the affairs of his government; of their attempts to degrade his administration of justice, and to injure the character of his ministers; and of that ungenerous spirit of bargain and sale upon which they were resolved to act. It is in fact plain enough, that, in this brief session, we witness a spirited struggle between the crown and the peopleCharles plotting to obtain a large supply, while evading any redress of the wrongs complained of by the nation; and the patriots resolved, on their side, to hazard everything rather than become the dupes of this treacherous policy*.

The king returns to arbitrary mea

sures.

No part of the king's proceedings had given more general offence, than the practice of committing some of the popular members to prison, as soon as the protection of parliament was withdrawn from them by a dissolution; and this act was generally followed by an inquisitorial search into their private papers for matter of accusation against them. Both practices were now renewed †. Ship-money was levied with increased rigour; and all the plans of securing a revenue which had of late become prevalent, and even more than all, were vigilantly pursued: and Charles continued to hope that, victory attending him against the Scots, the government at home might still prove strong enough to maintain its independence of the public will. It should be observed also that this vain hope was indulged amid the riots of the capital which threatened the lives of his ministers; amid the sudden avowal of opinions unfavourable to the existence of monarchy; amid strong suspicions of a secret understanding between the disaffected in England and the insurgents of the north; and, in a word, amid expressions of discontent and alarm which came from all classes of his subjects. So tenacious was this misguided prince of his unauthorized power, and so hard was it for him to incur the slightest hazard of parting with it at the call of his people! +

The plan now formed was, that Scotland should be invaded from three points at the same time, and by an army of forty thousand men; ten thousand from Ireland led by Strafford, ten thousand highlanders, under the marquis of Hamilton, and twenty thousand from England, under the command of the sovereign. But it required the laborious preparations of three months to place the half of this contemplated force at the disposal of the monarch; while the Scots returned to their colours with an enthusiasm which influenced both sexes and all ranks, and taught them to contribute those means willingly from their poverty, which England refused to grant from her opulence §.

Rushworth, iii. 1136-1167.

+ Ibid. 1167, 1168, 1177. Laud's Diary, ubi supra. ii. 74-115, passim. Hardwicke Laing's Hist. i. ubi supra.

Sidney Papers, ii. 655-658. Clarendon Papers,
Papers, ii. 147, et seq.

the English at

Before Charles had completed such preparations as he still deemed practicable, the Scots, having remained three weeks on The Scots enthe borders, crossed the Tweed, and advanced as far as ter Englandthe Tine. In a proclamation, they declared that though dispersion of they appeared in the character of invaders, their object Newburn. was strictly defensive; that they came not against the Aug. 29. English nation, but for the protection of their commerce, which had been interrupted at sea, and to put an end to the power of the popish and arminian prelates who had so long surrounded the throne, and proved the authors of so much evil to the church and the state*. At Newburn, their passage across the river was disputed by Lord Conway, at the command of Strafford. Batterics had been erected for this purpose on the opposite bank, and a detachment, to the number of six thousand horse and foot, seized upon the most favourable positions. Lesley, the Scotch general, first demanded permission to pass, and was answered by a shot from an English sentinel. The fire from the artillery of the covenanters immediately commenced, and fell with such effect on the batteries of the enemy that they were almost immediately abandoned. The first to cross the river were the general's guards, a troop consisting of lawyers, who had volunteered their services for his defence, and for the deliverance of their country. Close in their train followed a thousand musketeers, and both advanced to seize the batteries, and to press upon the rear of the infantry, which had already commenced a retreat. In this attempt they were encountered by the English cavalry, drawn up to receive them, and were driven back to the river. But approaching its banks the cavalry became exposed to a heavy discharge of artillery, and instead of pushing their advantage, or even protecting the retreat of the infantry, they fled to an eminence at some distance. In that position they were no sooner attacked by Lesley than they deserted Wilmot, their commander, and spread confusion through the reserve under Lord Conway, which, by this time, was the only body retaining any appearance of order. The rout that followed was such, that the covenanters were left in undisputed possession of the two northern counties, and the next rendezvous of the royalist army was with the king at York †.

Peers at York.

In that city Charles assembled what was called a council of peers, and solicited the advice of that feudal assembly with Council of egard to the petitions which the Scots, in their anxiety to preserve the appearance of moderation, had presented to him, and also as to the best means of protecting the kingdom against the further inroad of the invader. It was agreed that to prevent the advance of the enemy it would be absolutely necessary to enter

Rushworth, iii. 1223-1227. App. 283-291.

Treaty of Ripon.

Dalrymple, ii. 81-106. Hardwicke Papers, ii. 151-163. Baillie, i. 211, et

seq. Rushworth, iii. 1237.

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

CHAPTER VI.

State of public opinion and feeling in England when the Long Parliament was convened-King's Speech-Choice of a Speaker-Speeches in the Commons -printed for the first time-Restoration of silenced ministers-Committee for proceeding against Scandalous Ministers-Prosecution of the bishops Pierce and Wren, and Dr. Cosins-Case of Cosins-Impeachment of Strafford, Laud, Windebank, and Finche-Release of Prynne, Bastwicke, and Burton-Bill for Triennial Parliaments-Courts of Star-Chamber, and High Commission abolished-Attacks on the Hierarchy-Review of these proceedings-Trial of Strafford-justice of the course pursued with regard to him considered-his

death.

THE parliament so memorable in English history under the name of the Long Parliament, was assembled toward the close of 1640. Feeling of the nation on the And it is generally acknowledged, that the conduct of meeting of the the government during the last eleven years had been Long Parliasuch as to render any attempt to vindicate itself not merely useless but impolitic. The ruling power in the state at this moment was that popular party whose suppression and extinction had been the great object of so many illegal and unjust proceedings. In the course of these proceedings both law and religion had

ment.

*Hardwicke Papers, ii. 157-151, 184-298. This valuable collection of papers contains the minutes of a cabinet council (148) on the 16th August, 1640, in which we find the following intimaton of the king's intentions when quitting London for York. "No honour against rebels-he will be careful what to do." It was to his own want of judgment, and still more to this latent treachery, which by some means found its place in nearly all his proceedings, that Charles should have looked for the chief source of the perpetual troubles of his reign. Rushworth, iii. 1275, et seq. May's Hist. 44, 45, 48. Heylin states that many of the king's soldiers in this second army brought against the Scots, were "so ill persuaded, that in their marchings, they broke into churches, pulled up rails, threw down communion tables, defaced the common prayer books, tore the surplices, and committed many acts of outrageous insolence." Life of Laud, 454,

been so dealt with, that neither the king nor the prelates could see their advantage in appealing to them. The lords had gone over considerably to the popular side, and the popular leaders were so far impressed by the manifest dangers of the state, as to have become more vehement than ever in their call for a change, and more active in spreading their fears through the kingdom; and on the meeting of the new house of commons it soon became manifest that the ardour which it discovered in the cause of reform was in harmony with the general feeling of all classes through the kingdom.

Nov. 3.

Charles could not hope to diminish the hostile influence which was thus arrayed against his favourite policy, except by making some partial concessions with regard to the past, and giving in parliament Proceedings some apparently cordial assurances that the future should the king's not be of the same complexion. Such was the substance speech, of the king's speech on meeting the two houses, and as they were not concerned to obtain " any such acknowledgement of former errors as might seem too low for the majesty of his person," the address of the monarch was listened to with general satisfaction. The term "rebels," as applied to the Scottish army, gave some offence, but Charles explained the word so as to render it less objectionable. They were rebels, he maintained, so long as they were in arms against their sovereign; but they might now be regarded as subjects, and he had so described them under the great seal*.

The choice of a speaker made it evident that the court had employed its influence in the elections with little effect. Gardiner, the recorder of London, was selected for that office by the Choice of the Speaker. king, but he failed to be returned as a member; and the commons gave their preference to Lenthall, a lawyer of some experience, and not obnoxious to the court, but who seems to have been principally indebted to this last circumstance for the honour thus bestowed upon him. He was a man of some shrewdness, but wanting in the promptitude and energy which such an office at such a crisis demanded.

The attention of the commons was first directed to the innovations which had affected the purity of the established religion. Speeches of On this subject the speeches of Pym, Seymour, Grim- the members stone, Bagshaw, and Rudyard, were conspicuous. Rud--Rudyard. yard is described by the enemies of the popular party as one of the most upright and eloquent men of his day; but his statements when setting forth the recent practices of the government, were, in fact, an echo of those complaints which, as falling from the lips of other men, were interpreted by courtiers as the language of sedition and irreligion. He remarked that they were assembled to deliberate concerning the cause of God and of the king, from which their own, as Christians and subjects,

May's Hist. 47. Baillie, i. 218.

were inseparable. The fear of God among them would best conduce to the honour of the king; and if the labours of some former parliaments had not been so successful as was fondly hoped, the cause would perhaps be found in their having allowed the questions of the commonwealth to take precedence of those concerning religion.

"It is well known," he observes, "what disturbance has been brought into the church for vain and petty trifles; the whole church, the whole kingdom troubled about where to place a metaphor or an altar. We have seen ministers, their wives, children, and families, undone, against law, against conscience, against all compassion, about dancing on Sundays. These inventions were but sieves made to winnow the best men, and that is the devil's occupation. They have a mind to worry preaching, for I never heard of any but diligent preachers that were vexed with these and the like devices. They would evaporate and dispirit the power and vigour of religion, by drawing it out into solemn and specious formalities-into obsolete and antiquated ceremonies. Let them not say that these are the perverse suspicions or malicious interpretations of some factious spirits among us, whilst a Romanist has boasted in print that the face of our church begins to alter, the language of our religion to change, and that if a synod were held, and puritans excluded, our articles and theirs might soon be made to agree. They have so brought it to pass, that under the name of puritans our whole religion is branded; and under the cover of a few hard words against Jesuits all popery is countenanced. Whoever squares his actions by any rule, either divine or human, he is a puritan. Whoever would be governed by the king's laws, he is a puritan; their great work being to exhibit all those of the religion," that is, all sound protestants, as a people "to be suspected." The effect of these ill-judged proceedings, he continues to say, is division and weakness on every hand. Some, expecting the return of popery, are said to have been "in haste to turn themselves papists before hand, hoping to render themselves more acceptable;" while multitudes, after suffering many wrongs, and fearing more, had been constrained to seek the preservation of their religion, " by flying into other countries, very many into savage wildernesses."

In passing from the affairs of the church to those of the nation, the same speaker remarks :-" The king is reduced to great straits, in which it were undutifulness beyond inhumanity to take advantage of him. Let us rather make it an advantage for him, doing him the best service when he has most need of it; not seeking our own good, else we shall commit the same crime ourselves which we condemn in others. His majesty has clearly and freely placed himself in the hands of this parliament, and I presume there is not a man in this house who does not feel himself advanced in this high trust. But if he prosper not better in our hands than in theirs who have hitherto had the handling of his affairs, we shall make ourselves for ever unworthy of such a confidence.