sible of the parliament, which seemed determined to take advantage of his necessities, in order to abridge his authority. Nothing could be more easy, more consistent with national interest, or more agreeable to his own wish; but the violent and impetuous Buckingham, inflamed with a desire of revenge for injuries which he himself had committed, and animated with a love of glory, which he wanted talents to acquire, persuaded his too facile master to continue the war, though he had not been able to procure him the constitutional means of supporting it. Those new counsels, which Charles had mentioned to the parliament, were therefore now to be tried, in order to supply his exigencies: and so high an idea had he conceived of kingly power, and so contemptible an opinion of the rights of national assemblies, that if he had possessed a military force on which he could have depended, there is reason to believe he would at once have laid aside all reserve, and have attempted to govern without any regard to parliamentary privileges'. But, being destitute of such a force, he was obliged to cover his violences under the sanction of ancient precedents, collected from all the tyrannical reigns since the Norman conquest. The people, however, were too keen-sighted not to perceive that examples can never alter the nature of injustice. They therefore complained loudly of the benevolences and loans which were extorted from them under various forms; and these complaints were increased by a commission, which was openly issued for compounding with popish recusants, and dispensing, for a sum of money, with the penal laws enacted against them. While the nation was in this dissatisfied humour, intelligence arrived of the defeat of the Protestants in Germany, in whose army were about five thousand English, by the imperial forces. A general loan from the subject was now exacted, equal to the four subsidies and three fifteenths voted by the last parliament; and many respectable persons were thrown into prison for refusing to pay their assessments. Most of them patiently submitted to confinement, or applied by petition to the king, who generally released them. Five gentlemen alone, namely, sir Thomas Darnel, Sir John Corbet, sir Walter Earl, sir John Heveningham, and sir Edward Hampden, had resolution enough to demand their release, not as a favour from the prince, but as their right by the laws of their country'. 1 This is the opinion of Mr. Hume, who will not be suspected of traducing the character of Charles. On examination it was found that these gentlemen had been arbitrarily committed by the king and council, without the allegation of any cause for such commitment. The question was brought to a solemn trial in the court of King's Bench; and in the course of the debates it appeared incontestably to the nation, that our ancestors had been so jealous of personal liberty as to secure it against absolute power in the prince, not only by an article in the GREAT CHARTER itself, the sacred basis of the laws and constitution, but by six statutes besides 1. As there were many precedents, however, of the violation of those 1627. statutes, the judges, obsequious to the court, refused to release the prisoners, or to admit them to bail". The cry was now loud that the nation was reduced to slavery. The liberty of the subject was violated for refusing to submit to an illegal imposition! Nor was this the only arbitrary measure of which the people had reason to complain. The troops that had returned from the fruitless expedition against Cadiz were dispersed over the kingdom, and billeted upon private families, contrary to established custom, which required that they should be quartered at inns and public-houses. And all persons of substance, who had refused or delayed the loan, were sure to be loaded with a disproportionate number of these disorderly guests; while people of inferior condition, who had manifested an incompliant spirit, were pressed into the sea or land service 3. Every one, in a word, seemed to feel the public grievances, and to execrate the oppressive spirit of administration, though passive obedience was strongly recommended from the pulpit; and the crimes and outrages, committed by the soldiers, contributed to increase the general discontent. In the midst of these alarming dissatisfactions and increasing difficulties, when baffled in every attempt against the dominions of the two branches of the house of Austria, and embroiled with his own subjects, what was the surprise of mankind to see Charles, as if he had not yet a sufficient number of enemies, engage in a war against France! Unable to account for so extraordinary a measure, historians have generally ascribed it to an amorous quarrel between cardinal Richelieu and the duke of Buckingham, on account of a rival passion for the queen of France, and the encouragement which the duke had received, when employed to bring over the princess Henrietta, which induced him to project 125 Edw. III. cap. iv. 28 Edw. III. 38 Edw. III. cap. ix. 42 Edw. III. cap. iii. 2 Rushworth, vol. i. cap. iii. 37 Edw. III. cap. xviii. 1 Rich. II. cap. xii. 3 Id. Ibid. a new embassy to that court, as I have formerly had occasion to relate'. But however that might be, Buckingham had other reasons for involving his master in a new war with France. One of the articles of impeachment against the duke, and that which had excited the greatest odium, was the sending of some English ships to assist the French king in subduing his Protestant subjects. To this impolitic and inhuman measure Buckingham had been seduced by a promise, that as soon as the Huguenots were reduced, Louis would take an active part in the war against the house of Austria. But afterward, finding himself deceived by Richelieu, who had nothing in view but the aggrandisement of the French monarchy, he procured a peace for the Huguenots, and engaged to secure its performance. That peace, however, was not observed, as Richelieu was intent on the ruin of the Protestant party in France. Such an event, it was readily foreseen, would render France more formidable to England than the whole house of Austria. Besides, if Charles and Buckingham should supinely behold the ruin of the Huguenots accomplished, such conduct would increase the popular discontents, and render the breach between the king and the parliament irreparable. It was therefore resolved, as the only means of recovering any degree of credit with the people, and of curbing at the same time the power of an ambitious rival, to undertake the defence of the French Protestants. A negotiation was accordingly adjusted with Soubise who was at that time in London, and an armament was fitted out under the command of the duke of Buckingham, the most unpopular man in the kingdom, and utterly unacquainted with naval or military service. The fate of the expedition was such as might have been expected from his management: but, as I before stated the chief particulars, I shall not trouble you with a repetition. The public grievances were now so great, that an insurrection was to be apprehended. The people were not only loaded with illegal taxes, but their commerce, which had been injured by the Spanish, was nearly ruined by the French war; while the glory of the nation was tarnished by unsuccessful enterprises, and its safety threatened by the forces of two powerful monarchies. At such a season, Charles and Buckingham must have dreaded, above all things, the calling of a parliament; yet the improvidence of the ministry, the necessity of supply, and the danger of forcing 1 Part I. Lett. LXXVI. 2 See the Letter last referred to. another loan, obliged them to have recourse to that expedient. In order to wipe off, if possible, the popular odium from the duke, it was represented as his motion; and still farther to dispose the A.D. commons to co-operate with the minister, warrants were 1628. sent to all parts of the kingdom, for the relief of those gentlemen who had been confined on account of refusing to contribute towards the late loan. Their number amounted to seventy-eight, and many of them were elected members of the new parliament 1. Mar. 17. When the commons assembled, the court perceived that they were men of the same independent spirit with their predecessors, and so opulent that their property was computed to surpass three times that of the house of peers'. But although enraged at the violations of public liberty, at personal injuries, and the extreme folly with which public measures were conducted, to the disgrace, and even danger of the nation, they entered upon business with no less temper and decorum than vigour and ability. From a knowledge of the king's political opinions, as well as from his speech at their meeting, in which he told them," that if they did not do their duty, in contributing to the relief of the public necessities, he must use those other means which God had put into his hands," they foresaw, that if any pretence should be afforded, he would immediately dissolve the parliament, and think himself thenceforth justified in violating, in a manner still more open, all the ancient forms of the constitution. But the decency which the popular leaders had prescribed to themselves, in order to avoid the calamities of civil war, which must have been the immediate consequence of a new breach between the king and parliament, did not prevent them from taking into consideration the grievances under which the nation had lately laboured-the billeting of soldiers, the imposing of arbitrary taxes, the imprisoning of those who refused to comply, and the refusal of bail on a writ of habeas corpus. Nor did they fail to express themselves with a proper degree of indignation on these subjects. "This is the great council of the kingdom," said sir Francis Seymour, who opened the debate; "and here, if not here alone, his majesty may see, as in a true glass, the state of the kingdom. We are called hither by his majesty's writs, in order to give him faithful counsel; such as may stand with his honour; and this we must do without flattery. We are also sent hither by the 1 Rushworth, vol. i. 2 Rushworth, vol. i.-Parl. Hist. people, in order to deliver their just grievances; and this we must do without fear. Let us not act like Cambyses' judges, who, when questioned by their prince concerning some illegal measures, replied, though there is a written law, the Persian kings may do what they list! This was a base flattery, fitter for our own reproof than imitation; and as fear, so flattery taketh away the judgment. For my part, I shall shun both, and speak my mind with as much duty as any man to his majesty, without neglecting the public. But how can we express affection, while we retain our fears; or speak of giving, till we know whether we have any thing left to give? For if his majesty may be persuaded to take what he will, what occasion have we to give.? That this hath been done, appears by the billeting of soldiers, a thing no wise advantageous to the king's service, and a burthen to the commonwealth: by the imprisonment of gentlemen for refusing the loan, yet who, if they had done the contrary from fear, had been as blameable as the projectors of that oppressive measure. And to countenance these proceedings, hath it not been preached, or rather prated, in the pulpit, that all we have is the king's by Divine right?" "I have read," said sir Robert Philips, " of a custom among the old Romans, that once every year they held a solemn festival, during which their slaves had liberty, without exception, to speak what they would, in order to ease their afflicted minds; and that, on the conclusion of the festival, they returned to their former abject condition. This may, with some resemblance and distinction, well set forth our present state. After the lapse of some time, and the grievous sufferings of many violent oppressions, we have now, as those slaves had, a day of liberty of speech; but we shall not, I trust, be hereafter slaves, for we are BORN FREE! Yet what illegal burdens our estates and persons have groaned under, my heart yearns to think, my tongue falters to utter. "The grievances by which we are oppressed," continued he, "I draw under two heads; acts of power against law, and the judgments of lawyers against our liberty." He then mentioned three illegal judgments passed within his memory: that by which the Scots, born after the accession of James I., were admitted to all the privileges of English subjects'; that by which the new 1 He pays the Scots a handsome compliment, at the same time that he blames the act:-" a nation," says he, "which I heartily love for their singular good zeal in our religion, and their free spirit, to preserve liberty far beyond any of us." Parl. Hist. vol. vii |