CHAP. IX. (the axe) was dismally mentioned; and yet so infatuated were they, that they ascribed all their troubles to the want of "thorough," and to "an over great desire to do all quietly."* In his imminent necessity, the King had recourse to the Roman Catholics, from whom the Queen obtained large contributions, and personal service. Some attempt was made to obtain 10,000 Spanish troops from Flanders; and offers were made to the Pope to repeal the penal laws, if he would assist the King. But the bad faith of Charles had long since rendered him an object of suspicion to the continental princes, and no hopes could be entertained of their assistance. While the royal cause thus lay entangled in difficulties, the Covenanters had commenced hostilities by capturing Edinburgh, Dalkeith, Dumbarton, Stirling, and other fortresses; an English fleet in the Forth, under Hamilton, making no attempt to resist them (March and April, 1639). At length Charles repaired to York, and thence advanced to the neighbourhood of Berwick; Leslie's head quarters being at Dunglass (May). The utmost The Scottish camp. war. order prevailed in the Scottish camp, where the presence of so many clergymen gave a religious character to the Every true Scot was summoned to serve in the name of God and the country, and the curse of Meroz was denounced against all who came not to the help of the Lord. On the tent of every captain there waved an ensign, bearing the Scottish arms and this motto, "For Christ's crown and the covenant;" morning and evening the whole army performed its devotions; two sermons were preached daily, the Scriptures were read, psalms sung, and mutual exhortations and prayers made. To this army, which numbered about 24,000 men, Charles could oppose one equal in numbers, but deficient in spirit and discipline. His own courage also appears to have failed him at this juncture; and, after some The Pacifi- insignificant movements, negotiations were begun, which Berwick. led to a treaty, called The Pacification of Berwick (June 18th, 1639), by which it was agreed that both armies should be disbanded, and that a synod and a parliament should be convoked in August for the settlement of all civil and religious differences. But no clear and precise promise was made by Charles to put an end to these differences, so that the agreement was far from satisfactory. cation of 25. The King's perplexities at this juncture. The Pacification of Berwick only suspended the war, for, although the Covenanters Hallam, I. 503 as to the 1639-40 disbanded their forces, and restored the fortresses they A dispute had taken, they held themselves in readiness to take up meaning of arms on the slightest notice; and Charles, on his side, the treaty. had scarcely disbanded his army, before he began secretly to levy another. A dispute arose as to the construction to be put upon the terms of the treaty; and, when the Scots published their views, Charles caused the document to be burnt by the common hangman. But the Covenanters were not deterred thereby from stating their opinions in bolder language than before; and when the general assembly met, according to the treaty, it not only confirmed all that had been done at Glasgow, but renewed the covenant, and declared Presbyterianism to be the religion of the land. It demanded further, that the King should be bound to convoke it every three years; that freedom of election and freedom of speech should be assured to its members; and that, as Episcopacy was abolished, all acts in favour of it should be repealed (November). the royal councils. These proceedings determined the King to renew the war at once; but the question immediately arose-how maintain it? for the treasury was empty, and the privy purse exhausted, and dissensions also in the royal council threatened to deprive Dissenthe King even of advice. Laud, Hamilton, and Went- sions in worth, who had been summoned from Ireland, were constantly opposed by the Queen and her favourites, Windebank, Sir Henry Vane, and Cottington.* The latter were always advising the King to make himself entirely absolute, like the Kings of France and Spain; and their advice agreed best with Charles's inclinations. But the former were not opposed to a parliament, provided it was entirely submissive; and as it now became plainly impossible to conduct the government without the regular parliamentary supplies, their advice prevailed. It was the influence of Wentworth (now created Earl of Strafford, January, 1640), which induced the King to adopt this; for, said the earl, if he made 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 that, through the peevishness of some factious spirit, to suffer his state and government to be lost.t. 26. Meeting of the Short Parliament. Immediately after giving this advice, Strafford returned to Ireland as lord lieutenant, called a parliament, obtained a large supply, and, in April, * Hallam, I., 505; Guizot, 76. + Quoted by Hallam, I., 506. the CHAP. IX. returned again to England. It was vainly hoped that the example of the Irish parliament would influence that of England. The elections had gone off quietly; and on the 13th of April the King opened the two houses in person; but with a brief and ungracious speech. He called upon them to grant him an ample and speedy supply; and to demonstrate to them the justice of his cause, he exhibited an intercepted letter from the Scots to the King of France. But Pym, Hampden, Lords Say, Bedford, Essex, and Holland, and all the popular leaders, had been holding secret meetings in London with the Scottish agents, and the Commons, therefore, took no notice of the letter. What they were determined upon was to give their whole and undivided attention to the national grievances. Yet, they were "as favourably disposed Temper of towards the King's service, and as little influenced by their Commons. many wrongs, as any man of ordinary judgment could expect," and they cautiously abstained from all violent and intemperate expressions, even going so far as to reprove a member for calling ship money an abomination. By the advice of Pym, they divided their grievances into three heads; innovavations in religion, invasions of private property by illegal impositions, and breaches of the privileges of parliament, in the King's commanding the speaker to adjourn the house without its consent, and in punishing members for their conduct in parliament. Rudyard, Waller, Lord Digby, and others more conspicuous afterwards, followed up this advice by vigorous speeches, and the Commons immediately appointed a committee to confer with the Lords on all these subjects. The grave and determined aspect which the Commons thus showed, alarmed the King, and at his earnest entreaty the Lords resolved that supplies ought to precede the redress of grievances. But the Commons instantly declared that this proceeding was a breach of privilege; and while the two houses were discussing the point, the King sent a message demanding of the Commons whether they would Hot debates grant a supply or not. Vehement debates followed, supply. during which Sir Henry Vane, the secretary, said that if parliament would grant twelve subsidies (£850,000), the King would consent to the abolition of ship money for ever. This proposition only increased the heat of the debate; Pym and Hampden objected to it, as recognising the legality of ship money; Hyde proposed that the house should resolve to grant a supply without naming the amount; on which Vane said, that the King would accept of no less than twelve subsidies. Next day (May * Hallam, I., 506. + See the Speech in Forster's Lives, III., 89-119. about 1640 66 66 Vane's leads to a 5th), the King rashly dissolved the parliament. But on Sir Henry the evening of that day Charles bitterly regretted his statement precipitancy, and said that Vane had no authority for the dissolution. statement he had made. Herbert, the attorney-general, however, had confirmed Vane's words in the parliament; and the King's well-known hatred of parliaments prevents us from giving him any credit for this regret; if it ever existed. He immediately issued a declaration, charging the Commons with insolence and audacity, in traducing his government, accusing his ministers, and offering a supply to him by way of bargain and contract, as if kings," said the declaration, were bound to give an account of their regal actions, and of their manner of government, to their subjects assembled in parliament." The unconstitutional practice of committing to prison some of the most prominent members, and searching their houses for papers, was renewed, and the King having again broken loose from the restraints of law, returned to despotism a little more anxious, but as reckless and as haughty as before the attempt he had just made to quit it.† 27. The Scots renew the war: The Pacification of Ripon. The dissolution of the Short Parliament plainly manifested to all the King's subjects his mortal antipathy to any assembly that was not entirely submissive. The necessity of some great change became the common theme; so general a defection in the kingdom. had not been known in the memory of any; and, for the first time, the idea of establishing a republic began to be talked about. Encouraged by this state of public feeling, and by the popular leaders with whom they kept up a constant communication, the Scots crossed the Tweed (August 21st, 1640), and beat the first troops which were sent against them, at Newburn Battle of (August 28th). Charles was surprised at this defeat; and Newburn. as he now justly distrusted the fidelity of his forces, he ordered them to retreat into Yorkshire, and took up his residence in the northern metropolis. He fell into a profound despondency; every day brought him some news of his weakness; money was wanting, and the old means of raising it no longer answered; the soldiers deserted in whole bands; they murdered those officers whom they suspected of popery; the people were everywhere in a state of excitement, impatient for the result which was now inevitable; and the Scots corresponded with those around him, even in his own house. Afraid of the energetic counsels of Strafford, who *Guizot's Eng. Rev., 80. + Ibid, 80. The Earls of Bedford, Essex, and Warwick, the Lords Holland, Say, and Brook, and Hampden, Pym, St. John, and others, still continued to meet the Scots commissioners, at Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire, the seat of Lord Say, or at Fawsley, in Northamptonshire, or at Pym's house in London. (Forster's Lives, III., 126.) CHAP. IX. had assumed the command of the army, he summoned a great council of peers, to meet him at York (September 24th), as the only alternative of a parliament. Such an assembly as this had not been summoned since the feudal ages, and was altogether obsolete and out of place; and two petitions, one from London, and the other from twelve peers, protested against it, and solicited the assembling of a parliament. Even his own counsellors urged him to call another parliament, and at last he acquiesced, and issued writs for a new one to assemble on the 3rd of November. By the advice of the council of peers, he then resolved to conclude a treaty with the Scots, and sixteen peers, all of them inclined to the popular party, were charged to proceed to Ripon, and there meet the Scottish commissioners. After some days, Charles, having no other resource, agreed to the dishonourable Pacification of Ripon, by which it was stipulated that both the Scots, as well as the English army, should be kept on foot at the King's expense. He then proceeded to London, and "awaited in fearful suspense the meeting of parliament."* SECTION III. FROM THE ASSEMBLING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1640-1642. 28. Temper and disposition of the Long Parliament at the beginning of the session. The unprejudiced student, who has carefully studied the history of Charles's reign hitherto, will readily admit that some new securities for the preservation of English liberty, more effective than any which could be found in the existing laws, were absolutely indispensable. All the limits which the ancient statutes had placed upon the power of the crown, and which the King had acknowledged in some respects in the Petition of Right, had been so repeatedly transgressed, that for the Commons again to purchase their confirmation by grants of supplies, would have exposed them to the derision of the court. The King had, by a casuistry of his own, set at defiance all laws, so that some essential change in the balance of government was absolutely necessary, and the punishment of those ministers who had encouraged him in his unlawful and oppressive government, a necessary act of justice. These were the opinions of almost all political men at the time when the Long Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall (November 3rd, 1640). Charles proceeded to the opening of this famous assembly, * Guizot's Eng. Rev., 82-85; Hallam, I., 510-512. |