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demned to find sureties for their good behaviour. But these severities served only to show more conspicuously the king's disregard of the privileges of parliament, and to acquire a great stock of popularity to the sufferers, who unanimously refused to find the sureties demanded, or even to express their sorrow for having offended their sovereign ;(1) so desirous were they to continue their meritorious distress!

In the midst of so many domestic difficulties, and utterly destitute of money, it was impossible for any prince to conduct with vigour the operations of war. Sensible of this, Charles submitted to necessity, and concluded a peace with France and Spain. The situation of his affairs did not entitle him to demand from Lewis any conditions for the Hugonots, nor from Philip any stipulation in favour of the elector palatine; yet he obtained from the latter a promise of his good offices towards the restoration of that unfortunate prince.(2) Thus was lost, through her internal dissensions, the happiest opportunity that England ever enjoyed of humbling the house of Bourbon by means of its Protestant subjects, or of dismembering the Spanish monarchy by the assistance of France, and of acquiring a permanent superiority over both.

A cautious neutrality was henceforth the study of Charles, who had neither leisure nor inclination to interest himself farther in foreign affairs; happy in relinquishing every ambitious project, had he been able to recover the affections of his people, and the confidence of his parliament !-But unfortunately, though possessed of many amiable and respectable qualities, both as a king and as a man,(3) and though he now adopted more moderate counsels than during the administration of Buckingham, he was never able to attain these desirable ends: a degree of jealous distrust remained. The causes and the consequences of this want of confidence it must now be our business to trace.

The high idea that Charles entertained of his own authority not only made him incapable of yielding to that bold spirit of liberty which had diffused itself among his subjects, but to continue an invasion on their constitutional rights, while he thought himself only engaged in the defence of his own. He considered every petition of the commons as an attempt to encroach on his prerogative; and even when he granted their requests, he disgusted them by his ungracious reluctance: he complied without obliging. His concessions were not received as marks of royal kindness, as indications of justice or generosity, but as so many sacrifices to necessity. The representatives of the people saw themselves, when assembled, regarded merely in the light of tax-layers; and therefore resolved to make use of their power of withholding supplies, or administering to the necessities of the crown, in order to convince the king of their political consequence, as well as to obtain a ratification of their ancient rights. The royal authority was likewise too high, in ecclesiastical matters, for a limited government, being altogether absolute: the parliament had discovered an inclination to restrain it; the king had resented the affront by a dissolution; and thus was produced an incurable jealousy between the parties.

Other causes conspired to increase the jealousy of the nation in regard to religion. Charles, ever strongly attached to his queen, had favoured her with his whole friendship and confidence after the death of Buckingham. Her sense and spirit entitled her to share his counsels, while her beauty justified his excessive fondness; but, as she was rather of a hasty temper, she sometimes precipitated him into rash measures; and her religion, to which she was much devoted, induced her to procure such indulgences for the Catholics as gave general dissatisfaction, and increased the odium against the court. Nor was this all. Laud, bishop of London, had acquired great

(1) Whitlock, p. 13. Rushworth, vol. i. Kennet, vol. iil.

(2) Rushworth, vol. ii.

(3) He was an affectionate husband, an indulgent father, a gentle master, and a firm friend. His manner and address, though perhaps rather too stately, corresponded well with his natural gravity and reserve. He was not deficient in political knowledge; he possessed great moderation of temper; his taste in all the fine arts was excellent; and his learning and literary talents were much beyond what are common to princes. Sanderson. Clarendon.

influence over the king, and directed him in all ecclesiastical, and even in many civil affairs. Though a man of learning and virtue, he was a superstitious bigot, zealously set on the exaltation of the priesthood, and on imposing on the obstinate Puritans, by the most rigorous measures, new ceremonies and observances, unknown to the church of England; and that too at a time when the ancient ceremonies, to which men had been accustomed, and which had been hallowed by the practice of the first Reformers, could with difficulty be retained in divine service. Yet this man, who, in the prosecution of his holy enterprise, overlooked all human considerations, and the heat and indiscretion of whose temper made him neglect the plainest dictates of prudence, was raised by Charles to the see of Canterbury, and invested with uncontrolled authority over the consciences of the people.

Not only such of the clergy as neglected to observe every superstitious ceremony enjoined by Laud and his brethren were suspended, and deprived of their benefices by the High Commission court; oaths were even imposed on church-wardens, binding them to inform against any one who acted contrary to the ecclesiastical canons; and all who did not conform to the new mode of worship were treated with the utmost rigour. The religion which the archbishop wanted to establish differed very little from that of the church of Rome. The Puritans therefore regarded him as the forerunner of Antichrist.(1)

Nor were the Puritans singular in this opinion. A court-lady, daughter of the earl of Devonshire, having turned Catholic, was asked by Laud her reason for changing her religion: "It is chiefly," answered she, "because I hate to travel in a crowd." The meaning of these words being demanded, she replied, "I perceive your grace and many others are making haste to Rome; and therefore, in order to prevent my being jostled, I have gone before you." In a word, Laud's chief objection to popery seems to have been the supremacy of the holy see, to which he did not choose to subject his metropolitan power. For although he himself tells us, "That," when offered a cardinal's hat by the pope, "something dwelt within him, which would not suffer his compliance, till Rome was other than it is," the genius of his religion appears to have been the same with the Romish. The same profound respect was exacted by him to the sacerdotal character; the same submission was required to the creeds and decrees of synods and councils; the same pomp and ceremony was affected in worship; and the same superstitious respect to days, postures, meats, and vestments.(2)

As a specimen of the new ceremonies to which Laud sacrificed the peace of the kingdom, it will be sufficient to relate those he employed in the consecration of St. Catharine's church. The church had been rebuilt by the parishioners, and profanely made use of, for some time, without the ceremony of a new consecration-a circumstance which, coming to the superstitious prelate's ear, while bishop of London, filled him with horror, and made him suspend it from all divine service, until he had performed that holy office. On his approach to the west door of the church, à loud voice cried, “Open, open, ye everlasting doors! that the King of Glory may enter in." The doors of the church instantly flew open; the bishop entered; and falling on his knees, with his eyes lifted up, and his arms expanded, he exclaimed, in a solemn tone, "This place is holy! the ground is holy! in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I pronounce it holy!" Then going to the chancel, he several times took up some dust from the floor, and threw it in the air. When he approached the communion-table, he bowed frequently towards it. On returning, he and his attendants went round the church in a kind of procession, repeating the hundredth psalm; and then said a form of prayer, concluding with these words: "We consecrate this church, and separate it unto THEE, as holy ground, not to be profaned any more to common uses." The bishop, standing near the communion-table, now denounced imprecations on all who should pollute that holy place, by musters of soldiers,

(1) Rushworth, vol. ii.

(2) Id. ibid. Hume, vol. vi.

LET. IV.]

79

keeping in it profane law courts, or carrying burdens through it. On the conclusion of every curse, he bowed towards the east, and cried, "Let all the people say, Amen!" When the imprecations were ended, he poured out blessings on all who had any way contributed to the framing and building that sacred and beautiful edifice, and on those who had given, or should hereafter give to it, any chalices, plate, ornaments, or utensils. On the conclusion of every benediction, he also bowed towards the east, and cried, "Let all the people say, Amen!"

These ceremonies were followed by a sermon; after which the bishop thus consecrated and administered the sacrament. As he approached the communion-table, he made many low reverences, and coming up to that side of the table where the bread and wine were placed, he bowed seven times. After reading many prayers, he approached the sacramental elements, and gently lifted up the corner of the napkin in which the bread was placed. When he beheld the bread, he suddenly let fall the napkin, fell back a step or two, and bowed three several times towards the bread; then drew near again, opened the napkin, and bowed as before. He next laid hold of the cup, which had a cover upon it, and was filled with wine; then let it go, fell back, and bowed thrice towards it. He approached again, and, lifting up the cover, peeped into the cup; but, on seeing the wine, he let fall the cover, and bowed as before. He then received the sacrament, and administered it to others; and the fabric being now supposed sufficiently holy, the solemnity of the consecration was concluded with many formal prayers.(1) The same pious farce was repeated at the consecration of St. Giles's in the Fields, and on other occasions of a like nature, notwithstanding the scandal occasioned by the first exhibition.(2) Opposition and general odium served only to increase the bishop's zeal for such superstitious mummeries, which were openly countenanced by the court.

In return for so much indulgence to the church, Laud and his followers took care, on every occasion, to magnify the royal authority, and made no scruple to treat with contempt all pretensions to a free or limited government. By these flatteries, and his original prepossessions, Charles was led to consider himself as the supreme magistrate to whom Heaven, by his birthright, had committed the care of his people; whose duty it was to provide for their security and happiness, both spiritual and temporal, and who was vested with ample discretionary powers for that purpose. If the observance of ancient laws and customs was consistent with the present convenience of government, he judged it prudent to follow that rule, as the easiest, safest, and what would procure the most prompt and willing obedience; but when a change of circumstances, especially if derived from the obstinacy of the people, seemed to require a new plan of administration, national privileges, he thought, must yield to supreme power, and that no order of men in the state could be warranted in opposing the will of the sovereign, when directed to the public good.(3)

Charles, however, did not rest the support of that absolute dominion, which he thought he had a right to establish over the souls and bodies of his subjects, merely on the declamations of churchmen, or the intrigues of courtiers. He had recourse to that policy, which has often been so successfully pursued in latter times, of employing the honours and offices of the crown, in order to draw off the parliamentary leaders from opposition, and to engage them in the defence of that authority, which they shared, by becoming members of administration. Nor was the king disappointed in this first attempt to divide the force of the country party. Sir Thomas Wentworth, a popular member of great abilities, whom he created earl of Strafford, became a firm pillar to the throne. Other parliamentary leaders were also drawn over to the court. Sir Dudley Digges was created master of the rolls; Mr. Noy, jattorney-general; and Mr. Littleton, solicitor-general.(4)

(1) Rushworth, vol. ii. Hume, vol. vi.
3) Rushworth, vol. ii. Hume, vol. vi.

(2) Heylin's Life of Laud, p 212, et seq. (4) Whitlock, p. 13.

But the effect of this new political manœuvre was by no means such as might have been expected from it, or what has been common from like measures in our days-a temporary reconciliation between the parties. The views of the king and parliament were now so repugnant to each other, that the leaders whom he had gained, though men of eminent talents and irreproachable character, lost all credit with their party from the moment of their defection. They were even pursued, as traitors, with implacable hatred and resentment; and the king was so far from acquiring popularity by employing them, that he lost still farther, by that expedient, the confidence of the nation. It was considered as an insidious attempt to turn the emoluments of the state against itself, and the honours of the crown against the constitution; to unnerve, by corruption, the arm of liberty; and by means of apostate patriots, the most terrible instruments of tyranny, to complete the despotism of the prince and the slavery of the people.

Nor were these apprehensions altogether without foundation. As Charles had formed a resolution no more to assemble the commons, and even published a proclamation to that purpose, he was obliged to raise money for the support of government, either by the revival of obsolete laws, or by violations of the rights of the subjects. Tonnage and poundage continued to be levied, according to the former arbitrary impositions; new imposts were even laid on several kinds of merchandise; and the officers of the customs received orders from the council to enter into any house, warehouse, or cellar, to search any trunk or chest, and break any bulk whatever, in default of the payment of such duties.(1) The oppressive method of raising money by monopolies was revived; the odious expedient of compounding with popish recusants became a regular part of the revenue; several arbitrary taxes were imposed; and, in order to facilitate these exactions, and repress the rising spirit of liberty throughout the kingdom, many severe sentences were passed in the Star Chamber and High Commission courts. Some persons were fined, some imprisoned; and such as ventured to arraign the measures of the court were condemned to stand in the pillory.(2)

Seven years had Charles supported his government by arbitrary impositions, levied by means no less arbitrary, before he met with any vigorous opposition. At length, John Hambden, a private gentleman, had the courage to set the crown at defiance, and make a bold stand in defence of the laws and the liberties of his country. Among other taxes, that of ship-money had been revived, and levied on the whole kingdom. This tax, intended for the support of the royal navy, and in itself moderate and equitable, was only exceptionable by being imposed without the consent of parliament; and, in order to discourage all opposition on that account, the king had proposed, as a question, to the judges, "Whether, in case of necessity, he might not, for the defence of the kingdom, impose such a tax? and whether he was not the sole judge of that necessity?" The compliant judges answered in the affirmative, and the tax was generally paid. But Hambden, alike regardless of the opinion of the judges, and the example of others, resolved to hazard the issue of a suit, rather than tamely submit to the illegal imposition; and, although only rated at twenty shillings, to risk the whole indignation of royalty.(3)

This important cause was heard before all the twelve judges in the Exchequer Chamber. The pleadings lasted twelve days; and the nation regarded with the utmost anxiety every circumstance of the trial. The issue was easily to be foreseen from the former opinion of the heads of the law; but it was not, on that account, considered as less momentous, or expected with less impatience.

In most national questions much may be said on both sides: but, on the present occasion, no legal argument of any weight was adduced by the crown lawyers, though men of profound abilities; a strong presumption that none

(1) Rushworth, vol. ii.

(3) Rushworth, vol. ii, Whitlock, p. 4.

(2) Clarendon, vol. i. Rushworth, vol. il.

such existed. They only pleaded precedent and necessity. The precedents, when examined, were found to be by no means applicable to the case, and the necessity was denied. "England," said Hambden's counsel, "enjoys a profound peace with all her neighbours; and, what farther secures her tranquillity, all her neighbours are engaged in furious and bloody wars among themselves. The very writs, which are issued for the levying of ship-money. contradict the idea of necessity: they assert only that the seas are infested by pirates; a slight and temporary inconvenience, which may well wait a legal supply from parliament. And as to the pretension, that the king is the sole judge of the necessity, what is this, but to subject all the privileges and all the property of the nation to his arbitrary will and pleasure? For the plea of voluntary necessity will warrant any other taxation as well as that of shipmoney. And if such maxims and practices prevail, where is national liberty? What authority is left to the Great Charter, that palladium of the constitution? Or what to the Petition of Rights, so lately enacted by the concurrence of the whole legislature ?"(1)

Na

The prejudiced or prostituted judges, notwithstanding these powerful arguments, gave sentence in favour of the crown. But Hambden obtained, nevertheless, by his trial, the end which he had proposed to himself. tional questions were canvassed in every company; and the people, if not roused to active opposition, were at least awakened to a sense of the danger to which their liberty was exposed. "Slavish principles," it was said, "concurred with illegal practices; ecclesiastical tyranny gave aid to civil usurpation; iniquitous taxes were supported by arbitrary punishments; and all the privileges of the nation, transmitted through so many ages, secured by so many laws, and purchased by the blood of so many heroes and patriots, now lay prostrate at the foot of the throne. What though the personal character of the king, amid all his misguided counsels, might merit indulgence, or even praise, he was but one man; and the privileges of the people, the inheritance of millions, were too valuable to be sacrificed to his prejudices and mistakes."(2)

While the minds of men underwent this fermentation in England, a more dangerous spirit made its appearance in Scotland. We have already had occasion to trace the steps taken by James for introducing episcopacy into that kingdom. The same policy was pursued by his son Charles; who, in 1633, had paid a visit to his native country, and made a violent attempt to get his authority there acknowledged in ecclesiastical matters. He obtained an act of parliament vesting him with such authority; but as that act was known to have been extorted by the influence and importunity of the sovereign, contrary to the sentiments even of those who gave it their suffrage, it served only to inflame the jealousy and rouse the resentment of the nation.(3)

Nor will this opposition excite surprise, if we consider that the ecclesiastical government, in Scotland, was believed to be totally independent of the civil. Christ, not the king, was regarded as the head of the church; consequently, no act of parliament, nothing but the consent of the church itself, under the supposed illuminations of its Invisible Superior, could be sufficient ground for the introduction of any change in religious worship or discipline. But, in direct contradiction to these old Presbyterian maxims, James had introduced into Scotland the court of High Commission, at a time when its anthority was become too grievous to be patiently borne in England; and now, by an extorted act of parliament, Charles openly discovered his intention of overturning the national religion, and of enforcing conformity to a new mode of worship, by means of this arbitrary tribunal.

The Scots were at no loss to discover the nature of the religion which the king wanted to introduce. The jurisdiction of presbyteries, synods, and other democratical courts, was already in a manner abolished; and the general assembly itself had not been summoned for two years back. It was (3) Burnet, Hist. Own Times, vol. i.

(1) State Trials, vol.-v VOL. II.-F

(9) Hume, vol. vi

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