. +Both parties, in truth, were standing out for more than, either +according to their situation as belligerents, or even perhaps +according to the principles of our constitution, they could reasonably +claim; the two houses having evidently no direct right to order the +military force, nor the king, on the other hand, having a clear +prerogative to keep on foot an army which is not easily +distinguishable from a militia without consent of parliament. The most +reasonable course apparently would have been for the one to have +waived a dangerous and disputed authority, and the other to have +desisted from a still more unconstitutional pretension; which was done +by the bill of rights in 1689. The kingdom might have well dispensed, +in that age, with any military organisation; and this seems to have +been the desire of Whitelock, and probably of other reasonable men. +But unhappily when swords are once drawn in civil war, they are seldom +sheathed till experience has shown which blade is the sharper. + +_Impeachment of the queen._--Though this particular instance of the +queen's prodigious ascendancy over her husband remained secret till +the publication of Lord Clarendon's life, it was in general well +known, and put the leaders of the Commons on a remarkable stroke of +policy, in order to prevent the renewal of negotiations. On her +landing in the north, with a supply of money and arms, as well as with +a few troops she had collected in Holland, they carried up to the +Lords an impeachment for high treason against her. This measure (so +obnoxious was Henrietta) met with a less vigorous opposition than +might be expected, though the moderate party was still in considerable +force.[252] It was not only an insolence, which a king, less uxorious +than Charles, could never pardon; but a violation of the primary laws +and moral sentiments that preserve human society, to which the queen +was acting in obedience. Scarce any proceeding of the long parliament +seems more odious than this; whether designed by way of intimidation, +or to exasperate the king, and render the composure of existing +differences more impracticable. + +_Waller's plot._--The enemies of peace were strengthened by the +discovery of what is usually called Waller's plot, a scheme for making +a strong demonstration of the royalist party in London, wherein +several members of both houses appear to have been more or less +concerned. Upon the detection of this conspiracy, the two houses of +parliament took an oath not to lay down arms, so long as the papists +now in arms should be protected from the justice of parliament; and +never to adhere to, or willingly assist, the forces raised by the +king, without the consent of both houses. Every individual member of +the Peers and Commons took this oath; some of them being then in +secret concert with the king, and others entertaining intentions, as +their conduct very soon evinced, of deserting to his side.[253] Such +was the commencement of a system of perjury, which lasted for many +years, and belies the pretended religion of that hypocritical age. +But we may always look for this effect from oppressive power, and the +imposition of political tests. + +The king was now in a course of success, which made him rather hearken +to the sanguine courtiers of Oxford, where, according to the +invariable character of an exiled faction, every advantage or reverse +brought on a disproportionate exultation or despondency, than to those +better counsellors who knew the precariousness of his good fortune. He +published a declaration, wherein he denied the two houses at +Westminster the name of a parliament; which he could no more take from +them, after the bill he had passed, than they could deprive him of his +royal title, and by refusing which he shut up all avenues to an equal +peace.[254] This was soon followed by so extraordinary a political +error as manifests the king's want of judgment, and the utter +improbability that any event of the war could have restored to England +the blessings of liberty and repose. + +_Secession of some peers to the king's quarters._--Three peers of the +moderate party, the Earls of Holland, Bedford, and Clare, dissatisfied +with the preponderance of a violent faction in the Commons, left their +places at Westminster, and came into the king's quarters. It might be +presumed from general policy as well as from his constant declarations +of a desire to restore peace, that they would have been received with +such studied courtesy as might serve to reconcile to their own mind a +step which, when taken with the best intentions, is always equivocal +and humiliating. There was great reason to believe that the Earl of +Northumberland, not only the first peer then in England as to family +and fortune, but a man highly esteemed for prudence, was only waiting +to observe the reception of those who went first to Oxford, before he +followed their steps. There were even well-founded hopes of the Earl +of Essex, who, though incapable of betraying his trust as commander of +the parliament's army, was both from personal and public motives +disinclined to the war-party in the Commons. There was much to expect +from all those who had secretly wished well to the king's cause, and +from those whom it is madness to reject or insult, the followers of +fortune, the worshippers of power, without whom neither fortune nor +power can long subsist. Yet such was the state of Charles's +council-board at Oxford that some were for arresting these proselyte +earls; and it was carried with difficulty, after they had been +detained some time at Wallingford, that they might come to the court. +But they met there with so many and such general slights that, though +they fought in the king's army at Newbury, they found their position +intolerably ignominious; and after about three months, returned to the +parliament with many expressions of repentance, and strong testimonies +to the evil counsels of Oxford.[255] + +The king seems to have been rather passive in this strange piece of +impolicy, but by no means to have taken the line that became him, of +repressing the selfish jealousy or petty revengefulness of his court. +If the Earl of Holland was a man, whom both he and the queen, on the +score of his great obligations to them, might justly reproach with +some ingratitude, there was nothing to be objected against the other +two, save their continuance at Westminster, and compliance in votes +that he disliked. And if this were to be visited by neglect and +discountenance, there could, it was plain, be no reconciliation +between him and the parliament. For who could imagine that men of +courage and honour, while possessed of any sort of strength and any +hopes of preserving it, would put up with a mere indemnity for their +lives and fortunes, subject to be reckoned as pardoned traitors who +might thank the king for his clemency, without presuming to his +favour? Charles must have seen his superiority consolidated by +repeated victories, before he could prudently assume this tone of +conquest. Inferior in substantial force, notwithstanding his transient +advantages, to the parliament, he had no probability of regaining his +station, but by defections from their banner; and these, with +incredible folly, he seemed to decline; far unlike his illustrious +father-in-law, who had cordially embraced the leaders of a rebellion +much more implacable than the present. For the Oxford counsellors and +courtiers who set themselves against the reception of the three +earls, besides their particular animosity towards the Earl of +Holland,[256] and that general feeling of disdain and distrust which, +as Clarendon finely observes, seems by nature attached to all +desertion and inconstancy, whether in politics or religion (even among +those who reap the advantage of it, and when founded upon what they +ought to reckon the soundest reasons), there seems grounds to suspect +that they had deeper and more selfish designs than they cared to +manifest. They had long beset the king with solicitations for titles, +offices, pensions; but these were necessarily too limited for their +cravings. They had sustained, many of them, great losses; they had +performed real or pretended services for the king; and it is probable +that they looked to a confiscation of enemies' property for their +indemnification or reward. This would account for an averseness to all +overtures for peace, as decided, at this period, among a great body of +the cavaliers as it was with the factions of Pym or Vane. + +_The anti-pacific party gain the ascendant at Westminster._--These +factions were now become finally predominant at Westminster. On the +news that Prince Rupert had taken Bristol, the last and most serious +loss that the parliament sustained, the Lords agreed on propositions +for peace to be sent to the king, of an unusually moderate tone.[257] +The Commons, on a division of 94 to 65, determined to take them into +consideration; but the lord mayor Pennington having procured an +address of the city against peace, backed by a tumultuous mob, a small +majority was obtained against concurring with the other house.[258] +It was after this that the Lords above-mentioned, as well as many of +the Commons, quitted Westminster. The prevailing party had no thoughts +of peace, till they could dictate its conditions. Through Essex's +great success in raising the siege of Glocester, the most +distinguished exploit in his military life, and the battle of Newbury +wherein the advantage was certainly theirs, they became secure against +any important attack on the king's side, the war turning again to +endless sieges and skirmishes of partisans. And they now adopted two +important measures, one of which gave a new complexion to the quarrel. + +Littleton, the lord keeper of the great seal, had carried it away with +him to the king. This of itself put a stop to the regular course of +the executive government, and to the administration of justice within +the parliament's quarters. No employments could be filled up, no writs +for election of members issued, no commissions for holding the assizes +completed without the indispensable formality of affixing the great +seal. It must surely excite a smile, that men who had raised armies, +and fought battles against the king, should be perplexed how to get +over so technical a difficulty. But the great seal in the eyes of +English lawyers, has a sort of mysterious efficacy, and passes for the +depository of royal authority in a higher degree than the person of +the king. + +_The parliament makes a new great seal._--The Commons prepared an +ordinance in July for making a new great seal, in which the Lords +could not be induced to concur till October. The royalists, and the +king himself, exclaimed against this as the most audacious treason, +though it may be reckoned a very natural consequence of the state in +which the parliament was placed; and in the subsequent negotiations, +it was one of the minor points in dispute whether he should authorise +the proceedings under the great seal of the two houses, or they +consent to sanction what had been done by virtue of his own. + +The second measure of parliament was of greater moment and more fatal +consequences. I have already mentioned the stress laid by the bigoted +Scots presbyterians on the establishment of their own church +government in England. Chiefly perhaps to conciliate this people, the +House of Commons had entertained the bill for abolishing episcopacy; +and this had formed a part of the nineteen propositions that both +houses tendered to the king.[259] After the action at Brentford they +concurred in a declaration to be delivered to the Scots commissioners, +resident in London, wherein, after setting forth the malice of the +prelatical clergy in hindering the reformation of ecclesiastical +government, and professing their own desire willingly and +affectionately to pursue a closer union in such matters between the +two nations, they request their brethren of Scotland to raise such +forces as they should judge sufficient for the securing the peace of +their own borders against ill-affected persons there; as likewise, to +assist them in suppressing the army of papists and foreigners, which, +it was expected, would shortly be on foot in England.[260] + +This overture produced for many months no sensible effect. The Scots, +with all their national wariness, suspected that, in spite of these +general declarations in favour of their church polity, it was not much +at heart with most of the parliament, and might be given up in a +treaty, if the king would concede some other matters in dispute. +Accordingly, when the progress of his arms, especially in the north, +during the ensuing summer, compelled the parliament to call in a more +pressing manner, and by a special embassy, for their aid, they +resolved to bind them down by such a compact as no wavering policy +should ever rescind. They insisted therefore on the adoption of the +solemn league and covenant, founded on a similar association of their +own, five years before, through which they had successfully resisted +the king, and overthrown the prelatic government. The covenant +consisted in an oath to be subscribed by all sorts of persons in both +kingdoms, whereby they bound themselves to preserve the reformed +religion in the church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, +and government, according to the word of God and practice of the best +reformed churches; and to endeavour to bring the churches of God in +the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in +religion, confession of faith, form of church-government, directory +for worship, and catechising: to endeavour, without respect of +persons, the extirpation of popery, prelacy (that is, church +government by archbishops, bishops, their chancellors and +commissaries, deans and chapters, archdeacons, and all other +ecclesiastical officers depending on that hierarchy), and whatsoever +should be found contrary to sound doctrine and the power of godliness +to preserve the rights and privileges of the parliaments, and the +liberties of the kingdoms, and the king's person and authority, in the +preservation and defence of the true religion and liberties of the +kingdoms: to endeavour the discovery of incendiaries and malignants, +who hinder the reformation of religion, and divide the king from his +people, that they may be brought to punishment: finally, to assist and +defend all such as should enter into this covenant, and not suffer +themselves to be withdrawn from it, whether to revolt to the opposite +party, or to give in to a detestable indifference or neutrality. In +conformity to the strict alliance thus established between the two +kingdoms, the Scots commissioners at Westminster were intrusted, +jointly with a committee of both houses, with very extensive powers to +administer the public affairs.[261] + +_The parliament subscribes to the covenant._--Every member of the +Commons who remained at Westminster, to the number of 228, or perhaps +more, and from 20 to 30 Peers that formed their upper house,[262] +subscribed this deliberate pledge to overturn the established church; +many of them with extreme reluctance, both from a dislike of the +innovation, and from a consciousness that it raised a most formidable +obstacle to the restoration of peace; but with a secret reserve, for +which some want of precision in the language of this covenant +(purposely introduced by Vane, as is said, to shelter his own schemes) +afforded them a sort of apology.[263] It was next imposed on all civil +and military officers, and upon all the beneficed clergy.[264] A +severe persecution fell on the faithful children of the Anglican +church. Many had already been sequestered from their livings, or even +subjected to imprisonment, by the parliamentary committee for +scandalous ministers, or by subordinate committees of the same kind +set up in each county within their quarters; sometimes on the score of +immoralities or false doctrine, more frequently for what they termed +malignity, or attachment to the king and his party.[265] Yet wary men +who meddled not with politics, might hope to elude this inquisition. +But the covenant, imposed as a general test, drove out all who were +too conscientious to pledge themselves by a solemn appeal to the Deity +to resist the polity which they generally believed to be of his +institution. What number of the clergy were ejected (most of them but +for refusing the covenant, and for no moral offence or imputed +superstition) it is impossible to ascertain. Walker, in his +_Sufferings of the Clergy_, a folio volume published in the latter end +of Anne's reign, with all the virulence and partiality of the +high-church faction in that age, endeavoured to support those who had +reckoned it at 8000; a palpable over-statement upon his own showing, +for he cannot produce near 2000 names, after a most diligent +investigation. Neal, however, admits 1600, probably more than +one-fifth of the beneficed ministers in the kingdom.[266] The +biographical collections furnish a pretty copious martyrology of men +the most distinguished by their learning and virtues in that age. The +remorseless and indiscriminate bigotry of presbyterianism might boast +that it had heaped disgrace on Walton, and driven Lydiat to beggary; +that it trampled on the old age of Hales, and embittered with insult +the dying moments of Chillingworth. + +_Impeachment and execution of Laud._--But the most unjustifiable act +of these zealots, and one of the greatest reproaches of the long +parliament, was the death of Archbishop Laud. In the first days of the +session, while the fall of Strafford struck every one with +astonishment, the Commons had carried up an impeachment against him +for high treason, in fourteen articles of charge; and he had lain ever +since in the Tower, his revenues, and even private estate sequestered, +and in great indigence. After nearly three years' neglect, specific +articles were exhibited against him in October 1643, but not proceeded +on with vigour till December 1644; when, for whatever reason, a +determination was taken to pursue this unfortunate prelate to death. +The charges against him, which Wild, Maynard, and other managers of +the impeachment, were to aggravate into treason, related partly to +those papistical innovations which had nothing of a political +character about them, partly of the violent proceedings in the +star-chamber and high-commission courts, wherein Laud was very +prominent as a counsellor, but certainly without any greater legal +responsibility than fell on many others. He defended himself, not +always prudently or satisfactorily, but with courage and ability; +never receding from his magnificent notions of spiritual power, but +endeavouring to shift the blame of the sentences pronounced by the +council on those who concurred with him. The imputation of popery he +repelled by a list of the converts he had made; but the word was +equivocal, and he could not deny the difference between his +protestantism and that of our reformation. Nothing could be more +monstrous than the allegation of treason in this case. The judges, on +a reference by the Lords, gave it to be understood, in their timid +way, that the charges contained no legal treason.[267] But, the +Commons having changed their impeachment into an ordinance for his +execution, the Peers were pusillanimous enough to comply. It is said +by Clarendon that only seven Lords were in the house on this occasion: +but the Journals unfortunately bear witness to the presence of +twenty.[268] Laud had amply merited punishment for his tyrannical +abuse of power; but his execution at the age of seventy, without the +slightest pretence of political necessity, was a far more +unjustifiable instance of it than any that was alleged against him. + +_Decline of the king's affairs in 1644._--Pursuant to the +before-mentioned treaty, the Scots army of 21,000 men marched into +England in January 1644. This was a very serious accession to +Charles's difficulties, already sufficient to dissipate all hopes of +final triumph, except in the most sanguine minds. His successes, in +fact, had been rather such as to surprise well-judging men than to +make them expect any more favourable termination of the war than by a +fair treaty. From the beginning it may be said that the yeomanry and +trading classes of towns were generally hostile to the king's side, +even in those counties which were in his military occupation; except +in a few, such as Cornwall, Worcester, Salop, and most of Wales, where +the prevailing sentiment was chiefly royalist;[269] and this +disaffection was prodigiously increased through the licence of his +ill-paid and ill-disciplined army. On the other hand, the gentry were, +in a great majority, attached to his cause, even in the parts of +England which lay subject to the parliament. But he was never able to +make any durable impression on what were called the associated +counties, extending from Norfolk to Sussex inclusively, within which +no rising could be attempted with any effect:[270] while, on the other +hand, the parliament possessed several garrisons, and kept up +considerable forces in that larger portion of the kingdom where he +might be reckoned superior. Their resources were far greater; and the +taxes imposed by them, though exceedingly heavy, more regularly paid, +and less ruinous to the people, than the sudden exactions, half +plunder, half contribution, of the ravenous cavaliers. The king lost +ground during the winter. He had built hopes on bringing over troops +from Ireland; for the sake of which he made a truce, then called the +cessation, with the rebel catholics. But this reinforcement having +been beaten and dispersed by Fairfax at Namptwich, he had the +mortification of finding that this scheme had much increased his own +unpopularity, and the distrust entertained of him even by his +adherents, without the smallest advantage. The next campaign was +marked by the great defeat of Rupert and Newcastle at Marston Moor, +and the loss of the north of England; a blow so terrible as must have +brought on his speedy ruin, if it had not been in some degree +mitigated by his strange and unexpected success over Essex in the +west, and by the tardiness of the Scots in making use of their +victory. Upon the result of the campaign of 1644, the king's affairs +were in such bad condition that nothing less than a series of +victories could have reinstated them; yet not so totally ruined as to +hold out much prospect of an approaching termination to the people's +calamities. + +_Factions at Oxford._--There had been, from the very commencement of +the war, all that distraction in the king's councils at Oxford, and +all those bickerings and heart-burnings among his adherents, which +naturally belong to men embarked in a dangerous cause with different +motives and different views. The military men, some of whom had served +with the Swedes in Germany, acknowledged no laws but those of war; and +could not understand that, either in annoying the enemy or providing +for themselves, they were to acknowledge any restraints of the civil +power. The lawyers, on the other hand, and the whole constitutional +party laboured to keep up, in the midst of arms, the appearances at +least of legal justice, and that favourite maxim of Englishmen, the +supremacy of civil over military authority, rather more strictly +perhaps than the nature of their actual circumstances would admit. At +the head of the former party stood the king's two nephews, Rupert and +Maurice, the younger sons of the late unfortunate elector palatine, +soldiers of fortune (as we may truly call them), of rude and imperious +characters, avowedly despising the council and the common law, and +supported by Charles, with all his injudiciousness and incapacity for +affairs, against the greatest men of the kingdom. Another very +powerful and obnoxious faction was that of the catholics, proud of +their services and sacrifices, confident in the queen's protection, +and looking at least to a full toleration as their just reward. They +were the natural enemies of peace, and little less hated at Oxford +than at Westminster.[271] + +_Royalist lords and commoners summoned to Oxford._--At the beginning +of the winter of 1643 the king took the remarkable step of summoning +the peers and commoners of his party to meet in parliament at Oxford. +This was evidently suggested by the constitutionalists with the +intention of obtaining a supply by more regular methods than forced +contribution, and of opposing a barrier to the military and popish +interests.[272] Whether it were equally calculated to further the +king's cause may admit of some doubt. The royalist convention indeed, +which name it ought rather to have taken than that of parliament, met +in considerable strength at Oxford. Forty-three peers, and one hundred +and eighteen commoners, subscribed a letter to the Earl of Essex, +expressing their anxiety for a treaty of peace; twenty-nine of the +former, and fifty-seven of the latter, it is said, being then absent +on the king's service, or other occasions.[273] Such a display of +numbers, nearly double in one house, and nearly half in the other, of +those who remained at Westminster, might have an effect on the +nation's prejudices, and at least redeem the king from the charge of +standing singly against his parliament. But they came in no spirit of +fervid loyalty, rather distrustful of the king, especially on the +score of religion, averse to some whom he had injudiciously raised to +power, such as Digby and Cottington, and so eager for pacification as +not perhaps to have been unwilling to purchase it by greater +concessions than he could prudently make.[274] Peace however was by +no means brought nearer by their meeting; the parliament, jealous and +alarmed at it, would never recognise their existence; and were so +provoked at their voting the Lords and Commons at Westminster guilty +of treason, that, if we believe a writer of high authority, the two +houses unanimously passed a vote on Essex's motion, summoning the king +to appear by a certain day.[275] But the Scots commissioners had force +enough to turn aside such violent suggestions, and ultimately obtained +the concurrence of both houses in propositions for a treaty.[276] They +had begun to find themselves less likely to sway the councils of +Westminster than they had expected, and dreaded the rising ascendancy +of Cromwell. The treaty was opened at Uxbridge in January 1645. But +neither the king nor his adversaries entered on it with minds +sincerely bent on peace: they, on the one hand, resolute not to swerve +from the utmost rigour of a conqueror's terms, without having +conquered; and he, though more secretly, cherishing illusive hopes of +a more triumphant restoration to power than any treaty could be +expected to effect.[277] + +The three leading topics of discussion among the negotiators at +Uxbridge were, the church, the militia, and the state of Ireland. +Bound by their unhappy covenant, and watched by their Scots +colleagues, the English commissioners on the parliament side demanded +the complete establishment of a presbyterian polity, and the +substitution of what was called the directory for the Anglican +liturgy. Upon this head there was little prospect of a union. The king +had deeply imbibed the tenets of Andrews and Laud, believing an +episcopal government indispensably necessary to the valid +administration of the sacraments, and the very existence of a +christian church. The Scots, and a portion of the English clergy, were +equally confident that their presbyterian form was established by the +apostles as a divine model, from which it was unlawful to depart.[278] +Though most of the laity in this kingdom entertained less narrow +opinions, the parliamentary commissioners thought the king ought +rather to concede such a point than themselves, especially as his +former consent to the abolition of episcopacy in Scotland weakened a +good deal the force of his plea of conscience; while the royalists, +even could they have persuaded their master, thought episcopacy, +though not absolutely of divine right (a notion which they left to the +churchmen), yet so highly beneficial to religion, and so important to +the monarchy, that nothing less than extreme necessity, or at least +the prospect of a signal advantage, could justify its abandonment. +They offered however what in an earlier stage of their dissensions +would have satisfied almost every man, that limited scheme of +episcopal hierarchy, above-mentioned as approved by Usher, rendering +the bishop among his presbyters much like the king in parliament, not +free to exercise his jurisdiction, nor to confer orders without their +consent, and offered to leave all ceremonies to the minister's +discretion. Such a compromise would probably have pleased the English +nation, averse to nothing in their established church except its +abuses; but the parliamentary negotiators would not so much as enter +into discussion upon it.[279] + +They were hardly less unyielding on the subject of the militia. They +began with a demand of naming all the commanders by sea and land, +including the lord lieutenant of Ireland and all governors of +garrisons, for an unlimited time. The king, though not very willingly, +proposed that the command should be vested in twenty persons, half to +be named by himself, half by the parliament, for the term of three +years, which he afterwards extended to seven; at the expiration of +which time it should revert to the Crown. But the utmost concession +that could be obtained from the other side was to limit their +exclusive possession of this power to seven years, leaving the matter +open for an ulterior arrangement by act of parliament at their +termination.[280] Even if this treaty had been conducted between two +belligerent states, whom rivalry or ambition often excite to press +every demand which superior power can extort from weakness, there yet +was nothing in the condition of the king's affairs which should compel +him thus to pass under the yoke, and enter his capital as a prisoner. +But we may also remark that, according to the great principle, that +the English constitution, in all its component parts, was to be +maintained by both sides in this contest, the question for parliament +was not what their military advantages or resources for war entitled +them to ask, but what was required for the due balance of power under +a limited monarchy. They could rightly demand no further concession +from the king than was indispensable for their own and the people's +security; and I leave any one who is tolerably acquainted with the +state of England at the beginning of 1645, to decide whether their +privileges and the public liberties incurred a greater risk, by such +an equal partition of power over the sword, as the king proposed, than +his prerogative and personal freedom would have encountered by +abandoning it altogether to their discretion. I am far from thinking +that the acceptance of the king's propositions at Uxbridge would have +restored tranquillity to England. He would still have repined at the +limitations of monarchy, and others would have conspired against its +existence. But of the various consequences which we may picture to +ourselves as capable of resulting from a pacification, that which +appears to me the least likely is, that Charles should have +re-established that arbitrary power which he had exercised in the +earlier period of his reign. Whence, in fact, was he to look for +assistance? Was it with such creatures of a court as Jermyn or +Ashburnham, or with a worn-out veteran of office, like Cottington, or +a rash adventurer, like Digby, that he could outwit Vane, or overawe +Cromwell, or silence the press and the pulpit, or strike with panic +the stern puritan and the confident fanatic? Some there were, beyond +question, both soldiers and courtiers, who hated the very name of a +limited monarchy, and murmured at the constitutional language which +the king, from the time he made use of the pens of Hyde and Falkland, +had systematically employed in his public declarations.[281] But it is +as certain that the great majority of his Oxford parliament, and of +those upon whom he must have depended, either in the field or in +council, were apprehensive of any victory that might render him +absolute, as that Essex and Manchester were unwilling to conquer at +the expense of the constitution.[282] The catholics indeed, generally +speaking, would have gone great lengths in asserting his authority. +Nor is this any reproach to that body, by no means naturally less +attached to their country and its liberties than other Englishmen, but +driven by an unjust persecution to see their only hope of emancipation +in the nation's servitude. They could not be expected to sympathise in +that patriotism of the seventeenth century, which, if it poured warmth +and radiance on the protestant, was to them as a devouring fire. But +the king could have made no use of the catholics as a distinct body +for any political purpose, without uniting all other parties against +him. He had already given so much offence, at the commencement of the +war, by accepting the services which the catholic gentry were forward +to offer, that instead of a more manly justification, which the temper +of the times, he thought, did not permit, he had recourse to the +useless subterfuges of denying or extenuating the facts, and even to a +strangely improbable recrimination; asserting, on several occasions, +that the number of papists in the parliament's army was much greater +than in his own.[283] + +It may still indeed be questioned whether, admitting the propositions +tendered to the king to have been unreasonable and insecure, it might +not yet have been expedient, in the perilous condition of his affairs, +rather to have tried the chances of peace than those of war. If he +could have determined frankly and without reserve to have relinquished +the church, and called the leaders of the presbyterian party in both +houses to his councils, it is impossible to prove that he might not +both have regained his power over the militia in no long course of +time, and prevailed on the parliament to consent to its own +dissolution. The dread that party felt of the republican spirit rising +amongst the independents, would have induced them to place in the +hands of any sovereign they could trust, full as much authority as our +constitution permits. But no one who has paid attention to the history +of that period, will conclude that they could have secured the king +against their common enemy, had he even gone wholly into their own +measures.[284] And this were to suppose such an entire change in his +character, and ways of thinking, as no external circumstances could +produce. Yet his prospects from a continuance of hostilities were so +unpromising that most of the royalists would probably have hailed his +almost unconditional submission at Uxbridge. Even the steady Richmond +and Southampton, it is said, implored him to yield, and deprecated his +misjudging confidence in promises of foreign aid, or in the successes +of Montrose.[285] The more lukewarm or discontented of his adherents +took this opportunity of abandoning an almost hopeless cause; between +the breach of the treaty of Uxbridge and the battle of Naseby, several +of the Oxford peers came over to the parliament, and took an +engagement never to bear arms against it. A few instances of such +defection had occurred before.[286] + +_Miseries of the war._--It remained only, after the rupture of the +treaty at Uxbridge, to try once more the fortune of war. The people, +both in the king's and parliament's quarters, but especially the +former, heard with dismay that peace could not be attained. Many of +the perpetual skirmishes and captures of towns which made every man's +life and fortune precarious, have found no place in general history; +but may be traced in the journal of Whitelock, or in the Mercuries and +other fugitive sheets, great numbers of which are still extant. And it +will appear, I believe, from these that scarcely one county in England +was exempt, at one time or other of the war, from becoming the scene +of this unnatural contest. Compared indeed with the civil wars in +France in the preceding century, there had been fewer acts of +enormous cruelty, and less atrocious breaches of public faith. But +much blood had been wantonly shed, and articles of capitulation had +been very indifferently kept. "Either side," says Clarendon, "having +somewhat to object to the other, the requisite honesty and justice of +observing conditions was mutually, as it were by agreement, for a long +time violated."[287] The royalist army, especially the cavalry, +commanded by men either wholly unprincipled, or at least regardless of +the people, and deeming them ill affected, the princes Rupert and +Maurice, Goring and Wilmot, lived without restraint of law or military +discipline, and committed every excess even in friendly quarters.[288] +An ostentatious dissoluteness became characteristic of the cavalier, +as a formal austerity was of the puritan; one spoiling his neighbour +in the name of God, the other of the king. The parliament's troops +were not quite free from these military vices, but displayed them in a +much less scandalous degree, owing to their more religious habits and +the influence of their presbyterian chaplains, to the better example +of their commanders, and to the comparative, though not absolute, +punctuality of their pay.[289] But this pay was raised through +unheard-of assessments, especially an excise on liquors, a new name in +England, and through the sequestration of the estates of all the +king's adherents; resources of which he also had availed himself, +partly by the rights of war, partly by the grant of his Oxford +parliament.[290] + +A war so calamitous seemed likely to endure till it had exhausted the +nation. With all the parliament's superiority, they had yet to subdue +nearly half the kingdom. The Scots had not advanced southward, content +with reducing Newcastle and the rest of the northern counties. These +they treated almost as hostile, without distinction of parties, not +only exacting contributions, but committing, unless they are much +belied, great excesses of indiscipline; their presbyterian gravity not +having yet overcome the ancient national propensities.[291] In the +midland and western parts the king had just the worse, without having +sustained material loss; and another summer might pass away in marches +and counter-marches, in skirmishes of cavalry, in tedious sieges of +paltry fortifications, some of them mere country houses, which nothing +but an amazing deficiency in that branch of military science could +have rendered tenable. + +_Essex and Manchester suspected of lukewarmness._--This protraction of +the war had long given rise to no unnatural discontent with its +management, and to suspicions, first of Essex, then of Manchester and +others in command, as if they were secretly reluctant to complete the +triumph of their employers. It is indeed not impossible that both +these peers, especially the former, out of their desire to see peace +restored on terms compatible with some degree of authority in the +Crown, and with the dignity of their own order, did not always press +their advantages against the king, as if he had been a public +enemy.[292] They might have thought that, having drawn the sword +avowedly for the preservation of his person and dignity as much as for +the rights and liberties of the people, they were no farther bound by +their trust than to render him and his adherents sensible of the +impracticability of refusing their terms of accommodation. + +_Self-denying ordinance._--There could however be no doubt that +Fairfax and Cromwell were far superior, both by their own talents for +war and the discipline they had introduced into their army, to the +earlier parliamentary commanders, and that, as a military arrangement, +the self-denying ordinance was judiciously conceived. This, which took +from all members of both houses their commands in the army, or civil +employments, was, as is well known, the first great victory of the +independent party which had grown up lately in parliament under Vane +and Cromwell.[293] They carried another measure of no less importance, +collateral to the former; the new-modelling, as it was called, of the +army; reducing it to twenty-one or twenty-two thousand men; +discharging such officers and soldiers as were reckoned unfit, and +completing their regiments by more select levies. The ordinance, after +being once rejected by the Lords, passed their house with some +modifications in April.[294] But many joined them on this occasion for +those military reasons which I have mentioned, deeming almost any +termination of the war better than its continuance. The king's +rejection of their terms at Uxbridge had disgusted some of the more +moderate men, such as the Earl of Northumberland and Pierrepont; who, +deeming reconciliation impracticable, took from this time a different +line of politics from that they had previously followed, and were +either not alive to the danger of new-modelling the army, or willing +to hope that it might be disbanded before that danger could become +imminent. From Fairfax too, the new general, they saw little to fear +and much to expect; while Cromwell, as a member of the House of +Commons, was positively excluded by the ordinance itself. But, through +a successful intrigue of his friends, this great man, already not less +formidable to the presbyterian faction than to the royalists, was +permitted to continue lieutenant-general.[295] The most popular +justification for the self-denying ordinance, and yet perhaps its real +condemnation, was soon found at Naseby; for there Fairfax and Cromwell +triumphed not only over the king and the monarchy, but over the +parliament and the nation. + +It does not appear to me that a brave and prudent man, in the +condition of Charles the First, had, up to that unfortunate day, any +other alternative than a vigorous prosecution of the war, in hope of +such decisive success as, though hardly within probable calculation, +is not unprecedented in the changeful tide of fortune. I cannot +therefore blame him either for refusing unreasonable terms of +accommodation, or for not relinquishing altogether the contest. But, +after his defeat at Naseby, his affairs were, in a military sense, so +irretrievable that in prolonging the war with as much obstinacy as the +broken state of his party would allow, he displayed a good deal of +that indifference to the sufferings of the kingdom and of his own +adherents, which has been sometimes imputed to him. There was, from +the hour of that battle, one only safe and honourable course +remaining. He justly abhorred to reign, if so it could be named, the +slave of parliament, with the sacrifice of his conscience and his +friends. But it was by no means necessary to reign at all. The sea was +for many months open to him; in France, or still better in Holland, he +would have found his misfortunes respected, and an asylum in that +decent privacy which becomes an exiled sovereign. Those very hopes +which he too fondly cherished, and which lured him to destruction, +hopes of regaining power through the disunion of his enemies, might +have been entertained with better reason, as with greater safety, in a +foreign land. It is not perhaps very probable that he would have been +restored; but his restoration in such circumstances seems less +desperate than through any treaty that he could conclude in captivity +at home. + +Whether any such thoughts of abandoning a hopeless contest were ever +entertained by the king during this particular period, it is +impossible to pronounce; we should infer the contrary from all his +actions. It must be said that many of his counsellors seem to have +been as pertinacious as himself, having strongly imbibed the same +sanguine spirit, and looking for deliverance, according to their +several fancies, from the ambition of Cromwell or the discontent of +the Scots. But, whatever might have been the king's disposition, he +would not have dared to retire from England. That sinister domestic +rule, to which he had so long been subject, controlled every action. +Careless of her husband's happiness, and already attached probably to +one whom she afterwards married, Henrietta longed only for his +recovery of a power which would become her own.[296] Hence, while she +constantly laid her injunctions on Charles never to concede anything +as to the militia or the Irish catholics, she became desirous, when no +other means presented itself, that he should sacrifice what was still +nearer to his heart, the episcopal church-government. The queen-regent +of France, whose sincerity in desiring the king's restoration there +can be no ground to deny,[297] was equally persuaded that he could +hope for it on no less painful conditions. They reasoned of course +very plausibly from the great precedent of flexible consciences, the +reconciliation of Henrietta's illustrious father to the catholic +church. As he could neither have regained his royal power, nor +restored peace to France without this compliance with his subjects' +prejudices, so Charles could still less expect, in circumstances by no +means so favourable, that he should avoid a concession, in the eyes of +almost all men but himself, of incomparably less importance. + +_The king throws himself into the hands of the Scots._--It was in +expectation of this sacrifice, that the French envoy, Montreuil, +entered on his ill-starred negotiation for the king's taking shelter +with the Scots army. And it must be confessed that several of his best +friends were hardly less anxious that he should desert a church he +could not protect.[298] They doubted not, reasoning from their own +characters, that he would ultimately give way. But that Charles, +unchangeably resolved on this head,[299] should have put himself in +the power of men fully as bigoted as himself (if he really conceived +that the Scots presbyterians would shed their blood to re-establish +the prelacy they abhorred), was an additional proof of that delusion +which made him fancy that no government could be established without +his concurrence; unless indeed we should rather consider it as one of +those desperate courses, into which he who can foresee nothing but +evil from every calculable line of action will sometimes plunge at a +venture, borrowing some ray of hope from the uncertainty of its +consequences.[300] + +It was an inevitable effect of this step, that the king surrendered +his personal liberty, which he never afterwards recovered. Considering +his situation, we may at first think the parliament tolerably +moderate, in offering nearly the same terms of peace at Newcastle +which he had rejected at Uxbridge; the chief difference being, that +the power of the militia which had been demanded for commissioners +nominated and removable by the two houses during an indefinite period, +was now proposed to reside in the two houses for the space of twenty +years; which rather more unequivocally indicated their design of +making the parliament perpetual.[301] But in fact they had so abridged +the royal prerogative by their former propositions, that, preserving +the decent semblance of monarchy, scarce anything further could be +exacted. The king's circumstances were however so altered that, by +persisting in his refusal of those propositions, he excited a natural +indignation at his obstinacy in men who felt their own right (the +conqueror's right), to dictate terms at pleasure. Yet this might have +had a nobler character of firmness, if during all the tedious parleys +of the last three years of his life, he had not, by tardy and partial +concessions, given up so much of that for which he contended, as +rather to appear like a pedlar haggling for the best bargain, than a +sovereign unalterably determined by conscience and public spirit. We +must, however, forgive much to one placed in such unparalleled +difficulties. Charles had to contend, during his unhappy residence at +Newcastle, not merely with revolted subjects in the pride of conquest, +and with bigoted priests, as blindly confident in one set of doubtful +propositions as he was in the opposite, but with those he had trusted +the most, and loved the dearest. We have in the _Clarendon State +Papers_ a series of letters from Paris, written, some by the queen, +others jointly by Colepepper, Jermyn, and Ashburnham, or the two +former, urging him to sacrifice episcopacy, as the necessary means of +his restoration. We have the king's answers, that display, in an +interesting manner, the struggles of his mind under this severe +trial.[302] No candid reader, I think, can doubt that a serious sense +of obligation was predominant in Charles's persevering fidelity to the +English church. For, though he often alleges the incompatibility of +presbyterianism with monarchy, and says very justly, "I am most +confident that religion will much sooner regain the militia than the +militia will religion,"[303] yet these arguments seem rather intended +to weigh with those who slighted his scruples, than the paramount +motives of his heart. He could hardly avoid perceiving that, as +Colepepper told him in his rough style, the question was, whether he +would choose to be a king of presbytery or no king. But the utmost +length which he could prevail on himself to go was to offer the +continuance of the presbyterian discipline, as established by the +parliament, for three years, during which a conference of divines +might be had, in order to bring about a settlement. Even this he would +not propose without consulting two bishops, Juxon and Duppa, whether +he could lawfully do so. They returned a very cautious answer, +assenting to the proposition as a temporary measure, but plainly +endeavouring to keep the king fixed in his adherence to the episcopal +church.[304] + +Pressed thus on a topic, so important above all others in his eyes, +the king gave a proof of his sincerity by greater concessions of power +than he had ever intended. He had some time before openly offered to +let the parliament name all the commissioners of the militia for seven +years, and all the officers of state and judges to hold their places +for life.[305] He now empowered a secret agent in London, Mr. William +Murray, privately to sound the parliamentary leaders, if they would +consent to the establishment of a moderated episcopacy after three or +five years, on condition of his departing from the right of the +militia during his whole life.[306] This dereliction of the main +ground of contest brought down the queen's indignation on his head. +She wrote several letters, in an imperious and unfeeling tone, +declaring that she would never set her foot in England as long as the +parliament should exist.[307] Jermyn and Colepepper assumed a style +hardly less dictatorial in their letters,[308] till Charles withdrew +the proposal, which Murray seems never to have communicated.[309] It +was indeed the evident effect of despair and a natural weariness of +his thorny crown. He now began to express serious thoughts of making +his escape,[310] and seems even to hint more than once at a +resignation of his government to the Prince of Wales. But Henrietta +forbade him to think of an escape, and alludes to the other with +contempt and indignation.[311] With this selfish and tyrannical woman, +that life of exile and privacy which religion and letters would have +rendered tolerable to the king, must have been spent in hardly less +bitterness than on a dishonoured throne. She had displayed in France +as little virtue as at home; the small resources which should have +been frugally dispensed to those who had lost all for the royal cause +were squandered upon her favourite and her French servants.[312] So +totally had she abandoned all regard to English interest, that Hyde +and Capel, when retired to Jersey, the governor of which, Sir Edward +Carteret, still held out for the king, discovered a plan formed by the +queen and Jermyn to put that island into the hands of France.[313] +They were exceedingly perplexed at this discovery, conscious of the +impossibility of defending Jersey, and yet determined not to let it be +torn away from the sovereignty of the British Crown. No better +expedient occurred than, as soon as the project should be ripe for +execution, to despatch a message "to the Earl of Northumberland or +some other person of honour," asking for aid to preserve the island. +This was of course, in other words, to surrender it into the power of +the parliament, which they would not name even to themselves. But it +was evidently more consistent with their loyalty to the king and his +family, than to trust the good faith of Mazarin. The scheme, however, +was abandoned; for we hear no more of it. + +It must, however, be admitted at the present day, that there was no +better expedient for saving the king's life, and some portion of +royal authority for his descendants (a fresh renunciation of +episcopacy perhaps only excepted), than such an abdication; the time +for which had come before he put himself into the hands of the Scots. +His own party had been weakened, and the number of his well-wishers +diminished, by something more than the events of war. The last +unfortunate year had, in two memorable instances, revealed fresh +proofs of that culpable imprudence, speaking mildly, which made wise +and honest men hopeless of any permanent accommodation. At the battle +of Naseby, copies of some letters to the queen, chiefly written about +the time of the treaty of Uxbridge, and strangely preserved, fell into +the hands of the enemy, and were instantly published.[314] No other +losses of that fatal day were more injurious to his cause. Besides +many proofs of a contemptible subserviency to one justly deemed +irreconcilable to the civil and religious interests of the kingdom, +and many expressions indicating schemes and hopes inconsistent with +any practicable peace, and especially a design to put an end to the +parliament,[315] he gave her power to treat with the English +catholics, promising to take away all penal laws against them as soon +as God should enable him to do so, in consideration of such powerful +assistance, as might deserve so great a favour, and enable him to +effect it.[316] Yet it was certain that no parliament, except in +absolute duress, would consent to repeal these laws. To what sort of +victory therefore did he look? It was remembered that, on taking the +sacrament at Oxford some time before, he had solemnly protested that +he would maintain the protestant religion of the church of England, +without any connivance at popery. What trust could be reposed in a +prince capable of forfeiting so solemn a pledge? Were it even supposed +that he intended to break his word with the catholics, after obtaining +such aid as they could render him, would his insincerity be less +flagrant?[317] + +_Discovery of Glamorgan's treaty._--These suspicions were much +aggravated by a second discovery that took place soon afterwards, of a +secret treaty between the Earl of Glamorgan and the confederate Irish +catholics, not merely promising the repeal of the penal laws, but the +establishment of their religion in far the greater part of +Ireland.[318] The Marquis of Ormond, as well as Lord Digby who +happened to be at Dublin, loudly exclaimed against Glamorgan's +presumption in concluding such a treaty, and committed him to prison +on a charge of treason. He produced two commissions from the king, +secretly granted without any seal or the knowledge of any minister, +containing the fullest powers to treat with the Irish, and promising +to fulfil any conditions into which he should enter. The king, +informed of this, disavowed Glamorgan; and asserted in a letter to the +parliament that he had merely a commission to raise men for his +service, but no power to treat of anything else, without the privity +of the lord lieutenant, much less to capitulate anything concerning +religion or any property belonging either to church or laity.[319] +Glamorgan however was soon released, and lost no portion of the king's +or his family's favour. + +This transaction has been the subject of much historical controversy. +The enemies of Charles, both in his own and later ages, have +considered it as a proof of his indifference at least to the +protestant religion, and of his readiness to accept the assistance of +Irish rebels on any conditions. His advocates for a long time denied +the authenticity of Glamorgan's commissions. But Dr. Birch +demonstrated that they were genuine; and, if his dissertation could +have left any doubt, later evidence might be adduced in +confirmation.[320] Hume, in a very artful and very unfair statement, +admitting the authenticity of these instruments, endeavours to show +that they were never intended to give Glamorgan any power to treat +without Ormond's approbation. But they are worded in the most +unconditional manner, without any reference to Ormond. No common +reader can think them consistent with the king's story. I do not, +however, impute to him any intention of ratifying the terms of +Glamorgan's treaty. His want of faith was not to the protestant, but +to the catholic. Upon weighing the whole of the evidence, it appears +to me that he purposely gave Glamorgan, a sanguine and injudicious +man, whom he could easily disown, so ample a commission as might +remove the distrust that the Irish were likely to entertain of a +negotiation wherein Ormond should be concerned; while by a certain +latitude in the style of the instrument, and by his own letters to the +lord lieutenant about Glamorgan's errand, he left it open to assert, +in case of necessity, that it was never intended to exclude the +former's privity and sanction. Charles had unhappily long been in the +habit of perverting his natural acuteness to the mean subterfuges of +equivocal language. + +By these discoveries of the king's insincerity, and by what seemed his +infatuated obstinacy in refusing terms of accommodation, both nations +became more and more alienated from him; the one hardly restrained +from casting him off, the other ready to leave him to his fate.[321] + +_The king delivered up by the Scots._--This ill opinion of the king +forms one apology for that action which has exposed the Scots nation +to so much reproach--their delivery of his person to the English +parliament. Perhaps if we place ourselves in their situation, it will +not appear deserving of quite such indignant censure. It would have +shown more generosity to have offered the king an alternative of +retiring to Holland; and from what we now know, he probably would not +have neglected the opportunity. But the consequence might have been +his solemn deposition from the English throne; and, however we may +think such banishment more honourable than the acceptance of degrading +conditions, the Scots, we should remember, saw nothing in the king's +taking the covenant, and sweeping away prelatic superstitions, but the +bounden duty of a christian sovereign, which only the most perverse +self-will induced him to set at nought.[322] They had a right also to +consider the interests of his family, which the threatened +establishment of a republic in England would defeat. To carry him back +with their army into Scotland, besides being equally ruinous to the +English monarchy, would have exposed their nation to the most serious +dangers. To undertake his defence by arms against England, as the +ardent royalists desired, and doubtless the determined republicans no +less, would have been, as was proved afterwards, a mad and culpable +renewal of the miseries of both kingdoms.[323] He had voluntarily come +to their camp; no faith was pledged to him; their very right to retain +his person, though they had argued for it with the English parliament, +seemed open to much doubt. The circumstance, unquestionably, which has +always given a character of apparent baseness to this transaction, is +the payment of £400,000 made to them so nearly at the same time that +it has passed for the price of the king's person. This sum was part of +a larger demand on the score of arrears of pay, and had been agreed +upon long before we have any proof or reasonable suspicion of a +stipulation to deliver up the king.[324] That the parliament would +never have actually paid it on any other consideration, there can be, +I presume, no kind of doubt; and of this the Scots must have been +fully aware. But whether there were any such secret bargain as has +been supposed, or whether they would have delivered him up, if there +had been no pecuniary expectation in the case, is what I cannot +perceive sufficient grounds to pronounce with confidence; though I am +much inclined to believe the affirmative of the latter question. And +it is deserving of particular observation, that the party in the House +of Commons which sought most earnestly to obtain possession of the +king's person, and carried all the votes for payment of money to the +Scots, was that which had no further aim than an accommodation with +him, and a settlement of the government on the basis of its +fundamental laws, though doubtless on terms very derogatory to his +prerogative; while those who opposed each part of the negotiation were +the zealous enemies of the king, and, in some instances, at least, of +the monarchy. The Journals bear witness to this.[325] + +_Growth of the independents and republicans._--Whatever might have +been the consequence of the king's accepting the propositions of +Newcastle, his chance of restoration upon any terms was now in all +appearance very slender. He had to encounter enemies more dangerous +and implacable than the presbyterians. That faction, which from small +and insensible beginnings had acquired continued strength, through +ambition in a few, through fanaticism in many, through a despair in +some of reconciling the pretensions of royalty with those of the +people, was now rapidly ascending to superiority. Though still weak in +the House of Commons, it had spread prodigiously in the army, +especially since its new-modelling at the time of the self-denying +ordinance.[326] The presbyterians saw with dismay the growth of their +own and the constitution's enemies. But the royalists, who had less to +fear from confusion than from any settlement that the Commons would be +brought to make, rejoiced in the increasing disunion; and fondly +believed, like their master, that one or other party must seek +assistance at their hands.[327] + +_Opposition to the presbyterian government._--The independent party +comprehended, besides the members of that religious denomination,[328] +a countless brood of fanatical sectaries, nursed in the lap of +presbyterianism, and fed with the stimulating aliment she furnished, +till their intoxicated fancies could neither be restrained within the +limits of her creed nor those of her discipline.[329] The presbyterian +zealots were systematically intolerant. A common cause made toleration +the doctrine of the sectaries. About the beginning of the war, it had +been deemed expedient to call together an assembly of divines, +nominated by the parliament, and consisting not only of clergymen, +but, according to the presbyterian usage, of lay members, peers as +well as commoners, by whose advice a general reformation of the church +was to be planned.[330] These were chiefly presbyterian; though a +small minority of independents, and a few moderate episcopalians, +headed by Selden,[331] gave them much trouble. The general imposition +of the covenant, and the substitution of the directory for the common +prayer (which was forbidden to be used even in any private family, by +an ordinance of August 1645), seemed to assure the triumph of +presbyterianism; which became complete, in point of law, by an +ordinance of February 1646, establishing for three years the Scots +model of classes, synods, and general assemblies throughout +England.[332] But in this very ordinance there was a reservation which +wounded the spiritual arrogance of that party. Their favourite tenet +had always been the independency of the church. They had rejected, +with as much abhorrence as the catholics themselves, the royal +supremacy, so far as it controlled the exercise of spiritual +discipline. But the House of Commons were inclined to part with no +portion of that prerogative which they had wrested from the Crown. +Besides the independents, who were still weak, a party called +Erastians,[333] and chiefly composed of the common lawyers, under the +guidance of Selden, the sworn foe of every ecclesiastical usurpation, +withstood the assembly's pretensions with success. They negatived a +declaration of the divine right of presbyterian government. They voted +a petition from the assembly, complaining of a recent ordinance as an +encroachment on spiritual jurisdiction, to be a breach of privilege. +The presbyterian tribunals were made subject to the appellant control +of parliament; as those of the Anglican church had been to that of the +Crown. The cases wherein spiritual censures could be pronounced, or +the sacrament denied, instead of being left to the clergy, were +defined by law.[334] Whether from dissatisfaction on this account, or +some other reason, the presbyterian discipline was never carried into +effect, except to a certain extent in London and in Lancashire. But +the beneficed clergy throughout England, till the return of Charles +II., were chiefly, though not entirely, of that denomination.[335] + +This party was still so far predominant, having the strong support of +the city of London and its corporation,[336] with almost all the peers +who remained in their house, that the independents and other sectaries +neither opposed this ordinance for its temporary establishment, nor +sought anything farther than a toleration for their own worship. The +question, as Neal well observes, was not between presbytery and +independency, but between presbytery with a toleration, and without +one.[337] Not merely from their own exclusive bigotry, but from a +political alarm by no means ungrounded, the presbyterians stood firmly +against all liberty of conscience. But in this again they could not +influence the House of Commons to suppress the sectaries, though no +open declaration in favour of indulgence was as yet made. It is still +the boast of the independents that they first brought forward the +great principles of religious toleration (I mean as distinguished from +maxims of political expediency) which had been confined to a few +philosophical minds; to Sir Thomas More, in those days of his better +judgment when he planned his republic of Utopia, to Thuanus, or +L'Hospital. Such principles are indeed naturally congenial to the +persecuted; and it is by the alternate oppression of so many different +sects, that they have now obtained their universal reception. But the +independents also assert that they first maintained them while in +power; a far higher praise, which however can only be allowed them by +comparison. Without invidiously glancing at their early conduct in New +England,[338] it must be admitted that the continuance of the penal +laws against catholics, the prohibition of the episcopalian worship, +and the punishment of one or two anti-trinitarians under Cromwell, are +proofs that the tolerant principle had not yet acquired perfect +vigour. If the independent sectaries were its earliest advocates, it +was the Anglican writers, the latitudinarian school of Chillingworth, +Hales, Taylor, Locke, and Hoadley, that rendered it victorious.[339] + +The king, as I have said, and his party cherished too sanguine hopes +from the disunion of their opponents.[340] Though warned of it by the +parliamentary commissioners at Uxbridge, though in fact it was quite +notorious and undisguised, they seem never to have comprehended that +many active spirits looked to the entire subversion of the monarchy. +The king in particular was haunted by a prejudice, natural to his +obstinate and undiscerning mind, that he was necessary to the +settlement of the nation; so that, if he remained firm, the whole +parliament and army must be at his feet. Yet during the negotiations +at Newcastle there was daily an imminent danger that the majority of +parliament, irritated by his delays, would come to some vote excluding +him from the throne. The Scots presbyterians, whatever we may think of +their behaviour, were sincerely attached, if not by loyal affection, +yet by national pride, to the blood of their ancient kings. They +thought and spoke of Charles as of a headstrong child, to be +restrained and chastised, but never cast off.[341] But in England he +had absolutely no friends among the prevailing party; many there were +who thought monarchy best for the nation, but none who cared for the +king. + +This schism nevertheless between the parliament and the army was at +least in appearance very desirable for Charles, and seemed to afford +him an opportunity which a discreet prince might improve to great +advantage, though it unfortunately deluded him with chimerical +expectations.[342] At the conclusion of the war, which the useless +obstinacy of the royalists had protracted till the beginning of +1647,[343] the Commons began to take measures for breaking the force +of their remaining enemy. They resolved to disband a part of the army, +and to send the rest into Ireland.[344] They formed schemes for +getting rid of Cromwell, and even made some demur about continuing +Fairfax in command.[345] But in all measures that exact promptitude +and energy, treachery and timidity are apt to enfeeble the resolutions +of a popular assembly. Their demonstrations of enmity were however so +alarming to the army, who knew themselves disliked by the people, and +dependent for their pay on the parliament, that as early as April, +1647, an overture was secretly made to the king, that they would +replace him in his power and dignity. He cautiously answered, that he +would not involve the kingdom in a fresh war, but should ever feel the +strongest sense of this offer from the army.[346] Whether they were +discontented at the coldness of this reply, or, as is more probable, +the offer had only proceeded from a minority of the officers, no +further overture was made, till not long afterwards the bold +manoeuvre of Joyce had placed the king's person in their power. + +_The parliament yield to the army._--The first effect of this military +violence was to display the parliament's deficiency in political +courage. It contained, we well know, a store of energetic spirits, not +apt to swerve from their attachments. But, where two parties are +almost equally balanced, the defection, which external circumstances +must produce among those timid and feeble men from whom no assembly +can be free, even though they should form but a small minority, will +of course give a character of cowardice and vacillation to counsels, +which is imputed to the whole. They immediately expunged, by a +majority of 96 to 79, a vote of reprehension passed some weeks before, +upon a remonstrance from the army which the presbyterians had highly +resented, and gave other proofs of retracing their steps. But the +army was not inclined to accept their submission in full discharge of +the provocation. It had schemes of its own for the reformation and +settlement of the kingdom, more extensive than those of the +presbyterian faction. It had its own wrongs also to revenge. Advancing +towards London, the general and council of war sent up charges of +treason against eleven principal members of that party, who obtained +leave to retire beyond sea. Here may be said to have fallen the +legislative power and civil government of England; which from this +hour till that of the restoration had never more than a momentary and +precarious gleam of existence, perpetually interrupted by the sword. + +Those who have once bowed their knee to force, must expect that force +will be for ever their master. In a few weeks after this submission of +the Commons to the army, they were insulted by an unruly, tumultuous +mob of apprentices, engaged in the presbyterian politics of the city, +who compelled them by actual violence to rescind several of their late +votes.[347] Trampled upon by either side, the two speakers, several +peers, and a great number of the lower house, deemed it somewhat less +ignominious, and certainly more politic, to throw themselves on the +protection of the army. They were accordingly soon restored to their +places, at the price of a more complete and irretrievable subjection +to the military power than they had already undergone. Though the +presbyterians maintained a pertinacious resistance within the walls of +the house, it was evident that the real power of command was gone from +them, and that Cromwell with the army must either become arbiters +between the king and parliament, or crush the remaining authority of +both.[348] + +_Mysterious conduct of Cromwell._--There are few circumstances in our +history which have caused more perplexity to inquirers than the +conduct of Cromwell and his friends towards the king in the year 1647. +Those who look only at the ambitious and dissembling character of that +leader, or at the fierce republicanism imputed to Ireton, will hardly +believe that either of them could harbour anything like sincere +designs of restoring him even to that remnant of sovereignty which the +parliament would have spared. Yet, when we consider attentively the +public documents and private memoirs of that period, it does appear +probable that their first intentions towards the king were not +unfavourable, and so far sincere that it was their project to make use +of his name rather than totally to set him aside. But whether by +gratifying Cromwell and his associates with honours, and throwing the +whole administration into their hands, Charles would have long +contrived to keep a tarnished crown on his head, must be very +problematical. + +_Imprudent hopes of the king._--The new gaolers of this unfortunate +prince began by treating him with unusual indulgence, especially in +permitting his episcopal chaplains to attend him. This was deemed a +pledge of what he thought an invaluable advantage in dealing with the +army, that they would not insist upon the covenant, which in fact was +nearly as odious to them as to the royalists, though for very +different reasons. Charles, naturally sanguine, and utterly incapable +in every part of his life of taking a just view of affairs, was +extravagantly elated by these equivocal testimonies of good-will. He +blindly listened to private insinuations from rash or treacherous +friends, that the soldiers were with him, just after his seizure by +Joyce. "I would have you to know, sir," he said to Fairfax, "that I +have as good an interest in the army as yourself;" an opinion as +injudiciously uttered as it was absurdly conceived.[349] These strange +expectations account for the ill reception which in the hasty +irritation of disappointment he gave to the proposals of the army, +when they were actually tendered to him at Hampton Court, and which +seems to have eventually cost him his life. These proposals appear to +have been drawn up by Ireton, a lawyer by education, and a man of much +courage and capacity. He had been supposed, like a large proportion of +the officers, to aim at a settlement of the nation under a +democratical polity. But the army, even if their wishes in general +went so far, which is hardly evident, were not yet so decidedly +masters as to dictate a form of government uncongenial to the ancient +laws and fixed prejudices of the people. Something of this tendency is +discoverable in the propositions made to the king, which had never +appeared in those of the parliament. It was proposed that parliaments +should be biennial; that they should never sit less than a hundred and +twenty days, nor more than two hundred and forty; that the +representation of the Commons should be reformed, by abolishing small +boroughs and increasing the number of members for counties, so as to +render the House of Commons, as near as might be, an equal +representation of the whole. In respect of the militia and some other +points, they either followed the parliamentary propositions of +Newcastle, or modified them favourably for the king. They excepted a +very small number of the king's adherents from the privilege of paying +a composition for their estates, and set that of the rest considerably +lower than had been fixed by the parliament. They stipulated that the +royalists should not sit in the next parliament. As to religion, they +provided for liberty of conscience, declared against the imposition of +the covenant, and by insisting on the retrenchment of the coercive +jurisdiction of bishops and the abrogation of penalties for not +reading the common prayer, left it to be implied that both might +continue established.[350] The whole tenor of these propositions was +in a style far more respectful to the king, and lenient towards his +adherents, than had ever been adopted since the beginning of the war. +The sincerity indeed of these overtures might be very questionable, +if Cromwell had been concerned in them; but they proceeded from those +elective tribunes called Agitators, who had been established in every +regiment to superintend the interests of the army.[351] And the terms +were surely as good as Charles had any reason to hope. The severities +against his party were mitigated. The grand obstacles to all +accommodation, the covenant and presbyterian establishment, were at +once removed; or, if some difficulty might occur as to the latter, in +consequence of the actual possession of benefices by the presbyterian +clergy, it seemed not absolutely insuperable. For the changes +projected in the constitution of parliament, they were not necessarily +injurious to the monarchy. That parliament should not be dissolved +until it had sat a certain time, was so salutary a provision, that the +triennial act was hardly complete without it. + +It is, however, probable, from the king's extreme tenaciousness of his +prerogative, that these were the conditions that he found it most +difficult to endure. Having obtained, through Sir John Berkley, a +sight of the propositions before they were openly made, he expressed +much displeasure; and said that, if the army were inclined to close +with him, they would never have demanded such hard terms. He seems to +have principally objected, at least in words, to the exception of +seven unnamed persons from pardon, to the exclusion of his party from +the next parliament, and to the want of any articles in favour of the +church. Berkley endeavoured to show him that it was not likely that +the army, if meaning sincerely, should ask less than this. But the +king, still tampering with the Scots, and keeping his eyes fixed on +the city and parliament, at that moment came to an open breach with +the army, disdainfully refused the propositions when publicly tendered +to him, with such expressions of misplaced resentment and preposterous +confidence as convinced the officers that they could neither +conciliate nor trust him.[352] This unexpected haughtiness lost him +all chance with those proud and republican spirits; and, as they +succeeded about the same time in bridling the presbyterian party in +parliament, there seemed no necessity for an agreement with the king, +and their former determinations of altering the frame of government +returned with more revengeful fury against his person.[353] + +_Charles's flight from Hampton Court._--Charles's continuance at +Hampton Court, there can be little doubt, would have exposed him to +such imminent risk that, in escaping from thence, he acted on a +reasonable principle of self-preservation. He might probably, with due +precautions, have reached France or Jersey. But the hastiness of his +retreat from Hampton Court giving no time, he fell again into the +toils, through the helplessness of his situation, and the unfortunate +counsels of one whom he trusted.[354] The fortitude of his own mind +sustained him in this state of captivity and entire seclusion from his +friends. No one, however sensible to the infirmities of Charles's +disposition, and the defects of his understanding, can refuse +admiration to that patient firmness and unaided acuteness which he +displayed throughout the last and most melancholy year of his life. He +had now abandoned all expectation of obtaining any present terms for +the church or Crown. He proposed, therefore, what he had privately +empowered Murray to offer the year before, to confirm the presbyterian +government for three years, and to give up the militia during his +whole life, with other concessions of importance.[355] To preserve the +church lands from sale, to shield his friends from proscription, to +obtain a legal security for the restoration of the monarchy in his +son, were from henceforth the main objects of all his efforts. It was, +however, far too late, even for these moderate conditions of peace. +Upon his declining to pass four bills, tendered to him as +preliminaries of a treaty, which on that very account, besides his +objections to part of their contents, he justly considered as unfair, +the parliament voted that no more addresses should be made to him, and +that they would receive no more messages.[356] He was placed in close +and solitary confinement; and at a meeting of the principal officers +at Windsor it was concluded to bring him to trial, and avenge the +blood shed in the war by an awful example of punishment; Cromwell and +Ireton, if either of them had been ever favourable to the king, +acceding at this time to the severity of the rest. + +Yet in the midst of this peril and seeming abandonment, his affairs +were really less desperate than they had been; and a few rays of light +broke for a time through the clouds that enveloped him. From the hour +that the Scots delivered him up at Newcastle, they seem to have felt +the discredit of such an action, and longed for the opportunity of +redeeming their public name. They perceived more and more that a +well-disciplined army, under a subtle chief inveterately hostile to +them, were rapidly becoming masters of England. Instead of that +covenanted alliance, that unity in church and state they had expected, +they were to look for all the jealousy and dissension that a complete +discordance in civil and spiritual polity could inspire. Their +commissioners, therefore, in England, Lanerk, always a moderate +royalist, and Lauderdale, a warm presbyterian, had kept up a secret +intercourse with the king at Hampton Court. After his detention at +Carisbrook, they openly declared themselves against the four bills +proposed by the English parliament; and at length concluded a private +treaty with him, by which, on certain terms quite as favourable as he +could justly expect, they bound themselves to enter England with an +army, in order to restore him to his freedom and dignity.[357] This +invasion was to be combined with risings in various parts of the +country; the presbyterian and royalist, though still retaining much of +animosity towards each other, concurring at least in abhorrence of +military usurpation; and the common people having very generally +returned to that affectionate respect for the king's person, which +sympathy for his sufferings, and a sense how little they had been +gainers by the change of government, must naturally have excited.[358] + +_The presbyterians regain the ascendant._--The unfortunate issue of +the Scots expedition under the Duke of Hamilton, and of the various +insurrections throughout England, quelled by the vigilance and good +conduct of Fairfax and Cromwell, is well known. But these formidable +manifestations of the public sentiment in favour of peace with the +king on honourable conditions, wherein the city of London, ruled by +the presbyterian ministers, took a share, compelled the House of +Commons to retract its measures. They came to a vote, by 165 to 99, +that they would not alter the fundamental government by King, Lords, +and Commons;[359] they abandoned their impeachment against seven +peers, the most moderate of the upper house, and the most obnoxious to +the army,[360] they restored the eleven members to their seats:[361] +they revoked their resolution against a personal treaty with the +king, and even that which required his assent by certain preliminary +articles.[362] In a word, the party for distinction's sake called +Presbyterian, but now rather to be denominated constitutional, +regained its ascendancy. This change in the counsels of parliament +brought on the treaty of Newport. + +_Treaty of Newport._--The treaty of Newport was set on foot and +managed by those politicians of the House of Lords, who, having long +suspected no danger to themselves but from the power of the king, had +discovered, somewhat of the latest, that the Crown itself was at +stake, and that their own privileges were set on the same cast. +Nothing was more remote from the intentions of the Earl of +Northumberland or Lord Say, than to see themselves pushed from their +seats by such upstarts as Ireton and Harrison; and their present +mortification afforded a proof how men reckoned wise in their +generation become the dupes of their own selfish, crafty, and +pusillanimous policy. They now grew anxious to see a treaty concluded +with the king. Sensible that it was necessary to anticipate, if +possible, the return of Cromwell from the north, they implored him to +comply at once with all the propositions of parliament, or at least to +yield in the first instance as far as he meant to go.[363] They had +not, however, mitigated in any degree the rigorous conditions so often +proposed; nor did the king during this treaty obtain any reciprocal +concession worth mentioning in return for his surrender of almost all +that could be demanded. Did the positive adherence of the parliament +to all these propositions, in circumstances so perilous to themselves, +display less unreasonable pertinacity than that so often imputed to +Charles? Or if, as was the fact, the majority which the presbyterians +had obtained was so precarious that they dared not hazard it by +suggesting any more moderate counsels, what rational security would +the treaty have afforded him, had he even come at once into all their +requisitions? His real error was to have entered upon any treaty, and +still more to have drawn it out by tardy and ineffectual +capitulations. There had long been only one course either for safety +or for honour, the abdication of his royal office; now probably too +late to preserve his life, but still more honourable than the treaty +of Newport. Yet though he was desirous to make his escape to France, I +have not observed any hint that he had thoughts of resigning the +crown; whether from any mistaken sense of obligation, or from an +apprehension that it might affect the succession of his son. + +There can be no more erroneous opinion than that of such as believe +that the desire of overturning the monarchy produced the civil war, +rather than that the civil war brought on the former. In a peaceful +and ancient kingdom like England, the thought of change could not +spontaneously arise. A very few speculative men, by the study of +antiquity, or by observation of the prosperity of Venice and Holland, +might be led to an abstract preference of republican politics; some +fanatics might aspire to a Jewish theocracy; but at the meeting of the +Long Parliament, we have not the slightest cause to suppose that any +party, or any number of persons among its members, had formed what +must then have appeared so extravagant a conception.[364] The +insuperable distrust of the king's designs, the irritation excited by +the sufferings of the war, the impracticability, which every attempt +at negotiation displayed, of obtaining his acquiescence to terms +deemed indispensable, gradually created a powerful faction, whose +chief bond of union was a determination to set him aside.[365] What +further scheme they had planned is uncertain; none probably in which +any number were agreed: some looked to the Prince of Wales, others +perhaps, at one time, to the elector palatine;[366] but necessity +itself must have suggested to many the idea of a republican +settlement. In the new-modelled army of 1645, composed of independents +and enthusiasts of every denomination, a fervid eagerness for changes +in the civil polity, as well as in religion, was soon found to +predominate. Not checked, like the two houses, by attachment to forms, +and by the influence of lawyers, they launched forth into varied +projects of reform, sometimes judicious, or at least plausible, +sometimes wildly fanatical. They reckoned the king a tyrant whom, as +they might fight against, they might also put to death, and whom it +were folly to provoke, if he were again to become their master. Elated +with their victories, they began already in imagination to carve out +the kingdom for themselves; and remembered that saying so congenial to +a revolutionary army, that the first of monarchs was a successful +leader, the first of nobles were his followers.[367] + +_Gradual progress of a republican party._--The knowledge of this +innovating spirit in the army gave confidence to the violent party in +parliament, and increased its numbers by the accession of some of +those to whom nature has given a fine sense for discerning their own +advantage. It was doubtless swollen through the king's letters, and +his pertinacity in clinging to his prerogative. And the complexion of +the House of Commons was materially altered by the introduction at +once of a large body of fresh members. They had at the beginning +abstained from issuing writs to replace those whose death or expulsion +had left their seats vacant. These vacancies, by the disabling votes +against all the king's party,[368] became so numerous that it seemed a +glaring violation of the popular principles to which they appealed, to +carry on the public business with so maimed a representation of the +people. It was however plainly impossible to have elections in many +parts of the kingdom, while the royal army was in strength; and the +change, by filling up nearly two hundred vacancies at once, was likely +to become so important that some feared that the cavaliers, others +that the independents and republicans, might find their advantage in +it.[369] The latter party were generally earnest for new elections; +and carried their point against the presbyterians in September 1645, +when new writs were ordered for all the places which were left +deficient of one or both representatives.[370] The result of these +elections, though a few persons rather friendly to the king came into +the house, was on the whole very favourable to the army. The +self-denying ordinance no longer being in operation, the principal +officers were elected on every side; and, with not many exceptions, +recruited the ranks of that small body, which had already been marked +by implacable dislike of the king, and by zeal for a total +new-modelling of the government.[371] In the summer of 1646, this +party had so far obtained the upper hand that, according to one of our +best authorities, the Scots commissioners had all imaginable +difficulty to prevent his deposition. In the course of the year 1647, +more overt proofs of a design to change the established constitution +were given by a party out of doors. A petition was addressed "to the +supreme authority of this nation, the Commons assembled in +parliament." It was voted upon a division, that the house dislikes +this petition, and cannot approve of its being delivered; and +afterwards, by a majority of only 94 to 86, that it was seditious and +insolent, and should be burned by the hangman.[372] Yet the first +decisive proof, perhaps, which the journals of parliament afford of +the existence of a republican party, was the vote of 22nd Sept. 1647, +that they would once again make application to the king for those +things which they judged necessary for the welfare and safety of the +kingdom. This was carried by 70 to 23.[373] Their subsequent +resolution of Jan. 4, 1648, against any further addresses to the king, +which passed by a majority of 141 to 91, was a virtual renunciation of +allegiance. The Lords, after a warm debate, concurred in this vote. +And the army had in November 1647, before the king's escape from +Hampton Court published a declaration of their design for the +settlement of the nation under a sovereign representative assembly, +which should possess authority to make or repeal laws, and to call +magistrates to account. + +We are not certainly to conclude that all who, in 1648, had made up +their minds against the king's restoration, were equally averse to all +regal government. The Prince of Wales had taken so active, and, for a +moment, so successful a share in the war of that year, that his +father's enemies were become his own. Meetings however were held, +where the military and parliamentary chiefs discussed the schemes of +raising the Duke of York, or his younger brother the Duke of +Glocester, to the throne. Cromwell especially wavered, or pretended to +waver, as to the settlement of the nation; nor is there any evidence, +so far as I know, that he had ever professed himself adverse to +monarchy, till, dexterously mounting on the wave which he could not +stem, he led on those zealots who had resolved to celebrate the +inauguration of their new commonwealth with the blood of a victim +king.[374] + +_Scheme among the officers of bringing Charles to trial._--It was +about the end of 1647, as I have said, that the principal officers +took the determination, which had been already menaced by some of the +agitators, of bringing the king, as the first and greatest delinquent, +to public justice.[375] Too stern and haughty, too confident of the +rightfulness of their actions, to think of private assassination, they +sought to gratify their pride by the solemnity and notoriousness, by +the very infamy and eventual danger, of an act unprecedented in the +history of nations. Throughout the year 1648, this design, though +suspended, became familiar to the people's expectation.[376] The +commonwealth's men and the levellers, the various sectaries (admitting +a few exceptions) grew clamorous for the king's death. Petitions were +presented to the Commons, praying for justice on all delinquents, from +the highest to the lowest.[377] And not long afterwards, the general +officers of the army came forward with a long remonstrance against any +treaty, and insisting that the capital and grand author of their +troubles be speedily brought to justice, for the treason, blood, and +mischief, whereof he had been guilty.[378] This was soon followed by +the vote of the presbyterian party, that the answers of the king to +the propositions of both houses are a ground for the house to proceed +upon for the settlement of the peace of the kingdom,[379] by the +violent expulsion, or as it was called, seclusion of all the +presbyterian members from the house, and the ordinance of a wretched +minority, commonly called the Rump, constituting the high court of +justice for the trial of the king.[380] + +A very small number among those who sat in this strange tribunal upon +Charles the First were undoubtedly capable of taking statesman-like +views of the interests of their party, and might consider his death a +politic expedient for consolidating the new settlement. It seemed to +involve the army, which had openly abetted the act, and even the +nation by its passive consent, in such inexpiable guilt towards the +royal family, that neither common prudence nor a sense of shame would +permit them to suffer its restoration. But by far the greater part of +the regicides such considerations were either overlooked or kept in +the background. Their more powerful motive was that fierce fanatical +hatred of the king, the natural fruit of long civil dissension, +inflamed by preachers more dark and sanguinary than those they +addressed, and by a perverted study of the Jewish scriptures. They had +been wrought to believe, not that his execution would be justified by +state-necessity or any such feeble grounds of human reasoning, but +that it was a bounden duty, which with a safe conscience they could +not neglect. Such was the persuasion of Ludlow and Hutchinson, the +most respectable names among the regicides; both of them free from all +suspicion of interestedness or hypocrisy, and less intoxicated than +the rest by fanaticism. "I was fully persuaded," says the former, +"that an accommodation with the king was unsafe to the people of +England, and unjust and wicked in the nature of it. The former, +besides that it was obvious to all men, the king himself had proved, +by the duplicity of his dealing with the parliament, which manifestly +appeared in his own papers, taken at the battle of Naseby and +elsewhere. Of the latter I was convinced by the express words of God's +law; 'that blood defileth the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of +the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.' +(Numbers, c. xxxv. v. 33.) And therefore I could not consent to leave +the guilt of so much blood on the nation, and thereby to draw down the +just vengeance of God upon us all, when it was most evident that the +war had been occasioned by the invasion of our rights and open breach +of our laws and constitution on the king's part."[381] "As for Mr. +Hutchinson," says his high-souled consort, "although he was very much +confirmed in his judgment concerning the cause, yet being here called +to an extraordinary action, whereof many were 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 would open his eyes, and not +suffer him to proceed, but that he would confirm his spirit in the +truth, and lead him by a right-enlightened conscience; and finding no +check, but a 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, +unbiassed persons, proceeded 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 without 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 signalise +his favour afterward to him."[382] + +_Question of Charles's execution discussed._--The execution of Charles +the First has been mentioned in later ages by a few with unlimited +praise, by some with faint and ambiguous censure, by most with +vehement reprobation. My own judgment will possibly be anticipated by +the reader of the preceding pages. I shall certainly not rest it on +the imaginary sacredness and divine origin of royalty, nor even on the +irresponsibility with which the law of almost every country invests +the person of its sovereign. Far be it from me to contend that no +cases may be conceived, that no instances may be found in history, +wherein the sympathy of mankind and the sound principles of political +justice would approve a public judicial sentence as the due reward of +tyranny and perfidiousness. But we may confidently deny that Charles +the First was thus to be singled out as a warning to tyrants. His +offences were not, in the worst interpretation, of that atrocious +character which calls down the vengeance of insulted humanity, +regardless of positive law. His government had been very arbitrary; +but it may well be doubted whether any, even of his ministers, could +have suffered death for their share in it, without introducing a +principle of barbarous vindictiveness. Far from the sanguinary +misanthropy of some monarchs, or the revengeful fury of others, he had +in no instance displayed, nor does the minute scrutiny since made into +his character entitle us to suppose, any malevolent dispositions +beyond some proneness to anger, and a considerable degree of +harshness in his demeanour.[383] As for the charge of having caused +the bloodshed of the war, upon which, and not on any former +misgovernment, his condemnation was grounded, it was as ill +established as it would have been insufficient. Well might the Earl of +Northumberland say, when the ordinance for the king's trial was before +the Lords, that the greatest part of the people of England were not +yet satisfied whether the king levied war first against the houses, or +the houses against him.[384] The fact, in my opinion, was entirely +otherwise. It is quite another question whether the parliament were +justified in their resistance to the king's legal authority. But we +may contend that, when Hotham, by their command, shut the gates of +Hull against his sovereign, when the militia was called out in +different counties by an ordinance of the two houses, both of which +preceded by several weeks any levying of forces for the king, the +bonds of our constitutional law were by them and their servants +snapped asunder; and it would be the mere pedantry and chicane of +political casuistry to enquire, even if the fact could be better +ascertained, whether at Edgehill, or in the minor skirmishes that +preceded, the first carbine was discharged by a cavalier or a +roundhead. The aggressor in a war is not the first who uses force, but +the first who renders force necessary. + +But, whether we may think this war to have originated in the king's +or the parliament's aggression, it is still evident that the former +had a fair case with the nation, a cause which it was no plain +violation of justice to defend. He was supported by the greater part +of the Peers, by full one-third of the Commons, by the principal body +of the gentry, and a large proportion of other classes. If his +adherents did not form, as I think they did not, the majority of the +people, they were at least more numerous, beyond comparison, than +those who demanded or approved of his death. The steady deliberate +perseverance of so considerable a body in any cause takes away the +right of punishment from the conquerors, beyond what their own safety +or reasonable indemnification may require. The vanquished are to be +judged by the rules of national, not of municipal, law. Hence, if +Charles, after having by a course of victories or the defection of the +people prostrated all opposition, had abused his triumph by the +execution of Essex or Hampden, Fairfax or Cromwell, I think that later +ages would have disapproved of their deaths as positively, though not +quite as vehemently, as they have of his own. The line is not easily +drawn, in abstract reasoning, between the treason which is justly +punished, and the social schism which is beyond the proper boundaries +of law; but the civil war of England seems plainly to fall within the +latter description. These objections strike me as unanswerable, even +if the trial of Charles had been sanctioned by the voice of the nation +through its legitimate representatives, or at least such a fair and +full convention as might, in great necessity, supply the place of +lawful authority. But it was, as we all know, the act of a bold but +very small minority, who having forcibly expelled their colleagues +from parliament, had usurped, under the protection of a military +force, that power which all England reckoned illegal. I cannot +perceive what there was in the imagined solemnity of this proceeding, +in that insolent mockery of the forms of justice, accompanied by all +unfairness and inhumanity in its circumstances, which can alleviate +the guilt of the transaction; and if it be alleged that many of the +regicides were firmly persuaded in their consciences of the right and +duty of condemning the king, we may surely remember that private +murderers have often had the same apology. + +_The character of Charles._--In discussing each particular transaction +in the life of Charles, as of any other sovereign, it is required by +the truth of history to spare no just animadversion upon his faults; +especially where much art has been employed by the writers most in +repute to carry the stream of public prejudice in an opposite +direction. But when we come to a general estimate of his character, we +should act unfairly not to give their full weight to those peculiar +circumstances of his condition in this worldly scene, which tend to +account for and extenuate his failings. The station of kings is, in a +moral sense, so unfavourable, that those who are least prone to +servile admiration should be on their guard against the opposite error +of an uncandid severity. There seems no fairer method of estimating +the intrinsic worth of a sovereign, than to treat him as a subject, +and to judge, so far as the history of his life enables us, what he +would have been in that more private and happier condition, from which +the chance of birth has excluded him. Tried by this test, we cannot +doubt that Charles the First would have been not altogether an amiable +man, but one deserving of general esteem; his firm and conscientious +virtues the same, his deviations from right far less frequent, than +upon the throne. It is to be pleaded for this prince that his youth +had breathed but the contaminated air of a profligate and servile +court, that he had imbibed the lessons of arbitrary power from all who +surrounded him, that he had been betrayed by a father's culpable +blindness into the dangerous society of an ambitious, unprincipled +favourite. To have maintained so much correctness of morality as his +enemies confess, was a proof of Charles's virtuous dispositions; but +his advocates are compelled also to own that he did not escape as +little injured by the poisonous adulation to which he had listened. Of +a temper by nature, and by want of restraint, too passionate, though +not vindictive; and, though not cruel, certainly deficient in +gentleness and humanity, he was entirely unfit for the very difficult +station of royalty, and especially for that of a constitutional king. +It is impossible to excuse his violations of liberty on the score of +ignorance, especially after the petition of right; because his +impatience of opposition from his council made it unsafe to give him +any advice that thwarted his determination. His other great fault was +want of sincerity--a fault that appeared in all parts of his life, and +from which no one who has paid the subject any attention will pretend +to exculpate him. Those indeed who know nothing but what they find in +Hume may believe, on Hume's authority, that the king's contemporaries +never dreamed of imputing to him any deviation from good faith; as if +the whole conduct of the parliament had not been evidently founded +upon a distrust, which on many occasions they very explicitly +declared. But, so far as this insincerity was shown in the course of +his troubles, it was a failing which untoward circumstances are apt to +produce, and which the extreme hypocrisy of many among his adversaries +might sometimes palliate. Few personages in history, we should +recollect, have had so much of their actions revealed, and commented +upon, as Charles; it is perhaps a mortifying truth that those who have +stood highest with posterity, have seldom been those who have been +most accurately known. + +The turn of his mind was rather peculiar, and laid him open with some +justice to very opposite censures--for an extreme obstinacy in +retaining his opinion, and for an excessive facility in adopting that +of others. But the apparent incongruity ceases, when we observe that +he was tenacious of ends, and irresolute as to means; better fitted to +reason than to act; never swerving from a few main principles, but +diffident of his own judgment in its application to the course of +affairs. His chief talent was an acuteness in dispute; a talent not +usually much exercised by kings, but which the strange events of his +life called into action. He had, unfortunately for himself, gone into +the study most fashionable in that age, of polemical theology; and, +though not at all learned, had read enough of the English divines to +maintain their side of the current controversies with much dexterity. +But this unkingly talent was a poor compensation for the continual +mistakes of his judgment in the art of government and the conduct of +his affairs.[385] + +_Icon Basiliké._--It seems natural not to leave untouched in this +place, the famous problem of the _Icon Basiliké_, which has been +deemed an irrefragable evidence both of the virtues and the talents of +Charles. But the authenticity of this work can hardly be any longer a +question among judicious men. We have letters from Gauden and his +family, asserting it as his own in the most express terms, and making +it the ground of a claim for reward. We know that the king's sons were +both convinced that it was not their father's composition, and that +Clarendon was satisfied of the same. If Gauden not only set up a false +claim to so famous a work, but persuaded those nearest to the king to +surrender that precious record, as it had been reckoned, of his dying +sentiments, it was an instance of successful impudence which has +hardly a parallel. But I should be content to rest the case on that +internal evidence, which has been so often alleged for its +authenticity. The _Icon_ has to my judgment all the air of a +fictitious composition. Cold, stiff, elaborate, without a single +allusion that bespeaks the superior knowledge of facts which the king +must have possessed, it contains little but those rhetorical +common-places which would suggest themselves to any forger. The +prejudices of party, which exercise a strange influence in matters of +taste, have caused this book to be extravagantly praised. It has +doubtless a certain air of grave dignity, and the periods are more +artificially constructed than was usual in that age (a circumstance +not in favour of its authenticity); but the style is encumbered with +frigid metaphors, as is said to be the case in Gauden's acknowledged +writings; and the thoughts are neither beautiful, nor always exempt +from affectation. The king's letters during his imprisonment, +preserved in the _Clarendon State Papers_, and especially one to his +son, from which an extract is given in the _History of the Rebellion_, +are more satisfactory proofs of his integrity than the laboured +self-panegyrics of the _Icon Basiliké_.[386] + + +PART II + +_Commonwealth_--_Abolition of the monarchy, and of the house of +lords._--The death of Charles the First was pressed forward rather +through personal hatred and superstition, than out of any notion of +its necessity to secure a republican administration. That party was +still so weak, that the Commons came more slowly, and with more +difference of judgment than might be expected, to an absolute +renunciation of monarchy. They voted indeed that the people are, under +God, the original of all just power; and that whatever is enacted by +the Commons in parliament hath the force of law, although the consent +and concurrence of the king or House of Peers be not had thereto; +terms manifestly not exclusive of the nominal continuance of the two +latter. They altered the public style from the king's name to that of +the parliament, and gave other indications of their intentions; but +the vote for the abolition of monarchy did not pass till the seventh +of February, after a debate, according to Whitelock, but without a +division. None of that clamorous fanaticism showed itself, which, +within recent memory, produced, from a far more numerous assembly, an +instantaneous decision against monarchy. Wise men might easily +perceive that the regal power was only suspended through the force of +circumstances, not abrogated by any real change in public opinion. + +The House of Lords, still less able than the Crown to withstand the +inroads of democracy, fell by a vote of the Commons at the same time. +It had continued during the whole progress of the war to keep up as +much dignity as the state of affairs would permit; tenacious of small +privileges, and offering much temporary opposition in higher matters, +though always receding in the end from a contention wherein it could +not be successful. The Commons, in return, gave them respectful +language, and discountenanced the rude innovators who talked against +the rights of the peerage. They voted, on occasion of some rumours, +that they held themselves obliged, by the fundamental laws of the +kingdom and their covenant, to preserve the peerage with the rights +and privileges belonging to the House of Peers, equally with their +own.[387] Yet this was with a secret reserve that the Lords should be +of the same mind as themselves. For, the upper house having resented +some words dropped from Sir John Evelyn at a conference concerning the +removal of the king to Warwick Castle, importing that the Commons +might be compelled to act without them, the Commons vindicating their +member as if his words did not bear that interpretation, yet added, in +the same breath, a plain hint that it was not beyond their own views +of what might be done; "hoping that their lordships did not intend by +their inference upon the words, even in the sense they took the same, +so to bind up this house to one way of proceeding as that in no case +whatsoever, though never so extraordinary, though never so much +importing the honour and interest of the kingdom, the Commons of +England might not do their duty, for the good and safety of the +kingdom, in such a way as they may, if they cannot do it in such a way +as they would and most desire."[388] + +After the violent seclusion of the constitutional party from the House +of Commons, on the 6th of December 1648, very few, not generally more +than five, peers continued to meet. Their number was suddenly +increased to twelve on the 2nd of January; when the vote of the +Commons that it is high treason in the King of England for the time +being to levy war against parliament, and the ordinance constituting +the high court of justice, were sent up for their concurrence. These +were unanimously rejected with more spirit than some, at least, of +their number might be expected to display. Yet, as if apprehensive of +giving too much umbrage, they voted at their next meeting to prepare +an ordinance, making it treasonable for any future king of England to +levy war against the parliament--a measure quite as unconstitutional +as that they had rejected. They continued to linger on the verge of +annihilation during the month, making petty orders about writs of +error, from four to six being present: they even met on the 30th of +January. On the 1st of February, six peers forming the house, it was +moved, "that they would take into consideration the settlement of the +government of England and Ireland, in this present conjuncture of +things upon the death of the king;" and ordered that these Lords +following (naming those present and three more) be appointed to join +with a proportionable number of the House of Commons for that purpose. +Soon after, the speaker acquainted the house that he had that morning +received a letter from the Earl of Northumberland, with a paper +enclosed, of very great concernment; and for the present the house +ordered that it should be sealed up with the speaker's seal. This +probably related to the impending dissolution of their house; for they +found next day that their messengers sent to the Commons had not been +admitted. They persisted, however, in meeting till the 6th, when they +made a trifling order, and adjourned "till ten o'clock to-morrow."[389] +That morrow was the 25th of April 1660. For the Commons, having the +same day rejected, by a majority of forty-four to twenty-nine, a +motion that they would take the advice of the House of Lords in the +exercise of the legislative power, resolved that the House of Peers +was useless and dangerous, and ought to be abolished.[390] It should +be noticed that there was no intention of taking away the dignity of +peerage; the Lords, throughout the whole duration of the commonwealth, +retained their titles, not only in common usage, but in all legal and +parliamentary documents. The Earl of Pembroke, basest among the base, +condescended to sit in the House of Commons as knight for the county +of Berks; and was received, notwithstanding his proverbial meanness +and stupidity, with such excessive honour as displayed the character +of those low-minded upstarts, who formed a sufficiently numerous +portion of the house to give their tone to its proceedings.[391] + +Thus by military force, with the approbation of an inconceivably small +proportion of the people, the king was put to death; the ancient +fundamental laws were overthrown; and a mutilated House of Commons, +wherein very seldom more than seventy or eighty sat, was invested with +the supreme authority. So little countenance had these late +proceedings even from those who seemed of the ruling faction, that, +when the executive council of state, consisting of forty-one, had been +nominated, and a test was proposed to them, declaring their +approbation of all that had been done about the king and the kingly +office, and about the House of Lords, only nineteen would subscribe +it, though there were fourteen regicides on the list.[392] It was +agreed at length, that they should subscribe it only as to the future +proceedings of the Commons. With such dissatisfaction at +head-quarters, there was little to hope from the body of the +nation.[393] Hence, when an engagement was tendered to all civil +officers and beneficed clergy, containing only a promise to live +faithful to the commonwealth, as it was established without a king or +House of Lords (though the slightest test of allegiance that any +government could require), it was taken with infinite reluctance, and, +in fact, refused by very many; the presbyterian ministers especially +showing a determined averseness to the new republican organisation.[394] + +This, however, was established (such is the dominion of the sword) far +beyond the control of any national sentiment. Thirty thousand veteran +soldiers guaranteed the mock parliament they had permitted to reign. +The sectaries, a numerous body, and still more active than numerous, +possessed, under the name of committees for various purposes appointed +by the House of Commons, the principal local authorities, and +restrained by a vigilant scrutiny the murmurs of a disaffected +majority. Love, an eminent presbyterian minister, lost his head for a +conspiracy, by the sentence of a high court of justice, a tribunal +that superseded trial by jury.[395] His death struck horror and +consternation into that arrogant priesthood, who had begun to fancy +themselves almost beyond the scope of criminal law. The cavaliers were +prostrate in the dust; and, anxious to retrieve something from the +wreck of their long sequestered estates, had generally little appetite +to embark afresh in a hopeless cause; besides that the mutual +animosities between their party and the presbyterians were still too +irreconcilable to admit of any sincere co-operation. Hence, neither +made any considerable effort in behalf of Charles on his march, or +rather flight, into England; a measure, indeed, too palpably +desperate for prudent men who had learned the strength of their +adversaries; and the great victory of Worcester consummated the +triumph of the infant commonwealth, or rather of its future master. + +_Schemes of Cromwell._--A train of favouring events, more than any +deep-laid policy, had now brought sovereignty within the reach of +Cromwell. His first schemes of ambition may probably have extended no +farther than a title and estate, with a great civil and military +command in the king's name. Power had fallen into his hands because +they alone were fit to wield it; he was taught by every succeeding +event his own undeniable superiority over his contemporaries in +martial renown, in civil prudence, in decision of character, and in +the public esteem, which naturally attached to these qualities. +Perhaps it was not till after the battle of Worcester that he began to +fix his thoughts, if not on the dignity of royalty, yet on an +equivalent right of command. Two remarkable conversations, in which +Whitelock bore a part, seem to place beyond controversy the nature of +his designs. About the end of 1651, Whitelock himself, St. John, +Widdrington, Lenthall, Harrison, Desborough, Fleetwood, and Whalley, +met Cromwell, at his own request, to consider the settlement of the +nation. The four former were in favour of monarchy, Whitelock +inclining to Charles, Widdrington and others to the Duke of Glocester; +Desborough and Whalley were against a single person's government, and +Fleetwood uncertain. Cromwell, who had evidently procured this +conference in order to sift the inclinations of so many leading men, +and to give some intimation of his own, broke it up with remarking, +that, if it might be done with safety and preservation of their rights +as Englishmen and Christians, a settlement of somewhat with +monarchical power in it would be very effectual.[396] The observation +he here made of a disposition among the lawyers to elect the Duke of +Glocester, as being exempt by his youth from the prepossessions of the +two elder brothers, may, perhaps, have put Cromwell on releasing him +from confinement, and sending him to join his family beyond sea.[397] + +Twelve months after this time, in a more confidential discourse with +Whitelock alone, the general took occasion to complain both of the +chief officers of the army and of the parliament; the first, as +inclined to factious murmurings, and the second, as ingrossing all +offices to themselves, divided into parties, delaying business, guilty +of gross injustice and partiality, and designing to perpetuate their +own authority. Whitelock, confessing part of this, urged that having +taken commissions from them as the supreme power, it would be +difficult to find means to restrain them. "What," said Cromwell, "if a +man should take upon him to be king?" "I think," answered Whitelock, +"that remedy would be worse than the disease." "Why," rejoined the +other, "do you think so?" He then pointed out that the statute of +Henry VII. gave a security to those who acted under a king, which no +other government could furnish; and that the reverence paid by the +people to that title would serve to curb the extravagances of those +now in power. Whitelock replied that their friends having engaged in a +persuasion, though erroneous, that their rights and liberties would be +better preserved under a commonwealth than a monarchy, this state of +the question would be wholly changed by Cromwell's assumption of the +title, and it would become a private controversy between his family +and that of the Stuarts. Finally, on the other's encouragement to +speak fully his thoughts, he told him "that no expedient seemed so +desirable as a private treaty with the king, in which he might not +only provide for the security of his friends, and the greatness of his +family, but set limits to monarchical power, keeping the command of +the militia in his own hands." Cromwell merely said, "that such a step +would require great consideration;" but broke off with marks of +displeasure, and consulted Whitelock much less for some years +afterwards.[398] + +These projects of usurpation could not deceive the watchfulness of +those whom Cromwell pretended to serve. He had on several occasions +thrown off enough of his habitual dissimulation to show the +commonwealth's men that he was theirs only by accident, with none of +their fondness for republican polity. + +_Unpopularity of the parliament._--The parliament in its present wreck +contained few leaders of superior ability; but a natural instinct +would dictate to such an assembly the distrust of a popular general, +even if there had been less to alarm them in his behaviour.[399] They +had no means, however, to withstand him. The creatures themselves of +military force, their pretensions to direct or control the army could +only move scorn or resentment. Their claim to a legal authority, and +to the name of representatives of a people who rejected and abhorred +them, was perfectly impudent. When the house was fullest, their +numbers did not much exceed one hundred; but the ordinary divisions, +even on subjects of the highest moment, show an attendance of but +fifty or sixty members. They had retained in their hands, +notwithstanding the appointment of a council of state, most of whom +were from their own body, a great part of the executive government, +especially the disposal of offices.[400] These they largely shared +among themselves or their dependents; and in many of their votes gave +occasion to such charges of injustice and partiality as, whether true +or false, will attach to a body of men so obviously self-interested.[401] +It seems to be a pretty general opinion that a popular assembly is +still more frequently influenced by corrupt and dishonest motives in +the distribution of favours, or the decision of private affairs, than +a ministry of state; whether it be that it is more probable that a man +of disinterestedness and integrity may in the course of events rise to +the conduct of government than that such virtues should belong to a +majority; or that the clandestine management of court corruption +renders it less scandalous and more easily varnished, than the +shamelessness of parliamentary iniquity. + +The republican interest in the nation was almost wholly composed of +two parties, both off-shoots deriving strength from the great stock of +the army; the levellers, of whom Lilburne and Wildman are the most +known, and the anabaptists, fifth monarchy-men, and other fanatical +sectaries, headed by Harrison, Hewson, Overton, and a great number of +officers. Though the sectaries seemed to build their revolutionary +schemes more on their own religious views than the levellers, they +coincided in most of their objects and demands.[402] An equal +representation of the people in short parliaments, an extensive +alteration of the common law, the abolition of tithes, and indeed of +all regular stipends to the ministry, a full toleration of religious +worship, were reformations which they concurred in requiring, as the +only substantial fruits of their arduous struggle.[403] Some among the +wilder sects dreamed of overthrowing all civil institutions. These +factions were not without friends in the Commons. But the greater part +were neither inclined to gratify them, by taking away the provision +of the church, nor much less to divest themselves of their own +authority. They voted indeed that tithes should cease as soon as a +competent maintenance should be otherwise provided for the +clergy.[404] They appointed a commission to consider the reformation +of the law, in consequence of repeated petitions against many of its +inconveniences and abuses; who, though taxed of course with +dilatoriness by the ardent innovators, suggested many useful +improvements, several of which have been adopted in more regular +times, though with too cautious delay.[405] They proceeded rather +slowly and reluctantly to frame a scheme for future parliaments; and +resolved that they should consist of 400, to be chosen in due +proportion by the several counties, nearly upon the model suggested by +Lilburne, and afterwards carried into effect by Cromwell.[406] It was +with much delay and difficulty, amidst the loud murmurs of their +adherents, that they could be brought to any vote in regard to their +own dissolution. It passed on November 17, 1651, after some very close +divisions, that they should cease to exist as a parliament on November +3, 1654.[407] The republicans out of doors, who deemed annual, or at +least biennial, parliaments essential to their definition of liberty, +were indignant at so unreasonable a prolongation. Thus they forfeited +the good-will of the only party on whom they could have relied. +Cromwell dexterously aggravated their faults; he complained of their +delaying the settlement of the nation; he persuaded the fanatics of +his concurrence in their own schemes; the parliament, in turn, +conspired against his power, and, as the conspiracies of so many can +never be secret, let it be seen that one or other must be destroyed; +thus giving his forcible expulsion of them the pretext of +self-defence. They fell with no regret, or rather with much joy of the +nation, except a few who dreaded more from the alternative of military +usurpation or anarchy than from an assembly which still retained the +names and forms so precious in the eyes of those who adhere to the +ancient institutions of their country.[408] + +_Little parliament._--It was now the deep policy of Cromwell to render +himself the sole refuge of those who valued the laws, or the regular +ecclesiastical ministry, or their own estates, all in peril from the +mad enthusiasts who were in hopes to prevail.[409] These he had +admitted into that motley convention of one hundred and twenty +persons, sometimes called Barebone's parliament, but more commonly the +little parliament, on whom his council of officers pretended to +devolve the government, mingling them with a sufficient proportion of +a superior class whom he could direct.[410] This assembly took care +to avoid the censure which their predecessors had incurred, by passing +a good many bills, and applying themselves with a vigorous hand to the +reformation of what their party deemed the most essential grievances, +those of the law and of the church. They voted the abolition of the +Court of Chancery, a measure provoked by its insufferable delay, its +engrossing of almost all suits, and the uncertainty of its decisions. +They appointed a committee to consider of a new body of the law, +without naming any lawyer upon it.[411] They nominated a set of +commissioners to preside in courts of justice, among whom they with +difficulty admitted two of that profession;[412] they irritated the +clergy by enacting that marriages should be solemnised before justices +of the peace;[413] they alarmed them still more, by manifesting a +determination to take away their tithes, without security for an +equivalent maintenance.[414] Thus having united against itself these +two powerful bodies, whom neither kings nor parliaments in England +have in general offended with impunity, this little synod of +legislators was ripe for destruction. Their last vote was to negative +a report of their own committee, recommending that such as should be +approved as preachers of the gospel, should enjoy the maintenance +already settled by law; and that the payment of tithes, as a just +property, should be enforced by the magistrates. The house having, by +the majority of two, disagreed with this report,[415] the speaker, two +days after, having secured a majority of those present, proposed the +surrender of their power into the hands of Cromwell, who put an end to +the opposition of the rest, by turning them out of doors. + +It can admit of no doubt that the despotism of a wise man is more +tolerable than that of political or religious fanatics; and it rarely +happens that there is any better remedy in revolutions which have +given the latter an ascendant. Cromwell's assumption, therefore, of +the title of Protector was a necessary and wholesome usurpation, +however he may have caused the necessity; it secured the nation from +the mischievous lunacy of the anabaptists, and from the more +cool-blooded tyranny of that little oligarchy which arrogated to +itself the name of commonwealth's men. Though a gross and glaring +evidence of the omnipotence of the army, the instrument under which he +took his title, accorded to him no unnecessary executive authority. +The sovereignty still resided in the parliament; he had no negative +voice on their laws. Until the meeting of the next parliament, a power +was given him of making temporary ordinances; but this was not, as +Hume, on the authority of Clarendon and Warwick, has supposed, and as +his conduct, if that were any proof of the law, might lead us to +infer, designed to exist in future intervals of the legislature.[416] +It would be scarcely worth while, however, to pay much attention to a +form of government which was so little regarded, except as it marks +the jealousy of royal power, which those most attached to Cromwell, +and least capable of any proper notions of liberty, continued to +entertain. + +In the ascent of this bold usurper to greatness, he had successively +employed and thrown away several of the powerful factions who +distracted the nation. He had encouraged the levellers and persecuted +them; he had flattered the long parliament and betrayed it; he had +made use of the sectaries to crush the commonwealth; he had spurned +the sectaries in his last advance to power. These, with the royalists +and the presbyterians, forming, in effect, the whole people, though +too disunited for such a coalition as must have overthrown him, were +the perpetual, irreconcilable enemies of his administration. Master of +his army, which he well knew how to manage, surrounded by a few deep +and experienced counsellors, furnished by his spies with the +completest intelligence of all designs against him, he had no great +cause of alarm from open resistance. + +_Parliament called by Cromwell._--But he was bound by the instrument +of government to call a parliament; and in any parliament his +adversaries must be formidable. He adopted in both those which he +summoned, the reformed model already determined; limiting the number +of representatives to 400, to be chosen partly in the counties, +according to their wealth or supposed population, by electors +possessing either freeholds, or any real or movable property to the +value of £200; partly by the more considerable boroughs, in whose +various rights of election no change appears to have been made.[417] +This alteration, conformable to the equalising principles of the age, +did not produce so considerable a difference in the persons returned +as it perhaps might at present.[418] The court-party, as those +subservient to him were called, were powerful through the subjection +of the electors to the army. But they were not able to exclude the +presbyterian and republican interests; the latter headed by Bradshaw, +Haslerig, and Scott, eager to thwart the power which they were +compelled to obey.[419] Hence they began by taking into consideration +the whole instrument of government; and even resolved themselves into +a committee to debate its leading article, the protector's authority. +Cromwell, his supporters having lost this question on a division of +141 to 136, thought it time to interfere. He gave them to understand +that the government by a single person and a parliament, was a +fundamental principle, not subject to their discussion; and obliged +every member to a recognition of it, solemnly promising neither to +attempt nor to concur in any alteration of that article.[420] The +Commons voted, however, that this recognition should not extend to the +entire instrument, consisting of forty-two articles; and went on to +discuss them with such heat and prolixity, that after five months, the +limited term of their session, the protector, having obtained the +ratification of his new scheme neither so fully nor so willingly as he +desired, particularly having been disappointed by the great majority +of 200 to 60, which voted the protectorate to be elective, not +hereditary, dissolved the parliament with no small marks of +dissatisfaction.[421] + +_Intrigues of the king and his party._--The banished king, meanwhile, +began to recover a little of that political importance which the +battle of Worcester had seemed almost to extinguish. So ill supported +by his English adherents on that occasion, so incapable with a better +army than he had any prospect of ever raising again, to make a stand +against the genius and fortune of the usurper, it was vain to expect +that he could be restored by any domestic insurrection, until the +disunion of the prevailing factions should offer some more favourable +opportunity. But this was too distant a prospect for his court of +starving followers. He had from the beginning looked around for +foreign assistance. But France was distracted by her own troubles; +Spain deemed it better policy to cultivate the new commonwealth; and +even Holland, though engaged in a dangerous war with England, did not +think it worth while to accept his offer of joining her fleet, in +order to try his influence with the English seamen.[422] Totally +unscrupulous as to the means by which he might reign, even at the +moment that he was treating to become the covenanted king of Scotland, +with every solemn renunciation of popery, Charles had recourse to a +very delicate negotiation, which deserves remark, as having led, after +a long course of time, but by gradual steps, to the final downfall of +his family. With the advice of Ormond, and with the concurrence of +Hyde, he attempted to interest the pope (Innocent X.) on his side, as +the most powerful intercessor with the catholic princes of +Europe.[423] For this purpose it was necessary to promise toleration +at least to the catholics. The king's ambassadors to Spain in 1650, +Cottington and Hyde, and other agents despatched to Rome at the same +time, were empowered to offer an entire repeal of the penal laws.[424] +The king himself, some time afterwards, wrote a letter to the pope, +wherein he repeated this assurance. That court, however, well aware of +the hereditary duplicity of the Stuarts, received his overtures with +haughty contempt. The pope returned no answer to the king's letter; +but one was received after many months from the general of the +jesuits, requiring that Charles should declare himself a catholic, +since the goods of the church could not be lavished for the support of +an heretical prince.[425] Even after this insolent refusal, the +wretched exiles still clung, at times, to the vain hope of succour, +which as protestants and Englishmen they could not honourably +demand.[426] But many of them remarked too clearly the conditions on +which assistance might be obtained; the court of Charles, openly or in +secret, began to pass over to the catholic church; and the contagion +soon spread to the highest places. + +In the year 1654, the royalist intrigues in England began to grow more +active and formidable through the accession of many discontented +republicans.[427] Though there could be no coalition, properly +speaking, between such irreconcilable factions, they came into a sort +of tacit agreement, as is not unusual, to act in concert for the only +purpose they entertained alike, the destruction of their common enemy. +Major Wildman, a name not very familiar to the general reader, but +which occurs perpetually, for almost half a century, when we look into +more secret history, one of those dark and restless spirits who +delight in the deep game of conspiracy against every government, seems +to have been the first mover of this unnatural combination. He had +been early engaged in the schemes of the levellers, and was exposed to +the jealous observation of the ruling powers. It appears most probable +that his views were to establish a commonwealth, and to make the +royalists his dupes. In his correspondence however with Brussels, he +engaged to restore the king. Both parties were to rise in arms against +the new tyranny; and the nation's temper was tried by clandestine +intrigues in almost every county.[428] Greater reliance however was +placed on the project of assassinating Cromwell. Neither party were by +any means scrupulous on this score: if we have not positive evidence +of Charles's concurrence in this scheme, it would be preposterous to +suppose that he would have been withheld by any moral hesitation. It +is frequently mentioned without any disapprobation by Clarendon in his +private letters;[429] and, as the royalists certainly justified the +murders of Ascham and Dorislaus, they could not in common sense or +consistency have scrupled one so incomparably more capable of +defence.[430] A Mr. Gerard suffered death for one of these plots to +kill Cromwell; justly sentenced, though by an illegal tribunal.[431] + +_Insurrectionary movements in 1655._--In the year 1655, Penruddock, a +Wiltshire gentleman, with a very trifling force, entered Salisbury at +the time of the assizes; and, declaring for the king, seized the judge +and the sheriff.[432] This little rebellion, meeting with no +resistance from the people, but a supineness equally fatal, was soon +quelled. It roused Cromwell to secure himself by an unprecedented +exercise of power. In possession of all the secrets of his enemies, he +knew that want of concert or courage had alone prevented a general +rising, towards which indeed there had been some movements in the +midland counties.[433] He was aware of his own unpopularity, and the +national bias towards the exiled king. Juries did not willingly +convict the sharers in Penruddock's rebellion.[434] To govern +according to law may sometimes be an usurper's wish, but can seldom be +in his power. The protector abandoned all thought of it. Dividing the +kingdom into districts, he placed at the head of each a major-general +as a sort of military magistrate, responsible for the subjection of +his prefecture. These were eleven in number, men bitterly hostile to +the royalist party, and insolent towards all civil authority.[435] +They were employed to secure the payment of a tax of 10 per cent., +imposed by Cromwell's arbitrary will on those who had ever sided with +the king during the late war, where their estates exceeded £100 per +annum. The major-generals, in their correspondence printed among +Thurloe's papers, display a rapacity and oppression beyond their +master's. They complain that the number of those exempted is too +great; they press for harsher measures; they incline to the +unfavourable construction in every doubtful case; they dwell on the +growth of malignancy and the general disaffection.[436] It was not +indeed likely to be mitigated by this unparalleled tyranny. All +illusion was now gone as to the pretended benefits of the civil war. +It had ended in a despotism, compared to which all the illegal +practices of former kings, all that had cost Charles his life and +crown, appeared as dust in the balance. For what was ship-money, a +general burthen, by the side of the present decimation of a single +class, whose offence had long been expiated by a composition and +defaced by an act of indemnity? or were the excessive punishments of +the star-chamber so odious as the capital executions inflicted without +trial by peers, whenever it suited the usurper to erect his high court +of justice? A sense of present evils not only excited a burning desire +to live again under the ancient monarchy, but obliterated, especially +in the new generation, that had no distinct remembrance of them, the +apprehension of its former abuses.[437] + +_Cromwell's arbitrary government._--If this decimation of the +royalists could pass for an act of severity towards a proscribed +faction, in which the rest of the nation might fancy themselves not +interested, Cromwell did not fail to show that he designed to exert an +equally despotic command over every man's property. With the advice of +his council, he had imposed, or, as I conceive (for it is not clearly +explained), continued, a duty on merchandise beyond the time limited +by law. A Mr. George Cony having refused to pay this tax, it was +enforced from him, on which he sued the collector. Cromwell sent his +counsel, Maynard, Twisden, and Wyndham, to the Tower, who soon +petitioned for liberty, and abandoned their client. Rolle, the chief +justice, when the cause came on, dared not give judgment against the +protector; yet, not caring to decide in his favour, postponed the case +till the next term, and meanwhile retired from the bench. Glyn, who +succeeded him upon it, took care to have this business accommodated +with Cony, who, at some loss of public reputation, withdrew his suit. +Sir Peter Wentworth, having brought a similar action, was summoned +before the council, and asked if he would give it up. "If you command +me," he replied to Cromwell, "I must submit;" which the protector did, +and the action was withdrawn.[438] + +Though it cannot be said that such an interference with the privileges +of advocates or the integrity of judges was without precedents in the +times of the Stuarts, yet it had never been done in so public or +shameless a manner. Several other instances wherein the usurper +diverted justice from its course, or violated the known securities of +Englishmen, will be found in most general histories; not to dwell on +that most flagrant of all, the erection of his high court of justice, +by which Gerard and Vowel in 1654, Slingsby and Hewit in 1658, were +brought to the scaffold.[439] I cannot therefore agree in the praises +which have been showered upon Cromwell for the just administration of +the laws under his dominion. That, between party and party, the +ordinary civil rights of men were fairly dealt with, is no +extraordinary praise; and it may be admitted that he filled the +benches of justice with able lawyers, though not so considerable as +those of the reign of Charles the Second; but it is manifest that, so +far as his own authority was concerned, no hereditary despot, proud in +the crimes of a hundred ancestors, could more have spurned at every +limitation than this soldier of a commonwealth.[440] + +_Cromwell summons another parliament._--Amidst so general a hatred, +trusting to the effect of an equally general terror, the protector +ventured to summon a parliament in 1656. Besides the common +necessities for money, he had doubtless in his head that remarkable +scheme which was developed during its session.[441] Even the despotic +influence of his major-generals, and the political annihilation of the +most considerable body of the gentry, then labouring under the +imputation of delinquency for their attachment to the late king, did +not enable him to obtain a secure majority in the assembly; and he was +driven to the audacious measure of excluding above ninety members, +duly returned by their constituents, from taking their seats. Their +colleagues wanted courage to resist this violation of all privilege; +and, after referring them to the council for approbation, resolved to +proceed with public business. The excluded members, consisting partly +of the republican, partly of the presbyterian factions, published a +remonstrance in a very high strain, but obtained no redress.[442] + +_Cromwell designs to take the crown._--Cromwell, like so many other +usurpers, felt his position too precarious, or his vanity ungratified, +without the name which mankind have agreed to worship. He had, as +evidently appears from the conversations recorded by Whitelock, long +since aspired to this titular, as well as to the real, pre-eminence; +and the banished king's friends had contemplated the probability of +his obtaining it with dismay.[443] Affectionate towards his family, he +wished to assure the stability of his son's succession, and perhaps to +please the vanity of his daughters. It was indeed a very reasonable +object with one who had already advanced so far. His assumption of the +crown was desirable to many different classes; to the lawyers, who, +besides their regard for the established constitution, knew that an +ancient statute would protect those who served a _de facto_ king in +case of a restoration of the exiled family; to the nobility, who +perceived that their legislative right must immediately revive; to the +clergy, who judged the regular ministry more likely to be secure under +a monarchy; to the people, who hoped for any settlement that would put +an end to perpetual changes; to all of every rank and profession who +dreaded the continuance of military despotism, and demanded only the +just rights and privileges of their country. A king of England could +succeed only to a bounded prerogative, and must govern by the known +laws; a protector, as the nation had well felt, with less nominal +authority, had all the sword could confer. And, though there might be +little chance that Oliver would abate one jot of a despotism for which +not the times of the Tudors could furnish a precedent, yet his life +was far worn, and under a successor it was to be expected that future +parliaments might assert again all those liberties for which they had +contended against Charles.[444] A few of the royalists might perhaps +fancy that the restoration of the royal title would lead to that of +the lawful heir; but a greater number were content to abandon a nearly +desperate cause, if they could but see the more valuable object of +their concern, the form itself of polity, re-established.[445] There +can be, as it appears to me, little room for doubt that if Cromwell +had overcome the resistance of his generals, he would have transmitted +the sceptre to his descendants with the acquiescence and tacit +approbation of the kingdom. Had we been living ever since under the +rule of his dynasty, what tone would our historians have taken as to +his character and that of the house of Stuart? + +The scheme however of founding a new royal line failed of +accomplishment, as is well known, through his own caution, which +deterred him from encountering the decided opposition of his army. +Some of his contemporaries seem to have deemed this abandonment, or +more properly suspension, of so splendid a design rather derogatory to +his firmness.[446] But few men were better judges than Cromwell of +what might be achieved by daring. It is certainly not impossible that, +by arresting Lambert, Whalley, and some other generals, he might have +crushed for the moment any tendency to open resistance. But the +experiment would have been infinitely hazardous. He had gone too far +in the path of violence to recover the high road of law by any short +cut. King or protector, he must have intimidated every parliament, or +sunk under its encroachments. A new-modelled army might have served +his turn; but there would have been great difficulties in its +formation. It had from the beginning been the misfortune of his +government that it rested on a basis too narrow for its safety. For +two years he had reigned with no support but the independent sectaries +and the army. The army or its commanders becoming odious to the +people, he had sacrificed them to the hope of popularity, by +abolishing the civil prefectures of the major-generals,[447] and +permitting a bill for again decimating the royalists to be thrown out +of the house.[448] Their disgust and resentment, excited by an artful +intriguer, who aspired at least to the succession of the +protectorship, found scope in the new project of monarchy, naturally +obnoxious to the prejudices of true fanatics, and who still fancied +themselves to have contended for a republican liberty. We find that +even Fleetwood, allied by marriage to Cromwell, and not involved in +the discontent of the major-generals, in all the sincerity of his +clouded understanding, revolted from the invidious title, and would +have retired from service had it been assumed. There seems therefore +reason to think that Cromwell's refusal of the crown was an inevitable +mortification. But he undoubtedly did not lose sight of the object for +the short remainder of his life.[449] + +The fundamental charter of the English commonwealth under the +protectorship of Cromwell, had been the instrument of government, +drawn up by the council of officers in December 1653, and approved +with modifications by the parliament of the next year. It was now +changed to the petition and advice, tendered to him by the present +parliament in May 1657, which made very essential innovations in the +frame of polity. Though he bore, as formerly, the name of lord +protector, we may say, speaking according to theoretical +classification, and without reference to his actual exercise of power, +which was nearly the same, that the English government in the first +period should be ranged in the order of republics, though with a chief +magistrate at its head; but that from 1657 it became substantially a +monarchy, and ought to be placed in that class, notwithstanding the +unimportant difference in the style of its sovereign. The petition and +advice had been compiled with a constant respect to that article, +which conferred the royal dignity on the protector;[450] and when this +was withdrawn at his request, the rest of the instrument was +preserved with all its implied attributions of sovereignty. The style +is that of subjects addressing a monarch; the powers it bestows, the +privileges it claims, are supposed, according to the expressions +employed, the one to be already his own, the other to emanate from his +will. The necessity of his consent to laws, though nowhere mentioned, +seems to have been taken for granted. An unlimited power of appointing +a successor, unknown even to constitutional kingdoms, was vested in +the protector. He was inaugurated with solemnities applicable to +monarchs; and what of itself is a sufficient test of the monarchical +and republican species of government, an oath of allegiance was taken +by every member of parliament to the protector singly, without any +mention of the commonwealth.[451] It is surely, therefore, no paradox +to assert that Oliver Cromwell was _de facto_ sovereign of England, +during the interval from June 1657, to his death in September 1658. + +The zealous opponents of royalty could not be insensible that they had +seen it revive in everything except a title, which was not likely to +remain long behind.[452] It was too late however to oppose the first +magistrate's personal authority. But there remained one important +point of contention, which the new constitution had not fully settled. +It was therein provided that the parliament should consist of two +houses; namely, the Commons, and what they always termed, with an +awkward generality, the other house. This was to consist of not more +than seventy, nor less than forty persons, to be nominated by the +protector, and, as it stood at first, to be approved by the Commons. +But before the close of the session, the court party prevailed so far +as to procure the repeal of this last condition;[453] and Cromwell +accordingly issued writs of summons to persons of various parties, a +few of the ancient peers, a few of his adversaries, whom he hoped to +gain over, or at least to exclude from the Commons, and of course a +majority of his steady adherents. To all these he gave the title of +Lords; and in the next session their assembly denominated itself the +Lords' house.[454] This measure encountered considerable difficulty. +The republican party, almost as much attached to that vote which had +declared the House of Lords useless, as to that which had abolished +the monarchy, and well aware of the intimate connection between the +two, resisted the assumption of this aristocratic title, instead of +that of the other house, which the petition and advice had sanctioned. +The real peers feared to compromise their hereditary right by sitting +in an assembly where the tenure was only during life; and disdained +some of their colleagues, such as Pride and Hewson, low-born and +insolent men, whom Cromwell had rather injudiciously bribed with this +new nobility; though, with these few exceptions, his House of Lords +was respectably composed. Hence, in the short session of January 1658, +wherein the late excluded members were permitted to take their seats, +so many difficulties were made about acknowledging the Lords' house by +that denomination, that the protector hastily and angrily dissolved +the parliament.[455] + +It is a singular part of Cromwell's system of policy, that he would +neither reign with parliaments nor without them; impatient of an +opposition which he was sure to experience, he still never seems to +have meditated the attainment of a naked and avowed despotism. This +was probably due to his observation of the ruinous consequences that +Charles had brought on himself by that course, and his knowledge of +the temper of the English, never content without the exterior forms of +liberty, as well as to the suggestions of counsellors who were not +destitute of concern for the laws. He had also his great design yet to +accomplish, which could only be safely done under the sanction of a +parliament. A very short time, accordingly, before his death, we find +that he had not only resolved to meet once more the representatives of +the nation, but was tampering with several of the leading officers to +obtain their consent to an hereditary succession. The majority however +of a council of nine, to whom he referred this suggestion, would only +consent that the protector for the time being should have the power of +nominating his successor; a vain attempt to escape from that regal +form of government which they had been taught to abhor.[456] But a +sudden illness, of a nature seldom fatal except to a constitution +already shattered by fatigue and anxiety, rendered abortive all these +projects of Cromwell's ambition. + +_Cromwell's death, and character._--He left a fame behind him +proportioned to his extraordinary fortunes and to the great qualities +which sustained them; still more perhaps the admiration of strangers +than of his country, because that sentiment was less alloyed by +hatred, which seeks to extenuate the glory that irritates it. The +nation itself forgave much to one who had brought back the renown of +her ancient story, the traditions of Elizabeth's age, after the +ignominious reigns of her successors. This contrast with James and +Charles in their foreign policy gave additional lustre to the era of +the protectorate. There could not but be a sense of national pride to +see an Englishman, but yesterday raised above the many, without one +drop of blood in his veins which the princes of the earth could +challenge as their own, receive the homage of those who acknowledged +no right to power, and hardly any title to respect, except that of +prescription. The sluggish pride of the court of Spain, the +mean-spirited cunning of Mazarin, the irregular imagination of +Christina, sought with emulous ardour the friendship of our +usurper.[457] He had the advantage of reaping the harvest which he had +not sown, by an honourable treaty with Holland, the fruit of +victories achieved under the parliament. But he still employed the +great energies of Blake in the service for which he was so eminently +fitted; and it is just to say that the maritime glory of England may +first be traced from the era of the commonwealth in a track of +continuous light. The oppressed protestants in catholic kingdoms, +disgusted at the lukewarmness and half-apostasy of the Stuarts, looked +up to him as their patron and mediator.[458] Courted by the two rival +monarchies of Europe, he seemed to threaten both with his hostility; +and when he declared against Spain, and attacked her West India +possessions with little pretence certainly of justice, but not by any +means, as I conceive, with the impolicy sometimes charged against him, +so auspicious was his star that the very failure and disappointment of +that expedition obtained a more advantageous possession for England +than all the triumphs of her former kings. + +Notwithstanding this external splendour, which has deceived some of +our own, and most foreign writers, it is evident that the submission +of the people to Cromwell was far from peaceable or voluntary. His +strong and skilful grasp kept down a nation of enemies that must +naturally, to judge from their numbers and inveteracy, have +overwhelmed him. It required a dexterous management to play with the +army, and without the army he could not have existed as sovereign for +a day. Yet it seems improbable that, had Cromwell lived, any +insurrection or conspiracy, setting aside assassination, could have +overthrown a possession so fenced by systematic vigilance, by +experienced caution, by the respect and terror that belonged to his +name. The royalist and republican intrigues had gone on for several +years without intermission; but every part of their designs was open +to him; and it appears that there was not courage or rather temerity +sufficient to make any open demonstration of so prevalent a +disaffection.[459] + +The most superficial observers cannot have overlooked the general +resemblances in the fortunes and character of Cromwell, and of him +who, more recently and upon an ampler theatre, has struck nations with +wonder and awe. But the parallel may be traced more closely than +perhaps has hitherto been remarked. Both raised to power by the only +merit which a revolution leaves uncontroverted and untarnished, that +of military achievements, in that reflux of public sentiment, when the +fervid enthusiasm of democracy gives place to disgust at its excesses +and a desire of firm government. The means of greatness the same to +both, the extinction of a representative assembly, once national, but +already mutilated by violence, and sunk by its submission to that +illegal force into general contempt. In military science or the renown +of their exploits, we cannot certainly rank Cromwell by the side of +him, for whose genius and ambition all Europe seemed the appointed +quarry; but it may be said that the former's exploits were as much +above the level of his contemporaries, and more the fruits of an +original uneducated capacity. In civil government, there can be no +adequate parallel between one who had sucked only the dregs of a +besotted fanaticism, and one to whom the stores of reason and +philosophy were open. But it must here be added that Cromwell, far +unlike his antitype, never showed any signs of a legislative mind, or +any desire to fix his renown on that noblest basis, the amelioration +of social institutions. Both were eminent masters of human nature, and +played with inferior capacities in all the security of powerful minds. +Though both, coming at the conclusion of a struggle for liberty, +trampled upon her claims, and sometimes spoke disdainfully of her +name, each knew how to associate the interests of those who had +contended for her with his own ascendancy, and made himself the +representative of a victorious revolution. Those who had too much +philosophy or zeal for freedom to give way to popular admiration for +these illustrious usurpers, were yet amused with the adulation that +lawful princes showered on them, more gratuitously in one instance, +with servile terror in the other. Both too repaid in some measure this +homage of the pretended great by turning their ambition towards those +honours and titles which they knew to be so little connected with +high desert. A fallen race of monarchs, which had made way for the +greatness of each, cherished hopes of restoration by their power till +each, by an inexpiable act of blood, manifested his determination to +make no compromise with that line. Both possessed a certain coarse +good nature and affability that covered the want of conscience, +honour, and humanity; quick in passion, but not vindictive, and averse +to unnecessary crimes. Their fortunes in the conclusion of life were +indeed very different; one forfeited the affections of his people, +which the other, in the character at least of their master, had never +possessed; one furnished a moral to Europe by the continuance of his +success, the other by the prodigiousness of his fall. A fresh +resemblance arose afterwards, when the restoration of those royal +families, whom their ascendant had kept under, revived ancient +animosities, and excited new ones; those who from love of democratical +liberty had borne the most deadly hatred to the apostates who had +betrayed it, recovering some affection to their memory, out of +aversion to a common enemy. Our English republicans have, with some +exceptions, displayed a sympathy for the name of Cromwell; and I need +not observe how remarkably this holds good in the case of his mighty +parallel.[460] + +_Cromwell's son succeeds him_--The death of a great man, even in the +most regular course of affairs, seems always to create a sort of pause +in the movement of society; it is always a problem to be solved only +by experiment, whether the mechanism of government may not be +disordered by the shock, or have been deprived of some of its moving +powers. But what change could be so great as that from Oliver Cromwell +to his son! from one beneath the terror of whose name a nation had +cowered and foreign princes grown pale, one trained in twenty eventful +years of revolution, the first of his age in the field or in council, +to a young man fresh from a country life, uneducated, unused to +business, as little a statesman as a soldier, and endowed by nature +with capacities by no means above the common. It seems to have been a +mistake in Oliver that with the projects he had long formed in his +eldest son's favour, he should have taken so little pains to fashion +his mind and manners for the exercise of sovereign power, while he had +placed the second in a very eminent and arduous station; or that, if +he despaired of Richard's capacity, he should have trusted him to +encounter those perils of disaffection and conspiracy which it had +required all his own vigilance to avert. But, whatever might be his +plans, the sudden illness which carried him from the world left no +time for completing them. The Petition and Advice had simply empowered +him to appoint a successor, without prescribing the mode. It appeared +consonant to law and reason that so important a trust should be +executed in a notorious manner, and by a written instrument; or, if a +verbal nomination might seem sufficient, it was at least to be +expected that this should be authenticated by solemn and indisputable +testimony. No proof however was ever given of Richard's appointment by +his father, except a recital in the proclamation of the privy council, +which, whether well founded or otherwise, did not carry conviction to +the minds of the people; and this, even if we call it but an +informality, aggravated the numerous legal and natural deficiencies of +his title to the government.[461] + +This very difference however in the personal qualifications of the +father and the son, procured the latter some friends whom the former +had never been able to gain. Many of the presbyterian party began to +see the finger of God, as they called it, in his peaceable accession, +and to think they owed subjection to one who came in neither by +regicide, nor hypocrisy, nor violence.[462] Some cool-headed and +sincere friends of liberty entertained similar opinions. Pierrepont, +one of the wisest men in England, who had stood aloof from the +protector's government till the scheme of restoring monarchy came into +discussion, had great hopes, as a writer of high authority informs us, +of settling the nation in the enjoyment of its liberties under the +young man; who was "so flexible," says that writer, "to good counsels, +that there was nothing desirable in a prince which might not have been +hoped in him, but a great spirit and a just title; the first of which +sometimes doth more hurt than good in a sovereign; the latter would +have been supplied by the people's deserved approbation." Pierrepont +believed that the restoration of the ancient family could not be +effected without the ruin of the people's liberty, and of all who had +been its champions; so that no royalist, he thought, who had any +regard to his country, would attempt it: while this establishment of +monarchy in Richard's person might reconcile that party, and compose +all differences among men of weight and of zeal for the public +good.[463] He acted accordingly on those principles; and became, as +well as his friend St. John, who had been discountenanced by Oliver, a +steady supporter of the young protector's administration. These two, +with Thurloe, Whitelock, Lord Broghill, and a very few more, formed a +small phalanx of experienced counsellors around his unstable throne. +And I must confess that their course of policy in sustaining Richard's +government appears to me the most judicious that, in the actual +circumstances, could have been adopted. Pregnant as the restoration of +the exiled family was with incalculable dangers, the English monarchy +would have revived with less lustre in the eyes of the vulgar, but +with more security for peace and freedom, in the line of Cromwell. +Time would have worn away the stains of ignoble birth and criminal +usurpation; and the young man, whose misfortune has subjected him to +rather an exaggerated charge of gross incapacity, would probably have +reigned as well as most of those who are born in the purple.[464] + +But this termination was defeated by the combination of some who knew +not what they wished, and of some who wished what they could never +attain. The general officers who had been well content to make +Cromwell the first of themselves, or greater than themselves by their +own creation, had never forgiven his manifest design to reign over +them as one of a superior order, and owing nothing to their pleasure. +They had begun to cabal during his last illness. Though they did not +oppose Richard's succession, they continued to hold meetings, not +quite public, but exciting intense alarm in his council. As if +disdaining the command of a clownish boy, they proposed that the +station of lord general should be separated from that of protector, +with the power over all commissions in the army, and conferred on +Fleetwood; who, though his brother-in-law, was a certain instrument in +their hands. The vain ambitious Lambert, aspiring, on the credit of +some military reputation, to wield the sceptre of Cromwell, influenced +this junto; while the commonwealth's party, some of whom were, or had +been, in the army, drew over several of these ignorant and fanatical +soldiers. Thurloe describes the posture of affairs in September and +October, while all Europe was admiring the peaceable transmission of +Oliver's power, as most alarming; and it may almost be said that +Richard had already fallen when he was proclaimed the lord protector +of England.[465] + +_A parliament called._--It was necessary to summon a parliament on the +usual score of obtaining money. Lord Broghill had advised this measure +immediately on Oliver's death,[466] and perhaps the delay might be +rather prejudicial to the new establishment. But some of the council +feared a parliament almost as much as they did the army. They called +one, however, to meet Jan. 27, 1659, issuing writs in the ordinary +manner to all boroughs which had been accustomed to send members, and +consequently abandoning the reformed model of Cromwell. This Ludlow +attributes to their expectation of greater influence among the small +boroughs; but it may possibly be ascribed still more to a desire of +returning by little and little to the ancient constitution, by +eradicating the revolutionary innovations. The new parliament +consisted of courtiers, as the Cromwell party were always denominated, +of presbyterians, among whom some of cavalier principles crept in, and +of republicans; the two latter nearly balancing, with their united +weight, the ministerial majority.[467] They began with an oath of +allegiance to the protector, as presented by the late parliament, +which, as usual in such cases, his enemies generally took without +scruple.[468] But upon a bill being offered for the recognition of +Richard as the undoubted lord protector and chief magistrate of the +commonwealth, they made a stand against the word recognise, which was +carried with difficulty, and caused him the mortification of throwing +out the epithet undoubted.[469] They subsequently discussed his +negative voice in passing bills, which had been purposely slurred over +in the Petition and Advice; but now everything was disputed. The +thorny question as to the powers and privileges of the other house +came next into debate. It was carried by 177 to 113, to transact +business with them. To this resolution an explanation was added, that +it was not thereby intended to exclude such peers as had been faithful +to the parliament, from their privilege of being duly summoned to be +members of that house. The court supporting this absurd proviso, which +confounded the ancient and modern systems of government, carried it by +the small majority of 195 to 188.[470] They were stronger in rejecting +an important motion, to make the approbation of the Commons a +preliminary to their transacting business with the persons now sitting +in the other house as a house of parliament, by 183 voices to 146. But +the opposition succeeded in inserting the words "during the present +parliament," which left the matter still unsettled.[471] The sitting +of the Scots and Irish members was also unsuccessfully opposed. Upon +the whole, the court party, notwithstanding this coalition of very +heterogeneous interests against them, were sufficiently powerful to +disappoint the hopes which the royalist intriguers had entertained. A +strong body of lawyers, led by Maynard, adhered to the government, +which was supported also on some occasions by a part of the +presbyterian interest, or, as then called, the moderate party; and +Richard would probably have concluded the session with no loss of +power, if either he or his parliament could have withstood the more +formidable cabal of Wallingford House. This knot of officers, +Fleetwood, Desborough, Berry, Sydenham, being the names most known +among them, formed a coalition with the republican faction, who +despaired of any success in parliament. The dissolution of that +assembly was the main article of this league. Alarmed at the notorious +caballing of the officers, the Commons voted that, during the sitting +of the parliament, there should be no general council, or meeting of +the officers of the army without leave of the protector and of both +houses.[472] Such a vote could only accelerate their own downfall. +Three days afterwards, the junto of Wallingford House insisted with +Richard that he should dissolve parliament; to which, according to the +advice of most of his council, and perhaps by an overruling necessity, +he gave his consent.[473] This was immediately followed by a +declaration of the council of officers, calling back the Long +Parliament, such as it had been expelled in 1653, to those seats which +had been filled meanwhile by so many transient successors.[474] + +It is not in general difficult for an armed force to destroy a +government; but something else than the sword is required to create +one. The military conspirators were destitute of any leader whom they +would acknowledge, or who had capacity to go through the civil labours +of sovereignty; Lambert alone excepted, who was lying in wait for +another occasion. They might have gone on with Richard, as a pageant +of nominal authority. But their new allies, the commonwealth's men, +insisted upon restoring the Long Parliament.[475] It seemed now the +policy, as much as duty, of the officers to obey that civil power they +had set up. For to rule ostensibly was, as I have just observed, an +impracticable scheme. But the contempt they felt for their pretended +masters, and even a sort of necessity arising out of the blindness and +passion of that little oligarchy, drove them to a step still more +ruinous to their cause than that of deposing Richard, the expulsion +once more of that assembly, now worn out and ridiculous in all men's +eyes, yet seeming a sort of frail protection against mere anarchy, and +the terror of the sword. Lambert, the chief actor in this last act of +violence, and indeed many of the rest, might plead the right of +self-defence. The prevailing faction in the parliament, led by +Haslerig, a bold and headstrong man, perceived that, with very +inferior pretensions, Lambert was aiming to tread in the steps of +Cromwell; and, remembering their negligence of opportunities, as they +thought, in permitting the one to overthrow them, fancied that they +would anticipate the other. Their intemperate votes cashiering +Lambert, Desborough, and other officers, brought on, as every man of +more prudence than Haslerig must have foreseen, an immediate +revolution that crushed once more their boasted commonwealth.[476] +They revived again a few months after, not by any exertion of the +people, who hated alike both parties, in their behalf, but through the +disunion of their real masters, the army, and vented the impotent and +injudicious rage of a desperate faction on all who had not gone every +length on their side, till scarce any man of eminence was left to +muster under the standard of Haslerig and his little knot of +associates.[477] + +_Impossibility of establishing a republic._--I can by no means agree +with those who find in the character of the English nation some +absolute incompatibility with a republican constitution of government. +Under favouring circumstances, it seems to me not at all incredible +that such a polity might have existed for many ages in great +prosperity, and without violent convulsion. For the English are, as a +people, little subject to those bursts of passion which inflame the +more imaginative multitude of southern climates, and render them both +apt for revolutions, and incapable of conducting them. Nor are they +again of that sluggish and stationary temper, which chokes all desire +of improvement, and even all zeal for freedom and justice, through +which some free governments have degenerated into corrupt oligarchies. +The most conspicuously successful experiment of republican +institutions (and those far more democratical than, according to the +general theory of politics, could be reconciled with perfect +tranquillity) has taken place in a people of English original; and +though much must here be ascribed to the peculiarly fortunate +situation of the nation to which I allude, we can hardly avoid giving +some weight to the good sense and well-balanced temperament, which +have come in their inheritance with our laws and our language. But +the establishment of free commonwealths depends much rather on +temporary causes, the influence of persons and particular events, and +all those intricacies in the course of Providence which we term +accident, than on any general maxims that can become the basis of +prior calculation. In the year 1659, it is manifest that no idea could +be more chimerical than that of a republican settlement in England. +The name, never familiar or venerable in English ears, was grown +infinitely odious; it was associated with the tyranny of ten years, +the selfish rapacity of the Rump, the hypocritical despotism of +Cromwell, the arbitrary sequestrations of committee-men, the +iniquitous decimations of military prefects, the sale of British +citizens for slavery in the West Indies, the blood of some shed on the +scaffold without legal trial, the tedious imprisonment of many with +denial of the habeas corpus, the exclusion of the ancient gentry, the +persecution of the Anglican church, the bacchanalian rant of +sectaries, the morose preciseness of puritans, the extinction of the +frank and cordial joyousness of the national character. Were the +people again to endure the mockery of the good old cause, as the +commonwealth's men affected to style the interests of their little +faction, and be subject to Lambert's notorious want of principle, or +to Vane's contempt of ordinances (a godly mode of expressing the same +thing), or to Haslerig's fury, or to Harrison's fanaticism, or to the +fancies of those lesser schemers, who in this utter confusion and +abject state of their party, were amusing themselves with plans of +perfect commonwealths, and debating whether there should be a senate +as well as a representation; whether a given number should go out by +rotation; and all those details of political mechanism so important in +the eyes of theorists?[478] Every project of this description must +have wanted what alone could give it either the pretext of legitimate +existence, or the chance of permanency, popular consent; the +republican party, if we exclude those who would have had a protector, +and those fanatics who expected the appearance of Jesus Christ, was +incalculably small; not, perhaps, amounting in the whole nation to +more than a few hundred persons. + +_Intrigues of the royalists._--The little court of Charles at Brussels +watched with trembling hope these convulsive struggles of their +enemies. During the protectorship of Oliver, their best chance +appeared to be, that some of the numerous schemes for his +assassination might take effect. Their correspondence indeed, +especially among the presbyterian or neutral party, became more +extensive;[479] but these men were habitually cautious: and the +Marquis of Ormond, who went over to England in the beginning of 1658, +though he reported the disaffection to be still more universal than he +had expected, was forced to add that there was little prospect of a +rising until foreign troops should be landed in some part of the +country; an aid which Spain had frequently promised, but, with an +English fleet at sea, could not very easily furnish.[480] The death of +their puissant enemy brightened the visions of the royalists. Though +the apparent peaceableness of Richard's government gave them some +mortification, they continued to spread their toils through zealous +emissaries, and found a very general willingness to restore the +ancient constitution under its hereditary sovereign. Besides the +cavaliers, who, though numerous and ardent, were impoverished and +suspected, the chief presbyterians, Lords Fairfax and Willoughby, the +Earls of Manchester and Denbigh, Sir William Waller, Sir George Booth, +Sir Ashley Cooper, Mr. Popham of Somerset, Mr. Howe of Glocester, Sir +Horatio Townshend of Norfolk, with more or less of zeal and activity, +pledged themselves to the royal cause.[481] Lord Fauconberg, a +royalist by family, who had married a daughter of Cromwell, undertook +the important office of working on his brothers-in-law, Richard and +Henry, whose position, in respect to the army and republican party, +was so hazardous. It seems, in fact, that Richard, even during his +continuance in power, had not refused to hear the king's agents,[482] +and hopes were entertained of him: yet at that time even he could not +reasonably be expected to abandon his apparent interests. But soon +after his fall from power, while his influence, or rather that of his +father's memory, was still supposed considerable with Montagu, Monk, +and Lockhart, they negotiated with him to procure the accession of +those persons, and of his brother Henry, for a pension of £20,000 a +year, and a title.[483] It soon appeared however that those prudent +veterans of revolution would not embark under such a pilot, and that +Richard was not worth purchasing on the lowest terms. Even Henry +Cromwell, with whom a separate treaty had been carried on, and who is +said to have determined at one time to proclaim the king at Dublin, +from want of courage, or, as is more probable, of seriousness in what +must have seemed so unnatural an undertaking, submitted quietly to the +vote of parliament that deprived him of the command of Ireland.[484] + +_Conspiracy of 1659._--The conspiracy, if indeed so general a concert +for the restoration of ancient laws and liberties ought to have so +equivocal an appellation, became ripe in the summer of 1659. The +royalists were to appear in arms in different quarters; several +principal towns to be seized: but as the moment grew nigh, the courage +of most began to fail. Twenty years of depression and continual +failure mated the spirits of the cavaliers. The shade of Cromwell +seemed to hover over and protect the wreck of his greatness. Sir +George Booth, almost alone, rose in Cheshire; every other scheme, +intended to be executed simultaneously, failing through the increased +prudence of those concerned, or the precautions taken by the +government on secret intelligence of the plots; and Booth, thus +deserted, made less resistance to Lambert than perhaps was in his +power.[485] This discomfiture, of course, damped the expectations of +the king's party. The presbyterians thought themselves ill-used by +their new allies, though their own friends had been almost equally +cautious.[486] Sir Richard Willis, an old cavalier, and in all the +secrets of their conspiracy, was detected in being a spy both of +Cromwell and of the new government; a discovery which struck +consternation into the party, who could hardly trust any one else with +greater security.[487] In a less favourable posture of affairs, these +untoward circumstances might have ruined Charles's hopes; they served, +as it was, to make it evident that he must look to some more +efficacious aid than a people's good wishes for his restoration. + +The royalists in England, who played so deep a stake on the king's +account, were not unnaturally desirous that he should risk something +in the game, and continually pressed that either he or one of his +brothers would land on the coast. His standard would become a +rallying-point for the well-affected, and create such a demonstration +of public sentiment as would overthrow the present unstable +government. But Charles, not by nature of a chivalrous temper, shrunk +from an enterprise which was certainly very hazardous, unless he could +have obtained a greater assistance of troops from the Low Countries +than was to be hoped.[488] He was as little inclined to permit the +Duke of York's engaging in it, on account of the differences that had +existed between them, and his knowledge of an intrigue that was going +forward in England, principally among the catholics, but with the +mischievous talents of the Duke of Buckingham at its head, to set up +the duke instead of himself.[489] He gave, however, fair words to his +party, and continued for some time on the French coast, as if waiting +for his opportunity. It was in great measure, as I suspect, to rid +himself of this importunity, that he set out on his long and very +needless journey to the foot of the Pyrenees. Thither the two monarchs +of France and Spain, wearied with twenty years of hostility without a +cause and without a purpose, had sent their minister to conclude the +celebrated treaty which bears the name of those mountains. Charles had +long cherished hopes that the first fruits of their reconciliation +would be a joint armament to place him on the English throne: many of +his adherents almost despaired of any other means of restoration. But +Lewis de Haro was a timid statesman, and Mazarin a cunning one: there +was little to expect from their generosity; and the price of +assistance might probably be such as none but desperate and +unscrupulous exiles would offer, and the English nation would with +unanimous indignation reject. It was well for Charles that he +contracted no public engagement with these foreign powers, whose +co-operation must either have failed of success, or have placed on his +head a degraded and unstable crown. The full toleration of popery in +England, its establishment in Ireland, its profession by the sovereign +and his family, the surrender of Jamaica, Dunkirk, and probably the +Norman Islands, were conditions on which the people might have thought +the restoration of the Stuart line too dearly obtained. + +It was a more desirable object for the king to bring over, if +possible, some of the leaders of the commonwealth. Except Vane, +accordingly, and the decided republicans, there was hardly any man of +consequence whom his agents did not attempt, or, at least, from whom +they did not entertain hopes. There stood at this time conspicuous +above the rest, not all of them in ability, but in apparent power of +serving the royal cause by their defection, Fleetwood, Lambert, and +Monk. The first had discovered, as far as his understanding was +capable of perceiving anything, that he had been the dupe of more +crafty men in the cabals against Richard Cromwell, whose complete fall +from power he had neither designed nor foreseen. In pique and +vexation, he listened to the overtures of the royalist agents, and +sometimes, if we believe their assertions, even promised to declare +for the king.[490] But his resolutions were not to be relied upon, nor +was his influence likely to prove considerable; though from his post +of lieutenant-general of the army, and long accustomed precedence, he +obtained a sort of outward credit far beyond his capacity. Lambert was +of a very different stamp; eager, enterprising, ambitious, but +destitute of the qualities that inspire respect or confidence. Far +from the weak enthusiasm of Fleetwood, he gave offence by displaying +less show of religion than the temper of his party required, and still +more by a current suspicion that his secret faith was that of the +church of Rome, to which the partiality of the catholics towards him +gave support.[491] The crafty unfettered ambition of Lambert rendered +it not unlikely that--finding his own schemes of sovereignty +impracticable, he would make terms with the king; and there were not +wanting those who recommended the latter to secure his services by the +offer of marrying his daughter;[492] but it does not appear that any +actual overtures were made on either side. + +_Interference of Monk._--There remained one man of eminent military +reputation, in the command of a considerable insulated army, to whom +the royalists anxiously looked with alternate hope and despondency. +Monk's early connections were with the king's party, among whom he had +been defeated and taken prisoner by Fairfax at Namptwich. Yet even in +this period of his life he had not escaped suspicions of disaffection, +which he effaced by continuing in prison till the termination of the +war in England. He then accepted a commission from the parliament to +serve against the Irish; and now falling entirely into his new line of +politics, became strongly attached to Cromwell, by whom he was left in +the military government, or rather viceroyalty of Scotland, which he +had reduced to subjection, and kept under with a vigorous hand. +Charles had once, it is said, attempted to seduce him by a letter from +Cologne, which he instantly transmitted to the protector.[493] Upon +Oliver's death, he wrote a very sensible letter to Richard Cromwell, +containing his advice for the government. He recommends him to obtain +the affections of the moderate presbyterian ministers, who have much +influence over the people, to summon to his House of Lords the wisest +and most faithful of the old nobility and some of the leading gentry, +to diminish the number of superior officers in the army, by throwing +every two regiments into one, and to take into his council as his +chief advisers Whitelock, St. John, Lord Broghill, Sir Richard Onslow, +Pierrepont, and Thurloe.[494] The judiciousness of this advice is the +surest evidence of its sincerity, and must leave no doubt on our minds +that Monk was at that time very far from harbouring any thoughts of +the king's restoration. + +But when, through the force of circumstances and the deficiencies in +the young protector's capacity, he saw the house of Cromwell for ever +fallen, it was for Monk to consider what course he should follow, and +by what means the nation was to be rescued from the state of anarchy +that seemed to menace it. That very different plans must have passed +through his mind before he commenced his march from Scotland, it is +easy to conjecture; but at what time his determination was finally +taken, we cannot certainly pronounce.[495] It would be the most +honourable supposition to believe that he was sincere in those solemn +protestations of adherence to the commonwealth which he poured forth, +as well during his march as after his arrival in London; till +discovering, at length, the popular zeal for the king's restoration, +he concurred in a change which it would have been absurd, and perhaps +impracticable, to resist. This however seems not easily reconcilable +to Monk's proceedings in new-modelling his army, and confiding power, +both in Scotland and England, to men of known intentions towards +royalty; nor did his assurances of support to the republican party +become less frequent or explicit at a time when every one must believe +that he had taken his resolution, and even after he had communicated +with the king. I incline therefore, upon the whole, to believe that +Monk, not accustomed to respect the Rump Parliament, and incapable, +both by his temperament and by the course of his life, of any +enthusiasm for the name of liberty, had satisfied himself as to the +expediency of the king's restoration from the time that the Cromwells +had sunk below his power to assist them; though his projects were +still subservient to his own security, which he was resolved not to +forfeit by any premature declaration or unsuccessful enterprise. If +the coalition of cavaliers and presbyterians, and the strong bent of +the entire nation, had not convinced this wary dissembler that he +could not fail of success, he would have continued true to his +professions as the general of a commonwealth, content with crushing +his rival Lambert, and breaking that fanatical interest which he most +disliked. That he aimed at such a sovereignty as Cromwell had usurped +has been the natural conjecture of many, but does not appear to me +either warranted by any presumptive evidence, or consonant to the good +sense and phlegmatic temper of Monk. + +At the moment when, with a small but veteran army of 7000 men, he took +up his quarters in London, it seemed to be within his arbitrament +which way the scale should preponderate. On one side were the wishes +of the nation, but restrained by fear; on the other, established +possession, maintained by the sword, but rendered precarious by +disunion and treachery. It is certainly very possible that, by keeping +close to the parliament, Monk might have retarded, at least for a +considerable time, the great event which has immortalised him. But it +can hardly be said that the king's restoration was rather owing to him +than to the general sentiments of the nation and almost the necessity +of circumstances, which had already made every judicious person +anticipate the sole termination of our civil discord which they had +prepared. Whitelock, who, incapable of refusing compliance with the +ruling power, had sat in the committee of safety established in +October 1659 by the officers who had expelled the parliament, has +recorded a curious anecdote, whence we may collect how little was +wanting to prevent Monk from being the great mover in the restoration. +He had for some time, as appears by his journal, entertained a +persuasion that the general meditated nothing but the king's return, +to which he was doubtless himself well inclined, except from some +apprehension for the public interest, and some also for his own. This +induced him to have a private conference with Fleetwood, which he +enters as of the 22nd December 1659, wherein, after pointing out the +probable designs of Monk, he urged him either to take possession of +the Tower, and declare for a free parliament, in which he would have +the assistance of the city, or to send some trusty person to Breda, +who might offer to bring in the king upon such terms as should be +settled. Both these propositions were intended as different methods of +bringing about a revolution, which he judged to be inevitable. "By +this means," he contended, "Fleetwood might make terms with the king +for preservation of himself and his friends, and of that cause, in a +good measure, in which they had been engaged; but, if it were left to +Monk, they and all that had been done would be left to the danger of +destruction. Fleetwood then asked me, 'If I would be willing to go +myself upon this employment?' I answered, 'that I would go, if +Fleetwood thought fit to send me.' And after much other discourse to +this effect, Fleetwood seemed fully satisfied to send me to the king, +and desired me to go and prepare myself forthwith for the journey; and +that in the meantime Fleetwood and his friends would prepare the +instructions for me, so that I might begin my journey this evening or +to-morrow morning early. + +"I going away from Fleetwood, met Vane, Desborough, and Berry in the +next room, coming to speak with Fleetwood, who thereupon desired me to +stay a little; and I suspected what would be the issue of their +consultation, and within a quarter of an hour Fleetwood came to me and +in much passion said to me, 'I cannot do it, I cannot do it.' I +desired his reason why he could not do it. He answered, 'Those +gentlemen have remembered me; and it is true, that I am engaged not to +do any such thing without my Lord Lambert's consent.' I replied, 'that +Lambert was at too great a distance to have his consent to this +business, which must be instantly acted.' Fleetwood again said, 'I +cannot do it without him.' Then I said, 'You will ruin yourself and +your friends.' He said, 'I cannot help it.' Then I told him I must +take my leave, and so we parted."[496] + +Whatever might have been in the power of Monk, by adhering to his +declarations of obedience to the parliament, it would have been too +late for him, after consenting to the restoration of the secluded +members to their seats on February 21, 1660, to withstand the +settlement which it seems incredible that he should not at that time +have desired. That he continued, for at least six weeks afterwards, +in a course of astonishing dissimulation, so as to deceive, in a great +measure, almost all the royalists, who were distrusting his intentions +at the very moment when he made his first and most private tender of +service to the king through Sir John Grenville about the beginning of +April, might at first seem rather to have proceeded from a sort of +inability to shake off his inveterate reservedness, than from +consummate prudence and discretion. For any sudden risings in the +king's favour, or an intrigue in the council of state, might easily +have brought about the restoration without his concurrence; and, even +as it was, the language held in the House of Commons before their +dissolution, the votes expunging all that appeared on their journals +against the regal government and the House of Lords,[497] and, above +all, the course of the elections for the new parliament, made it +sufficiently evident that the general had delayed his assurances of +loyalty till they had lost a part of their value. It is however a full +explanation of Monk's public conduct, that he was not secure of the +army, chiefly imbued with fanatical principles, and bearing an +inveterate hatred towards the name of Charles Stuart. A correspondent +of the king writes to him on the 28th of March: "the army is not yet +in a state to hear your name publicly."[498] In the beginning of that +month, many of the officers, instigated by Haslerig and his friends, +had protested to Monk against the proceedings of the house, insisting +that they should abjure the king and House of Lords. He repressed +their mutinous spirit, and bade them obey the parliament, as he should +do.[499] Hence he redoubled his protestations of abhorrence of +monarchy, and seemed for several weeks, in exterior demonstrations, +rather the grand impediment to the king's restoration, than the one +person who was to have the credit of it.[500] Meanwhile he silently +proceeded in displacing the officers whom he could least trust, and +disposing the regiments near to the metropolis, or at a distance, +according to his knowledge of their tempers; the parliament having +given him a commission as lord general of all the forces in the three +kingdoms.[501] The commissioners appointed by parliament for raising +the militia in each county were chiefly gentlemen of the presbyterian +party; and there seemed likely to be such a considerable force under +their orders as might rescue the nation from its ignominious servitude +to the army. In fact, some of the royalists expected that the great +question would not be carried without an appeal to the sword.[502] The +delay of Monk in privately assuring the king of his fidelity is still +not easy to be explained, but may have proceeded from a want of +confidence in Charles's secrecy, or that of his counsellors. It must +be admitted that Lord Clarendon, who has written with some minuteness +and accuracy this important part of his history, has more than +insinuated (especially as we now read his genuine language, which the +ill faith of his original editors had shamefully garbled) that Monk +entertained no purposes in the king's favour till the last moment; but +a manifest prejudice that shows itself in all his writings against the +general, derived partly from offence at his extreme reserve and +caution during this period, partly from personal resentment of Monk's +behaviour at the time of his own impeachment, greatly takes off from +the weight of the noble historian's judgment.[503] + +_Difficulties about the restoration._--The months of March and April +1660 were a period of extreme inquietude, during which every one spoke +of the king's restoration as imminent, yet none could distinctly +perceive by what means it would be effected, and much less how the +difficulties of such a settlement could be overcome.[504] As the +moment approached, men turned their attention more to the obstacles +and dangers that lay in their way. The restoration of a banished +family, concerning whom they knew little, and what they knew not +entirely to their satisfaction, with ruined, perhaps revengeful, +followers; the returning ascendancy of a distressed party, who had +sustained losses that could not be repaired without fresh changes of +property, injuries that could not be atoned without fresh severities; +the conflicting pretensions of two churches, one loth to release its +claim, the other to yield its possession; the unsettled dissensions +between the crown and parliament, suspended only by civil war and +usurpation; all seemed pregnant with such difficulties that prudent +men could hardly look forward to the impending revolution without some +hesitation and anxiety.[505] Hence Pierrepont, one of the wisest +statesmen in England, though not so far implicated in past +transactions as to have much to fear, seems never to have overcome his +repugnance to the recall of the king; and I am by no means convinced +that the slowness of Monk himself was not in some measure owing to his +sense of the embarrassments that might attend that event. The +presbyterians, generally speaking, had always been on their guard +against an unconditional restoration. They felt much more of hatred to +the prevailing power than of attachment to the house of Stuart; and +had no disposition to relinquish, either as to church or state +government, those principles for which they had fought against Charles +the First. Hence they began, from the very time that they entered into +the coalition, that is, the spring and summer of 1659, to talk of the +treaty of Newport, as if all that had passed since their vote of 5th +December 1648, that the king's concessions were a sufficient ground +whereon to proceed to the settlement of the kingdom, had been like an +hideous dream, from which they had awakened to proceed exactly in +their former course.[506] The council of state, appointed on the 23rd +of February, two days after the return of the secluded members, +consisted principally of this party. And there can, I conceive, be no +question that, if Monk had continued his neutrality to the last, they +would, in conjunction with the new parliament, have sent over +propositions for the king's acceptance. Meetings were held of the +chief presbyterian lords, Manchester, Northumberland, Bedford, Say, +with Pierrepont (who finding it too late to prevent the king's return, +endeavoured to render it as little dangerous as possible), Hollis, +Annesley, Sir William Waller, Lewis, and other leaders of that party. +Monk sometimes attended on these occasions, and always urged the most +rigid limitations.[507] His sincerity in this was the less suspected, +that his wife, to whom he was notoriously submissive, was entirely +presbyterian, though a friend to the king; and his own preference of +that sect had always been declared in a more consistent and +unequivocal manner than was usual to his dark temper. + +These projected limitations, which but a few weeks before Charles +would have thankfully accepted, seemed now intolerable; so rapidly do +men learn, in the course of prosperous fortune, to scorn what they +just before hardly presumed to expect. Those seemed his friends, not +who desired to restore him, but who would do so at the least sacrifice +of his power and pride. Several of the council, and others in high +posts, sent word that they would resist the imposition of unreasonable +terms.[508] Monk himself redeemed his ambiguous and dilatory +behaviour by taking the restoration, as it were, out of the hands of +the council, and suggesting the judicious scheme of anticipating their +proposals by the king's letter to the two houses of parliament. For +this purpose he had managed, with all his dissembling pretences of +commonwealth principles, or, when he was (as it were) compelled to lay +them aside, of insisting on rigorous limitations, to prevent any +overtures from the council, who were almost entirely presbyterian, +before the meeting of parliament, which would have considerably +embarrassed the king's affairs.[509] The elections meantime had taken +a course which the faction now in power by no means regarded with +satisfaction. Though the late House of Commons had passed a resolution +that no person who had assisted in any war against the parliament +since 1642, unless he should since have manifested his good affection +towards it, should be capable of being elected; yet this, even if it +had been regarded, as it was not, by the people, would have been a +feeble barrier against the royalist party, composed in a great measure +of young men who had grown up under the commonwealth, and of those +who, living in the parliamentary counties during the civil war, had +paid a reluctant obedience to its power.[510] The tide ran so +strongly for the king's friends, that it was as much as the +presbyterians could effect, with the weight of government in their +hands, to obtain about an equality of strength with the cavaliers in +the convention parliament.[511] + +It has been a frequent reproach to the conductors of this great +revolution, that the king was restored without those terms and +limitations which might secure the nation against his abuse of their +confidence; and this, not only by contemporaries who had suffered by +the political and religious changes consequent on the restoration, or +those who, in after times, have written with some prepossession +against the English church and constitutional monarchy, but by the +most temperate and reasonable men; so that it has become almost +regular to cast on the convention parliament, and more especially on +Monk, the imputation of having abandoned public liberty, and brought +on, by their inconsiderate loyalty or self-interested treachery, the +misgovernment of the two last Stuarts, and the necessity of their +ultimate expulsion. But, as this is a very material part of our +history, and those who pronounce upon it have not always a very +distinct notion either of what was or what could have been done, it +may be worth while to consider the matter somewhat more analytically; +confining myself, it is to be observed, in the present chapter, to +what took place before the king's personal assumption of the +government on the 29th of May 1660. The subsequent proceedings of the +convention parliament fall within another period. + +We may remark, in the first place, that the unconditional restoration +of Charles the Second is sometimes spoken of in too hyperbolical +language, as if he had come in as a sort of conqueror, with the laws +and liberties of the people at his discretion. Yet he was restored to +nothing but the bounded prerogatives of a king of England; bounded by +every ancient and modern statute, including those of the long +parliament, which had been enacted for the subjects' security. If it +be true, as I have elsewhere observed, that the long parliament, in +the year 1641, had established, in its most essential parts, our +existing constitution, it can hardly be maintained that fresh +limitations and additional securities were absolutely indispensable, +before the most fundamental of all its principles, the government by +King, Lords, and Commons, could be permitted to take its regular +course. Those who so vehemently reprobate the want of conditions at +the restoration would do well to point out what conditions should have +been imposed, and what mischiefs they can probably trace from their +omission.[512] They should be able also to prove that, in the +circumstances of the time, it was quite as feasible and convenient to +make certain secure and obligatory provisions the terms of the king's +restoration, as seems to be taken for granted. + +_Plan of reviving the treaty of Newport inexpedient._--The chief +presbyterians appear to have considered the treaty of Newport, if not +as fit to be renewed in every article, yet at least as the basis of +the compact into which they were to enter with Charles the +Second.[513] But were the concessions wrested in this treaty from his +father, in the hour of peril and necessity, fit to become the +permanent rules of the English constitution? Turn to the articles +prescribed by the long parliament in that negotiation. Not to mention +the establishment of a rigorous presbytery in the church, they had +insisted on the exclusive command of all forces by land and sea for +twenty years, with the sole power of levying and expending the monies +necessary for their support; on the nomination of the principal +officers of state and of the judges during the same period; and on the +exclusion of the king's adherents from all trust or political power. +Admit even that the insincerity and arbitrary principles of Charles +the First had rendered necessary such extraordinary precautions, was +it to be supposed that the executive power should not revert to his +successor? Better it were, beyond comparison, to maintain the +perpetual exclusion of his family than to mock them with such a +titular crown, the certain cause of discontent and intrigue, and to +mingle premature distrust with their professions of affection. There +was undoubtedly much to apprehend from the king's restoration; but it +might be expected that a steady regard for public liberty in the +parliament and the nation would obviate that danger without any +momentous change of the constitution; or that, if such a sentiment +should prove unhappily too weak, no guarantees of treaties or statutes +would afford a genuine security. + +_Difficulty of framing conditions._--If, however, we were to be +convinced that the restoration was effected without a sufficient +safeguard against the future abuses of royal power, we must still +allow, on looking attentively at the circumstances, that there were +very great difficulties in the way of any stipulations for that +purpose. It must be evident that any formal treaty between Charles and +the English government, as it stood in April 1660, was inconsistent +with their common principle. That government was, by its own +declarations, only _de facto_, only temporary; the return of the +secluded members to their seats, and the votes they subsequently +passed, held forth to the people that everything done since the force +put on the house in December 1648 was by an usurpation; the +restoration of the ancient monarchy was implied in all recent +measures, and was considered as out of all doubt by the whole kingdom. +But between a king of England and his subjects no treaty, as such, +could be binding; there was no possibility of entering into +stipulations with Charles, though in exile, to which a court of +justice would pay the slightest attention, except by means of acts of +parliament. It was doubtless possible that the council of state might +have entered into a secret agreement with him on certain terms, to be +incorporated afterwards into bills, as at the treaty of Newport. But +at that treaty his father, though in prison, was the acknowledged +sovereign of England; and it is manifest that the king's recognition +must precede the enactment of any law. It is equally obvious that the +contracting parties would no longer be the same, and that the +conditions that seemed indispensable to the council of state, might +not meet with the approbation of parliament. It might occur to an +impatient people, that the former were not invested with such legal or +permanent authority as could give them any pretext for bargaining with +the king, even in behalf of public liberty. + +But, if the council of state, or even the parliament on its first +meeting, had resolved to tender any hard propositions to the king, as +the terms, if not of his recognition, yet of his being permitted to +exercise the royal functions, was there not a possibility that he +might demur about their acceptance, that a negotiation might ensue to +procure some abatement, that, in the interchange of couriers between +London and Brussels, some weeks at least might be whiled away? +Clarendon, we are sure, inflexible and uncompromising of his master's +honour, would have dissuaded such enormous sacrifices as had been +exacted from the late king. And during this delay, while no legal +authority would have subsisted, so that no officer could have +collected the taxes or executed process without liability to +punishment, in what a precarious state would the parliament have +stood! On the one hand, the nation almost maddened with the +intoxication of reviving loyalty, and rather prone to cast at the +king's feet the privileges and liberties it possessed than to demand +fresh security for them, might insist upon his immediate return, and +impair the authority of parliament. On the other hand, the army, +desperately irreconcilable to the name of Stuart, and sullenly +resenting the hypocrisy that had deluded them, though they knew no +longer where to seek a leader, were accessible to the furious +commonwealth's men, who, rushing as it were with lighted torches along +their ranks, endeavoured to rekindle a fanaticism that had not quite +consumed its fuel.[514] The escape of Lambert from the Tower had +struck a panic into all the kingdom; some such accident might again +furnish a rallying point for the disaffected, and plunge the country +into an unfathomable abyss of confusion. Hence, the motion of Sir +Matthew Hale, in the convention parliament, to appoint a committee who +should draw up propositions to be sent over for the king's acceptance, +does not appear to me well timed and expedient; nor can I censure Monk +for having objected to it.[515] The business in hand required greater +despatch. If the king's restoration was an essential blessing, it was +not to be thrown away in the debates of a committee. A wary, +scrupulous, conscientious English lawyer, like Hale, is always wanting +in the rapidity and decision necessary for revolutions, though he may +be highly useful in preventing them from going too far. + +It is, I confess, more probable that the king would have accepted +almost any conditions tendered to him; such at least would have been +the advice of most of his counsellors; and his own conduct in Scotland +was sufficient to show how little any sense of honour or dignity would +have stood in his way. But on what grounds did his English friends, +nay some of the presbyterians themselves, advise his submission to +the dictates of that party? It was in the expectation that the next +free parliament, summoned by his own writ, would undo all this work of +stipulation, and restore him to an unfettered prerogative. And this +expectation there was every ground, from the temper of the nation, to +entertain. Unless the convention parliament had bargained for its own +perpetuity, or the privy council had been made immovable, or a +military force, independent of the Crown, had been kept up to overawe +the people (all of them most unconstitutional and abominable +usurpations), there was no possibility of maintaining the conditions, +whatever they might have been, from the want of which so much mischief +is fancied to have sprung. Evils did take place, dangers did arise, +the liberties of England were once more impaired; but these are far +less to be ascribed to the actors in the restoration than to the next +parliament, and to the nation who chose it. + +I must once more request the reader to take notice that I am not here +concerned with the proceedings of the convention parliament after the +king's return to England, which, in some respects, appear to me +censurable; but discussing the question, whether they were guilty of +any fault in not tendering bills of limitation on the prerogative, as +preliminary conditions of his restoration to the exercise of his +lawful authority. And it will be found, upon a review of what took +place in that interregnum from their meeting together on the 25th of +April 1660, to Charles's arrival in London on the 29th of May, that +they were less unmindful than has been sometimes supposed, of +provisions to secure the kingdom against the perils which had seemed +to threaten it in the restoration. + +On the 25th of April, the Commons met and elected Grimston, a moderate +presbyterian, as their speaker, somewhat against the secret wish of +the cavaliers, who, elated by their success in the elections, were +beginning to aim at superiority, and to show a jealousy of their late +allies.[516] On the same day, the doors of the House of Lords were +found open; and ten peers, all of whom had sat in 1648, took their +places as if nothing more than a common adjournment had passed in the +interval.[517] There was, however, a very delicate and embarrassing +question, that had been much discussed in their private meetings. The +object of these, as I have mentioned, was to impose terms on the king, +and maintain the presbyterian ascendancy. But the peers of this party +were far from numerous, and must be outvoted, if all the other lawful +members of the house should be admitted to their privileges. Of these +there were three classes. The first was of the peers who had come to +their titles since the commencement of the civil war, and whom there +was no colour of justice, nor any vote of the house to exclude. To +some of these accordingly they caused letters to be directed; and the +others took their seats without objection on the 26th and 27th of +April, on the latter of which days thirty-eight peers were +present.[518] The second class was of those who had joined Charles the +First, and had been excluded from sitting in the house by votes of the +long parliament. These it had been in contemplation among the +presbyterian junto to keep out; but the glaring inconsistency of such +a measure with the popular sentiment, and the strength that the first +class had given to the royalist interest among the aristocracy, +prevented them from insisting on it. A third class consisted of those +who had been created since the great seal was taken to York in 1642; +some by the late king, others by the present in exile; and these, +according to the fundamental principle of the parliamentary side, were +incapable of sitting in the house. It was probably one of the +conditions on which some meant to insist, conformably to the articles +of the treaty of Newport, that the new peers should be perpetually +incapable; or even that none should in future have the right of +voting, without the concurrence of both houses of parliament. An order +was made therefore on May 4 that no lords created since 1642 should +sit. This was vacated by a subsequent resolution of May 31. + +A message was sent down to the Commons on April 27, desiring a +conference on the great affairs of the kingdom. This was the first +time that word had been used for more than eleven years. But the +Commons, in returning an answer to this message, still employed the +word nation. It was determined that the conference should take place +on the ensuing Tuesday, the first of May.[519] In this conference, +there can be no doubt that the question of further securities against +the power of the Crown would have been discussed. But Monk, whether +from conviction of their inexpedience or to atone for his ambiguous +delay, had determined to prevent any encroachment on the prerogative. +He caused the king's letter to the council of state, and to the two +houses of parliament, to be delivered on that very day. A burst of +enthusiastic joy testified their long repressed wishes; and, when the +conference took place, the Earl of Manchester was instructed to let +the Commons know that the Lords do own and declare that, according to +the ancient and fundamental laws of this kingdom, the government is +and ought to be by King, Lords, and Commons. On the same day, the +Commons resolved to agree in this vote; and appointed a committee to +report what pretended acts and ordinances were inconsistent with +it.[520] + +It is however so far from being true that this convention gave itself +up to a blind confidence in the king, that their journals during the +month of May bear witness to a considerable activity in furthering +provisions which the circumstances appeared to require. They appointed +a committee, on May 3rd, to consider of the king's letter and +declaration, both holding forth, it will be remembered, all promises +of indemnity, and everything that could tranquillise apprehension, and +to propose bills accordingly, especially for taking away military +tenures. One bill was brought into the house, to secure lands +purchased from the trustees of the late parliament; another, to +establish ministers already settled in benefices; a third, for a +general indemnity; a fourth, to take away tenures in chivalry and +wardship; a fifth, to make void all grants of honour or estate, made +by the late or present king since May 1642. Finally, on the very 29th +of May, we find a bill read twice and committed, for the confirmation +of privilege of parliament, magna charta, the petition of right, and +other great constitutional statutes.[521] These measures, though some +of them were never completed, proved that the restoration was not +carried forward with so thoughtless a precipitancy and neglect of +liberty as has been asserted. + +There was undoubtedly one very important matter of past controversy, +which they may seem to have avoided, the power over the militia. They +silently gave up that momentous question. Yet it was become, in a +practical sense, incomparably more important that the representatives +of the Commons should retain a control over the land forces of the +nation than it had been at the commencement of the controversy. War +and usurpation had sown the dragon's teeth in our fields; and, instead +of the peaceable trained bands of former ages, the citizen soldiers +who could not be marched beyond their counties, we had a veteran army +accustomed to tread upon the civil authority at the bidding of their +superiors, and used alike to govern and obey. It seemed prodigiously +dangerous to give up this weapon into the hands of our new sovereign. +The experience of other countries as well as our own demonstrated that +public liberty could never be secure, if a large standing army should +be kept on foot, or any standing army without consent of parliament. +But this salutary restriction the convention parliament did not think +fit to propose; and in this respect I certainly consider them as +having stopped short of adequate security. It is probable that the +necessity of humouring Monk, whom it was their first vote to +constitute general of all the forces in the three kingdoms,[522] with +the hope, which proved not vain, that the king himself would disband +the present army whereon he could so little rely, prevented any +endeavour to establish the control of parliament over the military +power, till it was too late to withstand the violence of the +cavaliers, who considered the absolute prerogative of the Crown in +that point the most fundamental article of their creed. + +_Conduct of Monk._--Of Monk himself it may, I think, be said that, if +his conduct in this revolution was not that of a high-minded patriot, +it did not deserve all the reproach that has been so frequently thrown +on it. No one can, without forfeiting all pretensions to have his own +word believed, excuse his incomparable deceit and perjury; a +masterpiece, no doubt, as it ought to be reckoned by those who set at +nought the obligations of veracity in public transactions, of that +wisdom which is not from above. But, in seconding the public wish for +the king's restoration, a step which few perhaps can be so much in +love with fanatical and tyrannous usurpation as to condemn, he seems +to have used what influence he possessed, an influence by no means +commanding, to render the new settlement as little injurious as +possible to public and private interests. If he frustrated the scheme +of throwing the executive authority into the hands of a presbyterian +oligarchy, I, for one, can see no great cause for censure; nor is it +quite reasonable to expect that a soldier of fortune, inured to the +exercise of arbitrary power, and exempt from the prevailing religious +fanaticism which must be felt or despised, should have partaken a +fervent zeal for liberty, as little congenial to his temperament as it +was to his profession. He certainly did not satisfy the king even in +his first promises of support, when he advised an absolute indemnity, +and the preservation of actual interests in the lands of the Crown and +church. In the first debates on the bill of indemnity, when the case +of the regicides came into discussion, he pressed for the smallest +number of exceptions from pardon. And, though his conduct after the +king's return displayed his accustomed prudence, it is evident that, +if he had retained great influence in the council, which he assuredly +did not, he would have maintained as much as possible of the existing +settlement in the church. The deepest stain on his memory is the +production of Argyle's private letters on his trial in Scotland; nor +indeed can Monk be regarded, upon the whole, as an estimable man, +though his prudence and success may entitle him, in the common +acceptation of the word, to be reckoned a great one. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[245] May, p. 165. + +[246] Both sides claimed the victory. May, who thinks that Essex, by +his injudicious conduct after the battle, lost the advantage he had +gained in it, admits that the effect was to strengthen the king's +side. "Those who thought his success impossible began to look upon him +as one who might be a conqueror, and many neuters joined him."--P. +176. Ludlow is of the same opinion as to Essex's behaviour and its +consequences: "Our army, after some refreshment at Warwick, returned +to London, not like men that had obtained a victory, but as if they +had been beaten."--P. 52. This shows that they had not in fact +obtained much of a victory; and Lord Wharton's report to parliament +almost leads us to think the advantage, upon the whole, to have been +with the king. _Parl. Hist._ ii. 1495. + +[247] May, 212; Baillie, 373, 391. + +[248] May, Baillie, Mrs. Hutchinson, are as much of this opinion as +Sir Philip Warwick and other royalist writers. It is certain that +there was a prodigious alarm, and almost despondency, among the +parliamentarians. They immediately began to make entrenchments about +London, which were finished in a month. May, p. 214. In the _Somers +Tracts_, iv. 534, is an interesting letter from a Scotsman then in +London, giving an account of these fortifications, which, considering +the short time employed about them, seem to have been very +respectable, and such as the king's army, with its weak cavalry and +bad artillery, could not easily have carried. Lord Sunderland, four +days before the battle of Newbury wherein he was killed, wrote to his +wife, that the king's affairs had never been in a more prosperous +condition; that sitting down before Gloscester had prevented _their +finishing the war that year_, "which nothing could keep us from doing, +if we had a month's more time." _Sidney Letters_, ii. 671. He alludes +in the same letters to the divisions in the royal party. + +[249] _Parl. Hist._ iii. 45, 48. It seems natural to think that, if +the moderate party were able to contend so well against their +opponents, after the desertion of a great many royalist members who +had joined the king, they would have maintained a decisive majority, +had these continued in their places. But it is to be considered, on +the other hand, that the king could never have raised an army, if he +had not been able to rally the peers and gentry round his banner, and +that in his army lay the real secret of the temporary strength of the +pacific party. + +[250] _Parl. Hist._ iii. 68, 94; Clarendon; May; Whitelock. If we +believe the last (p. 68), the king, who took as usual a very active +part in the discussions upon this treaty, would frequently have been +inclined to come into an adjustment of terms; if some of the more +war-like spirits about him (glancing apparently at Rupert) had not +over persuaded his better judgment. This, however, does not accord +with what Clarendon tells us of the queen's secret influence, nor +indeed with all we have reason to believe of the king's disposition +during the war. + +[251] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 79. This induced the king to find +pretexts for avoiding the cessation, and was the real cause of his +refusal to restore the Earl of Northumberland to his post of lord +admiral during this treaty of Oxford, which was urged by Hyde. That +peer was, at this time, and for several months afterwards, inclining +to come over to the king; but, on the bad success of Holland and +Bedford in their change of sides, he gave into the opposite course of +politics, and joined the party of Lords Say and Wharton, in determined +hostility to the king. + +Dr. Lingard has lately thrown doubts upon this passage in Clarendon, +but upon grounds which I do not clearly understand. _Hist. of Engl._ +x. 208, note. That no vestige of its truth should appear, as he +observes, in the private correspondence between Charles and his +consort (if he means the letters taken at Naseby, and I know no +other), is not very singular; as the whole of that correspondence is +of a much later date. + +[252] I cannot discover in the Journals any division on this +impeachment. But Hollis inveighs against it in his memoirs as one of +the flagrant acts of St. John's party; and there is an account of the +debate on this subject in the _Somers Tracts_, v. 500; whence it +appears that it was opposed by Maynard, Waller, Whitelock, and others; +but supported by Pym, Strode, Long, Glynn, and by Martin with his +usual fury and rudeness. The first of these carried up the impeachment +to the House of Lords. + +This impeachment was not absolutely lost sight of for some time. In +January 1644, the Lords appointed a committee to consider what mode of +proceeding for bringing the queen to trial was most agreeable to a +parliamentary way, and to peruse precedents. _Parl. Hist._ 194. + +[253] _Parl. Hist._ 129. + +[254] _Parl. Hist._ 133, June 20; Clarendon, iv. 155. He published, +however, a declaration soon after the taking of Bristol, containing +full assurances of his determination to govern by the known laws. +_Parl. Hist._ 144. + +[255] Clarend. iv. 192, 262; Whitelock, 70. They met with a worse +reception at Westminster than at Oxford, as indeed they had reason to +expect. A motion that the Earl of Holland should be sent to the Tower +was lost in the Commons by only one voice. _Parl. Hist._ 180. They +were provoked at his taking his seat without permission. After long +refusing to consent, the Lords agreed to an ordinance (June 29, 1644) +that no peer or commoner who had been in the king's quarters, should +be admitted again to sit in either house. _Parl. Hist._ 271. This +severity was one cause of Essex's discontent, which was increased when +the Commons refused him leave to take Holland with him on his +expedition into the west that summer. Baillie, i. 426; Whitelock, 87. +If it be asked why this Roman rigour was less impolitic in the +parliament than in the king, I can only answer, that the stronger and +the weaker have different measures to pursue. But relatively to the +pacification of the kingdom, upon such terms as fellow-citizens ought +to require from each other, it was equally blamable in both parties, +or rather more so in that possessed of the greater power. + +[256] It is intimated by Clarendon that some at Oxford, probably +Jermyn and Digby, were jealous of Holland's recovering the influence +he had possessed with the queen, who seems to have retained no +resentment against him. As to Bedford and Clare, they would probably +have been better received, if not accompanied by so obnoxious an +intriguer of the old court. This seems to account for the unanimity +which the historian describes to have been shown in the council +against their favourable reception. Light and passionate tempers, like +that of Henrietta, are prone to forget injuries; serious and +melancholic ones, like that of Charles, never lose sight of them. + +[257] Baillie deplores at this time "the horrible fears and confusions +in the city, the king everywhere being victorious. In the city, a +strong and insolent party for him."--P. 391. "The malignants stirred a +multitude of women of the meaner and more infamous rank to come to the +door of both houses, and cry tumultuously for peace on any terms. This +tumult could not be suppressed but by violence, and killing some three +or four women, and hurting some of them, and imprisoning many."--P. +300. + +[258] Lords and Commons' Journals; _Parl. Hist._ 156, etc.; Clarendon, +iv. 183; Hollis's _Memoirs_. Hollis was a teller for the majority on +this occasion; he had left the war-like party some months (Baillie, i. +356); and his name is in the journals repeatedly, from November 1642, +as teller against them, though he is charged with having said the year +before, that he abhorred the name of accommodation. Hutchinson, p. +296. Though a very honest, and to a certain extent, an able man, he +was too much carried away by personal animosities; and as these +shifted, his principles shifted also. + +[259] The resolution, that government by archbishops, bishops, etc., +was inconvenient, and ought to be taken away, passed both houses +unanimously September 10, 1642; _Parl. Hist._ ii. 1465. But the +ordinance to carry this fully into effect was not made till October +1646. Scobell's _Ordinances_. + +[260] _Parl. Hist._ iii. 15. + +[261] This committee, appointed in February 1644, consisted of the +following persons, the most conspicuous, at that time, of the +parliament: the Earls of Northumberland, Essex, Warwick, and +Manchester; Lords Say, Wharton, and Roberts; Mr. Pierrepont, the two +Sir Henry Vanes, Sir Philip Stapylton, Sir William Waller, Sir Gilbert +Gerrard, Sir William Armyn, Sir Arthur Haslerig; Messrs. Crew, Wallop, +St. John, Cromwell, Brown, and Glynn. _Parl. Hist._ iii. 248. + +[262] _Somers Tracts_, iv. 533. The names marked in the _Parliamentary +History_ as having taken the covenant, are 236. + +The Earl of Lincoln alone, a man of great integrity and moderation, +though only conspicuous in the Journals, refused to take the covenant, +and was excluded in consequence from his seat in the house: but on his +petition next year, though, as far as appears, without compliance, was +restored, and the vote rescinded. _Parl. Hist._ 393. He regularly +protested against all violent measures; and we still find his name in +the minority on such occasions after the Restoration. + +Baillie says, the desertion of about six peers at this time to the +king, was of great use to the passing of the covenant in _a legal +way_. Vol. i. p. 390. + +[263] Burnet's _Mem. of Duke of Hamilton_, p. 239. I am not quite +satisfied as to this, which later writers seem to have taken from +Burnet. It may well be supposed that the ambiguity of the covenant was +not very palpable; since the Scots presbyterians, a people not easily +cozened, were content with its expression. According to fair and +honest rules of interpretation, it certainly bound the subscribers to +the establishment of a church-government conformed to that of +Scotland; namely, the presbyterian, exclusive of all mixture with any +other. But Selden, and the other friends of moderate episcopacy who +took the covenant, justified it, I suppose, to their consciences, by +the pretext that, in renouncing the jurisdiction of bishops, they +meant the unlimited jurisdiction without concurrence of any +presbyters. It was not, however, an action on which they could reflect +with pleasure. Baxter says that Gataker, and some others of the +assembly, would not subscribe the covenant, but on the understanding +that they did not renounce primitive episcopacy by it. _Life of +Baxter_, p. 48. These controversial subtleties elude the ordinary +reader of history. + +[264] After the war was ended, none of the king's party were admitted +to compound for their estates, without taking the covenant. This +Clarendon, in one of his letters, calls "making haste to buy damnation +at two years' purchase." Vol. ii. p. 286. + +[265] Neal, ii. 19, etc., is fair enough in censuring the committees, +especially those in the country. "The greatest part [of the clergy] +were cast out for malignity [attachment to the royal cause]; +superstition and false doctrine were hardly ever objected; yet the +proceedings of the sequestrators were not always justifiable; for, +whereas a court of judicature should rather be counsel for the +prisoner than the prosecutor, the commissioners considered the king's +clergy as their most dangerous enemies, and were ready to lay hold of +all opportunities to discharge them their pulpits."--P. 24. But if we +can rely at all on White's _Century of Malignant Ministers_ (and I do +not perceive that Walker has been able to controvert it), there were a +good many cases of irregular life in the clergy, so far at least as +haunting alehouses; which, however, was much more common, and +consequently less indecent, in that age than at present. See also +Baxter's _Life_, p. 74; whose authority, though open to some +exceptions on the score of prejudice, is at least better than +Walker's. + +The king's party were not less oppressive towards ministers whom they +reckoned puritan; which unluckily comprehended most of those who were +of strict lives, especially if they preached calvinistically, unless +they redeemed that suspicion by strong demonstrations of loyalty. +Neal, p. 21; Baxter's _Life_, p. 42. And, if they put themselves +forward on this side, they were sure to suffer most severely for it on +the parliament's success; an ordinance of April 1, 1643, having +sequestered the private estates of all the clergy who had aided the +king. Thus the condition of the English clergy was every way most +deplorable; and in fact they were utterly ruined. + +[266] Neal, p. 93. He says it was not tendered, by favour, to some of +the clergy who had not been active against the parliament, and were +reputed Calvinists. P. 59. Sanderson is said to be one instance. This +historian, an honest and well-natured man at bottom, justly censures +its imposition. + +[267] "All the judges answered that they could deliver no opinion in +this case, in point of treason by the law; because they could not +deliver any opinion in point of treason, but what was particularly +expressed to be treason in the statute of 25 E. III., and so referred +it wholly to the judgment of this house." Lords' Journals, 17th +December 1644. + +[268] Lords' Journals, 4th January. It is not said to be done _nem. +con._ + +[269] "The difference in the temper of the common people of both sides +was so great that they who inclined to the parliament left nothing +unperformed that might advance the cause; whereas they who wished well +to the king thought they had performed their duty in doing so, and +that they had done enough for him, in that they had done nothing +against him." Clarendon, pp. 3, 452. "Most of the gentry of the county +(Nottinghamshire)," says Mrs. Hutchinson, "were disaffected to the +parliament; most of the middle sort, the able substantial freeholders +and the other commons, who had not their dependence upon the malignant +nobility and gentry, adhered to the parliament."--P. 81. This I +conceive to have been the case in much the greater part of England. +Baxter, in his _Life_, p. 30, says just the same thing in a passage +worthy of notice. But the Worcestershire populace, he says, were +violent royalists, p. 39. Clarendon observes in another place (iii. +41), "There was in this county (Cornwall), as throughout the kingdom, +a wonderful and superstitious reverence towards the name of a +parliament, and a prejudice to the power of the court." He afterwards +(p. 436) calls "an implicit reverence to the name of a parliament, the +fatal disease of the whole kingdom." So prevalent was the sense of the +king's arbitrary government, especially in the case of ship-money. +Warburton remarks, that he never expressed any repentance, or made any +confession in his public declarations, that his former administration +had been illegal. Notes on Clarendon, p. 566. But this was not, +perhaps, to be expected; and his repeated promises to govern according +to law might be construed into tacit acknowledgments of past errors. + +[270] The associated counties, properly speaking, were at first +Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertford, Cambridge; to which some others +were added. Sussex, I believe, was not a part of the association; but +it was equally within the parliamentary pale, though the gentry were +remarkably loyal in their inclinations. The same was true of Kent. + +[271] Clarendon, _passim_; May, 160; Baillie, i. 416. See, in the +_Somers Tracts_, v. 495, a dialogue between a gentleman and a citizen, +printed at Oxford, 1643. Though of course a royalist pamphlet, it +shows the disunion that prevailed in that unfortunate party, and +inveighs against the influence of the papists, in consequence of which +the Marquis of Hertford is said to have declined the king's service. +Rupert is praised, and Newcastle struck at. It is written, on the +whole, in rather a lukewarm style of loyalty. The Earl of Holland and +Sir Edward Dering gave out as their reason for quitting the king's +side, that there was great danger of popery. This was much +exaggerated; yet Lord Sunderland talks the same language. _Sidney +Papers_, ii. 667. Lord Falkland's dejection of spirits, and constant +desire of peace, must chiefly be ascribed to his disgust with the +councils of Oxford, and the greater part of those with whom he was +associated. + + E quel che più ti graverà le spalle + Sarà la compagnia malvagia e ria, + Nella quel tu cadrai in questa valle. + +We know too little of this excellent man, whose talents, however, and +early pursuits do not seem to have particularly qualified him for +public life. It is evident that he did not plunge into the loyal cause +with all the zeal of his friend Hyde; and the king doubtless had no +great regard for the counsels of one who took so very different a view +of some important matters from himself. _Life of Clarendon_, 48. He +had been active against Strafford, and probably had a bad opinion of +Laud. The prosecution of Finch for high treason he had himself moved. +In the Ormond _Letters_, i. 20, he seems to be struck at by one +writing from Oxford, June 1, 1643: "God forbid that the best of men +and kings be so used by some bad hollow-hearted counsellors, who +affect too much the parliamentary way. Many spare not to name them; +and I doubt not but you have heard their names." + +[272] It appears by the late edition of Clarendon, iv. 351, that he +was the adviser of calling the Oxford parliament. The former editors +omitted his name. + +[273] _Parl. Hist._ 218. The number who took the covenant in September +1643, appears by a list of the long parliament in the same work (vol. +ii.) to be 236; but twelve of these are included in both lists, having +gone afterwards into the king's quarters. The remainder, about 100, +were either dead since the beginning of the troubles, or for some +reason absented themselves from both assemblies. Possibly the list of +those who took the covenant is not quite complete; nor do I think the +king had much more than about sixty peers on his side. The parliament, +however, could not have produced thirty. Lords' Journals, Jan. 22, +1644. Whitelock, p. 80, says that two hundred and eighty appeared in +the House of Commons, Jan. 1644, besides one hundred absent in the +parliament's service; but this cannot be quite exact. + +[274] Rushworth Abr. v. 266, and 296; where is an address to the king, +intimating, if attentively considered, a little apprehension of popery +and arbitrary power. Baillie says, in one of his letters, "The first +day the Oxford parliament met, the king made a long speech; but many +being ready to give in papers for the removing of Digby, Cottington, +and others from court, the meeting was adjourned for some days."--i. +429. Indeed, the restoration of Cottington, and still more of +Windebank, to the king's councils, was no pledge of protestant or +constitutional measures. This opposition, so natural to parliaments in +any circumstances, disgusted Charles. In one of his letters to the +queen, he congratulates himself on being "freed from the place of all +mutinous motions, his mongrel parliament." It may be presumed that +some of those who obeyed the king's summons to Oxford were influenced +less by loyalty than a consideration that their estates lay in parts +occupied by his troops; of course the same is applicable to the +Westminster parliament. + +[275] Baillie, 441. I can find no mention of this in the Journals; +but, as Baillie was then in London, and in constant intercourse with +the leaders of parliament, there must have been some foundation for +his statement, though he seems to have been inaccurate as to the fact +of the vote. + +[276] _Parl. Hist._ 299, _et post_; Clarendon, v. 16; Whitelock, 110, +etc.; Rushw. Abr. v. 449, etc. + +[277] It was impossible for the king to avoid this treaty. Not only +his Oxford parliament, as might naturally be expected, were openly +desirous of peace, but a great part of the army had, in August 1644, +while opposed to that of Essex in the west, taken the extraordinary +step of sending a letter to that general, declaring their intentions +for the rights and liberties of the people, privileges of parliament, +and protestant religion against popish innovations; and that on the +faith of subjects, the honour and reputation of gentlemen and +soldiers, they would with their lives maintain that which his majesty +should publicly promise in order to a bloodless peace; they went on to +request that Essex, with six more, would meet the general (Earl of +Brentford) with six more, to consider of all means possible to +reconcile the unhappy differences and misunderstandings that have so +long afflicted the kingdom. Sir Edward Walker's _Historical +Discourses_, 59. The king was acquainted with this letter before it +was sent, but after some hands had been subscribed to it. He +consented, but evidently with great reluctance, and even indignation; +as his own expressions testify in this passage of Walker, whose +manuscript here, as in many other places, contains interlineations by +Charles himself. It was doubtless rather in a mutinous spirit, which +had spread widely through the army, and contributed to its utter ruin +in the next campaign. I presume it was at the king's desire that the +letter was signed by the general, as well as by Prince Maurice, and +all the colonels, I believe, in his army, to take off the appearance +of a faction; but it certainly originated with Wilmot, Percy, and some +of those whom he thought ill affected. See Clarendon, iv. 527, _et +post_; Rushw. Abr. v. 348, 358. + +[278] The king's doctors, Steward and Sheldon, argued at Uxbridge that +episcopacy was _jure divino_; Henderson and others that presbytery was +so. Whitelock, 132. These churchmen should have been locked up like a +jury, without food or fire, till they agreed. + +If we may believe Clarendon, the Earl of Loudon offered in the name of +the Scots, that if the king would give up episcopacy, they would not +press any of the other demands. It is certain, however, that they +would never have suffered him to become the master of the English +parliament; and, if this offer was sincerely made, it must have been +from a conviction that he could not become such. + +[279] Rushworth, Whitelock, Clarendon. The latter tells in his life, +which reveals several things not found in his history, that the king +was very angry with some of his Uxbridge commissioners, especially Mr. +Bridgman, for making too great concessions with respect to episcopacy. +He lived, however, to make himself much greater. + +[280] Whitelock, 133. + +[281] The creed of this party is set forth in the _Behemoth_ of +Hobbes; which is, in other words, the application of those principles +of government which are laid down in the _Leviathan_, to the +constitution and state of England in the civil war. It is republished +in Baron Maseres's _Tracts_, ii. 565, 567. Sir Philip Warwick, in his +_Memoirs_, 198, hints something of the same kind. + +[282] Warburton, in the notes subjoined to the late edition of +Clarendon, vii. 563, mentions a conversation he had with the Duke of +Argyle and Lord Cobham (both soldiers, and the first a distinguished +one) as to the conduct of the king and the Earl of Essex after the +battle of Edgehill. They agreed it was inexplicable on both sides by +any military principle. Warburton explained it by the unwillingness to +be _too victorious_, felt by Essex himself, and by those whom the king +was forced to consult. Father Orleans, in a passage with which the +bishop probably was acquainted, confirms this; and his authority is +very good as to the secret of the court. Rupert, he says, proposed to +march to London. "Mais l'esprit Anglois, qui ne se dement point même +dans les plus attachés a la royauté, l'esprit Anglois, dis-je, +toujours entêté de ces libertéz si funestes au repos de la nation, +porta la plus grande partie du conseil à s'opposer à ce dessein. Le +prétexte fut qu'il étoit dangereux pour le roy de l'entreprendre, et +pour la ville que le Prince Robert l'exécutâst, jeune comme il étoit, +emporté, et capable d'y mettre le feu. La vraie raison étoit qu'ils +craignoient que, si le roy entroit dans Londres les armes à la main, +il ne prétendist sur la nation une espèce de droit de conquête, qui le +rendist trop absolu." _Révolut. d'Angleterre_, iii. 104. + +[283] Rushworth Abr. iv. 550. At the very time that he was publicly +denying his employment of papists, he wrote to Newcastle, commanding +him to make use of all his subjects' services, without examining their +consciences, except as to loyalty. Ellis's _Letters_, iii. 291, from +an original in the Museum. No one can rationally blame Charles for +anything in this, but his inveterate and useless habit of falsehood. +See Clarendon, iii. 610. + +It is probable that some foreign catholics were in the parliament's +service. But Dodd says, with great appearance of truth, that no one +English gentleman of that persuasion was in arms on their side. +_Church History of Engl._ iii. 28. He reports as a matter of hearsay, +that, out of about five hundred gentlemen who lost their lives for +Charles in the civil war, one hundred and ninety-four were catholics. +They were, doubtless, a very powerful faction in the court and army. +Lord Spencer (afterwards Earl of Sunderland), in some remarkable +letters to his wife from the king's quarters at Shrewsbury, in +September 1642, speaks of the insolency of the papists with great +dissatisfaction. _Sidney Papers_, ii. 667. + +[284] It cannot be doubted, and is admitted in a remarkable +conversation of Hollis and Whitelock with the king at Oxford in +November 1644, that the exorbitant terms demanded at Uxbridge were +carried by the violent party, who disliked all pacification. +Whitelock, 113. + +[285] Baillie, ii. 91. He adds, "That which has been the great snare +to the king is the unhappy success of Montrose in Scotland." There +seems indeed great reason to think that Charles, always sanguine, and +incapable of calculating probabilities, was unreasonably elated by +victories from which no permanent advantage ought to have been +expected. Burnet confirms this on good authority. Introduction to +_Hist. of his Times_, 51. + +[286] Whitelock, 109, 137, 142; Rushw. Abr. v. 163. The first _rat_ +(except indeed the Earls of Holland and Bedford, who were rats with +two tails) was Sir Edward Dering, who came into the parliament's +quarters, Feb. 1644. He was a weak man of some learning, who had +already played a very changeable part before the war. + +[287] A flagrant instance of this was the plunder of Bristol by +Rupert, in breach of the capitulation. I suspect that it was the +policy of one party to exaggerate the cruelties of the other; but the +short narratives dispersed at the time give a wretched picture of +slaughter and devastation. + +[288] Clarendon and Whitelock _passim_; Baxter's _Life_, pp. 44, 55. +This license of Maurice's and Goring's armies in the west first led to +the defensive insurrection, if so it should be called, of the +club-men; that is, of yeomen and country people, armed only with +clubs, who hoped, by numbers and concert, to resist effectually the +military marauders of both parties, declaring themselves neither for +king nor parliament, but for their own liberty and property. They were +of course regarded with dislike on both sides; by the king's party +when they first appeared in 1644, because they crippled the royal +army's operations, and still more openly by the parliament next year, +when they opposed Fairfax's endeavour to carry on the war in the +counties bordering on the Severn. They appeared at times in great +strength; but the want of arms and discipline made it not very +difficult to suppress them. Clarendon, v. 197; Whitelock, 137; _Parl. +Hist._ 379, 390. + +The king himself, whose disposition was very harsh and severe, except +towards the few he took into his bosom, can hardly be exonerated from +a responsibility for some acts of inhumanity (see Whitelock, 67, and +_Somers Tracts_, iv. 502, v. 369; Maseres's _Tracts_, i. 144, for the +ill-treatment of prisoners); and he might probably have checked the +outrages which took place at the storming of Leicester, where he was +himself present. Certainly no imputation of this nature can be laid at +the door of the parliamentary commanders; though some of them were +guilty of the atrocity of putting their Irish prisoners to death, in +obedience, however, to an ordinance of parliament. _Parl. Hist._ iii. +295; Rushworth's Abridgement, v. 402. It passed October 24, 1644, and +all remissness in executing it was to be reckoned a favouring of the +Irish rebellion. When we read, as we do perpetually, these violent and +barbarous proceedings of the parliament, is it consistent with honesty +or humanity to hold up that assembly to admiration, while the faults +on the king's side are studiously aggravated? The partiality of +Oldmixon, Harris, Macauley, and now of Mr. Brodie and Mr. Godwin, is +full as glaring, to say the very least, as that of Hume. + +[289] Clarendon and Baxter. + +[290] The excise was first imposed by an ordinance of both houses in +July 1643 (Husband's _Collection of Ordinances_, p. 267), and +afterwards by the king's convention at Oxford. See a view of the +financial expedients adopted by both parties in Lingard, x. 243. The +plate brought in to the parliament's commissioners at Guildhall, in +1642, for which they allowed the value of the silver, and one shilling +per ounce more, is stated by Neal at £1,267,326, an extraordinary +proof of the wealth of London; yet I do not know his authority, though +it is probably good. The university of Oxford gave all they had to the +king; but could not of course vie with the citizens. + +The sums raised within the parliament's quarters from the beginning of +the war to 1647 are reckoned in a pamphlet of that year, quoted in +Sinclair's _Hist. of the Revenue_, i. 283, at £17,512,400. But, on +reference to the tract itself, I find this written at random. The +contributions, however, were really very great; and, if we add those +to the king, and the loss by waste and plunder, we may form some +judgment of the effects of the civil war. + +[291] The independents raised loud clamours against the Scots army; +and the northern counties naturally complained of the burthen of +supporting them as well as of their excesses. Many passages in +Whitelock's journal during 1645 and 1646 relate to this. Hollis +endeavours to deny or extenuate the charges; but he is too prejudiced +a writer, and Baillie himself acknowledges a great deal. Vol. ii. pp. +138, 142, 146. + +[292] The chief imputation against Manchester was for not following up +his victory in the second battle of Newbury, with which Cromwell +openly taxed him; see Ludlow, i. 133. There certainly appears to have +been a want of military energy on this occasion; but it is said by +Baillie (ii. 76) that all the general officers, Cromwell not excepted, +concurred in Manchester's determination. Essex had been suspected from +the time of the affair at Brentford, or rather from the battle of +Edgehill (Baillie and Ludlow); and his whole conduct, except in the +celebrated march to relieve Gloucester, confirmed a reasonable +distrust either of his military talents, or of his zeal in the cause. +"He loved monarchy and nobility," says Whitelock, p. 108, "and dreaded +those who had a design to destroy both." Yet Essex was too much a man +of honour to enter on any private intrigues with the king. The other +peers employed under the parliament, Stamford, Denbigh, Willoughby, +were not successful enough to redeem the suspicions that fell upon +their zeal. + +All our republican writers, such as Ludlow and Mrs. Hutchinson in that +age, Mrs. Macauley and Mr. Brodie more of late, speak acrimoniously of +Essex. "Most will be of opinion," says Mr. B. (_History of British +Empire_, iii. 565), "that as ten thousand pounds a year out of the +sequestered lands were settled upon him for his services, he was +rewarded infinitely beyond his merits." The reward was doubtless +magnificent; but the merit of Essex was this, that he made himself the +most prominent object of vengeance in case of failure, by taking the +command of an army to oppose the king in person at Edgehill: a command +of which no other man in his rank was capable, and which could not, at +that time, have been intrusted to any man of inferior rank without +dissolving the whole confederacy of the parliament. + +It is to be observed, moreover, that the two battles of Newbury, like +that of Edgehill, were by no means decisive victories on the side of +the parliament; and that it is not clear whether either Essex or +Manchester could have pushed the king much more than they did. Even +after Naseby, his party made a pretty long resistance, and he was as +much blamed as they for not pressing his advantages with vigour. + +[293] It had been voted by the Lords a year before, Dec. 12, 1643, +"That the opinion and resolution of this house is from henceforth not +to admit the members of either house of parliament into any place or +office, excepting such places of great trust as are to be executed by +persons of eminency and known integrity, and are necessary for the +government and safety of the kingdom." But a motion to make this +resolution into an ordinance was carried in the negative. Lords' +Journals; _Parl. Hist._ 187. The first motion had been for a +resolution without this exception, that no place of profit should be +executed by the members of either house. + +[294] Whitelock, pp. 118, 120. It was opposed by him, but supported by +Pierrepont, who carried it up to the Lords. The Lords were chiefly of +the presbyterian party; though Say, Wharton, and a few more, were +connected with the independents. They added a proviso to the ordinance +raising forces to be commanded by Fairfax, that no officer refusing +the covenant should be capable of serving, which was thrown out in the +lower house. But another proviso was carried in the Commons by 82 to +63, that the officers, though appointed by the general, should be +approved by both houses of parliament. Cromwell was one of the tellers +for the minority. Commons' Journals, Feb. 7 and 13, 1645. + +In the original ordinance the members of both houses were excluded +during the war; but in the second, which was carried, the measure was +not made prospective. This, which most historians have overlooked, is +well pointed out by Mr. Godwin. By virtue of this alteration, many +officers were elected in the course of 1645 and 1646; and the effect, +whatever might be designed, was very advantageous to the republican +and independent factions. + +[295] Whitelock, p. 145. + +[296] Whether there are sufficient grounds for concluding that +Henrietta's connection with Jermyn was criminal, I will not pretend to +decide; though Warburton has settled the matter in a very summary +style. See one of his notes on Clarendon, vol. vii. p. 636. But I +doubt whether the bishop had authority for what he there says, though +it is likely enough to be true. See also a note of Lord Dartmouth on +Burnet, i. 63. + +[297] Clarendon speaks often in his _History_, and still more +frequently in his private letters, with great resentment of the +conduct of France, and sometimes of Holland, during our civil wars. I +must confess that I see nothing to warrant this. The States-General, +against whom Charles had so shamefully been plotting, interfered as +much for the purpose of mediation as they could with the slightest +prospect of success, and so as to give offence to the parliament +(Rushworth Abridged, v. 567; Baillie, ii. 78; Whitelock, 141, 148; +Harris's _Life of Cromwell_, 246); and as to France, though Richelieu +had instigated the Scots malcontents, and possibly those of England, +yet after his death, in 1642, no sort of suspicion ought to lie on the +French government; the whole conduct of Anne of Austria having been +friendly, and both the mission of Harcourt in 1643, and the present +negotiations of Montreuil and Bellievre, perfectly well intended. That +Mazarin made promises of assistance which he had no design, nor +perhaps any power, to fulfil, is true; but this is the common trick of +such statesmen, and argues no malevolent purpose. But Hyde, out of his +just dislike of the queen, hated all French connections; and his +passionate loyalty made him think it a crime, or at least a piece of +base pusillanimity, in foreign states, to keep on any terms with the +rebellious parliament. The case was altered, after the retirement of +the regent Anne from power: Mazarin's latter conduct was, as is well +known, exceedingly adverse to the royal cause. + +The account given by Mr. D'Israeli of Tabran's negotiations in the +fifth volume of his _Commentaries on the Reign of Charles I._, though +it does not contain anything very important, tends to show Mazarin's +inclination towards the royal cause in 1644 and 1645. + +[298] Colepepper writes to Ashburnham, in February 1646, to advance +the Scots' treaty with all his power. "It is the only way left to save +the Crown and the kingdom; all other tricks will deceive you.... It is +no time to dally on distinctions and criticisms. All the world will +laugh at them when a crown is in question." _Clar. Papers_, ii. 207. + +The king had positively declared his resolution not to consent to the +establishment of presbytery. This had so much disgusted both the Scots +and English presbyterians (for the latter had been concerned in the +negotiation), that Montreuil wrote to say he thought they would rather +make it up with the independents than treat again. "De sorte qu'il ne +faut plus marchander, et que V. M. se doit hâter d'envoyer aux deux +parlemens son consentiment aux trois propositions d'Uxbridge; ce +qu'étant fait, elle sera en sureté dans l'armée d'Ecosse" (15th Jan. +1646) P. 211. + +[299] "I assure you," he writes to Capel, Hopton, etc., Feb. 2, 1646, +"whatever paraphrases or prophecies may be made upon my last message +(pressing the two houses to consent to a personal treaty), I shall +never part with the church, the essentials of my crown, or my +friends."--P. 206. Baillie could not believe the report that the king +intended to take refuge in the Scots army, as "there would be no +shelter there for him, unless he would take the covenant, and follow +the advice of his parliament. Hard pills to be swallowed by a wilful +and an unadvised prince." Vol. ii. p. 203. + +[300] Not long after the king had taken shelter with the Scots, he +wrote a letter to Ormond, which was intercepted, wherein he assured +him of his expectation that their army would join with his, and act in +conjunction with Montrose, to procure a happy peace and the +restoration of his rights. Whitelock, page 208. Charles had bad luck +with his letters, which fell, too frequently for his fame and +interests, into the hands of his enemies. But who, save this most +ill-judging of princes, would have entertained an idea that the Scots +presbyterian army would co-operate with Montrose, whom they abhorred, +and very justly, for his treachery and cruelty, above all men living? + +[301] _Parl. Hist._ 499; Whitelock, 215, 218. It was voted, 17th June, +that after these twenty years, the king was to exercise no power over +the militia without the previous consent of parliament, who were to +pass a bill at any time respecting it, if they should judge the +kingdom's safety to be concerned, which should be valid without the +king's assent. Commons' Journals. + +[302] P. 248. "Show me any precedent," he says in another place, +"wherever presbyterian government and regal was together without +perpetual rebellions, which was the cause that necessitated the king +my father to change that government in Scotland. And even in France, +where they are but on tolerance, which in likelihood shall cause +moderation, did they ever sit still so long as they had power to +rebel? And it cannot be otherwise; for the ground of their doctrine is +anti-monarchical."--P. 260. See also p. 273. + +[303] "The design is to unite you with the Scots nation and the +presbyterians of England against the anti-monarchical party, the +independents.... If by conscience it is intended to assert that +episcopacy is _jure divino_ exclusive, whereby no protestant, or +rather Christian church, can be acknowledged for such without a +bishop, we must therein crave leave wholly to differ. And if we be in +an error, we are in good company, there not being, as we have cause to +believe, six persons of the protestant religion of the other +opinion.... Come, the question in short is, whether you will choose to +be a king of presbytery, or no king, and yet presbytery or perfect +independency to be?"--P. 263. They were, however, as much against his +giving up the militia, or his party, as in favour of his abolishing +episcopacy. + +Charles was much to be pitied throughout all this period; none of his +correspondents understood the state of affairs so well as himself; he +was with the Scots, and saw what they were made of, while the others +fancied absurdities through their own private self-interested views. +It is very certain that by sacrificing episcopacy he would not have +gained a step with the parliament; and as to reigning in Scotland +alone, suspected, insulted, degraded, this would perhaps just have +been possible for himself; but neither Henrietta nor her friends would +have found an asylum there. + +[304] Juxon had been well treated by the parliament, in consequence of +his prudent abstinence from politics, and residence in their quarters. +He dates his answer to the king from his palace at Fulham. He was, +however, dispossessed of it not long after by virtue of the ordinance +directing the sale of bishops' lands. Nov. 16, 1646. _Parl. Hist._ +528. A committee was appointed (Nov. 2, 1646) to consider of a fitting +maintenance to be allowed the bishops, both those who had remained +under the parliament, and those who had deserted it. Journals. I was +led to this passage by Mr. Godwin, _Hist. of Commonwealth_, ii. 250. +Whether anything farther was done, I have not observed. But there is +an order in the Journals, 1st May 1647, that whereas divers of the +late tenants of Dr. Juxon, late Bishop of London, have refused to pay +the rents or other sums of money due to him as Bishop of London at or +before the 1st of November last, the trustees of bishops' lands are +directed to receive the same, and pay them over to Dr. Juxon. Though +this was only justice, it shows that justice was done at least in this +instance, to a bishop. Juxon must have been a very prudent and +judicious man, though not learned; which probably was all the better. + +[305] Jan. 29, 1646. _Parl. Hist._ 436. Whitelock says, "Many sober +men and lovers of peace were earnest to have complied with what the +king proposed; but the major part of the house was contrary, and the +new-elected members joined those who were averse to compliance."--P. +207. + +[306] _Clar. Papers_, p. 275. + +[307] _Id._ 294, 297, 300. She had said as much before (_King's +Cabinet Opened_, p. 28); so that this was not a burst of passion. +"Conservez vous la militia," she says in one place (p. 271), "et +n'abandonnez jamais; et _par cela tout reviendra_." Charles, however, +disclaimed all idea of violating his faith in case of a treaty (p. +273); but observes as to the militia, with some truth, that "the +retaining of it is not of so much consequence--I am far from saying, +none--as is thought, without the concurrence of other things; because +the militia here is not, as in France and other countries, a formed +powerful strength; but it serves more to hold off ill than to do much +good. And certainly, if the pulpits teach not obedience (which will +never be, if presbyterian government be absolutely settled), the Crown +will have little comfort of the militia."--P. 296. + +[308] P. 301. + +[309] P. 313. + +[310] Pp. 245, 247, 278, 314. In one place he says, that he will go to +France _to clear his reputation to the queen_. P. 265. He wrote in +great distress of mind to Jermyn and Colepepper, on her threatening to +retire from all business into a monastery, in consequence of his +refusal to comply with her wishes. P. 270. See also Montreuil's memoir +in Thurloe's _State Papers_, i. 85, whence it appears that the king +had thoughts of making his escape in Jan. 1647. + +[311] "For the proposition to Bellievre (a French agent at Newcastle +after Montreuil's recall), I hate it. If any such thing should be made +public, you are undone; your enemies will make a malicious use of it. +Be sure you never own it again in any discourse, otherwise than as +intended as a foil, or an hyperbole, or any other ways except in sober +earnest," etc. P. 304. The queen and her counsellors, however, seem +afterwards to have retracted in some measure what they had said about +his escape; and advised that if he could not be suffered to go into +Scotland, he would try Ireland or Jersey. P. 312. + +Her dislike to the king's escape showed itself, according to +Clarendon, vi. 192, even at a time when it appeared the only means to +secure his life, during his confinement in the Isle of Wight. Some may +suspect that Henrietta had consoled herself too well with Lord Jermyn +to wish for her husband's return. + +[312] P. 344. + +[313] P. 279. + +[314] Clarendon and Hume inveigh against the parliament for this +publication; in which they are of course followed by the whole rabble +of Charles's admirers. But it could not reasonably be expected that +such material papers should be kept back; nor were the parliament +under any obligation to do so. The former writer insinuates that they +were garbled; but Charles himself never pretended this (see Supplement +to Evelyn's _Diary_, p. 101); nor does there seem any foundation for +the surmise. His own friends garbled them, however, after the +restoration; some passages are omitted in the edition of King +Charles's Works; so that they can only be read accurately in the +original publication, called _The King's Cabinet Opened_, a small +tract in quarto; or in the modern compilations, such as the +_Parliamentary History_, which have copied it. Ludlow says he has been +informed that some of the letters taken at Naseby were suppressed by +those intrusted with them, who since the king's restoration have been +rewarded for it. _Memoirs_, i. 156. But I should not be inclined to +believe this. + +There is, however, an anecdote which may be mentioned in this place: A +Dr. Hickman, afterwards Bishop of Derry, wrote in 1690, the following +letter to Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, a copy of which, in Dr. Birch's +handwriting, may be found in the British Museum. It was printed by him +in the Appendix to the _Inquiry into the Share K. Charles I. had in +Glamorgan's Transactions_, and from thence by Harris, in his _Life of +Charles I._, p. 144. + +"MY LORD,--Last week Mr. Bennet [a bookseller] left with me a +manuscript of letters from King Charles I. to his queen; and said it +was your lordship's desire and Dr. Pelling's, that my Lord Rochester +should read them over, and see what was fit to be left out in the +intended edition of them. Accordingly, my lord has read them over, and +upon the whole matter says he is very much amazed at the design of +printing them, and thinks that the king's enemies could not have done +him a greater discourtesy. He showed me many passages which detract +very much from the reputation of the king's prudence, and something +from his integrity; and in short he can find nothing throughout the +whole collection, but what will lessen the character of the king and +offend all those who wish well to his memory. He thinks it very unfit +to expose any man's conversation and familiarity with his wife, but +especially that king's; for it was apparently his blind side, and his +enemies gained great advantage by showing it. But my lord hopes his +friends will spare him; and therefore he has ordered me not to deliver +the book to the bookseller, but put it into your lordship's hands; and +when you have read it, he knows you will be of his opinion. If your +lordship has not time to read it all, my lord has turned down some +leaves where he makes his chief objections. If your lordship sends any +servant to town, I beg you would order him to call here for the book, +and that you would take care about it." + +Though the description of these letters answers perfectly to those in +the _King's Cabinet Opened_, which certainly "detract much from the +reputation of Charles's prudence, and something from his integrity," +it is impossible that Rochester and the others could be ignorant of so +well-known a publication; and we must consequently infer that some +letters injurious to the king's character have been suppressed by the +caution of his friends. + +[315] The king had long entertained a notion, in which he was +encouraged by the attorney-general Herbert, that the act against the +dissolution of the parliament without its own consent was void in +itself. _Life of Clarendon_, p. 86. This high monarchical theory of +the nullity of statutes in restraint of the prerogative was never +thoroughly eradicated till the Revolution, and in all contentions +between the Crown and parliament destroyed the confidence, without +which no accommodation could be durable. + +[316] "There is little or no appearance but that this summer will be +the hottest for war of any that hath been yet; and be confident that, +in making peace, I shall ever show my constancy in adhering to bishops +and all our friends, not forgetting to put a short period to this +perpetual parliament." _King's Cabinet Opened_, p. 7. "It being +presumption, and no piety, so to trust to a good cause as not to use +all lawful means to maintain it, I have thought of one means more to +furnish thee with for my assistance, than hitherto thou hast had: it +is, that I give thee power to promise in my name, to whom thou +thinkest most fit, that I will take away all the penal laws against +the Roman catholics in England as soon as God shall enable me to do +it; so as by their means, or in their favours, I may have so powerful +assistance as may deserve so great a favour, and enable me to do it. +But if thou ask what I call that assistance, I answer that when thou +knowest what may be done for it, it will be easily seen, if it deserve +to be so esteemed. I need not tell thee what secrecy this business +requires; yet this I will say, that this is the greatest point of +confidence I can express to thee; for it is no thanks to me to trust +thee in anything else but in this, which is the only point of +difference in opinion betwixt us: and yet I know thou wilt make as +good a bargain for me, even in this, as if thou wert a protestant." +_Id. ibid._ "As to my calling those at London a parliament, I shall +refer thee to Digby for particular satisfaction; this in general--if +there had been but two, besides myself, of my opinion, I had not done +it; and the argument that prevailed with me was, that the calling did +no ways acknowledge them to be a parliament, upon which condition and +construction I did it, and no otherwise, and accordingly it is +registered in the council books, with the council's unanimous +approbation." _Id._ p. 4. The one counsellor who concurred with the +king was Secretary Nicholas, Supplement to Evelyn's _Memoirs_, p. 90. + +[317] The queen evidently suspected that he might be brought to +abandon the catholics. _King's Cabinet Opened_, pp. 30, 31. And, if +fear of her did not prevent him, I make no question that he would have +done so, could he but have carried his other points. + +[318] _Parl. Hist._ 428; _Somers Tracts_, v. 542. It appears by +several letters of the king, published among those taken at Naseby, +that Ormond had power to promise the Irish a repeal of the penal laws +and the use of private chapels as well as a suspension of Poyning's +law. _King's Cabinet Opened_, pp. 16, 19; Rushw. Abr. v. 589. +Glamorgan's treaty granted them all the churches with the revenues +thereof, of which they had at any time since October 1641 been in +possession; that is, the re-establishment of their religion: they, on +the other hand, were to furnish a very large army to the king in +England. + +[319] Rushw. Abr. v. 582, 594. This, as well as some letters taken on +Lord Digby's rout at Sherborn about the same time, made a prodigious +impression. "Many good men were sorry that the king's actions agreed +no better with his words; that he openly protested before God with +horrid imprecations that he endeavoured nothing so much as the +preservation of the protestant religion and rooting out of popery; yet +in the meantime, underhand, he promised to the Irish rebels an +abrogation of the laws against them, which was contrary to his late +expressed promises in these words, 'I will never abrogate the laws +against the papists.' And again he said, 'I abhor to think of bringing +foreign soldiers into the kingdom,' and yet he solicited the Duke of +Lorrain, the French, the Danes, and the very Irish, for assistance." +May's "Breviate of Hist. of Parliament" in Maseres's _Tracts_, i. 61. +Charles had certainly never scrupled (I do not say that he ought to +have done so) to make application in every quarter for assistance; and +began in 1642 with sending a Col. Cochran on a secret mission to +Denmark, in the hope of obtaining a subsidiary force from that +kingdom. There was at least no danger to the national independence +from such allies. "We fear this shall undo the king for ever, that no +repentance shall ever obtain a pardon of this act, if it be true, from +his parliaments." Baillie, ii. 185. Jan. 20, 1646. The king's +disavowal had some effect; it seems as if even those who were +prejudiced against him could hardly believe him guilty of such an +apostasy, as it appeared in their eyes. P. 175. And, in fact, though +the catholics had demanded nothing unreasonable either in its own +nature or according to the circumstances wherein they stood, it threw +a great suspicion on the king's attachment to his own faith, when he +was seen to abandon altogether, as it seemed, the protestant cause in +Ireland, while he was struggling so tenaciously for a particular form +of it in Britain. Nor was his negotiation less impolitic than +dishonourable. Without depreciating a very brave and injured people, +it may be said with certainty that an Irish army could not have had +the remotest chance of success against Fairfax and Cromwell; the +courage being equal on our side, the skill and discipline incomparably +superior. And it was evident that Charles could never reign in England +but on a protestant interest. + +[320] Birch's _Inquiry into the Share which King Charles I. had in the +Transactions of the Earl of Glamorgan_, 1747. Four letters of Charles +to Glamorgan, now in the British Museum (Sloane MSS. 4161), in Birch's +handwriting, but of which he was not aware at the time of that +publication, decisively show the king's duplicity. In the first, which +was meant to be seen by Digby, dated Feb. 3, 1646, he blames him for +having been drawn to consent to conditions much beyond his +instructions. "If you had advised with my lord lieutenant, as you +promised me, all this had been helped;" and tells him he had commanded +as much favour to be shown him as might possibly stand with his +service and safety. On Feb. 28 he writes by a private hand, Sir John +Winter, that he is every day more and more confirmed in the trust that +he had of him. In a third letter, dated April 5, he says, in a cipher, +to which the key is given, "you cannot be but confident of my making +good all instructions and promises to you and nuncio." The fourth +letter is dated April 6, and is in these words: "Herbert, as I doubt +not but you have too much courage to be dismayed or discouraged at the +usage like you have had, so I assure you that my estimation of you is +nothing diminished by it, but rather begets in me a desire of revenge +and reparation to us both (for in this I hold myself equally +interested with you), whereupon not doubting of your accustomed care +and industry in my service, I assure you of the continuance of my +favour and protection to you, and that in deeds more than in words I +shall show myself to be your most assured constant friend. C. R." + +These letters have lately been republished by Dr. Lingard, _Hist. of +Eng._ x. note B, from Warner's _Hist. of the Civil War in Ireland_. +The cipher may be found in the _Biographia Britannica_, under the +article Bales. Dr. L. endeavours to prove that Glamorgan acted all +along with Ormond's privity; and it must be owned that the expression +in the king's last letter about revenge and reparation, which Dr. L. +does not advert to, has a very odd appearance. + +The controversy is, I suppose, completely at an end; so that it is +hardly necessary to mention a letter from Glamorgan, then Marquis of +Worcester, to Clarendon after the restoration, which has every +internal mark of credibility, and displays the king's unfairness. +_Clar. State Pap._ ii. 201, and Lingard, _ubi supra_. It is remarkable +that the transaction is never mentioned in the _History of the +Rebellion_. The noble author was, however, convinced of the +genuineness of Glamorgan's commission, as appears by a letter to +Secretary Nicholas. "I must tell you, I care not how little I say in +that business of Ireland, since those strange powers and instructions +given to your favourite Glamorgan, which appear to be 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 war which have befallen the king, and look like the effect of God's +anger towards us." _Id._ p. 237. See also a note of Mr. Laing, _Hist. +of Scotland_, iii. 557, for another letter of the king to Glamorgan, +from Newcastle, in July 1646, not less explicit than the foregoing. + +[321] Burnet's _Mem. of Dukes of Hamilton_, 284. Baillie's letters, +throughout 1646, indicate his apprehension of the prevalent spirit, +which he dreaded as implacable, not only to monarchy, but to +presbytery and the Scots nation. "The leaders of the people seem +inclined to have no shadow of a king, to have liberty for all +religions, a lame Erastian presbytery, to be so injurious to us as to +chase us hence with the sword."--148. March 31, 1646. "The common word +is, that they will have the king prisoner. Possibly they may grant to +the prince to be a duke of Venice. The militia must be absolutely, for +all time to come, in the power of the parliament, alone," etc.--200. +On the king's refusal of the propositions sent to Newcastle, the Scots +took great pains to prevent a vote against him. 226. There was still, +however, danger of this. 236, Oct. 13, and p. 243. His intrigues with +both parties, the presbyterians and independents, were now known; and +all sides seem to have been ripe for deposing them. 245. These letters +are a curious contrast to the idle fancies of a speedy and triumphant +restoration, which Clarendon himself as well as others of less +judgment seem to have entertained. + +[322] "Though he should swear it," says Baillie, "no man will believe +that he sticks upon episcopacy for any conscience."--ii. 205. And +again: "It is pity that base hypocrisy, when it is pellucid, shall +still be entertained. No oaths did ever persuade me, that episcopacy +was ever adhered to on any conscience."--224. This looks at first like +mere bigotry. But, when we remember that Charles had abolished +episcopacy in Scotland, and was ready to abolish protestantism in +Ireland, Baillie's prejudices will appear less unreasonable. The +king's private letters in the _Clarendon Papers_ have convinced me of +his mistaken conscientiousness about church government; but of this +his contemporaries could not be aware. + +[323] Hollis maintains that the violent party were very desirous that +the Scots should carry the king with them, and that nothing could have +been more injurious to his interests. If we may believe Berkley, who +is much confirmed by Baillie, the presbyterians had secretly engaged +to the Scots that the army should be disbanded, and the king brought +up to London with honour and safety. "Memoirs of Sir J. Berkley," in +Maseres's _Tracts_, i. 358; Baillie, ii. 257. This affords no bad +justification of the Scots for delivering him up. + +"It is very like," says Baillie, "if he had done any duty, though he +had never taken the covenant, but permitted it to have been put in an +act of parliament in both kingdoms, and given so satisfactory an +answer to the rest of the propositions, as easily he might, and +sometimes I know he was willing, certainly Scotland had been for him +as one man: and the body of England, upon many grounds, was upon a +disposition to have so cordially embraced him, that no man, for his +life, durst have muttered against his present restitution. But +remaining what he was in all his maxims, a full Canterburian, both in +matters of religion and state, he still inclined to a new war; and for +that end resolved to go to Scotland. Some great men there pressed the +equity of Scotland's protecting of him on any terms. This untimeous +excess of friendship has ruined that unhappy prince; for the better +party finding the conclusion of the king's coming to Scotland, and +thereby their own present ruin, and the ruin of the whole cause, the +making the malignants masters of church and state, the drawing the +whole force of England upon Scotland for their perjurious violation of +their covenant, they resolved by all means to cross that design."--P. +253. + +[324] The votes for payment of the sum of £400,000 to the Scots are on +Aug. 21, 27, and Sept. 1; though it was not fully agreed between the +two nations till Dec. 8. Whitelock, 220, 229. But Whitelock dates the +commencement of the understanding as to the delivery of the king about +Dec. 24. P. 231. See Commons' Journals. Baillie, ii. 246, 253; +Burnet's _Memoirs of Hamiltons_, 293, etc.; Laing, iii. 362; and Mr. +Godwin's _History of the Commonwealth_, ii. 258; a work in which great +attention has been paid to the order of time. + +[325] Journals, Aug. and Sept.; Godwin, _ubi supra_; Baillie, ii. +_passim_. + +[326] Baillie, who, in Jan. 1644, speaks of the independents as rather +troublesome than formidable, and even says: "No man, I know, in either +of the houses of any note is for them" (437); and that "Lord Say's +power and reputation is none at all;" admits, in a few months, the +alarming increase of independency and sectarianism in the Earl of +Manchester's army; more than two parts in three of the officers and +soldiers being with them, and those the most resolute and confident; +though they had no considerable force either in Essex's or Waller's +army, nor in the assembly of divines or the parliament, ii. 5, 19, 20. +This was owing in a great degree to the influence, at that period, of +Cromwell over Manchester. "The man," he says, "is a very wise and +active head, universally well beloved, as religious and stout; being a +known independent, and most of the soldiers who love new ways put +themselves under his command."--60. + +[327] The independent party, or at least some of its most eminent +members, as Lord Say and Mr. St. John, were in a secret correspondence +with Oxford, through the medium of Lord Saville, in the spring of +1645, if we believe Hollis, who asserts that he had seen their +letters, asking offices for themselves. _Mem. of Hollis_, sect. 43. +Baillie refers this to an earlier period, the beginning of 1644 (i. +427); and I conceive that Hollis has been incorrect as to the date. +The king, however, was certainly playing a game with them in the +beginning of 1646, as well as with the presbyterians, so as to give +both parties an opinion of his insincerity. _Clarendon State Papers_, +214; and see two remarkable letters written by his order to Sir Henry +Vane, 226, urging an union, in order to overthrow the presbyterian +government. + +[328] The principles of the independents are set forth candidly, and +even favourably, by Collier, 829; as well as by Neal, ii. 98. For +those who are not much acquainted with ecclesiastical distinction, it +may be useful to mention the two essential characteristics of this +sect, by which they differed from the presbyterians. The first was, +that all churches or separate congregations were absolutely +independent of each other as to jurisdiction or discipline; whence +they rejected all synods and representative assemblies as possessing +authority; though they generally admitted, to a very limited degree, +the alliance of churches for mutual counsel and support. Their second +characteristic was the denial of spiritual powers communicated in +ordination by apostolical succession; deeming the call of a +congregation a sufficient warrant for the exercise of the ministry. +See Orme's _Life of Owen_, for a clear view and able defence of the +principles maintained by this party. I must add, that Neal seems to +have proved that the independents, as a body, were not systematically +adverse to monarchy. + +[329] Edwards's _Gangræna_, a noted book in that age, enumerates one +hundred and seventy-six heresies, which, however, are reduced by him +to sixteen heads; and these seem capable of further consideration. +Neal, 249. The house ordered a general fast, Feb. 1647, to beseech God +to stop the growth of heresy and blasphemy. Whitelock, 236; a +presbyterian artifice to alarm the nation. + +[330] _Parl. Hist._ ii. 1479. They did not meet till July 1, 1643. +Rushw. Abr. v. 123; Neal, 42; Collier, 823. Though this assembly +showed abundance of bigotry and narrowness, they were by no means so +contemptible as Clarendon represents them (ii. 423); and perhaps equal +in learning, good sense, and other merits, to any lower house of +convocation that ever made a figure in England. + +[331] Whitelock, 71; Neal, 103. Selden, who owed no gratitude to the +episcopal church, was from the beginning of its dangers a steady and +active friend, displaying, whatever may have been said of his +timidity, full as much courage as could reasonably be expected from a +studious man advanced in years. Baillie, in 1641, calls him "the +avowed proctor of the bishops" (i. 245); and when provoked by his +Erastian opposition in 1646, presumes to talk of his "insolent +absurdity" (ii. 96). Selden sat in the assembly of divines; and by his +great knowledge of the ancient languages and of ecclesiastical +antiquities, as well as by his sound logic and calm clear judgment, +obtained an undeniable superiority, which he took no pains to conceal. + +[332] Scobell; Rushw. Abr. v. 576; _Parl. Hist._ iii. 444; Neal, 199. +The latter says, this did not pass the Lords till June 6. But this is +not so. Whitelock very rightly opposed the prohibition of the use of +the common prayer, and of the silencing episcopal ministers, as +contrary to the principle of liberty of conscience avowed by the +parliament, and like what had been complained of in the bishops. 226, +239, 281. But, in Sept. 1647, it was voted that the indulgence in +favour of tender consciences should not extend to tolerate the common +prayer. _Id._ 274. + +[333] The Erastians were named from Erastus, a German physician in the +sixteenth century. The denomination is often used in the present age +ignorantly, and therefore indefinitely; but I apprehend that the +fundamental principle of his followers was this: That in a +commonwealth where the magistrate professes Christianity, it is not +convenient that offences against religion and morality should be +punished by the censures of the church, especially by excommunication. +Probably he may have gone farther, as Selden seems to have done (Neal, +194), and denied the right of exclusion from church communion, even +without reference to the temporal power; but the limited proposition +was of course sufficient to raise the practical controversy. The +Helvetic divines, Gualter and Bullinger, strongly concurred in this +with Erastus; "Contendimus disciplinam esse debere in ecclesiâ, sed +satis esse, si ea administretur a magistratu." Erastus, _de +Excommunicatione_, p. 350; and a still stronger passage in p. 379. And +it is said, that Archbishop Whitgift caused Erastus's book to be +printed at his own expense. See one of Warburton's notes on Neal. +Calvin, and the whole of his school, held, as is well known, a very +opposite tenet. See _Erasti Theses de Excommunicatione_, 4to, 1579. + +The ecclesiastical constitution of England is nearly Erastian in +theory, and almost wholly so in practice. Every sentence of the +spiritual judge is liable to be reversed by a civil tribunal, the +court of delegates, by virtue of the king's supremacy over all causes. +And, practically, what is called church discipline, or the censures of +ecclesiastical governors for offences, has gone so much into disuse, +and what remains is so contemptible, that I believe no one, except +those who derive a little profit from it, would regret its abolition. + +"The most part of the House of Commons," says Baillie, ii. 149, +"especially the lawyers, whereof there are many, and divers of them +very able men, are either half or whole Erastians, believing no church +government to be of divine right, but all to be a human constitution +depending on the will of the magistrate." "The pope and king," he says +in another place (196), "were never more earnest for the headship of +the church than the plurality of this parliament." See also p. 183; +and Whitelock, 169. + +[334] _Parl. Hist._ 459 _et alibi_; Rushw. Abr. v. 578 _et alibi_; +Whitelock, 165, 169, 173, 176 _et post_; Baillie's _Letters_, +_passim_; Neal, 23, etc., 191 _et post_; Collier, 841. The assembly +attempted to sustain their own cause by counter votes; and, the +minority of independents and Erastians having withdrawn, it was +carried with a single dissent of Lightfoot, that Christ had +established a government in his church independent of the civil +magistrate. Neal, 223. + +[335] Neal, 228. Warburton says, in his note on this passage, that +"the presbyterian was _to all intents and purposes_ the established +religion during the time of the commonwealth." But, as coercive +discipline and synodical government are no small intents and purposes +of that religion, this assertion requires to be modified, as it has +been in my text. Besides which, there were many ministers of the +independent sect in benefices, some of whom probably had never +received ordination. "Both baptists and independents," says a very +well informed writer of the latter denomination, "were in the practice +of accepting the livings, that is, the temporalities of the church. +They did not, however, view themselves as parish ministers, and bound +to administer all the ordinances of religion to the parish population. +They occupied the parochial edifices, and received a portion of the +tithes for their maintenance; but in all other respects acted +according to their own principles." Orme's _Life of Owen_, 136. This +he thinks would have produced very serious evils, if not happily +checked by the Restoration. "During the commonwealth," he observes +afterwards (245), "no system of church government can be considered as +having been properly or fully established. The presbyterians, if any, +enjoyed this distinction." + +[336] The city began to petition for the establishment of presbytery, +and against toleration of sectaries, early in 1646; and not long after +came to assume what seemed to the Commons too dictatorial a tone. This +gave much offence, and contributed to drive some members into the +opposite faction. Neal, 193, 221, 241; Whitelock, 207, 240. + +[337] Vol. ii. 268. See also 207, and other places. This is a remark +that requires attention; many are apt to misunderstand the question. +"For this point (toleration) both they and we contend," says Baillie, +"tanquam pro aris et focis."--ii. 175. "Not only they praise your +magistrate" (writing to a Mr. Spang in Holland), "who for policy gives +some secret tolerance to divers religions, wherein, as I conceive, +your divines preach against them as great sinners, but avow that by +God's command the magistrate is discharged to put the least +discourtesy on any man, Jew, Turk, Papist, Socinian, or whatever, for +his religion."--18. See also 61, and many other passages. "The army" +(says Hugh Peters in a tract, entitled "A Word for the Army, and Two +Words to the People," 1647) "never hindered the state from a state +religion, having only wished to enjoy now what the puritans begged +under the prelates; when we desire more, blame us, and shame us." In +another, entitled "Vox Militaris," the author says: "We did never +engage against this platform, nor for that platform, nor ever will, +except better informed; and therefore, if the state establisheth +presbytery, we shall never oppose it." + +The question of toleration, in its most important shape, was brought +at this time before parliament, on occasion of one Paul Best who had +written against the doctrine of the trinity. According to the common +law, heretics, on being adjudged by the spiritual court, were +delivered over to be burned under the writ de hæretico comburendo. +This punishment had been inflicted five times under Elizabeth; on +Wielmacker and Ter Wort, two Dutch anabaptists, who, like many of that +sect, entertained Arian tenets, and were burned in Smithfield in 1575; +on Matthew Hammond in 1579, Thomas Lewis in 1583, and Francis Ket in +1588; all burned by Scambler, Bishop of Norwich. It was also inflicted +on Bartholomew Legat and Edward Wightman, under James, in 1614; the +first burned by King, Bishop of London, the second by Neile of +Litchfield. A third, by birth a Spaniard, incurred the same penalty; +but the compassion of the people showed itself so strongly at Legat's +execution that James thought it expedient not to carry the sentence +into effect. Such is the venomous and demoralising spirit of bigotry, +that Fuller, a writer remarkable for good nature and gentleness, +expresses his indignation at the pity which was manifested by the +spectators of Legat's sufferings. _Church Hist._ part ii. p. 62. In +the present case of Paul Best, the old sentence of fire was not +suggested by any one; but an ordinance was brought in, Jan. 1646, to +punish him with death. Whitelock, 190. Best made, at length, such an +explanation as was accepted (Neal, 214); but an ordinance to suppress +blasphemies and heresies as capital offences was brought in. Commons' +Journals, April 1646. The independents gaining strength, this was long +delayed; but the ordinance passed both houses, May 2, 1648. _Id._ 303. +Neal (338) justly observes, that it shows the governing presbyterians +would have made a terrible use of their power, had they been supported +by the sword of the civil magistrate. The denial of the trinity, +incarnation, atonement, or inspiration of any book of the Old or New +Testament, was made felony. Lesser offences, such as anabaptism, or +denying the lawfulness of presbyterian government, were punishable by +imprisonment till the party should recant. It was much opposed, +especially by Whitelock. The writ de hæretico comburendo, as is well +known, was taken away by act of parliament in 1677. + +[338] "In all New England, no liberty of living for a presbyterian. +Whoever there, were they angels for life and doctrine, will essay to +set up a different way from them [the independents], shall be sure of +present banishment." Baillie, ii. 4, also 17. I am surprised to find a +late writer of that country (Dwight's _Travels in New England_) +attempt to extenuate at least the intolerance of the independents +towards the quakers, who came to settle there; and which, we see, +extended also to the presbyterians. But Mr. Orme, with more judgment, +observes that the New England congregations did not sufficiently +adhere to the principle of independency, and acted too much as a body; +to which he ascribes their persecution of the quakers and others. +_Life of Owen_, 335. It is certain that the congregational scheme +leads to toleration, as the national church scheme is adverse to it, +for manifold reasons which the reader will discover. + +[339] Though the writings of Chillingworth and Hales are not directly +in behalf of toleration, no one could relish them without imbibing its +spirit in the fullest measure. The great work of Jeremy Taylor, on the +_Liberty of Prophesying_, was published in 1647; and, if we except a +few concessions to the temper of the times, which are not reconcilable +to its general principles, has left little for those who followed him. +Mr. Orme admits that the remonstrants of Holland maintained the +principles of toleration very early (p. 50); but refers to a tract by +Leonard Busher, an independent, in 1614, as "containing the most +enlightened and scriptural views of religious liberty."--P. 99. He +quotes other writings of the same sect under Charles I. + +[340] Several proofs of this occur in the _Clarendon State Papers_. A +letter, in particular, from Colepepper to Digby, in Sept. 1645, is so +extravagantly sanguine, considering the posture of the king's affairs +at that time, that, if it was perfectly sincere, Colepepper must have +been a man of less ability than has generally been supposed. Vol. ii. +p. 188. Neal has some sensible remarks on the king's mistake in +supposing that any party which he did not join must in the end be +ruined. P. 268. He had not lost this strange confidence after his very +life had become desperate; and told Sir John Bowring, when he advised +him not to spin out the time at the treaty of Newport, that "any +interests would be glad to come in with him." See Bowring's _Memoirs_ +in Halifax's _Miscellanies_, 132. + +[341] Baillie's letters are full of this feeling, and must be reckoned +fair evidence, since no man could be more bigoted to presbytery, or +more bitter against the royalist party. I have somewhere seen Baillie +praised for his mildness. His letters give no proof of it. Take the +following specimens: "Mr. Maxwell of Ross has printed at Oxford so +desperately malicious an invective against our assemblies and +presbyteries, that, however I could hardly consent to the hanging of +Canterbury or of any jesuit, yet I could give my sentence freely +against that unhappy man's life."--ii. 99. "God has struck Coleman +with death; he fell in an ague, and after three or four days expired. +It is not good to stand in Christ's way."--P. 199. + +Baillie's judgment of men was not more conspicuous than his +moderation. "Vane and Cromwell are of horrible hot fancies to put all +in confusion, but not of any deep reach. St. John and Pierrepont are +more stayed, but not great heads."--P. 258. The drift of all his +letters is, that every man who resisted the _jus divinum_ of +presbytery was knave or fool, if not both. They are, however, +eminently serviceable as historical documents. + +[342] "Now for my own particular resolution," he says in a letter to +Digby, March 26, 1646, "it is this. 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 so to draw either the presbyterians or independents to +side with me for extirpating the one or the other, that I shall be +really king again." Carte's _Ormond_, iii. 452; quoted by Mr. Brodie, +to whom I am indebted for the passage. I have mentioned already his +overture about this time to Sir Henry Vane through Ashburnham. + +[343] Clarendon, followed by Hume and several others, appears to say +that Ragland Castle in Monmouthshire, defended by the Marquis of +Worcester, was the last that surrendered; namely, in August 1646. I +use the expression _appears to say_, because the last edition, which +exhibits his real text, shows that he paid this compliment to +Pendennis Castle in Cornwall, and that his original editors (I suppose +to do honour to a noble family), foisted in the name of Ragland. It is +true, however, of neither. The North Welsh castles held out +considerably longer; that of Harlech was not taken till April 1647, +which put an end to the war. Whitelock. + +Clarendon, still more unyielding than his master, extols the long +resistance of his party, and says that those who surrendered at the +first summons obtained no better terms than they who made the stoutest +defence; as if that were a sufficient justification for prolonging a +civil war. In fact, however, they did the king some harm; inasmuch as +they impeded the efforts made in parliament to disband the army. +Several votes of the Commons show this; see the Journals of 12th May +and 31st July 1646. + +[344] The resolution to disband Fairfax's regiment next Tuesday at +Chelmsford passed 16th May 1647, by 136 to 115; Algernon Sidney being +a teller of the noes. Commons' Journals. In these votes the house, +that is, the presbyterian majority, acted with extreme imprudence; not +having provided for the payment of the army's arrears at the time they +were thus disbanding them. Whitelock advised Hollis and his party not +to press the disbanding; and on finding them obstinate, drew off, as +he tells us, from that connection, and came nearer to Cromwell. P. +248. This, however, he had begun to do rather earlier. Independently +of the danger of disgusting the army, it is probable that, as soon as +it was disbanded, the royalists would have been up in arms. For the +growth of this discontent, day by day, peruse Whitelock's Journal for +March and the three following months, as well as the _Parliamentary +History_. + +[345] It was only carried by 159 to 147, March 5, 1647, that the +forces should be commanded by Fairfax. But on the 8th, the house voted +without a division, that no officer under him should be above the rank +of a colonel, and that no member of the house should have any command +in the army. It is easy to see at whom this was levelled. Commons' +Journals. They voted at the same time that the officers should all +take the covenant, which had been rejected two years before; and, by a +majority of 136 to 108, that they should all conform to the government +of the church established by both houses of parliament. + +[346] _Clar. State Papers_, ii. 365. The army, in a declaration not +long after the king fell into their power, June 24, use these +expressions: "We clearly profess that we do not see how there can be +any peace to this kingdom firm or lasting, without a due provision for +the rights, quiet, and immunity of his majesty, his royal family, and +his late partakers."--_Parl. Hist._ 647. + +[347] Hollis censures the speakers of the two houses and others who +fled to the army from this mob; the riot being "a sudden tumultuous +thing of young idle people without design." Possibly this might be the +case; but the tumult at the door of the house, 26th July, was such +that it could not be divided. Their votes were plainly null, as being +made under duress. Yet the presbyterians were so strong in the Commons +that a resolution to annul all proceedings during the speaker's +absence was lost by 97 to 95, after his return; and it was only voted +to repeal them. A motion to declare that the houses, from 26th July to +6th August, had been under a force, was also lost by 78 to 75. +Journals, 9th and 17th August. The Lords, however, passed an ordinance +to this effect; and after once more rejecting it, the Commons agreed +on August 20, with a proviso that no one should be called in question +for what had been done. + +[348] These transactions are best read in the Commons' Journals, and +_Parliamentary History_, and next to those, in Whitelock. Hollis +relates them with great passion; and Clarendon, as he does everything +else that passed in London, very imperfectly. He accounts for the Earl +of Manchester and the Speaker Lenthal's retiring to the army by their +persuasion that the chief officers had nearly concluded a treaty with +the king, and resolved to have their shares in it. This is a very +unnecessary surmise. Lenthal was a poor-spirited man, always +influenced by those whom he thought the strongest, and in this +instance, according to Ludlow (p. 206) persuaded with difficulty by +Haslerig to go to the army. Manchester indeed had more courage and +honour; but he was not of much capacity, and his parliamentary conduct +was not systematic. But upon the whole it is obvious, on reading the +list of names (_Parl. Hist._ 757), that the king's friends were rather +among those who staid behind, especially in the Lords, than among +those who went to the army. Seven of eight peers who continued to sit +from 26th July to 6th of August 1647, were impeached for it afterwards +(_Parl. Hist._ 764), and they were all of the most moderate party. If +the king had any previous connection with the city, he acted very +disingenuously in his letter to Fairfax, Aug. 3, while the contest was +still pending; wherein he condemns the tumults, and declares his +unwillingness that his friends should join with the city against the +army, whose proposals he had rejected the day before with an +imprudence of which he was now sensible. This letter, as actually sent +to Fairfax, is in the _Parliamentary History_, 734, and may be +compared with a rough draught of the same, preserved in _Clarendon +Papers_, 373, from which it materially differs, being much sharper +against the city. + +[349] Fairfax's "Memoirs" in Maseres's _Collection of Tracts_, vol. i. +p. 447. "By this," says Fairfax, who had for once found a man less +discerning of the times than himself, "I plainly saw the broken reed +he leaned on. The agitators had brought the king into an opinion that +the army was for him." Ireton said plainly to the king, "Sir, you have +an intention to be the arbitrator between the parliament and us; and +we mean to be so between your majesty and the parliament."--Berkley's +"Memoirs," _ibid._ p. 360. + +This folly of the king, if Mrs. Hutchinson is well informed, alienated +Ireton, who had been more inclined to trust him than is commonly +believed. "Cromwell," she says, "was at that time so incorruptibly +faithful to his trust and the people's interest, that he could not be +drawn in to practise even his own usual and natural dissimulation on +this occasion. His son-in-law Ireton, that was as faithful as he, was +not so fully of the opinion, till he had tried it, and found to the +contrary, but that the king might have been managed to comply with the +public good of his people, after he could no longer uphold his own +violent will; but upon some discourses with him, the king uttering +these words to him, 'I shall play my game as well as I can,' Ireton +replied, 'If your majesty have a game, you must give us also the +liberty to play ours.' Colonel Hutchinson privately discoursing with +his cousin about the communications he had had with the king, Ireton's +expressions were these: 'He gave us words, and we paid him in his own +coin, when we found he had no real intention to the people's good, but +to prevail, by our factions, to regain by art what he had lost in +fight.'"--P. 274. + +It must be said for the king that he was by no means more sanguine or +more blind than his distinguished historian and minister. Clarendon's +private letters are full of strange and absurd expectations. Even so +late as October 1647, he writes to Berkley in high hopes from the +army, and presses him to make no concessions except as to persons. "If +they see you will not yield, they must; for sure they have as much or +more need of the king than he of them."--P. 379. The whole tenor, +indeed, of Clarendon's correspondence demonstrates that, +notwithstanding the fine remarks occasionally scattered through his +history, he was no practical statesman, nor had any just conception, +at the time, of the course of affairs. He never flinched from one +principle, not very practicable or rational in the circumstances of +the king; that nothing was to be receded from which had ever been +desired. This may be called magnanimity; but no foreign or domestic +dissension could be settled, if all men were to act upon it, or if all +men, like Charles and Clarendon, were to expect that Providence would +interfere to support what seems to them the best, that is, their own +cause. The following passage is a specimen: "Truly I am so unfit to +bear a part in carrying on this new contention [by negotiation and +concession], that I would not, to preserve myself, wife, and children +from the lingering death of want by famine (for a sudden death would +require no courage), consent to the lessening any part, which I take +to be in the function of a bishop, or the taking away the smallest +prebendary in the church, or to be bound not to endeavour to alter any +such alteration."--_Id._ vol. iii. p. 2, Feb. 4, 1648. + +[350] _Parl. Hist._ 738. Clarendon talks of these proposals as worse +than any the king had ever received from the parliament; and Hollis +says they "dissolved the whole frame of the monarchy." It is hard to +see, however, that they did so in a greater degree than those which he +had himself endeavoured to obtain as a commissioner at Uxbridge. As to +the church, they were manifestly the best that Charles had ever seen. +As to his prerogative and the power of the monarchy, he was so +thoroughly beaten, that no treaty could do him any substantial +service; and he had, in truth, only to make his election, whether to +be the nominal chief of an aristocratical or a democratical republic. +In a well-written tract, called "Vox Militaris," containing a defence +of the army's proceedings and intentions, and published apparently in +July 1647, their desire to preserve the king's rights, according to +their notion of them, and the general laws of the realm, is strongly +asserted. + +[351] The precise meaning of this word seems obscure. Some have +supposed it to be a corruption of adjutators, as if the modern term +adjutant meant the same thing. But I find agitator always so spelled +in the pamphlets of the time. + +[352] Berkley's _Memoirs_, 366. He told Lord Capel about this time +that he expected a war between Scotland and England; that the Scots +hoped for the assistance of the presbyterians; and that he wished his +own party to rise in arms on a proper conjuncture, without which he +could not hope for much benefit from the others. Clarendon, v. 476. + +[353] Berkley, 368, etc. Compare the letter of Ashburnham, published +in 1648, and reprinted in 1764, but probably not so full as the MS. in +the Earl of Ashburnham's possession; also the Memoirs of Hollis, +Huntingdon, and Fairfax, which are all in Maseres's Collection; also +Ludlow, Hutchinson, Clarendon, Burnet's _Memoirs of Hamilton_, and +some despatches in 1647 and 1648, from a royalist in London, printed +in the appendix to the second volume of the _Clarendon Papers_. This +correspondent of Secretary Nicholas believes Cromwell and Ireton to +have all along planned the king's destruction, and set the levellers +on, till they proceeded so violently, that they were forced to +restrain them. This also is the conclusion of Major Huntingdon, in his +Reasons for laying down his Commission. But the contrary appears to me +more probable. + +Two anecdotes, well known to those conversant in English history, are +too remarkable to be omitted. It is said by the editor of Lord +Orrery's _Memoirs_, as a relation which he had heard from that noble +person, that in a conversation with Cromwell concerning the king's +death, the latter told him, he and his friends had once a mind to have +closed with the king, fearing that the Scots and presbyterians might +do so; when one of their spies, who was of the king's bedchamber, gave +them information of a letter from his majesty to the queen, sewed up +in the skirt of a saddle, and directing them to an inn where it might +be found. They obtained the letter accordingly, in which the king +said, that he was courted by both factions, the Scots presbyterians +and the army; that those which bade fairest for him should have him; +but he thought he should rather close with the Scots than the other. +Upon this, finding themselves unlikely to get good terms from the +king, they from that time vowed his destruction. Carte's _Ormond_, ii. +12. + +A second anecdote is alluded to by some earlier writers, but is +particularly told in the following words, by Richardson, the painter, +author of some anecdotes of Pope, edited by Spence. "Lord Bolingbroke +told us, June 12, 1742 (Mr. Pope, Lord Marchmont, and myself), that +the second Earl of Oxford had often told him that he had seen, and had +in his hands, an original letter that Charles the First wrote to his +queen, in answer to one of hers that had been intercepted, and then +forwarded to him; wherein she had reproached him for having made those +villains too great concession, viz. that Cromwell should be lord +lieutenant of Ireland for life without account; that that kingdom +should be in the hands of the party, with an army there kept which +should know no head but the lieutenant; that Cromwell should have a +garter, etc.: That in this letter of the king's it was said, that she +should leave him to manage, who was better informed of all +circumstances than she could be; but she might be entirely easy as to +whatever concessions he should make them; for 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. So the letter ended; which answer +as they waited for, so they intercepted accordingly; and it determined +his fate. This letter Lord Oxford said he had offered £500 for." + +The authenticity of this latter story has been constantly rejected by +Hume and the advocates of Charles in general; and, for one reason +among others, that it looks like a misrepresentation of that told by +Lord Orrery, which both stands on good authority, and is perfectly +conformable to all the memoirs of the time. I have, however, been +informed, that a memorandum nearly conformable to Richardson's +anecdote is extant, in the handwriting of Lord Oxford. + +It is possible that this letter is the same with that mentioned by +Lord Orrery; and in that case was written in the month of October. +Cromwell seems to have been in treaty with the king as late as +September; and advised him, according to Berkley, to reject the +proposals of the parliament in that month. Herbert mentions an +intercepted letter of the queen (_Memoirs_, 60); and even his story +proves that Cromwell and his party broke off with Charles from a +conviction of his dissimulation. See Laing's note, iii. 562; and the +note by Strype, therein referred to, on Kennet's _Complete Hist. of +England_, iii. 170; which speaks of a "constant tradition" about this +story, and is more worthy of notice, because it was written before the +publication of Lord Orrery's _Memoirs_, or of the _Richardsoniana_. + +[354] Ashburnham gives us to understand that the king had made choice +of the Isle of Wight, previously to his leaving Hampton Court, but +probably at his own suggestion. This seems confirmed by the king's +letter in Burnet's _Mem. of Dukes of Hamilton_, 326. Clarendon's +account is a romance, with little mixture probably of truth. +Ashburnham's _Narrative_, published in 1830, proves that he suggested +the Isle of Wight, in consequence of the king's being forced to +abandon a design he had formed of going to London, the Scots +commissioners retracting their engagement to support him. + +[355] _Parl. Hist._ 799. + +[356] Jan. 15. This vote was carried by 141 to 92. _Id._ 831. And see +Append. to 2nd vol. of _Clar. State Papers_. Cromwell was now vehement +against the king, though he had voted in his favour on Sept. 22. +Journals, and Berkley, 372. A proof that the king was meant to be +wholly rejected is, that at this time, in the list of the navy, the +expression "his majesty's ship," was changed to "the parliament's +ship." Whitelock, 291. + +The four bills were founded on four propositions (for which I refer to +Hume or the _Parliamentary History_, not to Clarendon, who has +mis-stated them) sent down from the Lords. The lower house voted to +agree with them by 115 to 106; Sidney and Evelyn tellers for the ayes, +Martin and Morley for the noes. The increase of the minority is +remarkable, and shows how much the king's refusal of the terms offered +him in September, and his escape from Hampton Court, had swollen the +commonwealth party; to which, by the way, Colonel Sidney at this time +seems not to have belonged. Ludlow says, that party hoped the king +would not grant the four bills (i. 224). The Commons published a +declaration of their reasons for making no further addresses to the +king, wherein they more than insinuate his participation in the murder +of his father by Buckingham. _Parl. Hist._ 847. + +[357] Clarendon, whose aversion to the Scots warps his judgment, says +that this treaty contained many things dishonourable to the English +nation. _Hist._ v. 532. The king lost a good deal in the eyes of this +uncompromising statesman, by the concessions he made in the Isle of +Wight. _State Papers_, 387. I cannot, for my own part, see anything +derogatory to England in the treaty; for the temporary occupation of a +few fortified towns in the north can hardly be called so. Charles, +there is some reason to think, had on a former occasion made offers to +the Scots far more inconsistent with his duty to this kingdom. + +[358] Clarendon; May, "Breviate of the Hist. of the Parliament," in +Maseres's _Tracts_, i. 113; Whitelock, 307, 317, etc. In a conference +between the two houses, July 25, 1648, the Commons gave as a reason +for insisting on the king's surrender of the militia as a preliminary +to a treaty, that such was the disaffection to the parliament on all +sides, that without the militia they could never be secure. Rush. Abr. +vi. 444. "The chief citizens of London," says May, 122, "and others +called presbyterians, though the presbyterian Scots abominated this +army, wished good success to these Scots no less than the malignants +did. Whence let the reader judge of the times." The fugitive sheets of +this year, such as the "Mercurius Aulicus," bear witness to the +exulting and insolent tone of the royalists. The chuckle over Fairfax +and Cromwell, as if they had caught a couple of rats in a trap. + +[359] April 28, 1648; _Parl. Hist._ 883. + +[360] June 6. These peers were the Earls of Suffolk, Middlesex, and +Lincoln, Lords Willoughby of Parham, Berkley, Hunsdon, and Maynard. +They were impeached for sitting in the house during the tumults from +26th of July to 6th of August 1647. The Earl of Pembroke, who had also +continued to sit, merely because he was too stupid to discover which +party was likely to prevail, escaped by truckling to the new powers. + +[361] June 8. + +[362] See _Parl. Hist._ 823, 892, 904, 921, 924, 959, 996, for the +different votes on this subject, wherein the presbyterians gradually +beat the independent or republican party, but with very small and +precarious majorities. + +[363] Clarendon, vi. 155. He is very absurd in imagining that any of +the parliamentary commissioners would have been satisfied with "an act +of indemnity and oblivion." + +That the parliament had some reason to expect the king's firmness of +purpose to give way, in spite of all his haggling, will appear from +the following short review of what had been done. 1. At Newmarket, in +June 1642, he absolutely refused the nineteen propositions tendered to +him by the Lords and Commons. 2. In the treaty of Oxford, March 1643, +he seems to have made no concession, not even promising an amnesty to +those he had already excluded from pardon. 3. In the treaty of +Uxbridge, no mention was made on his side of exclusion from pardon; he +offered to vest the militia for seven years in commissioners jointly +appointed by himself and parliament, so that it should afterwards +return to him, and to limit the jurisdiction of the bishops. 4. In the +winter of 1645, he not only offered to disband his forces, but to let +the militia be vested for seven years in commissioners to be appointed +by the two houses, and afterwards to be settled by bill; also to give +the nomination of officers of state and judges _pro hâc vice_ to the +houses. 5. He went no farther in substance till May 1647; when he +offered the militia for ten years, as well as great limitations of +episcopacy, and the continuance of presbyterian government for three +years; the whole matter to be afterwards settled by bill on the advice +of the assembly of divines, and twenty more of his own nomination. 6. +In his letter from Carisbrook, Nov. 1647, he gave up the militia for +his life. This was in effect to sacrifice almost everything as to +immediate power; but he struggled to save the church lands from +confiscation, which would have rendered it hardly practicable to +restore episcopacy in future. His further concessions in the treaty of +Newport, though very slowly extorted, were comparatively trifling. + +What Clarendon thought of the treaty of Newport may be imagined. "You +may easily conclude," he writes to Digby, "how fit a counsellor I am +like to be, when the best that is proposed is that which I _would not +consent unto to preserve the kingdom from ashes_. I can tell you worse +of myself than this; which is, that there may be some reasonable +expedients which possibly might in truth restore and preserve all, in +which I could bear no part."--P. 459. See also p. 351 and 416. I do +not divine what he means by this. But what he could not have approved +was, that the king had no thoughts of dealing sincerely with the +parliament in this treaty, and gave Ormond directions to obey all his +wife's commands, but not to obey any further orders he might send, nor +to be startled at his great concessions respecting Ireland, for they +would come to nothing. Carte's _Papers_, i. 185. See Mr. Brodie's +remarks on this, iv. 143-146. He had agreed to give up the government +of Ireland for twenty years to the parliament. In his answer to the +propositions at Newcastle, sent in May 1647, he had declared that he +would give full satisfaction with respect to Ireland. But he thus +explains himself to the queen: "I have so couched that article that, +if the Irish give me cause, I may interpret it enough to their +advantage. For I only say that I will give them (the two houses) full +satisfaction as to the management of the war, nor do I promise to +continue the war; so that, if I find reason to make a good peace +there, my engagement is at an end. Wherefore make this my +interpretation known to the Irish." _Clar. State Papers._ "What +reliance," says Mr. Laing, from whom I transcribe this passage (which +I cannot find in the book quoted), "could parliament place at the +beginning of the dispute, or at any subsequent period, on the word or +moderation of a prince, whose solemn and written declarations were so +full of equivocation?" _Hist. of Scotland_, iii. 409. It may here be +added that, though Charles had given his parole to Colonel Hammond, +and had the sentinels removed in consequence, he was engaged during +most part of his stay at Carisbrook in schemes for an escape. See Col. +Cooke's "Narrative," printed with Herbert's _Memoirs_; and in Rushw. +Abr. vi. 534. But his enemies were apprised of this intention, and +even of an attempt to escape by removing a bar of his window, as +appears by the letters from the committee of Derby House, Cromwell, +and others, to Col. Hammond, published in 1764. + +[364] Clarendon mentions an expression that dropped from Henry Martin +in conversation, not long after the meeting of the parliament: "I do +not think one man wise enough to govern us all." This may doubtless be +taken in a sense perfectly compatible with our limited monarchy. But +Martin's republicanism was soon apparent; he was sent to the Tower in +August 1643, for language reflecting on the king. _Parl. Hist._ 161. A +Mr. Chillingworth had before incurred the same punishment for a like +offence, December 1, 1641. Nalson, ii. 714. Sir Henry Ludlow, father +of the regicide, was also censured on the same account. As the +opposite faction grew stronger, Martin was not only restored to his +seat, but the vote against him was expunged. Vane, I presume, took up +republican principles pretty early; perhaps also Haslerig. With these +exceptions, I know not that we can fix on any individual member of +parliament the charge of an intention to subvert the constitution till +1646 or 1647. + +[365] Pamphlets may be found as early as 1643 which breathe this +spirit; but they are certainly rare till 1645 and 1646. Such are +"Plain English," 1643; "The Character of an Anti-malignant," 1645; +"Last Warning to all the Inhabitants of London," 1647. + +[366] Charles Louis, elector palatine, elder brother of the Princes +Rupert and Maurice, gave cause to suspect that he was looking towards +the throne. He left the king's quarters where he had been at the +commencement of the war, and retired to Holland; whence he wrote, as +well as his mother, the Queen of Bohemia, to the parliament, +disclaiming and renouncing Prince Rupert, and begging their own +pensions might be paid. He came over to London in August 1644, took +the covenant, and courted the parliament. They showed, however, at +first, a good deal of jealousy of him; and intimated that his affairs +would prosper better by his leaving the kingdom. Whitelock, 101; Rush. +Abr. xv. 359. He did not take this hint, and obtained next year an +allowance of £8000 per annum. _Id._ 145. Lady Ranelagh, in a letter to +Hyde, March 1644, conjuring him by his regard for Lord Falkland's +memory to use all his influence to procure a message from the king for +a treaty, adds: "Methinks what I have informed my sister, and what she +will inform you, of the posture of the prince elector's affairs are in +here, should be a motive to hasten away this message." _Clar. State +Papers_, ii. 167. Clarendon himself, in a letter to Nicholas, Dec. 12, +1646 (where he gives his opinion that the independents look more to a +change of the king and his line than of the monarchy itself, and would +restore the full prerogative of the Crown to one of their own choice), +proceeds in these remarkable words: "And I pray God they have not such +a nose of wax ready for their impression. This it is makes me tremble +more than all their discourses of destroying monarchy; and that +towards this end, they find assistance from those who from their +hearts abhor their confusions." P. 308. These expressions seem more +applicable by far to the elector than to Cromwell. But the former was +not dangerous to the parliament, though it was deemed fit to treat him +with respect. In March 1647, we find a committee of both houses +appointed to receive some intelligence which the prince elector +desired to communicate to the parliament of great importance to the +protestant religion. Whitelock, 241. Nothing farther appears about +this intelligence; which looks as if he was merely afraid of being +forgotten. He left England in 1649, and died in 1680. + +[367] Baxter's _Life_, 50. He ascribes the increase of enthusiasm in +the army to the loss of its presbyterian chaplains, who left it for +their benefices, on the reduction of the king's party and the +new-modelling of the troops. The officers then took on them to act as +preachers. _Id._ 54; and Neal, 183. I conceive that the year 1645 is +that to which we must refer the appearance of a republican party in +considerable numbers, though not yet among the House of Commons. + +[368] These passed against the royalist members separately, and for +the most part in the first months of the war. + +[369] "The best friends of the parliament were not without fears what +the issue of the new elections might be; for though the people durst +not choose such as were open enemies to them, yet probably they would +such as were most likely to be for a peace on any terms, corruptly +preferring the fruition of their estates and sensual enjoyments before +the public interest," etc. Ludlow, i. 168. This is a fair confession +how little the commonwealth party had the support of the nation. + +[370] C. Journals; Whitelock, 168. The borough of Southwark had just +before petitioned for a new writ, its member being dead or disabled. + +[371] That the House of Commons, in December 1645, entertained no +views of altering the fundamental constitution, appears from some of +their resolutions as to conditions of peace: "That Fairfax should have +an earldom, with £5000 a year; Cromwell and Waller baronies, with half +that estate; Essex, Northumberland, and two more be made dukes; +Manchester and Salisbury marquises, and other peers of their party be +elevated to higher ranks; Haslerig, Stapylton, and Skippon to have +pensions." _Parl. Hist._ 403; Whitelock, 182. These votes do not speak +much for the magnanimity and disinterestedness of that assembly, +though it may suit political romancers to declaim about it. + +[372] Commons' Journals, May 4 and 18, 1647. This minority were not, +in general, republican; but were unwilling to increase the irritation +of the army by so strong a vote. + +[373] Commons' Journals; Whitelock, 271; _Parl. Hist._ 781. They had +just been exasperated by his evasion of their propositions. _Id._ 778. +By the smallness of the numbers, and the names of the tellers, it +seems as if the presbyterian party had been almost entirely absent; +which may be also inferred from other parts of the Journals. See +October 9, for a long list of absentees. Haslerig and Evelyn, both of +the army faction, told the Ayes, Martin and Sir Peter Wentworth the +Noes. The house had divided the day before on the question for going +into a committee to take this matter into consideration, 84 to 34; +Cromwell and Evelyn telling the majority, Wentworth and Rainsborough +the minority. I suppose it is from some of these divisions that Baron +Maseres has reckoned the republican party in the house not to exceed +thirty. + +It was resolved on Nov. 6, 1647, that the King of England, for the +time being, was bound in justice and by the duty of his office, to +give his assent to all such laws as by the Lords and Commons in +parliament shall be adjudged to be for the good of the kingdom, and by +them tendered unto him for his assent. But the previous question was +carried on the following addition: "And in case the laws, so offered +unto him, shall not thereupon be assented unto by him, that +nevertheless they are as valid to all intents and purposes as if his +assent had been thereunto had and obtained, which they do insist upon +as an undoubted right."--Com. Jour. + +[374] Ludlow says that Cromwell, "finding the king's friends grow +strong in 1648, began to court the commonwealth's party. The latter +told him he knew how to cajole and give them good words, when he had +occasion to make use of them; whereat, breaking out into a rage, he +said they were a proud sort of people, and only considerable in their +own conceits."--P. 240. Does this look as if he had been reckoned one +of them? + +[375] Clarendon says that there were many consultations among the +officers about the best mode of disposing of the king; some were for +deposing him, others for poison or assassination, which, he fancies, +would have been put in practice, if they could have prevailed on +Hammond. But this is not warranted by our better authorities. + +It is hard to say at what time the first bold man dared to talk of +bringing the king to justice. But in a letter of Baillie to Alexander +Henderson, May 19, 1646, he says, "If God have hardened him, so far as +I can perceive, this people will strive to have him in their power, +and make an example of him; _I abhor to think what they speak of +execution_!"--ii. 20. Published also in Dalrymple's _Memorials of +Charles I._, p. 166. Proofs may also be brought from pamphlets by +Lilburne and others in 1647, especially towards the end of that year; +and the remonstrance of the Scots parliament, dated Aug. 13, alludes +to such language. Rushw. Abr. vi. 245. Berkley indeed positively +assures us, that the resolution was taken at Windsor in a council of +officers, soon after the king's confinement at Carisbrook; and this +with so much particularity of circumstance that, if we reject his +account, we must set aside the whole of his memoirs at the same time. +Maseres's _Tracts_, i. 383. But it is fully confirmed by an +independent testimony, William Allen, himself one of the council of +officers and adjutant-general of the army, who, in a letter addressed +to Fleetwood, and published in 1659, declares that after much +consultation and prayer at Windsor Castle, in the beginning of 1648, +they had "come to a very clear and joint resolution that it was their +duty to call Charles Stuart, that man of blood, to an account for the +blood he had shed, and mischief he had done to his utmost, against the +Lord's cause and people in these poor nations." This is to be found in +_Somers Tracts_, vi. 499. The only discrepancy, if it is one, between +him and Berkley, is as to the precise time, which the other seems to +place in the end of 1647. But this might be lapse of memory in either +party; nor is it clear, on looking attentively at Berkley's narration, +that he determines the time. Ashburnham says, "For some days before +the king's remove from Hampton Court, there was scarcely a day in +which several alarms were not brought him by and from several +considerable persons, both well affected to him and likely to know +much of what was then in agitation, of the resolution which a violent +party in the army had to take away his life. And that such a design +there was, there were strong insinuations to persuade." See also his +_Narrative_, published in 1830. + +[376] _Somers Tracts_, v. 160, 162. + +[377] Sept. 11. _Parl. Hist._ 1077; May's "Breviate" in Maseres's +_Tracts_, vol. i. p. 127; Whitelock, 335. + +[378] Nov. 17. _Parl. Hist._ 1077; Whitelock, p. 355. A motion, Nov. +30, that the house do now proceed on the remonstrance of the army, was +lost by 125 to 58 (printed, 53 in _Parl. Hist._). Commons' Journals. +So weak was still the republican party. It is indeed remarkable that +this remonstrance itself is rather against the king, than absolutely +against all monarchy; for one of the proposals contained in it is that +kings should be chosen by the people, and have no negative voice. + +[379] The division was on the previous question, which was lost by 129 +to 83. + +[380] No division took place on any of the votes respecting the king's +trial. + +[381] Ludlow, i. 267. + +[382] Hutchinson, p. 303. + +[383] The king's manners were not good. He spoke and behaved to ladies +with indelicacy in public. See Warburton's _Notes on Clarendon_, vii. +629, and a passage in Milton's _Defensio pro populo Anglicano_, quoted +by Harris and Brodie. He once forgot himself so far as to cane Sir +Henry Vane for coming into a room of the palace reserved for persons +of higher rank. Carte's _Ormond_, i. 366, where other instances are +mentioned by that friendly writer. He had in truth none who loved him, +till his misfortunes softened his temper, and excited sympathy. + +An anecdote, strongly intimating the violence of Charles's temper, has +been rejected by his advocates. It is said that Burnet, in searching +the Hamilton papers, found that the king, on discovering the +celebrated letter of the Scots covenanting lords to the King of +France, was so incensed that he sent an order to Sir William Balfour, +lieutenant-governor of the Tower, to cut off the head of his prisoner, +Lord Loudon; but that the Marquis of Hamilton, to whom Balfour +immediately communicated this, urged so strongly on the king that the +city would be up in arms on this violence, that with reluctance he +withdrew the warrant. This story is told by Oldmixon, _Hist. of the +Stuarts_, p. 140. It was brought forward on Burnet's authority, and +also on that of the Duke of Hamilton, killed in 1712, by Dr. Birch, no +incompetent judge of historical evidence; it seems confirmed by an +intimation given by Burnet himself in his _Memoirs of the Duke of +Hamilton_, p. 161. It is also mentioned by Scott of Scotstarvet, a +contemporary writer. Harris, p. 350, quotes other authorities, earlier +than the anecdote told by Burnet; and upon the whole, I think the +story deserving credit, and by no means so much to be slighted as the +Oxford editor of Burnet has thought fit to do. + +[384] Clement Walker, _Hist. of Independency_, Part II. p. 55. + +[385] Clarendon, Collier, and the high church writers in general, are +very proud of the superiority they fancy the king to have obtained in +a long argumentation held at Newcastle with Henderson, a Scots +minister, on church authority and government. This was conducted in +writing, and the papers afterwards published. They may be read in the +King's Works, and in Collier, p. 842. It is more than insinuated that +Henderson died of mortification at his defeat. He certainly had not +the excuse of the philosopher who said he had no shame in yielding to +the master of fifty legions. But those who take the trouble to read +these papers, will probably not think one party so much the stronger +as to shorten the other's days. They show that Charles held those +extravagant tenets about the authority of the church and of the +fathers, which are irreconcilable with protestantism in any country +where it is not established, and are likely to drive it out where it +is so. + +[386] The note on this passage, which, on account of its length, was +placed at the end of the volume in the two first editions, is +withdrawn in this, as relating to a matter of literary controversy, +little connected with the general objects of this work. It is needless +to add, that the author entertains not the smallest doubt about the +justness of the arguments he had employed.--_Note to the Third +Edition._ + +[387] _Parl. Hist._ 349. The council of war more than once, in the +year 1647, declared their intention of preserving the rights of the +peerage. Whitelock, 288, and Sir William Waller's _Vindication_, 192. + +[388] Commons' Journal, 13th and 19th May 1646. + +[389] Lords' Journals. + +[390] Commons' Journals. It had been proposed to continue the House of +Lords as a court of judicature, or as a court of consultation, or in +some way or other to keep it up. The majority, it will be observed, +was not very great; so far was the democratic scheme from being +universal even within the house. Whitelock, 377. Two divisions had +already taken place; one on Jan. 9, when it was carried by thirty-one +to eighteen, that "a message from the Lords should be received;" +Cromwell strongly supporting the motion, and being a teller for it; +and again on Jan. 18, when, the opposite party prevailing, it was +negatived by twenty-five to eighteen, to ask their assent to the vote +of the 4th instant, that the sovereignty resides in the Commons; which +doubtless, if true, could not require the Lords' concurrence. + +[391] Whitelock, 396. They voted that Pembroke, as well as Salisbury +and Howard of Escrick, who followed the ignominious example, should be +added to all committees. + +[392] Commons' Journals; Whitelock. It had been referred to a +committee of five members, Lisle, Holland, Robinson, Scott, and +Ludlow, to recommend thirty-five for a council of state; to whose +nominations the house agreed, and added their own. Ludlow, i. 288. +They were appointed for a year; but in 1650 the house only left out +two of the former list, besides those who were dead. Whitelock, 441. +In 1651 the change was more considerable. _Id._ 488. + +[393] Six judges agreed to hold on their commissions, six refused. +Whitelock, who makes a poor figure at this time on his own showing, +consented to act still as commissioner of the great seal. Those who +remained in office affected to stipulate that the fundamental laws +should not be abolished; and the house passed a vote to this effect. +Whitelock, 378. + +[394] Whitelock, 444 _et alibi_. Baxter's _Life_, 64. A committee was +appointed, April 1649, to enquire about ministers who asperse the +proceedings of parliament in their pulpits. Whitelock, 395. + +[395] _State Trials_, v. 43. Baxter says that Love's death hurt the +new commonwealth more than would be easily believed, and made it +odious to all the religious party in the land, except the sectaries. +_Life of B._, 67. But "oderint dum metuant" is the device of those who +rule in revolutions. Clarendon speaks, on the contrary, of Love's +execution triumphantly. He had been distinguished by a violent sermon +during the treaty of Uxbridge, for which the parliament, on the +complaint of the king's commissioners, put him in confinement. +Thurloe, i. 65; _State Trials_, 201; though the noble historian, as +usual, represents this otherwise. He also misstates Love's dying +speech. + +[396] Whitelock, 516. + +[397] The parliament had resolved, 24th July 1650, that Henry Stuart, +son of the late king, and the Lady Elizabeth, daughter of the late +king, be removed forthwith beyond the seas, out of the limits of this +commonwealth. Yet this intention seems to have been soon changed; for +it is resolved, Sept. 11, to give the Duke of Glocester £1500 per +annum for his maintenance, so long as he should behave himself +inoffensively. Whether this proceeded from liberality, or from a vague +idea that they might one day make use of him, is hard to say. +Clarendon mentions the scheme of making the Duke of Glocester king, in +one of his letters (iii. 38, 11th Nov. 1651); but says, "Truly I do +believe that Cromwell might as easily procure himself to be chosen +king as the Duke of Glocester; for, as none of the king's party would +assist the last, so I am persuaded both presbyterians and independents +would have much sooner the former than any of the race of him whom +they have murthered." + +[398] _Id._ p. 548. Lord Orrery told Burnet that he had once mentioned +to Cromwell a report that he was to bring in the king, who should +marry his daughter, and observed, that he saw no better expedient. +Cromwell, without expressing any displeasure, said, "the king cannot +forgive his father's blood;" which the other attempted to answer. +Burnet, i. 95. It is certain, however, that such a compromise would +have been dishonourable for one party, and infamous for the other. + +[399] Cromwell, in his letter to the parliament, after the battle of +Worcester, called it a _crowning mercy_. This, though a very +intelligible expression, was taken in an invidious sense by the +republicans. + +[400] Journals, _passim_. + +[401] One of their most scandalous acts was the sale of the Earl of +Craven's estate. He had been out of England during the war, and could +not therefore be reckoned a delinquent. But evidence was offered that +he had seen the king in Holland; and upon this charge, though he +petitioned to be heard, and, as is said, indicted the informer for +perjury, whereof he was convicted, they voted by 33 to 31 that his +lands should be sold; Haslerig, the most savage zealot of the whole +faction, being a teller for the ayes, Vane for the noes. Journals, 6th +March 1651, and 22nd June 1652. _State Trials_, v. 323. On the 20th of +July in the same year, it was referred to a committee to select thirty +delinquents, whose estates should be sold for the use of the navy. +Thus, long after the cessation of hostility, the royalists continued +to stand in jeopardy, not only collectively but personally, from this +arbitrary and vindictive faction. Nor were these qualities displayed +against the royalists alone: one Josiah Primatt, who seems to have +been connected with Lilburne, Wildman, and the levellers, having +presented a petition complaining that Sir Arthur Haslerig had +violently dispossessed him of some collieries, the house, after voting +every part of the petition to be false, adjudged him to pay a fine of +£3000 to the commonwealth, £2000 to Haslerig, and £2000 more to the +commissioners for compositions. Journals, 15th Jan. 1651-2. There had +been a project of erecting an university at Durham, in favour of which +a committee reported (18th June 1651), and for which the chapter lands +would have made a competent endowment. Haslerig, however, got most of +them into his own hands; and thus frustrated, perhaps, a design of +great importance to education and literature in this country. For had +an university once been established, it is just possible, though not +very likely, that the estates would not have reverted, on the king's +restoration, to their former, but much less useful possessors. + +[402] Mrs. Hutchinson speaks very favourably of the levellers, as they +appeared about 1647, declaring against the factions of the +presbyterians and independents, and the ambitious views of their +leaders, and especially against the unreasonable privileges claimed by +the houses of parliament collectively and personally. "Indeed, as all +virtues are mediums and have their extremes, there rose up after in +that house a people who endeavoured the levelling of all estates and +qualities, which those sober levellers were never guilty of desiring; +but were men of just and sober principles, of honest and religious +ends, and were therefore hated by all the designing self-interested +men of both factions. Colonel Hutchinson had a great intimacy with +many of these; and so far as they acted according to the just, pious, +and public spirit which they professed, owned them and protected them +as far as he had power. These were they who first began to discover +the ambition of Lieut.-Gen. Cromwell and his idolaters, and to suspect +and dislike it."--P. 285. + +[403] Whitelock, 399, 401. The levellers rose in arms at Banbury and +other places; but were soon put down, chiefly through the energy of +Cromwell, and their ringleaders shot. + +[404] It was referred to a committee, 29th April 1652, to consider how +a convenient and competent maintenance for a godly and able ministry +may be settled, in lieu of tithes. A proposed addition, that tithes be +paid as before till such maintenance be settled, was carried by 27 to +17. + +[405] Journals, 19th Jan. 1652. Hale was the first named on this +commission, and took an active part; but he was associated with some +furious levellers, Desborough, Tomlinson, and Hugh Peters, so that it +is hard to know how far he concurred in the alterations suggested. +Many of them, however, seem to bear marks of his hand. Whitelock, 475, +517, 519, 820, _et alibi_. There had been previously a committee for +the same purpose in 1650. See a list of the acts prepared by them in +_Somers Tracts_, vi. 177; several of them are worthy of attention. +Ludlow indeed blames the commission for slowness; but their delay +seems to have been very justifiable, and their suggestions highly +valuable. It even appears that they drew up a book containing a +regular digest or code, which was ordered to be printed. Journals, +20th Jan. 1653. + +[406] A committee was named, 15th May 1649, to take into consideration +the settling of the succession of future parliaments and regulating +their elections. Nothing more appears to have been done till Oct. +11th, when the committee was ordered to meet next day, and so _de die +in diem_, and to give an account thereof to the house on Tuesday come +fortnight; all that came to have voices, but the special care thereof +commended to Sir Henry Vane, Colonel Ludlow, and Mr. Robinson. We find +nothing farther till Jan. 3rd, 1650, when the committee is ordered to +make its report the next Wednesday. This is done accordingly, Jan. 9, +when Sir H. Vane reports the resolutions of the committee, one of +which was, that the number in future parliaments should be 400. This +was carried, after negativing the previous question in a committee of +the whole house. They proceeded several days afterwards on the same +business. See also Ludlow, pp. 313, 435. + +[407] Two divisions had taken place, Nov. 14 (the first on the +previous question), on a motion, that it is convenient to declare a +certain time for the continuance of this parliament, 50 to 46, and 49 +to 47. On the last division, Cromwell and St. John were tellers for +the ayes. + +[408] Whitelock was one of these; and being at that time out of +Cromwell's favour, inveighs much against this destruction of the power +from which he had taken his commission. Pp. 552, 554. St. John appears +to have concurred in the measure. In fact, there had so long been an +end of law that one usurpation might seem as rightful as another. But, +while any House of Commons remained, there was a stock left from which +the ancient constitution might possibly germinate. Mrs. Macauley, +whose lamentations over the Rump did not certainly proceed from this +cause, thus vents her wrath on the English nation: "An acquiescence +thus universal in the insult committed on the guardians of the infant +republic, and the first step towards the usurpation of Cromwell, fixes +an indelible stain on the character of the English, as a people basely +and incorrigibly attached to the sovereignty of individuals, and of +natures too ignoble to endure an empire of equal laws."--Vol. v. p. +112. + +[409] Harrison, when Ludlow asked him why he had joined Cromwell to +turn out the parliament, said, he thought Cromwell would own and +favour a set of men who acted on higher principles than those of civil +liberty; and quoted from Daniel "that the saints shall take the +kingdom and possess it." Ludlow argued against him; but what was +argument to such a head? _Mem. of Ludlow_, p. 565. Not many months +after, Cromwell sent his coadjutor to Carisbrook Castle. + +[410] Hume speaks of this assembly as chiefly composed of the lowest +mechanics. But this was not the case. Some persons of inferior rank +there were, but a large proportion of the members were men of good +family, or, at least, military distinction, as the list of the names +in the _Parliamentary History_ is sufficient to prove; and Whitelock +remarks, "it was much wondered at by some that these gentlemen, many +of them being persons of fortune and knowledge, would at this summons, +and from those hands, take upon them the supreme authority of this +nation."--P. 559. With respect to this, it may be observed, that those +who have lived in revolutions find it almost necessary, whether their +own interest or those of their country are their aim, to comply with +all changes, and take a greater part in supporting them, than men of +inflexible consciences can approve. No one felt this more than +Whitelock; and his remark in this place is a satire upon all his +conduct. He was at the moment dissatisfied, and out of Cromwell's +favour, but lost no time in regaining it. + +[411] Journals, August 19. This was carried by 46 to 38 against +Cromwell's party. Yet Cromwell, two years afterwards, published an +ordinance for regulating and limiting the jurisdiction of chancery; +which offended Whitelock so much that he resigned the great seal, not +having been consulted in framing the regulations. This is a rare +instance in his life; and he vaunts much of his conscience +accordingly, but thankfully accepted the office of commissioner of the +treasury instead. Pp. 621, 625. He does not seem, by his own account, +to have given much satisfaction to suitors in equity (p. 548); yet the +fault may have been theirs, or the system's. + +[412] 4th October. + +[413] This had been proposed by the commission for amendment of the +law appointed in the long parliament. The great number of dissenters +from the established religion rendered it a very reasonable measure. + +[414] Thurloe, i. 369; iii. 132. + +[415] Journals, 2nd and 10th Dec. 1653; Whitelock. See the sixth +volume of the _Somers Tracts_, p. 266, for a long and rather able +vindication of this parliament by one of its members. Ludlow also +speaks pretty well of it (p. 471); and says, truly enough, that +Cromwell frightened the lawyers and clergy, by showing what the +parliament meant to do with them, which made them in a hurry to have +it destroyed. See also _Parl. Hist._ 1412, 1414. + +[416] See the instrument of government in Whitelock, p. 571; or +_Somers Tracts_, vi. 257. Ludlow says, that some of the officers +opposed this; but Lambert forced it down their throats. P. 276. +Cromwell made good use of this temporary power. The union of Scotland +with England was by one of these ordinances, April 12 (Whitelock, +586); and he imposed an assessment of £120,000 monthly, for three +months, and £90,000 for the next three, instead of £70,000, which had +been paid before (_Id._ 591), besides many other ordinances of a +legislative nature. "I am very glad," says Fleetwood (Feb. 1655, +Thurloe, iii. 183), "to hear his highness has declined the legislative +power, which by the instrument of government, in my opinion, he could +not exercise after this last parliament's meeting." And the parliament +of 1656, at the Protector's desire, confirmed all ordinances made +since the dissolution of the long parliament. Thurloe, vi. 243. + +[417] I infer this from the report of a committee of privileges on the +election for Lynn, Oct. 20, 1656. See also Journals, Nov. 26, 1654. + +[418] It is remarkable that Clarendon seems to approve this model of a +parliament, saying, "it was then generally looked upon as an +alteration fit to be more warrantably made, and in a better time." + +[419] Bordeaux, the French ambassador, says, "some were for Bradshaw +as speaker, but the Protector's party carried it for Lenthall. By this +beginning one may judge what the authority of the lord protector will +be in this parliament. However it was observed that as often as he +spoke in his speech of liberty or religion, the members did seem to +rejoice with acclamations of joy." Thurloe, v. 588. But the election +of Lenthall appears by Guibbon Goddard's Journal, lately published in +the Introduction to Burton's _Diary_, to have been unanimous. + +[420] Journals, 14th and 18th Sept.; _Parl. Hist._ 1445, 1459; +Whitelock, 605, etc.; Ludlow, 499; Goddard's Journal, 32. + +[421] This division is not recorded in the Journals, in consequence, I +suppose, of its having been resolved in a committee of the whole +house. But it is impossible to doubt the fact, which is referred to +Oct. 19 by a letter of Bourdeaux, the French ambassador (Thurloe, ii. +681), who observes, "Hereby it is easily discerned that the nation is +nowise affected to his family, nor much to himself. Without doubt he +will strengthen his army, and keep that in a good posture." It is also +alluded to by Whitelock, 609. They resolved to keep the militia in the +power of the parliament, and that the Protector's negative should +extend only to such bills as might alter the instrument; and in other +cases, if he did not pass bills within twenty days, they were to +become laws without his consent. Journals, Nov. 10, 1654; Whitelock, +608. This was carried against the court by 109 to 85. + +Ludlow insinuates that this parliament did not sit out its legal term +of five months; Cromwell having interpreted the months to be lunar +instead of calendar. Hume has adopted this notion; but it is +groundless, the month in law being always of twenty-eight days, unless +the contrary be expressed. This seems, however, not to have been +generally understood at the time; for Whitelock says that Cromwell's +dissolution of the parliament, because he found them not so pliable to +his purposes as he expected, caused much discontent in them and +others; but that he valued it not, esteeming himself above those +things. P. 618. He gave out that the parliament were concerned in the +conspiracy to bring in the king. + +[422] Exiles are seldom scrupulous: we find that Charles was willing +to propose to the States, in return for their acknowledging his title, +"such present and lasting advantages to them by this alliance as may +appear most considerable to that nation and to their posterity, and a +valuable compensation for whatever present advantages the king can +receive by it." _Clarendon State Papers_, iii. 90. These intrigues +would have justly made him odious in England. + +[423] Ormond wrote strongly to this effect, after the battle of +Worcester, convinced that nothing but foreign assistance could restore +the king. "Amongst protestants there is none that hath the power, and +amongst the catholics it is visible." Carte's _Letters_, i. 461. + +[424] _Clarendon State Papers_, ii. 481 _et sæpe alibi_. The +protestant zeal of Hyde had surely deserted him; and his veracity in +one letter gave way also. See vol. iii. p. 158. But the great +criminality of all these negotiations lay in this, that Charles was by +them soliciting such a measure of foreign aid as would make him at +once the tyrant of England and the vassal of Spain; since no free +parliament, however royalist, was likely to repeal all the laws +against popery. "That which the king will be ready and willing to do, +is to give his consent for the repeal of all the penal laws and +statutes which have been made in the prejudice of catholics, and to +put them into the same condition as his other subjects." Cottington to +Father Bapthorpe. _Id._ 541. These negotiations with Rome were soon +known; and a tract was published by the parliament's authority, +containing the documents. Notwithstanding the delirium of the +restoration, this had made an impression which was not afterwards +effaced. + +[425] _Clarendon State Papers_, iii. 181. + +[426] "The pope very well knows," says Hyde to Clement, an agent at +the court of Rome, 2nd April 1656, "how far the king is from thoughts +of severity against his catholic subjects; nay, that he doth desire to +put them into the same condition with his other subjects, and that no +man shall suffer in any consideration for being a Roman catholic." +_Id._ 291. + +[427] Clarendon's _History of the Rebellion_, b. 14; _State Papers_, +iii. 265, 300, etc. Whitelock observes at this time, "Many sober and +faithful patriots did begin to incline to the king's restoration;" and +hints, that this was his opinion, which excited Cromwell's jealousy of +him. P. 620. + +[428] Clarendon's _History_, vii. 129; _State Papers_, iii. 265, etc. +These levellers were very hostile to the interference of Hyde and +Ormond, judging them too inflexibly attached to the ancient +constitution; but this hostility recommended them to others of the +banished king's court who showed the same sentiments. + +[429] Pp. 315, 324, 343; Thurloe, i. 360, 510. In the same volume (p. +248) we find even a declaration from the king, dated at Paris, 3rd May +1654, offering £500 per annum to any one who should kill Cromwell, and +pardon to any one who should leave that party, except Bradshaw, +Lenthall, and Haslerig. But this seems unlikely to be authentic: +Charles would not have avowed a design of assassination so openly; and +it is strange that Lenthall and Haslerig, especially the former, +should be thus exempted from pardon, rather than so many regicides. + +[430] See what Clarendon says of Ascham's death. _State Papers_, ii. +542. In another place he observes: "It is a worse and a baser thing +that any man should appear in any part beyond sea under the character +of an agent from the rebels, and not have his throat cut." _Id._ iii. +144. + +[431] _State Trials_, 518; Thurloe, ii. 416. Some of the malecontent +commonwealth men were also eager to get rid of Cromwell by +assassination; Wildman, Saxby, Titus. Syndercome's story is well +known; he was connected in the conspiracy with those already +mentioned. The famous pamphlet by Titus, "Killing no Murder," was +printed in 1657. _Clarendon State Papers_, 315, 324, 343. + +[432] A very reprehensible passage occurs in Clarendon's account of +this transaction (vol. vii. p. 140), where he blames and derides the +insurgents for not putting Chief Justice Rolle and others to death, +which would have been a detestable and useless murder. + +[433] Whitelock, 618, 620; Ludlow, 513; Thurloe, iii. 264, and through +more than half the volume, _passim_. In the preceding volume we have +abundant proofs how completely master Cromwell was of the royalist +schemes. The "sealed knot" of the king's friends in London is +mentioned as frequently as we find it in the _Clarendon Papers_ at the +same time. + +[434] Thurloe, iii. 371, etc. "Penruddock and Grove," Ludlow says, +"could not have been justly condemned, if they had as sure a +foundation in what they declared for, as what they declared against. +But certainly it can never be esteemed by a wise man to be worth the +scratch of a finger to remove a single person acting by an arbitrary +power, in order to set up another with the same unlimited +authority."--P. 518. This is a just and manly sentiment. Woe to those +who do not recognise it! But is it fair to say that the royalists were +contending to set up an unlimited authority? + +[435] They were originally ten, Lambert, Desborough, Whalley, Goffe, +Fleetwood, Skippon, Kelsey, Butler, Worseley, and Berry. Thurloe, iii. +701. Barkstead was afterwards added. "The major-generals," says +Ludlow, "carried things with unheard-of insolence in their several +precincts, decimating to extremity whom they pleased, and interrupting +the proceedings at law upon petitions of those who pretended +themselves aggrieved; threatening such as would not yield a ready +submission to their orders with transportation to Jamaica, or some +other plantations in the West Indies," etc.--P. 559. + +[436] Thurloe, vol. iv. _passim_. The unpopularity of Cromwell's +government appears strongly in the letters of this collection. +Duckinfield, a Cheshire gentleman, writes: "Charles Stuart hath 500 +friends in these adjacent counties for every one friend to you amongst +them." Vol. iii. 294. + +[437] It may be fair towards Cromwell to give his own apology for the +decimation of the royalists, in a declaration, published 1655. "It is +a trouble to us to be still rubbing upon the old sore, disobliging +those whom we hoped time and patience might make friends; but we can +with comfort appeal to God, and dare also to their own consciences, +whether this way of proceeding with them hath been the matter of our +choice, or that which we have sought an occasion for; or whether, +contrary to our own inclinations and the constant course of our +carriage towards them, which hath been to oblige them by kindness to +forsake their former principles, which God hath so often and so +eminently bore witness against, we have not been constrained and +necessitated hereunto, and without the doing whereof we should have +been wanting to our duty to God and these nations. + +"That character of difference between them and the rest of the people +which is now put upon them is occasioned by themselves, not by us. +There is nothing they have more industriously laboured in than this; +to keep themselves distinguished from the well-affected of this +nation: To which end they have kept their conversation apart; as if +they would avoid the very beginnings of union, have bred and educated +their children by the sequestered and ejected clergy, and very much +confined their marriages and alliances within their own party, as if +they meant to entail their quarrel, and prevent the means to reconcile +posterity; which with the great pains they take upon all occasions to +lessen and suppress the esteem and honour of the English nation in all +their actions and undertakings abroad, striving withal to make other +nations distinguish their interest from it, gives us ground to judge +that they have separated themselves from the body of the nation; and +therefore we leave it to all mankind to judge whether we ought not to +be timely jealous of that separation, and to proceed so against them +as they may be at the charge of those remedies which are required +against the dangers they have bred." + +[438] Ludlow, 528; Clarendon, etc. Clarendon relates the same story, +with additional circumstances of Cromwell's audacious contempt for the +courts of justice, and for the very name of magna charta. + +[439] _State Trials_, vi.; Whitelock advised the protector to proceed +according to law against Hewit and Slingsby; "but his highness was too +much in love with the new way."--P. 673. + +[440] The late editor of the _State Trials_, v. 935, has introduced a +sort of episodical dissertation on the administration of justice +during the commonwealth, with the view, as far as appears, of setting +Cromwell in a favourable light. For this purpose he quotes several +passages of vague commendation from different authors, and among +others one from Burke, written in haste, to serve an immediate +purpose, and evidently from a very superficial recollection of our +history. It has been said that Cromwell sought out men of character +from the party most opposite to his designs. The proof given is the +appointment of Hale to be a puisné judge. But Hale had not been a +royalist, that is, an adherent of Charles, and had taken the +engagement as well as the covenant. It was no great effort of virtue +to place an eminent lawyer and worthy man on the bench. And it is to +be remembered that Hale fell under the usurper's displeasure for +administering justice with an impartiality that did not suit his +government; and ceased to go the circuit, because the criminal law was +not allowed to have its course. + +[441] Thurloe writes to Montague (Carte's _Letters_, ii. 110) that he +cannot give him the reasons for calling this parliament, except in +cipher. He says in the same place of the committal of Ludlow, Vane, +and others, "There was a necessity not only for peace sake to do this, +but to let the nation see those that govern are in good earnest, and +intend not to quit the government wholly into the hands of the +parliament, as some would needs make the world believe."--P. 112. His +first direct allusion to the projected change is in writing to Henry +Cromwell, 9th Dec. 1656. _Thurl. Papers_, v. 194. The influence +exerted by his legates, the major-generals, appears in Thurloe, v. 299 +_et post_. But they complained of the elections. _Id._ 302, 341, 371. + +[442] Whitelock, 650; _Parl. Hist._ 1486. On a letter to the speaker +from the members who had been refused admittance at the door of the +lobby, Sept. 18, the house ordered the clerk of the commonwealth to +attend next day with all the indentures. The deputy clerk came +accordingly, with an excuse for his principal, and brought the +indentures; but on being asked why the names of certain members were +not returned to the house, answered that he had no certificate of +approbation for them. The house on this sent to inquire of the council +why these members had not been approved. They returned for answer, +that whereas it is ordained by a clause in the instrument of +government that the persons who shall be elected to serve in +parliament shall be such and no other than such as are persons of +known integrity, fearing God, and of good conversation; that the +council, in pursuance of their duty, and according to the trust +reposed in them, have examined the said returns, and have not refused +to approve any who have appeared to them to be persons of integrity, +fearing God, and of good conversation; and those who are not approved, +his highness hath given order to some persons to take care that they +do not come into the house. Upon this answer, an adjournment was +proposed, but lost by 115 to 80: and it being moved that the persons, +who have been returned from the several counties, cities, and boroughs +to serve in this parliament, and have not been approved, be referred +to the council for approbation, and that the house do proceed with the +great affairs of the nation; the question was carried by 125 to 29. +Journals, Sept. 22. + +[443] _Clar. State Papers_, iii. 201, etc. + +[444] The whole conference that took place at Whitehall, between +Cromwell and the committee of parliament on this subject, was +published by authority, and may be read in the _Somers Tracts_, vi. +349. It is very interesting. The lawyers did not hesitate to support +the proposition, on the ground of the more definite and legal +character of a king's authority. "The king's prerogative," says Glyn, +"is known by law; he (King Charles) did expatiate beyond the duty; +that's the evil of the man: but in Westminster Hall the king's +prerogative was under the courts of justice, and is bounded as well as +any acre of land, or anything a man hath, as much as any controversy +between party and party: and therefore the office being lawful in its +nature, known to the nation, certain in itself, and confined and +regulated by the law, and the other office not being so, that was a +great ground of the reason why the parliament did so much insist upon +this office and title, not as circumstantial, but as essential."--P. +359. See also what Lenthall says (p. 356) against the indefiniteness +of the protector's authority. + +Those passages were evidently implied censures of the late course of +government. Cromwell's indistinct and evasive style in his share of +this debate betrays the secret inclinations of his heart. He kept his +ultimate intentions, however, very secret; for Thurloe's professes his +ignorance of them, even in writing to Henry Cromwell. Vol. vi. p. 219 +_et post_. This correspondence shows that the prudent secretary was +uneasy at the posture of affairs, and the manifest dissatisfaction of +Fleetwood and Desborough, which had a dangerous influence on others +less bound to the present family; yet he had set his heart on this +mode of settlement, and was much disappointed at his master's ultimate +refusal. + +[445] Clarendon's _Hist._ vii. 194. It appears by Clarendon's private +letters that he had expected to see Cromwell assume the title of king +from the year 1654. Vol. iii. pp. 201, 223, 224. If we may trust what +is here called an intercepted letter (p. 328), Mazarin had told +Cromwell that France would enter into a strict league with him, if he +could settle himself in the throne, and make it hereditary; to which +he answered, that he designed shortly to take the crown, restore the +two houses, and govern by the ancient laws. But this may be +apocryphal. + +[446] Clar. vii. 203. + +[447] Ludlow, p. 581. The major-generals, or at least many of them, +joined the opposition to Cromwell's royalty. _Id._ p. 586; _Clar. +State Papers_, 332. + +[448] This appears from the following passage in a curious letter of +Mr. Vincent Gookin to Henry Cromwell, 27th Jan. 1657. "To-morrow the +bill for decimating the cavaliers comes again into debate. It is +debated with much heat by the major-generals, and as hotly almost by +the anti-decimators. I believe the bill will be thrown out of the +house. In my opinion those that speak against the bill have much to +say in point of moral justice and prudence; but that which makes me +fear the passing of the bill is, that thereby his highness's +government will be more founded in force, and more removed from that +natural foundation which the people in parliament are desirous to give +him; supposing that he will become more theirs than now he is, and +will in time find the safety and peace of the nation to be as well +maintained by the laws of the land as by the sword. And truly, sir, if +any others have pretensions to succeed him by their interest in the +army, the more of force upholds his highness living, the greater when +he is dead will be the hopes and advantages for such a one to effect +his aim, who desires to succeed him. Lambert is much for decimations." +Thurloe, vi. 20. He writes again, "I am confident it is judged by some +that the interest of the godly cannot be preserved but by the +dissolution of this, if not all, parliaments; and their endeavours in +it have been plainly discovered to the party most concerned to know +them; which will, I believe, suddenly occasion a reducing of the +government to kingship, to which his highness is not averse. Pierpoint +and St. John have been often, but secretly, at Whitehall, I know, to +advise thereof."--P. 37. Thurloe again to the same Henry Cromwell, on +February 3, that the decimation bill was thrown out by a majority of +forty: "Some gentlemen do think themselves much trampled upon by this +vote, and are extremely sensible thereof; and the truth is, it hath +wrought such a heat in the house, that I fear little will be done for +the future." _Id._ p. 38. No such bill appears, _eo nomine_, in the +journals. But a bill for regulating the militia forces was thrown out, +Jan. 29, by 124 to 88, Col. Cromwell (Oliver's cousin) being a teller +for the majority. Probably there was some clause in this renewing the +decimation of the royalists. + +[449] Whitelock, who was consulted by Cromwell on this business, and +took an active part as one of the committee of conference appointed by +the House of Commons, intimates that the project was not really laid +aside. "He was satisfied in his private judgment that it was fit for +him to take upon him the title of king, and matters were prepared in +order thereunto; but afterwards, by solicitation of the commonwealth's +men, and fearing a mutiny and defection of a great part of the army, +in case he should assume that title and office, his mind changed, and +many of the officers of the army gave out great threatenings against +him in case he should do it; he therefore thought it best to attend +some better season and opportunity in this business, and refused it at +this time with great seeming earnestness."--P. 656. The chief advisers +with Cromwell on this occasion, besides Whitelock, were Lord Broghill, +Pierrepont, Thurloe, and Sir Charles Wolseley. Many passages in +Thurloe (vol. vii.) show that Cromwell preserved to the last his views +on royalty. + +[450] Whitelock, 657. It had been agreed, in discussing the petition +and advice in parliament, to postpone the first article requesting the +protector to assume the title of king, till the rest of the _charter_ +(to use a modern but not inapplicable word) had been gone through. One +of the subsequent articles, fixing the revenue at £1,300,000 per +annum, provides that no part thereof should be raised by a land-tax, +"and this not to be altered without the consent of the _three estates +in parliament_." A division took place, in consequence, no doubt, of +this insidious expression, which was preserved by 97 to 50. Journals, +13th March. The first article was carried, after much debate on March +24, by 123 to 62. It stood thus: "Resolved, That your highness will be +pleased to assume the name, style, dignity, and office of king of +England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the respective dominions and +territories thereunto belonging; and to exercise the same according to +the laws of these nations." On Cromwell's first demurring to the +proposal, it was resolved to adhere to the petition and advice by the +small majority of 78 to 65. This was perhaps a sufficient warning that +he should not proceed. + +[451] Journals, 21st June. This oath, which effectually declared the +parliament to be the protector's subjects, was only carried by 63 to +55. Lambert refused it, and was dismissed the army in consequence, +with a pension of £2000 per annum, instead of his pay, £10 a day. So +well did they cater for themselves. Ludlow, 593. Broderick wrote to +Hyde, June 30, 1657, that there was a general tranquillity in England, +all parties seeming satisfied with the compromise; Fleetwood and +Desborough more absolutely Cromwell's friends than before, and Lambert +very silent. _Clar. State Papers_, 349. + +[452] Thurloe, vi. 310. + +[453] Compare Journals, 11th March with 24th June. + +[454] Whitelock, 665. They were to have a judicial power, much like +that of the real House of Lords. Journals, March. + +[455] Whitelock; _Parl. Hist._ The former says this was done against +his advice. These debates about the other house are to be traced in +the Journals, and are mentioned by Thurloe, vi. 107, etc.; and Ludlow, +597. Not one of the true peers, except Lord Eure, took his seat in +this house; and Haslerig, who had been nominated merely to weaken his +influence, chose to retain his place in the Commons. The list of these +pretended lords in Thurloe, vi. 668, is not quite the same as that in +Whitelock. + +[456] This junto of nine debated how they might be secure against the +cavaliers. One scheme was an oath of abjuration; but this it was +thought they would all take: another was to lay a heavy tax on them: +"a moiety of their estates was spoken of; but this, I suppose, will +not down with all the nine, and least of all will it be swallowed by +the parliament, who will not be persuaded to punish both nocent and +innocent without distinction." 22nd June, Thurloe, vol. vii. p. 198. +And again, p. 269: "I believe we are out of danger of our junto, and I +think also of ever having such another. As I take it, the report was +made to his highness upon Thursday. After much consideration, the +major part voted that succession in the government was indifferent +whether it were by election or hereditary; but afterwards some would +needs add that it was desirable to have it continued elective; that +is, that the chief magistrate should always name his successor; and +that of hereditary avoided; and I fear the word 'desirable' will be +made 'necessary,' if ever it come upon the trial. His highness finding +he can have no advice from those he most expected it from, saith he +will take his own resolutions, and that he can no longer satisfy +himself to sit still, and make himself guilty of the loss of all the +honest party and of the nation itself." + +[457] Harris, p. 348, has collected some curious instances of the +servility of crowned heads to Cromwell. + +[458] See Clarendon, vii. 297. He saved Nismes from military execution +on account of a riot, wherein the Huguenots seem to have been much to +blame. In the treaty between England and France, 1654, the French, in +agreeing to the secret article about the exclusion of the royalists, +endeavoured to make it reciprocal, that the commissioners of rebels in +France should not be admitted in England. This did not seem very +outrageous--but Cromwell objected that the French protestants would be +thus excluded from imploring the assistance of England, if they were +persecuted; protesting, however, that he was very far from having any +thought to draw them from their obedience, as had been imputed to him, +and that he would arm against them, if they should offer frivolously +and without a cause to disturb the peace of France. Thurloe, iii. 6. +In fact, the French protestants were in the habit of writing to +Thurloe, as this collection testifies, whenever they thought +themselves injured, which happened frequently enough. Cromwell's noble +zeal in behalf of the Vaudois is well known. See this volume of +Thurloe, p. 412, etc. Mazarin and the catholic powers in general +endeavoured to lye down that massacre; but the usurper had too much +protestant spirit to believe them. _Id._ 536. + +[459] Ludlow, 607; Thurloe, i. and ii. _passim_. + +[460] Mrs. Macauley, who had nothing of compromise or conciliation in +her temper, and breathed the entire spirit of Vane and Ludlow, makes +some vigorous and just animadversions on the favour shown to Cromwell +by some professors of a regard for liberty. The dissenting writers, +such as Neal, and in some measure Harris, were particularly open to +this reproach. He long continued (perhaps the present tense is more +appropriate) to be revered by the independents. One who well knew the +manners he paints, has described the secret idolatry of that sect to +their hero-saint. See Crabbe's _Tale of the Frank Courtship_. + +Slingsly Bethell, an exception perhaps to the general politics of this +sect, published in 1667 a tract, entitled "The World's Mistake in +Oliver Cromwell," with the purpose of decrying his policy and +depreciating his genius. Harleian Miscellany, i. 280. But he who goes +about to prove the world mistaken in its estimate of a public +character has always a difficult cause to maintain. Bethell, like Mrs. +Macauley and others, labours to set up the Rump parliament against the +soldier who kicked them; and asserts that Cromwell, having found +£500,000 in ready money, with the value of £700,000 in stores, and the +army in advance of their pay (subject, however, to a debt of near +£500,000); the customs and excise bringing in nearly a million +annually, left a debt which, in Richard's parliament, was given in at +£1,900,000, though he believes this to have been purposely exaggerated +in order to procure supplies. I cannot say how far these sums are +correct; but it is to be kept in mind, that one great resource of the +parliament, confiscation, sequestration, composition, could not be +repeated for ever. Neither of these governments, it will be found on +inquiry, were economical, especially in respect to the emoluments of +those concerned in them. + +[461] Whitelock, 674; Ludlow, 611, 624. Lord Fauconberg writes in +cipher to Henry Cromwell, on Aug. 30, that "Thurloe has seemed +resolved to press him in his intervals to such a nomination (of a +successor); but whether out of apprehensions to displease him if +recovering, or others hereafter, if it should not succeed, he has not +yet done it, nor do I believe will." Thurloe, however, announces on +Sept. 4, that "his highness was pleased before his death to declare my +Lord Richard successor. He did it on Monday; and the Lord hath so +ordered it, that the council and army hath received him with all +manner of affection. He is this day proclaimed, and hitherto there +seems great face of peace; the Lord continue it." _Thurloe State +Papers_, vii. 365, 372. Lord Fauconberg afterwards confirms the fact +of Richard's nomination. P. 375; and see 415. + +[462] "Many sober men that called his father no better than a +traitorous hypocrite, did begin to think that they owed him [R. C.] +subjection," etc. Baxter, 100. + +[463] Hutchinson, 343. She does not name Pierrepont, but I have little +doubt that he is meant. + +[464] Richard's conduct is more than once commended in the +correspondence of Thurloe, pp. 491, 497; and in fact he did nothing +amiss during his short administration. + +[465] Thurloe, vii. 320 _et post_, _passim_, in letters both from +himself and Lord Fauconberg. Thus, immediately on Richard's accession, +the former writes to Henry Cromwell, "It hath pleased God hitherto to +give his highness your brother a very easy and peaceable entrance upon +his government. There is not a dog that wags his tongue, so great a +calm we are in.... But I must needs acquaint your excellency that +there are some secret murmurings in the army, as if his highness were +not general of the army as his father was," etc. P. 374. Here was the +secret: the officers did not like to fall back under the civil power, +by obeying one who was not a soldier. This soon displayed itself +openly; and Lord Fauconberg thought the game was over as early as +Sept. 28. P. 413. It is to be observed that Fauconberg was secretly a +royalist, and might hope to bring over his brother-in-law. + +[466] _Id._ 573. + +[467] Lord Fauconberg says, "the commonwealth men in the parliament +were very numerous, and beyond measure bold, but more than doubly +overbalanced by the sober party; so that, though this make their +results slow, we see no great cause as yet to fear."--P. 612. And Dr. +Barwick, a correspondent of Lord Clarendon, tells him the republicans +were the minority, but all speakers, zealous and diligent--it was +likely to end in a titular protector without militia or negative +voice. P. 615. + +According to a letter from Allen Broderick to Hyde (_Clar. St. Pap._ +iii. 443) there were 47 republicans, from 100 to 140 neuters or +moderates (including many royalists), and 170 court lawyers, or +officers. + +[468] Ludlow tells us, that he contrived to sit in the house without +taking the oath, and that some others did the same. P. 619. + +[469] Whitelock, _Parl. Hist._ 1530, 1541. + +[470] The numbers are differently, but, I suppose, erroneously stated +in Thurloe, vii. 640. It is said, in a pamphlet of the time, that this +clause was introduced to please the cavaliers, who acted with the +court; _Somers Tracts_, vi. 482. Ludlow seems also to think that these +parties were united in this parliament (p. 629); but this seems not +very probable, and is contrary to some things we know. Clarendon had +advised that the royalists should try to get into parliament, and +there to oppose all raising of money, and everything else that might +tend to settle the government. _Clar. State Papers_, 411. This of +course was their true game. + +It is said that, Richard pressing the Earl of Northumberland to sit in +the other house, he declined, urging that when the government was such +as his predecessors had served under, he would serve him with his life +and fortune. _Id._ 433. + +[471] _Parl. Hist._; Journals, 27 Jan., 14, 18 Feb., 1, 8, 21, 23, 28 +March. The names of the tellers in these divisions show the +connections of leading individuals: we find indifferently presbyterian +and republican names for the minority, as Fairfax, Lambert, Nevil, +Haslerig, Townshend, Booth. + +[472] There seems reason to believe that Richard would have met with +more support both in the house and among the nation, if he had not +been oppressed by the odium of some of his father's counsellors. A +general indignation was felt at those who had condemned men to death +in illegal tribunals, whom the republicans and cavaliers were +impatient to bring to justice. He was forced also to employ and to +screen from vengeance his wise and experienced secretary Thurloe, +master of all the secret springs that had moved his father's +government, but obnoxious from the share he had taken in illegal and +arbitrary measures. Petitions were presented to the house from several +who had been committed to the Tower upon short written orders, without +any formal warrant, or expressed cause of commitment. In the case of +one of these, Mr. Portman, the house resolved that his apprehension, +imprisonment, and detention in the Tower was illegal and unjust. +Journals, 26 Feb. A still more flagrant tyranny was that frequently +practised by Cromwell of sending persons disaffected to him as slaves +to the West Indies. One Mr. Thomas petitioned the House of Commons, +complaining that he had been thus sold as a slave. A member of the +court side justified it on the score of his being a malignant. +Major-General Browne, a secret royalist, replied that he was +nevertheless an Englishman and free-born. Thurloe had the presumption +to say that he had not thought to live to see the day, when such a +thing as this, so justly and legally done by lawful authority, should +be brought before parliament. Vane replied that he did not think to +have seen the day, when free-born Englishmen should be sold for slaves +by such an arbitrary government. There were, it seems, not less than +fifty gentlemen, sold for slaves at Barbadoes. _Clarendon State +Papers_, p. 447. The royalists had planned to attack Thurloe for some +of these unjustifiable proceedings, which would have greatly +embarrassed the government. _Ibid_, 423, 428. They hoped that Richard +would be better disposed towards the king, if his three advisers, St. +John, Thurloe, and Pierrepont, all implacable to their cause, could be +removed. But they were not strong enough in the house. If Richard, +however, had continued in power, he must probably have sacrificed +Thurloe to public opinion; and the consciousness of this may have led +this minister to advise the dissolution of the parliament, and perhaps +to betray his master, from the suspicion of which he is not free. + +It ought to be remarked what an outrageous proof of Cromwell's tyranny +is exhibited in this note. Many writers glide favourably over his +administration, or content themselves with treating it as an +usurpation, which can furnish no precedent, and consequently does not +merit particular notice; but the effect of this generality is, that +the world forms an imperfect notion of the degree of arbitrary power +which he exerted; and I believe there are many who take Charles the +First, and even Charles the Second, for greater violators of the laws +than the protector. Neal and Harris are full of this dishonest +bigotry. Since this note was first printed, the publication of +Burton's _Diary_ has confirmed its truth, which had rashly been called +in question by a passionate and prejudiced reviewer. See Vol. iv. p. +253, etc. + +[473] Richard advised with Broghill, Fiennes, Thurloe, and others of +his council, all of whom, except Whitelock, who informs us of this, +were in favour of the dissolution. This caused, he says, much trouble +to honest men; the cavaliers and republicans rejoiced at it; many of +Richard's council were his enemies. P. 177. The army at first intended +to raise money by their own authority; but this was deemed impossible, +and it was resolved to recall the Long Parliament. Lambert and +Haslerig accordingly met Lenthall, who was persuaded to act again as +speaker; though, if Ludlow is right, against his will, being now +connected with the court, and in the pretended House of Lords. The +parliament now consisted of 91 members. _Parl. Hist._ 1547. Harris +quotes a manuscript journal of Montagu, afterwards Earl of Sandwich, +wherein it is said that Richard's great error was to dissolve the +parliament, and that he might have over-ruled the army, if he would +have employed himself, Ingoldsby, Lord Fauconberg, and others, who +were suspected to be for the king. _Life of Charles II._ 194. He +afterwards (p. 203) quotes Calamy's _Life of Howe_ for the assertion +that Richard stood out against his council, with Thurloe alone, that +the parliament should not be dissolved. This is very unlikely. + +[474] This was carried against the previous question by 163 to 87. +Journals Abr. III. Some of the protector's friends were alarmed at so +high a vote against the army, which did in fact bring the matter to a +crisis. Thurloe, vii. 659 _et post_. + +[475] The army according to Ludlow, had not made up their minds how to +act after the dissolution of the parliament, and some were inclined to +go on with Richard; but the republican party, who had coalesced with +that faction of officers who took their denomination from Wallingford +House, their place of meeting, insisted on the restoration of the old +parliament; though they agreed to make some provision for Richard. +_Memoirs_, pp. 635-646. Accordingly it was voted to give him an income +of £10,000 per annum. Journals, July 16. + +[476] Journals, Sept. 23 _et post_; Whitelock, 683; _Parl. Hist._ +1562; Thurloe, vii. 703 _et post_. Ludlow's account of this period is +the most interesting part of his _Memoirs_. The chief officers, it +appears from his narrative, were soon disgusted with their republican +allies, and "behaved with all imaginable perverseness and insolence" +in the council of state, whenever they came there, which was but +seldom, scrupling the oath to be true to the commonwealth against +Charles Stuart or any other person. P. 657. He censures, however, the +violence of Haslerig, "a man of a disobliging temper, sour and morose +of temper, liable to be transported with passion, and in whom +liberality seemed to be a vice. Yet to do him justice, I must +acknowledge that I am under no manner of doubt concerning the +rectitude and sincerity of his intentions."--P. 718. Ludlow gave some +offence to the hot-headed republicans by his half compliance with the +army; and much disapproved the proceedings they adopted after their +second restoration in December 1659, against Vane and others. P. 800. +Yet, though nominated on the committee of safety, on the expulsion of +the parliament in October, he never sat on it, as Vane and Whitelock +did. + +[477] Journals, and other authorities above cited. + +[478] The Rota Club, as it was called, was composed, chiefly at least, +of these dealers in new constitutions, which were debated in due form. +Harrington was one of the most conspicuous. + +[479] Thurloe, vi. 579; _Clarendon State Papers_, 391, 395. + +[480] Carte's _Letters_, ii. 118. In a letter of Ormond to Hyde about +this time, he seems to have seen into the king's character, and speaks +of him severely: "I fear his immoderate delight in empty, effeminate, +and vulgar conversations, is become an irresistible part of his +nature," etc. _Clarendon State Papers_, iii. 387. + +[481] _Clarendon Papers_, 391, 418, 460 _et post_. Townshend, a young +man who seems to have been much looked up to, was not, in fact, a +presbyterian, but is reckoned among them as not being a cavalier, +having come of age since the wars, and his family neutral. + +[482] This curious fact appears for the first time, I believe, in the +_Clarendon State Papers_, unless it is anywhere intimated in Carte's +collection of the Ormond letters. In the former collection we find +several allusions to it; the first is in a letter from Rumbold, a +royalist emissary, to Hyde, dated Dec. 2, 1658, p. 421; from which I +collect Lord Fauconberg's share in this intrigue; which is also +confirmed by a letter of Mordaunt to the king, in p. 423. "The Lord +Falconbridge protests that Cromwell is so remiss a person that he +cannot play his own game, much less another man's, and is thereby +discouraged from acting in business, having also many enemies who +oppose his gaining either power or interest in the army or civil +government, because they conceive his principles contrary to theirs. +He says, Thurloe governs Cromwell, and St. John and Pierrepont govern +Thurloe; and therefore is not likely he will think himself in danger +till these tell him so, nor seek a diversion of it but by their +councils." Feb. 10, 1659. These ill-grounded hopes of Richard's +accession to their cause appear in several other letters, and even +Hyde seems to have given in to them. 434, 454, etc. Broderick, another +active emissary of the royalists, fancied that the three +above-mentioned would restore the king if they dared (477); but this +is quite unlikely. + +[483] P. 469. This was carried on through Colonel Henry Cromwell, his +cousin. It is said that Richard had not courage to sign the letters to +Monk and his other friends, which he afterwards repented. 491. The +intrigues still went on with him for a little longer. This was in May +1659. + +[484] _Clarendon State Papers_, 434, 500 _et post_; Thurloe, vi. 686. +See also an enigmatical letter to Henry Cromwell, 629, which certainly +hints at his union with the king; and Carte's _Letters_, ii. 293. + +[485] _Clarendon State Papers_, 552, 556, etc. + +[486] Clarendon confesses (_Life_, p. 20) that the cavaliers disliked +this whole intrigue with the presbyterians, which was planned by +Mordaunt, the most active and intelligent agent that the king +possessed in England. The former, doubtless, perceived that by +extending the basis of the coalition, they should lose all chance of +indemnity for their own sufferings: besides which, their timidity and +irresolution are manifest in all the Clarendon correspondence at this +period. See particularly 491, 520. + +[487] Willis had done all in his power to obstruct the rising. +Clarendon was very slow in believing this treachery, of which he had +at length conclusive proofs. 552, 562. + +[488] _Id._ 514, 530, 536, 543. + +[489] _Clarendon Papers_, 425, 427, 458, 462, 475, 526, 579. It is +evident that the catholics had greater hopes from the duke than from +the king, and considered the former as already their own. A remarkable +letter of Morley to Hyde, April 24, 1659, p. 458, shows the suspicions +already entertained of him by the writer in point of religion; and +Hyde is plainly not free from apprehension that he might favour the +scheme of supplanting his brother. The intrigue might have gone a +great way, though we may now think it probable that their alarm +magnified the danger. "Let me tell you," says Sir Antony Ashley Cooper +in a letter to Hyde, "that Wildman is as much an enemy now to the king +as he was before a seeming friend; yet not upon the account of a +commonwealth, for his ambition meets with every day repulses and +affronts from that party; but upon a finer spun design of setting up +the interest of the Duke of York against the king; in which design I +fear you will find confederated the Duke of Bucks, who perhaps may +draw away with him Lord Fairfax, the presbyterians, levellers, and +many catholics. I am apt to think these things are not transacted +without the privity of the queen; and I pray God that they have not an +ill influence upon your affairs in France."--475. Buckingham was +surmised to have been formally reconciled to the church of Rome. 427. +Some supposed that he, with his friend Wildman, were for a republic. +But such men are for nothing but the intrigue of the moment. These +projects of Buckingham to set up the Duke of York are hinted at in a +pamphlet by Shaftesbury or one of his party, written about 1680. +_Somers Tracts_, viii. 342. + +[490] Hyde writes to the Duke of Ormond: "I pray inform the king that +Fleetwood makes great professions of being converted, and of a +resolution to serve the king upon the first opportunity." Oct. 11, +1659. Carte's _Letters_, ii. 231. See _Clarendon State Papers_, 551 +(Sept. 2) and 577. But it is said afterwards, that he had "not courage +enough to follow the honest thoughts which some time possess him" +(592, Oct. 31), and that Manchester, Popham, and others, tried what +they could do with Fleetwood; but "though they left him with good +resolutions, they were so weak as not to continue longer than the next +temptation."--635 (Dec. 27). + +[491] _Id._ 588; Carte's _Letters_, ii. 225. + +[492] Lord Hatton, an old royalist, suggested this humiliating +proposition in terms scarcely less so to the heir of Cerdic and +Fergus. "The race is a _very good gentleman's family_, and kings have +condescended to marry subjects. The lady is pretty, of an +extraordinary sweetness of disposition, and very virtuously and +ingenuously disposed; the father is a person, set aside of his unhappy +engagement, of very great parts and noble inclinations."--_Clarendon +State Papers_, 592. Yet, after all, Miss Lambert was hardly more a +mis-alliance than Hortense Mancini, whom Charles had asked for in +vain. + +[493] _Biogr. Brit._ art. Monk. The royalists continued to entertain +hopes of him, especially after Oliver's death. _Clarendon Papers_, +iii. 393, 395, 396. In a sensible letter of Colepepper to Hyde, Sept. +20, 1658, he points out Monk as able alone to restore the king, and +not absolutely averse to it, either in his principles or affections; +kept hitherto by the vanity of adhering to his professions, and by his +affection to Cromwell, the latter whereof is dissolved both by the +jealousies he entertained of him, and by his death, etc. _Id._ 412. + +[494] Thurloe, vii. 387. Monk wrote about the same time against the +Earl of Argyle, as not a friend to the government. 584. Two years +afterwards he took away his life as being too much so. + +[495] If the account of his chaplain, Dr. Price, republished in +Maseres' _Tracts_, vol. ii., be worthy of trust, Monk gave so much +encouragement to his brother, a clergyman, secretly despatched to +Scotland by Sir John Grenvil, his relation, in June 1659, as to have +approved Sir George Booth's insurrection, and to have been on the +point of publishing a declaration in favour of it. P. 718. But this is +flatly in contradiction of what Clarendon asserts, that the general +not only sent away his brother with no hopes, but threatened to hang +him if he came again on such an errand. And, in fact, if anything so +favourable as what Price tells us had occurred, the king could not +fail to have known it. See _Clarendon State Papers_, iii. 543. This +throws some suspicion on Price's subsequent narrative (so far as it +professes to relate the general's intentions); so that I rely far less +on it than on Monk's own behaviour, which seems irreconcilable with +his professions of republican principles. It is, however, an obscure +point of history, which will easily admit of different opinions. + +The story told by Locke, on Lord Shaftesbury's authority, that Monk +had agreed with the French ambassador to take on himself the +government, wherein he was to have the support of Mazarin, and that +his wife, having overheard what was going forward, sent notice to +Shaftesbury, who was thus enabled to frustrate the intrigue (Locke's +Works, iii. 456), seems to have been confirmed lately by Mr. +D'Israeli, in an extract from the manuscript memoirs of Sir Thomas +Browne (_Curiosities of Literature_, N. S. vol. ii.), but in terms so +nearly resembling those of Locke, that it seems to be an echo. It is +certain, as we find by Phillips's continuation of Baker's _Chronicle_ +(said to be assisted, in this part, by Sir Thomas Clarges, Monk's +brother-in-law), that Bourdeaux, the French ambassador, did make such +overtures to the general, who absolutely refused to enter upon them; +but, as the writer admits, received a visit from the ambassador on +condition that he should propose nothing in relation to public +matters. I quote from Kennet's _Register_, 85. But, according to my +present impression, this is more likely to have been the foundation of +Shaftesbury's story, who might have heard from Mrs. Monk the +circumstance of the visit, and conceived suspicions upon it, which he +afterwards turned into proofs. It was evidently not in Monk's power to +have usurped the government, after he had let the royalist +inclinations of the people show themselves; and he was by no means of +a rash character. He must have taken his resolution when the secluded +members were restored to the house (Feb. 21); and this alleged +intrigue with Mazarin could hardly have been so early. + +It may be added that in one of the pamphlets about the time of the +exclusion bill, written by Shaftesbury himself or one of his party +(_Somers Tracts_, viii. 338), he is hinted to have principally brought +about the restoration; "without whose courage and dexterity some men, +the most highly rewarded, had done otherwise than they did." But this +still depends on his veracity. + +[496] Whitelock, 690. + +[497] The engagement was repeated March 13. This was of itself +tantamount to a declaration in favour of the king; though perhaps the +previous order of March 5, that the solemn league and covenant should +be read in churches, was still more so. Prynne was the first who had +the boldness to speak for the king, declaring his opinion that the +parliament was dissolved by the death of Charles the First; he was +supported by one or two more. _Clar. Papers_, 696; Thurloe, vii. 854; +Carte's _Letters_, ii. 312. Prynne wrote a pamphlet advising the peers +to meet and issue writs for a new parliament, according to the +provisions of the triennial act; which in fact was no bad expedient. +_Somers Tracts_, vi. 534. + +A speech of Sir Harbottle Grimston before the close of the parliament, +March 1660, is more explicit for the king's restoration than anything +which I have seen elsewhere; and as I do not know that it has been +printed, I will give an extract from the Harleian MS. 1576. + +He urges it as necessary to be done by them, and not left for the next +parliament, who all men believed would restore him. "This is so true +and so well understood, that we all believe that whatsoever our +thoughts are, this will be the opinion of the succeeding parliament, +whose concerns as well as affections will make them active for his +introduction. And I appeal then to your own judgments whether it is +likely that those persons, as to their particular interest more +unconcerned, and probably less knowing in the affairs of the nation, +can or would obtain for any those terms or articles as we are yet in a +capacity to procure both for them and us. I must confess sincerely +that it would be as strange to me as a miracle, did I not know that +God infatuates whom he designs to destroy, that we can see the king's +return so unavoidable, and yet be no more studious of serving him, or +at least ourselves, in the managing of his recall. + +"The general, that noble personage to whom under God we do and must +owe all the advantages of our past and future changes, will be as far +from opposing us in the design, as the design is removed from the +disadvantage of the nation. He himself is, I am confident, of the same +opinion; and if he has not yet given notice of it to the house, it is +not that he does not look upon it as the best expedient; but he only +forbears to oppose it, that he might not seem to necessitate us, and +by an over early discovery of his own judgment be thought to take from +us the freedom of ours." + +In another place he says, "That the recalling of our king is this only +way (for composure of affairs), is already grown almost as visible as +true; and, were it but confessed of all of whom it is believed, I +should quickly hear from the greatest part of this house what now it +hears alone from me. Had we as little reason to fear as we have too +much, that, if we bring not in the king, he either already is, or +shortly may be, in a capacity of coming in unsent for; methinks the +very knowledge of this right were enough to keep just persons, such as +we would be conceived to be, from being accessary to his longer +absence. We are already, and but justly, reported to have been the +occasion of our prince's banishment; we may then, with reason and +equal truth, for ought I know, be thought to have been the contrivers +of it; unless we endeavour the contrary, by not suffering the mischief +to continue longer which is in our power to remove." + +Such passages as these, and the general tenor of public speeches, +sermons, and pamphlets in the spring of 1660, show how little Monk can +be justly said to have restored Charles II.; except so far that he did +not persist in preventing it so long as he might have done. + +[498] _Clarendon State Papers_, 711. + +[499] _Id._ 696. + +[500] _Id._ 678 _et post_. He wrote a letter (Jan. 21) to the gentry +of Devon, who had petitioned the speaker for the re-admission of the +secluded members, objecting to that measure as likely to bring in +monarchy, very judicious, and with an air of sincerity that might +deceive any one; and after the restoration of these secluded members, +he made a speech to them (Feb. 21), strongly against monarchy; and +that so ingenuously, upon such good reasons, so much without invective +or fanaticism, that the professional hypocrites, who were used to +their own tone of imposture, were deceived by his. Cromwell was a mere +bungler to him. See these in Harris's _Charles II._ 296, or _Somers +Tracts_, vi. 551. It cannot be wondered at that the royalists were +exasperated at Monk's behaviour. They published abusive pamphlets +against him in February, from which Kennet, in his _Register_, p. 53, +gives quotations. "Whereas he was the common hopes of all men, he is +now the common hatred of all men, as a traitor more detestable than +Oliver himself, who, though he manacled the citizens' hands, yet never +took away the doors of the city," and so forth. It appears by the +letters of Mordaunt and Broderick to Hyde, and by those of Hyde +himself in the _Clarendon Papers_, that they had no sort of confidence +in Monk till near the end of March; though Barwick, another of his +correspondents, seems to have had more insight into the general's +designs (Thurloe, 852, 860, 870), who had expressed himself to a +friend of the writer, probably Clobery, fully in favour of the king, +before March 19. + +[501] Clar. 699, 705; Thurloe, vii. 860, 870. + +[502] A correspondent of Ormond writes, March 16: "This night the +fatal long parliament hath dissolved itself. All this appears well; +but I believe we shall not be settled upon our ancient foundations +without a war, for which all prepare vigorously and openly."--Carte's +_Letters_, ii. 513. It appears also from a letter of Massey to Hyde, +that a rising in different counties was intended. Thurloe, 854. + +[503] After giving the substance of Monk's speech to the house, +recommending a new parliament, but insisting on commonwealth +principles, Clarendon goes on; "There was no dissimulation in this, in +order to cover and conceal his good intentions to the king; for +without doubt he had not to this hour entertained any purpose or +thought to serve him, but was really of the opinion he expressed in +his paper, that it was a work impossible; and desired nothing but that +he might see a commonwealth established on such a model as Holland +was, where he had been bred, and that himself might enjoy the +authority and place which the Prince of Orange possessed in that +government." + +[504] The _Clarendon_ and _Thurloe Papers_ are full of more proofs of +this than can be quoted, and are very amusing to read, as a +perpetually shifting picture of hopes and fears, and conjectures right +or wrong. Pepys's _Diary_ also, in these two months, strikingly shows +the prevailing uncertainty as to Monk's intentions, as well as the +general desire of having the king brought in. It seems plain that, if +he had delayed a very little longer, he would have lost the whole +credit of the restoration. All parties began to crowd in with +addresses to the king in the first part of April, before Monk was +known to have declared himself. Thurloe, among others, was full of his +offers, though evidently anxious to find out whether the king had an +interest with Monk. P. 898. The royalists had long entertained hopes, +from time to time, of this deep politician; but it is certain he never +wished well to their cause, and with St. John and Pierrepont, had been +most zealous, to the last moment that it seemed practicable, against +the restoration. There had been, so late as February 1660, or even +afterwards, a strange plan of setting up again Richard Cromwell, +wherein not only these three, but Montagu, Jones, and others were +thought to be concerned, erroneously no doubt as to Montagu. +_Clarendon State Papers_, 693; Carte's _Letters_, ii. 310, 330. "One +of the greatest reasons they alledged was, that the king's party, +consisting altogether of indigent men, will become powerful by little +and little to force the king, whatever be his own disposition, to +break any engagement he can now make; and, since the nation is bent on +a single person, none will combine all interests so well as Richard." +This made Monk, it is said, jealous of St. John, and he was chosen at +Cambridge to exclude him. In a letter of Thurloe to Downing at the +Hague, April 6, he says, "that many of the presbyterians are alarmed +at the prospect, and thinking how to keep the king out without joining +the sectaries."--vii. 887. This could hardly be achieved but by +setting up Richard. Yet that, as is truly said in one of the letters +quoted, was ridiculous. None were so conspicuous and intrepid on the +king's side as the presbyterian ministers. Reynolds preached before +the lord mayor, Feb. 28, with manifest allusion to the restoration; +Gauden (who may be reckoned on that side, as conforming to it), on the +same day much more explicitly. Kennet's _Register_, 69. Sharp says, in +a letter to a correspondent in Scotland, that he, Ash, and Calamy had +a long conversation with Monk, March 11, "and convinced him a +commonwealth was impracticable, and to our sense sent him off that +sense he hath hitherto maintained, and came from him as being +satisfied of the necessity of dissolving this house, and calling a new +parliament."--_Id._ p. 81. Baxter thinks the presbyterian ministers, +together with Clarges and Morrice, turned Monk's resolution, and +induced him to declare for the king. _Life_, p. 2. This is a very +plausible conjecture, though I incline to think Monk more disposed +that way by his own judgment or his wife's. But she was influenced by +the presbyterian clergy. They evidently deserved of Charles what they +did not meet with. + +[505] The royalists began too soon with threatening speeches, which +well nigh frustrated their object. _Id._ 721, 722, 727; Carte's +_Letters_, 318; Thurloe, 887. One Dr. Griffith published a little book +vindicating the late king in his war against the parliament, for which +the ruling party were by no means ripe; and, having justified it +before the council, was committed to the Gate-house early in April. +_Id. ibid._ These imprudences occasioned the king's declaration from +Breda. _Somers Tracts_, vi. 562. Another also was published, April 25, +1660, signed by several peers, knights, divines, etc., of the royalist +party, disclaiming all private passions and resentments. Kennet's +_Register_, 120; Clar. vii. 471. But these public professions were +weak disguises, when belied by their current language. See Baxter, +217. Marchmont Needham, in a tract entitled, "Interest will not lye" +(written in answer to an artful pamphlet ascribed to Fell, afterwards +Bishop of Oxford, and reprinted in Maseres's _Tracts_, "The Interest +of England stated"), endeavoured to alarm all other parties, +especially the presbyterians, with representations of the violence +they had to expect from that of the king. See Harris's _Charles II._ +268. + +[506] Proofs of the disposition among this party to revive the treaty +of the Isle of Wight occur perpetually in the Thurloe and Clarendon +Papers, and in those published by Carte. The king's agents in England +evidently expected nothing better; and were, generally speaking, much +for his accepting the propositions. "The presbyterian lords," says Sir +Allen Broderic to Hyde, "with many of whom I have spoken, pretend +that, should the king come in upon any such insurrection, abetted by +those of his own party, he would be more absolute than his father was +in the height of his prerogative. Stay therefore, say they, till we +are ready; our numbers so added will abundantly recompense the delay, +rendering what is now extremely doubtful morally certain, and +establishing his throne upon the true basis, liberty and property." +July 16, 1659. _Clar. State Papers_, 527. + +[507] Clarendon, _Hist. of Rebellion_, vii. 440; _State Papers_, 705, +729. "There is so insolent a spirit among some of the nobility," says +Clarendon, about the middle of February, "that I really fear it will +turn to an aristocracy; Monk inclining that way too. My opinion is +clear, that the king ought not to part with the church, crown, or +friends' lands, lest he make my lord of Northumberland his equal, nay, +perhaps his superior."--P. 680. + +[508] Downing, the minister at the Hague, was one of these. His +overtures to the king were as early as Monk's, at the beginning of +April; he declared his wish to see his majesty restored on good terms, +though many were desirous to make him a doge of Venice. Carte's +_Letters_, ii. 320. See also a remarkable letter of the king to Monk +(dated May 21; but I suspect he used the new style, therefore read May +11), intimating what a service it would be to prevent the imposition +of any terms. Clar. 745. And another from him to Morrice of the same +tenor, May 20 (N. S.), 1660, and hinting that his majesty's friends in +the house had complied with the general in all things, according to +the king's directions, departing from their own sense, and restraining +themselves from pursuing what they thought most for his service. +Thurloe, vii. 912. This perhaps referred to the indemnity and other +provisions then pending in the Commons, or rather to the delay of a +few days before the delivery of Sir John Grenvil's message. + +[509] "Monk came this day (about the first week of April) to the +council, and assured them that, notwithstanding all the appearance of +a general desire of kingly government, yet it was in nowise his sense, +and that he would spend the last drop of his blood to maintain the +contrary."--Extract of a letter from Thurloe to Downing. Carte's +_Letters_, ii. 322. "The council of state are utterly ignorant of +Monk's treating with the king; and surely, as the present temper of +the council of state is now, and may possibly be also of the +parliament, by reason of the presbyterian influence upon both, I +should think the first chapman will not be the worst, who perhaps will +not offer so good a rate in conjunction with the company, as may give +to engross the commodity." Clar. 722, April 6. This sentence is a clue +to all the intrigue. It is said soon afterwards (p. 726, April 11) +that the presbyterians were much troubled at the course of the +elections, which made some of the council of state again address +themselves to Monk for his consent to propositions they would send to +the king; but he absolutely refused, and said he would leave all to a +free parliament, as he had promised the nation. Yet, though the +elections went as well as the royalists could reasonably expect, Hyde +was dissatisfied that the king was not restored without the +intervention of the new parliament; and this may have been one reason +of his spleen against Monk. Pp. 726, 731. + +[510] A proposed resolution, that those who had been on the king's +side, _or their sons_, should be disabled from voting at elections, +was lost by 93 to 56, the last effort of the expiring Rump. Journals, +13 March. The electors did not think themselves bound by this +arbitrary exclusion of the cavaliers from parliament; several of whom +(though not perhaps a great number within the terms of the resolution) +were returned. Massey, however, having gone down to stand for +Glocester, was put under arrest by order of the council of state. +Thurloe, 887. Clarendon, who was himself not insensible to that kind +of superstition, had fancied that anything done at Glocester by Massey +for the king's service would make a powerful impression on the people. + +[511] It is a curious proof of the state of public sentiment that, +though Monk himself wrote a letter to the electors of Bridgenorth, +recommending Thurloe, the cavalier party was so powerful, that his +friends did not even produce the letter, lest it should be treated +with neglect. Thurloe, vii. 895. + +[512] "To the king's coming in without conditions may be well imputed +all the errors of his reign." Thus says Burnet. The great political +error, if so it should be termed, of his reign, was a conspiracy with +the king of France, and some wicked advisers at home, to subvert the +religion and liberty of his subjects; and it is difficult to perceive +by what conditions this secret intrigue could have been prevented. + +[513] _Clarendon Papers_, p. 729. They resolved to send the articles +of that treaty to the king, leaving out the preface. This was about +the middle of April. + +[514] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 10. + +[515] "This," says Burnet somewhat invidiously, "was the great service +that Monk did; for as to the restoration itself, the tide ran so +strong, that he only went into it dexterously enough to get much +praise and great rewards."--P. 123. + +[516] Grimston was proposed by Pierrepont, and conducted to the chair +by him, Monk, and Hollis. Journals; _Parl. Hist._ The cavaliers +complained that this was done before they came into the house, and +that he was partial. Mordaunt to Hyde, April 27. _Clarendon State +Papers_, 734. + +[517] These were the Earls of Manchester, Northumberland, Lincoln, +Denbigh, and Suffolk; Lords Say, Wharton, Hunsdon, Grey, Maynard. +Lords' Journals, April 25. + +[518] _Id._ Lords' Journals. + +[519] "It was this day (April 27) moved in the House of Commons to +call in the king; but it was deferred till Tuesday next by the king's +friends' consent, and then it is generally believed something will be +done in it. The calling in of the king is now not doubted; but there +is a party among the old secluded members, that would have the treaty +grounded upon the Isle of Wight propositions; and the old lords are +thought generally of that design. But it is believed the House of +Commons will use the king more gently. The general hath been highly +complimented by both houses, and, without doubt, the giving the king +easy or hard conditions dependeth totally upon him; for, if he appear +for the king, the affections of the people are so high for him, that +no other authority can oppose him." H. Coventry to Marquis of Ormond. +Carte's _Letters_, ii. 328. Mordaunt confirms this. Those who moved +for the king were Colonel King and Mr. Finch, both decided cavaliers. +It must have been postponed by the policy of Monk. What could +Clarendon mean by saying (_History of Rebellion_, vii. 478) that "none +had the courage, how loyal soever their wishes were, to mention his +majesty?" This strange way of speaking has misled Hume, who copies it. +The king was as generally talked of as if he were on the throne. + +[520] Lords' and Commons' Journals. _Parl. Hist._ iv. 24. + +[521] Commons' Journals. + +[522] Lords' Journals, May 2. Upon the same day, the house went into +consideration how to settle the militia of this kingdom. A committee +of twelve lords was appointed for this purpose, and the Commons were +requested to appoint a proportionate number to join therein. But no +bill was brought in till after the king's return. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FROM THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES THE SECOND TO THE FALL OF THE CABAL +ADMINISTRATION + + +_Popular joy at the restoration._--It is universally acknowledged that +no measure was ever more national, or has ever produced more +testimonies of public approbation, than the restoration of Charles II. +Nor can this be attributed to the usual fickleness of the multitude. +For the late government, whether under the parliament or the +protector, had never obtained the sanction of popular consent, nor +could have subsisted for a day without the support of the army. The +king's return seemed to the people the harbinger of a real liberty, +instead of that bastard commonwealth which had insulted them with its +name; a liberty secure from enormous assessments, which, even when +lawfully imposed, the English had always paid with reluctance, and +from the insolent despotism of the soldiery. The young and lively +looked forward to a release from the rigours of fanaticism, and were +too ready to exchange that hypocritical austerity of the late times +for a licentiousness and impiety that became characteristic of the +present. In this tumult of exulting hope and joy, there was much to +excite anxious forebodings in calmer men; and it was by no means safe +to pronounce that a change so generally demanded, and in most respects +so expedient, could be effected without very serious sacrifices of +public and particular interests. + +_Proceedings of the convention parliament._--Four subjects of great +importance, and some of them very difficult, occupied the convention +parliament from the time of the king's return till their dissolution +in the following December; a general indemnity and legal oblivion of +all that had been done amiss in the late interruption of government; +an adjustment of the claims for reparation which the Crown, the +church, and private royalists had to prefer; a provision for the +king's revenue, consistent with the abolition of military tenures; and +the settlement of the church. These were, in effect, the articles of a +sort of treaty between the king and the nation, without some +legislative provisions as to which, no stable or tranquil course of +law could be expected. + +_Act of indemnity._--The king, in his well-known declaration from +Breda, dated the 14th of April, had laid down, as it were, certain +bases of his restoration, as to some points which he knew to excite +much apprehension in England. One of these was a free and general +pardon to all his subjects, saving only such as should be excepted by +parliament. It had always been the king's expectation, or at least +that of his chancellor, that all who had been immediately concerned in +his father's death should be delivered up to punishment;[523] and, in +the most unpropitious state of his fortunes, while making all +professions of pardon and favour to different parties, he had +constantly excepted the regicides.[524] Monk, however, had advised in +his first messages to the king, that none, or at most not above four, +should be excepted on this account;[525] and the Commons voted that +not more than seven persons should lose the benefit of the indemnity, +both as to life and estate.[526] Yet, after having named seven of the +late king's judges, they proceeded in a few days to add several more, +who had been concerned in managing his trial, or otherwise forward in +promoting his death.[527] They went on to pitch upon twenty persons, +whom, on account of their deep concern in the transactions of the last +twelve years, they determined to affect with penalties, not extending +to death, and to be determined by some future act of parliament.[528] +As their passions grew warmer, and the wishes of the court became +better known, they came to except from all benefit of the indemnity +such of the king's judges as had not rendered themselves to justice +according to the late proclamation.[529] In this state the bill of +indemnity and oblivion was sent up to the Lords.[530] But in that +house, the old royalists had a more decisive preponderance than among +the Commons. They voted to except all who had signed the death-warrant +against Charles the First, or sat when sentence was pronounced, and +five others by name, Hacker, Vane, Lambert, Haslerig, and Axtell. They +struck out, on the other hand, the clause reserving Lenthall and the +rest of the same class for future penalties. They made other +alterations in the bill to render it more severe;[531] and with these, +after a pretty long delay, and a positive message from the king, +requesting them to hasten their proceedings (an irregularity to which +they took no exception, and which in the eyes of the nation was +justified by the circumstances), they returned the bill to the +Commons. + +The vindictive spirit displayed by the upper house was not agreeable +to the better temper of the Commons, where the presbyterian or +moderate party retained great influence. Though the king's judges +(such at least as had signed the death-warrant) were equally guilty, +it was consonant to the practice of all humane governments to make a +selection for capital penalties; and to put forty or fifty persons to +death for that offence, seemed a very sanguinary course of proceeding, +and not likely to promote the conciliation and oblivion so much cried +up. But there was a yet stronger objection to this severity. The king +had published a proclamation, in a few days after his landing, +commanding his father's judges to render themselves up within +fourteen days, on pain of being excepted from any pardon or indemnity, +either as to their lives or estates. Many had voluntarily come in, +having put an obvious construction on this proclamation. It seems to +admit of little question, that the king's faith was pledged to those +persons, and that no advantage could be taken of any ambiguity in the +proclamation, without as real perfidiousness as if the words had been +more express. They were at least entitled to be set at liberty, and to +have a reasonable time allowed for making their escape, if it were +determined to exclude them from the indemnity.[532] The Commons were +more mindful of the king's honour and their own than his nearest +advisers.[533] But the violent royalists were gaining ground among +them, and it ended in a compromise. They left Hacker and Axtell, who +had been prominently concerned in the king's death, to their fate. +They even admitted the exceptions of Vane and Lambert; contenting +themselves with a joint address of both houses to the king, that, if +they should be attainted, execution as to their lives might be +remitted. Haslerig was saved on a division of 141 to 116, partly +through the intercession of Monk, who had pledged his word to him. +Most of the king's judges were entirely excepted; but with a proviso +in favour of such as had surrendered according to the proclamation, +that the sentence should not be executed without a special act of +parliament.[534] Others were reserved for penalties not extending to +life, to be inflicted by a future act. About twenty enumerated +persons, as well as those who had pronounced sentence of death in any +of the late illegal high courts of justice, were rendered incapable of +any civil or military office. Thus after three months' delay, which +had given room to distrust the boasted clemency and forgiveness of the +victorious royalists, the act of indemnity was finally passed. + +_Execution of regicides._--Ten persons suffered death soon afterwards +for the murder of Charles the First; and three more who had been +seized in Holland, after a considerable lapse of time.[535] There can +be no reasonable ground for censuring either the king or the +parliament for their punishment; except that Hugh Peters, though a +very odious fanatic, was not so directly implicated in the king's +death as many who escaped; and the execution of Scrope, who had +surrendered under the proclamation, was an inexcusable breach of +faith.[536] But nothing can be more sophistical than to pretend that +such men as Hollis and Annesley, who had been expelled from parliament +by the violence of the same faction who put the king to death, were +not to vote for their punishment, or to sit in judgment on them, +because they had sided with the Commons in the civil war.[537] It is +mentioned by many writers, and in the Journals, that when Mr. +Lenthall, son of the late speaker, in the very first days of the +convention parliament, was led to say that those who had levied war +against the king were as blamable as those who had cut off his head, +he received a reprimand from the chair, which the folly and dangerous +consequence of his position well deserved; for such language, though +it seems to have been used by him in extenuation of the regicides, was +quite in the tone of the violent royalists.[538] + +_Restitution of crown and church lands._--A question, apparently far +more difficult, was that of restitution and redress. The Crown lands, +those of the church, the estates in certain instances of eminent +royalists, had been sold by the authority of the late usurpers; and +that not at very low rates, considering the precariousness of the +title. This naturally seemed a material obstacle to the restoration of +ancient rights, especially in the case of ecclesiastical corporations, +whom men are commonly less disposed to favour than private persons. +The clergy themselves had never expected that their estates would +revert to them in full propriety; and would probably have been +contented, at the moment of the king's return, to have granted easy +leases to the purchasers. Nor were the House of Commons, many of whom +were interested in these sales, inclined to let in the former owners +without conditions. A bill was accordingly brought into the house at +the beginning of the session to confirm sales, or to give indemnity to +the purchasers. I do not find its provisions more particularly stated. +The zeal of the royalists soon caused the Crown lands to be +excepted.[539] But the house adhered to the principle of composition +as to ecclesiastical property, and kept the bill a long time in +debate. At the adjournment in September, the chancellor told them, his +majesty had thought much upon the business, and done much for the +accommodation of many particular persons, and doubted not but that, +before they met again, a good progress would be made, so that the +persons concerned would be much to blame if they received not full +satisfaction; promising also to advise with some of the Commons as to +that settlement.[540] These expressions indicate a design to take the +matter out of the hands of parliament. For it was Hyde's firm +resolution to replace the church in the whole of its property, without +any other regard to the actual possessors than the right owners +should severally think it equitable to display. And this, as may be +supposed, proved very small. No further steps were taken on the +meeting of parliament after the adjournment; and by the dissolution +the parties were left to the common course of law. The church, the +Crown, the dispossessed royalists, re-entered triumphantly on their +lands; there were no means of repelling the owners' claim, nor any +satisfaction to be looked for by the purchasers under so defective a +title. It must be owned that the facility with which this was +accomplished, is a striking testimony to the strength of the new +government, and the concurrence of the nation. This is the more +remarkable, if it be true, as Ludlow informs us, that the chapter +lands had been sold by the trustees appointed by parliament at the +clear income of fifteen or seventeen years' purchase.[541] + +_Discontent of the royalists._--The great body however of the +suffering cavaliers, who had compounded for their delinquency under +the ordinances of the Long Parliament, or whose estates had been for a +time in sequestration, found no remedy for these losses by any process +of law. The act of indemnity put a stop to any suits they might have +instituted against persons concerned in carrying these illegal +ordinances into execution. They were compelled to put up with their +poverty, having the additional mortification of seeing one class, +namely, the clergy, who had been engaged in the same cause, not alike +in their fortune, and many even of the vanquished republicans +undisturbed in wealth which, directly or indirectly, they deemed +acquired at their own expense.[542] They called the statute an act of +indemnity for the king's enemies, and of oblivion for his friends. +They murmured at the ingratitude of Charles, as if he were bound to +forfeit his honour and risk his throne for their sakes. They conceived +a deep hatred of Clarendon, whose steady adherence to the great +principles of the act of indemnity is the most honourable act of his +public life. And the discontent engendered by their disappointed hopes +led to some part of the opposition afterwards experienced by the king, +and still more certainly to the coalition against the minister. + +_Settlement of the revenue._--No one cause had so eminently +contributed to the dissensions between the Crown and parliament in the +two last reigns, as the disproportion between the public revenues +under a rapidly increasing depreciation in the value of money, and the +exigencies, at least on some occasions, of the administration. There +could be no apology for the parsimonious reluctance of the Commons to +grant supplies, except the constitutional necessity of rendering them +the condition of redress of grievances; and in the present +circumstances, satisfied, as they seemed at least to be, with the +securities they had obtained, and enamoured of their new sovereign, it +was reasonable to make some further provision for the current +expenditure. Yet this was to be meted out with such prudence as not to +place him beyond the necessity of frequent recurrence to their aid. A +committee was accordingly appointed "to consider of settling such a +revenue on his majesty as may maintain the splendour and grandeur of +his kingly office, and preserve the Crown from want, and from being +undervalued by his neighbours." By their report it appeared that the +revenue of Charles I. from 1637 to 1641 had amounted on an average to +about £900,000, of which full £200,000 arose from sources either not +warranted by law or no longer available. The house resolved to raise +the present king's income to £1,200,000 per annum; a sum perhaps +sufficient in those times for the ordinary charges of government. But +the funds assigned to produce this revenue soon fell short of the +parliament's calculation.[543] + +_Abolition of military tenures. Excise granted instead._--One ancient +fountain that had poured its stream into the royal treasury, it was +now determined to close up for ever. The feudal tenures had brought +with them at the conquest, or not long after, those incidents, as they +were usually called, or emoluments of signiory, which remained after +the military character of fiefs had been nearly effaced; especially +the right of detaining the estates of minors holding in chivalry, +without accounting for the profits. This galling burthen, incomparably +more ruinous to the tenant than beneficial to the lord, it had long +been determined to remove. Charles, at the treaty of Newport, had +consented to give it up for a fixed revenue of £100,000; and this was +almost the only part of that ineffectual compact which the present +parliament were anxious to complete. The king, though likely to lose +much patronage and influence, and what passed with lawyers for a high +attribute of his prerogative, could not decently refuse a commutation +so evidently advantageous to the aristocracy. No great difference of +opinion subsisting as to the expediency of taking away military +tenures, it remained only to decide from what resources the +commutation revenue should spring. Two schemes were suggested; the +one, a permanent tax on lands held in chivalry (which, as +distinguished from those in socage, were alone liable to the feudal +burthens); the other, an excise on beer and some other liquors. It is +evident that the former was founded on a just principle; while the +latter transferred a particular burthen to the community. But the +self-interest which so unhappily predominates even in representative +assemblies, with the aid of the courtiers who knew that an excise +increasing with the riches of the country was far more desirable for +the Crown than a fixed land-tax, caused the former to be carried, +though by the very small majority of two voices.[544] Yet even thus, +if the impoverishment of the gentry, and dilapidation of their estates +through the detestable abuses of wardship, was, as cannot be doubted, +very mischievous to the inferior classes, the whole community must be +reckoned gainers by the arrangement, though it might have been +conducted in a more equitable manner. The statute 12 Car. II. c. 24. +takes away the court of wards, with all wardships and forfeitures for +marriage by reason of tenure, all primer seisins, and fines for +alienation, aids, escuages, homages, and tenures by chivalry without +exception, save the honorary services of grand sergeanty; converting +all such tenures into common socage. The same statute abolishes those +famous rights of purveyance and pre-emption, the fruitful theme of so +many complaining parliaments; and this relief of the people from a +general burthen may serve in some measure as an apology for the +imposition of the excise. This act may be said to have wrought an +important change in the spirit of our constitution, by reducing what +is emphatically called the prerogative of the Crown, and which, by its +practical exhibition in these two vexatious exercises of power, +wardship, and purveyance, kept up in the minds of the people a more +distinct perception, as well as more awe, of the monarchy, than could +be felt in later periods, when it has become, as it were, merged in +the common course of law, and blended with the very complex mechanism +of our institutions. This great innovation however is properly to be +referred to the revolution of 1641, which put an end to the court of +star-chamber, and suspended the feudal superiorities. Hence, with all +the misconduct of the two last Stuarts, and all the tendency towards +arbitrary power that their government often displayed, we must +perceive that the constitution had put on, in a very great degree, its +modern character during that period; the boundaries of prerogative +were better understood; its pretensions, at least in public, were less +enormous; and not so many violent and oppressive, certainly not so +many illegal, acts were committed towards individuals as under the two +first of their family. + +_Army disbanded._--In fixing upon £1,200,000 as a competent revenue +for the Crown, the Commons tacitly gave it to be understood that a +regular military force was not among the necessities for which they +meant to provide. They looked upon the army, notwithstanding its +recent services, with that apprehension and jealousy which becomes an +English House of Commons. They were still supporting it by monthly +assessments of £70,000, and could gain no relief by the king's +restoration till that charge came to an end. A bill therefore was sent +up to the Lords before their adjournment in September, providing money +for disbanding the land forces. This was done during the recess; the +soldiers received their arrears with many fair words of praise, and +the nation saw itself, with delight and thankfulness to the king, +released from its heavy burthens and the dread of servitude.[545] Yet +Charles had too much knowledge of foreign countries, where monarchy +flourished in all its plenitude of sovereign power under the guardian +sword of a standing army, to part readily with so favourite an +instrument of kings. Some of his counsellors, and especially the Duke +of York, dissuaded him from disbanding the army, or at least advised +his supplying its place by another. The unsettled state of the kingdom +after so momentous a revolution, the dangerous audacity of the +fanatical party, whose enterprises were the more to be guarded +against, that they were founded on no such calculation as reasonable +men would form, and of which the insurrection of Venner in November +1660 furnished an example, did undoubtedly appear a very plausible +excuse for something more of a military protection to the government +than yeomen of the guard and gentlemen pensioners. General Monk's +regiment, called the Coldstream, and one other of horse, were +accordingly retained by the king in his service; another was formed +out of troops brought from Dunkirk; and thus began, under the name of +guards, the present regular army of Great Britain.[546] In 1662 these +amounted to about 5000 men; a petty force according to our present +notions, or to the practice of other European monarchies in that age, +yet sufficient to establish an alarming precedent, and to open a new +source of contention between the supporters of power and those of +freedom. + +So little essential innovation had been effected by twenty years' +interruption of the regular government in the common law or course of +judicial proceedings, that, when the king and House of Lords were +restored to their places, little more seemed to be requisite than a +change of names. But what was true of the state could not be applied +to the church. The revolution there had gone much farther, and the +questions of restoration and compromise were far more difficult. + +_Clergy restored to their benefices._--It will be remembered that such +of the clergy as steadily adhered to the episcopal constitution had +been expelled from their benefices by the long parliament under +various pretexts, and chiefly for refusing to take the covenant. The +new establishment was nominally presbyterian. But the presbyterian +discipline and synodical government were very partially introduced; +and, upon the whole, the church, during the suspension of the ancient +laws, was rather an assemblage of congregations than a compact body, +having little more unity than resulted from their common dependency on +the temporal magistrate. In the time of Cromwell, who favoured the +independent sectaries, some of that denomination obtained livings; but +very few, I believe, comparatively, who had not received either +episcopal or presbyterian ordination. The right of private patronage +to benefices, and that of tithes, though continually menaced by the +more violent party, subsisted without alteration. Meanwhile the +episcopal ministers, though excluded from legal toleration along with +papists, by the instrument of government under which Cromwell +professed to hold his power, obtained, in general, a sufficient +indulgence for the exercise of their function.[547] Once, indeed, on +discovery of the royalist conspiracy in 1655, he published a severe +ordinance, forbidding every ejected minister or fellow of a college to +act as domestic chaplain or schoolmaster. But this was coupled with a +promise to show as much tenderness as might consist with the safety of +the nation towards such of the said persons as should give testimony +of their good affection to the government; and, in point of fact, this +ordinance was so far from being rigorously observed, that episcopalian +conventicles were openly kept in London.[548] Cromwell was of a really +tolerant disposition, and there had perhaps, on the whole, been no +period of equal duration wherein the catholics themselves suffered so +little molestation as under the protectorate.[549] It is well known +that he permitted the settlement of Jews in England, after an +exclusion of nearly three centuries, in spite of the denunciations of +some bigoted churchmen and lawyers. + +_Hopes of the presbyterians from the king._--The presbyterian clergy, +though co-operating in the king's restoration, experienced very just +apprehensions of the church they had supplanted; and this was in fact +one great motive of the restrictions that party was so anxious to +impose on him. His character and sentiments were yet very imperfectly +known in England; and much pains were taken on both sides, by short +pamphlets, panegyrical or defamatory, to represent him as the best +Englishman and best protestant of the age, or as one given up to +profligacy and popery.[550] The caricature likeness was, we must now +acknowledge, more true than the other; but at that time it was fair +and natural to dwell on the more pleasing picture. The presbyterians +remembered that he was what they called a covenanted king; that is, +that, for the sake of the assistance of the Scots, he had submitted to +all the obligations, and taken all the oaths, they thought fit to +impose.[551] But it was well known that, on the failure of those +prospects, he had returned to the church of England, and that he was +surrounded by its zealous adherents. Charles, in his declaration from +Breda, promised to grant liberty of conscience, so that no man should +be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion in +matters of religion which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom, and +to consent to such acts of parliament as should be offered for him for +confirming that indulgence. But he was silent as to the church +establishment; and the presbyterian ministers, who went over to +present the congratulations of their body, met with civil language, +but no sort of encouragement to expect any personal compliance on the +king's part with their mode of worship. + +_Projects for a compromise._--The moderate party in the convention +parliament, though not absolutely of the presbyterian interest, saw +the danger of permitting an oppressed body of churchmen to regain +their superiority without some restraint. The actual incumbents of +benefices were, on the whole, a respectable and even exemplary class, +most of whom could not be reckoned answerable for the legal defects of +their title. But the ejected ministers of the Anglican church, who had +endured for their attachment to its discipline and to the Crown so +many years of poverty and privation, stood in a still more favourable +light, and had an evident claim to restoration. The Commons +accordingly, before the king's return, prepared a bill for confirming +and restoring ministers; with the twofold object of replacing in their +benefices, but without their legal right to the intermediate profits, +the episcopal clergy who by ejection or forced surrender had made way +for intruders, and at the same time of establishing the possession, +though originally usurped, of those against whom there was no claimant +living to dispute it, as well as of those who had been presented on +legal vacancies.[552] This act did not pass without opposition of the +cavaliers, who panted to retaliate the persecution that had afflicted +their church.[553] + +This legal security however for the enjoyment of their livings gave no +satisfaction to the scruples of conscientious men. The episcopal +discipline, the Anglican liturgy and ceremonies having never been +abrogated by law, revived of course with the constitutional monarchy; +and brought with them all the penalties that the act of uniformity and +other statutes had inflicted. The nonconforming clergy threw +themselves on the king's compassion, or gratitude, or policy, for +relief. The independents, too irreconcilable to the established church +for any scheme of comprehension, looked only to that liberty of +conscience which the king's declaration from Breda had held +forth.[554] But the presbyterians soothed themselves with hopes of +retaining their benefices by some compromise with their adversaries. +They had never, generally speaking, embraced the rigid principles of +the Scottish clergy, and were willing to admit what they called a +moderate episcopacy. They offered, accordingly, on the king's request +to know their terms, a middle scheme, usually denominated Bishop +Usher's Model; not as altogether approving it, but because they could +not hope for anything nearer to their own views. This consisted, +first, in the appointment of a suffragan bishop for each rural +deanery, holding a monthly synod of the presbyters within his +district; and, secondly, in an annual diocesan synod of suffragans and +representatives of the presbyters, under the presidency of the bishop, +and deciding upon all matters before them by plurality of +suffrages.[555] This is, I believe, considered by most competent +judges as approaching more nearly than our own system to the usage of +the primitive church, which gave considerable influence and +superiority of rank to the bishop, without destroying the +aristocratical character and co-ordinate jurisdiction of the +ecclesiastical senate.[556] It lessened also the inconveniences +supposed to result from the great extent of some English dioceses. +But, though such a system was inconsistent with that parity which the +rigid presbyterians maintained to be indispensable, and those who +espoused it are reckoned, in a theological division, among +episcopalians, it was, in the eyes of equally rigid churchmen, little +better than a disguised presbytery, and a real subversion of the +Anglican hierarchy.[557] + +The presbyterian ministers, or rather a few eminent persons of that +class, proceeded to solicit a revision of the liturgy, and a +consideration of the numerous objections which they made to certain +passages, while they admitted the lawfulness of a prescribed form. +They implored the king also to abolish, or at least not to enjoin as +necessary, some of those ceremonies which they scrupled to use, and +which in fact had been the original cause of their schism; the +surplice, the cross in baptism, the practice of kneeling at the +communion, and one or two more. A tone of humble supplication pervades +all their language, which some might invidiously contrast with their +unbending haughtiness in prosperity. The bishops and other Anglican +divines, to whom their propositions were referred, met the offer of +capitulation with a scornful and vindictive smile. They held out not +the least overture towards a compromise. + +The king however deemed it expedient, during the continuance of a +parliament, the majority of whom were desirous of union in the church, +and had given some indications of their disposition,[558] to keep up +the delusion a little longer, and prevent the possible consequences of +despair. He had already appointed several presbyterian ministers his +chaplains, and given them frequent audiences. But during the recess of +parliament he published a declaration, wherein, after some compliments +to the ministers of the presbyterian opinion, and an artful expression +of satisfaction that he had found them no enemies to episcopacy or a +liturgy, as they had been reported to be, he announces his intention +to appoint a sufficient number of suffragan bishops in the larger +dioceses; he promises that no bishop should ordain or exercise any +part of his spiritual jurisdiction without advice and assistance of +his presbyters; that no chancellors or officials of the bishops should +use any jurisdiction over the ministry, nor any archdeacon without the +advice of a council of his clergy; that the dean and chapter of the +diocese, together with an equal number of presbyters, annually chosen +by the clergy, should be always advising and assisting at all +ordinations, church censures, and other important acts of spiritual +jurisdiction. He declared also that he would appoint an equal number +of divines of both persuasions to revise the liturgy; desiring that in +the meantime none would wholly lay it aside, yet promising that no one +should be molested for not using it till it should be reviewed and +reformed. With regard to ceremonies, he declared that none should be +compelled to receive the sacrament kneeling, nor to use the cross in +baptism, nor to bow at the name of Jesus, nor to wear the surplice, +except in the royal chapel and in cathedrals, nor should subscription +to articles not doctrinal be required. He renewed also his declaration +from Breda, that no man should be called in question for differences +of religious opinion, not disturbing the peace of the kingdom.[559] + +Though many of the presbyterian party deemed this modification of +Anglican episcopacy a departure from their notions of an apostolic +church, and inconsistent with their covenant, the majority would +doubtless have acquiesced in so extensive a concession from the ruling +power. If faithfully executed, according to its apparent meaning, it +does not seem that the declaration falls very short of their own +proposal, the scheme of Usher.[560] The high churchmen indeed would +have murmured, had it been made effectual. But such as were nearest +the king's councils well knew that nothing else was intended by it +than to scatter dust in men's eyes, and prevent the interference of +parliament. This was soon rendered manifest, when a bill to render the +king's declaration effectual was vigorously opposed by the courtiers, +and rejected on a second reading by 183 to 157.[561] Nothing could +more forcibly demonstrate an intention of breaking faith with the +presbyterians than this vote. For the king's declaration was repugnant +to the act of uniformity and many other statutes, so that it could not +be carried into effect without the authority of parliament, unless by +means of such a general dispensing power as no parliament would +endure.[562] And it is impossible to question that a bill for +confirming it would have easily passed through this House of Commons, +had it not been for the resistance of the government. + +_Convention parliament dissolved._--Charles now dissolved the +convention parliament, having obtained from it what was immediately +necessary, but well aware that he could better accomplish his objects +with another. It was studiously inculcated by the royalist lawyers +that as this assembly had not been summoned by the king's writ, none +of its acts could have any real validity, except by the confirmation +of a true parliament.[563] This doctrine being applicable to the act +of indemnity left the kingdom in a precarious condition till an +undeniable security could be obtained, and rendered the dissolution +almost necessary. Another parliament was called of very different +composition from the last. Possession and the standing ordinances +against royalists had enabled the secluded members of 1648, that is, +the adherents of the long parliament, to stem with some degree of +success the impetuous tide of loyalty in the last elections, and put +them almost upon an equality with the court. But, in the new assembly, +cavaliers, and the sons of cavaliers, entirely predominated; the great +families, the ancient gentry, the episcopal clergy, resumed their +influence; the presbyterians and sectarians feared to have their +offences remembered; so that we may rather be surprised that about +fifty or sixty who had belonged to the opposite side found places in +such a parliament, than that its general complexion should be +decidedly royalist. The presbyterian faction seemed to lie prostrate +at the feet of those on whom they had so long triumphed, without any +force of arms or civil convulsion, as if the king had been brought in +against their will. Nor did the cavaliers fail to treat them as +enemies to monarchy, though it was notorious that the restoration was +chiefly owing to their endeavours.[564] + +_Different complexion of the new parliament._--The new parliament gave +the first proofs of their disposition by voting that all their members +should receive the sacrament on a certain day according to the rites +of the church of England, and that the solemn league and covenant +should be burned by the common hangman.[565] They excited still more +serious alarm by an evident reluctance to confirm the late act of +indemnity, which the king at the opening of the session had pressed +upon their attention. Those who had suffered the sequestrations and +other losses of a vanquished party, could not endure to abandon what +they reckoned a just reparation. But Clarendon adhered with equal +integrity and prudence to this fundamental principle of the +restoration; and, after a strong message from the king on the subject, +the Commons were content to let the bill pass with no new +exceptions.[566] They gave indeed some relief to the ruined +cavaliers, by voting £60,000 to be distributed among that class; but +so inadequate a compensation did not assuage their discontents. + +_Condemnation of Vane._--It has been mentioned above, that the late +House of Commons had consented to the exception of Vane and Lambert +from indemnity on the king's promise that they should not suffer +death. They had lain in the Tower accordingly, without being brought +to trial. The regicides who had come in under the proclamation were +saved from capital punishment by the former act of indemnity. But the +present parliament abhorred this lukewarm lenity. A bill was brought +in for the execution of the king's judges in the Tower; and the +attorney-general was requested to proceed against Vane and +Lambert.[567] The former was dropped in the House of Lords; but those +formidable chiefs of the commonwealth were brought to trial. Their +indictments alleged as overt acts of high treason against Charles II. +their exercise of civil and military functions under the usurping +government; though not, as far as appears, expressly directed against +the king's authority, and certainly not against his person. Under such +an accusation, many who had been the most earnest in the king's +restoration might have stood at the bar. Thousands might apply to +themselves, in the case of Vane, the beautiful expressions of Mrs. +Hutchinson, as to her husband's feelings at the death of the +regicides, that he looked on himself as judged in their judgment and +executed in their execution. The stroke fell upon one, the reproach +upon many. + +The condemnation of Sir Henry Vane was very questionable even +according to the letter of the law. It was plainly repugnant to its +spirit. An excellent statute enacted under Henry VII., and deemed by +some great writers to be only declaratory of the common law, but +occasioned, no doubt, by some harsh judgments of treason which had +been pronounced during the late competition of the house of York and +Lancaster, assured a perfect indemnity to all persons obeying a king +for the time being, however defective his title might come to be +considered, when another claimant should gain possession of the +throne. It established the duty of allegiance to the existing +government upon a general principle; but in its terms it certainly +presumed that government to be a monarchy. This furnished the judges +upon the trial of Vane with a distinction, of which they willingly +availed themselves. They proceeded however beyond all bounds of +constitutional precedents and of common sense, when they determined +that Charles the Second had been king _de facto_ as well as _de jure_ +from the moment of his father's death, though, in the words of their +senseless sophistry, "kept out of the exercise of his royal authority +by traitors and rebels." He had indeed assumed the title during his +exile, and had granted letters patent for different purposes, which it +was thought proper to hold good after his restoration; thus presenting +the strange anomaly, and as it were contradiction in terms, of a king +who began to govern in the twelfth year of his reign. But this had not +been the usage of former times. Edward IV., Richard III., Henry VII., +had dated their instruments either from their proclamation, or at +least from some act of possession. The question was not whether a +right to the Crown descended according to the laws of inheritance; but +whether such a right, divested of possession, could challenge +allegiance as a bounden duty by the law of England. This is expressly +determined in the negative by Lord Coke in his third Institute, who +maintains a king "that hath right, and is out of possession," not to +be within the statute of treasons. He asserts also that a pardon +granted by him would be void; which by parity of reasoning must extend +to all his patents.[568] We may consider therefore the execution of +Vane as one of the most reprehensible actions of this bad reign. It +not only violated the assurance of indemnity, but introduced a +principle of sanguinary proscription, which would render the return of +what is called legitimate government, under any circumstances, an +intolerable curse to a nation.[569] + +The king violated his promise by the execution of Vane, as much as the +judges strained the law by his conviction. He had assured the last +parliament, in answer to their address, that, if Vane and Lambert +should be attainted by law he would not suffer the sentence to be +executed. Though the present parliament had urged the attorney-general +to bring these delinquents to trial, they had never, by an address to +the king, given him a colour for retracting his promise of mercy. It +is worthy of notice that Clarendon does not say a syllable about +Vane's trial; which affords a strong presumption that he thought it a +breach of the act of indemnity. But we have on record a remarkable +letter of the king to his minister, wherein he expresses his +resentment at Vane's bold demeanour during his trial, and intimates a +wish for his death, though with some doubts whether it could be +honourably done.[570] Doubts of such a nature never lasted long with +this prince; and Vane suffered the week after. Lambert, whose +submissive behaviour had furnished a contrast with that of Vane, was +sent to Guernsey; and remained a prisoner for thirty years. The +royalists have spoken of Vane with extreme dislike; yet it should be +remembered that he was not only incorrupt, but disinterested, +inflexible in conforming his public conduct to his principles, and +averse to every sanguinary or oppressive measure: qualities not very +common in revolutionary chiefs, and which honourably distinguished him +from the Lamberts and Haslerigs of his party.[571] + +_Acts replacing the Crown in its prerogatives._--No time was lost, as +might be expected from the temper of the Commons, in replacing the +throne on its constitutional basis after the rude encroachments of the +long parliament. They declared that there was no legislative power in +either or both houses without the king; that the league and covenant +was unlawfully imposed; that the sole supreme command of the militia, +and of all forces by sea and land, had ever been by the laws of +England the undoubted right of the Crown; that neither house of +parliament could pretend to it, nor could lawfully levy any war +offensive or defensive against his majesty.[572] These last words +appeared to go to a dangerous length, and to sanction the suicidal +doctrine of absolute non-resistance. They made the law of high treason +more strict during the king's life in pursuance of a precedent in the +reign of Elizabeth.[573] They restored the bishops to their seats in +the House of Lords; a step which the last parliament would never have +been induced to take, but which met with little opposition from the +present.[574] The violence that had attended their exclusion seemed a +sufficient motive for rescinding a statute so improperly obtained, +even if the policy of maintaining the spiritual peers were somewhat +doubtful. The remembrance of those tumultuous assemblages which had +overawed their predecessors in the winter of 1641, and at other times, +produced a law against disorderly petitions. This statute provides +that no petition or address shall be presented to the king or either +house of parliament by more than ten persons; nor shall any one +procure above twenty persons to consent or set their hands to any +petition for alteration of matters established by law in church or +state, unless with the previous order of three justices of the county, +or the major part of the grand jury.[575] + +_Corporation act._--Thus far the new parliament might be said to have +acted chiefly on a principle of repairing the breaches recently made +in our constitution, and of re-establishing the just boundaries of the +executive power; nor would much objection have been offered to their +measures, had they gone no farther in the same course. The act for +regulating corporations is much more questionable, and displayed a +determination to exclude a considerable portion of the community from +their civil rights. It enjoined all magistrates and persons bearing +offices of trust in corporations to swear that they believed it +unlawful, on any pretence whatever, to take arms against the king, and +that they abhorred the traitorous position of bearing arms by his +authority against his person, or against those that are commissioned +by him. They were also to renounce all obligation arising out of the +oath called the solemn league and covenant; in case of refusal, to be +immediately removed from office. Those elected in future were, in +addition to the same oaths, to have received the sacrament within one +year before their election according to the rites of the English +church.[576] These provisions struck at the heart of the presbyterian +party, whose strength lay in the little oligarchies of corporate +towns, which directly or indirectly returned to parliament a very +large proportion of its members. Yet it rarely happens that a +political faction is crushed by the terrors of an oath. Many of the +more rigid presbyterians refused the conditions imposed by this act; +but the majority found pretexts for qualifying themselves. + +_Repeal of the triennial act._--It could not yet be said that this +loyal assembly had meddled with those safeguards of public liberty +which had been erected by their great predecessors in 1641. The laws +that Falkland and Hampden had combined to provide, those bulwarks +against the ancient exorbitance of prerogative, stood unscathed; +threatened from afar, but not yet betrayed by the garrison. But one of +these, the bill for triennial parliaments, wounded the pride of +royalty, and gave scandal to his worshippers; not so much on account +of its object, as of the securities provided against its violation. If +the king did not summon a fresh parliament within three years after a +dissolution, the peers were to meet and issue writs of their own +accord; if they did not within a certain time perform this duty, the +sheriffs of every county were to take it on themselves; and, in +default of all constituted authorities the electors might assemble +without any regular summons to choose representatives. It was manifest +that the king must have taken a fixed resolution to trample on a +fundamental law, before these irregular tumultuous modes of redress +could be called into action; and that the existence of such provisions +could not in any degree weaken or endanger the legal and limited +monarchy. But the doctrine of passive obedience had now crept from the +homilies into the statute-book; the parliament had not scrupled to +declare the unlawfulness of defensive war against the king's person; +and it was but one step more to take away all direct means of +counteracting his pleasure. Bills were accordingly more than once +ordered to be brought in for repealing the triennial act; but no +further steps were taken till the king thought it at length necessary +in the year 1664 to give them an intimation of his desires.[577] A +vague notion had partially gained ground that no parliament, by virtue +of that bill, could sit for more than three years. In allusion to +this, he told them, on opening the session of 1664, that he "had often +read over that bill; and, though there was no colour for the fancy of +the determination of the parliament, yet he would not deny that he had +always expected them to consider the wonderful clauses in that bill, +which passed in a time very uncareful for the dignity of the Crown or +the security of the people. He requested them to look again at it. For +himself, he loved parliaments; he was much beholden to them; he did +not think the Crown could ever be happy without frequent parliaments. +But assure yourselves," he concluded, "if I should think otherwise I +would never suffer a parliament to come together by the means +prescribed by that bill."[578] + +So audacious a declaration, equivalent to an avowed design, in certain +circumstances, of preventing the execution of the laws by force of +arms, was never before heard from the lips of an English king; and +would in any other times have awakened a storm of indignation from the +Commons. They were however sufficiently compliant to pass a bill for +the repeal of that which had been enacted with unanimous consent in +1641, and had been hailed as the great palladium of constitutional +monarchy. The preamble recites the said act to have been "in +derogation of his majesty's just rights and prerogative inherent in +the imperial Crown of this realm for the calling and assembling of +parliaments." The bill then repeals and annuls every clause and +article in the fullest manner; yet, with an inconsistency not unusual +in our statutes, adds a provision that parliaments shall not in future +be intermitted for above three years at the most. This clause is +evidently framed in a different spirit from the original bill, and may +be attributed to the influence of that party in the house, which had +begun to oppose the court, and already showed itself in considerable +strength.[579] Thus the effect of this compromise was, that the law of +the long parliament subsisted as to its principle, without those +unusual clauses which had been enacted to render its observance +secure. The king assured them, in giving his assent to the repeal, +that he would not be a day more without a parliament on that account. +But the necessity of those securities, and the mischiefs of that false +and servile loyalty which abrogated them, became manifest at the close +of the present reign; nearly four years having elapsed between the +dissolution of Charles's last parliament and his death. + +Clarendon, the principal adviser, as yet, of the king since his +restoration (for Southampton rather gave reputation to the +administration than took that superior influence which belonged to his +place of treasurer), has thought fit to stigmatise the triennial bill +with the epithet of infamous. So wholly had he divested himself of the +sentiments he entertained at the beginning of the long parliament that +he sought nothing more ardently than to place the Crown again in a +condition to run into those abuses and excesses against which he had +once so much inveighed. "He did never dissemble," he says, "from the +time of his return with the king, that the late rebellion could never +be extirpated and pulled up by the roots till the king's regal and +inherent power and prerogative should be fully avowed and vindicated, +and till the usurpations in both houses of parliament, since the year +1640, were disclaimed and made odious; and many other excesses, which +had been affected by both before that time under the name of +privileges, should be restrained or explained. For all which +reformation the kingdom in general was very well disposed, when it +pleased God to restore the king to it. The present parliament had done +much, and would willingly have prosecuted the same method, if they had +had the same advice and encouragement."[580] I can only understand +these words to mean that they might have been led to repeal other +statutes of the long parliament, besides the triennial act, and that +excluding the bishops from the House of Peers; but more especially, to +have restored the two great levers of prerogative, the courts of +star-chamber and high-commission. This would indeed have pulled up by +the roots the work of the long parliament, which, in spite of such +general reproach, still continued to shackle the revived monarchy. +There had been some serious attempts at this in the House of Lords +during the session of 1661-2. We read in the Journals[581] that a +committee was appointed to prepare a bill for repealing all acts made +in the parliament begun the 3rd day of November 1640, and for +re-enacting such of them as should be thought fit. This committee some +time after[582] reported their opinion, "that it was fit for the good +of the nation, that there be a court of like nature to the late court +called the star-chamber; but desired the advice and directions of the +house in these particulars following: Who should be judges? What +matters should they be judges of? By what manner of proceedings should +they act?" The house, it is added, thought it not fit to give any +particular directions therein, but left it to the committee to proceed +as they would. It does not appear that anything further was done in +this session; but we find the bill of repeal revived next year.[583] +It is however only once mentioned. Perhaps it may be questionable +whether, even amidst the fervid loyalty of 1661, the House of Commons +would have concurred in re-establishing the star-chamber. They had +taken marked precautions in passing an act for the restoration of +ecclesiastical jurisdiction, that it should not be construed to +restore the high-commission court, or to give validity to the canons +of 1640, or to enlarge in any manner the ancient authority of the +church.[584] A tribunal still more formidable and obnoxious would +hardly have found favour with a body of men, who, as their behaviour +shortly demonstrated, might rather be taxed with passion and +vindictiveness towards a hostile faction, than a deliberate +willingness to abandon their English rights and privileges. + +The striking characteristic of this parliament was a zealous and +intolerant attachment to the established church, not losing an atom of +their aversion to popery in their abhorrence of protestant dissent. In +every former parliament since the reformation, the country party (if I +may use such a word, by anticipation, for those gentlemen of landed +estates who owed their seats to their provincial importance, as +distinguished from courtiers, lawyers, and dependents on the +nobility), had incurred with rigid churchmen the reproach of +puritanical affections. They were implacable against popery, but +disposed to far more indulgence with respect to nonconformity than the +very different maxims of Elizabeth and her successors would permit. +Yet it is obvious that the puritan Commons of James I. and the high +church Commons of Charles II. were composed, in a great measure, of +the same families, and entirely of the same classes. But, as the +arrogance of the prelates had excited indignation, and the sufferings +of the scrupulous clergy begotten sympathy in one age, so the reversed +scenes of the last twenty years had given to the former, or their +adherents, the advantage of enduring oppression with humility and +fortitude, and displayed in the latter, or at least many of their +number, those odious and malevolent qualities which adversity had +either concealed or rendered less dangerous. The gentry, connected for +the most part by birth or education with the episcopal clergy, could +not for an instant hesitate between the ancient establishment, and one +composed of men whose eloquence in preaching was chiefly directed +towards the common people, and presupposed a degree of enthusiasm in +the hearer which the higher classes rarely possessed. They dreaded the +wilder sectaries, foes to property, or at least to its political +influence, as much as to the regal constitution; and not unnaturally, +though without perfect fairness, confounded the presbyterian or +moderate nonconformist in the motley crowd of fanatics, to many of +whose tenets he at least more approximated than the church of England +minister. + +_Presbyterians deceived by the king._--There is every reason to +presume, as I have already remarked, that the king had no intention +but to deceive the presbyterians and their friends in the convention +parliament by his declaration of October 1660.[585] He proceeded, +after the dissolution of that assembly, to fill up the number of +bishops, who had been reduced to nine, but with no further mention of +suffragans, or of the council of presbyters, which had been announced +in that declaration.[586] It does indeed appear highly probable that +this scheme of Usher would have been found inconvenient and even +impracticable; and reflecting men would perhaps be apt to say that the +usage of primitive antiquity, upon which all parties laid so much +stress, was rather a presumptive argument against the adoption of any +system of church-government, in circumstances so widely different, +than in favour of it. But inconvenient and impracticable provisions +carry with them their own remedy; and the king might have respected +his own word, and the wishes of a large part of the church, without +any formidable danger to episcopal authority. It would have been, +however, too flagrant a breach of promise (and yet hardly greater than +that just mentioned) if some show had not been made of desiring a +reconciliation on the subordinate details of religious ceremonies and +the liturgy. This produced a conference held at the Savoy, in May +1661, between twenty-one Anglican and as many presbyterian divines: +the latter were called upon to propose their objections; it being the +part of the others to defend. They brought forward so long a list as +seemed to raise little hope of agreement. Some of these objections to +the service, as may be imagined, were rather captious and +hypercritical; yet in many cases they pointed out real defects. As to +ceremonies, they dwelt on the same scruples as had from the beginning +of Elizabeth's reign produced so unhappy a discordance, and had become +inveterate by so much persecution. The conference was managed with +great mutual bitterness and recrimination; the one party stimulated by +vindictive hatred and the natural arrogance of power; the other +irritated by the manifest design of breaking the king's faith, and +probably by a sense of their own improvidence in ruining themselves by +his restoration. The chief blame, it cannot be dissembled, ought to +fall on the churchmen. An opportunity was afforded of healing, in a +very great measure, that schism and separation which, if they are to +be believed, is one of the worst evils that can befall a christian +community. They had it in their power to retain, or to expel, a vast +number of worthy and laborious ministers of the gospel, with whom they +had, in their own estimation, no essential ground of difference. They +knew the king, and consequently themselves, to have been restored with +(I might almost say by) the strenuous co-operation of those very men +who were now at their mercy. To judge by the rules of moral wisdom, or +of the spirit of Christianity (to which, notwithstanding what might be +satirically said of experience, it is difficult not to think we have a +right to expect that a body of ecclesiastics should pay some +attention), there can be no justification for the Anglican party on +this occasion. They have certainly one apology, the best very +frequently that can be offered for human infirmity; they had sustained +a long and unjust exclusion from the emoluments of their profession, +which begot a natural dislike towards the members of the sect that had +profited at their expense, though not, in general, personally +responsible for their misfortunes.[587] + +The Savoy conference broke up in anger, each party more exasperated +and more irreconcilable than before. This indeed has been the usual +consequence of attempts to bring men to an understanding on religious +differences by explanation or compromise. The public is apt to expect +too much from these discussions; unwilling to believe either that +those who have a reputation for piety can be wanting in desire to find +the truth, or that those who are esteemed for ability can miss it. And +this expectation is heightened by the language rather too strongly +held by moderate and peaceable divines, that little more is required +than an understanding of each other's meaning, to unite conflicting +sects in a common faith. But as it generally happens that the disputes +of theologians, though far from being so important as they appear to +the narrow prejudices and heated passions of the combatants, are not +wholly nominal, or capable of being reduced to a common form of words, +the hopes of union and settlement vanish upon that closer enquiry +which conferences and schemes of agreement produce. And though this +may seem rather applicable to speculative controversies than to such +matters as were debated between the church and the presbyterians at +the Savoy conference, and which are in their nature more capable of +compromise than articles of doctrine; yet the consequence of +exhibiting the incompatibility and reciprocal alienation of the two +parties in a clearer light was nearly the same. + +A determination having been taken to admit of no extensive +comprehension, it was debated by the government whether to make a few +alterations in the liturgy, or to restore the ancient service in every +particular. The former advice prevailed, though with no desire or +expectation of conciliating any scrupulous persons by the amendments +introduced.[588] These were by no means numerous, and in some +instances rather chosen in order to irritate and mock the opposite +party than from any compliance with their prejudices. It is indeed +very probable, from the temper of the new parliament, that they would +not have come into more tolerant and healing measures. + +_Act of uniformity._--When the act of uniformity was brought into the +House of Lords, it was found not only to restore all the ceremonies +and other matters to which objection had been taken, but to contain +fresh clauses more intolerable than the rest to the presbyterian +clergy. One of these enacted that not only every beneficed minister, +but fellow of a college, or even schoolmaster, should declare his +unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained in the +book of common prayer.[589] These words, however capable of being +eluded and explained away, as such subscriptions always are, seemed to +amount, in common use of language, to a complete approbation of an +entire volume, such as a man of sense hardly gives to any book, and +which, at a time when scrupulous persons were with great difficulty +endeavouring to reconcile themselves to submission, placed a new +stumbling-block in their way, which, without abandoning their +integrity, they found it impossible to surmount. + +The malignity of those who chiefly managed church affairs at this +period displayed itself in another innovation tending to the same end. +It had been not unusual, from the very beginnings of our reformation, +to admit ministers ordained in foreign protestant churches to +benefices in England. No re-ordination had ever been practised with +respect to those who had received the imposition of hands in a regular +church; and hence it appears that the church of England, whatever +tenets might latterly have been broached in controversy, did not +consider the ordination of presbyters invalid. Though such ordinations +as had taken place during the late troubles, and by virtue of which a +great part of the actual clergy were in possession, were evidently +irregular, on the supposition that the English episcopal church was +then in existence; yet, if the argument from such great convenience +as men call necessity was to prevail, it was surely worth while to +suffer them to pass without question for the present, enacting +provisions, if such were required, for the future. But this did not +fall in with the passion and policy of the bishops, who found a +pretext for their worldly motives of action in the supposed divine +right and necessity of episcopal succession; a theory naturally more +agreeable to arrogant and dogmatical ecclesiastics than that of +Cranmer, who saw no intrinsic difference between bishops and priests; +or of Hooker, who thought ecclesiastical superiorities, like civil, +subject to variation; or of Stillingfleet, who had lately pointed out +the impossibility of ascertaining beyond doubtful conjecture the real +constitution of the apostolical church, from the scanty, inconclusive +testimonies that either Scripture or antiquity furnish. It was +therefore enacted in the statute for uniformity, that no person should +hold any preferment in England, without having received episcopal +ordination. There seems to be little or no objection to this +provision, if ordination be considered as a ceremony of admission into +a particular society; but, according to the theories which both +parties had embraced in that age, it conferred a sort of mysterious +indelible character, which rendered its repetition improper.[590] + +_Ejection of nonconformist clergy._--The new act of uniformity +succeeded to the utmost wishes of its promoters. It provided that +every minister should, before the feast of St. Bartholomew, 1662, +publicly declare his assent and consent to everything contained in the +book of common prayer, on pain of being _ipso facto_ deprived of his +benefice.[591] Though even the long parliament had reserved a fifth +of the profits to those who were ejected for refusing the covenant, no +mercy could be obtained from the still greater bigotry of the present; +and a motion to make that allowance to nonconforming ministers was +lost by 94 to 87.[592] The Lords had shown a more temperate spirit, +and made several alterations of a conciliating nature. They objected +to extending the subscription required by the act to schoolmasters. +But the Commons urged in a conference the force of education, which +made it necessary to take care for the youth. The upper house even +inserted a proviso, allowing the king to dispense with the surplice +and the sign of the cross; but the Commons resolutely withstanding +this and every other alteration, they were all given up.[593] Yet next +year, when it was found necessary to pass an act for the relief of +those who had been prevented involuntarily from subscribing the +declaration in due time, a clause was introduced, declaring that the +assent and consent to the book of common prayer required by the said +act should be understood only as to practice and obedience, and not +otherwise. The Duke of York and twelve lay peers protested against +this clause, as destructive to the church of England as now +established; and the Commons vehemently objecting to it, the partisans +of moderate councils gave way as before.[594] When the day of St. +Bartholomew came, about 2000 persons resigned their preferments rather +than stain their consciences by compliance--an act to which the more +liberal Anglicans, after the bitterness of immediate passions had +passed away, have accorded that praise which is due to heroic virtue +in an enemy. It may justly be said that the episcopal clergy had set +an example of similar magnanimity in refusing to take the covenant. +Yet, as that was partly of a political nature, and those who were +ejected for not taking it might hope to be restored through the +success of the king's arms, I do not know that it was altogether so +eminent an act of self-devotion as the presbyterian clergy displayed +on St. Bartholomew's day. Both of them afford striking contrasts to +the pliancy of the English church in the greater question of the +preceding century, and bear witness to a remarkable integrity and +consistency of principle.[595] + +No one who has any sense of honesty and plain dealing can pretend that +Charles did not violate the spirit of his declarations, both that from +Breda, and that which he published in October 1660. It is idle to say +that those declarations were subject to the decision of parliament, as +if the Crown had no sort of influence in that assembly, nor even any +means of making its inclinations known. He had urged them to confirm +the act of indemnity, wherein he thought his honour and security +concerned: was it less easy to obtain, or at least to ask for, their +concurrence in a comprehension or toleration of the presbyterian +clergy? Yet, after mocking those persons with pretended favour, and +even offering bishoprics to some of their number, by way of purchasing +their defection, the king made no effort to mitigate the provisions of +the act of uniformity; and Clarendon strenuously supported them +through both houses of parliament.[596] This behaviour in the minister +sprung from real bigotry and dislike of the presbyterians; but Charles +was influenced by a very different motive, which had become the secret +spring of all his policy. This requires to be fully explained. + +_Hopes of the catholics._--Charles, during his misfortunes, had made +repeated promises to the pope and the great catholic princes of +relaxing the penal laws against his subjects of that religion--promises +which he well knew to be the necessary condition of their assistance. +And, though he never received any succour which could demand the +performance of these assurances, his desire to stand well with France +and Spain, as well as a sense of what was really due to the English +catholics, would have disposed him to grant every indulgence which +the temper of his people should permit. The laws were highly severe, +in some cases sanguinary; they were enacted in very different times, +from plausible motives of distrust, which it would be now both absurd +and ungrateful to retain. The catholics had been the most strenuous of +the late king's adherents, the greatest sufferers for their loyalty. +Out of about 500 gentlemen who lost their lives in the royal cause, +one-third, it has been said, were of that religion.[597] Their estates +had been selected for confiscation, when others had been admitted to +compound. It is however certain that after the conclusion of the war, +and especially during the usurpation of Cromwell, they declined in +general to provoke a government which showed a good deal of connivance +towards their religion by keeping up any connection with the exiled +family.[598] They had, as was surely very natural, one paramount +object in their political conduct, the enjoyment of religious liberty; +whatever debt of gratitude they might have owed to Charles I. had been +amply paid; and perhaps they might reflect that he had never scrupled, +in his various negotiations with the parliament, to acquiesce in any +prescriptive measures suggested against popery. This apparent +abandonment however of the royal interests excited the displeasure of +Clarendon, which was increased by a tendency some of the catholics +showed to unite with Lambert, who was understood to be privately of +their religion, and by an intrigue carried on in 1659, by the +machinations of Buckingham with some priests, to set up the Duke of +York for the Crown. But the king retained no resentment of the general +conduct of this party; and was desirous to give them a testimony of +his confidence, by mitigating the penal laws against their religion. +Some steps were taken towards this by the House of Lords in the +session of 1661; and there seems little doubt that the statutes at +least inflicting capital punishment would have been repealed without +difficulty, if the catholics had not lost the favourable moment by +some disunion among themselves, which the never-ceasing intrigues of +the Jesuits contrived to produce.[599] + +There can be no sort of doubt that the king's natural facility, and +exemption from all prejudice in favour of established laws, would have +led him to afford every indulgence that could be demanded to his +catholic subjects, many of whom were his companions or his +counsellors, without any propensity towards their religion. But it is +morally certain that, during the period of his banishment, he had +imbibed, as deeply and seriously as the character of his mind would +permit, a persuasion that, if any scheme of Christianity were true, it +could only be found in the bosom of an infallible church; though he +was never reconciled, according to the formal profession which she +exacts, till the last hours of his life. The secret however of his +inclinations, though disguised to the world by the appearance, and +probably sometimes more than the appearance, of carelessness and +infidelity, could not be wholly concealed from his court. It appears +the most natural mode of accounting for the sudden conversion of the +Earl of Bristol to popery, which is generally agreed to have been +insincere. An ambitious intriguer, holding the post of secretary of +state, would not have ventured such a step without some grounds of +confidence in his master's wishes; though his characteristic +precipitancy hurried him forward to destroy his own hopes. Nor are +there wanting proofs that the protestantism of both the brothers was +greatly suspected in England before the restoration.[600] These +suspicions acquired strength after the king's return, through his +manifest intention not to marry a protestant; and still more through +the presumptuous demeanour of the opposite party, which seemed to +indicate some surer grounds of confidence than were yet manifest. The +new parliament in its first session had made it penal to say that the +king was a papist or popishly affected; whence the prevalence of that +scandal may be inferred.[601] + +_Resisted by Clarendon and the parliament._--Charles had no assistance +to expect, in his scheme of granting a full toleration to the Roman +faith, from his chief adviser Clarendon. A repeal of the sanguinary +laws, a reasonable connivance, perhaps in some cases a dispensation--to +these favours he would have acceded. But, in his creed of policy, the +legal allowance of any but the established religion was inconsistent +with public order, and with the king's ecclesiastical prerogative. +This was also a fixed principle with the parliament, whose implacable +resentment towards the sectaries had not inclined them to abate in the +least of their abhorrence and apprehension of popery. The church of +England, distinctly and exclusively, was their rallying-point; the +Crown itself stood only second in their affections. The king therefore +had recourse to a more subtle and indirect policy. If the terms of +conformity had been so far relaxed as to suffer the continuance of the +presbyterian clergy in their benefices, there was every reason to +expect from their known disposition a determined hostility to all +approaches towards popery, and even to its toleration. It was +therefore the policy of those who had the interests of that cause at +heart, to permit no deviation from the act of uniformity, to resist +all endeavours at a comprehension of dissenters within the pale of the +church, and to make them look up to the king for indulgence in their +separate way of worship. They were to be taught that, amenable to the +same laws as the Romanists, exposed to the oppression of the same +enemies, they must act in concert for a common benefit.[602] The +presbyterian ministers, disheartened at the violence of the +parliament, had recourse to Charles, whose affability and fair +promises they were loth to distrust; and implored his dispensation for +their nonconformity. The king, naturally irresolute, and doubtless +sensible that he had made a bad return to those who had contributed so +much towards his restoration, was induced, at the strong solicitation +of Lord Manchester, to promise that he would issue a declaration +suspending the execution of the statute for three months. Clarendon, +though he had been averse to some of the rigorous clauses inserted in +the act of uniformity, was of opinion that, once passed, it ought to +be enforced without any connivance; and told the king likewise that it +was not in his power to preserve those who did not comply with it from +deprivation. Yet, as the king's word had been given, he advised him +rather to issue such a declaration than to break his promise. But, the +bishops vehemently remonstrating against it, and intimating that they +would not be parties to a violation of the law, by refusing to +institute a clerk presented by the patron on an avoidance for want of +conformity in the incumbent, the king gave way, and resolved to make +no kind of concession. It is remarkable that the noble historian does +not seem struck at the enormous and unconstitutional prerogative which +a proclamation suspending the statute would have assumed.[603] + +_Declaration for indulgence._--Instead of this very objectionable +measure, the king adopted one less arbitrary, and more consonant to +his own secret policy. He published a declaration in favour of liberty +of conscience, for which no provision had been made, so as to redeem +the promises he had held forth at his accession. Adverting to these, +he declared that, "as in the first place he had been zealous to settle +the uniformity of the church of England in discipline, ceremony, and +government, and should ever constantly maintain it; so as for what +concerns the penalties upon those who, living peaceably, do not +conform themselves thereto, he should make it his special care, so far +as in him lay, without invading the freedom of parliament, to incline +their wisdom next approaching sessions to concur with him in making +some such act for that purpose as may enable him to exercise with a +more universal satisfaction that power of dispensing, which he +conceived to be inherent in him."[604] + +The aim of this declaration was to obtain from parliament a mitigation +at least of all penal statutes in matters of religion, but more to +serve the interests of catholic than of protestant nonconformity.[605] +Except however the allusion to the dispensing power, which yet is +very moderately alleged, there was nothing in it, according to our +present opinions, that should have created offence. But the Commons, +on their meeting in February 1663, presented an address, denying that +any obligation lay on the king by virtue of his declaration from +Breda, which must be understood to depend on the advice of parliament, +and slightly intimating that he possessed no such dispensing +prerogative as was suggested. They strongly objected to the whole +scheme of indulgence, as the means of increasing sectaries, and rather +likely to occasion disturbance than to promote peace.[606] They +remonstrated, in another address, against the release of Calamy, an +eminent dissenter, who, having been imprisoned for transgressing the +act of uniformity, was irregularly set at liberty by the king's +personal order.[607] The king, undeceived as to the disposition of +this loyal assembly to concur in his projects of religious liberty, +was driven to more tedious and indirect courses in order to compass +his end. He had the mortification of finding that the House of Commons +had imbibed, partly perhaps in consequence of this declaration, that +jealous apprehension of popery, which had caused so much of his +father's ill fortune. On this topic the watchfulness of an English +parliament could never be long at rest. The notorious insolence of the +Romish priests, who, proud of the court's favour, disdained to respect +the laws enough to disguise themselves, provoked an address to the +king, that they might be sent out of the kingdom; and bills were +brought in to prevent the further growth of popery.[608] + +Meanwhile, the same remedy, so infallible in the eyes of legislators, +was not forgotten to be applied to the opposite disease of protestant +dissent. Some had believed, of whom Clarendon seems to have been, that +all scruples of tender conscience in the presbyterian clergy being +faction and hypocrisy, they would submit very quietly to the law, when +they found all their clamour unavailing to obtain a dispensation from +it. The resignation of 2000 beneficed ministers at once, instead of +extorting praise, rather inflamed the resentment of their bigoted +enemies; especially when they perceived that a public and perpetual +toleration of separate worship was favoured by part of the court. + +_Act against conventicles._--Rumours of conspiracy and insurrection, +sometimes false, but gaining credit from the notorious discontent both +of the old commonwealth's party, and of many who had never been on +that side, were sedulously propagated, in order to keep up the +animosity of parliament against the ejected clergy;[609] and these are +recited as the pretext of an act passed in 1664 for suppressing +seditious conventicles (the epithet being in this place wantonly and +unjustly insulting), which inflicted on all persons above the age of +sixteen, present at any religious meeting in other manner than is +allowed by the practice of the church of England, where five or more +persons besides the household should be present, a penalty of three +months' imprisonment for the first offence, of six for the second, and +of seven years' transportation for the third, on conviction before a +single justice of peace.[610] This act, says Clarendon, if it had +been vigorously executed, would no doubt have produced a thorough +reformation.[611] Such is ever the language of the supporters of +tyranny; when oppression does not succeed, it is because there has +been too little of it. But those who suffered under this statute +report very differently as to its vigorous execution. The gaols were +filled, not only with ministers who had borne the brunt of former +persecutions, but with the laity who attended them; and the hardship +was the more grievous, that the act being ambiguously worded, its +construction was left to a single magistrate, generally very adverse +to the accused. + +It is the natural consequence of restrictive laws to aggravate the +disaffection which has served as their pretext; and thus to create a +necessity for a legislature that will not retrace its steps, to pass +still onward in the course of severity. In the next session +accordingly held at Oxford in 1665, on account of the plague that +ravaged the capital, we find a new and more inevitable blow aimed at +the fallen church of Calvin. It was enacted that all persons in holy +orders who had not subscribed the act of uniformity, should swear that +it is not lawful, upon any pretence whatsoever, to take arms against +the king; and that they did abhor that traitorous position of taking +arms by his authority against his person, or against those that are +commissioned by him, and would not at any time endeavour any +alteration of government in church or state. Those who refused this +oath were not only made incapable of teaching in schools, but +prohibited from coming within five miles of any city, corporate town, +or borough sending members to parliament.[612] + +This infamous statute did not pass without the opposition of the Earl +of Southampton, lord treasurer, and other peers. But Archbishop +Sheldon, and several bishops, strongly supported the bill, which had +undoubtedly the sanction also of Clarendon's authority.[613] In the +Commons, I do not find that any division took place; but an +unsuccessful attempt was made to insert the word "legally" before +commissioned; the lawyers, however, declared that this word must be +understood.[614] Some of the nonconforming clergy took the oath upon +this construction. But the far greater number refused. Even if they +could have borne the solemn assertion of the principles of passive +obedience in all possible cases, their scrupulous consciences revolted +from a pledge to endeavour no kind of alteration in church and state; +an engagement, in its extended sense, irreconcilable with their own +principles in religion, and with the civil duties of Englishmen. Yet +to quit the towns where they had long been connected, and where alone +they had friends and disciples, for a residence in country villages, +was an exclusion from the ordinary means of subsistence. The church of +England had doubtless her provocations; but she made the retaliation +much more than commensurate to the injury. No severity, comparable to +this cold-blooded persecution, had been inflicted by the late powers, +even in the ferment and fury of a civil war. Encouraged by this easy +triumph, the violent party in the House of Commons thought it a good +opportunity to give the same test a more sweeping application. A bill +was brought in imposing this oath upon the whole nation; that is, I +presume (for I do not know that its precise nature is anywhere +explained), on all persons in any public or municipal trust. This +however was lost on a division by a small majority.[615] + +It has been remarked that there is no other instance in history, where +men have suffered persecution on account of differences, which were +admitted by those who inflicted it to be of such small moment. But, +supposing this to be true, it only proves, what may perhaps be alleged +as a sort of extenuation of these severe laws against nonconformists, +that they were merely political, and did not spring from any +theological bigotry. Sheldon indeed, their great promoter, was so free +from an intolerant zeal that he is represented as a man who considered +religion chiefly as an engine of policy. The principles of religious +toleration had already gained considerable ground over mere bigotry; +but were still obnoxious to the arbitrary temper of some politicians, +and wanted perhaps experimental proof of their safety to recommend +them to the caution of others. There can be no doubt that all laws +against dissent and separation from an established church, those even +of the inquisition, have proceeded in a greater or less degree from +political motives; and these appear to me far less odious than the +disinterested rancour of superstition. The latter is very common among +the populace, and sometimes among the clergy. Thus the presbyterians +exclaimed against the toleration of popery, not as dangerous to the +protestant establishment, but as a sinful compromise with idolatry; +language which, after the first heat of the reformation had abated, +was never so current in the Anglican church.[616] In the case of these +statutes against nonconformists under Charles II., revenge and fear +seem to have been the unmixed passions that excited the church party +against those, whose former superiority they remembered, and whose +disaffection and hostility it was impossible to doubt.[617] + +_Dissatisfaction increases._--A joy so excessive and indiscriminating +had accompanied the king's restoration, that no prudence or virtue in +his government could have averted that reaction of popular sentiment, +which inevitably follows the disappointment of unreasonable hope. +Those who lay their account upon blessings, which no course of +political administration can bestow, live, according to the poet's +comparison, like the sick man, perpetually changing posture in search +of the rest which nature denies; the dupes of successive revolutions, +sanguine as children with the novelties of politics, a new +constitution, a new sovereign, a new minister, and as angry with the +playthings when they fall short of their desires. What then was the +discontent that must have ensued upon the restoration of Charles II.? +The neglected cavalier, the persecuted presbyterian, the disbanded +officer, had each his grievance; and felt that he was either in a +worse situation than he had formerly been, or at least than he had +expected to be. Though there were not the violent acts of military +power which had struck every man's eyes under Cromwell, it cannot be +said that personal liberty was secure, or that the magistrates had not +considerable power of oppression, and that pretty unsparingly +exercised towards those suspected of disaffection. The religious +persecution was not only far more severe than it was ever during the +commonwealth, but perhaps more extensively felt than under Charles I. +Though the monthly assessments for the support of the army ceased soon +after the restoration, several large grants were made by parliament, +especially during the Dutch war; and it appears, that in the first +seven years of Charles II. the nation paid a greater sum in taxes than +in any preceding period of the same duration. If then the people +compared the national fruits of their expenditure, what a contrast +they found, how deplorable a falling off in public honour and dignity +since the days of the magnanimous usurper![618] They saw with +indignation, that Dunkirk, acquired by Cromwell, had been chaffered +away by Charles (a transaction justifiable perhaps on the mere balance +of profit and loss, but certainly derogatory to the pride of a great +nation); that a war, needlessly commenced, had been carried on with +much display of bravery in our seamen and their commanders, but no +sort of good conduct in the government; and that a petty northern +potentate, who would have trembled at the name of the commonwealth, +had broken his faith towards us out of mere contempt of our +inefficiency. + +_Private life of the king._--These discontents were heightened by the +private conduct of Charles, if the life of a king can in any sense be +private, by a dissoluteness and contempt of moral opinion, which a +nation, still in the main grave and religious, could not endure. The +austere character of the last king had repressed to a considerable +degree the common vices of a court which had gone to a scandalous +excess under James. But the cavaliers in general affected a profligacy +of manners, as their distinction from the fanatical party, which +gained ground among those who followed the king's fortunes in exile, +and became more flagrant after the restoration. Anecdotes of court +excesses, which required not the aid of exaggeration, were in daily +circulation through the coffee-houses; those who cared least about the +vice, not failing to inveigh against the scandal. It is in the nature +of a limited monarchy that men should censure very freely the private +likes of their princes, as being more exempt from that immoral +servility which blinds itself to the distinctions of right and wrong +in elevated rank. And as a voluptuous court will always appear +prodigal, because all expense in vice is needless, they had the +mortification of believing that the public revenues were wasted on the +vilest associates of the king's debauchery. We are however much +indebted to the memory of Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland, Louisa, +Duchess of Portsmouth, and Mrs. Eleanor Gwyn. We owe a tribute of +gratitude to the Mays, the Killigrews, the Chiffinches, and the +Grammonts. They played a serviceable part in ridding the kingdom of +its besotted loyalty. They saved our forefathers from the +star-chamber, and the high-commission court; they laboured in their +vocation against standing armies and corruption; they pressed forward +the great ultimate security of English freedom, the expulsion of the +house of Stuart.[619] + +_Opposition in parliament._--Among the ardent loyalists who formed the +bulk of the present parliament, a certain number of a different class +had been returned, not sufficient of themselves to constitute a very +effective minority, but of considerable importance as a nucleus, round +which the lesser factions that circumstances should produce, might be +gathered. Long sessions, and a long continuance of the same +parliament, have an inevitable tendency to generate a systematic +opposition to the measures of the Crown, which it requires all +vigilance and management to hinder from becoming too powerful. The +sense of personal importance, the desire of occupation in business (a +very characteristic propensity of the English gentry), the various +inducements of private passion and interest, bring forward so many +active spirits, that it was, even in that age, as reasonable to expect +that the ocean should always be tranquil, as that a House of Commons +should continue long to do the king's bidding, with any kind of +unanimity or submission. Nothing can more demonstrate the +incompatibility of the tory scheme, which would place the virtual and +effective, as well as nominal, administration of the executive +government in the sole hands of the Crown, with the existence of a +representative assembly, than the history of this long parliament of +Charles II. None has ever been elected in circumstances so favourable +for the Crown, none ever brought with it such high notions of +prerogative; yet in this assembly a party soon grew up, and gained +strength in every successive year, which the king could neither direct +nor subdue. The methods of bribery, to which the court had largely +recourse, though they certainly diverted some of the measures, and +destroyed the character, of this opposition, proved in the end like +those dangerous medicines which palliate the instant symptoms of a +disease that they aggravate. The leaders of this parliament were, in +general, very corrupt men; but they knew better than to quit the power +which made them worth purchase. Thus the House of Commons matured and +extended those rights of enquiring into and controlling the management +of public affairs, which had caused so much dispute in former times; +and, as the exercise of these functions became more habitual, and +passed with little or no open resistance from the Crown, the people +learned to reckon them unquestionable or even fundamental; and were +prepared for that more perfect settlement of the constitution on a +more republican basis, which took place after the revolution. The +reign of Charles II., though displaying some stretches of arbitrary +power, and threatening a great deal more, was, in fact, the +transitional state between the ancient and modern schemes of the +English constitution; between that course of government where the +executive power, so far as executive, was very little bounded except +by the laws, and that where it can only be carried on, even within its +own province, by the consent and co-operation, in a great measure, of +the parliament. + +_Appropriation of supplies._--The Commons took advantage of the +pressure which the war with Holland brought on the administration, to +establish two very important principles on the basis of their sole +right of taxation. The first of these was the appropriation of +supplies to limited purposes. This indeed was so far from an absolute +novelty, that it found precedents in the reigns of Richard II. and +Henry IV.; a period when the authority of the House of Commons was at +a very high pitch. No subsequent instance, I believe, was on record +till the year 1624, when the last parliament of James I., at the +king's own suggestion, directed their supply for the relief of the +Palatinate to be paid into the hands of commissioners named by +themselves. There were cases of a similar nature in the year 1641, +which, though of course they could no longer be upheld as precedents, +had accustomed the house to the idea that they had something more to +do than simply to grant money, without any security or provision for +its application. In the session of 1665, accordingly, an enormous +supply, as it then appeared, of £1,250,000, after one of double that +amount in the preceding year, having been voted for the Dutch war, Sir +George Downing, one of the tellers of the exchequer, introduced into +the subsidy bill a proviso, that the money raised by virtue of that +act should be applicable only to the purposes of the war.[620] +Clarendon inveighed with fury against this, as an innovation +derogatory to the honour of the Crown; but the king himself, having +listened to some who persuaded him that the money would be advanced +more easily upon this better security for speedy repayment, insisted +that it should not be thrown out.[621] That supplies, granted by +parliament, are only to be expended for particular objects specified +by itself, became, from this time, an undisputed principle, recognised +by frequent and at length constant practice. It drew with it the +necessity of estimates regularly laid before the House of Commons; +and, by exposing the management of the public revenues, has given to +parliament, not only a real and effective control over an essential +branch of the executive administration, but, in some measure, rendered +them partakers in it.[622] + +_Commission of public accounts._--It was a consequence of this right +of appropriation, that the House of Commons should be able to satisfy +itself as to the expenditure of their monies in the services for which +they were voted. But they might claim a more extensive function, as +naturally derived from their power of opening and closing the public +purse, that of investigating the wisdom, faithfulness, and economy +with which their grants had been expended. For this too there was some +show of precedents in the ancient days of Henry IV.; but what +undoubtedly had most influence was the recollection, that during the +late civil war, and in the times of the commonwealth, the house had +superintended, through its committees, the whole receipts and issues +of the national treasury. This had not been much practised since the +restoration. But in the year 1666, the large cost and indifferent +success of the Dutch war begetting vehement suspicions, not only of +profuseness but of diversion of the public money from its proper +purposes, the house appointed a committee to inspect the accounts of +the officers of the navy, ordnance, and stores, which were laid before +them, as it appears, by the king's direction. This committee after +some time, having been probably found deficient in powers, and +particularly being incompetent to administer an oath, the house +determined to proceed in a more novel and vigorous manner; and sent up +a bill, nominating commissioners to inspect the public accounts, who +were to possess full powers of enquiry, and to report with respect to +such persons as they should find to have broken their trust. The +immediate object of this enquiry, so far as appears from Lord +Clarendon's mention of it, was rather to discover whether the +treasurers had not issued money without legal warrant than to enter +upon the details of its expenditure. But that minister, bigoted to his +Tory creed of prerogative, thought it the highest presumption for a +parliament to intermeddle with the course of government. He spoke of +this bill as an encroachment and usurpation that had no limits, and +pressed the king to be firm in his resolution never to consent to +it.[623] Nor was the king less averse to a parliamentary commission of +this nature, as well from a jealousy of its interference with his +prerogative, as from a consciousness which Clarendon himself suggests, +that great sums had been issued by his orders, which could not be put +in any public account; that is (for we can give no other +interpretation), that the monies granted for the war, and appropriated +by statute to that service, had been diverted to supply his wasteful +and debauched course of pleasures.[624] It was the suspicion, or +rather private knowledge of this criminal breach of trust, which had +led to the bill in question. But such a slave was Clarendon to his +narrow prepossessions, that he would rather see the dissolute excesses +which he abhorred suck nourishment from that revenue which had been +allotted to maintain the national honour and interests, and which, by +its deficiencies thus aggravated, had caused even in this very year +the navy to be laid up, and the coasts to be left defenceless, than +suffer them to be restrained by the only power to which thoughtless +luxury would submit. He opposed the bill therefore in the House of +Lords, as he confesses, with much of that intemperate warmth which +distinguished him, and with a contempt of the lower house and its +authority, as imprudent in respect to his own interests as it was +unbecoming and unconstitutional. The king prorogued parliament while +the measure was depending; but in hopes to pacify the House of +Commons, promised to issue a commission under the great seal for the +examination of public accountants;[625] an expedient which was not +likely to bring more to light than suited his purpose. But it does not +appear that this royal commission, though actually prepared and +sealed, was ever carried into effect; for in the ensuing session, the +great minister's downfall having occurred in the meantime, the House +of Commons brought forward again their bill, which passed into a law. +It invested the commissioners therein nominated with very extensive +and extraordinary powers, both as to auditing public accounts, and +investigating the frauds that had taken place in the expenditure of +money, and employment of stores. They were to examine upon oath, to +summon inquests if they thought fit, to commit persons disobeying +their orders to prison without bail, to determine finally on the +charge and discharge of all accountants; the barons of the exchequer, +upon a certificate of their judgment, were to issue process for +recovering money to the king's use, as if there had been an immediate +judgment of their own court. Reports were to be made of the +commissioners' proceedings from time to time to the king and to both +houses of parliament. None of the commissioners were members of either +house. The king, as may be supposed, gave way very reluctantly to this +interference with his expenses. It brought to light a great deal of +abuse and misapplication of the public revenues, and contributed +doubtless in no small degree to destroy the house's confidence in the +integrity of government, and to promote a more jealous watchfulness of +the king's designs.[626] At the next meeting of parliament, in October +1669, Sir George Carteret, treasurer of the navy, was expelled the +house for issuing money without legal warrant. + +_Decline of Clarendon's power._--Sir Edward Hyde, whose influence had +been almost annihilated in the last years of Charles I. through the +inveterate hatred of the queen and those who surrounded her, acquired +by degrees the entire confidence of the young king, and baffled all +the intrigues of his enemies. Guided by him, in all serious matters, +during the latter years of his exile, Charles followed his counsels +almost implicitly in the difficult crisis of the restoration. The +office of chancellor and the title of Earl of Clarendon were the +proofs of the king's favour; but in effect, through the indolence and +ill-health of Southampton, as well as their mutual friendship, he was +the real minister of the Crown.[627] By the clandestine marriage of +his daughter with the Duke of York, he changed one brother from an +enemy to a sincere and zealous friend, without forfeiting the esteem +and favour of the other. And, though he was wise enough to dread the +invidiousness of such an elevation, yet for several years it by no +means seemed to render his influence less secure.[628] + +Both in their characters, however, and turn of thinking, there was so +little conformity between Clarendon and his master, that the +continuance of his ascendancy can only be attributed to the power of +early habit over the most thoughtless tempers. But it rarely happens +that kings do not ultimately shake off these fetters, and release +themselves from the sort of subjection which they feel in acting +always by the same advisers. Charles, acute himself and cool-headed, +could not fail to discover the passions and prejudices of his +minister, even if he had wanted the suggestion of others who, without +reasoning on such broad principles as Clarendon, were perhaps his +superiors in judging of temporary business. He wished too, as is +common, to depreciate a wisdom, and to suspect a virtue, which seemed +to reproach his own vice and folly. Nor had Clarendon spared those +remonstrances against the king's course of life, which are seldom +borne without impatience or resentment. He was strongly suspected by +the king as well as his courtiers (though, according to his own +account, without any reason) of having promoted the marriage of Miss +Stewart with the Duke of Richmond.[629] But above all he stood in the +way of projects, which, though still probably unsettled, were floating +in the king's mind. No one was more zealous to uphold the prerogative +at a height where it must overtop and chill with its shadow the +privileges of the people. No one was more vigilant to limit the +functions of parliament, or more desirous to see them confiding and +submissive. But there were landmarks which he could never be brought +to transgress. He would prepare the road for absolute monarchy, but +not introduce it; he would assist to batter down the walls, but not to +march into the town. His notions of what the English constitution +ought to be, appear evidently to have been derived from the times of +Elizabeth and James I., to which he frequently refers with +approbation. In the history of that age, he found much that could not +be reconciled to any liberal principles of government. But there were +two things which he certainly did not find; a revenue capable of +meeting an extraordinary demand without parliamentary supply, and a +standing army. Hence he took no pains, if he did not even, as is +asserted by Burnet, discourage the proposal of others, to obtain such +a fixed annual revenue for the king on the restoration, as would have +rendered it very rarely necessary to have recourse to parliament,[630] +and did not advise the keeping up any part of the army. That a few +troops were retained, was owing to the Duke of York. Nor did he go the +length that was expected in procuring the repeal of all the laws that +had been enacted in the long parliament.[631] + +These omissions sank deep in Charles's heart, especially when he found +that he had to deal with an unmanageable House of Commons, and must +fight the battle for arbitrary power; which might have been achieved, +he thought, without a struggle by his minister. There was still less +hope of obtaining any concurrence from Clarendon in the king's designs +as to religion. Though he does not once hint at it in his writings, +there can be little doubt that he must have suspected his master's +inclinations towards the church of Rome. The Duke of York considered +this as the most likely cause of his remissness in not sufficiently +advancing the prerogative.[632] He was always opposed to the various +schemes of a general indulgence towards popery, not only from his +strongly protestant principles and his dislike of all toleration, but +from a prejudice against the body of the English catholics, whom he +thought to arrogate more on the ground of merit than they could claim. +That interest, so powerful at court, was decidedly hostile to the +chancellor; for the Duke of York, who strictly adhered to him, if he +had not kept his change of religion wholly secret, does not at least +seem to have hitherto formed any avowed connection with the popish +party.[633] + +_Loss of the king's favour_--_Coalition against Clarendon_.--This +estrangement of the king's favour is sufficient to account for +Clarendon's loss of power; but his entire ruin was rather accomplished +by a strange coalition of enemies, which his virtues, or his errors +and infirmities, had brought into union. The cavaliers hated him on +account of the act of indemnity, and the presbyterians for that of +uniformity. Yet the latter were not in general so eager in his +prosecution as the others.[634] But he owed great part of the +severity with which he was treated to his own pride and ungovernable +passionateness, by which he had rendered very eminent men in the House +of Commons implacable, and to the language he had used as to the +dignity and privileges of the house itself.[635] A sense of this +eminent person's great talents as well as general integrity and +conscientiousness on the one hand, an indignation at the king's +ingratitude, and the profligate counsels of those who supplanted him, +on the other, have led most writers to overlook his faults in +administration, and to treat all the articles of accusation against +him as frivolous or unsupported. It is doubtless impossible to justify +the charge of high treason, on which he was impeached; but there are +matters that never were or could be disproved; and our own knowledge +enables us to add such grave accusations as must show Clarendon's +unfitness for the government of a free country.[636] + +1. _Illegal imprisonments._--It is the fourth article of his +impeachment, that he "had advised and procured divers of his majesty's +subjects to be imprisoned against law, in remote islands, garrisons, +and other places, thereby to prevent them from the benefit of the law, +and to produce precedents for the imprisoning any other of his +majesty's subjects in like manner." This was undoubtedly true. There +was some ground for apprehension on the part of the government from +those bold spirits who had been accustomed to revolutions, and drew +encouragement from the vices of the court and the embarrassments of +the nation. Ludlow and Algernon Sidney, about the year 1665, had +projected an insurrection, the latter soliciting Louis XIV. and the +pensionary of Holland for aid.[637] Many officers of the old army, +Wildman, Creed, and others, suspected, perhaps justly, of such +conspiracies, had been illegally detained in prison for several years, +and only recovered their liberty on Clarendon's dismissal.[638] He had +too much encouraged the hateful race of informers, though he admits +that it had grown a trade by which men got money, and that many were +committed on slight grounds.[639] Thus Colonel Hutchinson died in the +close confinement of a remote prison, far more probably on account of +his share in the death of Charles I., from which the act of indemnity +had discharged him, than any just pretext of treason.[640] It was +difficult to obtain a habeas corpus from some of the judges in this +reign. But to elude that provision by removing men out of the kingdom, +was such an offence against the constitution as may be thought enough +to justify the impeachment of any minister. + +2. The first article, and certainly the most momentous, asserts, +"That the Earl of Clarendon hath designed a standing army to be +raised, and to govern the kingdom thereby, and advised the king to +dissolve this present parliament, to lay aside all thoughts of +parliaments for the future, to govern by a military power, and to +maintain the same by free quarter and contribution." This was +prodigiously exaggerated; yet there was some foundation for a part of +it. In the disastrous summer of 1667, when the Dutch fleet had +insulted our coasts, and burned our ships in the Medway, the exchequer +being empty, it was proposed in council to call together immediately +the parliament, which then stood prorogued to a day at the distance of +some months. Clarendon, who feared the hostility of the House of +Commons towards himself, and had pressed the king to dissolve it, +maintained that they could not legally be summoned before the day +fixed; and, with a strange inconsistency, attaching more importance to +the formalities of law than to its essence, advised that the counties +where the troops were quartered should be called upon to send in +provisions, and those where there were no troops to contribute money, +which should be abated out of the next taxes. And he admits that he +might have used the expression of raising contributions, as in the +late civil war. This unguarded and unwarrantable language, thrown out +at the council-table where some of his enemies were sitting, soon +reached the ears of the Commons, and, mingled up with the usual +misrepresentations of faction, was magnified into a charge of high +treason.[641] + +3. _Sale of Dunkirk._--The eleventh article charged Lord Clarendon +with having advised and effected the sale of Dunkirk to the French +king, being part of his majesty's dominions, for no greater value than +the ammunition, artillery, and stores were worth. The latter part is +generally asserted to be false. The sum received is deemed the utmost +that Louis would have given, who thought he had made a hard bargain. +But it is very difficult to reconcile what Clarendon asserts in his +defence, and much more at length in his Life (that the business of +Dunkirk was entirely decided before he had anything to do in it, by +the advice of Albemarle and Sandwich), with the letters of d'Estrades, +the negotiator in this transaction on the part of France. In these +letters, written at the time to Louis XIV., Clarendon certainly +appears not only as the person chiefly concerned, but as representing +himself almost the only one of the council favourable to the measure, +and having to overcome the decided repugnance of Southampton, +Sandwich, and Albemarle.[642] I cannot indeed see any other +explanation than that he magnified the obstacles in the way of this +treaty, in order to obtain better terms; a management, not very +unusual in diplomatical dealing, but, in the degree at least to which +he carried it, scarcely reconcilable with the good faith we should +expect from this minister. For the transaction itself, we can hardly +deem it honourable or politic. The expense of keeping up Dunkirk, +though not trifling, would have been willingly defrayed by parliament; +and could not well be pleaded by a government which had just +encumbered itself with the useless burthen of Tangier. That its +possession was of no great direct value to England must be confessed; +but it was another question whether it ought to have been surrendered +into the hands of France. + +4. This close connection with France is indeed a great reproach to +Clarendon's policy, and was the spring of mischiefs to which he +contributed, and which he ought to have foreseen. What were the +motives of these strong professions of attachment to the interests of +Louis XIV. which he makes in some of his letters, it is difficult to +say, since he had undoubtedly an ancient prejudice against that +nation and its government. I should incline to conjecture that his +knowledge of the king's unsoundness in religion led him to keep at a +distance from the court of Spain, as being far more zealous in its +popery, and more connected with the Jesuit faction, than that of +France; and this possibly influenced him also with respect to the +Portuguese match, wherein, though not the first adviser, he certainly +took much interest; an alliance as little judicious in the outset, as +it proved eventually fortunate.[643] But the capital misdemeanour that +he committed in this relation with France was the clandestine +solicitation of pecuniary aid for the king. He first taught a lavish +prince to seek the wages of dependence in a foreign power, to elude +the control of parliament by the help of French money.[644] The +purpose for which this aid was asked, the succour of Portugal, might +be fair and laudable; but the precedent was most base, dangerous, and +abominable. A king who had once tasted the sweets of dishonest and +clandestine lucre would, in the words of the poet, be no more capable +afterwards of abstaining from it, than a dog from his greasy offal. + +_Clarendon's faults as a minister._--These are the errors of +Clarendon's political life; which, besides his notorious concurrence +in all measures of severity and restraint towards the nonconformists, +tend to diminish our respect from his memory, and to exclude his name +from that list of great and wise ministers, where some are willing to +place him near the head. If I may seem to my readers less favourable +to so eminent a person than common history might warrant, it is at +least to be said that I have formed my decision from his own recorded +sentiments, or from equally undisputable sources of authority. The +publication of his life, that is, of the history of his +administration, has not contributed to his honour. We find in it +little or nothing of that attachment to the constitution for which he +had acquired credit, and some things which we must struggle hard to +reconcile with his veracity, even if the suppression of truth is not +to be reckoned an impeachment of it in an historian.[645] But the +manifest profligacy of those who contributed most to his ruin, and the +measures which the court took soon afterwards, have rendered his +administration comparatively honourable, and attached veneration to +his memory. We are unwilling to believe that there was anything to +censure in a minister, whom Buckingham persecuted, and against whom +Arlington intrigued.[646] + +A distinguished characteristic of Clarendon had been his firmness, +called indeed by most pride and obstinacy, which no circumstances, no +perils, seemed likely to bend. But his spirit sunk all at once with +his fortune. Clinging too long to office, and cheating himself against +all probability with a hope of his master's kindness when he had lost +his confidence, he abandoned that dignified philosophy which ennobles +a voluntary retirement, that stern courage which innocence ought to +inspire; and hearkening to the king's treacherous counsels, fled +before his enemies into a foreign country. Though the impeachment, at +least in the point of high treason, cannot be defended, it is +impossible to deny that the act of banishment, under the circumstances +of his flight, was capable, in the main, of full justification. In an +ordinary criminal suit, a process of outlawry goes against the accused +who flies from justice; and his neglect to appear within a given time +is equivalent, in cases of treason or felony, to a conviction of the +offence; can it be complained of, that a minister of state, who dares +not confront a parliamentary impeachment, should be visited with an +analogous penalty? But, whatever injustice and violence may be found +in this prosecution, it established for ever the right of impeachment, +which the discredit into which the long parliament had fallen exposed +to some hazard; the strong abettors of prerogative, such as Clarendon +himself, being inclined to dispute this responsibility of the king's +advisers to parliament. The Commons had, in the preceding session, +sent up an impeachment against Lord Mordaunt, upon charges of so +little public moment, that they may be suspected of having chiefly had +in view the assertion of this important privilege.[647] It was never +called in question from this time; and indeed they took care during +the remainder of this reign, that it should not again be endangered by +a paucity of precedents.[648] + +_Cabal ministry._--The period between the fall of Clarendon in 1667, +and the commencement of Lord Danby's administration in 1673, is +generally reckoned one of the most disgraceful in the annals of our +monarchy. This was the age of what is usually denominated the Cabal +administration, from the five initial letters of Sir Thomas Clifford, +first commissioner of the treasury, afterwards Lord Clifford and high +treasurer, the Earl of Arlington, secretary of state, the Duke of +Buckingham, Lord Ashley, chancellor of the exchequer, afterwards Earl +of Shaftesbury and lord chancellor, and lastly, the Duke of +Lauderdale. Yet, though the counsels of these persons soon became +extremely pernicious and dishonourable, it must be admitted that the +first measures after the banishment of Clarendon, both in domestic and +foreign policy, were highly praiseworthy. Bridgeman, who succeeded the +late chancellor in the custody of the great seal, with the assistance +of Chief Baron Hale and Bishop Wilkins, and at the instigation of +Buckingham, who, careless about every religion, was from humanity or +politic motives friendly to the indulgence of all, laid the +foundations of a treaty with the nonconformists, on the basis of a +comprehension for the presbyterians, and a toleration for the +rest.[649] They had nearly come, it is said, to terms of agreement, so +that it was thought time to intimate their design in a speech from +the throne. But the spirit of 1662 was still too powerful in the +Commons; and the friends of Clarendon, whose administration this +change of counsels seemed to reproach, taking a warm part against all +indulgence, a motion that the king be desired to send for such persons +as he should think fit to make proposals to him in order to the +uniting of his protestant subjects, was negatived by 176 to 70.[650] +They proceeded, by almost an equal majority, to continue the bill of +1664, for suppressing seditious conventicles; which failed however for +the present, in consequence of the sudden prorogation.[651] + +_Triple alliance._--But whatever difference of opinion might at that +time prevail with respect to this tolerant disposition of the new +government, there was none as to their great measure in external +policy, the triple alliance with Holland and Sweden. A considerable +and pretty sudden change had taken place in the temper of the English +people towards France. Though the discordance of national character, +and the dislike that seems natural to neighbours, as well as in some +measure the recollections of their ancient hostility, had at all times +kept up a certain ill-will between the two, it is manifest that before +the reign of Charles II. there was not that antipathy and inveterate +enmity towards the French in general, which it has since been deemed +an act of patriotism to profess. The national prejudices, from the +accession of Elizabeth to the restoration, ran far more against Spain; +and it is not surprising that the apprehensions of that ambitious +monarchy, which had been very just in the age of Philip II., should +have lasted longer than its ability or inclination to molest us. But +the rapid declension of Spain, after the peace of the Pyrenees, and +the towering ambition of Louis XIV., master of a kingdom intrinsically +so much more formidable than its rival, manifested that the balance of +power in Europe, and our own immediate security, demanded a steady +opposition to the aggrandisement of one monarchy, and a regard to the +preservation of the other. These indeed were rather considerations for +statesmen than for the people; but Louis was become unpopular both by +his acquisition of Dunkirk at the expense, as it was thought, of our +honour, and much more deservedly by his shuffling conduct in the Dutch +war, and union in it with our adversaries. Nothing therefore gave +greater satisfaction in England than the triple alliance, and +consequent peace of Aix la Chapelle, which saved the Spanish +Netherlands from absolute conquest, though not without important +sacrifices.[652] + +_Intrigue with France._--Charles himself meanwhile by no means partook +in this common jealousy of France. He had, from the time of his +restoration, entered into close relations with that power, which a +short period of hostility had interrupted without leaving any +resentment in his mind. It is now known that, while his minister was +negotiating at the Hague for the triple alliance, he had made +overtures for a clandestine treaty with Louis, through his sister the +Duchess of Orleans, the Duke of Buckingham, and the French ambassador +Rouvigny.[653] As the King of France was at first backward in meeting +these advances, and the letters published in regard to them are very +few, we do not find any precise object expressed beyond a close and +intimate friendship. But a few words in a memorial of Rouvigny to +Louis XIV. seem to let us into the secret of the real purpose. "The +Duke of York," he says, "wishes much for this union; the Duke of +Buckingham the same: they use no art, but say that nothing else can +re-establish the affairs of this court."[654] + +_King's desire to be absolute._--Charles II. was not of a temperament +to desire arbitrary power, either through haughtiness and conceit of +his station, which he did not greatly display, or through the love of +taking into his own hands the direction of public affairs, about which +he was in general pretty indifferent. He did not wish, as he told Lord +Essex, to sit like a Turkish sultan, and sentence men to the +bowstring, but could not bear that a set of fellows should enquire +into his conduct.[655] His aim, in fact, was liberty rather than +power; it was that immunity from control and censure, in which men of +his character place a great part of their happiness. For some years he +had cared probably very little about enhancing his prerogative, +content with the loyalty, though not quite with the liberality, of his +parliament. And had he not been drawn, against his better judgment, +into the war with Holland, this harmony might perhaps have been +protracted a good deal longer. But the vast expenditure of that war, +producing little or no decisive success, and coming unfortunately at a +time when trade was not very thriving, and when rents had considerably +fallen, exasperated all men against the prodigality of the court, to +which they might justly ascribe part of their burthens, and, with the +usual miscalculations, believed that much more of them was due. Hence +the bill appointing commissioners of public account, so ungrateful to +the king, whose personal reputation it was likely to affect, and whose +favourite excesses it might tend to restrain. + +He was almost equally provoked by the licence of his people's tongues. +A court like that of Charles is the natural topic of the idle, as well +as the censorious. An administration so ill-conducted could not escape +the remarks of a well-educated and intelligent city. There was one +method of putting an end to these impertinent comments, or of +rendering them innoxious; but it was the last which he would have +adopted. Clarendon informs us that the king one day complaining of the +freedom, as to political conversation, taken in coffee-houses, he +recommended either that all persons should be forbidden by +proclamation to resort to them, or that spies should be placed in them +to give information against seditious speakers.[656] The king, he +says, liked both expedients; but thought it unfair to have recourse to +the latter till the former had given fair warning, and directed him to +propose it to the council; but here, Sir William Coventry objecting, +the king was induced to abandon the measure, much to Clarendon's +disappointment, though it probably saved him an additional article in +his impeachment. The unconstitutional and arbitrary tenor of this +great minister's notions of government is strongly displayed in this +little anecdote. Coventry was an enlightened, and, for that age, an +upright man, whose enmity Clarendon brought on himself by a marked +jealousy of his abilities in council. + +Those who stood nearest to the king were not backward to imitate his +discontent at the privileges of his people and their representatives. +The language of courtiers and court-ladies is always intolerable to +honest men, especially that of such courtiers as surrounded the throne +of Charles II. It is worst of all amidst public calamities, such as +pressed very closely on one another in a part of his reign; the awful +pestilence of 1665, the still more ruinous fire of 1666, the fleet +burned by the Dutch in the Medway next summer. No one could reproach +the king for outward inactivity or indifference during the great fire. +But there were some, as Clarendon tells us, who presumed to assure +him, "that this was the greatest blessing that God had ever conferred +on him, his restoration only excepted; for the walls and gates being +now burned and thrown down of that rebellious city, which was always +an enemy to the Crown, his majesty would never suffer them to repair +and build them up again, to be a bit in his mouth and a bridle upon +his neck; but would keep all open, that his troops might enter upon +them whenever he thought it necessary for his service; there being no +other way to govern that rude multitude but by force."[657] This kind +of discourse, he goes on to say, did not please the king. But here we +may venture to doubt his testimony; or, if the natural good temper of +Charles prevented him from taking pleasure in such atrocious +congratulations, we may be sure that he was not sorry to think the +city more in his power. + +It seems probable that this loose and profligate way of speaking gave +rise, in a great degree, to the suspicion that the city had been +purposely burned by those who were more enemies to religion and +liberty than to the court. The papists stood ready to bear the infamy +of every unproved crime; and a committee of the House of Commons +collected evidence enough for those who were already convinced, that +London had been burned by that obnoxious sect. Though the house did +not proceed farther, there can be no doubt that the enquiry +contributed to produce that inveterate distrust of the court, whose +connections with the popish faction were half known, half conjectured, +which gave from this time an entirely new complexion to the +parliament. Prejudiced as the Commons were, they could hardly have +imagined the catholics to have burned the city out of mere +malevolence; but must have attributed the crime to some far-spreading +plan of subverting the established constitution.[658] + +The retention of the king's guards had excited some jealousy, though +no complaints seem to have been made of it in parliament; but the +sudden levy of a considerable force in 1667, however founded upon a +very plausible pretext from the circumstances of the war, lending +credit to these dark surmises of the court's sinister designs, gave +much greater alarm. The Commons, summoned together in July, instantly +addressed the king to disband his army as soon as peace should be +made. We learn from the Duke of York's private memoirs that some of +those who were most respected for their ancient attachment to liberty, +deemed it in jeopardy at this crisis. The Earls of Northumberland and +Leicester, Lord Hollis, Mr. Pierrepont, and others of the old +parliamentary party, met to take measures together. The first of these +told the Duke of York that the nation would not be satisfied with the +removal of the chancellor, unless the guards were disbanded, and +several other grievances redressed. The duke bade him be cautious what +he said, lest he should be obliged to inform the king; but +Northumberland replied that it was his intention to repeat the same to +the king, which he did accordingly the next day.[659] + +This change in public sentiment gave warning to Charles that he could +not expect to reign with as little trouble as he had hitherto +experienced; and doubtless the recollection of his father's history +did not contribute to cherish the love he sometimes pretended for +parliaments. His brother, more reflecting and more impatient of +restraint on royal authority, saw with still greater clearness than +the king, that they could only keep the prerogative at its desired +height by means of intimidation. A regular army was indispensable; but +to keep up an army in spite of parliament, or to raise money for its +support without parliament, were very difficult undertakings. It +seemed necessary to call in a more powerful arm than their own; and, +by establishing the closest union with the King of France, to obtain +either military or pecuniary succours from him, as circumstances +might demand. But there was another and not less imperious motive for +a secret treaty. The king, as has been said, though little likely, +from the tenor of his life, to feel very strong and lasting +impressions of religion, had at times a desire to testify publicly his +adherence to the Romish communion. The Duke of York had come more +gradually to change the faith in which he was educated. He describes +it as the result of patient and anxious enquiry; nor would it be +possible therefore to fix a precise date for his conversion, which +seems to have been not fully accomplished till after the +Restoration.[660] He however continued in conformity to the church of +England; till, on discovering that the catholic religion exacted an +outward communion, which he had fancied not indispensable, he became +more uneasy at the restraint that policy imposed on him. This led to a +conversation with the king, of whose private opinions and disposition +to declare them he was probably informed, and to a close union with +Clifford and Arlington, from whom he had stood aloof on account of +their animosity against Clarendon. The king and duke held a +consultation with those two ministers, and with Lord Arundel of +Wardour, on the 25th of January 1669, to discuss the ways and methods +fit to be taken for the advancement of the catholic religion in these +kingdoms. The king spoke earnestly, and with tears in his eyes. After +a long deliberation, it was agreed that there was no better way to +accomplish this purpose than through France; the house of Austria +being in no condition to give any assistance.[661] + +_Secret treaty of 1670._--The famous secret treaty, which, though +believed on pretty good evidence not long after the time, was first +actually brought to light by Dalrymple about half a century since, +began to be negotiated very soon after this consultation.[662] We +find allusions to the king's projects in one of his letters to the +Duchess of Orleans, dated 22nd March 1669.[663] In another of June 6, +the methods he was adopting to secure himself in this perilous +juncture appear. He was to fortify Plymouth, Hull, and Portsmouth, and +to place them in trusty hands. The fleet was under the duke, as lord +admiral; the guards and their officers were thought in general well +affected;[664] but his great reliance was on the most christian king. +He stipulated for £200,000 annually, and for the aid of 6000 French +troops.[665] In return for such important succour, Charles undertook +to serve his ally's ambition and wounded pride against the United +Provinces. These, when conquered by the French arms, with the +co-operation of an English navy, were already shared by the royal +conspirators. A part of Zealand fell to the lot of England, the +remainder of the Seven Provinces to France, with an understanding that +some compensation should be made to the Prince of Orange. In the event +of any new rights to the Spanish monarchy accruing to the most +christian king, as it is worded (that is, on the death of the King of +Spain, a sickly child), it was agreed that England should assist him +with all her force by sea and land, but at his own expense; and should +obtain, not only Ostend and Minorca, but, as far as the King of France +could contribute to it, such parts of Spanish America as she should +choose to conquer.[666] So strange a scheme of partitioning that vast +inheritance was never, I believe, suspected till the publication of +the treaty; though Bolingbroke had alluded to a previous treaty of +partition between Louis and the Emperor Leopold, the complete +discovery of which has been but lately made.[667] + +_Differences between Charles and Louis as to the mode of the execution +of the treaty._--Each conspirator, in his coalition against the +protestant faith and liberties of Europe, had splendid objects in +view; but those of Louis seemed by far the more probable of the two, +and less liable to be defeated. The full completion of their scheme +would have re-united a great kingdom to the catholic religion, and +turned a powerful neighbour into a dependent pensioner. But should +this fail (and Louis was too sagacious not to discern the chances of +failure), he had pledged to him the assistance of an ally in +subjugating the republic of Holland, which, according to all human +calculation, could not withstand their united efforts; nay, even in +those ulterior projects which his restless and sanguine ambition had +ever in view, and the success of which would have realised, not indeed +the chimera of an universal monarchy, but a supremacy and dictatorship +over Europe. Charles, on the other hand, besides that he had no other +return to make for the necessary protection of France, was impelled by +a personal hatred of the Dutch, and by the consciousness that their +commonwealth was the standing reproach of arbitrary power, to join +readily in the plan for its subversion. But, looking first to his own +objects, and perhaps a little distrustful of his ally, he pressed that +his profession of the Roman catholic religion should be the first +measure in prosecution of the treaty; and that he should immediately +receive the stipulated £200,000, or at least a part of the money. +Louis insisted that the declaration of war against Holland should +precede. This difference occasioned a considerable delay; and it was +chiefly with a view of bringing round her brother on this point, that +the Duchess of Orleans took her famous journey to Dover in the spring +of 1670. Yet, notwithstanding her influence, which passed for +irresistible, he persisted in adhering to the right reserved to him in +the draft of the treaty, of choosing his own time for the declaration +of his religion, and it was concluded on this footing at Dover, by +Clifford, Arundel, and Arlington, on the 22nd of May 1670, during the +visit of the Duchess of Orleans.[668] + +A mutual distrust, however, retarded the further progress of this +scheme; one party unwilling to commit himself till he should receive +money, the other too cautious to run the risk of throwing it away. +There can be no question but that the King of France was right in +urging the conquest of Holland as a preliminary of the more delicate +business they were to manage in England; and, from Charles's +subsequent behaviour, as well as his general fickleness and love of +ease, there seems reason to believe that he would gladly have receded +from an undertaking of which he must every day have more strongly +perceived the difficulties. He confessed, in fact, to Louis's +ambassador, that he was almost the only man in his kingdom who liked a +French alliance.[669] The change of religion, on a nearer view, +appeared dangerous for himself, and impracticable as a national +measure. He had not dared to intrust any of his protestant ministers, +even Buckingham, whose indifference in such points was notorious, with +this great secret; and, to keep them the better in the dark, a mock +negotiation was set on foot with France, and a pretended treaty +actually signed, the exact counterpart of the other, except as to +religion. Buckingham, Shaftesbury, and Lauderdale were concerned in +this simulated treaty, the negotiation for which did not commence till +after the original convention had been signed at Dover.[670] + +The court of France having yielded to Charles the point about which he +had seemed so anxious, had soon the mortification to discover that he +would take no steps to effect it. They now urged that immediate +declaration of his religion, which they had for very wise reasons not +long before dissuaded. The King of England hung back, and tried so +many excuses, that they had reason to suspect his sincerity; not that +in fact he had played a feigned part from the beginning, but his zeal +for popery having given way to the seductions of a voluptuous and +indolent life, he had been led, with the good sense he naturally +possessed, to form a better estimate of his resources and of the +opposition he must encounter. Meanwhile the eagerness of his ministers +had plunged the nation into war with Holland; and Louis, having +attained his principal end, ceased to trouble the king on the subject +of religion. He received large sums from France during the Dutch +war.[671] + +This memorable transaction explains and justifies the strenuous +opposition made in parliament to the king and Duke of York, and may be +reckoned the first act of a drama which ended in the revolution. It is +true that the precise terms of this treaty were not authentically +known; but there can be no doubt that those who from this time +displayed an insuperable jealousy of one brother, and a determined +enmity to the other, had proofs, enough for moral conviction, of their +deep conspiracy with France against religion and liberty. This +suspicion is implied in all the conduct of that parliamentary +opposition, and is the apology of much that seems violence and +faction, especially in the business of the popish plot and the bill of +exclusion. It is of importance also to observe that James II. was not +misled and betrayed by false or foolish counsellors, as some would +suggest, in his endeavours to subvert the laws, but acted on a plan, +long since concerted, and in which he had taken a principal share. + +It must be admitted that neither in the treaty itself nor in the few +letters which have been published by Dalrymple, do we find any +explicit declaration, either that the catholic religion was to be +established as the national church, or arbitrary power introduced in +England. But there are not wanting strong presumptions of this design. +The king speaks, in a letter to his sister, of finding means to put +the proprietors of church lands out of apprehension.[672] He uses the +expression, "rétablir la religion catholique;" which, though not quite +unequivocal, seems to convey more than a bare toleration, or a +personal profession by the sovereign.[673] He talks of a negotiation +with the court of Rome to obtain the permission of having mass in the +vulgar tongue and communion in both kinds, as terms that would render +his conversion agreeable to his subjects.[674] He tells the French +ambassador, that not only his conscience, but the confusion he saw +every day increasing in his kingdom, to the diminution of his +authority, impelled him to declare himself a catholic; which, besides +the spiritual advantage, he believed to be the only means of restoring +the monarchy. These passages, as well as the precautions taken in +expectation of a vigorous resistance from a part of the nation, appear +to intimate a formal re-establishment of the catholic church; a +measure connected, in the king's apprehension, if not strictly with +arbitrary power, yet with a very material enhancement of his +prerogative. For the profession of an obnoxious faith by the king, as +an insulated person, would, instead of strengthening his authority, +prove the greatest obstacle to it; as, in the next reign, turned out +to be the case. Charles, however, and the Duke of York deceived +themselves into a confidence that the transition could be effected +with no extraordinary difficulty. The king knew the prevailing laxity +of religious principles in many about his court, and thought he had +reason to rely on others as secretly catholic. Sunderland is mentioned +as a young man of talent, inclined to adopt that religion.[675] Even +the Earl of Orrery is spoken of as a catholic in his heart.[676] The +duke, who conversed more among divines, was led to hope, from the +strange language of the high-church party, that they might readily be +persuaded to make what seemed no long step, and come into easy terms +of union.[677] It was the constant policy of the Romish priests to +extenuate the differences between the two churches, and to throw the +main odium of the schism on the Calvinistic sects. And many of the +Anglicans, in their abhorrence of protestant nonconformists, played +into the hands of the common enemy. + +_Fresh severities against dissenters._--The court, however, +entertained great hopes from the depressed condition of the +dissenters, whom it was intended to bribe with that toleration under a +catholic regimen, which they could so little expect from the church of +England. Hence the Duke of York was always strenuous against schemes +of comprehension, which would invigorate the protestant interest and +promote conciliation. With the opposite view of rendering a union +among protestants impracticable, the rigorous episcopalians were +encouraged underhand to prosecute the nonconformists.[678] The Duke of +York took pains to assure Owen, an eminent divine of the independent +persuasion, that he looked on all persecution as an unchristian thing, +and altogether against his conscience.[679] Yet the court promoted a +renewal of the temporary act, passed in 1664 against conventicles, +which was reinforced by the addition of an extraordinary proviso, That +all clauses in the act should be construed most largely and +beneficially for suppressing conventicles, and for the justification +and encouragement of all persons to be employed in the execution +thereof.[680] Wilkins, the most honest of the bishops, opposed this +act in the House of Lords, notwithstanding the king's personal +request that he would be silent.[681] Sheldon and others, who, like +him, disgraced the church of England by their unprincipled policy or +their passions, not only gave it their earnest support at the time, +but did all in their power to enforce its execution.[682] As the +king's temper was naturally tolerant, his co-operation in this severe +measure would not easily be understood, without the explanation that a +knowledge of his secret policy enables us to give. In no long course +of time the persecution was relaxed, the imprisoned ministers set at +liberty, some of the leading dissenters received pensions, and the +king's declaration of a general indulgence held forth an asylum from +the law under the banner of prerogative.[683] Though this is said to +have proceeded from the advice of Shaftesbury, who had no concern in +the original secret treaty with France, it was completely in the +spirit of that compact, and must have been acceptable to the king. + +But the factious, fanatical, republican party (such were the usual +epithets of the court at the time, such have ever since been applied +by the advocates or apologists of the Stuarts), had gradually led away +by their delusions that parliament of cavaliers; or, in other words, +the glaring vices of the king, and the manifestation of designs +against religion and liberty, had dispossessed them of a confiding +loyalty, which, though highly dangerous from its excess, had always +been rather ardent than servile. The sessions had been short, and the +intervals of repeated prorogations much longer than usual; a policy +not well calculated for that age, where the growing discontents and +suspicions of the people acquired strength by the stoppage of the +regular channel of complaint. Yet the House of Commons, during this +period, though unmanageable on the one point of toleration, had +displayed no want of confidence in the king nor any animosity towards +his administration; notwithstanding the flagrant abuses in the +expenditure, which the parliamentary commission of public accounts had +brought to light, and the outrageous assault on Sir John Coventry; a +crime notoriously perpetrated by persons employed by the court, and +probably by the king's direct order.[684] + +_Dutch war._--The war with Holland at the beginning of 1672, so +repugnant to English interests, so unwarranted by any provocation, so +infamously piratical in its commencement, so ominous of further +schemes still more dark and dangerous, finally opened the eyes of all +men of integrity. It was accompanied by the shutting up of the +exchequer, an avowed bankruptcy at the moment of beginning an +expensive war,[685] and by the declaration of indulgence, or +suspension of all penal laws in religion; an assertion of prerogative +which seemed without limit. These exorbitances were the more +scandalous, that they happened during a very long prorogation. Hence +the court so lost the confidence of the House of Commons, that, with +all the lavish corruption of the following period, it could never +regain a secure majority on any important question. The superiority of +what was called the country party is referred to the session of +February 1673, in which they compelled the king to recall his +proclamation suspending the penal laws, and raised a barrier against +the encroachments of popery in the test act. + +_Declaration of indulgence._--The king's declaration of indulgence +had been projected by Shaftesbury, in order to conciliate or lull to +sleep the protestant dissenters. It redounded, in its immediate +effect, chiefly to their benefit; the catholics already enjoying a +connivance at the private exercise of their religion, and the +declaration expressly refusing them public places of worship. The plan +was most laudable in itself, could we separate the motives which +prompted it, and the means by which it was pretended to be made +effectual. But in the declaration the king says, "We think ourselves +obliged to make use of that supreme power in ecclesiastical matters, +which is not only inherent in us, but hath been declared and +recognised to be so by several statutes and acts of parliament." "We +do," he says, not long afterwards, "declare our will and pleasure to +be, that the execution of all and all manner of penal laws in matters +ecclesiastical, against whatsoever sort of nonconformists or +recusants, be immediately suspended, and they are hereby suspended." +He mentions also his intention to license a certain number of places +for the religious worship of nonconforming protestants.[686] + +It was generally understood to be an ancient prerogative of the Crown +to dispense with penal statutes in favour of particular persons, and +under certain restrictions. It was undeniable, that the king might, by +what is called a "noli prosequi," stop any criminal prosecution +commenced in his courts, though not an action for the recovery of a +pecuniary penalty, which, by many statutes, was given to the common +informer. He might of course set at liberty, by means of a pardon, any +person imprisoned, whether upon conviction or by a magistrate's +warrant. Thus the operation of penal statutes in religion might in a +great measure be rendered ineffectual, by an exercise of undisputed +prerogatives; and thus, in fact, the catholics had been enabled, since +the accession of the house of Stuart, to withstand the crushing +severity of the laws. But a pretension, in explicit terms, to suspend +a body of statutes, a command to magistrates not to put them in +execution, arrogated a sort of absolute power, which no benefits of +the indulgence itself (had they even been less insidiously offered) +could induce a lover of constitutional privileges to endure.[687] +Notwithstanding the affected distinction of temporal and +ecclesiastical matters, it was evident that the king's supremacy was +as much capable of being bounded by the legislature in one as in the +other, and that every law in the statute-book might be repealed by a +similar proclamation. The House of Commons voted that the king's +prerogative, in matters ecclesiastical, does not extend to repeal acts +of parliament; and addressed the king to recall his declaration. +Whether from a desire to protect the nonconformists in a toleration +even illegally obtained, or from the influence of Buckingham among +some of the leaders of opposition, it appears from the debates that +many of those, who had been in general most active against the court, +resisted this vote, which was carried by 168 to 116. The king, in his +answer to this address, lamented that the house should question his +ecclesiastical power, which had never been done before. This brought +on a fresh rebuke; and, in a second address they positively deny the +king's right to suspend any law. "The legislative power," they say, +"has always been acknowledged to reside in the king and two houses of +parliament." The king, in a speech to the House of Lords, complained +much of the opposition made by the Commons; and found a majority of +the former disposed to support him, though both houses concurred in an +address against the growth of popery. At length, against the advice of +the bolder part of his council, but certainly with a just sense of +what he most valued, his ease of mind, Charles gave way to the public +voice, and withdrew his declaration.[688] + +There was indeed a line of policy indicated at this time, which, +though intolerable to the bigotry and passion of the house, would best +have foiled the schemes of the ministry; a legislative repeal of all +the penal statutes both against the catholic and the protestant +dissenter, as far as regarded the exercise of their religion. It must +be evident to any impartial man that the unrelenting harshness of +parliament, from whom no abatement, even in the sanguinary laws +against the priests of the Romish church, had been obtained, had +naturally, and almost irresistibly, driven the members of that +persuasion into the camp of prerogative, and even furnished a pretext +for that continual intrigue and conspiracy, which was carried on in +the court of Charles II., as it had been in that of his father. A +genuine toleration would have put an end to much of this; but, in the +circumstances of that age, it could not have been safely granted +without an exclusion from those public trusts, which were to be +conferred by a sovereign in whom no trust could be reposed. + +The act of supremacy, in the first year of Elizabeth, had imposed on +all, accepting temporal as well as ecclesiastical offices, an oath +denying the spiritual jurisdiction of the pope. But, though the +refusal of this oath, when tendered, incurred various penalties, yet +it does not appear that any were attached to its neglect, or that the +oath was a previous qualification for the enjoyment of office, as it +was made by a subsequent act of the same reign for sitting in the +House of Commons. It was found also by experience that persons +attached to the Roman doctrine sometimes made use of strained +constructions to reconcile the oath of supremacy to their faith. Nor +could that test be offered to peers, who were accepted by a special +provision. + +_Test act._--For these several reasons a more effectual security +against popish counsellors, at least in notorious power, was created +by the famous test act of 1673, which renders the reception of the +sacrament according to the rites of the church of England, and a +declaration renouncing the doctrine of transubstantiation, preliminary +conditions without which no temporal office of trust can be +enjoyed.[689] In this fundamental article of faith, no compromise or +equivocation would be admitted by any member of the church of Rome. +And, as the obligation extended to the highest ranks, this reached the +end for which it was immediately designed; compelling, not only the +lord-treasurer Clifford, the boldest and most dangerous of that party, +to retire from public business, but the Duke of York himself, whose +desertion of the protestant church was hitherto not absolutely +undisguised, to quit the post of lord admiral.[690] + +It is evident that a test might have been framed to exclude the Roman +catholic as effectually as the present, without bearing like this on +the protestant nonconformist. But, though the preamble of the bill, +and the whole history of the transaction, show that the main object +was a safeguard against popery, it is probable that a majority of both +houses liked it the better for this secondary effect of shutting out +the presbyterians still more than had been done by previous statutes +of this reign. There took place however a remarkable coalition between +the two parties; and many who had always acted as high-church men and +cavaliers, sensible at last of the policy of their common adversaries, +renounced a good deal of the intolerance and bigotry that had +characterised the present parliament. The dissenters, with much +prudence or laudable disinterestedness, gave their support to the test +act. In return, a bill was brought in, and, after some debate, passed +to the lords, repealing in a considerable degree the persecuting laws +against their worship.[691] The upper house, perhaps insidiously, +returned it with amendments more favourable to the dissenters, and +insisted upon them, after a conference.[692] A sudden prorogation very +soon put an end to this bill, which was as unacceptable to the court +as it was to the zealots of the church of England. It had been +intended to follow it up by another, excluding all who should not +conform to the established church from serving in the House of +Commons.[693] + +It may appear remarkable that, as if content with these provisions, +the victorious country party did not remonstrate against the shutting +up of the exchequer, nor even wage any direct war against the king's +advisers. They voted, on the contrary, a large supply, which, as they +did not choose explicitly to recognise the Dutch war, was expressed to +be granted for the king's extraordinary occasions.[694] This +moderation, which ought at least to rescue them from the charges of +faction and violence, has been censured by some as servile and +corrupt; and would really incur censure, if they had not attained the +great object of breaking the court measures by other means. But the +test act, and their steady protestation against the suspending +prerogative, crushed the projects and dispersed the members of the +cabal. The king had no longer any minister on whom he could rely, and, +with his indolent temper, seems from this time, if not to have +abandoned all hope of declaring his change of religion, yet to have +seen both that and his other favourite projects postponed without much +reluctance. From a real predilection, from the prospect of gain, and +partly, no doubt, from some distant views of arbitrary power and a +catholic establishment, he persevered a long time in clinging secretly +to the interests of France; but his active co-operation in the schemes +of 1669 was at an end. In the next session of October 1673, the +Commons drove Buckingham from the king's councils; they intimidated +Arlington into a change of policy; and, though they did not succeed in +removing the Duke of Lauderdale, compelled him to confine himself +chiefly to the affairs of Scotland.[695] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[523] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 69. + +[524] _Clar. State Papers_, iii. 427, 529. In fact, very few of them +were likely to be of use; and the exception made his general offers +appear more sincere. + +[525] _Clar. Hist. of Rebellion_, vii. 447. Ludlow says that Fairfax +and Northumberland were positively against the punishment of the +regicides (vol. iii. p. 10); and that Monk vehemently declared at +first against any exceptions, and afterwards prevailed on the house to +limit them to seven. P. 16. Though Ludlow was not in England, this +seems very probable, and is confirmed by other authority as to Monk. +Fairfax, who had sat one day himself on the king's trial, could hardly +with decency concur in the punishment of those who went on. + +[526] Journals, May 14. + +[527] June 5, 6, 7. The first seven were Scott, Holland, Lisle, +Barkstead, Harrison, Say, Jones. They went on to add Coke, Broughton, +Dendy. + +[528] These were Lenthall, Vane, Burton, Keble, St. John, Ireton, +Haslerig, Sydenham, Desborough, Axtell, Lambert, Pack, Blackwell, +Fleetwood, Pyne, Dean, Creed, Nye, Goodwin, and Cobbet; some of them +rather insignificant names. Upon the words that "twenty and no more" +be so excepted, two divisions took place, 160 to 131, and 153 to 135; +the presbyterians being the majority. June 8. Two other divisions took +place on the names of Lenthall, carried by 215 to 126, and of +Whitelock, lost by 175 to 134. Another motion was made afterwards +against Whitelock by Prynne. Milton was ordered to be prosecuted +separately from the twenty; so that they already broke their +resolution. He was put in custody of the serjeant-at-arms, and +released, December 17. Andrew Marvell, his friend, soon afterwards +complained that fees to the amount of 150 pounds had been extorted +from him; but Finch answered that Milton had been Cromwell's +secretary, and deserved hanging. _Parl. Hist._ p. 162. Lenthall had +taken some share in the restoration, and entered into correspondence +with the king's advisers a little before. _Clar. State Papers_, iii. +711, 720. Kennet's _Register_, 762. But the royalists never could +forgive his having put the question to the vote on the ordinance for +trying the late king. + +[529] June 30. This was carried without a division. Eleven were +afterwards excepted by name, as not having rendered themselves. July +9. + +[530] July 11. + +[531] The worst and most odious of their proceedings, quite unworthy +of a christian and civilised assembly, was to give the next relations +of the four peers who had been executed under the commonwealth, +Hamilton, Holland, Capel, and Derby, the privilege of naming each one +person (among the regicides) to be executed. This was done in the +three last instances; but Lord Denbigh, as Hamilton's kinsman, +nominated one who was dead; and, on this being pointed out to him, +refused to fix on another. Journal, Aug. 7; Ludlow, iii. 34. + +[532] Lord Southampton, according to Ludlow, actually moved this in +the House of Lords, but was opposed by Finch, iii. 43. + +[533] Clarendon uses some shameful chicanery about this (_Life_, p. +69); and with that inaccuracy, to say the least, so habitual to him, +says, "the parliament had published a proclamation, that all who did +not render themselves by a day named should be judged as guilty, and +attainted of treason." The proclamation was published by the king, on +the suggestion indeed of the Lords and Commons, and the expressions +were what I have stated in the text. _State Trials_, v. 959; _Somers +Tracts_, vii. 437. It is obvious that by this mis-representation he +not only throws the blame of ill faith off the king's shoulders, but +puts the case of those who obeyed the proclamation on a very different +footing. The king, it seems, had always expected that none of the +regicides should be spared. But why did he publish such a +proclamation? Clarendon, however, seems to have been against the other +exceptions from the bill of indemnity, as contrary to some expressions +in the declaration from Breda, which had been inserted by Monk's +advice; and thus wisely and honourably got rid of the twenty +exceptions, which had been sent up from the Commons. P. 133. The lower +house resolved to agree with the Lords as to those twenty persons, or +rather sixteen of them, by 197 to 102, Hollis and Morrice telling the +Ayes. + +[534] Stat. 12 Car. II. c. 11. + +[535] These were, in the first instance, Harrison, Scott, Scrope, +Jones, Clement, Carew, all of whom had signed the warrant, Cook, the +solicitor at the high court of justice, Hacker and Axtell, who +commanded the guard on that occasion, and Peters. Two years +afterwards, Downing, ambassador in Holland, prevailed on the states to +give up Barkstead, Corbet, and Okey. They all died with great +constancy, and an enthusiastic persuasion of the righteousness of +their cause. _State Trials._ + +Pepys says in his _Diary_, 13th October 1660, of Harrison, whose +execution he witnessed, that "he looked as cheerful as any man could +do in that condition." + +[536] It is remarkable, that Scrope had been so particularly favoured +by the convention parliament, as to be exempted, together with +Hutchinson and Lascelles, from any penalty or forfeiture by a special +resolution. June 9. But the Lords put in his name again, though they +pointedly excepted Hutchinson; and the Commons, after first resolving +that he should only pay a fine of one year's value of his estate, came +at last to agree in excepting him from the indemnity as to life. It +appears that some private conversation of Scrope had been betrayed, +wherein he spoke of the king's death as he thought. + +As to Hutchinson, he had certainly concurred in the restoration, +having an extreme dislike to the party who had turned out the +parliament in Oct. 1659, especially Lambert. This may be inferred from +his conduct, as well as by what Ludlow says, and Kennet in his +_Register_, p. 169. His wife puts a speech into his mouth as to his +share in the king's death, not absolutely justifying it, but, I +suspect, stronger than he ventured to use. At least, the Commons voted +that he should not be excepted from the indemnity, "on account of his +signal repentance," which could hardly be predicated of the language +she ascribes to him. Compare Mrs. Hutchinson's _Memoirs_, p. 367, with +Commons' Journals, June 9. + +[537] Horace Walpole, in his _Catalogue of Noble Authors_, has thought +fit to censure both these persons for their pretended inconsistency. +The case is, however, different as to Monk and Cooper; and perhaps it +may be thought, that men of more delicate sentiments than either of +these possessed, would not have sat upon the trial of those with whom +they had long professed to act in concert, though innocent of their +crime. + +[538] Commons' Journals, May 12, 1660. + +[539] _Parl. Hist._ iv. 80. + +[540] _Id._ iv. 129. + +[541] _Memoirs_, p. 229. It appears by some passages in the _Clarendon +Papers_, that the church had not expected to come off so brilliantly; +and, while the restoration was yet unsettled, would have been content +to give leases of their lands. Pp. 620, 723. Hyde, however, was +convinced that the church would be either totally ruined, or restored +to a great lustre; and herein he was right, as it turned out. P. 614. + +[542] _Life of Clarendon_, 99. L'Estrange, in a pamphlet printed +before the end of 1660, complains that the cavaliers were neglected, +the king betrayed, the creatures of Cromwell, Bradshaw, and St. John +laden with offices and honours. Of the indemnity he says, "That act +made the enemies to the constitution masters in effect of the booty of +three nations, bating the Crown and church lands, all which they might +now call their own; while those who stood up for the laws were +abandoned to the comfort of an irreparable but honourable ruin." He +reviles the presbyterian ministers still in possession; and tells the +king that misplaced lenity was his father's ruin. Kennet's _Register_, +p. 233. See too, in _Somers Tracts_, vii. 517, "The Humble +Representation of the Sad Condition of the King's Party." Also p. 557. + +[543] Commons' Journals, 4 September 1660. Sir Philip Warwick, +chancellor of the exchequer, assured Pepys that the revenue fell short +by a fourth of the £1,200,000 voted by parliament. See his _Diary_, +March 1, 1664. Ralph, however, says, the income in 1662 was +£1,120,593, though the expenditure was £1,439,000. P. 88. It appears +probable that the hereditary excise did not yet produce much beyond +its estimate. _Id._ p. 20. + +[544] 21 Nov. 1660, 151 to 149. _Parl. Hist._ + +[545] The troops disbanded were fourteen regiments of horse and +eighteen of foot in England: one of horse and four of foot in +Scotland, besides garrisons. Journals, Nov. 7. + +[546] Ralph, 35; _Life of James_, 447; Grose's _Military Antiquities_, +i. 61. + +[547] Neal, 429, 444. + +[548] _Id._ 471; Pepy's _Diary_, ad init. Even in Oxford, about 300 +episcopalians used to meet every Sunday with the connivance of Dr. +Owen, dean of Christ Church. Orme's _Life of Owen_, 188. It is +somewhat bold in Anglican writers to complain, as they now and then +do, of the persecution they suffered at this period, when we consider +what had been the conduct of the bishops before, and what it was +afterwards. I do not know that any member of the church of England was +imprisoned under the commonwealth, except for some political reason; +certain it is that the gaols were not filled with them. + +[549] The penal laws were comparatively dormant, though two priests +suffered death, one of them before the protectorate. Butler's _Mem. of +Catholics_, ii. 13. But in 1655 Cromwell issued a proclamation for the +execution of these statutes; which seems to have been provoked by the +persecution of the Vaudois. Whitelocke tells us he opposed it. 625. It +was not acted upon. + +[550] Several of these appear in _Somers Tracts_, vol. vii. The king's +nearest friends were of course not backward in praising him, though a +little at the expense of their consciences. "In a word," says Hyde to +a correspondent in 1659, "if being the best protestant and the best +Englishman of the nation can do the king good at home, he must prosper +with and by his own subjects." _Clar. State Papers_, 541. Morley says +he had been to see Judge Hale, who asked him questions about the +king's character and firmness in the protestant religion. _Id._ 736. +Morley's exertions to dispossess men of the notion that the king and +his brother were inclined to popery, are also mentioned by Kennet in +his _Register_, 818: a book containing very copious information as to +this particular period. Yet Morley could hardly have been without +strong suspicions as to both of them. + +[551] He had written in cipher to Secretary Nicholas, from St. +Johnston's, Sept. 3, 1650, the day of the battle of Dunbar, "Nothing +could have confirmed me more to the church of England than being here, +seeing their hypocrisy." Supplement to Evelyn's _Diary_, 133. The +whole letter shows that he was on the point of giving his new friends +the slip; as indeed he attempted soon after, in what was called the +Start. Laing, iii. 463. + +[552] 12 Car. II. c. 17. It is quite clear that an usurped possession +was confirmed by this act, where the lawful incumbent was dead; though +Burnet intimates the contrary. + +[553] _Parl. Hist._ 94. The chancellor, in his speech to the houses at +their adjournment in September, gave them to understand that this bill +was not quite satisfactory to the court, who preferred the +confirmation of ministers by particular letters patent under the great +seal; that the king's prerogative of dispensing with acts of +parliament might not grow into disuse. Many got the additional +security of such patents; which proved of service to them, when the +next parliament did not think fit to confirm this important statute. +Baxter says (p. 241), some got letters patent to turn out the +possessors, where the former incumbents were dead. These must have +been to benefices in the gift of the Crown; in other cases, letters +patent could have been of no effect. I have found this confirmed by +the Journals, Aug. 27, 1660. + +[554] Upon Venner's insurrection, though the sectaries, and especially +the independents, published a declaration of their abhorrence of it, a +pretext was found for issuing a proclamation to shut up the +conventicles of the anabaptists and quakers, and so worded as to reach +all others. Kennet's _Register_, 357. + +[555] Collier, 869, 871; Baxter, 232, 238. The bishops said, in their +answer to the presbyterians' proposals, that the objections against a +single person's administration in the church were equally applicable +to the state. Collier, 872. But this was false, as they well knew, and +designed only to produce an effect at court; for the objections were +not grounded on reasoning, but on a presumed positive institution. +Besides which, the argument cut against themselves: for, if the +English constitution, or something analogous to it, had been +established in the church, their adversaries would have had all they +_now_ asked. + +[556] Stillingfleet's _Irenicum_; King's _Inquiry into the +Constitution of the Primitive Church_. The former work was published +at this time, with a view to moderate the pretensions of the Anglican +party, to which the author belonged, by showing: 1. That there are no +sufficient data for determining with certainty the form of +church-government in the apostolical age, or that which immediately +followed it. 2. That, as far as we may probably conjecture, the +primitive church was framed on the model of the synagogue; that is, a +synod of priests in every congregation having one of their own number +for a chief or president. 3. That there is no reason to consider any +part of the apostolical discipline as an invariable model for future +ages, and that much of our own ecclesiastical polity cannot any way +pretend to primitive authority. 4. That this has been the opinion of +all the most eminent theologians at home and abroad. 5. That it would +be expedient to introduce various modifications, not on the whole much +different from the scheme of Usher. Stillingfleet, whose work is a +remarkable instance of extensive learning and mature judgment at the +age of about twenty-three, thought fit afterwards to retract it in a +certain degree; and towards the latter part of his life, gave into +more high-church politics. It is true that the _Irenicum_ must have +been composed with almost unparalleled rapidity for such a work; but +it shows, as far as I can judge, no marks of precipitancy. The +biographical writers put its publication in 1659; but this must be a +mistake; no one can avoid perceiving that it could not have passed the +press on the 24th of March 1660, the latest day which could, according +to the old style, have admitted the date of 1659, as it contains +allusions to the king's restoration. + +[557] Baxter's _Life_; Neal. + +[558] They addressed the king to call such divines as he should think +fit, to advise with concerning matters of religion. July 20, 1660. +Journals and _Parl. Hist._ + +[559] _Parl. Hist._; Neal, Baxter, Collier, etc. Burnet says that +Clarendon had made the king publish this declaration; "but the bishops +did not approve of this; and, after the service they did that lord in +the Duke of York's marriage, he would not put any hardship on those +who had so signally obliged him." This is very invidious. I know no +evidence that the declaration was published at Clarendon's suggestion, +except indeed that he was the great adviser of the Crown; yet in some +things, especially of this nature, the king seems to have acted +without his concurrence. He certainly speaks of the declaration as if +he did not wholly relish it (_Life_, 75), and does not state it +fairly. In _State Trials_, vi. 11, it is said to have been drawn up by +Morley and Henchman for the church, Reynolds and Calamy for the +dissenters; if they disagreed, Lords Anglesea and Hollis to decide. + +[560] The chief objection made by the presbyterians, as far as we +learn from Baxter, was, that the consent of presbyters to the bishops' +acts was not promised by the declaration, but only their advice; a +distinction apparently not very material in practice, but bearing +perhaps on the great point of controversy, whether the difference +between the two were in order or in degree. The king would not come +into the scheme of consent; though they pressed him with a passage out +of the _Icon Basilike_, where his father allowed of it. _Life of +Baxter_, 276. Some alterations, however, were made in consequence of +their suggestions. + +[561] _Parl. Hist._ 141, 152. Clarendon, 76, most strangely observes +on this: "Some of the leaders brought a bill into the house for the +making that declaration a law, which was suitable to their other acts +of ingenuity to keep the church for ever under the same indulgence and +without any settlement; which being quickly perceived, there was no +further progress in it." The bill was brought in by Sir Matthew Hale. + +[562] Collier, who of course thinks this declaration an encroachment +on the church, as well as on the legislative power, says, "For this +reason it was overlooked at the assizes and sessions in several places +in the country, where the dissenting ministers were indicted for not +conforming pursuant to the laws in force." P. 876. Neal confirms this, +586, and Kennet's _Register_, 374. + +[563] _Life of Clarendon_, 74. A plausible and somewhat dangerous +attack had been made on the authority of this parliament from an +opposite quarter, in a pamphlet written by one Drake, under the name +of Thomas Philips, entitled "The Long Parliament Revived," and +intended to prove that by the act of the late king, providing that +they should not be dissolved but by the concurrence of the whole +legislature, they were still in existence; and that the king's demise, +which legally puts an end to a parliament, could not affect one that +was declared permanent by so direct an enactment. This argument seems +by no means inconsiderable; but the times were not such as to admit of +technical reasoning. The convention parliament, after questioning +Drake, finally sent up articles of impeachment against him; but the +Lords, after hearing him in his defence, when he confessed his fault, +left him to be prosecuted by the attorney-general. Nothing more, +probably, took place. _Parl. Hist._ 145, 157. This was in November and +December 1660: but Drake's book seems still to have been in +considerable circulation; at least I have two editions of it, both +bearing the date of 1661. The argument it contains is purely legal; +but the aim must have been to serve the presbyterian or +parliamentarian cause. + +[564] Complaints of insults on the presbyterian clergy were made to +the late parliament. _Parl. Hist._ 160. The Anglicans inveighed +grossly against them on the score of their past conduct, +notwithstanding the act of indemnity. Kennet's _Register_, 616. See, +as a specimen, South's sermons, _passim_. + +[565] Journals, 17th of May 1661. The previous question was moved on +this vote, but lost by 228 to 103; Morice, the secretary of state, +being one of the tellers for the minority. Monk, I believe, to whom +Morice owed his elevation, did what he could to prevent violent +measures against the presbyterians. Alderman Love was suspended from +sitting in the house July 3, for not having taken the sacrament. I +suppose that he afterwards conformed; for he became an active member +of the opposition. + +[566] Journals, June 14, etc.; _Parl. Hist._ 209; _Life of Clarendon_, +71; Burnet, 230. A bill discharging the loyalists from all interest +exceeding three per cent. on debts contracted before the wars passed +the Commons; but was dropped in the other house. The great discontent +of this party at the indemnity continued to show itself in subsequent +sessions. Clarendon mentions, with much censure, that many private +bills passed about 1662, annulling conveyances of lands made during +the troubles. Pp. 162, 163. One remarkable instance ought to be +noticed, as having been greatly misrepresented. At the Earl of Derby's +seat of Knowsley in Lancashire a tablet is placed to commemorate the +ingratitude of Charles II. in having refused the royal assent to a +bill which had passed both houses for restoring the son of the Earl of +Derby, who had lost his life in the royal cause, to his family estate. +This has been so often reprinted by tourists and novelists, that it +passes currently for a just reproach on the king's memory. It was, +however, in fact one of his most honourable actions. The truth is, +that the cavalier faction carried through parliament a bill to make +void the conveyances of some manors which Lord Derby had voluntarily +sold before the restoration, in the very face of the act of indemnity, +and against all law and justice. Clarendon, who, together with some +very respectable peers, had protested against this measure in the +upper house, thought it his duty to recommend the king to refuse his +assent. Lords' Journals, Feb. 6 and May 14, 1662. There is so much to +blame in both the minister and his master, that it is but fair to give +them credit for that which the pardonable prejudices of the family +interested have led it to mis-state. + +[567] Commons' Journals, 1st July 1661. A division took place, +November 26, on a motion to lay this bill aside, in consideration of +the king's proclamation, which was lost by 124 to 109: Lord Cornbury +(Clarendon's son) being a teller for the Noes. The bill was sent up to +the Lords Jan. 27, 1662. See also _Parl. Hist._ 217, 225. Some of +their proceedings trespassed upon the executive power, and infringed +the prerogative they laboured to exalt. But long interruption of the +due course of the constitution had made its boundaries indistinct. +Thus, in the convention parliament, the bodies of Cromwell, Bradshaw, +Ireton, and others, were ordered, Dec 4, on the motion of Colonel +Titus, to be disinterred, and hanged on a gibbet. The Lords concurred +in this order; but the mode of address to the king would have been +more regular. _Parl. Hist._ 151. + +[568] 3 Inst. 7. This appears to have been held in Bagot's case, 9 +Edw. 4. See also Higden's _View of the English Constitution_, 1709. + +[569] Foster, in his _Discourse on High Treason_, evidently intimates +that he thought the conviction of Vane unjustifiable. + +[570] "The relation that has been made to me of Sir H. Vane's carriage +yesterday in the Hall is the occasion of this letter, which, if I am +rightly informed, was so insolent, as to justify all he had done; +acknowledging no supreme power in England but a parliament, and many +things to that purpose. You have had a true account of all; and if he +has given new occasion to be hanged, certainly he is too dangerous a +man to let live, if we can honestly put him out of the way. Think of +this, and give me some account of it to-morrow, till when I have no +more to say to you. C." Indorsed in Lord Clarendon's hand, "The king, +June 7, 1662." Vane was beheaded June 14. Burnet (note in Oxford +edition), p. 164; Harris's _Lives_, v. 32. + +[571] Vane gave up the profits of his place as treasurer of the navy, +which, according to his patent, would have amounted to £30,000 per +ann. if we may rely on Harris's _Life of Cromwell_, p. 260. + +[572] 13 Car. 2, c. 1 and 6. A bill for settling the militia had been +much opposed in the convention parliament, as tending to bring in +martial law. _Parl. Hist._ iv. 145. It seems to have dropped. + +[573] C. 1. + +[574] C. 2. The only opposition made to this was in the House of Lords +by the Earl of Bristol and some of the Roman catholic party, who +thought the bishops would not be brought into a toleration of their +religion. _Life of Clarendon_, p. 138. + +[575] C. 5. + +[576] 13 Car. 2, sess. 2, c. i. This bill did not pass without a +strong opposition in the Commons. It was carried at last by 182 to 77 +(Journals, July 5); but, on a previous division for its commitment the +numbers were 135 to 136. June 20. Prynne was afterwards reprimanded by +the speaker for publishing a pamphlet against this act (July 15); but +his courage had now forsaken him; and he made a submissive apology, +though the censure was pronounced in a very harsh manner. + +[577] Journals, 3rd April 1662; 10th March 1663. + +[578] _Parl. Hist._ 289. Clarendon speaks very unjustly of the +triennial act, forgetting that he had himself concurred in it. P. 221. + +[579] 16 Car. 2, c. 1. We find by the Journals that some divisions +took place during the passage of this bill, and though, as far as +appears, on subordinate points, yet probably springing from an +opposition to its principle. March 28, 1664. There was by this time a +regular party formed against the court. + +[580] P. 383. + +[581] Lords' Journals, 23rd and 24th Jan. 1662. + +[582] 12th Feb. + +[583] 19th March 1663. + +[584] 13 Car. 2, c. 12. + +[585] Clarendon, in his _Life_, p. 149, says, that the king "had +received the presbyterian ministers with grace; and did believe that +he should work upon them by persuasions, having been well acquainted +with their common arguments by the conversation he had had in +Scotland, and _was very able to confute them_." This is one of the +strange absurdities into which Clarendon's prejudices hurry him in +almost every page of his writings, and more especially in this +continuation of his _Life_. Charles, as his minister well knew, could +not read a common Latin book (_Clarendon State Papers_, iii. 567), and +had no manner of acquaintance with theological learning, unless the +popular argument in favour of popery is so to be called; yet he was +very able to confute men who had passed their lives in study, on a +subject involving a considerable knowledge of Scripture and the early +writers in their original languages. + +[586] Clarendon admits that this could not have been done till the +former parliament was dissolved. 97. This means, of course, on the +supposition that the king's word was to be broken. "The malignity +towards the church," he says, "seemed increasing, and to be greater +than at the coming in of the king." Pepys, in his _Diary_, has several +sharp remarks on the misconduct and unpopularity of the bishops, +though himself an episcopalian even before the restoration. "The +clergy are so high that all people I meet with do protest against +their practice." August 31, 1660. "I am convinced in my judgment, that +the present clergy will never heartily go down with the generality of +the commons of England; they have been so used to liberty and freedom, +and they are so acquainted with the pride and debauchery of the +present clergy. He [Mr. Blackburn, a nonconformist] did give me many +stories of the affronts which the clergy receive in all parts of +England from the gentry and ordinary persons of the parish." November +9, 1663. The opposite party had recourse to the old weapons of pious +fraud. I have a tract containing twenty-seven instances of remarkable +judgments, all between June 1660, and April 1661, which befell divers +persons for reading the common prayer or reviling godly ministers. +This is entitled _Annus Mirabilis_; and, besides the above +twenty-seven, attests so many prodigies, that the name is by no means +misapplied. The bishops made large fortunes by filling up leases. +Burnet, 260. And Clarendon admits them to have been too rapacious, +though he tries to extenuate. P. 48. + +[587] The fullest account of this conference, and of all that passed +as to the comprehension of the presbyterians, is to be read in Baxter, +whom Neal has abridged. Some allowance must, of course, be made for +the resentment of Baxter; but his known integrity makes it impossible +to discredit the main part of his narration. Nor is it necessary to +rest on the evidence of those who may be supposed to have the +prejudices of dissenters. For Bishop Burnet admits that all the +concern which seemed to employ the prelates' minds, was not only to +make an alteration on the presbyterians' account, but to straiten the +terms of conformity far more than before the war. Those, however, who +would see what can be said by writers of high-church principles, may +consult Kennet's _History of Charles II._ p. 252, or Collier, p. 878. +One little anecdote may serve to display the spirit with which the +Anglicans came to the conference. Upon Baxter's saying that their +proceedings would alienate a great part of the _nation_, Stearne, +Bishop of Carlisle, observed to his associates: "He will not say +_kingdom_, lest he should acknowledge a king." Baxter, p. 338. This +was a very malignant reflection on a man who was well known never to +have been of the republican party. It is true that Baxter seems to +have thought, in 1659, that Richard Cromwell would have served the +turn better than Charles Stuart; and, as a presbyterian, he thought +very rightly. See p. 207, and part iii. p. 71. But, preaching before +the parliament, April 30, 1660, he said it was none of our differences +whether we should be loyal to our king; on that all were agreed. P. +217. + +[588] _Life of Clarendon_, 147. He observes that the alterations made +did not reduce one of the opposite party to the obedience of the +church. Now, in the first place, he could not know this; and, in the +next, he conceals from the reader that, on the whole matter, the +changes made in the liturgy were more likely to disgust than to +conciliate. Thus the puritans having always objected to the number of +saints' days, the bishops added a few more; and the former having +given very plausible reasons against the apocryphal lessons in the +daily service, the others inserted the legend of Bel and the Dragon, +for no other purpose than to show contempt of their scruples. The +alterations may be seen in Rennet's _Register_, 585. The most +important was the restoration of a rubric inserted in the communion +service under Edward VI., but left out by Elizabeth, declaring against +any corporal presence in the Lord's supper. This gave offence to some +of those who had adopted that opinion, especially the Duke of York, +and perhaps tended to complete his alienation from the Anglican +church. Burnet, i. 183. + +[589] 13 and 14 Car. 2, c. iv. § 3. + +[590] _Life of Clarendon_, 152; Burnet, 256. Morley, afterwards Bishop +of Winchester, was engaged just before the restoration in negotiating +with the presbyterians. They stuck out for the negative voice of the +council of presbyters, and for the validity of their ordinations. +_Clar. State Papers_, 727. He had two schemes to get over the +difficulty; one to pass them over _sub silentio_; the other, a +hypothetical re-ordination, on the supposition that something might +have been wanting before, as the church of Rome practises about +re-baptization. The former is a curious expedient for those who +pretended to think presbyterian ordinations really null. _Id._ 738. + +[591] The day fixed upon suggested a comparison which, though severe, +was obvious. A modern writer has observed on this, "They were careful +not to remember that the same day, and for the same reason, because +the tithes were commonly due at Michaelmas, had been appointed for the +former ejectment, when four times as many of the loyal clergy were +deprived for fidelity to their sovereign." Southey's _Hist. of the +Church_, ii. 467. That the day was chosen in order to deprive the +incumbent of a whole year's tithes, Mr. Southey has learned from +Burnet; and it aggravates the cruelty of the proceeding--but where has +he found his precedent? The Anglican clergy were ejected for refusing +the covenant at no one definite period, as, on recollection, Mr. S. +would be aware; nor can I find any one parliamentary ordinance in +Husband's Collection that mentions St. Bartholomew's day. There was a +precedent indeed in that case, which the government of Charles did not +choose to follow. One-fifth of the income had been reserved for the +dispossessed incumbents. + +[592] Journals, April 26. This may perhaps have given rise to a +mistake we find in Neal, 624, that the act of uniformity only passed +by 186 to 180. There was no division at all upon the bill except that +I have mentioned. + +[593] The report of the conference (Lords' Journals, 7th May) is +altogether rather curious. + +[594] Lords' Journals, 25th and 27th July 1663; Ralph, 58. + +[595] Neal, 625-636. Baxter told Burnet, as the latter says (p. 185), +that not above 300 would have resigned, had the terms of the king's +declaration been adhered to. The blame, he goes on, fell chiefly on +Sheldon. But Clarendon was charged with entertaining the presbyterians +with good words, while he was giving way to the bishops. See also p. +268. Baxter puts the number of the deprived at 1800. _Life_, 384. And +it has generally been reckoned about 2000; though Burnet says it has +been much controverted. If indeed we can rely on Calamy's account of +the ejected ministers, abridged by Palmer under the title of _The +Nonconformist's Memorial_, the number must have been full 2400. +Kennet, however (_Register_, 807), notices great mistakes of Calamy in +respect only to one diocese, that of Peterborough. Probably both in +this collection, and in that of Walker on the other side, as in all +martyrologies, there are abundant errors; but enough will remain to +afford memorable examples of conscientious suffering; and we cannot +read without indignation Rennet's endeavours, in the conclusion of +this volume, to extenuate the praise of the deprived presbyterians by +captious and unfair arguments. + +[596] See Clarendon's feeble attempt to vindicate the king from the +charge of breach of faith. 157. + +[597] A list of these, published in 1660, contains more than 170 +names. Neal, 590. + +[598] Sir Kenelm Digby was supposed to be deep in a scheme that the +catholics, in 1649, should support the commonwealth with all their +power, in return for liberty of religion. Carte's _Letters_, i. 216 +_et post_. We find a letter from him to Cromwell in 1656 (Thurloe, iv. +591) with great protestations of duty. + +[599] See Lords' Journals, June and July 1661, or extracts from them +in Kennet's _Register_, 469, etc., 620, etc., and 798, where are +several other particulars worthy of notice. Clarendon, 143, explains +the failure of this attempt at a partial toleration (for it was only +meant as to the exercise of religious rites in private houses) by the +persevering opposition of the Jesuits to the oath of allegiance, to +which the lay catholics, and generally the secular priests, had long +ceased to make objection. The house had voted that the indulgence +should not extend to Jesuits, and that they would not alter the oaths +of allegiance or supremacy. The Jesuits complained of the distinction +taken against them; and asserted, in a printed tract (Kennet, _ubi +supra_), that since 1616 they had been inhibited by their superiors +from maintaining the pope's right to depose sovereigns. See also +Butler's _Mem. of Catholics_, ii. 27; iv. 142; and Burnet, i. 194. + +[600] The suspicions against Charles were very strong in England +before the restoration, so as to alarm his emissaries: "Your master," +Mordaunt writes to Ormond, Nov. 10, 1659, "is utterly ruined as to his +interest here in whatever party, if this be true." Carte's _Letters_, +ii. 264, and _Clar. State Papers_, iii. 602. But an anecdote related +in Carte's _Life of Ormond_, ii. 255, and Harris's _Lives_, v. 54, +which has obtained some credit, proves, if true, that he had embraced +the Roman catholic religion as early as 1659, so as even to attend +mass. This cannot be reckoned out of question; but the tendency of the +king's mind before his return to England is to be inferred from all +his behaviour. Kennet (_Complete Hist. of Eng._ iii. 237) plainly +insinuates that the project for restoring popery began at the treaty +of the Pyrenees; and see his _Register_, p. 852. + +[601] 13 Car. 2, c. 1. + +[602] Burnet, i. 179. + +[603] _Life of Clarendon_, 159. He intimates that this begot a +coldness in the bishops towards himself, which was never fully +removed. Yet he had no reason to complain of them on his trial. See, +too, Pepys's _Diary_, Sept. 3, 1662. + +[604] _Parl. Hist._ 257. + +[605] Baxter intimates (429) that some disagreement arose between the +presbyterians and independents as to the toleration of popery, or +rather, as he puts it, as to the active concurrence of the protestant +dissenters in accepting such a toleration as should include popery. +The latter, conformably to their general principles, were favourable +to it; but the former would not make themselves parties to any +relaxation of the penal laws against the church of Rome, leaving the +king to act as he thought fit. By this stiffness it is very probable +that they provoked a good deal of persecution from the court, which +they might have avoided by falling into its views of a general +indulgence. + +[606] _Parl. Hist._ 260. An adjournment had been moved, and lost by +161 to 119. Journals, 25 Feb. + +[607] 19 Feb. Baxter, p. 429. + +[608] Journals, 17 and 28 March 1663; _Parl. Hist._ 264. Burnet, 274, +says the declaration of indulgence was usually ascribed to Bristol, +but in fact proceeded from the king, and that the opposition to it in +the house was chiefly made by the friends of Clarendon. The latter +tells us in his _Life_, 189, that the king was displeased at the +insolence of the Romish party, and gave the judges general orders to +convict recusants. The minister and historian either was, or pretended +to be, his master's dupe; and, if he had any suspicions of what was +meant as to religion (as he must surely have had), is far too loyal to +hint them. Yet the one circumstance he mentions soon after, that the +Countess of Castlemaine suddenly declared herself a catholic, was +enough to open his eyes and those of the world. + +The Romish partisans assumed the tone of high loyalty, as exclusively +characteristic of their religion; but affected, at this time, to use +great civility towards the church of England. A book, entitled +_Philanax Anglicus_, published under the name of Bellamy, the second +edition of which is in 1663, after a most flattering dedication to +Sheldon, launches into virulent abuse of the presbyterians and of the +reformation in general, as founded on principles adverse to monarchy. +This indeed was common with the ultra or high-church party; but the +work in question, though it purports to be written by a clergyman, is +manifestly a shaft from the concealed bow of the Roman Apollo. + +[609] See proofs of this in Ralph, 53; Rapin, p. 78. There was in 1663 +a trifling insurrection in Yorkshire, which the government wished to +have been more serious, so as to afford a better pretext for strong +measures; as may be collected from a passage in a letter of Bennet to +the Duke of Ormond, where he says, "The country was in a greater +readiness to prevent the disorders than perhaps were to be wished; but +it being the effect of their own care, rather than his majesty's +commands, it is the less to be censured." Clarendon, 218, speaks of +this as an important and extensive conspiracy; and the king dwelt on +it in his next speech to the parliament. _Parl. Hist._ 289. + +[610] 16 Car. 2, c. 4. A similar bill had passed the Commons in July +1663, but hung some time in the upper house, and was much debated; the +Commons sent up a message (an irregular practice of those times) to +request their lordships would expedite this and some other bills. The +king seems to have been displeased at this delay; for he told them at +their prorogation, that he had expected some bills against +conventicles and distempers in religion, as well as the growth of +popery, and should himself present some at their next meeting. _Parl. +Hist._ 288. Burnet observes, that to empower a justice of peace to +convict without a jury, was thought a great breach on the principles +of the English constitution. 285. + +[611] P. 221. + +[612] 17 Car. 2, c. 2. + +[613] Burnet; Baxter, Part III. p. 2; Neal, p. 652. + +[614] Burnet: Baxter. + +[615] Mr. Locke, in the "Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend +in the Country," printed in 1675 (see it in his works, or in +_Parliamentary History_, vol. iv. Appendix, No. 5), says it was lost +by three votes, and mentions the persons. But the numbers in the +Journals, October 27, 1665, appear to be 57 to 51. Probably he meant +that those persons might have been expected to vote the other way. + +[616] A pamphlet, with Baxter's name subscribed, called "Fair Warning, +or XXV Reasons against Toleration and Indulgence of Popery," 1663, is +a pleasant specimen of this _argumentum ab inferno_. "Being there is +but one safe way to salvation, do you think that the protestant way is +that way, or is it not? If it be not, why do you live in it? If it be, +how can you find in your heart to give your subjects liberty to go +another way? Can you, in your conscience, give them leave to go on in +that course in which, in your conscience, you think you could not be +saved?" Baxter, however, does not mention this little book in his +life; nor does he there speak violently about the toleration of +Romanists. + +[617] The clergy had petitioned the House of Commons in 1664, _inter +alia_, "That for the better observation of the Lord's day, and for the +promoting of conformity, you would be pleased to advance the pecuniary +mulct of twelve pence for each absence from divine service, in +proportion to the degree, quality, and ability of the delinquent; that +so the penalty may be of force sufficient to conquer the obstinacy of +the nonconformists." Wilkin's _Concilia_, iv. 580. Letters from +Sheldon to the commissary of the diocese of Canterbury, in 1669 and +1670, occur in the same collection (pp. 588, 589) directing him to +inquire about conventicles; and if they cannot be restrained by +ecclesiastical authority, to apply to the next justice of peace in +order to put them down. A proclamation appears also from the king, +enjoining magistrates to do this. In 1673, the archbishop writes a +circular to his suffragans, directing them to proceed against such as +keep schools without licence. P. 593. + +See in the _Somers Tracts_, vii. 586, a "true and faithful narrative" +of the severities practised against nonconformists about this time. +Baxter's _Life_ is also full of proofs of persecution; but the most +complete register is in Calamy's account of the ejected clergy. + +[618] Pepys observes, 12 July 1667, "how everybody nowadays reflect +upon Oliver and commend him, what brave things he did, and made all +the neighbour princes fear him." + +[619] The _Mémoires de Grammont_ are known to everybody; and are +almost unique in their kind, not only for the grace of their style and +the vivacity of their pictures, but for the happy ignorance in which +the author seems to have lived, that any one of his readers could +imagine that there are such things as virtue and principle in the +world. In the delirium of thoughtless voluptuousness they resemble +some of the memoirs about the end of Louis XV.'s reign, and somewhat +later; though I think, even in these, there is generally some effort, +here and there, at moral censure, or some affectation of sensibility. +_They_, indeed, have always an awful moral; and in the light portraits +of the court of Versailles (such, sometimes, as we might otherwise +almost blush to peruse) we have before us the handwriting on the wall, +the winter whirlwind hushed in its grim repose, and expecting its +prey, the vengeance of an oppressed people and long-forbearing Deity. +No such retribution fell on the courtiers of Charles II.; but they +earned in their own age, what has descended to posterity, though +possibly very indifferent to themselves, the disgust and aversion of +all that was respectable among mankind. + +[620] This was carried on a division by 172 to 102. Journals, 25 +November 1665. It was to be raised "in a regulated subsidiary way, +reducing the same to a certainty in all counties, so as no person, for +his real or personal estate, be exempted." They seem to have had some +difficulty in raising this enormous subsidy. _Parliamentary History_, +305. + +[621] 17 Car. II. c. 1. The same clause is repeated next year, and has +become regular. + +[622] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 315; Hatsell's _Precedents_, iii. 80. + +[623] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 368. Burnet observes it was looked upon +at the time as a great innovation. P. 335. + +[624] Pepys's _Diary_ has lately furnished some things worthy to be +extracted. "Mr. W. and I by water to Whitehall, and there at Sir +George Carteret's lodgings Sir William Coventry met; and we did debate +the whole business of our accounts to the parliament; where it appears +to us that the charge of the war from Sept. 1, 1664, to this +Michaelmas will have been but £3,200,000, and we have paid in that +time somewhat about £2,200,000, so that we owe about £900,000; but our +method of accounting, though it cannot, I believe, be far wide from +the mark, yet will not abide a strict examination, if the parliament +should be troublesome. Here happened a pretty question of Sir William +Coventry, whether this account of ours will not put my lord treasurer +to a difficulty to tell what is become of all the money the parliament +have given in this time for the war, which hath amounted to about +£4,000,000, which nobody there could answer; but I perceive they did +doubt what his answer could be." Sept. 23, 1666.--The money granted +the king for the war he afterwards (Oct. 10) reckons at £5,590,000, +and the debt £900,000. The charge stated only at £3,200,000. "So what +is become of all this sum, £2,390,000!" He mentions afterwards (Oct. +8) the proviso in the poll-tax bill, that there shall be a committee +of nine persons to have the inspection on oath of all the accounts of +the money given and spent for the war, "which makes the king and court +mad; the king having given order to my lord chamberlain to send to the +play-houses and brothels, to bid all the parliament men that were +there to go to the parliament presently; but it was carried against +the court by thirty or forty voices." It was thought, he says (Dec. +12) that above £400,000 had gone into the privy purse since the war. + +[625] _Life of Clarendon_, p. 392. + +[626] 19 and 20 Car. II. c. 1. Burnet, p. 374. They reported +unaccounted balances of £1,509,161, besides much that was questionable +in the payments. But, according to Ralph, p. 177, the commissioners +had acted with more technical rigour than equity, surcharging the +accountants for all sums not expended since the war began, though +actually expended for the purposes of preparation. + +[627] Burnet, p. 130. Southampton left all the business of the +treasury, according to Burnet, p. 131, in the hands of Sir Philip +Warwick, "a weak but incorrupt man." The king, he says, chose to put +up with his contradiction rather than make him popular by dismissing +him. But in fact, as we see by Clarendon's instance, the king retained +his ministers long after he was displeased with them. Southampton's +remissness and slowness, notwithstanding his integrity, Pepys says, +was the cause of undoing the nation as much as anything; "yet, if I +knew all the difficulties he has lain under, and his instrument Sir +Philip Warwick, I might be of another mind." May 16, 1667.--He was +willing to have done something, Clarendon tells us (p. 415) to gratify +the presbyterians; on which account, the bishops thought him not +enough affected to the church. His friend endeavours to extenuate this +heinous sin of tolerant principles. + +[628] The behaviour of Lord Clarendon on this occasion was so +extraordinary, that no credit could have been given to any other +account than his own. The Duke of York, he says, informed the king of +the affection and friendship that had long been between him and the +young lady; that they had been long contracted, and that she was with +child; and therefore requested his majesty's leave that he might +publicly marry her. The Marquis of Ormond by the king's order +communicated this to the chancellor, who "broke out into an immoderate +passion against the wickedness of his daughter; and said, with all +imaginable earnestness, that as soon as he came home, he would turn +her out of his house as a strumpet to shift for herself, and would +never see her again. They told him that his passion was too violent to +administer good counsel to him; that they thought that the duke was +married to his daughter, and that there were other measures to be +taken than those which the disorder he was in had suggested to him. +Whereupon he fell into new commotions; and said, If that were true, he +was well prepared to advise what was to be done; that he had much +rather his daughter should be the duke's whore than his wife: in the +former case, nobody could blame him for the resolution he had taken, +for he was not obliged to keep a whore for the greatest prince alive; +and the indignity to himself he would submit to the good pleasure of +God. But, if there were any reason to suspect the other, he was ready +to give a positive judgment, in which he hoped their lordships would +concur with him, that the king should immediately cause the woman _to +be sent to the Tower and cast into a dungeon_, under so strict a guard +that no person living should be admitted to come to her; and then that +_an act of parliament should be immediately passed for cutting off her +head, to which he would not only give his consent, but would very +willingly be the first man that should propose it_. And whoever knew +the man, will believe that he said all this very heartily." Lord +Southampton, he proceeds to inform us, on the king's entering the room +at the time, said very naturally, that the chancellor was mad, and had +proposed such extravagant things that he was no more to be consulted +with. This, however, did not bring him to his senses; for he repeated +his strange proposal of "sending her presently to the Tower, and the +rest;" imploring the king to take this course, as the only expedient +that could free him from the evils that this business would otherwise +bring upon him. + +That any man of sane intellects should fall into such an extravagance +of passion, is sufficiently wonderful; that he should sit down in cool +blood several years afterwards to relate it, is still more so; and +perhaps we shall carry our candour to an excess, if we do not set down +the whole scene to overacted hypocrisy. Charles II., we may be very +sure, could see it in no other light. And here I must take notice, by +the way, of the singular observation the worthy editor of Burnet has +made: "King Charles's conduct in this business was excellent +throughout; that of Clarendon _worthy an ancient Roman_." We have +indeed a Roman precedent for subduing the sentiments of nature rather +than permitting a daughter to incur disgrace through the passions of +the great; but I think Virginius would not quite have understood the +feelings of Clarendon. Such virtue was more like what Montesquieu +calls "l'héroïsme de l'esclavage," and was just fit for the court of +Gondar. But with all this violence that he records of himself, he +deviates greatly from the truth: "The king (he says) afterwards spoke +every day about it, and told the chancellor that he must behave +himself wisely, for that the thing was remediless, and that his +majesty knew that they were married; which would quickly appear to all +men who knew that nothing could be done upon it. In this time the +chancellor had conferred with his daughter, without anything of +indulgence, and not only discovered that they were unquestionably +married, but _by whom, and who were present at it, who would be ready +to avow it_; which pleased him not, though it diverted him from using +some of that rigour which he intended. And he saw no other remedy +could be applied but that which he had proposed to the king, who +thought of nothing like it." _Life of Clarendon_, 29 _et post_. + +Every one would conclude from this, that a marriage had been +solemnised if not before their arrival in England, yet before the +chancellor had this conference with his daughter. It appears, however, +from the Duke of York's declaration in the books of the privy council, +quoted by Ralph, p. 40, that he was contracted to Ann Hyde on the 24th +of November 1659, at Breda; and after that time lived with her as his +wife, though very secretly; he married her 3rd Sept. 1660, according +to the English ritual, Lord Ossory giving her away. The first child +was born Oct. 22, 1660. Now whether the contract were sufficient to +constitute a valid marriage, will depend on two things; first, upon +the law existing at Breda; secondly, upon the applicability of what is +commonly called the rule of the _lex loci_, to a marriage between such +persons according to the received notions of English lawyers in that +age. But, even admitting all this, it is still manifest that +Clarendon's expressions point to an actual celebration, and are +consequently intended to mislead the reader. Certain it is, that at +the time the contract seems to have been reckoned only an honorary +obligation. James tells us himself (Macpherson's _Extracts_, p. 17) +that he promised to marry her; and "though when he asked the king for +his leave, he refused and dissuaded him from it, yet at last he +opposed it no more, and the duke married her privately, and owned it +some time after." His biographer, writing from his own manuscript, +adds, "it may well be supposed that my lord chancellor did his part, +but with great caution and circumspection, to soften the king in that +matter which in every respect seemed so much for his own advantage." +_Life of James_, 387. And Pepys inserts in his diary, Feb. 23, 1661, +"Mr. H. told me how my lord chancellor had lately got the Duke of York +and duchess, and her woman, my Lord Ossory and a doctor, to make oath +before most of the judges of the kingdom, concerning all the +circumstances of their marriage. And, in fine, it is confessed that +they were not fully married till about a month or two before she was +brought to bed; but that they were contracted long before, and [were +married] time enough for the child to be legitimate. But I do not hear +that it was put to the judges to determine so or not." He had said +before that Lord Sandwich told him (17th Oct. 1660) "the king wanted +him [the duke] to marry her, but he would not." This seems at first +sight inconsistent with what James says himself. But at this time, +though the private marriage had really taken place, he had been +persuaded by a most infamous conspiracy of some profligate courtiers +that the lady was of a licentious character, and that Berkeley, +afterwards Lord Falmouth, had enjoyed her favours. _Life of +Clarendon_, 33. It must be presumed that those men knew only of a +contract which they thought he could break. Hamilton, in the _Memoirs +of Grammont_, speaks of this transaction with his usual levity, though +the parties showed themselves as destitute of spirit as of honour and +humanity. Clarendon, we must believe (and the most favourable +hypothesis for him is to give up his veracity), would not permit his +daughter to be made the victim of a few perjured debauchees, and of +her husband's fickleness or credulity. + +[629] Hamilton mentions this as the current rumour of the court, and +Burnet has done the same. But Clarendon himself denies that he had any +concern in it, or any acquaintance with the parties. He wrote in too +humble a strain to the king on the subject. _Life of Clar._ p. 454. + +[630] Burnet says that Southampton had come into a scheme of obtaining +£2,000,000 as the annual revenue; which was prevented by Clarendon, +lest it should put the king out of need of parliaments. This the king +found out, and hated him mortally for it. P. 223. It is the fashion to +discredit all Burnet says. But observe what we may read in Pepys: "Sir +W. Coventry did tell me it as the wisest thing that was ever said to +the king by any statesman of his time; and it was by my lord treasurer +that is dead, whom, I find, he takes for a very great statesman, that +when the king did show himself forward for passing the act of +indemnity, he did advise the king that he would hold his hand in doing +it, till he had got his power restored that had been diminished by the +late times, and his revenue settled in such a manner as he might +depend upon himself without resting upon parliaments, and then pass +it. But my lord chancellor, who thought he could have the command of +parliaments for ever, because for the king's sake they were awhile +willing to grant all the king desired, did press for its being done; +and so it was, and the king from that time able to do nothing with the +parliament almost." March 20, 1669. Rari quippe boni! Neither +Southampton nor Coventry make the figure in this extract we should +wish to find; yet who were their superiors for integrity and +patriotism under Charles II.? Perhaps Pepys, like most gossiping men, +was not always correct. + +[631] Macpherson's _Extracts from Life of James_, 17, 18. Compare +Innes's _Life of James_, published by Clarke, i. 391, 393. In the +former work it is said that Clarendon, upon Venner's insurrection, +advised that the guards should not be disbanded. But this seems to be +a mistake in copying: for Clarendon read the Duke of York. Pepys, +however, who heard all the gossip of the town, mentions the year +after, that the chancellor thought of raising an army, with the duke +as general. Dec. 22, 1661. + +[632] _Ibid._ + +[633] The Earl of Bristol, with all his constitutional precipitancy, +made a violent attack on Clarendon, by exhibiting articles of treason +against him in the House of Lords in 1663; believing, no doubt, that +the schemes of the intriguers were more mature, and the king more +alienated, than was really the case; and thus disgraced himself at +court instead of his enemy. _Parl. Hist._ 276; _Life of Clar._ 209. +Before this time Pepys had heard that the chancellor had lost the +king's favour, and that Bristol, with Buckingham and two or three +more, ruled him. May 15, 1663. + +[634] A motion to refer the heads of charge against Clarendon to a +committee was lost by 194 to 128; Seymour and Osborne telling the +noes, Birch and Clarges the ayes. Commons' Journals, Nov. 6, 1667. +These names show how parties ran, Seymour and Osborne being +high-flying cavaliers, and Birch a presbyterian. A motion that he be +impeached for treason on the first article was lost by 172 to 103, the +two former tellers for the ayes: Nov. 9. In the Harleian MS. 881, we +have a copious account of the debates on this occasion, and a +transcript in No. 1218. Sir Heneage Finch spoke much against the +charge of treason; Maynard seems to have done the same. A charge of +secret correspondence with Cromwell was introduced merely _ad +invidiam_, the prosecutors admitting that it was pardoned by the act +of indemnity, but wishing to make the chancellor plead that: Maynard +and Hampden opposed it, and it was given up out of shame without a +vote. Vaughan, afterwards chief justice, argued that counselling the +king to govern by a standing army was treason at common law, and seems +to dispute what Finch laid down most broadly, that there can be no +such thing as a common law treason; relying on a passage in Glanvill, +where "seductio domini regis" is said to be treason. Maynard stood up +for the opposite doctrine. Waller and Vaughan argued that the sale of +Dunkirk was treason, but the article passed without declaring it to be +so; nor would the word have appeared probably in the impeachment, if a +young Lord Vaughan had not asserted that he could prove Clarendon to +have betrayed the king's councils, on which an article to that effect +was carried by 161 to 89. Garraway and Littleton were forward against +the chancellor; but Coventry seems to have taken no great part. See +Pepys's _Diary_, Dec. 3rd and 6th, 1667. Baxter also says that the +presbyterians were by no means strenuous against Clarendon, but rather +the contrary, fearing that worse might come for the country, as giving +him credit for having kept off military government. Baxter's _Life_, +part iii. 21. This is very highly to the honour of that party whom he +had so much oppressed, if not betrayed. "It was a notable providence +of God, he says, that this man, who had been the great instrument of +state, and done almost all, and had dealt so cruelly with the +nonconformists should thus by his own friends be cast out and +banished; while those that he had persecuted were the most moderate in +his cause, and many for him. And it was a great ease that befel the +good people throughout the land by his dejection. For his way was to +decoy men into conspiracies or to pretend plots, and upon the rumour +of a plot the innocent people of many countries were laid in prison, +so that no man knew when he was safe. Whereas since then, though laws +have been made more and more severe, yet a man knoweth a little better +what he is to expect, when it is by a law that he is to be tried." +Sham plots there seem to have been; but it is not reasonable to charge +Clarendon with inventing them. Ralph, 122. + +[635] In his wrath against the proviso inserted by Sir George Downing, +as above mentioned, in the bill of supply, Clarendon told him, as he +confesses, that the king could never be well served, while fellows of +his condition were admitted to speak as much as they had a mind; and +that in the best times such presumptions had been punished with +imprisonment by the lords of the council, without the king's taking +notice of it. 321. The king was naturally displeased at this insolent +language towards one of his servants, a man who has filled an eminent +station, and done services, for a suggestion intended to benefit the +revenue. And it was a still more flagrant affront to the House of +Commons, of which Downing was a member, and where he had proposed this +clause, and induced the house to adopt it. + +Coventry told Pepys "many things about the chancellor's dismissal, not +fit to be spoken; and yet not any unfaithfulness to the king, but +_instar omnium_, that he was so great at the council-board and in the +administration of matters there was no room for anybody to propose any +remedy for what was amiss, or to compass anything, though never so +good for the kingdom, unless approved of by the chancellor; he +managing all things with that greatness which now will be removed, +that the king may have the benefit of others' advice." Sept. 2, 1667. +His own memoirs are full of proofs of this haughtiness and +intemperance. He set himself against Sir William Coventry, and speaks +of a man as able and virtuous as himself with marked aversion. See too +_Life of James_, 398. Coventry, according to this writer (431), was +the chief actor in Clarendon's impeachment, but this seems to be a +mistake; though he was certainly desirous of getting him out of place. + +The king, Clarendon tells us (438), pretended that the anger of +parliament was such, and their power too, as it was not in his power +to save him. The fallen minister desired him not to fear the power of +parliament, "which was more or less, or nothing, as he pleased to make +it." So preposterous as well as unconstitutional a way of talking +could not but aggravate his unpopularity with that great body he +pretended to contemn. + +[636] _State Trials_, vi. 318; _Parl. Hist._ + +[637] Ludlow, iii. 118, 165 _et post_; Clarendon's _Life_, 290; +Burnet, 226; _Oeuvres de Louis XIV._ ii. 204. + +[638] Harris's _Lives_, v. 28; _Biogr. Brit._ art. Harrington; _Life +of James_, 396; _Somers Tracts_, vii. 530, 534. + +[639] See Kennet's _Register_, 757; Ralph, 78 _et post_; Harris's +_Lives_, v. 182, for proofs of this. + +[640] _Mem. of Hutchinson_, 303. It seems, however, that he was +suspected of some concern with an intended rising in 1663, though +nothing was proved against him. _Miscellanea Aulica_, 319. + +[641] _Life of Clarendon_, 424. Pepys says, the parliament was called +together "against the Duke of York's mind flatly, who did rather +advise the king to raise money as he pleased; and against the +chancellor, who told the king that Queen Elizabeth did do all her +business in 1588 without calling a parliament, and so might he do for +anything he saw." June 25, 1667. He probably got this from his friend +Sir W. Coventry. + +[642] Ralph, 78, etc. The overture came from Clarendon, the French +having no expectation of it. The worst was that, just before, he had +dwelt in a speech to parliament on the importance of Dunkirk. This was +on May 19, 1662. It appears by Louis XIV.'s own account, which +certainly does not tally with some other authorities, that Dunkirk had +been so great an object with Cromwell, that it was the stipulated +price of the English alliance. Louis, however, was vexed at this, and +determined to recover it at any price: il est certain que je ne +pouvois trop donner pour racheter Dunkerque. He sent d'Estrades +accordingly to England in 1661, directing him to make this his great +object. Charles told the ambassador that Spain had made him great +offers, but he would rather treat with France. Louis was delighted at +this; and though the sum asked was considerable, 5,000,000 livres, he +would not break off, but finally concluded the treaty for 4,000,000, +payable in three years; nay, saved 500,000 without its being found out +by the English, for a banker having offered them prompt payment at +this discount, they gladly accepted it; but this banker was a person +employed by Louis himself, who had the money ready. He had the +greatest anxiety about this affair; for the city of London deputed the +lord mayor to offer any sum so that Dunkirk might not be alienated. +_Oeuvres de Louis XIV._ i. 167. If this be altogether correct, the +King of France did not fancy he had made so bad a bargain; and indeed, +with his projects, if he had the money to spare, he could not think +so. Compare the _Mémoires d'Estrades_, and the supplement to the third +volume of _Clarendon State Papers_. The historians are of no value, +except as they copy from some of these original testimonies. + +[643] _Life of Clar._ 78; _Life of James_, 393. + +[644] See Supplement to third volume of _Clarendon State Papers_, for +abundant evidence of the close connection between the courts of France +and England. The former offered bribes to Lord Clarendon so frequently +and unceremoniously, that one is disposed to think he did not show so +much indignation at the first overture as he ought to have done. See +pp. 1, 4, 13. The aim of Louis was to effect the match with Catharine. +Spain would have given a great portion with any protestant princess, +in order to break it. Clarendon asked, on his master's account, for +£50,000, to avoid application to parliament. P. 4. The French offered +a secret loan, or subsidy perhaps, of 2,000,000 livres for the succour +of Portugal. This was accepted by Clarendon (p. 15); but I do not find +anything more about it. + +[645] As no one, who regards with attachment the present system of the +English constitution, can look upon Lord Clarendon as an excellent +minister, or a friend to the soundest principles of civil and +religious liberty; so no man whatever can avoid considering his +incessant deviations from the great duties of an historian as a moral +blemish in his character. He dares very frequently to say what is not +true, and what he must have known to be otherwise; he does not dare to +say what is true. And it is almost an aggravation of this reproach, +that he aimed to deceive posterity, and poisoned at the fountain a +stream from which another generation was to drink. No defence has ever +been set up for the fidelity of Clarendon's history; nor can men, who +have sifted the authentic materials, entertain much difference of +judgment in this respect; though, as a monument of powerful ability +and impressive eloquence, it will always be read with that delight +which we receive from many great historians, especially the ancient, +independent of any confidence in their veracity. + +One more instance, before we quit Lord Clarendon for ever, may here be +mentioned of his disregard for truth. The strange tale of a fruitless +search after the restoration for the body of Charles I. is well known. +Lord Southampton and Lindsey, he tells us, who had assisted at their +master's obsequies in St. George's chapel at Windsor, were so overcome +with grief, that they could not recognise the place of interment; and, +after several vain attempts, the search was abandoned in despair. +_Hist. of Rebellion_, vi. 244. Whatever motive the noble historian may +have had for this story, it is absolutely incredible that any such +ineffectual search was ever made. Nothing could have been more easy +than to have taken up the pavement of the choir. But this was +unnecessary. Some at least of the workmen employed must have +remembered the place of the vault. Nor did it depend on them; for Sir +Thomas Herbert, who was present, had made at the time a note of the +spot, "just opposite the eleventh stall on the king's side." Herbert's +_Memoirs_, 142. And we find from Pepys's _Diary_, Feb. 26, 1666, that +"he was shown, at Windsor, where the late king was buried, and King +Henry VIII. and my Lady Seymour." In which spot, as is well known, the +royal body has twice been found, once in the reign of Anne, and again +in 1813. + +[646] The tenor of Clarendon's life and writings almost forbids any +surmise of pecuniary corruption. Yet this is insinuated by Pepys, on +the authority of Evelyn, April 27 and May 16, 1667. But the one was +gossiping, though shrewd; and the other feeble, though accomplished. +Lord Dartmouth, who lived in the next age, and whose splenetic humour +makes him no good witness against anybody, charges him with receiving +bribes from the main instruments and promoters of the late troubles, +and those who had plundered the royalists, which enabled him to build +his great mansion in Piccadilly; asserting that it was full of +pictures belonging to families who had been despoiled of them. "And +whoever had a mind to see what great families had been plundered +during the civil war, might find some remains either at Clarendon +House or at Cornbury." Note on Burnet, 88. + +The character of Clarendon, as a minister, is fairly and judiciously +drawn by Macpherson, _Hist. of England_, 98; a work by no means so +full of a tory spirit as has been supposed. + +[647] _Parl. Hist._ 347. + +[648] The Lords refused to commit the Earl of Clarendon on a general +impeachment of high treason; and in a conference with the lower house, +denied the authority of the precedent in Strafford's case, which was +pressed upon them. It is remarkable that the managers of this +conference for the Commons vindicated the first proceedings of the +long parliament, which shows a considerable change in their tone since +1661. They do not, however, seem to have urged, what is an apparent +distinction between the two precedents, that the commitment of +Strafford was on a verbal request of Pym in the name of the Commons, +without alleging any special matter of treason, and consequently +irregular and illegal; while the 16th article of Clarendon's +impeachment charges him with betraying the king's counsels to his +enemies; which, however untrue, evidently amounted to treason within +the statute of Edward III.; so that the objection of the Lords +extended to committing any one for treason upon impeachment, without +all the particularity required in an indictment. This showed a very +commendable regard to the liberty of the subject; and from this time +we do not find the vague and unintelligible accusations, whether of +treason or misdemeanour, so usual in former proceedings of parliament. +_Parl. Hist._ 387. A protest was signed by Buckingham, Albemarle, +Bristol, Arlington, and others of their party, including three bishops +(Cosins, Croft, and another), against the refusal of their house to +commit Clarendon upon the general charge. A few, on the other hand, of +whom Hollis is the only remarkable name, protested against the bill of +banishment. + +"The most fatal blow (says James) the king gave himself to his power +and prerogative, was when he sought aid from the House of Commons to +destroy the Earl of Clarendon: by that he put that house again in mind +of their impeaching privilege, which had been wrested out of their +hands by the restoration; and when ministers found they were like to +be left to the censure of the parliament, it made them have a greater +attention to court an interest there than to pursue that of their +princes, from whom they hoped not for so sure a support." _Life of +James_, 593. + +The king, it is said, came rather slowly into the measure of +impeachment; but became afterwards so eager, as to give the +attorney-general, Finch, positive orders to be active in it, observing +him to be silent. Carte's _Ormond_, ii. 353. Buckingham had made the +king great promises of what the Commons would do, in case he would +sacrifice Clarendon. + +[649] Kennet, 293, 300. Burnet; Baxter, 23. The design was to act on +the principle of the declaration of 1660, so that presbyterian +ordinations should pass _sub modo_. Tillotson and Stillingfleet were +concerned in it. The king was at this time exasperated against the +bishops for their support of Clarendon. Burnet, _ibid._; Pepys's +_Diary_, 21st Dec. 1667. And he had also deeper motives. + +[650] _Parl. Hist._ 421; Ralph, 170; Carte's _Life of Ormond_, ii. +362. Sir Thomas Littleton spoke in favour of the comprehension, as did +Seymour and Waller; all of them enemies of Clarendon, and probably +connected with the Buckingham faction: but the church party was much +too strong for them. Pepys says the Commons were furious against the +project; it was said that whoever proposed new laws about religion +must do it with a rope about his neck. Jan. 10, 1668. This is the +first instance of a triumph obtained by the church over the Crown in +the House of Commons. Ralph observes upon it, "It is not for nought +that the words church and state are so often coupled together, and +that the first has so insolently usurped the precedency of the last." + +[651] _Parl. Hist._ 422. + +[652] France retained Lille, Tournay, Douay, Charleroi, and other +places by the treaty. The allies were surprised, and not pleased at +the choice Spain made of yielding these towns in order to save Franche +Comté. Temple's _Letters_, 97. In fact, they were not on good terms +with that power; she had even a project, out of spite to Holland, of +giving up the Netherlands entirely to France, in exchange for +Rousillon, but thought better of it on cooler reflection. + +[653] Dalrymple, ii. 5 _et post_. Temple was not treated very +favourably by most of the ministers on his return from concluding the +triple alliance: Clifford said to a friend, "Well, for all this noise, +we must yet have another war with the Dutch before it be long." +Temple's _Letters_, 123. + +[654] Dalrymple, ii. 12. + +[655] Burnet. + +[656] _Life of Clarendon_, 357. + +[657] _Life of Clarendon_, 355. + +[658] _State Trials_, vi. 807. One of the oddest things connected with +this fire was, that some persons of the fanatic party had been hanged, +in April, for a conspiracy to surprise the Tower, murder the Duke of +Albemarle and others, and then declare for an equal division of lands, +etc. In order to effect this, the city was to be fired, and the guards +secured in their quarters and for this the 3rd of September following +was fixed upon as a lucky day. This is undoubtedly to be read in the +_London Gazette_ for April 30, 1666; and it is equally certain that +the city was in flames on the 3rd of September. But, though the +coincidence is curious, it would be very weak to think it more than a +coincidence, for the same reason as applies to the suspicion which the +catholics incurred; that the mere destruction of the city could not +have been the object of any party, and that nothing was attempted to +manifest any further design. + +[659] Macpherson's _Extracts_, 38, 49; _Life of James_, 426. + +[660] He tells us himself that it began by his reading a book written +by a learned bishop of the church of England to clear her from schism +in leaving the Roman communion, which had a contrary effect on him; +especially when, at the said bishop's desire, he read an answer to it. +This made him inquisitive about the grounds and manner of the +reformation. _After his return_, Heylin's _History of the +Reformation_, and the preface to Hooker's _Ecclesiastical Polity_, +thoroughly convinced him that neither the church of England, nor +Calvin, nor any of the reformers, had power to do what they did; and +he was confident, he said, that whosoever reads those two books with +attention and without prejudice, would be of the same opinion. _Life +of James_, i. 629. The Duchess of York embraced the same creed as her +husband, and, as he tells us, without knowledge of his sentiments, but +one year before her death in 1670. She left a paper at her death +containing the reasons for her change. See it in Kennet, 320. It is +plain that she, as well as the duke, had been influenced by the +Romanising tendency of some Anglican divines. + +[661] Macpherson, 50; _Life of James_, 441. + +[662] De Witt was apprised of the intrigue between France and England +as early as April 1669, through a Swedish agent at Paris. Temple, 179. +Temple himself, in the course of that year, became convinced that the +king's views were not those of his people, and reflects severely on +his conduct in a letter, December 24, 1669. P. 206. In September 1670, +on his sudden recall from the Hague, De Witt told him his suspicions +of a clandestine treaty. 241. He was received on his return coldly by +Arlington, and almost with rudeness by Clifford. 244. They knew he +would never concur in the new projects. But in 1682, during one of the +intervals when Charles was playing false with his brother Louis, the +latter, in revenge, let an Abbé Primi, in a history of the Dutch war, +publish an account of the whole secret treaty, under the name of the +Count de St. Majolo. This book was immediately suppressed at the +instance of the English ambassador; and Primi was sent for a short +time to the Bastile. But a pamphlet, published in London just after +the Revolution, contains extracts from it. Dalrymple, ii. 80; _Somers +Tracts_, viii. 13; _Harl. Misc._ ii. 387; _Oeuvres de Louis XIV._ +vi. 476. It is singular that Hume should have slighted so well +authenticated a fact, even before Dalrymple's publication of the +treaty; but I suppose he had never heard of Primi's book. The original +treaty has lately been published by Dr. Lingard, from Lord Clifford's +cabinet. + +[663] Dalrymple, ii. 22. + +[664] _Id._ 23; _Life of James_, 442. + +[665] The tenor of the article leads me to conclude, that these troops +were to be landed in England at all events, in order to secure the +public tranquillity without waiting for any disturbance. + +[666] P. 49. + +[667] Bolingbroke has a remarkable passage as to this in his _Letters +on History_ (Letter VII.): it may be also alluded to by others. The +full details, however, as well as more authentic proofs, were +reserved, as I believe, for the publication of _Oeuvres de Louis +XIV._, where they will be found in vol. ii. 403. The proposal of Louis +to the emperor, in 1667, was, that France should have the Pays Bas, +Franche Comté, Milan, Naples, the ports of Tuscany, Navarre, and the +Philippine Islands; Leopold taking all the rest. The obvious drift of +this was, that France should put herself in possession of an enormous +increase of power and territory, leaving Leopold to fight as he could +for Spain and America, which were not likely to submit peaceably. The +Austrian cabinet understood this; and proposed that they should +exchange their shares. Finally, however, it was concluded on the +king's terms, except that he was to take Sicily instead of Milan. One +article of this treaty was, that Louis should keep what he had +conquered in Flanders; in other words, the terms of the treaty of Aix +la Chapelle. The ratifications were exchanged 29th Feb. 1668. Louis +represents himself as more induced by this prospect than by any fear +of the triple alliance, of which he speaks slightingly, to conclude +the peace of Aix la Chapelle. He thought that he should acquire a +character for moderation which might be serviceable to him, "dans les +grands accroissemens que ma fortune pourroit recevoir." Vol. ii. p. +369. + +[668] Dalrymple, 31-57. James gives a different account of this; and +intimates that Henrietta, whose visit to Dover he had for this reason +been much against, prevailed on the king to change his resolution, and +to begin with the war. He gained over Arlington and Clifford. The duke +told them it would quite defeat the catholic design, because the king +must run in debt, and be at the mercy of his parliament. They answered +that, if the war succeeded, it was not much matter what people +suspected. P. 450. This shows that they looked on force as necessary +to compass the design, and that the noble resistance of the Dutch, +under the Prince of Orange, was that which frustrated the whole +conspiracy. "The duke," it is again said (p. 453), "was in his own +judgment against entering into this war before his majesty's power and +authority in England had been better fixed and less precarious, as it +would have been, if the private treaty first agreed on had not been +altered." The French court, however, was evidently right in thinking +that, till the conquest of Holland should be achieved, the declaration +of the king's religion would only weaken him at home. It is gratifying +to find the heroic character of our glorious deliverer displaying +itself among these foul conspiracies. The Prince of Orange came over +to England in 1670. He was then very young; and his uncle, who was +really attached to him, would have gladly associated him in the +design; indeed it had been agreed that he was to possess part of the +United Provinces in sovereignty. But Colbert writes that the king had +found him so zealous a Dutchman and protestant, that he could not +trust him with any part of the secret. He let him know, however, as we +learn from Burnet, 382, that he had himself embraced the Romish faith. + +[669] Dalrymple, 57. + +[670] P. 68; _Life of James_, 444. In this work it is said that even +the Duchess of Orleans had no knowledge of the real treaty; and that +the other originated with Buckingham. But Dalrymple's authority seems +far better in this instance. + +[671] P. 84, etc. + +[672] P. 23. + +[673] P. 52. The reluctance to let the Duke of Buckingham into the +secret seems to prove that more was meant than a toleration of the +Roman catholic religion, towards which he had always been disposed, +and which was hardly a secret at court. + +[674] Pp. 62, 84. + +[675] P. 81. + +[676] P. 33. + +[677] "The generality of the church of England men was not at that +time very averse to the catholic religion; many that went under that +name had their religion to choose, and went to church for company's +sake." _Life of James_, p. 442. + +[678] _Life of James_, ibid. + +[679] Macpherson's _Extracts_, p. 51. + +[680] 22 Car. 2, c. 1; Kennet, p. 306. The zeal in the Commons against +popery tended to aggravate this persecution of the dissenters. They +had been led by some rascally clergymen to believe the absurdity that +there was a good understanding between the two parties. + +[681] Burnet, p. 272. + +[682] Baxter, pp. 74, 86; Kennet, p. 311. See a letter of Sheldon, +written at this time, to the bishops of his province, urging them to +persecute the nonconformists. Harris's _Life of Charles II._, p. 106. +Proofs also are given by this author of the manner in which some, such +as Lamplugh and Ward, responded to their primate's wishes. + +Sheldon found a panegyrist quite worthy of him in his chaplain Parker, +afterwards Bishop of Oxford. This notable person has left a Latin +history of his own time, wherein he largely commemorates the +archbishop's zeal in molesting the dissenters, and praises him for +defeating the scheme of comprehension. P. 25. I observe, that the late +excellent editor of Burnet has endeavoured to slide in a word for the +primate (note on vol. i. p. 243), on the authority of that history by +Bishop Parker, and of Sheldon's Life in the _Biographia Britannica_. +It is lamentable to rest on such proofs. I should certainly not have +expected that, in Magdalen College, of all places, the name of Parker +would have been held in honour; and as to the _Biographia_, laudatory +as it is of primates in general (save Tillotson, whom it depreciates), +I find, on reference, that its praise of Sheldon's virtues is grounded +on the authority of his epitaph in Croydon church. + +[683] Baxter, 87. + +[684] This is asserted by Burnet, and seems to be acknowledged by the +Duke of York. The court endeavoured to mitigate the effect of the bill +brought into the Commons, in consequence of Coventry's injury; and so +far succeeded, that instead of a partial measure of protection for the +members of the House of Commons, as originally designed (which seemed, +I suppose, to carry too marked a reference to the particular +transaction), it was turned into a general act, making it a capital +felony to wound with intention to maim or disfigure. But the name of +the Coventry act has always clung to this statute. _Parl. Hist._ 461. + +[685] The king promised the bankers interest at six per cent., instead +of the money due to them from the exchequer; but this was never paid +till the latter part of William's reign. It may be considered as the +beginning of our national debt. It seems to have been intended to +follow the shutting up of the exchequer with a still more +unwarrantable stretch of power, by granting an injunction to the +creditors who were suing the bankers at law. According to North +(_Examen_, pp. 38, 47), Lord-Keeper Bridgman resigned the great seal +rather than comply with this; and Shaftesbury himself, who succeeded +him, did not venture, if I understand the passage rightly, to grant an +absolute injunction. The promise of interest for their money seems to +have been given instead of this more illegal and violent remedy. + +[686] _Parl. Hist._ 515; Kennet, 313. + +[687] Bridgman, the lord-keeper, resigned the great seal, according to +Burnet, because he would not put it to the declaration of indulgence, +and was succeeded by Shaftesbury. + +[688] _Parl. Hist._ 517. The presbyterian party do not appear to have +supported the declaration, at least Birch spoke against it: Waller, +Seymour, Sir Robert Howard in its favour. Baxter says, the +nonconformists were divided in opinion as to the propriety of availing +themselves of the declaration. P. 99. Birch told Pepys, some years +before, that he feared some would try for extending the toleration to +papists; but the sober party would rather be without it than have it +on those terms. Pepys's _Diary_, Jan. 31, 1668; _Parl. Hist._ 546, +561. Father Orleans says, that Ormond, Arlington, and some more +advised the king to comply; the duke and the rest of the council +urging him to adhere, and Shaftesbury, who had been the first mover of +the project, pledging himself for its success; there being a party for +the king among the Commons, and a force on foot enough to daunt the +other side. It was suspected that the women interposed, and prevailed +on the king to withdraw his declaration. Upon this, Shaftesbury turned +short round, provoked at the king's want of steadiness, and especially +at his giving up the point about issuing writs in the recess of +parliament. + +[689] 25 Car. II. c. 2; Burnet, p. 490. + +[690] The test act began in a resolution (February 28, 1673) that all +who refuse to take the oaths and receive the sacrament, according to +the rites of the church of England, shall be incapable of all public +employments. _Parl. Hist._ 556. The court party endeavoured to oppose +the declaration against transubstantiation, but of course in vain. +_Id._ 561, 592. + +The king had pressed his brother to receive the sacrament, in order to +avoid suspicion, which he absolutely refused; and this led, he says, +to the test. _Life of James_, p. 482. But his religion was long pretty +well known, though he did not cease to conform till 1672. + +[691] _Parl. Hist._ 526-585. These debates are copied from those +published by Anchitel Grey, a member of the Commons for thirty years; +but his notes, though collectively most valuable, are sometimes so +brief and ill expressed, that it is hardly possible to make out their +meaning. The court and church party, or rather some of them, seem to +have much opposed this bill for the relief of protestant dissenters. + +[692] Commons' Journals, 28 and 29 March 1673; Lords' Journals, 24 and +29 March. The Lords were so slow about this bill that the lower house, +knowing an adjournment to be in contemplation, sent a message to +quicken them, according to a practice not unusual in this reign. +Perhaps, on an attentive consideration of the report on the conference +(March 29) it may appear that the Lords' amendments had a tendency to +let in popish, rather than to favour protestant, dissenters. Parker +says that this act of indulgence was defeated by his great hero, +Archbishop Sheldon, who proposed that the nonconformists should +acknowledge the war against Charles I. to be unlawful. _Hist. sui +temporis_, p. 203 of the translation. + +[693] It was proposed, as an instruction to the committee on the test +act, that a clause should be introduced, rendering nonconformists +incapable of sitting in the House of Commons. This was lost by 163 to +107; but it was resolved that a distinct bill should be brought in for +that purpose. 10 March 1673. + +[694] Kennet, p. 318. + +[695] Commons' Journals, 20 Jan. 1674; _Parl. Hist._ 608, 625, 649; +Burnet. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +EARL OF DANBY'S ADMINISTRATION--DEATH OF CHARLES II. + + +The period of Lord Danby's administration, from 1673 to 1678, was full +of chicanery and dissimulation on the king's side, of increasing +suspiciousness on that of the Commons. Forced by the voice of +parliament, and the bad success of his arms, into peace with Holland, +Charles struggled hard against a co-operation with her in the great +confederacy of Spain and the empire to resist the encroachments of +France on the Netherlands. Such was in that age the strength of the +barrier fortresses, and so heroic the resistance of the Prince of +Orange, that, notwithstanding the extreme weakness of Spain, there was +no moment in that war, when the sincere and strenuous intervention of +England would not have compelled Louis XIV. to accept the terms of the +treaty of Aix la Chapelle. It was the treacherous attachment of +Charles II. to French interests that brought the long congress of +Nimeguen to an unfortunate termination; and, by surrendering so many +towns of Flanders as laid the rest open to future aggression, gave +rise to the tedious struggles of two more wars.[696] + +_Opposition in the commons._--In the behaviour of the House of Commons +during this period, previously at least to the session of 1678, there +seems nothing which can incur much reprehension from those who reflect +on the king's character and intentions; unless it be that they granted +supplies rather too largely, and did not sufficiently provide against +the perils of the time. But the House of Lords contained unfortunately +an invincible majority for the court, ready to frustrate any +legislative security for public liberty. Thus the habeas corpus act, +first sent up to that house in 1674, was lost there in several +successive sessions. The Commons therefore testified their sense of +public grievances, and kept alive an alarm in the nation by +resolutions and addresses, which a phlegmatic reader is sometimes too +apt to consider as factious or unnecessary. If they seem to have dwelt +more, in some of these, on the dangers of religion, and less on those +of liberty, than we may now think reasonable, it is to be remembered +that the fear of popery has always been the surest string to touch for +effect on the people; and that the general clamour against that +religion was all covertly directed against the Duke of York, the most +dangerous enemy of every part of our constitution. + +_Corruption of the parliament._--The real vice of this parliament was +not intemperance, but corruption. Clifford, and still more Danby, were +masters in an art practised by ministers from the time of James I. +(and which indeed can never be unknown where there exists a court and +a popular assembly), that of turning to their use the weapons of +mercenary eloquence by office, or blunting their edge by bribery.[697] +Some who had been once prominent in opposition, as Sir Robert Howard +and Sir Richard Temple, became placemen; some, like Garraway and Sir +Thomas Lee, while they continued to lead the country party, took money +from the court for softening particular votes;[698] many, as seems to +have been the case with Reresby, were won by promises, and the +pretended friendship of men in power.[699] On two great classes of +questions, France and popery, the Commons broke away from all +management; nor was Danby unwilling to let his master see their +indocility on these subjects. But, in general, till the year 1678, by +dint of the means before mentioned, and partly no doubt through the +honest conviction of many that the king was not likely to employ any +minister more favourable to the protestant religion and liberties of +Europe, he kept his ground without any insuperable opposition from +parliament.[700] + +_Character of the Earl of Danby._--The Earl of Danby had virtues as an +English minister, which serve to extenuate some great errors and an +entire want of scrupulousness in his conduct. Zealous against the +church of Rome and the aggrandisement of France, he counteracted, +while he seemed to yield to, the prepossessions of his master. If the +policy of England before the peace of Nimeguen was mischievous and +disgraceful, it would evidently have been far more so, had the king +and Duke of York been abetted by this minister in their fatal +predilection for France. We owe to Danby's influence, it must ever be +remembered, the marriage of Princess Mary to the Prince of Orange, the +seed of the revolution and the act of settlement--a courageous and +disinterested counsel, which ought not to have proved the source of +his greatest misfortunes.[701] But we cannot pretend to say that he +was altogether as sound a friend to the constitution of his country, +as to her national dignity and interests. I do not mean that he wished +to render the king absolute. But a minister, harassed and attacked in +parliament, is tempted to desire the means of crushing his opponents, +or at least of augmenting his own sway. The mischievous bill that +passed the House of Lords in 1675, imposing as a test to be taken by +both houses of parliament, as well as all holding beneficed offices, a +declaration that resistance to persons commissioned by the king was in +all cases unlawful, and that they would never attempt any alteration +in the government in church or state, was promoted by Danby, though it +might possibly originate with others.[702] It was apparently meant as +a bone of contention among the country party, in which presbyterians +and old parliamentarians were associated with discontented cavaliers. +Besides the mischief of weakening this party, which indeed the +minister could not fairly be expected to feel, nothing could have been +devised more unconstitutional, or more advantageous to the court's +projects of arbitrary power. + +It is certainly possible that a minister who, aware of the dangerous +intentions of his sovereign or his colleagues, remains in the cabinet +to thwart and countermine them, may serve the public more effectually +than by retiring from office; but he will scarcely succeed in avoiding +some material sacrifices of integrity, and still less of reputation. +Danby, the ostensible adviser of Charles II., took on himself the just +odium of that hollow and suspicious policy which appeared to the +world. We know indeed that he was concerned, against his own judgment, +in the king's secret receipt of money from France, the price of +neutrality, both in 1676 and in 1678, the latter to his own +ruin.[703] Could the opposition, though not so well apprised of these +transactions as we are, be censured for giving little credit to his +assurances of zeal against that power; which, though sincere in him, +were so little in unison with the disposition of the court? Had they +no cause to dread that the great army suddenly raised in 1677, on +pretence of being employed against France, might be turned to some +worse purposes more congenial to the king's temper?[704] + +_Connection of the popular party with France--Its motives on both +sides._--This invincible distrust of the court is the best apology for +that which has given rise to so much censure, the secret connections +formed by the leaders of opposition with Louis XIV., through his +ambassadors Barillon and Rouvigny, about the spring of 1678.[705] They +well knew that the king's designs against their liberties had been +planned in concert with France, and could hardly be rendered effectual +without her aid in money, if not in arms.[706] If they could draw +over this dangerous ally from his side, and convince the King of +France that it was not his interest to crush their power, they would +at least frustrate the suspected conspiracy, and secure the disbanding +of the army; though at a great sacrifice of the continental policy +which they had long maintained, and which was truly important to our +honour and safety. Yet there must be degrees in the scale of public +utility; and, if the liberties of the people were really endangered by +domestic treachery, it was ridiculous to think of saving Tournay and +Valenciennes at the expense of all that was dearest at home. This is +plainly the secret of that unaccountable, as it then seemed, and +factious opposition, in the year 1678; which cannot be denied to have +served the ends of France, and thwarted the endeavours of Lord Danby +and Sir William Temple to urge on the uncertain and half-reluctant +temper of the king into a decided course of policy.[707] Louis, in +fact, had no desire to see the King of England absolute over his +people, unless it could be done so much by his own help as to render +himself the real master of both. In the estimate of kings, or of such +kings as Louis XIV., all limitations of sovereignty, all co-ordinate +authority of estates and parliaments, are not only derogatory to the +royal dignity, but injurious to the state itself, of which they +distract the councils and enervate the force. Great armies, prompt +obedience, unlimited power over the national resources, secrecy in +council, rapidity in execution, belong to an energetic and enlightened +despotism: we should greatly err in supposing that Louis XIV. was led +to concur in projects of subverting our constitution from any jealousy +of its contributing to our prosperity. He saw, on the contrary, in the +perpetual jarring of kings and parliaments, a source of feebleness and +vacillation in foreign affairs, and a field for intrigue and +corruption. It was certainly far from his design to see a republic, +either in name or effect, established in England; but an unanimous +loyalty, a spontaneous submission to the court, was as little +consonant to his interests; and, especially if accompanied with a +willing return of the majority to the catholic religion, would have +put an end to his influence over the king, and still more certainly +over the Duke of York.[708] He had long been sensible of the advantage +to be reaped from a malcontent party in England. In the first years +after the restoration, he kept up a connection with the disappointed +commonwealth's men, while their courage was yet fresh and unsubdued; +and in the war of 1665 was very nearly exciting insurrections both in +England and Ireland.[709] These schemes of course were suspended, as +he grew into closer friendship with Charles, and saw a surer method of +preserving an ascendancy over the kingdom. But, as soon as the +Princess Mary's marriage, contrary to the King of England's promise, +and to the plain intent of all their clandestine negotiations, +displayed his faithless and uncertain character to the French +cabinet, they determined to make the patriotism, the passion, and the +corruption of the House of Commons minister to their resentment and +ambition. + +The views of Lord Hollis and Lord Russell in this clandestine +intercourse with the French ambassador were sincerely patriotic and +honourable: to detach France from the king; to crush the Duke of York +and popish faction; to procure the disbanding of the army, the +dissolution of a corrupted parliament, the dismissal of a bad +minister.[710] They would indeed have displayed more prudence in +leaving these dark and dangerous paths of intrigue to the court which +was practised in them. They were concerting measures with the natural +enemy of their country, religion, honour, and liberty; whose obvious +policy was to keep the kingdom disunited that it might be powerless; +who had been long abetting the worst designs of our own court, and who +could never be expected to act against popery and despotism, but for +the temporary ends of his ambition. Yet, in the very critical +circumstances of that period, it was impossible to pursue any course +with security; and the dangers of excessive circumspection and +adherence to general rules may often be as formidable as those of +temerity. The connection of the popular party with France may very +probably have frustrated the sinister intentions of the king and duke, +by compelling the reduction of the army, though at the price of a +great sacrifice of European policy.[711] Such may be, with +unprejudiced men, a sufficient apology for the conduct of Lord +Russell and Lord Hollis, the most public-spirited and high-minded +characters of their age, in this extraordinary and unnatural alliance. +It would have been unworthy of their virtue to have gone into so +desperate an intrigue with no better aim than that of ruining Lord +Danby; and of this I think we may fully acquit them. The nobleness of +Russell's disposition beams forth in all that Barillon has written of +their conferences. Yet, notwithstanding the plausible grounds of his +conduct, we can hardly avoid wishing that he had abstained from so +dangerous an intercourse, which led him to impair, in the eyes of +posterity, by something more like faction than can be ascribed to any +other part of his parliamentary life, the consistency and +ingenuousness of his character.[712] + +_Doubt as to the acceptance of money by the popular party._--I have +purposely mentioned Lord Russell and Lord Hollis apart from others who +were mingled in the same intrigues of the French ambassador, both +because they were among the first with whom he tampered, and because +they are honourably distinguished by their abstinence from all +pecuniary remuneration, which Hollis refused, and which Barillon did +not presume to offer to Russell. It appears however from this +minister's accounts of the money he had expended in this secret +service of the French Crown, that, at a later time, namely about the +end of 1680, many of the leading members of opposition, Sir Thomas +Littleton, Mr. Garraway, Mr. Hampden, Mr. Powle, Mr. Sacheverell, Mr. +Foley, received sums of 500 or 300 guineas, as testimonies of the King +of France's munificence and favour. Among others, Algernon Sidney, +who, though not in parliament, was very active out of it, is more than +once mentioned. Chiefly because the name of Algernon Sidney had been +associated with the most stern and elevated virtue, this statement was +received with great reluctance; and many have ventured to call the +truth of these pecuniary gratifications in question. This is certainly +a bold surmise; though Barillon is known to have been a man of +luxurious and expensive habits, and his demands for more money on +account of the English court, which continually occur in his +correspondence with Louis, may lead to a suspicion that he would be in +some measure a gainer by it. This however might possibly be the case +without actual peculation. But it must be observed that there are two +classes of those who are alleged to have received presents through his +hands; one, of such as were in actual communication with himself; +another, of such as Sir John Baber, a secret agent, had prevailed upon +to accept it. Sidney was in the first class; but, as to the second, +comprehending Littleton, Hampden, Sacheverell, in whom it is as +difficult to suspect pecuniary corruption as in him, the proof is +manifestly weaker, depending only on the assertion of an intriguer +that he had paid them the money. The falsehood either of Baber or +Barillon would acquit these considerable men. Nor is it to be reckoned +improbable that persons employed in this clandestine service should be +guilty of a fraud, for which they could evidently never be made +responsible. We have indeed a remarkable confession of Coleman, the +famous intriguer executed for the popish plot, to this effect. He +deposed in his examination before the House of Commons, in November +1678, that he had received last session of Barillon £2500 to be +distributed among members of parliament, which he had converted to his +own use.[713] It is doubtless possible that Coleman having actually +expended this money in the manner intended, bespoke the favour of +those whose secret he kept by taking the discredit of such a fraud on +himself. But it is also possible that he spoke the truth. A similar +uncertainty hangs over the transactions of Sir John Baber. Nothing in +the parliamentary conduct of the above-mentioned gentlemen in 1680 +corroborates the suspicion of an intrigue with France, whatever may +have been the case in 1678. + +I must fairly confess however that the decided bias of my own mind is +on the affirmative side of this question; and that principally because +I am not so much struck, as some have been, by any violent +improbability in what Barillon wrote to his court on the subject. If +indeed we were to read that Algernon Sidney had been bought over by +Louis XIV. or Charles II. to assist in setting up absolute monarchy in +England, we might fairly oppose our knowledge of his inflexible and +haughty character, of his zeal, in life and death, for republican +liberty. But there is, I presume, some moral distinction between the +acceptance of a bribe to desert or betray our principles and that of a +trifling present for acting in conformity to them. The one is, of +course, to be styled corruption; the other is repugnant to a generous +and delicate mind, but too much sanctioned by the practice of an age +far less scrupulous than our own, to have carried with it any great +self-reproach or sense of degradation. It is truly inconceivable that +men of such property as Sir Thomas Littleton or Mr. Foley should have +accepted 300 or 500 guineas, the sums mentioned by Barillon, as the +price of apostasy from those political principles to which they owed +the esteem of their country, or of an implicit compliance with the +dictates of France. It is sufficiently discreditable to the times in +which they lived, that they should have accepted so pitiful a +gratuity; unless indeed we should in candour resort to an hypothesis +which seems not absurd, that they agreed among themselves not to +offend Louis, or excite his distrust, by a refusal of this money. +Sidney indeed was, as there is reason to think, a distressed man; he +had formerly been in connection with the court of France,[714] and had +persuaded himself that the countenance of that power might one day or +other be afforded to his darling scheme of a commonwealth; he had +contracted a dislike to the Prince of Orange, and consequently to the +Dutch alliance, from the same governing motive: is it strange that one +so circumstanced should have accepted a small gratification from the +King of France which implied no dereliction of his duty as an +Englishman, or any sacrifice of political integrity? And I should be +glad to be informed by the idolaters of Algernon Sidney's name, what +we know of him from authentic and contemporary sources which renders +this incredible. + +_Secret treaties of the king with France._--France, in the whole +course of these intrigues, held the game in her hands. Mistress of +both parties, she might either embarrass the king through parliament, +if he pretended to an independent course of policy, or cast away the +latter, when he should return to his former engagements. Hence, as +early as May 1678, a private treaty was set on foot between Charles +and Louis, by which the former obliged himself to keep a neutrality, +if the allies should not accept the terms offered by France, to recall +all his troops from Flanders within two months, to disband most of his +army and not to assemble his parliament for six months; in return he +was to receive 6,000,000 livres. This was signed by the king himself +on May 27; none of his ministers venturing to affix their names.[715] +Yet at this time he was making outward professions of an intention to +carry on the war. Even in this secret treaty, so thorough was his +insincerity, he meant to evade one of its articles, that of +disbanding his troops. In this alone he was really opposed to the +wishes of France; and her pertinacity in disarming him seems to have +been the chief source of those capricious changes of his disposition, +which we find for three or four years at this period.[716] Louis again +appears not only to have mistrusted the king's own inclinations after +the Prince of Orange's marriage, and his ability to withstand the +eagerness of the nation for war, but to have apprehended he might +become absolute by means of his army, without standing indebted for it +to his ancient ally. In this point therefore he faithfully served the +popular party. Charles used every endeavour to evade this condition; +whether it were that he still entertained hopes of attaining arbitrary +power through intimidation, or that, dreading the violence of the +House of Commons, and ascribing it rather to a republican conspiracy +than to his own misconduct, he looked to a military force as his +security. From this motive we may account for his strange proposal to +the French king of a league in support of Sweden, by which he was to +furnish fifteen ships and 10,000 men, at the expense of France, during +three years, receiving six millions for the first year, and four for +each of the two next. Louis, as is highly probable, betrayed this +project to the Dutch government; and thus frightened them into that +hasty signature of the treaty of Nimeguen, which broke up the +confederacy and accomplished the immediate objects of his ambition. No +longer in need of the court of England, he determined to punish it for +that duplicity, which none resent more in others than those who are +accustomed to practise it. He refused Charles the pension stipulated +by the private treaty, alleging that its conditions had not been +performed; and urged on Montagu, with promises of indemnification, to +betray as much as he knew of that secret, in order to ruin Lord +Danby.[717] + +_Fall of Danby_--_His impeachment._--The ultimate cause of this +minister's fall may thus be deduced from the best action of his life; +though it ensued immediately from his very culpable weakness in aiding +the king's base inclinations towards a sordid bargaining with France. +It is well known that the famous letter to Montagu, empowering him to +make an offer of neutrality for the price of 6,000,000 livres, was not +only written by the king's express order, but that Charles attested +this with his own signature in a postscript. + +This bears date five days after an act had absolutely passed to raise +money for carrying on the war; a circumstance worthy of particular +attention, as it both puts an end to every pretext or apology which +the least scrupulous could venture to urge in behalf of this +negotiation, but justifies the whig party of England in an invincible +distrust, an inexpiable hatred, of so perfidious a cozener as filled +the throne. But as he was beyond their reach, they exercised a +constitutional right in the impeachment of his responsible minister. +For responsible he surely was; though, strangely mistaking the +obligations of an English statesman, Danby seems to fancy in his +printed defence that the king's order would be a sufficient warrant to +justify obedience in any case not literally unlawful. "I believe," he +says, "there are very few subjects but would take it ill not to be +obeyed by their servants; and their servants might as justly expect +their master's protection for their obedience." The letter to Montagu, +he asserts, "was written by the king's command, upon the subject of +peace and war, wherein his majesty alone is at all times sole judge, +and ought to be obeyed not only by any of his ministers of state, but +by all his subjects."[718] Such were, in that age, the monarchical or +tory maxims of government, which the impeachment of this minister +contributed in some measure to overthrow. As the king's authority for +the letter to Montagu was an undeniable fact, evidenced by his own +handwriting, the Commons in impeaching Lord Danby went a great way +towards establishing the principle that no minister can shelter +himself behind the throne by pleading obedience to the orders of his +sovereign. He is answerable for the justice, the honesty, the utility +of all measures emanating from the Crown, as well as for their +legality; and thus the executive administration is, or ought to be, +subordinate, in all great matters of policy, to the superintendence +and virtual control of the two Houses of Parliament. It must at the +same time be admitted that, through the heat of honest indignation and +some less worthy passions on the one hand, through uncertain and crude +principles of constitutional law on the other, this just and necessary +impeachment of the Earl of Danby was not so conducted as to be exempt +from all reproach. The charge of high treason for an offence +manifestly amounting only to misdemeanour, with the purpose, not +perhaps of taking the life of the accused, but at least of procuring +some punishment beyond the law,[719] the strange mixture of articles, +as to which there was no presumptive proof, or which were evidently +false, such as concealment of the popish plot, gave such a character +of intemperance and faction to these proceedings, as may lead +superficial readers to condemn them altogether.[720] The compliance of +Danby with the king's corrupt policy had been highly culpable, but it +was not unprecedented; it was even conformable to the court standard +of duty; and as it sprung from too inordinate a desire to retain +power, it would have found an appropriate and adequate chastisement in +exclusion from office. We judge perhaps somewhat more favourably of +Lord Danby than his contemporaries at that juncture were warranted to +do; but even then he was rather a minister to be pulled down than a +man to be severely punished. His one great and undeniable service to +the protestant and English interests should have palliated a multitude +of errors. Yet this was the mainspring and first source of the +intrigue that ruined him. + +_Questions arising on the impeachment_--_Danby's commitment to the +Tower._--The impeachment of Lord Danby brought forward several +material discussions on that part of our constitutional law, which +should not be passed over in this place. 1. As soon as the charges +presented by the Commons at the bar of the upper house had been read, +a motion was made that the earl should withdraw; and another +afterwards, that he should be committed to the Tower: both of which +were negatived by considerable majorities.[721] This refusal to commit +on a charge of treason had created a dispute between the two houses in +the instance of Lord Clarendon.[722] In that case, however, one of the +articles of impeachment did actually contain an unquestionable +treason. But it was contended with much force on the present occasion +that, if the Commons, by merely using the word traitorously, could +alter the character of offences which, on their own showing, amounted +only to misdemeanours, the boasted certainty of the law in matters of +treason would be at an end; and unless it were meant that the Lords +should pass sentence in such a case against the received rules of law, +there could be no pretext for their refusing to admit the accused to +bail. Even in Strafford's case, which was a condemned precedent, they +had a general charge of high treason upon which he was committed; +while the offences alleged against Danby were stated with +particularity, and upon the face of the articles could not be brought +within any reasonable interpretation of the statutes relating to +treason. The House of Commons faintly urged a remarkable clause in the +act of Edward III., which provides that, in case of any doubt arising +as to the nature of an offence charged to amount to treason, the +judges should refer it to the sentence of parliament; and maintained +that this invested the two houses with a declaratory power to extend +the penalties of the law to new offences which had not been clearly +provided for in its enactments. But, though something like this might +possibly have been in contemplation with the framers of that statute, +and precedents were not absolutely wanting to support the +construction, it was so repugnant to the more equitable principles of +criminal law which had begun to gain ground, that even the heat of +faction did not induce the Commons to insist upon it. They may be +considered however as having carried their point; for, though the +prorogation and subsequent dissolution of the present parliament +ensued so quickly that nothing more was done in the matter, yet when +the next House of Commons revived the impeachment, the Lords voted to +take Danby into custody without any further objection.[723] It ought +not to be inferred from hence, that they were wrong in refusing to +commit; nor do I conceive, notwithstanding the latter precedent of +Lord Oxford, that any rule to the contrary is established. In any +future case it ought to be open to debate, whether articles of +impeachment pretending to contain a charge of high treason do +substantially set forth overt acts of such a crime; and, if the House +of Lords shall be of opinion, either by consulting the judges or +otherwise, that no treason is specially alleged, they should, +notwithstanding any technical words, treat the offence as a +misdemeanour, and admit the accused to bail.[724] + +2. _Pardon pleaded in bar._--A still more important question sprung +up as to the king's right of pardon upon a parliamentary impeachment. +Danby, who had absconded on the unexpected revival of these +proceedings in the new parliament, finding that an act of attainder +was likely to pass against him in consequence of his flight from +justice, surrendered himself to the usher of the black rod; and, on +being required to give in his written answer to the charges of the +Commons, pleaded a pardon, secretly obtained from the king, in bar of +the prosecution.[725] The Commons resolved that the pardon was illegal +and void, and ought not to be pleaded in bar of the impeachment of the +Commons of England. They demanded judgment at the Lords' bar against +Danby, as having put in a void plea. They resolved, with that culpable +violence which distinguished this and the succeeding House of Commons, +in order to deprive the accused of the assistance of counsel, that no +commoner whatsoever should presume to maintain the validity of the +pardon pleaded by the Earl of Danby without their consent, on pain of +being accounted a betrayer of the liberties of the Commons of +England.[726] They denied the right of the bishops to vote on the +validity of this pardon. They demanded the appointment of a committee +from both houses to regulate the form and manner of proceeding on this +impeachment, as well as on that of the five lords accused of +participation in the popish plot. The upper house gave some signs of a +vacillating and temporising spirit, not by any means unaccountable. +They acceded, after a first refusal, to the proposition of a +committee, though manifestly designed to encroach on their own +exclusive claim of judicature.[727] But they came to a resolution +that the spiritual Lords had a right to sit and vote in parliament in +capital cases, until judgment of death shall be pronounced.[728] The +Commons of course protested against this vote;[729] but a prorogation +soon dropped the curtain over their differences; and Danby's +impeachment was not acted upon in the next parliament. + +_Votes of bishops._--There seems to be no kind of pretence for +objecting to the votes of the bishops on such preliminary questions as +may arise in an impeachment of treason. It is true that ancient custom +has so far ingrafted the provisions of the ecclesiastical law on our +constitution, that they are bound to withdraw when judgment of life or +death is pronounced; though even in this they always do it with a +protestation of their right to remain. This, once claimed as a +privilege of the church, and reluctantly admitted by the state, +became, in the lapse of ages, an exclusion and badge of inferiority. +In the constitutions of Clarendon, under Henry II., it is enacted, +that the bishops and others holding spiritual benefices "in capite" +should give their attendance at trials in parliament, till it come to +sentence of life or member. This, although perhaps too ancient to have +authority as statute law, was a sufficient evidence of the +constitutional usage, where nothing so material could be alleged on +the other side. And, as the original privilege was built upon nothing +better than the narrow superstitions of the canon law, there was no +reasonable pretext for carrying the exclusion of the spiritual lords +farther than certain and constant precedents required. Though it was +true, as the enemies of Lord Danby urged, that by voting for the +validity of his pardon, they would in effect determine the whole +question in his favour, yet there seemed no serious reasons, +considering it abstractedly from party views, why they should not thus +indirectly be restored for once to a privilege, from which the +prejudices of former ages alone had shut them out. + +The main point in controversy, whether a general or special pardon +from the king could be pleaded in answer to an impeachment of the +Commons so as to prevent any further proceedings in it, never came to +a regular decision. It was evident that a minister who had influence +enough to obtain such an indemnity, might set both houses of +parliament at defiance; the pretended responsibility of the Crown's +advisers, accounted the palladium of our constitution, would be an +idle mockery, if not only punishment could be averted, but enquiry +frustrated. Even if the king could remit the penalties of a guilty +minister's sentence upon impeachment, it would be much, that public +indignation should have been excited against him, that suspicion +should have been turned into proof, that shame and reproach, +irremissible by the great seal, should avenge the wrongs of his +country. It was always to be presumed that a sovereign, undeceived by +such a judicial inquiry, or sensible to the general voice it roused, +would voluntarily, or at least prudently, abandon an unworthy +favourite. Though it might be admitted that long usage had established +the royal prerogative of granting pardons under the great seal, even +before trial, and that such pardons might be pleaded in bar (a +prerogative indeed which ancient statutes, not repealed, though gone +into disuse, or rather in no time acted upon, had attempted to +restrain), yet we could not infer that it extended to cases of +impeachment. In ordinary criminal proceedings by indictment the king +was before the court as prosecutor, the suit was in his name; he might +stay the process at his pleasure, by entering a "noli prosequi;" to +pardon, before or after judgment, was a branch of the same +prerogative; it was a great constitutional trust, to be exercised at +his discretion. But in an appeal or accusation of felony, brought by +the injured party, or his next of blood, a proceeding wherein the +king's name did not appear, it was undoubted that he could not remit +the capital sentence. The same principle seemed applicable to an +impeachment at the suit of the Commons of England, demanding justice +from the supreme tribunal of the other house of parliament. It could +not be denied that James had remitted the whole sentence upon Lord +Bacon. But impeachments were so unusual at that time, and the +privileges of parliament so little out of dispute, that no great +stress could be laid on this precedent. + +Such must have been the course of arguing, strong on political, and +specious on legal grounds, which induced the Commons to resist the +plea put in by Lord Danby. Though this question remained in suspense +on the present occasion, it was finally decided by the legislature in +the act of settlement; which provides that no pardon under the great +seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment of the Commons in +parliament.[730] These expressions seem tacitly to concede the Crown's +right of granting a pardon after sentence; which, though perhaps it +could not well be distinguished in point of law from a pardon +pleadable in bar, stands on a very different footing, as has been +observed above, with respect to constitutional policy. Accordingly, +upon the impeachment of the six peers who had been concerned in the +rebellion of 1715, the House of Lords after sentence passed, having +come to a resolution on debate that the king had a right to reprieve +in cases of impeachment, addressed him to exercise that prerogative as +to such of them as should deserve his mercy; and three of the number +were in consequence pardoned.[731] + +3. _Abatement of impeachments by dissolution._--The impeachment of +Danby first brought forward another question of hardly less magnitude, +and remarkable as one of the few great points in constitutional law, +which have been discussed and finally settled within the memory of the +present generation: I mean the continuance of an impeachment by the +Commons from one parliament to another. Though this has been put at +rest by a determination altogether consonant to maxims of expediency, +it seems proper in this place to show briefly the grounds upon which +the argument on both sides rested. + +In the earlier period of our parliamentary records, the business of +both houses, whether of a legislative or judicial nature, though often +very multifarious, was despatched, with the rapidity natural to +comparatively rude times, by men impatient of delay, unused to doubt, +and not cautious in the proof of facts or attentive to the subtleties +of reasoning. The session, generally speaking, was not to terminate +till the petitions in parliament for redress had been disposed of, +whether decisively or by reference to some more permanent tribunal. +Petitions for alteration of the law, presented by the Commons, and +assented to by the Lords, were drawn up into statutes by the king's +council just before the prorogation or dissolution. They fell +naturally to the ground, if the session closed before they could be +submitted to the king's pleasure. The great change that took place in +the reign of Henry VI., by passing bills complete in their form +through the two houses instead of petitions, while it rendered +manifest to every eye that distinction between legislative and +judicial proceedings which the simplicity of older times had half +concealed, did not affect this constitutional principle. At the close +of a session, every bill then in progress through parliament became a +nullity, and must pass again through all its stages before it could be +tendered for the royal assent. No sort of difference existed in the +effect of a prorogation and a dissolution; it was even maintained that +a session made a parliament. + +During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, writs of error from +inferior courts to the House of Lords became far less usual than in +the preceding age; and when they occurred, as error could only be +assigned on a point of law appearing on the record, they were quickly +decided with the assistance of the judges. But, when they grew more +frequent, and especially when appeals from the chancellor, requiring +often a tedious examination of depositions, were brought before the +Lords, it was found that a sudden prorogation might often interrupt a +decision; and the question arose, whether writs of error, and other +proceedings of a similar nature, did not, according to precedent or +analogy, cease, or in technical language abate, at the close of a +session. An order was accordingly made by the house on March 11, 1673, +that "the Lords committees for privileges should inquire whether an +appeal to this house either by writ of error or petition, from the +proceedings of any other court being depending, and not determined in +one session of parliament, continue in statu quo unto the next session +of parliament, without renewing the writ of error or petition, or +beginning all anew." The committee reported on the 29th of March, +after mis-reciting the order of reference to them in a very remarkable +manner, by omitting some words and interpolating others, so as to make +it far more extensive than it really was,[732] that upon the +consideration of precedents, which they specify, they came to a +resolution that "businesses depending in one parliament or session of +parliament have been continued to the next session of the same +parliament, and the proceedings thereupon have remained in the same +state in which they were left when last in agitation." The house +approved of this resolution, and ordered it accordingly.[733] + +This resolution was decisive as to the continuance of ordinary +judicial business beyond the termination of a session. It was still +open to dispute whether it might not abate by a dissolution. And the +peculiar case of impeachment, to which, after the dissolution of the +long parliament in 1678, every one's attention was turned, seemed to +stand on different grounds. It was referred therefore to the committee +of privileges, on the 11th of March 1679, to consider whether +petitions of appeal which were presented to this house in the last +parliament be still in force to be proceeded on. Next day it is +referred to the same committee, on a report of the matter of fact as +to the impeachments of the Earl of Danby and the five popish lords in +the late parliament, to consider of the state of the said impeachments +and all the incidents relating thereto, and to report to the house. On +the 18th of March Lord Essex reported from the committee, that, "upon +perusal of the judgment of this house of the 29th of March 1673, they +are of opinion, that in all cases of appeals and writs of error they +continue, and are to be proceeded on, in statu quo, as they stood at +the dissolution of the last parliament, without beginning de novo.... +And, upon consideration had of the matter referred to their lordships +concerning the state of the impeachments brought up from the House of +Commons the last parliament, etc.... they are of opinion that the +dissolution of the last parliament doth not alter the state of the +impeachments brought up by the Commons in that parliament." This +report was taken into consideration next day by the house; and after a +debate, which appears from the journals to have lasted some time, and +the previous question moved and lost, it was resolved to agree with +the committee.[734] + +This resolution became for some years the acknowledged law of +parliament. Lord Stafford, at his trial in 1680, having requested that +his counsel might be heard as to the point, whether impeachments could +go from one parliament to another, the house took no notice of this +question; though they consulted the judges about another which he had +put, as to the necessity of two witnesses to every overt act of +treason.[735] Lord Danby and Chief-Justice Scroggs petitioned the +Lords in the Oxford parliament, one to have the charges against him +dismissed, the other to be bailed; but neither take the objection of +an intervening dissolution.[736] And Lord Danby, after the +dissolution of three successive parliaments since that in which he +was impeached, having lain for three years in the Tower, when he +applied to be enlarged on bail by the court of king's bench in 1682, +was refused by the judges, on the ground of their incompetency to +meddle in a parliamentary impeachment; though, if the prosecution were +already at an end, he would have been entitled to an absolute +discharge. On Jefferies becoming chief justice of the king's bench, +Danby was admitted to bail.[737] But in the parliament of 1685, the +impeached lords having petitioned the house, it was resolved, that the +order of the 19th of March 1679 be reversed and annulled as to +impeachments; and they were consequently released from their +recognisances.[738] + +The first of these two contradictory determinations is not certainly +free from that reproach which so often contaminates our precedents of +parliamentary law, and renders an honest man reluctant to show them +any greater deference than is strictly necessary. It passed during the +violent times of the popish plot; and a contrary resolution would have +set at liberty the five catholic peers committed to the Tower, and +enabled them probably to quit the kingdom before a new impeachment +could be preferred. It must be acknowledged, at the same time, that it +was borne out, in a considerable degree, by the terms of the order of +1673, which seems liable to no suspicion of answering a temporary +purpose; and that the court party in the House of Lords were powerful +enough to have withstood any flagrant innovation in the law of +parliament. As for the second resolution, that of 1685, which reversed +the former, it was passed in the very worst of times; and, if we may +believe the protest, signed by the Earl of Anglesea and three other +peers, with great precipitation and neglect of usual forms. It was not +however annulled after the revolution; but, on the contrary, received +what may seem at first sight a certain degree of confirmation, from an +order of the House of Lords in 1690, on the petitions of Lords +Salisbury and Peterborough, who had been impeached in the preceding +parliament, to be discharged; which was done after reading the +resolutions of 1679 and 1685, and a long debate thereon. But as a +general pardon had come out in the meantime, by which the judges held +that the offences imputed to these two lords had been discharged, and +as the Commons showed no disposition to follow up their impeachment +against them, no parliamentary reasoning can perhaps be founded on +this precedent.[739] In the case of the Duke of Leeds, impeached by +the Commons in 1695, no further proceedings were had; but the Lords +did not make an order for his discharge from the accusation till five +years after three dissolutions had intervened; and grounded it upon +the Commons not proceeding with the impeachment. They did not however +send a message to enquire if the Commons were ready to proceed, which, +according to parliamentary usage, would be required in case of a +pending impeachment. The cases of Lords Somers, Orford, and Halifax, +were similar to that of the Duke of Leeds, except that so long a +period did not intervene. These instances therefore rather tend to +confirm the position, that impeachments did not ipso facto abate by a +dissolution, notwithstanding the reversal of the order of 1679. In the +case of the Earl of Oxford, it was formally resolved in 1717, that an +impeachment does not determine by a prorogation of parliament; an +authority conclusive to those who maintain that no difference exists +in the law of parliament between the effects of a prorogation and a +dissolution. But it is difficult to make all men consider this +satisfactory. + +The question came finally before both houses of parliament in 1791, a +dissolution having intervened during the impeachment of Mr. Hastings; +an impeachment which, far unlike the rapid proceedings of former ages, +had already been for three years before the House of Lords, and seemed +likely to run on to an almost interminable length. It must have been +abandoned in despair, if the prosecution had been held to determine by +the late dissolution. The general reasonings, and the force of +precedents on both sides, were urged with great ability, and by the +principal speakers in both houses; the lawyers generally inclining to +maintain the resolution of 1685, that impeachments abate by a +dissolution, but against still greater names which were united on the +opposite side. In the end, after an ample discussion, the continuance +of impeachments, in spite of a dissolution, was carried by very large +majorities; and this decision, so deliberately taken, and so free from +all suspicion of partiality (the majority in neither house, +especially the upper, bearing any prejudice against the accused +person), as well as so consonant to principles of utility and +constitutional policy, must for ever have set at rest all dispute upon +the question. + +_Popish plot._--The year 1678, and the last session of the parliament +that had continued since 1661, were memorable for the great national +delusion of the popish plot. For national it was undoubtedly to be +called, and by no means confined to the whig or opposition party, +either in or out of parliament, though it gave them much temporary +strength. And though it were a most unhappy instance of the credulity +begotten by heated passions and mistaken reasoning, yet there were +circumstances, and some of them very singular in their nature, which +explain and furnish an apology for the public error, and which it is +more important to point out and keep in mind, than to inveigh, as is +the custom in modern times, against the factitiousness and bigotry of +our ancestors. For I am persuaded that we are far from being secure +from similar public delusions, whenever such a concurrence of +coincidences and seeming probabilities shall again arise, as misled +nearly the whole people of England in the popish plot.[740] + +_Coleman's letters._--It is first to be remembered that there was +really and truly a popish plot in being, though not that which Titus +Oates and his associates pretended to reveal--not merely in the sense +of Hume, who, arguing from the general spirit of proselytism in that +religion, says there is a perpetual conspiracy against all +governments, protestant, Mahometan, and pagan, but one alert, +enterprising, effective, in direct operation against the established +protestant religion in England. In this plot the king, the Duke of +York, and the King of France were chief conspirators; the Romish +priests, and especially the jesuits, were eager co-operators. Their +machinations and their hopes, long suspected, and in a general sense +known, were divulged by the seizure and publication of Coleman's +letters. "We have here," he says, in one of these, "a mighty work upon +our hands, no less than the conversion of three kingdoms, and by that +perhaps the utter subduing of a pestilent heresy, which has a long +time domineered over this northern world. There were never such hopes +since the death of our queen Mary as now in our days. God has given +us a prince, who is become (I may say by miracle) zealous of being the +author and instrument of so glorious a work; but the opposition we are +sure to meet with is also like to be great; so that it imports us to +get all the aid and assistance we can." These letters were addressed +to Father la Chaise, confessor of Louis XIV., and displayed an +intimate connection with France for the great purpose of restoring +popery. They came to light at the very period of Oates's discovery; +and though not giving it much real confirmation, could hardly fail to +make a powerful impression on men unaccustomed to estimate the value +and bearings of evidence.[741] + +The conspiracy supposed to have been concerted by the jesuits at St. +Omers, and in which so many English catholics were implicated, chiefly +consisted, as is well known, in a scheme of assassinating the king. +Though the obvious falsehood and absurdity of much that the witnesses +deposed in relation to this plot render it absolutely incredible, and +fully acquit those unfortunate victims of iniquity and prejudice, it +could not appear at the time an extravagant supposition, that an eager +intriguing faction should have considered the king's life a serious +obstacle to their hopes. Though as much attached in heart as his +nature would permit to the catholic religion, he was evidently not +inclined to take any effectual measures in its favour; he was but one +year older than his brother, on the contingency of whose succession +all their hopes rested, since his heiress was not only brought up in +the protestant faith, but united to its most strenuous defender. +Nothing could have been more anxiously wished at St. Omers than the +death of Charles; and it does not seem improbable that the atrocious +fictions of Oates may have been originally suggested by some actual, +though vague, projects of assassination, which he had heard in +discourse among the ardent spirits of that college. + +_Murder of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey._--The popular ferment which this +tale, however undeserving of credit, excited in a predisposed +multitude, was naturally wrought to a higher pitch by the very +extraordinary circumstances of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey's death. Even at +this time, although we reject the imputation thrown on the catholics, +and especially on those who suffered death for that murder, it seems +impossible to frame any hypothesis which can better account for the +facts that seem to be authenticated. That he was murdered by those who +designed to lay the charge on the papists, and aggravate the public +fury, may pass with those who rely on such writers as Roger +North,[742] but has not the slightest corroboration from any evidence; +nor does it seem to have been suggested by the contemporary libellers +of the court party. That he might have had, as an active magistrate, +private enemies, whose revenge took away his life, which seems to be +Hume's conjecture, is hardly more satisfactory; the enemies of a +magistrate are not likely to have left his person unplundered, nor is +it usual for justices of the peace, merely on account of the discharge +of their ordinary duties, to incur such desperate resentment. That he +fell by his own hands was doubtless the suggestion of those who aimed +at discrediting the plot; but it is impossible to reconcile this with +the marks of violence which are so positively sworn to have appeared +on his neck; and, on a later investigation of the subject in the year +1682, when the court had become very powerful, and a belief in the +plot had grown almost a mark of disloyalty, an attempt made to prove +the self-murder of Godfrey, in a trial before Pemberton, failed +altogether; and the result of the whole evidence, on that occasion, +was strongly to confirm the supposition that he had perished by the +hands of assassins.[743] His death remains at this moment a problem +for which no tolerably satisfactory solution can be offered. But at +the time, it was a very natural presumption to connect it with the +plot, wherein he had not only taken the deposition of Oates, a +circumstance not in itself highly important, but was supposed to have +received the confidential communications of Coleman.[744] + +Another circumstance, much calculated to persuade ordinary minds of +the truth of the plot, was the trial of Reading, a Romish attorney, +for tampering with the witnesses against the accused catholic peers, +in order to make them keep out of the way.[745] As such clandestine +dealing with witnesses creates a strong, and perhaps with some too +strong a presumption of guilt, where justice is sure to be uprightly +administered, men did not make a fair distinction as to times when the +violence of the court and jury gave no reasonable hope of escape; and +when the most innocent party would much rather procure the absence of +a perjured witness than trust to the chance of disproving his +testimony. + +_Injustice of judges on the trials._--There was indeed good reason to +distrust the course of justice. Never were our tribunals so disgraced +by the brutal manners and iniquitous partiality of the bench as in the +latter years of this reign. The _State Trials_, none of which appear +to have been published by the prisoners' friends, bear abundant +testimony to the turpitude of the judges. They explained away and +softened the palpable contradictions of the witnesses for the Crown, +insulted and threatened those of the accused, checked all +cross-examination, assumed the truth of the charge throughout the +whole of every trial.[746] One Whitbread, a jesuit, having been +indicted with several others, and the evidence not being sufficient, +Scroggs discharged the jury of him, but ordered him to be kept in +custody till more proof might come in. He was accordingly indicted +again for the same offence. On his pleading that he had been already +tried, Scroggs and North had the effrontery to deny that he had been +ever put in jeopardy, though the witnesses for the Crown had been +fully heard before the jury were most irregularly and illegally +discharged of him on the former trial. North said he had often known +it done, and it was the common course of law. In the course of this +proceeding, Bedloe, who had deposed nothing explicit against the +prisoner on the former trial, accounted for this by saying, it was not +then convenient; an answer with which the court and jury were +content.[747] + +It is remarkable that, although the king might be justly surmised to +give little credence to the pretended plot, and the Duke of York was +manifestly affected in his interests by the heats it excited, yet the +judges most subservient to the court, Scroggs, North, Jones, went with +all violence into the popular cry, till, the witnesses beginning to +attack the queen, and to menace the duke, they found it was time to +rein in, as far as they could, the passions they had instigated.[748] +Pemberton, a more honest man in political matters, showed a remarkable +intemperance and unfairness in all trials relating to popery. Even in +that of Lord Stafford in 1680, the last, and perhaps the worst, +proceeding under this delusion, though the court had a standing +majority in the House of Lords, he was convicted by fifty-five peers +against thirty-one; the Earl of Nottingham, lord chancellor, the Duke +of Lauderdale, and several others of the administration voting him +guilty, while he was acquitted by the honest Hollis and the acute +Halifax.[749] So far was the belief in the popish plot, or the +eagerness in hunting its victims to death, from being confined to the +whig faction, as some writers have been willing to insinuate. None had +more contributed to rouse the national outcry against the accused, and +create a firm persuasion of the reality of the plot, than the clergy +in their sermons, even the most respectable of their order, Sancroft, +Sharp, Barlow, Burnet, Tillotson, Stillingfleet; inferring its truth +from Godfrey's murder or Coleman's letters, calling for the severest +laws against catholics, and imputing to them the fire of London, nay, +even the death of Charles I.[750] + +_Exclusion of Duke of York proposed._--Though the Duke of York was not +charged with participation in the darkest schemes of the popish +conspirators, it was evident that his succession was the great aim of +their endeavours, and evident also that he had been engaged in the +more real and undeniable intrigues of Coleman. His accession to the +throne, long viewed with just apprehension, now seemed to threaten +such perils to every part of the constitution, as ought not supinely +to be waited for, if any means could be devised to obviate them. This +gave rise to the bold measure of the exclusion bill, too bold indeed +for the spirit of the country, and the rock on which English liberty +was nearly shipwrecked. In the long parliament, full as it was of +pensioners and creatures of court influence, nothing so vigorous would +have been successful. Even in the bill which excluded catholic peers +from sitting in the House of Lords, a proviso, exempting the Duke of +York from its operation, having been sent down from the other house, +passed by a majority of two voices.[751] But the zeal they showed +against Danby induced the king to put an end to this parliament of +seventeen years' duration; an event long ardently desired by the +popular party, who foresaw their ascendancy in the new elections.[752] +The next House of Commons accordingly came together with an ardour +not yet quenched by corruption; and after reviving the impeachments +commenced by their predecessors, and carrying a measure long in +agitation, a test[753] which shut the catholic peers out of +parliament, went upon the exclusion bill. Their dissolution put a stop +to this; and in the next parliament the Lords rejected it.[754] + +The right of excluding an unworthy heir from the succession was +supported not only by the plain and fundamental principles of civil +society, which establish the interest of the people to be the +paramount object of political institutions, but by those of the +English constitution. It had always been the better opinion among +lawyers, that the reigning king with consent of parliament was +competent to make any changes in the inheritance of the Crown; and +this, besides the acts passed under Henry VIII. empowering him to name +his successor, was expressly enacted, with heavy penalties against +such as should contradict it, in the thirteenth year of Elizabeth. The +contrary doctrine indeed, if pressed to its legitimate consequences, +would have shaken all the statutes that limit the prerogative; since, +if the analogy of entails in private inheritances were to be resorted +to, and the existing legislature should be supposed incompetent to +alter the line of succession, they could as little impair as they +could alienate the indefeasible rights of the heir; nor could he be +bound by restrictions to which he had never given his assent. It +seemed strange to maintain that the parliament could reduce a king of +England to the condition of a doge of Venice, by shackling and taking +away his authority, and yet could not divest him of a title which they +could render little better than a mockery. Those accordingly who +disputed the legislative omnipotence of parliament did not hesitate to +assert that statutes infringing on the prerogative were null of +themselves. With the court lawyers conspired the clergy, who pretended +these matters of high policy and constitutional law to be within their +province; and, with hardly an exception, took a zealous part against +the exclusion. It was indeed a measure repugnant to the common +prejudices of mankind; who, without entering on the abstract +competency of parliament, are naturally accustomed in an hereditary +monarchy to consider the next heir as possessed of a right, which, +except through necessity, or notorious criminality, cannot be justly +divested. The mere profession of a religion different from the +established, does not seem, abstractedly considered, an adequate +ground for unsettling the regular order of inheritance. Yet such was +the narrow bigotry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which +died away almost entirely among protestants in the next, that even the +trifling differences between Lutherans and Calvinists had frequently +led to alternate persecutions in the German states, as a prince of one +or the other denomination happened to assume the government. And the +Romish religion, in particular, was in that age of so restless and +malignant a character, that unless the power of the Crown should be +far more strictly limited than had hitherto been the case, there must +be a very serious danger from any sovereign of that faith; and the +letters of Coleman, as well as other evidences, made it manifest that +the Duke of York was engaged in a scheme of general conversion, which, +from his arbitrary temper and the impossibility of succeeding by fair +means, it was just to apprehend, must involve the subversion of all +civil liberty. Still this was not distinctly perceived by persons at a +distance from the scene, imbued, as most of the gentry were, with the +principles of the old cavaliers, and those which the church had +inculcated. The king, though hated by the dissenters, retained the +affections of that party, who forgave the vices they deplored, to his +father's memory and his personal affability. It appeared harsh and +disloyal to force his consent to the exclusion of a brother in whom he +saw no crime, and to avoid which he offered every possible +expedient.[755] There will always be found in the people of England a +strong unwillingness to force the reluctance of their sovereign--a +latent feeling, of which parties in the heat of their triumphs are +seldom aware, because it does not display itself until the moment of +reaction. And although, in the less settled times before the +revolution, this personal loyalty was highly dangerous, and may still, +no doubt, sometimes break out so as to frustrate objects of high +import to the public weal, it is on the whole a salutary temper for +the conservation of the monarchy, which may require such a barrier +against the encroachments of factions and the fervid passions of the +multitude. + +_Schemes of Shaftesbury and Monmouth._--The bill of exclusion was +drawn with as much regard to the inheritance of the Duke of York's +daughters as they could reasonably demand, or as any lawyer engaged +for them could have shown; though something different seems to be +insinuated by Burnet. It provided that the imperial crown of England +should descend to and be enjoyed by such person or persons +successively during the life of the Duke of York, as should have +inherited or enjoyed the same in case he were naturally dead. If the +Princess of Orange was not expressly named (which, the bishop tells +us, gave a jealousy, as though it were intended to keep that matter +still undetermined), this silence was evidently justified by the +possible contingency of the birth of a son to the duke, whose right +there was no intention in the framers of the bill to defeat. But a +large part of the opposition had unfortunately other objects in view. +It had been the great error of those who withstood the arbitrary +counsels of Charles II. to have admitted into their closest +confidence, and in a considerable degree to the management of their +party, a man so destitute of all honest principle as the Earl of +Shaftesbury. Under his contaminating influence their passions became +more untractable, their connections more seditious and democratical, +their schemes more revolutionary, and they broke away more and more +from the line of national opinion, till a fatal reaction involved +themselves in ruin, and exposed the cause of public liberty to its +most imminent peril. The countenance and support of Shaftesbury +brought forward that unconstitutional and most impolitic scheme of the +Duke of Monmouth's succession. There could hardly be a greater insult +to a nation used to respect its hereditary line of kings, than to set +up the bastard of a prostitute, without the least pretence of personal +excellence or public services, against a princess of known virtue and +attachment to the protestant religion. And the effrontery of this +attempt was aggravated by the libels eagerly circulated to dupe the +credulous populace into a belief of Monmouth's legitimacy. The weak +young man, lured on to destruction by the arts of intriguers and the +applause of the multitude, gave just offence to sober-minded patriots, +who knew where the true hopes of public liberty were anchored, by a +kind of triumphal procession through parts of the country, and by +other indications of a presumptuous ambition.[756] + +_Unsteadiness of the king._--If any apology can be made for the +encouragement given by some of the whig party (for it was by no means +general) to the pretensions of Monmouth, it must be found in their +knowledge of the king's affection for him, which furnished a hope that +he might more easily be brought in to the exclusion of his brother for +the sake of so beloved a child than for the Prince of Orange. And +doubtless there was a period when Charles's acquiescence in the +exclusion did not appear so unattainable as, from his subsequent line +of behaviour, we are apt to consider it. It appears from the recently +published life of James, that in the autumn of 1680 the embarrassment +of the king's situation, and the influence of the Duchess of +Portsmouth, who had gone over to the exclusionists, made him seriously +deliberate on abandoning his brother.[757] Whether from natural +instability of judgment, from the steady adherence of France to the +Duke of York, or from observing the great strength of the tory party +in the House of Lords, where the bill was rejected by a majority of 63 +to 30, he soon returned to his former disposition. It was long however +before he treated James with perfect cordiality. Conscious of his own +insincerity in religion, which the duke's bold avowal of an obnoxious +creed seemed to reproach, he was provoked at bearing so much of the +odium, and incurring so many of the difficulties, which attended a +profession that he had not ventured to make. He told Hyde, before the +dissolution of the parliament in 1680, that it would not be in his +power to protect his brother any longer, if he did not conform and go +to church.[758] Hyde himself, and the duke's other friends, had never +ceased to urge him on this subject. Their importunity was renewed by +the king's order, even after the dissolution of the Oxford parliament; +and it seems to have been the firm persuasion of most about the court +that he could only be preserved by conformity to the protestant +religion. He justly apprehended the consequences of a refusal; but, +inflexibly conscientious on this point, he braved whatever might arise +from the timidity or disaffection of the ministers and the selfish +fickleness of the king. + +In the apprehensions excited by the king's unsteadiness and the +defection of the Duchess of Portsmouth, he deemed his fortunes so much +in jeopardy, as to have resolved on exciting a civil war, rather than +yield to the exclusion. He had already told Barillon that the royal +authority could be re-established by no other means.[759] The +episcopal party in Scotland had gone such lengths that they could +hardly be safe under any other king. The catholics of England were of +course devoted to him. With the help of these he hoped to show himself +so formidable that Charles would find it his interest to quit that +cowardly line of politics, to which he was sacrificing his honour and +affections. Louis, never insensible to any occasion of rendering +England weak and miserable, directed his ambassador to encourage the +duke in this guilty project with the promise of assistance.[760] It +seems to have been prevented by the wisdom or public spirit of +Churchill, who pointed out to Barillon the absurdity of supposing that +the duke could stand by himself in Scotland. This scheme of lighting +up the flames of civil war in three kingdoms, for James's private +advantage, deserves to be more remarked than it has hitherto been at a +time when the apologists seem to have become numerous. If the designs +of Russell and Sidney for the preservation of their country's liberty +are blamed as rash and unjustifiable, what name shall we give to the +project of maintaining the pretensions of an individual by means of +rebellion and general bloodshed? + +It is well known that those who took a concern in the maintenance of +religion and liberty, were much divided as to the best expedients for +securing them; some, who thought the exclusion too violent, dangerous, +or impracticable, preferring the enactment of limitations on the +prerogatives of a catholic king. This had begun in fact from the +court, who passed a bill through the House of Lords in 1677, for the +security, as it was styled, of the protestant religion. This provided +that a declaration and oath against transubstantiation should be +tendered to every king within fourteen days after his accession; that, +on his refusal to take it, the ecclesiastical benefices in the gift of +the Crown should vest in the bishops, except that the king should name +to every vacant see one out of three persons proposed to him by the +bishops of the province. It enacted also, that the children of a king +refusing such a test should be educated by the archbishop and two or +three more prelates. This bill dropped in the Commons; and Marvell +speaks of it as an insidious stratagem of the ministry.[761] It is +more easy, however, to give hard names to a measure originating with +an obnoxious government, than to prove that it did not afford a +considerable security to the established church, and impose a very +remarkable limitation on the prerogative. But the opposition in the +House of Commons had probably conceived their scheme of exclusion, and +would not hearken to any compromise. As soon as the exclusion became +the topic of open discussion, the king repeatedly offered to grant +every security that could be demanded consistently with the lineal +succession. Hollis, Halifax, and for a time Essex, as well as several +eminent men in the lower house, were in favour of limitations.[762] +But those which they intended to insist upon were such encroachments +on the constitutional authority of the Crown, that, except a title and +revenue, which Charles thought more valuable than all the rest, a +popish king would enjoy no one attribute of royalty. The king himself, +on the 30th of April 1679, before the heats on the subject had become +so violent as they were the next year, offered not only to secure all +ecclesiastical preferments from the control of a popish successor, but +to provide that the parliament in being at a demise of the Crown or +the last that had been dissolved, should immediately sit and be +indissoluble for a certain time; that none of the privy council, nor +judges, lord lieutenant, deputy lieutenant, nor officer of the navy, +should be appointed during the reign of a catholic king, without +consent of parliament. He offered at the same time most readily to +consent to any further provision that could occur to the wisdom of +parliament for the security of religion and liberty consistently with +the right of succession. Halifax, the eloquent and successful opponent +of the exclusion, was the avowed champion of limitations. It was +proposed, in addition to these offers of the king, that the duke, in +case of his accession, should have no negative voice on bills; that he +should dispose of no civil or military posts without consent of +parliament; that a council of forty-one, nominated by the two houses, +should sit permanently during the recess or interval of parliament, +with power of appointing to all vacant offices, subject to the future +approbation of the Lords and Commons.[763] These extraordinary +innovations would, at least for the time, have changed our +constitution into a republic; and justly appeared to many persons more +revolutionary than an alteration in the course of succession. The Duke +of York looked on them with dismay; Charles indeed privately declared +that he would never consent to such infringements of the +prerogative.[764] It is not however easy to perceive how he could have +escaped from the necessity of adhering to his own propositions, if the +House of Commons would have relinquished the bill of exclusion. The +Prince of Orange, who was doubtless in secret not averse to the latter +measure, declared strongly against the plan of restrictions, which a +protestant successor might not find it practicable to shake off. +Another expedient, still more ruinous to James than that of +limitations, was what the court itself suggested in the Oxford +parliament, that the duke retaining the title of king, a regent should +be appointed, in the person of the Princess of Orange, with all the +royal prerogatives; nay, that the duke, with his pageant crown on his +head, should be banished from England during his life.[765] This +proposition, which is a great favourite with Burnet, appears liable to +the same objections as were justly urged against a similar scheme at +the revolution. It was certain that in either case James would attempt +to obtain possession of power by force of arms; and the law of England +would not treat very favourably those who should resist an +acknowledged king in his natural capacity, while the statute of Henry +VII. would, legally speaking, afford a security to the adherents of a +_de facto_ sovereign. + +Upon the whole, it is very unlikely, when we look at the general +spirit and temper of the nation, its predilection for the ancient +laws, its dread of commonwealth and fanatical principles, the tendency +of the upper ranks to intrigue and corruption, the influence and +activity of the church, the bold counsels and haughty disposition of +James himself, that either the exclusion, or such extensive +limitations as were suggested in lieu of it, could have been carried +into effect with much hope of a durable settlement. It would, I should +conceive, have been practicable to secure the independence of the +judges, to exclude unnecessary placemen and notorious pensioners from +the House of Commons, to render the distribution of money among its +members penal, to remove from the protestant dissenters, by a full +toleration, all temptation to favour the court, and, above all, to put +down the standing army. Though none perhaps of these provisions would +have prevented the attempts of this and the next reign to introduce +arbitrary power, they would have rendered them still more grossly +illegal; and, above all, they would have saved that unhappy revolution +of popular sentiment which gave the court encouragement and temporary +success. + +_Names of Whig and Tory._--It was in the year 1679, that the words +Whig and Tory first were heard in their application to English +factions; and, though as senseless as any cant terms that could be +devised, they became instantly as familiar in use as they have since +continued. There were then indeed questions in agitation, which +rendered the distinction more broad and intelligible than it has +generally been in later times. One of these, and the most important, +was the bill of exclusion; in which, as it was usually debated, the +republican principle, that all positive institutions of society are in +order to the general good, came into collision with that of monarchy, +which rests on the maintenance of a royal line, as either the end, or +at least the necessary means, of lawful government. But, as the +exclusion was confessedly among those extraordinary measures, to which +men of tory principles are sometimes compelled to resort in great +emergencies, and which no rational whig espouses at any other time, we +shall better perhaps discern the formation of these grand political +sects in the petitions for the sitting of parliament, and in the +counter addresses of the opposite party. + +_New council formed by Sir William Temple._--In the spring of 1679, +Charles established a new privy council, by the advice of Sir William +Temple, consisting in great part of those eminent men in both houses +of parliament, who had been most prominent in their opposition to the +late ministry.[766] He publicly declared his resolution to govern +entirely by the advice of this council and that of parliament. The +Duke of York was kept in what seemed a sort of exile at Brussels.[767] +But the just suspicion attached to the king's character prevented the +Commons from placing much confidence in this new ministry; and, as +frequently happens, abated their esteem for those who, with the purest +intentions, had gone into the council.[768] They had soon cause to +perceive that their distrust had not been excessive. The ministers +were constantly beaten in the House of Lords; an almost certain test, +in our government, of the court's insincerity.[769] + +_Long prorogation of parliament._--The parliament was first prorogued, +then dissolved; against the advice, in the latter instance, of the +majority of that council by whom the king had pledged himself to be +directed. A new parliament, after being summoned to meet in October +1679, was prorogued for a twelve-month without the avowed concurrence +of any member of the council. Lord Russell, and others of the honester +party, withdrew from a board where their presence was only asked in +mockery or deceit; and the whole specious scheme of Temple came to +nothing before the conclusion of the year which had seen it +displayed.[770] Its author, chagrined at the disappointment of his +patriotism and his vanity, has sought the causes of failure in the +folly of Monmouth and perverseness of Shaftesbury. He was not aware, +at least in their full extent, of the king's intrigues at this period. +Charles, who had been induced to take those whom he most disliked into +his council, with the hope of obtaining money from parliament, or of +parrying the exclusion bill, and had consented to the Duke of York's +quitting England, found himself enthralled by ministers whom he could +neither corrupt nor deceive; Essex, the firm and temperate friend of +constitutional liberty in power as he had been out of it, and Halifax, +not yet led away by ambition or resentment from the cause he never +ceased to approve. He had recourse therefore to his accustomed refuge, +and humbly implored the aid of Louis against his own council and +parliament. He conjured his patron not to lose this opportunity of +making England for ever dependent upon France. These are his own +words, such at least as Barillon attributes to him.[771] In pursuance +of this overture, a secret treaty was negotiated between the two +kings; whereby, after long haggling, Charles, for a pension of +1,000,000 livres annually during three years, obliged himself not to +assemble parliament during that time. This negotiation was broken off, +through the apprehensions of Hyde and Sunderland who had been +concerned in it, about the end of November 1679, before the long +prorogation which is announced in the _Gazette_ by a proclamation of +December 11th. But, the resolution having been already taken not to +permit the meeting of parliament, Charles persisted in it as the only +means of escaping the bill of exclusion, even when deprived of the +pecuniary assistance to which he had trusted. + +Though the king's behaviour on this occasion exposed the fallacy of +all projects for reconciliation with the House of Commons, it was very +well calculated for his own ends; nor was there any part of his reign +wherein he acted with so much prudence, as from this time to the +dissolution of the Oxford parliament. The scheme concerted by his +adversaries, and already put in operation, of pouring in petitions +from every part of the kingdom for the meeting of parliament, he +checked in the outset by a proclamation, artfully drawn up by +Chief-Justice North; which, while it kept clear of anything so +palpably unconstitutional as a prohibition of petitions, served the +purpose of manifesting the king's dislike to them, and encouraged the +magistrates to treat all attempts that way as seditious and illegal, +while it drew over the neutral and lukewarm to the safer and stronger +side.[772] Then were first ranged against each other the hosts of whig +and tory, under their banners of liberty or loyalty; each zealous, at +least in profession, to maintain the established constitution, but the +one seeking its security by new maxims of government, the other by an +adherence to the old. + +_Petitions and addresses._--It must be admitted that petitions to the +king from bodies of his subjects, intended to advise or influence him +in the exercise of his undoubted prerogatives, such as the time of +calling parliament together, familiar as they may now have become, had +no precedent, except one in the dark year 1640, and were repugnant to +the ancient principles of our monarchy. The cardinal maxim of toryism +is, that the king ought to exercise all his lawful prerogatives +without the interference, or unsolicited advice, even of parliament, +much less of the people. These novel efforts therefore were met by +addresses from most of the grand juries, from the magistrates at +quarter sessions, and from many corporations, expressing not merely +their entire confidence in the king, but their abhorrence of the +petitions for the assembling of parliament; a term which, having been +casually used in one address, became the watchword of the whole +party.[773] Some allowance must be made for the exertions made by the +court, especially through the judges of assize, whose charges to grand +juries were always of a political nature. Yet there can be no doubt +that the strength of the tories manifested itself beyond expectation. +Sluggish and silent in its fields, like the animal which it has taken +for its type, the deep-rooted loyalty of the English gentry to the +Crown may escape a superficial observer, till some circumstance calls +forth an indignant and furious energy. The temper shown in 1680 was +not according to what the late elections would have led men to expect, +not even to that of the next elections for the parliament at Oxford. A +large majority returned on both these occasions, and that in the +principal counties as much as in corporate towns, were of the whig +principle. It appears that the ardent zeal against popery in the +smaller freeholders must have overpowered the natural influence of the +superior classes. The middling and lower orders, particularly in +towns, were clamorous against the Duke of York and the evil +counsellors of the Crown. But with the country gentlemen, popery was +scarce a more odious word than fanaticism; the memory of the late +reign and of the usurpation was still recent, and in the violence of +the Commons, in the insolence of Monmouth and Shaftesbury, in the bold +assaults upon hereditary right, they saw a faint image of that +confusion which had once impoverished and humbled them. Meanwhile the +king's dissimulation was quite sufficient for these simple loyalists; +the very delusion of the popish plot raised his name for religion in +their eyes, since his death was the declared aim of the conspirators; +nor did he fail to keep alive this favourable prejudice by letting +that imposture take its course, and by enforcing the execution of the +penal laws against some unfortunate priests.[774] + +_Violence of the Commons._--It is among the great advantages of a +court in its contention with the asserters of popular privileges, that +it can employ a circumspect and dissembling policy, which is never +found on the opposite side. The demagogues of faction, or the +aristocratic leaders of a numerous assembly, even if they do not feel +the influence of the passions they excite, which is rarely the case, +are urged onwards by their headstrong followers, and would both lay +themselves open to the suspicion of unfaithfulness and damp the spirit +of their party, by a wary and temperate course of proceeding. Yet that +incautious violence, to which ill-judging men are tempted by the +possession of power, must in every case, and especially where the +power itself is deemed an usurpation, cast them headlong. This was the +fatal error of that House of Commons which met in October 1680; and to +this the king's triumph may chiefly be ascribed. The addresses +declaratory of abhorrence of petitions for the meeting of parliament +were doubtless intemperate with respect to the petitioners; but it was +preposterous to treat them as violations of privilege. A few +precedents, and those in times of much heat and irregularity, could +not justify so flagrant an encroachment on the rights of the private +subject, as the commitments of men for a declaration so little +affecting the constitutional rights and functions of parliament.[775] +The expulsion of Withens, their own member, for promoting one of these +addresses, though a violent measure, came in point of law within their +acknowledged authority.[776] But it was by no means a generally +received opinion in that age that the House of Commons had an +unbounded jurisdiction, directly or indirectly, over their +constituents. The lawyers, being chiefly on the side of prerogative, +inclined at least to limit very greatly this alleged power of +commitment for breach of privilege or contempt of the house. It had +very rarely, in fact, been exerted, except in cases of serving legal +process on members or other molestation, before the long parliament of +Charles I.; a time absolutely discredited by one party, and confessed +by every reasonable man to be full of innovation and violence. That +the Commons had no right of judicature was admitted; was it compatible +to principles of reason and justice, that they could, merely by using +the words contempt or breach of privilege in a warrant, deprive the +subject of that liberty which the recent statute of habeas corpus had +secured against the highest ministers of the Crown? Yet one Thompson, +a clergyman at Bristol, having preached some virulent sermons, wherein +he had traduced the memory of Hampden for refusing the payment of +ship-money, and spoken disrespectfully of Queen Elizabeth, as well as +insulted those who petitioned for the sitting of parliament, was sent +for in custody of the serjeant to answer at the bar for his high +misdemeanour against the privileges of that house; and was afterwards +compelled to find security for his forthcoming to answer to an +impeachment voted against him on these strange charges.[777] Many +others were brought to the bar, not only for the crime of abhorrence, +but for alleged misdemeanours still less affecting the privileges of +parliament, such as remissness in searching for papists. Sir Robert +Cann, of Bristol, was sent for in custody of the serjeant-at-arms, for +publicly declaring that there was no popish, but only a presbyterian +plot. A general panic, mingled with indignation, was diffused through +the country, till one Stawell, a gentleman of Devonshire, had the +courage to refuse compliance with the speaker's warrant; and the +Commons, who hesitated at such a time to risk an appeal to the +ordinary magistrates, were compelled to let this contumacy go +unpunished. If indeed we might believe the journals of the house, +Stawell was actually in custody of the serjeant, though allowed a +month's time on account of sickness. This was most probably a +subterfuge to conceal the truth of the case.[778] + +These encroachments under the name of privilege were exactly in the +spirit of the long parliament, and revived too forcibly the +recollection of that awful period. It was commonly in men's mouths, +that 1641 was come about again. There appeared indeed for several +months a very imminent danger of civil war. I have already mentioned +the projects of the Duke of York, in case his brother had given way to +the exclusion bill. There could be little reason to doubt that many of +the opposite leaders were ready to try the question by arms. Reresby +has related a conversation he had with Lord Halifax immediately after +the rejection of the bill,[779] which shows the expectation of that +able statesman, that the differences about the succession would end +in civil war. The just abhorrence good men entertain for such a +calamity excites their indignation against those who conspicuously +bring it on. And, however desirous some of the court might be to +strengthen the prerogative by quelling a premature rebellion, the +Commons were, in the eyes of the nation, far more prominent in +accelerating so terrible a crisis. Their votes in the session of +November 1680 were marked by the most extravagant factiousness.[780] + +_Oxford parliament._--Their conduct in the short parliament held at +Oxford in March 1681, served still more to alienate the peaceable part +of the community. That session of eight days was marked by the +rejection of a proposal to vest all effective power during the Duke of +York's life in a regent, and by an attempt to screen the author of a +treasonable libel from punishment under the pretext of impeaching him +at the bar of the upper house. It seems difficult not to suspect that +the secret instigations of Barillon, and even his gold, had +considerable influence on some of those who swayed the votes of this +parliament. + +_Impeachment of commoners for treason constitutional._--Though the +impeachment of Fitzharris, to which I have just alluded, was in itself +a mere work of temporary faction, it brought into discussion a +considerable question in our constitutional law, which deserves +notice, both on account of its importance, and because a popular +writer has advanced an untenable proposition on the subject. The +Commons impeached this man of high treason. The Lords voted, that he +should be proceeded against at common law. It was resolved, in +consequence, by the lower house, "that it is the undoubted right of +the Commons in parliament assembled, to impeach before the Lords in +parliament any peer or commoner for treason, or any other crime or +misdemeanour: and that the refusal of the Lords to proceed in +parliament upon such impeachment is a denial of justice, and a +violation of the constitution of parliament."[781] It seems indeed +difficult to justify the determination of the Lords. Certainly the +declaration in the case of Sir Simon de Bereford, who having been +accused by the king, in the fourth year of Edward III. before the +Lords, of participating in the treason of Roger Mortimer, that noble +assembly protested, with the assent of the king in full parliament, +that, albeit they had taken upon them, as judges of the parliament in +the presence of the king, to render judgment, yet the peers, who then +were or should be in time to come, were not bound to render judgment +upon others than peers, nor had power to do so; and that the said +judgment thus rendered should never be drawn to example or consequence +in time to come, whereby the said peers of the land might be charged +to judge others than their peers, contrary to the laws of the land; +certainly, I say, this declaration, even if it amounted to a statute, +concerning which there has been some question,[782] was not +necessarily to be interpreted as applicable to impeachments at the +suit of the Commons, wherein the king is no ways a party. There were +several precedents in the reign of Richard II. of such impeachments +for treason. There had been more than one in that of Charles I. The +objection indeed was so novel, that Chief-Justice Scroggs, having been +impeached for treason in the last parliament, though he applied to be +admitted to bail, had never insisted on so decisive a plea to the +jurisdiction. And if the doctrine, adopted by the Lords, were to be +carried to its just consequences, all impeachment of commoners must be +at an end; for no distinction is taken in the above declaration as to +Bereford between treason and misdemeanour. The peers had indeed lost, +except during the session of parliament, their ancient privilege in +cases of misdemeanour, and were subject to the verdict of a jury; but +the principle was exactly the same, and the right of judging commoners +upon impeachment for corruption or embezzlement, which no one called +in question, was as much an exception from the ordinary rules of law +as in the more rare case of high treason. It is hardly necessary to +observe, that the 29th section of Magna Charta, which establishes the +right of trial by jury, is by its express language solely applicable +to the suits of the Crown. + +This very dangerous and apparently unfounded theory, broached upon +the occasion of Fitzharris's impeachment by the Earl of Nottingham, +never obtained reception; and was rather intimated than avowed in the +vote of the Lords, that he should be proceeded against at common law. +But after the revolution, the Commons having impeached Sir Adam Blair +and some others of high treason, a committee was appointed to search +for precedents on this subject; and after full deliberation, the House +of Lords came to a resolution, that they would proceed on the +impeachments.[783] The inadvertent position therefore of +Blackstone,[784] that a commoner cannot be impeached for high treason, +is not only difficult to be supported upon ancient authorities, but +contrary to the latest determination of the supreme tribunal. + +_Proceedings against Shaftesbury and College._--No satisfactory +elucidation of the strange libel for which Fitzharris suffered death +has yet been afforded. There is much probability in the supposition +that it was written at the desire of some in the court, in order to +cast odium on their adversaries; a very common stratagem of +unscrupulous partisans.[785] It caused an impression unfavourable to +the whigs in the nation. The court made a dexterous use of that +extreme credulity, which has been supposed characteristic of the +English, though it belongs at least equally to every other people. +They seized into their hands the very engines of delusion that had +been turned against them. Those perjured witnesses, whom Shaftesbury +had hallooed on through all the infamy of the popish plot, were now +arrayed in the same court to swear treason and conspiracy against +him.[786] Though he escaped by the resoluteness of his grand jury, +who refused to find a bill of indictment on testimony, which they +professed themselves to disbelieve, and which was probably false; yet +this extraordinary deviation from the usual practice did harm rather +than otherwise to the general cause of his faction. The judges had +taken care that the witnesses should be examined in open court, so +that the jury's partiality, should they reject such positive +testimony, might become glaring. Doubtless it is, in ordinary cases, +the duty of a grand juror to find a bill upon the direct testimony of +witnesses, where they do not contradict themselves or each other, and +where their evidence is not palpably incredible or contrary to his own +knowledge.[787] The oath of that inquest is forgotten, either where +they render themselves, as seems too often the case, the mere +conduit-pipes of accusation, putting a prisoner in jeopardy upon such +slender evidence as does not call upon him for a defence; or where, as +we have sometimes known in political causes, they frustrate the ends +of justice by rejecting indictments which are fully substantiated by +testimony. Whether the grand jury of London, in their celebrated +ignoramus on the indictment preferred against Shaftesbury, had +sufficient grounds for their incredulity, I will not pretend to +determine.[788] There was probably no one man among them, who had not +implicitly swallowed the tales of the same witnesses in the trials for +the plot. The nation however in general, less bigoted, or at least +more honest in their bigotry, than those London citizens, was +staggered by so many depositions to a traitorous conspiracy, in those +who had pretended an excessive loyalty to the king's person.[789] Men +unaccustomed to courts of justice are naturally prone to give credit +to the positive oaths of witnesses. They were still more persuaded, +when, as in the trial of College at Oxford, they saw this testimony +sustained by the approbation of a judge (and that judge a decent +person who gave no scandal), and confirmed by the verdict of a jury. +The gross iniquity practised towards the prisoner in that trial was +not so generally bruited as his conviction.[790] There is in England a +remarkable confidence in our judicial proceedings, in part derived +from their publicity, and partly from the indiscriminate manner in +which jurors are usually summoned. It must be owned that the +administration of the two last Stuarts was calculated to show how +easily this confiding temper might be the dupe of an insidious +ambition. + +_Triumph of the court._--The king's declaration of the reasons that +induced him to dissolve the last parliament, being a manifesto against +the late majority of the House of Commons, was read in all churches. +The clergy scarcely waited for this pretext to take a zealous part for +the Crown. Every one knows their influence over the nation in any +cause which they make their own. They seemed to change the war against +liberty into a crusade. They re-echoed from every pulpit the strain of +passive obedience, of indefeasible hereditary right, of the divine +origin and patriarchal descent of monarchy. Now began again the loyal +addresses, more numerous and ardent than in the last year, which +overspread the pages of the _London Gazette_ for many months. These +effusions stigmatise the measures of the three last parliaments, +dwelling especially on their arbitrary illegal votes against the +personal liberty of the subject. Their language is of course not +alike; yet amidst all the ebullitions of triumphant loyalty, it is +easy in many of them to perceive a lurking distrust of the majesty to +which they did homage, insinuated to the reader in the marked +satisfaction with which they allude to the king's promise of calling +frequent parliaments and of governing by the laws.[791] + +The whigs, meantime, so late in the heyday of their pride, lay, like +the fallen angels, prostrate upon the fiery lake. The scoffs and gibes +of libellers, who had trembled before the resolutions of the Commons, +were showered upon their heads. They had to fear, what was much worse +than the insults of these vermin, the perjuries of mercenary informers +suborned by their enemies to charge false conspiracies against them, +and sure of countenance from the contaminated benches of justice. The +court, with an artful policy, though with detestable wickedness, +secured itself against its only great danger, the suspicion of popery, +by the sacrifice of Plunket, the titular archbishop of Dublin.[792] +The execution of this worthy and innocent person cannot be said to +have been extorted from the king in a time of great difficulty, like +that of Lord Stafford. He was coolly and deliberately permitted to +suffer death, lest the current of loyalty, still sensitive and +suspicious upon the account of religion, might be somewhat checked in +its course. Yet those who heap the epithets of merciless, inhuman, +sanguinary, on the whig party for the impeachment of Lord Stafford, in +whose guilt they fully believed, seldom mention, without the +characteristic distinction of "good-natured," that sovereign, who +signed the warrant against Plunket, of whose innocence he was +assured.[793] + +_Forfeiture of the charter of London, and of other places._--The +hostility of the city of London, and of several other towns, towards +the court, degenerating no doubt into a factious and indecent +violence, gave a pretext for the most dangerous aggression on public +liberty that occurred in the present reign. The power of the democracy +in that age resided chiefly in the corporations. These returned, +exclusively or principally, a majority of the representatives of the +commons. So long as they should be actuated by that ardent spirit of +protestantism and liberty which prevailed in the middling classes, +there was little prospect of obtaining a parliament that would +co-operate with the Stuart scheme of government. The administration of +justice was very much in the hands of their magistrates; especially in +Middlesex, where all juries are returned by the city sheriffs. It was +suggested therefore by some crafty lawyers that a judgment of +forfeiture obtained against the corporation of London would not only +demolish that citadel of insolent rebels, but intimidate the rest of +England by so striking an example. True it was, that no precedent +could be found for the forfeiture of corporate privileges. But general +reasoning was to serve instead of precedents; and there was a +considerable analogy in the surrenders of the abbeys under Henry +VIII., if much authority could be allowed to that transaction. An +information, as it is called, _quo warranto_, was accordingly brought +into the court of king's bench against the corporation. Two acts of +the common council were alleged as sufficient misdemeanours to warrant +a judgment of forfeiture; one, the imposition of certain tolls on +goods brought into the city markets, by an ordinance or by-law of +their own; the other, their petition to the king in December 1679 for +the sitting of parliament, and its publication throughout the +country.[794] It would be foreign to the purpose of this work to +enquire whether a corporation be in any case subject to forfeiture, +the affirmative of which seems to have been held by courts of justice +since the revolution; or whether the exaction of tolls in their +markets, in consideration of erecting stalls and standings, were +within the competence of the city of London; or, if not so, whether it +were such an offence as could legally incur the penalty of a total +forfeiture and disfranchisement; since it was manifest that the Crown +made use only of this additional pretext, in order to punish the +corporation for its address to the king. The language indeed of their +petition had been uncourtly, and what the adherents of prerogative +would call insolent; but it was at the worst rather a misdemeanour for +which the persons concerned might be responsible than a breach of the +trust reposed in the corporation. We are not however so much concerned +to argue the matter of law in this question, as to remark the spirit +in which the attack on this stronghold of popular liberty was +conceived. The court of king's bench pronounced judgment of forfeiture +against the corporation; but this judgment, at the request of the +attorney-general, was only recorded: the city continued in appearance +to possess its corporate franchises, but upon submission to certain +regulations; namely, that no mayor, sheriff, recorder, or other chief +officer, should be admitted until approved by the king; that in the +event of his twice disapproving their choice of a mayor, he should +himself nominate a fit person, and the same in case of sheriffs, +without waiting for a second election; that the court of aldermen, +with the king's permission, should remove any one of their body; that +they should have a negative on the elections of common councilmen, and +in case of disapproving a second choice, to have themselves the +nomination. The corporation submitted thus to purchase the continued +enjoyment of its estates, at the expense of its municipal +independence; yet, even in the prostrate condition of the whig party, +the question to admit these regulations was carried by no great +majority in the common councils.[795] The city was of course +absolutely subservient to the court from this time to the revolution. + +After the fall of the capital, it was not to be expected that towns +less capable of defence should stand out. Informations _quo warranto_ +were brought against several corporations; and a far greater number +hastened to anticipate the assault by voluntary surrenders. It seemed +to be recognised as law by the judgment against London, that any +irregularity or misuse of power in a corporation might incur a +sentence of forfeiture; and few could boast that they were +invulnerable at every point. The judges of assize in their circuits +prostituted their influence and authority to forward this and every +other encroachment of the Crown. Jefferies, on the northern circuit in +1684, to use the language of Charles II.'s most unblushing advocate, +"made all the charters, like the walls of Jericho, fall down before +him, and returned laden with surrenders, the spoils of towns."[796] +They received instead, new charters, framing the constitution of these +municipalities on a more oligarchical model, and reserving to the +Crown the first appointment of those who were to form the governing +part of the corporation. These changes were gradually brought about in +the last three years of Charles's reign, and in the beginning of the +next. + +_Projects of Lord Russell and Sidney._--There can be nothing so +destructive to the English constitution, not even the introduction of +a military force, as the exclusion of the electoral body from their +franchises. The people of this country are, by our laws and +constitution, bound only to obey a parliament duly chosen; and this +violation of charters, in the reigns of Charles and James, appears to +be the great and leading justification of that event which drove the +latter from the throne. It can therefore be no matter of censure, in a +moral sense, that some men of pure and patriotic virtue, mingled, it +must be owned, with others of a far inferior temper, began to hold +consultations as to the best means of resisting a government, which, +whether to judge from these proceedings, or from the language of its +partisans, was aiming without disguise at an arbitrary power. But as +resistance to established authority can never be warrantable until it +is expedient, we could by no means approve any schemes of insurrection +that might be projected in 1682, unless we could perceive that there +was a fair chance of their success. And this we are not led, by what +we read of the spirit of those times, to believe. The tide ran +violently in another direction; the courage of the whigs was broken; +their adversaries were strong in numbers and in zeal. But from hence +it is reasonable to infer that men, like Lord Essex and Lord Russell, +with so much to lose by failure, with such good sense, and such +abhorrence of civil calamity, would not ultimately have resolved on +the desperate issue of arms, though they might deem it prudent to form +estimates of their strength, and to knit together a confederacy which +absolute necessity might call into action. It is beyond doubt that the +supposed conspirators had debated among themselves the subject of an +insurrection, and poised the chances of civil war. Thus much the most +jealous lawyer, I presume, will allow might be done, without risking +the penalties of treason. They had however gone farther; and by +concerting measures in different places as well as in Scotland, for a +rising, though contingently, and without any fixed determination to +carry it into effect, most probably (if the whole business had been +disclosed in testimony) laid themselves open to the law, according to +the construction it has frequently received. There is a considerable +difficulty, after all that has been written, in stating the extent of +their designs; but I think we may assume, that a wide-spreading and +formidable insurrection was for several months in agitation.[797] But +the difficulties and hazards of the enterprise had already caused Lord +Russell and Lord Essex to recede from the desperate counsels of +Shaftesbury; and but for the unhappy detection of the conspiracy and +the perfidy of Lord Howard, these two noble persons, whose lives were +untimely lost to their country, might have survived to join the banner +and support the throne of William. It is needless to observe that the +minor plot, if we may use that epithet in reference to the relative +dignity of the conspirators, for assassinating the king and the Duke +of York, had no immediate connection with the schemes of Russell, +Essex, and Sidney.[798] + +But it is by no means a consequence from the admission we have made, +that the evidence adduced on Lord Russell's trial was sufficient to +justify his conviction.[799] It appears to me that Lord Howard, and +perhaps Rumsey, were unwilling witnesses; and that the former, as is +frequently the case with those who betray their friends in order to +save their own lives, divulged no more than was extracted by his own +danger. The testimony of neither witness, especially Howard, was given +with any degree of that precision which is exacted in modern times; +and, as we now read the trial, it is not probable that a jury in later +ages would have found a verdict of guilty, or would have been advised +to it by the court. But, on the other hand, if Lord Howard were really +able to prove more than he did, which I much suspect, a better +conducted examination would probably have elicited facts unfavourable +to the prisoner, which at present do not appear. It may be doubtful +whether any overt act of treason is distinctly proved against Lord +Russell, except his concurrence in the project of a rising at Taunton, +to which Rumsey deposes. But this depending on the oath of a single +witness, could not be sufficient for a conviction. + +Pemberton, chief justice of the common pleas, tried this illustrious +prisoner with more humanity than was usually displayed on the bench; +but, aware of his precarious tenure in office, he did not venture to +check the counsel for the Crown, Sawyer and Jefferies, permitting them +to give a great body of hearsay evidence, with only the feeble and +useless remark that it did not affect the prisoner.[800] Yet he +checked Lord Anglesea, when he offered similar evidence for the +defence. In his direction to the jury, it deserves to be remarked that +he by no means advanced the general proposition, which better men have +held, that a conspiracy to levy war is in itself an overt act of +compassing the king's death; limiting it to cases where the king's +person might be put in danger, in the immediate instance, by the +alleged scheme of seizing his guards.[801] His language indeed, as +recorded in the printed trial, was such as might have produced a +verdict of acquittal from a jury tolerably disposed towards the +prisoner; but the sheriffs, North and Rich, who had been illegally +thrust into office, being men wholly devoted to the prerogative, had +taken care to return a panel in whom they could confide.[802] + +The trial of Algernon Sidney, at which Jefferies, now raised to the +post of chief justice of the king's bench, presided, is as familiar to +all my readers as that of Lord Russell.[803] Their names have been +always united in grateful veneration and sympathy. It is notorious +that Sidney's conviction was obtained by a most illegal distortion of +the evidence. Besides Lord Howard, no living witness could be produced +to the conspiracy for an insurrection; and though Jefferies permitted +two others to prepossess the jury by a second-hand story, he was +compelled to admit that their testimony could not directly affect the +prisoner.[804] The attorney-general therefore had recourse to a paper +found in his house, which was given in evidence, either as an overt +act of treason by its own nature, or as connected with the alleged +conspiracy; for though it was only in the latter sense that it could +be admissible at all, yet Jefferies took care to insinuate, in his +charge to the jury, that the doctrines it contained were treasonable +in themselves, and without reference to other evidence. In regard to +truth, and to that justice which cannot be denied to the worst men in +their worst actions, I must observe that the common accusation against +the court in this trial, of having admitted insufficient proof by the +mere comparison of handwriting, though alleged, not only in most of +our historians, but in the act of parliament reversing Sidney's +attainder, does not appear to be well founded; the testimony to that +fact, unless the printed trial is falsified in an extraordinary +degree, being such as would be received at present.[805] We may allow +also that the passages from this paper, as laid in the indictment, +containing very strong assertions of the right of the people to depose +an unworthy king, might by possibility, if connected by other evidence +with the conspiracy itself, have been admissible as presumptions for +the jury to consider whether they had been written in furtherance of +that design. But when they came to be read on the trial with their +context, though only with such parts of that as the attorney-general +chose to produce out of a voluminous manuscript, it was clear that +they belonged to a theoretical work on government, long since perhaps +written, and incapable of any bearing upon the other evidence.[806] + +The manifest iniquity of this sentence upon Algernon Sidney, as well +as the high courage he displayed throughout these last scenes of his +life, have inspired a sort of enthusiasm for his name, which neither +what we know of his story, nor the opinion of his contemporaries seem +altogether to warrant. The crown of martyrdom should be suffered +perhaps to exalt every virtue, and efface every defect in patriots, as +it has often done in saints. In the faithful mirror of history, Sidney +may lose something of this lustre. He possessed no doubt a powerful, +active, and undaunted mind, stored with extensive reading on the +topics in which he delighted. But having proposed one only object for +his political conduct, the establishment of a republic in England, his +pride and inflexibility, though they gave a dignity to his character, +rendered his views narrow and his temper unaccommodating. It was +evident to every reasonable man that a republican government, being +adverse to the prepossessions of a great majority of the people, could +only be brought about and maintained by the force of usurpation. Yet +for this idol of his speculative hours, he was content to sacrifice +the liberties of Europe, to plunge the country in civil war, and even +to stand indebted to France for protection. He may justly be suspected +of having been the chief promoter of the dangerous cabals with +Barillon; nor could any tool of Charles's court be more sedulous in +representing the aggressions of Louis XIV. in the Netherlands as +indifferent to our honour and safety. + +Sir Thomas Armstrong, who had fled to Holland on the detection of the +plot, was given up by the States. A sentence of outlawry, which had +passed against him in his absence, is equivalent, in cases of treason, +to a conviction of the crime. But the law allows the space of one +year, during which the party may surrender himself to take his trial. +Armstrong, when brought before the court, insisted on this right, and +demanded a trial. Nothing could be more evident, in point of law, than +that he was entitled to it. But Jefferies, with inhuman rudeness, +treated his claim as wholly unfounded, and would not even suffer +counsel to be heard in his behalf. He was executed accordingly without +trial.[807] But it would be too prolix to recapitulate all the +instances of brutal injustice, or of cowardly subserviency, which +degraded the English lawyers of the Stuart period, and never so +infamously as in these last years of Charles II. From this +prostitution of the tribunals, from the intermission of parliaments, +and the steps taken to render them in future mere puppets of the +Crown, it was plain that all constitutional securities were at least +in abeyance; and those who felt themselves most obnoxious, or whose +spirit was too high to live in an enslaved country, retired to Holland +as an asylum in which they might wait the occasion of better +prospects, or, at the worst, breathe an air of liberty. + +Meanwhile the prejudice against the whig party, which had reached so +great a height in 1681, was still farther enhanced by the detection of +the late conspiracy. The atrocious scheme of assassination, alleged +against Walcot and some others who had suffered, was blended by the +arts of the court and clergy, and by the blundering credulity of the +gentry, with those less heinous projects ascribed to Lord Russell and +his associates.[808] These projects, if true in their full extent, +were indeed such as men honestly attached to the government of their +country could not fail to disapprove. For this purpose, a declaration +full of malicious insinuations was ordered to be read in all +churches.[809] It was generally commented upon, we may make no +question, in one of those loyal discourses, which, trampling on all +truth, charity, and moderation, had no other scope than to inflame the +hearers against nonconforming protestants, and to throw obloquy on the +constitutional privileges of the subject. + +_High tory principles of the clergy._--It is not my intention to +censure, in any strong sense of the word, the Anglican clergy at this +time for their assertion of absolute non-resistance, so far as it was +done without calumny and insolence towards those of another way of +thinking, and without self-interested adulation of the ruling power. +Their error was very dangerous, and had nearly proved destructive of +the whole constitution; but it was one which had come down with high +recommendation, and of which they could only perhaps be undeceived, as +men are best undeceived of most errors, by experience that it might +hurt themselves. It was the tenet of their homilies, their canons, +their most distinguished divines and casuists; it had the apparent +sanction of the legislature in a statute of the present reign. Many +excellent men, as was shown after the revolution, who had never made +use of this doctrine as an engine of faction or private interest, +could not disentangle their minds from the arguments or the authority +on which it rested. But by too great a number it was eagerly brought +forward to serve the purposes of arbitrary power, or at best to fix +the wavering protestantism of the court by professions of +unimpeachable loyalty. To this motive, in fact, we may trace a good +deal of the vehemence with which the non-resisting principle had been +originally advanced by the church of England under the Tudors, and was +continually urged under the Stuarts. If we look at the tracts and +sermons published by both parties after the restoration, it will +appear manifest that the Romish and Anglican churches bade, as it +were, against each other for the favour of the two royal brothers. The +one appealed to its acknowledged principles, while it denounced the +pretensions of the holy see to release subjects from their allegiance, +and the bold theories of popular government which Mariana and some +other Jesuits had promulgated. The others retaliated on the first +movers of the reformation, and expatiated on the usurpation of Lady +Jane Grey, not to say Elizabeth, and the republicanism of Knox or +Calvin. + +_Passive obedience._--From the æra of the exclusion bill especially, +to the death of Charles II., a number of books were published in +favour of an indefeasible hereditary right of the Crown, and of +absolute non-resistance. These were however of two very different +classes. The authors of the first, who were perhaps the more numerous, +did not deny the legal limitations of monarchy. They admitted that no +one was bound to concur in the execution of unlawful commands. Hence +the obedience they deemed indispensable was denominated passive; an +epithet which, in modern usage, is little more than redundant, but at +that time made a sensible distinction. If all men should confine +themselves to this line of duty, and merely refuse to become the +instruments of such unlawful commands, it was evident that no tyranny +could be carried into effect. If some should be wicked enough to +co-operate against the liberties of their country, it would still be +the bounden obligation of Christians to submit. Of this, which may be +reckoned the moderate party, the most eminent were Hickes in a +treatise called "Jovian," and Sherlock in his case of resistance to +the supreme powers.[810] To this also must have belonged Archbishop +Sancroft, and the great body of non-juring clergy who had refused to +read the declaration of indulgence under James II., and whose conduct +in that respect would be utterly absurd, except on the supposition +that there existed some lawful boundaries of the royal authority. + +_Some contend for absolute-power._--But besides these men, who kept +some measures with the constitution, even while, by their slavish +tenets, they laid it open to the assaults of more intrepid enemies, +another and a pretty considerable class of writers did not hesitate to +avow their abhorrence of all limitations upon arbitrary power. Brady +went back to the primary sources of our history, and endeavoured to +show that Magna Charta, as well as every other constitutional law, +were but rebellious encroachments on the ancient uncontrollable +imprescriptible prerogatives of the monarchy. His writings, replete +with learning and acuteness, and in some respects with just remarks, +though often unfair and always partial, naturally produced an effect +on those who had been accustomed to value the constitution rather for +its presumed antiquity, than its real excellence. But the author most +in vogue with the partisans of despotism was Sir Robert Filmer. He had +lived before the civil war, but his posthumous writings came to light +about this period. They contain an elaborate vindication of what was +called the patriarchal scheme of government, which, rejecting with +scorn that original contract whence human society had been supposed to +spring, derives all legitimate authority from that of primogeniture, +the next heir being king by divine right, and as incapable of being +restrained in his sovereignty, as of being excluded from it. "As +kingly power," he says, "is by the law of God, so hath it no inferior +power to limit it. The father of a family governs by no other law than +his own will, not by the laws and wills of his sons and +servants."[811] "The direction of the law is but like the advice and +direction which the king's council gives the king, which no man says +is a law to the king."[812] "General laws," he observes, "made in +parliament, may, upon known respects to the king, by his authority be +mitigated or suspended upon causes only known to him; and by the +coronation oath, he is only bound to observe good laws, of which he is +the judge."[813] "A man is bound to obey the king's command against +law, nay, in some cases, against divine laws."[814] In another +treatise, entitled "The Anarchy of a Mixed or Limited Monarchy," he +inveighs, with no kind of reserve or exception, against the regular +constitution; setting off with an assumption that the parliament of +England was originally but an imitation of the States General of +France, which had no further power than to present requests to the +king.[815] + +These treatises of Filmer obtained a very favourable reception. We +find the patriarchal origin of government frequently mentioned in the +publications of this time as an undoubted truth. Considered with +respect to his celebrity rather than his talents, he was not, as some +might imagine, too ignoble an adversary for Locke to have combated. +Another person, far superior to Filmer in political eminence, +undertook at the same time an unequivocal defence of absolute +monarchy. This was Sir George Mackenzie, the famous lord advocate of +Scotland. In his "Jus Regium," published in 1684, and dedicated to the +university of Oxford, he maintains, that "monarchy in its nature is +absolute, and consequently these pretended limitations are against the +nature of monarchy."[816] "Whatever proves monarchy to be an excellent +government, does by the same reason prove absolute monarchy to be the +best government; for if monarchy be to be commended, because it +prevents divisions, then a limited monarchy, which allows the people a +share, is not to be commended, because it occasions them; if monarchy +be commended, because there is more expedition, secrecy, and other +excellent qualities to be found in it, then absolute monarchy is to be +commended above a limited one, because a limited monarch must impart +his secrets to the people, and must delay the noblest designs, until +malicious and factious spirits be either gained or overcome; and the +same analogy of reason will hold in reflecting upon all other +advantages of monarchy, the examination whereof I dare trust to every +man's own bosom."[817] We can hardly, after this, avoid being +astonished at the effrontery even of a Scots crown lawyer, when we +read in the preface to this very treatise of Mackenzie, "Under whom +can we expect to be free from arbitrary government, when we were and +are afraid of it under King Charles I. and King Charles II.?" + +_Decree of the university of Oxford._--It was at this time that the +university of Oxford published their celebrated decree against +pernicious books and damnable doctrines, enumerating as such above +twenty propositions which they anathematised as false, seditious, and +impious. The first of these is, that all civil authority is derived +originally from the people; the second, that there is a compact, tacit +or express, between the king and his subjects: and others follow of +the same description. They do not explicitly condemn a limited +monarchy, like Filmer, but evidently adopt his scheme of primogenitary +right, which is incompatible with it. Nor is there the slightest +intimation that the university extended their censure to such praises +of despotic power as have been quoted in the last pages.[818] This +decree was publicly burned by an order of the House of Lords in 1709: +nor does there seem to have been a single dissent in that body to a +step that cast such a stigma on the university. But the disgrace of +the offence was greater than that of the punishment. + +We can frame no adequate conception of the jeopardy in which our +liberties stood under the Stuarts, especially in this particular +period, without attending to this spirit of servility which had been +so sedulously excited. It seemed as if England was about to play the +scene which Denmark had not long since exhibited, by a spontaneous +surrender of its constitution. And although this loyalty were much +more on the tongue than in the heart, as the next reign very amply +disclosed, it served at least to deceive the court into a belief that +its future steps would be almost without difficulty. It is uncertain +whether Charles would have summoned another parliament. He either had +the intention, or professed it in order to obtain money from France, +of convoking one at Cambridge in the autumn of 1681.[819] But after +the scheme of new-modelling corporations began to be tried, it was his +policy to wait the effects of this regeneration. It was better still, +in his judgment, to dispense with the Commons altogether. The period +fixed by law had elapsed nearly twelve months before his death; and we +have no evidence that a new parliament was in contemplation. But +Louis, on the other hand, having discontinued his annual subsidy to +the king in 1684, after gaining Strasburg and Luxemburg by his +connivance, or rather co-operation,[820] it would not have been easy +to avoid a recurrence to the only lawful source of revenue. The King +of France, it should be observed, behaved towards Charles as men +usually treat the low tools by whose corruption they have obtained any +end. During the whole course of their long negotiations, Louis, though +never the dupe of our wretched monarch, was compelled to endure his +shuffling evasions, and pay dearly for his base compliances. But when +he saw himself no longer in need of them, it seems to have been in +revenge that he permitted the publication of the secret treaty of +1670, and withdrew his pecuniary aid. Charles deeply resented both +these marks of desertion in his ally. In addition to them he +discovered the intrigues of the French ambassadors with his malcontent +Commons. He perceived also that by bringing home the Duke of York from +Scotland, and restoring him in defiance of the test act to the privy +council, he had made the presumptive heir of the throne, possessed as +he was of superior steadiness and attention, too near a rival to +himself. These reflections appear to have depressed his mind in the +latter months of his life, and to have produced that remarkable +private reconciliation with the Duke of Monmouth, through the +influence of Lord Halifax; which, had he lived, would very probably +have displayed one more revolution in the uncertain policy of this +reign.[821] But a death, so sudden and inopportune as to excite +suspicions of poison in some most nearly connected with him, gave a +more decisive character to the system of government.[822] + + +THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH + +FOOTNOTES: + +[696] Temple's _Memoirs_. + +[697] Burnet says that Danby bribed the less important members, +instead of the leaders; which did not answer so well. But he seems to +have been liberal to all. The parliament has gained the name of the +pensioned. In that of 1679, Sir Stephen Fox was called upon to produce +an account of the monies paid to many of their predecessors. Those who +belonged to the new parliament, endeavoured to defend themselves; and +gave reasons for their pensions; but I observe no one says he did not +always vote with the court. _Parl. Hist._ 1137. North admits that +great clamour was excited by this discovery; and well it might. See +also Dalrymple, ii. 92. + +[698] Burnet charges these two leaders of opposition with being bribed +by the court to draw the house into granting an enormous supply, as +the consideration of passing the test act; and see Pepys, Oct. 6, +1666. Sir Robert Howard and Sir Richard Temple were said to have gone +over to the court in 1670 through similar inducements. Ralph. Roger +North (_Examen_, p. 456) gives an account of the manner in which men +were brought off from the opposition, though it was sometimes +advisable to let them nominally continue in it; and mentions Lee, +Garraway, and Meres, all very active patriots, if we trust to the +parliamentary debates. But, after all, neither Burnet nor Roger North +are wholly to be relied on as to particular instances; though the +general fact of an extensive corruption be indisputable. + +[699] This cunning, self-interested man, who had been introduced to +the house by Lord Russell and Lord Cavendish, and was connected with +the country party, tells us that Danby sent for him in Feb. 1677, and +assured him that the jealousies of that party were wholly without +foundation; that, to his certain knowledge, the king meant no other +than to preserve the religion and government by law established; that, +if the government was in any danger, it was from those who pretended +such a mighty zeal for it. On finding him well disposed, Danby took +his proselyte to the king, who assured him of his regard for the +constitution, and was right loyally believed. Reresby's _Memoirs_, p. +36. + +[700] "There were two things," says Bishop Parker, "which, like +Circe's cup, bewitched men and turned them into brutes; viz. popery +and French interest. If men otherwise sober heard them once, it was +sufficient to make them run mad. But, when those things were laid +aside, their behaviour to his majesty was with a becoming modesty." P. +244. Whenever the court seemed to fall in with the national interests +on the two points of France and popery, many of the country party +voted with them, though more numerous than their own. Temple, p. 458. +See too Reresby, p. 25 _et alibi_. + +[701] The king, according to James himself, readily consented to the +marriage of the princess, when it was first suggested in 1675; the +difficulty was with her father. He gave at last a reluctant consent; +and the offer was made by Lords Arlington and Ossory to the Prince of +Orange, who received it coolly. _Life of James_, 501. When he came +over to England in Oct. 1677, with the intention of effecting the +match, the king and duke wished to defer it till the conclusion of the +treaty then in negotiation at Nimeguen; but "the obstinacy of the +prince, with the assistance of the treasurer, who from that time +entered into the measures and interests of the prince, prevailed upon +the flexibility of the king to let the marriage be first agreed and +concluded."--P. 508. + +[702] Kennet, p. 332; North's _Examen_, p. 61; Burnet. This test was +covertly meant against the Romish party as well as more openly against +the dissenters. _Life of James_, p. 499. Danby set himself up as the +patron of the church party and old cavaliers against the two opposing +religions; trusting that they were the stronger in the House of +Commons. But the times were so changed that the same men had no longer +the same principles, and the house would listen to no measures against +nonconformists. He propitiated, however, the prelates, by renewing the +persecution under the existing laws, which had been relaxed by the +cabal ministry. Baxter, 156, 172; Kennet, 331; Neal, 698; _Somers +Tracts_, vii. 336. + +Meanwhile, schemes of comprehension were sometimes on foot; and the +prelates affected to be desirous of bringing about an union; but +Morley and Sheldon frustrated them all. Baxter, 156; Kennet, 326; +Parker, 25. The bishops, however, were not uniformly intolerant. +Croft, Bishop of Hereford, published, about 1675, a tract that made +some noise, entitled "The Naked Truth," for the purpose of moderating +differences. It is not written with extraordinary ability; but is very +candid and well designed, though conceding so much as to scandalise +his brethren. _Somers Tracts_, vii. 268; _Biogr. Brit._ art. Croft; +where the book is extravagantly over praised. Croft was one of the few +bishops who, being then very old, advised his clergy to read James +II.'s declaration in 1687; thinking, I suppose, though in those +circumstances erroneously, that toleration was so good a thing, it was +better to have it irregularly than not at all. + +[703] Charles received 500,000 crowns for the long prorogation of +parliament, from Nov. 1675 to Feb. 1677. In the beginning of the year +1676, the two kings bound themselves by a formal treaty (to which +Danby and Lauderdale, but not Coventry or Williamson, were privy), not +to enter on any treaties but by mutual consent; and Charles promised, +in consideration of a pension, to prorogue or dissolve parliament, if +they should attempt to force such treaties upon him. Dalrymple, p. 99. +Danby tried to break this off, but did not hesitate to press the +French cabinet for the money; and £200,000 was paid. The Prince of +Orange came afterwards through Rouvigny to a knowledge of this secret +treaty. P. 117. + +[704] This army consisted of between twenty and thirty thousand men, +as fine troops as could be seen (_Life of James_, p. 512): an alarming +sight to those who denied the lawfulness of any standing army. It is +impossible to doubt, from Barillon's correspondence in Dalrymple, that +the king and duke looked to this force as the means of consolidating +the royal authority. This was suspected at home, and very justly: +"Many well-meaning men," says Reresby, "began to fear the army now +raised was rather intended to awe our own kingdom than to war against +France, as had at first been suggested."--P. 62. And in a former +passage (p. 57) he positively attributes the opposition to the French +war in 1678, to "a jealousy that the king indeed intended to raise an +army, but never designed to go on with the war; and to say the truth, +some of the king's own party were not very sure of the contrary." + +[705] Dalrymple, p. 129. The immediate cause of those intrigues was +the indignation of Louis at the Princess Mary's marriage. That event +which, as we know from James himself, was very suddenly brought about, +took the King of France by surprise. Charles apologised for it to +Barillon, by saying, "I am the only one of my party, except my +brother."--P. 125. This, in fact, was the secret of his apparent +relinquishment of French interests at different times in the latter +years of his reign; he found it hard to kick constantly against the +pricks, and could employ no minister who went cordially along with his +predilections. He seems too at times, as well as the Duke of York, to +have been seriously provoked at the unceasing encroachments of France, +which exposed him to so much vexation at home. + +The connection with Lords Russell and Hollis began in March 1678, +though some of the opposition had been making advances to Barillon in +the preceding November. Pp. 129, 131. See also _Copies and Extracts of +some Letters written to and from the Earl of Danby_, published in +1716; whence it appears that Montagu suspected the intrigues of +Barillon, and the mission of Rouvigny, Lady Russell's first cousin, +for the same purpose, as early as Jan. 1678; and informed Danby of it. +Pp. 50, 53, 59. + +[706] Courtin, the French ambassador who preceded Barillon, had been +engaged through great part of the year 1677 in a treaty with Charles +for the prorogation or dissolution of parliament. After a long +chaffering, the sum was fixed at 2,000,000 livres; in consideration of +which the King of England pledged himself to prorogue parliament from +December to April 1678. It was in consequence of the subsidy being +stopped by Louis, in resentment of the Princess Mary's marriage, that +parliament, which had been already prorogued till April, was suddenly +assembled in February. Dalrymple, p. 111. It appears that Courtin had +employed French money to bribe members of the Commons in 1677 with the +knowledge of Charles; assigning as a reason, that Spain and the +emperor were distributing money on the other side. In the course of +this negotiation, he assured Charles that the King of France was +always ready to employ all his forces for the confirmation and +augmentation of the royal authority in England, so that he should +always be master of his subjects, and not depend upon them. + +[707] See what Temple says of this (p. 460): the king raised 20,000 +men in the spring of 1678, and seemed ready to go into the war; but +all was spoiled by a vote, on Clarges's motion, that no money should +be granted till satisfaction should be made as to religion. This +irritated the king so much that he determined to take the money which +France offered him; and he afterwards almost compelled the Dutch to +sign the treaty; so much against the Prince of Orange's inclinations, +that he has often been charged, though unjustly, with having fought +the battle of St. Denis after he knew that the peace was concluded. +Danby also, in his vindication (published in 1679, and again in 1710; +see _State Trials_, ii. 634), lays the blame of discouraging the king +from embarking in the war on this vote of the Commons. And the author +of the _Life of James II._ says very truly, that the Commons "were in +reality more jealous of the king's power than of the power of France; +for, notwithstanding all their former warm addresses for hindering the +growth of the power of France, when the king had no army, now that he +had one, they passed a vote to have it immediately disbanded; and the +factious party, which was then prevalent among them, made it their +only business to be rid of the duke, to pull down the ministers, and +to weaken the Crown."--P. 512. + +In defence of the Commons it is to be urged that, if they had any +strong suspicion of the king's private intrigues with France for some +years past, as in all likelihood they had, common prudence would teach +them to distrust his pretended desire for war with her; and it is, in +fact, most probable, that his real object was to be master of a +considerable army. + +[708] The memorial of Blancard to the Prince of Orange, quoted by +Dalrymple (p. 201) contains these words: "Le roi auroit été bien faché +qu'il eut été absolu dans ses états; l'un de ses plus constants +maximes depuis son rétablissement ayant été, de le diviser d'avec son +parlement, et de se servir tantôt de l'un, tantôt de l'autre, toujours +par argent pour parvenir à ses fins." + +[709] Ralph, p. 116; _Oeuvres de Louis XIV._ ii. 204, and v. 67, +where we have a curious and characteristic letter of the king to +d'Estrades in Jan. 1662, when he had been provoked by some high +language Clarendon had held about the right of the flag. + +[710] The letters of Barillon in Dalrymple (pp. 134, 136, 140) are +sufficient proofs of this. He imputes to Danby in one place (p. 142) +the design of making the king absolute, and says: "M. le duc d'York se +croit perdu pour sa religion, si l'occasion présente ne lui sert à +soumettre l'Angleterre; c'est une entreprise fort hardie, et dont le +succès est fort doutex." Of Charles himself he says: "Le roi +d'Angleterre balance encore à se porter à l'extremité; son humeur +répugne fort au dessein de changer le gouvernement. Il est néanmoins +entrainé par M. le duc d'York et par le grand trésorier; mais dans le +fond il aimeroit mieux que la paix le mît en état de demeurer en +repos, et rétablir ses affaires, c'est à dire, un bon revenu; et je +crois qu'il ne se soucie pas beaucoup d'être plus absolu qu'il est. Le +duc et le trésorier connoissent bien à qui ils ont affaire, et +craignent d'être abandonnés par le roi d'Angleterre aux premiers +obstacles considérables qu'ils trouveront au dessein de relever +l'autorité royale en Angleterre." On this passage it may be observed, +that there is reason to believe there was no co-operation, but rather +a great distrust at this time between the Duke of York and Lord Danby. +But Barillon had no doubt taken care to infuse into the minds of the +opposition those suspicions of that minister's designs. + +[711] Barillon appears to have favoured the opposition rather than the +Duke of York, who urged the keeping up of the army. This was also the +great object of the king, who very reluctantly disbanded it in Jan. +1679. Dalrymple, 207, etc. + +[712] This delicate subject is treated with great candour as well as +judgment by Lord John Russell, in his _Life of William Lord Russell_. + +[713] _Parl. Hist._ 1035; Dalrymple, 200. + +[714] Louis XIV. tells us, that Sidney had made proposals to France in +1666 for an insurrection, and asked 100,000 crowns to effect it; which +was thought too much for an experiment. He tried to persuade the +ministers, that it was against the interest of France that England +should continue a monarchy. _Oeuvres de Louis XIV._ ii. 204. + +[715] Dalrymple, 162. + +[716] His exclamation at Barillon's pressing the reduction of the army +to 8000 men is well known: "God's fish! are all the King of France's +promises to make me master of my subjects come to this! or does he +think that a matter to be done with 8000 men!" Temple says, "He seemed +at this time (May 1678) more resolved to enter into the war than I had +ever before seen or thought him." + +[717] Dalrymple, 178 _et post_. + +[718] _Memoirs relating to the Impeachment of the Earl of Danby_, +1710, pp. 151, 227; _State Trials_, vol. xi. + +[719] The violence of the next House of Commons, who refused to +acquiesce in Danby's banishment, to which the Lords had changed their +bill of attainder, may seem to render this very doubtful. But it is to +be remembered that they were exasperated by the pardon he had +clandestinely obtained, and pleaded in bar of their impeachment. + +[720] The impeachment was carried by 179 to 116, Dec. 19. A motion +(Dec. 21) to leave out the word traitorously was lost by 179 to 141. + +[721] Lords' Journals, Dec. 26, 1678. Eighteen peers entered their +protests; Halifax, Essex, Shaftesbury, etc. + +[722] _State Trials_, vi. 351 _et post_; Hatsell's _Precedents_, iv. +176. + +[723] Lords' Journals, April 16. + +[724] "The lord privy seal, Anglesea, in a conference between the two +houses," said, "that, in the transaction of this affair, were two +great points gained by this House of Commons: the first was, that +impeachments made by the Commons in one parliament continued from +session to session, and parliament to parliament, notwithstanding +prorogations or dissolutions: the other point was, that in cases of +impeachments, upon special matter shown, if the modesty of the party +directs him not to withdraw, the Lords admit that of right they ought +to order him to withdraw, and that afterwards he ought to be +committed. But he understood that the Lords did not intend to extend +the points of withdrawing and committing to general impeachments +without special matter alleged; else they did not know how many might +be picked out of their house on a sudden." + +Shaftesbury said, indecently enough, that they were as willing to be +rid of the Earl of Danby as the Commons; and cavilled at the +distinction between general and special impeachments. Commons' +Journals, April 12, 1679. On the impeachment of Scroggs for treason, +in the next parliament, it was moved to commit him; but the previous +question was carried, and he was admitted to bail; doubtless because +no sufficient matter was alleged. Twenty peers protested. Lords' +Journals, Jan. 7, 1681. + +[725] Lords' Journals, April 25; _Parl. Hist._ 1121, etc. + +[726] Lords' Journals, May 9, 1679. + +[727] Lords' Journals, May 10 and 11. After the former vote 50 peers, +out of 107 who appear to have been present, entered their dissent; and +another, the Earl of Leicester, is known to have voted with the +minority. The unusual strength of opposition, no doubt, produced the +change next day. + +[728] May 13. Twenty-one peers were entered as dissentient. The +Commons inquired whether it were intended by this that the bishops +should vote on the pardon of Danby, which the upper house declined to +answer, but said they could not vote on the trial of the five popish +lords, May 15, 17, 27. + +[729] See the report of a committee in Journals, May 26; or Hatsell's +_Precedents_, iv. 374. + +[730] 13 W. III. c. 2. + +[731] _Parl. Hist._ vii. 283. Mr. Lechmere, a very ardent whig, then +solicitor-general, and one of the managers on the impeachment, had +most confidently denied this prerogative. _Id._ 233. + +[732] Instead of the words in the order, "from the proceedings of any +other court," the following are inserted, "or any other business +wherein their lordships act as in a court of judicature, and not in +their legislative capacity." The importance of this alteration as to +the question of impeachment is obvious. + +[733] Lords' Journals. + +[734] Lords' Journals. Seventy-eight peers were present. + +[735] _Id._ 4th Dec. 1680. + +[736] Lords' Journ. March 24, 1681. The very next day the Commons sent +a message to demand judgment on the impeachment against him. Com. +Journ. March 25. + +[737] Shower's _Reports_, ii. 335. "He was bailed to appear at the +Lords' bar the first day of the then next parliament." The catholic +lords were bailed the next day. This proves that the impeachment was +not held to be at an end. + +[738] Lords' Journals, May 22, 1685. + +[739] Upon considering the proceedings in the House of Lords on this +subject, Oct. 6 and 30, 1690, and especially the protest signed by +eight peers on the latter day, there can be little doubt that their +release had been chiefly grounded on the act of grace, and not on the +abandonment of the impeachment. + +[740] Bishop Parker is not wrong in saying that the House of Commons +had so long accustomed themselves to strange fictions about popery, +that, upon the first discovery of Oates's plot, they readily believed +everything he said; for they had long expected whatever he declared. +_Hist. sui temp._ p. 248 (of the translation). + +[741] _Parl. Hist._ 1024, 1035; _State Trials_, vii. 1; Kennet, 327, +337, 351; North's _Examen_, 129, 177; Ralph, 386; Burnet, i. 555. +Scroggs tried Coleman with much rudeness and partiality; but his +summing up in reference to the famous passage in the letters is not +deficient in acuteness. In fact, this not only convicted Coleman, but +raised a general conviction of the truth of a plot--and a plot there +was, though not Oates's. + +[742] _Examen_, p. 196. + +[743] R. v. Farwell and others; _State Trials_, viii. 1361. They were +indicted for publishing some letters to prove that Godfrey had killed +himself. They defended themselves by calling witnesses to prove the +truth of the fact, which, though in a case of libel, Pemberton +allowed. But their own witnesses proved that Godfrey's body had all +the appearance of being strangled. + +The Roman catholics gave out, at the time of Godfrey's death, that he +had killed himself; and hurt their own cause by foolish lies. North's +_Examen_, p. 200. + +[744] It was deposed by a respectable witness, that Godfrey +entertained apprehensions on account of what he had done as to the +plot, and had said, "On my conscience, I believe I shall be the first +martyr." _State Trials_, vii. 168. These little additional +circumstances, which are suppressed by later historians, who speak of +the plot as unfit to impose on any but the most bigoted fanatics, +contributed to make up a body of presumptive and positive evidence, +from which human relief is rarely withheld. + +It is remarkable that the most acute and diligent historian we possess +for those times, Ralph, does not in the slightest degree pretend to +account for Godfrey's death; though, in his general reflections on the +plot (p. 555) he relies too much on the assertions of North and +l'Estrange. + +[745] _State Trials_, vii. 259; North's _Examen_, 240. + +[746] _State Trials_, vol. vii. _passim_. On the trial of Green, +Berry, and Hill, for Godfrey's murder, part of the story for the +prosecution was, that the body was brought to Hill's lodgings on the +Saturday, and remained there till Monday. The prisoner called +witnesses who lodged in the same house, to prove that it could not +have been there without their knowledge. Wild, one of the judges, +assuming, as usual, the truth of the story as beyond controversy, said +it was very suspicious that they should see or hear nothing of it; and +another, Dolben, told them it was well they were not indicted. _Id._ +199. Jones, summing up the evidence on Sir Thomas Gascoigne's trial at +York (an aged catholic gentleman, most improbably accused of accession +to the plot), says to the jury: "Gentlemen, you have the king's +witness on his oath; he that testifies against him is barely on his +word, and he is a papist" (_Id._ 1039): thus deriving an argument from +an iniquitous rule, which, at that time, prevailed in our law, of +refusing to hear the prisoner's witnesses upon oath. Gascoigne, +however, was acquitted. + +It would swell this note to an unwarrantable length, were I to extract +so much of the trials as might fully exhibit all the instances of +gross partiality in the conduct of the judges. I must, therefore, +refer my readers to the volume itself, a standing monument of the +necessity of the revolution; not only as it rendered the judges +independent of the Crown, but as it brought forward those principles +of equal and indifferent justice, which can never be expected to +flourish but under the shadow of liberty. + +[747] _State Trials_, 119, 315, 344. + +[748] Roger North, whose long account of the popish plot is, as usual +with him, a medley of truth and lies, acuteness and absurdity, +represents his brother, the chief justice, as perfectly immaculate in +the midst of this degradation of the bench. The _State Trials_, +however, show that he was as partial and unjust towards the prisoners +as any of the rest, till the government thought it necessary to +interfere. The moment when the judges veered round, was on the trial +of Sir George Wakeman, physician to the queen. Scroggs, who had been +infamously partial against the prisoners upon every former occasion, +now treated Oates and Bedloe as they deserved, though to the +aggravation of his own disgrace. _State Trials_, vii. 619-686. + +[749] _State Trials_, 1552; _Parl. Hist._ 1229. Stafford, though not a +man of much ability, had rendered himself obnoxious as a prominent +opposer of all measures intended to check the growth of popery. His +name appears constantly in protests upon such occasions; as, for +instance, March 3, 1678, against the bill for raising money for a +French war. Reresby praises his defence very highly. P. 108. The Duke +of York, on the contrary, or his biographer, observes: "Those who +wished Lord Stafford well were of opinion that, had he managed the +advantages which were given him with dexterity, he would have made the +greatest part of his judges ashamed to condemn him; but it was his +misfortune to play his game worst, when he had the best cards."--P. +637. + +[750] I take this from extracts out of those sermons, contained in a +Roman catholic pamphlet printed in 1687, and entitled "Good Advice to +the Pulpits." The protestant divines did their cause no good by +misrepresentation of their adversaries, and by their propensity to +rudeness and scurrility. The former fault indeed existed in a much +greater degree on the opposite side, but by no means the latter. See +also a treatise by Barlow, published in 1679, entitled, "Popish +Principles pernicious to Protestant Princes." + +[751] _Parl. Hist._ 1040. + +[752] See Marvell's "Seasonable Argument to persuade all the grand +Juries in England to petition for a new Parliament." He gives very bad +characters of the principal members on the court side; but we cannot +take for granted all that comes from so unscrupulous a libeller. Sir +Harbottle Grimstone had first thrown out, in the session of 1675, that +a standing parliament was as great a grievance as a standing army, and +that an application ought to be made to the king for a dissolution. +This was not seconded; and met with much disapprobation from both +sides of the house. _Parl. Hist._ vii. 64. But the country party, in +two years' time, had changed their views, and were become eager for a +dissolution. An address to that effect was moved in the House of +Lords, and lost by only two voices, the Duke of York voting for it. +_Id._ 800. This is explained by a passage in Coleman's _Letters_; +where that intriguer expresses his desire to see parliament dissolved, +in the hope that another would be more favourable to the toleration of +catholics. This must mean that the dissenters might gain an advantage +over the rigorous church of England men, and be induced to come into a +general indulgence. + +[753] This test, 30 Car. 2, stat. 2, is the declaration subscribed by +members of both houses of parliament on taking their seats, that there +is no transubstantiation of the elements in the Lord's supper; and +that the invocation of saints, as practised in the church of Rome, is +idolatrous. The oath of supremacy was already taken by the Commons, +though not by the Lords; and it is a great mistake to imagine that +catholics were legally capable of sitting in the lower house before +the act of 1679. But it had been the aim of the long parliament in +1642 to exclude them from the House of Lords; and this was of course +revived with greater eagerness, as the danger from their influence +grew more apparent. A bill for this purpose passed the Commons in 1675, +but was thrown out by the peers. Journals, May 14, Nov. 8. It was +brought in again in the spring of 1678. _Parl. Hist._ 990. In the autumn +of the same year it was renewed, when the Lords agreed to the oath of +supremacy, but omitted the declaration against transubstantiation, so +far as their own house was affected by it. Lords' Journals, Nov. 20, +1678. They also excepted the Duke of York from the operation of the +bill; which exception was carried in the Commons by two voices. _Parl. +Hist._ 1040. The Duke of York and seven more lords protested. + +The violence of those times on all sides will account for this +theological declaration; but it is more difficult to justify its +retention at present. Whatever influence a belief in the pope's +supremacy may exercise upon men's politics, it is hard to see how the +doctrine of transubstantiation can directly affect them; and surely he +who renounces the former, cannot be very dangerous on account of his +adherence to the latter. Nor is it less extraordinary to demand, from +many of those who usually compose a House of Commons, the assertion +that the practice of the church of Rome in the invocation of saints is +idolatrous; since, even on the hypothesis that a country gentleman has +a clear notion of what is meant by idolatry, he is, in many cases, +wholly out of the way of knowing what the church of Rome or any of its +members believe or practise. The invocation of saints, as held and +explained by that church in the council of Trent, is surely not +idolatrous, with whatever error it may be charged; but the practice at +least of uneducated Roman catholics seems fully to justify the +declaration; understanding it to refer to certain superstitions, +countenanced or not eradicated by their clergy. I have sometimes +thought that the legislator of a great nation sets off oddly by +solemnly professing theological positions about which he knows +nothing, and swearing to the possession of property which he does not +enjoy. [1827.] + +[754] The second reading of the exclusion bill was carried, May 21, +1679, by 207 to 128. The debates are in _Parliamentary History_, 1125 +_et post_. In the next parliament it was carried without a division. +Sir Leoline Jenkins alone seems to have taken the high ground, that +"parliament cannot disinherit the heir of the Crown; and that, if such +an act should pass, it would be invalid in itself."--_Id._ 1191. + +[755] While the exclusion bill was passing the Commons, the king took +the pains to speak himself to almost every lord, to dissuade him from +assenting to it when it should come up; telling them, at the same +time, let what would happen, he would never suffer such a villainous +bill to pass. _Life of James_, 553. + +[756] Ralph, p. 498. The atrocious libel, entitled, "An Appeal from +the Country to the City," published in 1679, and usually ascribed to +Ferguson (though said in _Biogr. Brit._ art. L'Estrange, to be written +by Charles Blount), was almost sufficient of itself to excuse the +return of public opinion towards the throne. _State Tracts_, temp. +Car. II.; Ralph, i. 476; _Parl. Hist._ iv. Appendix. The king is +personally struck at in this tract with the utmost fury: the queen is +called Agrippina, in allusion to the infamous charges of Oates; +Monmouth is held up as the hope of the country. "He will stand by you, +therefore you ought to stand by him. He who hath the worst title, +always makes the best king." One Harris was tried for publishing this +pamphlet. The jury at first found him guilty of selling; an equivocal +verdict, by which they probably meant to deny, or at least to +disclaim, any assertion of the libellous character of the publication. +But Scroggs telling them it was their province to say guilty or not +guilty, they returned a verdict of guilty. _State Trials_, vii. 925. + +Another arrow dipped in the same poison was a "Letter to a Person of +Honour concerning the Black Box." _Somers Tracts_, viii. 189. The +story of a contract of marriage between the king and Mrs. Waters, +Monmouth's mother, concealed in a black box, had lately been current; +and the former had taken pains to expose its falsehood by a public +examination of the gentleman whose name had been made use of. This +artful tract is intended to keep up the belief of Monmouth's +legitimacy, and even to graft it on the undeniable falsehood of that +tale; as if it had been purposely fabricated to delude the people by +setting them on a wrong scent. See also another libel of the same +class, p. 197. + +Though Monmouth's illegitimacy is past all question, it has been +observed by Harris that the Princess of Orange, in writing to her +brother about Mrs. Waters, in 1655, twice names her as his wife. +Thurloe, i. 665, quoted in Harris's _Lives_, iv. 168. But though this +was a scandalous indecency on her part, it proves no more than that +Charles, like other young men in the heat of passion, was foolish +enough to give that appellation to his mistress; and that his sister +humoured him in it. + +Sidney mentions a strange piece of Monmouth's presumption. When he +went to dine with the city in October 1680, it was remarked that the +bar, by which the heralds denote illegitimacy, had been taken off the +royal arms on his coach. _Letters to Saville_, p. 54. + +[757] _Life of James_, 592 _et post_. Compare Dalrymple, p. 265 _et +post_. Barillon was evidently of opinion that the king would finally +abandon his brother. Sunderland joined the Duchess of Portsmouth, and +was one of the thirty peers who voted for the bill in November 1680. +James charges Godolphin also with deserting him. P. 615. But his name +does not appear in the protest signed by twenty-five peers; though +that of the privy seal, Lord Anglesea, does. The Duchess of Portsmouth +sat near the Commons at Stafford's trial, "dispensing her sweetmeats +and gracious looks among them."--P. 638. + +[758] _Life of James_, p. 657. + +[759] Il est persuadé que l'autorité royale ne se peut rétablir en +Angleterre que par une guerre civile. Aug. 19, 1680. Dalrymple, 265. + +[760] Dalrymple, 277. Nov. 1680. + +[761] Marvell's "Growth of Popery," in _State Tracts_, temp. Car. II. +p. 98; _Parl. Hist._ 853. The second reading was carried by 127 to 88. +Serjeant Maynard, who was probably not in the secrets of his party, +seems to have been surprised at their opposition. An objection with +Marvell, and not by any means a bad one, would have been, that the +children of the royal family were to be consigned for education to the +sole government of bishops. The Duke of York, and thirteen other +peers, protested against this bill, not all of them from the same +motives, as may be collected from their names. Lords' Journals, 13th +and 15th March 1679. + +[762] Lords Russell and Cavendish, Sir W. Coventry and Sir Thomas +Littleton, seem to have been in favour of limitations. Lord J. +Russell, p. 42; Ralph, 446; Sidney's _Letters_, p. 32. Temple and +Shaftesbury, for opposite reasons, stood alone in the council against +the scheme of limitations. Temple's _Memoirs_. + +[763] Commons' Journals, 23rd Nov. 1680, 8th Jan. 1681. + +[764] _Life of James_, 634, 671; Dalrymple, p. 307. + +[765] Dalrymple, p. 301; _Life of James_, 660, 671. The duke gave +himself up for lost when he heard of the clause in the king's speech +declaring his readiness to hearken to any expedient but the exclusion. +Birch and Hampden, he says, were in favour of this; but Fitzharris's +business set the house in a flame, and determined them to persist in +their former scheme. Reresby says (p. 19, confirmed by _Parl. Hist._ +132) it was supported by Sir Thomas Littleton, who is said to have +been originally against the bill of exclusion, as well as Sir William +Coventry. Sidney's _Letters_, p. 32. It was opposed by Jones, +Winnington, Booth, and, if the _Parliamentary History_ be right, by +Hampden and Birch. + +[766] Temple's _Memoirs_. He says their revenues in land or offices +amounted to £300,000 per annum; whereas those of the House of Commons +seldom exceeded £400,000. The king objected much to admitting Halifax; +but himself proposed Shaftesbury, much against Temple's wishes. The +funds in Holland rose on the news. Barillon was displeased, and said +it was making "des états, et non des conseils;" which was not without +weight, for the king had declared he would take no measure, nor even +choose any new counsellor, without their consent. But the extreme +disadvantage of the position in which this placed the Crown, rendered +it absolutely certain that it was not submitted to with sincerity. +Lady Portsmouth told Barillon the new ministry was formed in order to +get money from parliament. Another motive, no doubt, was to prevent +the exclusion bill. + +[767] _Life of James_, 558. On the king's sudden illness, Aug. 22, +1679, the ruling ministers, Halifax, Sunderland, and Essex, alarmed at +the anarchy which might come on his death, of which Shaftesbury and +Monmouth would profit, sent over for the duke; but soon endeavoured to +make him go into Scotland, and, after a struggle against the king's +tricks to outwit them, succeeded in this object. _Id._ p. 570 _et +post_. + +[768] Temple; Reresby, p. 89. "So true it is," he says, "that there is +no wearing the court and country livery together." Thus also Algernon +Sidney, in his letters to Saville, p. 16. "The king certainly inclines +not to be so stiff as formerly in advancing only those that exalt +prerogative; but the Earl of Essex, and some others that are coming +into play thereupon, cannot avoid being suspected of having intentions +different from what they have hitherto professed." He ascribed the +change of ministry at this time to Sunderland: "if he and two more +[Essex and Halifax] can well agree among themselves, I believe they +will have the management of almost all businesses, and may bring much +honour to themselves and good to our nation." April 21, 1679. But he +writes afterwards (Sept. 8) that Halifax and Essex were become very +unpopular. P. 50. "The bare being preferred," says Secretary Coventry, +"maketh some of them suspected, though not criminal." Lord J. +Russell's _Life of Lord Russell_, p. 90. + +[769] See the protests in 1679, _passim_. + +[770] Temple's _Memoirs_; _Life of James_, 581. + +[771] Dalrymple, pp. 230, 237. + +[772] See Roger North's account of this court stratagem. _Examen of +Kennet_, 546. The proclamation itself, however, in the _Gazette_, 12th +Dec. 1679, is more strongly worded than we should expect from North's +account of it, and is by no means limited to _tumultuous_ petitions. + +[773] _London Gazettes_ of 1680, _passim_. + +[774] David Lewis was executed at Usk for saying mass, Aug. 27, 1679. +_State Trials_, vii. 256. Other instances occur in the same volume; +see especially pp. 811, 839, 849, 587. Pemberton was more severe and +unjust towards these unfortunate men than Scroggs. The king, as his +brother tells us, came unwillingly into these severities to prevent +worse. _Life of James_, 583. + +[775] Journals, _passim_; North's _Examen_, 377, 561. + +[776] They went a little too far, however, when they actually seated +Sir William Waller in Withens's place for Westminster. Ralph, 514. + +[777] Journals, Dec. 24, 1680. + +[778] _Parl. Hist._ i. 174. + +[779] Reresby's _Memoirs_, 106. Lord Halifax and he agreed, he says, +on consideration, that the court party were not only the most +numerous, but the most active and wealthy part of the nation. + +[780] It was carried by 219 to 95 (17th Nov.), to address the king to +remove Lord Halifax from his councils and presence for ever. They +resolved, _nem. con._, that no member of that house should accept of +any office or place of profit from the Crown, or any promise of one, +during such time as he should continue a member; and that all +offenders herein should be expelled. 30th Dec. They passed resolutions +against a number of persons by name, whom they suspected to have +advised the king not to pass the bill of exclusion. 7th Jan. 1680. +They resolved unanimously (10th Jan.), that it is the opinion of this +house, that the city of London was burnt in the year 1666 by the +papists, designing thereby to introduce popery and arbitrary power +into this kingdom. They were going on with more resolutions in the +same spirit, when the usher of the black rod appeared to prorogue +them. _Parl. Hist._ + +[781] Commons' Journals, March 26, 1681. + +[782] _Parl. Hist._ ii. 54. Lord Hale doubted whether this were a +statute. But the judges, in 1689, on being consulted by the Lords, +inclined to think that it was one; arguing, I suppose, from the words +"in full parliament," which have been held to imply the presence and +assent of the Commons. + +[783] Hatsell's _Precedents_, iv. 54, and Appendix, 347; _State +Trials_, viii. 236, and xii. 1218. + +[784] _Commentaries_, vol. iv. c. 19. + +[785] Ralph, 564 _et post_; _State Trials_, 223, 427; North's +_Examen_, 274. Fitzharris was an Irish papist, who had evidently had +interviews with the king through Lady Portsmouth. One Hawkins, +afterwards made Dean of Chichester for his pains, published a +narrative of this case full of falsehoods. + +[786] _State Trials_, viii. 759. Roger North's remark on this is +worthy of him; "having sworn false, as it is manifest some did before +to one purpose, it is more likely they swore true to the contrary." +_Examen_, p. 117. And Sir Robert Sawyer's observation to the same +effect is also worthy of him. On College's trial, Oates, in his +examination for the prisoner, said, that Turberville had changed +sides; Sawyer, as counsel for the Crown, answered, "Dr. Oates, Mr. +Turberville has not changed sides, you have; he is still a witness for +the king, you are against him." _State Trials_, viii. 639. + +The opposite party were a little perplexed by the necessity of +refuting testimony they had relied upon. In a dialogue, entitled +"Ignoramus Vindicated," it is asked, why were Dr. Oates and others +believed against the papists? and the best answer the case admits is +given: "Because his and their testimony was backed by that undeniable +evidence of Coleman's papers, Godfrey's murder, and a thousand other +pregnant circumstances, which makes the case much different from that +when people, of very suspected credit, swear the grossest +improbabilities." But the same witnesses, it is urged, had lately been +believed against the papists. "What! then," replies the advocate of +Shaftesbury, "may not a man be very honest and credible at one time, +and six months after, by necessity, subornation, malice, or twenty +ways, become a notorious villain?" + +[787] The true question for a grand juror to ask himself seems to be +this: Is the evidence such as that, if the prisoner can prove nothing +to the contrary, he ought to be convicted? However, where any +considerable doubt exists as to this, as a petty juror ought to +acquit, so a grand juror ought to find the indictment. + +[788] Roger North, and the prerogative writers in general, speak of +this inquest as a scandalous piece of perjury, enough to justify the +measures soon afterwards taken against the city. But Ralph, who, at +this period of history, is very impartial, seems to think the jury +warranted by the absurdity of the depositions. It is to be remembered +that the petty juries had shown themselves liable to intimidation, and +that the bench was sold to the court. In modern times, such an +ignoramus could hardly ever be justified. There is strong reason to +believe, that the court had recourse to subornation of evidence +against Shaftesbury. Ralph, 140 _et post_. And the witnesses were +chiefly low Irishmen, in whom he was not likely to have placed +confidence. As to the association found among Shaftesbury's papers, it +was not signed by himself, nor, as I conceive, treasonable, only +binding the associators to oppose the Duke of York, in case of his +coming to the crown. _State Trials_, viii. 786. See also 827 and 835. + +[789] If we may believe James II., the populace hooted Shaftesbury +when he was sent to the Tower. Macpherson, 124; _Life of James_, 688. +This was an improvement on the _odit damnatos_. They rejoiced, +however, much more, as he owns, at the ignoramus. P. 714. + +[790] See College's case in _State Trials_, viii. 549, and Hawles's +remarks on it, 723; Ralph, 626. It is one of the worst pieces of +judicial iniquity that we find in the whole collection. The written +instructions he had given to his counsel before the trial were taken +away from him, in order to learn the grounds of his defence. North and +Jones, the judges before whom he was tried, afforded him no +protection. But besides this, even if the witnesses had been credible, +it does not appear to me that the facts amounted to treason. Roger +North outdoes himself in his justification of the proceedings on this +trial. _Examen_, p. 587. What would this man have been in power, when +he writes thus in a sort of proscription twenty years after the +revolution! But in justice it should be observed that his portraits of +North and Jones (_Id._ 512 and 517) are excellent specimens of his +inimitable talent for Dutch painting. + +[791] _London Gazettes_, 1681, _passim_. Ralph, 592, has spoken too +strongly of their servility, as if they showed a disposition to give +up altogether every right and privilege to the Crown. This may be true +in a very few instances, but is by no means their general tenor. They +are exactly high tory addresses, and nothing more. + +[792] _State Trials_, viii. 447. Chief-Justice Pemberton, by whom he +was tried, had strong prejudices against the papists, though well +enough disposed to serve the court in some respects. + +[793] The king, James says in 1679, was convinced of the falsehood of +the plot, "while the seeming necessity of his affairs made this +unfortunate prince, for so he may well be termed in this conjuncture, +think he could not be safe but by consenting every day to the +execution of those he knew in his heart to be most innocent; and as +for that notion of letting the law take its course, it was such a +piece of casuistry as had been fatal to the king his father," etc. +562. If this was blamable in 1679, how much more in 1681? + +Temple relates, that having objected to leaving some priests to the +law, as the House of Commons had desired in 1679, Halifax said he +would tell every one he was a papist, if he did not concur; and that +the plot must be treated as if it were true, whether it was so or not. +P. 339 (folio edit.). A vile maxim indeed! But as Halifax never showed +any want of candour or humanity, and voted Lord Stafford not guilty +next year, we may doubt whether Temple has represented this quite +exactly. + +In reference to Lord Stafford, I will here notice that Lord John +Russell, in a passage deserving very high praise, has shown rather too +much candour in censuring his ancestor (p. 140) on account of the +support he gave (if in fact he did so, for the evidence seems weak) to +the objection raised by the sheriffs, Bethell and Cornish, with +respect to the mode of Stafford's execution. The king having remitted +all the sentence except the beheading, these magistrates thought fit +to consult the House of Commons. Hume talks of Russell's seconding +this "barbarous scruple," as he calls it, and imputes it to faction. +But, notwithstanding the epithet, it is certain that the only question +was between death by the cord and the axe; and if Stafford had been +guilty, as Lord Russell was convinced, of a most atrocious treason, he +could not deserve to be spared the more ignominious punishment. The +truth is, which seems to have escaped both these writers, that if the +king could remit a part of the sentence upon a parliamentary +impeachment, it might considerably affect the question whether he +could not grant a pardon, which the Commons had denied. + +[794] See this petition, _Somers Tracts_, viii. 144. + +[795] _State Trials_, viii. 1039-1340; Ralph, 717. The majority was +but 104 to 86; a division honourable to the spirit of citizens. + +[796] North's _Examen_, 626. + +[797] Lady Russell's opinion was, that "it was no more than what her +lord confessed--talk; and it is possible that talk going so far as to +consider, if a remedy for supposed evils might be sought, how it could +be formed." _Life of Lord Russell_, p. 266. It is not easy, however, +to talk long in this manner about the _how_ of treason, without +incurring the penalties of it. + +[798] See this business well discussed by the acute and indefatigable +Ralph, p. 722, and by Lord John Russell, p. 253. See also _State +Trials_, ix. 358 _et post_. There appears no cause for doubting the +reality of what is called the Ryehouse plot. The case against Walcot +(_Id._ 519) was pretty well proved; but his own confession completely +hanged him and his friends too. His attainder was reversed after the +revolution, but only on account of some technical errors, not +essential to the merits of the case. + +[799] _State Trials_, ix. 577. Lord Essex cut his throat in the Tower. +He was a man of the most excellent qualities, but subject to +constitutional melancholy which overcame his fortitude; an event the +more to be deplored, as there seems to have been no possibility of his +being convicted. A suspicion, as is well known, obtained credit with +the enemies of the court, that Lord Essex was murdered; and some +evidence was brought forward by the zeal of one Braddon. The late +editor of the _State Trials_ seems a little inclined to revive this +report, which even Harris (_Life of Charles_, p. 352) does not venture +to accredit; and I am surprised to find Lord John Russell observe, "It +would be idle, at the present time, to pretend to give any opinion on +the subject."--P. 182. This I can by no means admit. We have, on the +one side, some testimonies by children, who frequently invent and +persist in falsehoods with no conceivable motive. But, on the other +hand, we are to suppose, that Charles II. and the Duke of York caused +a detestable murder to be perpetrated on one towards whom they had +never shown any hostility, and in whose death they had no interest. +Each of these princes had faults enough; but I may venture to say that +they were totally incapable of such a crime. One of the presumptive +arguments of Braddon, in a pamphlet published long afterwards, is, +that the king and his brother were in the Tower on the morning of Lord +Essex's death. If this leads to anything, we are to believe that +Charles the Second, like the tyrant in a Grub Street tragedy, came to +kill his prisoner with his own hands. Any man of ordinary +understanding (which seems not to have been the case with Mr. Braddon) +must perceive that the circumstance tends to repel suspicion rather +than the contrary. See the whole of this, including Braddon's +pamphlet, in _State Trials_, ix. 1127. + +[800] _State Trials_, 615. Sawyer told Lord Russell, when he applied +to have his trial put off, that he would not have given the king an +hour's notice to save his life. _Id._ 582. Yet he could not pretend +that the prisoner had any concern in the assassination plot. + +[801] The act annulling Lord Russell's attainder recites him to have +been "wrongfully convicted by partial and unjust constructions of +law." _State Trials_, ix. 695. Several pamphlets were published after +the revolution by Sir Robert Atkins and Sir John Hawles against the +conduct of the court in this trial, and by Sir Bartholomew Shower in +behalf of it. These are in the _State Trials_. But Holt, by laying +down the principle of constructive treason in Ashton's case, +established for ever the legality of Pemberton's doctrine, and indeed +carried it a good deal further. + +[802] There seems little doubt, that the juries were packed through a +conspiracy of the sheriffs with Burton and Graham, solicitors for the +Crown. _State Trials_, ix. 932. These two men ran away at the +revolution; but Roger North vindicates their characters, and those who +trust in him may think them honest. + +[803] _State Trials_, ix. 818. + +[804] _Id._ 846. Yet in summing up the evidence, he repeated all West +and Keeling had thus said at second-hand, without reminding the jury +that it was not legal testimony. _Id._ 899. It would be said by his +advocates, if any are left, that these witnesses must have been left +out of the question, since there could otherwise have been no dispute +about the written paper. But they were undoubtedly intended to prop up +Howard's evidence, which had been so much shaken by his previous +declaration, that he knew of no conspiracy. + +[805] This is pointed out, perhaps for the first time, in an excellent +modern law-book, Phillipps's _Law of Evidence_. Yet the act for the +reversal of Sidney's attainder declares in the preamble, that "the +paper, supposed to be in his handwriting, was not proved by the +testimony of any one witness to be written by him, but the jury was +directed to believe it by comparing it with other writings of the said +Algernon." _State Trials_, 997. This does not appear to have been the +case; and though Jefferies is said to have garbled the manuscript +trial before it was printed (for all the trials, at this time, were +published by authority, which makes them much better evidence against +the judges than for them), yet he can hardly have substituted so much +testimony without its attracting the notice of Atkins and Hawles, who +wrote after the revolution. However, in Hayes's case, _State Trials_, +x. 312, though the prisoner's handwriting to a letter was proved in +the usual way by persons who had seen him write, yet this letter was +also shown to the jury, along with some of his acknowledged writing, +for the purpose of their comparison. It is possible, therefore, that +the same may have been done on Sidney's trial, though the circumstance +does not appear. Jefferies indeed says, "comparison of hands was +allowed for good proof in Sidney's case." _Id._ 313. But I do not +believe that the expression was used in that age so precisely as it is +at present; and it is well known to lawyers that the rules of evidence +on this subject have only been distinctly laid down within the memory +of the present generation. + +[806] See Harris's _Lives_, v. 347. + +[807] _State Trials_, x. 105. + +[808] The grand jury of Northamptonshire, in 1683, "present it as very +expedient and necessary for securing the peace of this country, that +all ill affected persons may give security for the peace;" specifying +a number of gentlemen of the first families, as the names of Montagu, +Langham, etc., show. _Somers Tracts_, viii. 409. + +[809] Ralph, p. 768; Harris's _Lives_, v. 321. + +[810] This book of Sherlock, printed in 1684, is the most able +treatise on that side. His proposition is that "sovereign princes, or +the supreme power in any nation, in whomsoever placed, is in all cases +irresistible." He infers from the statute 13 Car. II. declaring it +unlawful, under any pretence, to wage war, even defensive against the +king, that the supreme power is in him; for he who is unaccountable +and irresistible, is supreme. There are some, he owns, who contend +that the higher powers mentioned by St. Paul meant the law, and that +when princes violate the laws, we may defend their legal authority +against their personal usurpations. He answers this very feebly. "No +law can come into the notion and definition of supreme and sovereign +powers; such a prince is under the direction, but cannot possibly be +said to be under the government of the law, because there is no +superior power to take cognisance of his breach of it, and a law has +no authority to govern where there is no power to punish."--P. 114. +"These men think," he says (p. 126), "that all civil authority is +founded in consent, as if there were no natural lord of the world, or +all mankind came free and independent into the world. This is a +contradiction to what at other times they will grant, that the +institution of civil power and authority is from God; and indeed if it +be not, I know not how any prince can justify the taking away the life +of any man, whatever crime he has been guilty of. For no man has power +of his own life, and therefore cannot give this power to another; +which proves that the power of capital punishments cannot result from +mere consent, but from a superior authority, which is lord of life and +death." This is plausibly urged, and is not refuted in a moment. He +next comes to an objection, which eventually he was compelled to +admit, with some discredit to his consistency and disinterestedness. +"'Is the power of victorious rebels and usurpers from God? Did Oliver +Cromwell receive his power from God? then it seems it was unlawful to +resist him too, or to conspire against him; then all those loyal +subjects who refused to submit to him when he had got the power in his +hands were rebels and traitors.' To this I answer, that the most +prosperous rebel is not the higher powers, while our natural prince, +to whom we owe obedience and subjection, is in being. And therefore, +though such men may get the power into their hands by God's +permission, yet not by God's ordinance; and he who resists them does +not resist the ordinance of God, but the usurpations of men. In +hereditary kingdoms, the king never dies, but the same minute that the +natural person of one king dies, the crown descends upon the next of +blood; and therefore, he who rebelleth against the father, and murders +him, continues a rebel in the reign of the son, which commences with +his father's death. It is otherwise, indeed, where none can pretend a +greater title to the crown than the usurper, for there possession of +power seems to give a right."--P. 127. + +Sherlock began to preach in a very different manner as soon as James +showed a disposition to set up his own church. "It is no act of +loyalty," he told the House of Commons, May 29, 1685, "to accommodate +or compliment away our religion and its legal securities." _Good +Advice to the Pulpits._ + +[811] P. 81. + +[812] P. 95. + +[813] Pp. 98, 100. + +[814] P. 100. + +[815] This treatise, subjoined to one of greater length, entitled the +"Freeholder's Grand Inquest," was published in 1679; but the +"Patriarcha" not till 1685. + +[816] P. 39. + +[817] P. 46. + +[818] Collier, 902; _Somers Tracts_, viii. 420. + +[819] Dalrymple, appendix 8; _Life of James_, 691. He pretended to +come into a proposal of the Dutch for an alliance with Spain and the +empire against the fresh encroachments of France, and to call a +parliament for that purpose, but with no sincere intention, as he +assured Barillon. "Je n'ai aucune intention d'assembler le parlement; +ces sont des diables qui veulent ma ruine." Dalrymple, 15. + +[820] He took 100,000 livres for allowing the French to seize +Luxemberg; after this he offered his arbitration, and on Spain's +refusal, laid the fault on her, though already bribed to decide in +favour of France. Lord Rochester was a party in all these base +transactions. The acquisition of Luxemberg and Strasburg was of the +utmost importance to Louis, as they gave him a predominating influence +over the four Rhenish electors, through whom he hoped to procure the +election of the dauphin as king of the Romans. _Id._ 36. + +[821] Dalrymple, appendix 74; Burnet; Mazure, _Hist. de la Révolution +de 1688_, i. 340, 372. This is confirmed by, or rather confirms, the +very curious notes found in the Duke of Monmouth's pocket-book when he +was taken after the battle of Sedgemoor, and published in the appendix +to Welwood's _Memoirs_. Though we should rather see more external +evidence of their authority than, so far as I know, has been produced, +they have great marks of it in themselves; and it is not impossible +that, after the revolution, Welwood may have obtained them from the +secretary of state's office. + +[822] It is mentioned by Mr. Fox, as a tradition in the Duke of +Richmond's family, that the Duchess of Portsmouth believed Charles II. +to have been poisoned. This I find confirmed in a letter read on the +trial of Francis Francia, indicted for treason in 1715. "The Duchess +of Portsmouth, who is at present here, gives a great deal of offence, +as I am informed, by pretending to prove that the late King James had +poisoned his brother Charles; it was not expected, that after so many +years' retirement in France, she should come hither to revive that +vulgar report, which at so critical a time cannot be for any good +purpose." _State Trials_, xv. 948. It is almost needless to say that +the suspicion was wholly unwarrantable. + +I have since been informed, on the best authority, that Mr. Fox did +not derive his authority from a tradition in the Duke of Richmond's +family, that of his own mother, as his editor had very naturally +conjectured, but from his father, the first Lord Holland, who, while a +young man travelling in France, had become acquainted with the Duchess +of Portsmouth. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42179 *** |