Archbishop Whitgift dies, Feb. 29; he is succeeded (Dec. 10) by Richard Bancroft, bishop of London.

The parliament meets March 19, and sits until July 7. The king addresses a speech to them, in which he recommends the union of England and Scotland; professes himself a member of the Church of England; and censures the doubtful loyalty of the Romanists, and "the sect rather than religion of the Puritans and Novellists."

The first act of the parliament was " a most joyful and just recognition of the immediate, lawful, and undoubted succession, descent, and right of the crown" [1 Jac. I. c. 1; commissioners were appointed to treat with the Scots for the union of the two countries [c. 2]; the statutes of Elizabeth against Jesuits, seminary priests, and recusants in general, were confirmed [c. 4]; and, to correct an abuse that had prevailed in her days, bishops were disabled to alienate any of the possessions of their sees [c. 3]; tunnage and poundagey were granted to

He was a Lancashire man, born in 1544. He had been chaplain to Whitgift, having gained his notice by his active opposition to the Puritans at Cambridge, while he was college tutor. He preached a celebrated sermon at Paul's-cross, in 1589, which gave great offence to many of the courtiers, as he truly remarked that the main cause of the complaints daily made against the governors of the Church was the desire to possess their revenues; he was, however, favourably noticed by the queen, was in 1597 made bishop of London, and attended her at her death. Bishop Bancroft bore a leading part in the Hampton Court conferences, and, shortly after becoming primate, he held the Puritanical party in check; the well-known canons of 1604 were prepared under his direction, and he laboured to re-establish episcopacy in Scotland. He died Nov. 2, 1610, and was buried at Lambeth.

y These, the original of our present customs duties, consisted, beside some less important matters, of a duty of 3s. on each tun of wine imported, and of 1s. in the pound on the value of other goods; aliens generally paid double. The preamble states that these duties had been enjoyed, time out of mind, by the king's predecessors, "by authority of parliament, for defence of the realm and keeping and

the king [c. 33]; and as the plague raged at the time provision was made for a rate for the support of the infected [c. 31], who were not to leave their houses, having any infectious sores uncured," under the penalty of death. Another act [c. 12] declared witchcraft felony without benefit of clergy.

The convocation meets, under the presidency of Bancroft, bishop of London; a book of Canons, prepared by him, is accepted by the convocation, and assented to by the king2.

A treaty of peace and commerce concluded with the king of Spain and the archdukes of Austria, Aug. 18. The king binds himself thereby to give no further aid to the "Hollanders, or other enemies of the king of Spain and the archdukes," and to endeavour to procure a peace between them and the restoration of the cautionary townsa. In return, commercial privileges were granted,

safeguard of the seas. They had been granted, in similar terms, ever since the time of Edward IV., but only for the life of each monarch; Charles I. neglected this constitutional practice, and levied them as on his own authority, a step which had the most fatal consequences.

These canons, 141 in number, are mainly a republication of older ones, but some new ones were introduced, which authoritatively condemn the dogmas of the Puritans; hence they have been represented, though unjustly, as merely designed to augment the power of the Church; they have never received parliamentary sanction, and therefore are considered by the courts of common law to be obligatory on the clergy only.

a

See p. 298. The king was bound by treaty not to give up these towns to the Spaniards; but he declared that if the States refused to enter into a pacification, he should consider himself at liberty to act as he should judge just and honourable regarding them; meanwhile his garrisons were forbidden to take any further part in the

war.

b Among these was the liberty of carrying goods from Germany to Spain; but as it was to be apprehended that the English merchants would allow the use of their names and ships to the Hollanders, this was strictly forbidden, as was any connivance of English

and "moderation to be had in the proceedings of the Inquisition" against the king's subjects repairing for trade to Spain.

The king is proclaimed "King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland," Oct. 24.

A. D. 1605. Richard Haydock, a physician, who professed to preach in his sleep against certain points of Church disciplined, is convicted of imposture, and makes a public recantation.

Several Scottish ministers hold a synod, without license, at Aberdeen, July 2, and when questioned by the privy council of Scotland, deny the king's supremacy.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.

A plot to blow up the king and the parliament with gunpowder is disclosed about the end of October.

This atrocious scheme of a few fanatical Romanists f seems to have originated with Robert Catesby, a gen

magistrates, " 'upon peril of the king's majesty's indignation, loss of their offices, and other more grievous punishments to be inflicted at the king's pleasure." The Hollanders regarded themselves as abandoned; and a dislike grew up between the two nations, which resulted in the massacre of Amboyna, and the naval wars of the time of the Commonwealth.

Up to this period the title of "King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland" had been used.

d Like other Puritans he inveighed against the pope, but his discourses were chiefly in condemnation of the use of the cross in baptism, and of the newly-enacted canons (see p. 339). The king had him brought to court, listened to his declamation, and detected the cheat.

e Six of them were tried and condemned as traitors, but they were only banished.

f Several of them were recent converts. Such was Catesby; he had been engaged in Essex's insurrection, as had some of the others. Fawkes had but recently returned from abroad, and he appears to have been a mere soldier of fortune, and the hired servant of the rest, who were all gentlemen of property.

tleman of Northamptonshire, who had suffered severely in the last reign for recusancy, and in revenge had been long engaged in endeavouring to bring about an invasion of England by the Spaniards. He seemed likely to succeed in this, an army, to land at Milford-haven, and a large sum of money, being promised him, when the death of the queen caused an alteration in the policy of the Spaniards; they wished to detach King James from the cause of the Hollanders, and having succeeded in this, they refused to listen longer to the solicitations of Catesby and his associates. There being now no prospect of success from foreign princes, Catesby ventured to suggest to a few chosen associates, and under an oath of secresy, that they should strike a blow themselves. This was agreed to, though they had much difference as to what it should be; some proposed to seize the king when hunting, and force a toleration from him; others urged his assassination; but Catesby was not satisfied with either, and he at length induced them to attempt the destruction of both king and parliament by gunpowder, madly expecting to receive such aid from English Romanists in the Low Countries as would enable them to seize the government and re-establish Romanism h.

This plot is usually spoken of as unprecedented in its nature, but such is not the case; Swedish history furnishes two instances of gunpowder plots, real or pretended. Christian II. made such a plot the pretext for his barbarous executions at Stockholm, in 1520; and in 1533 the regency of Lubec engaged some Germans to blow up Gustavus Vasa, while holding the diet, but the plan was discovered on the very eve of its execution.

h He reconciled those whose fanaticism was less fierce than his own to this horrible deed, by saying that it would appear like a heavenly judgment when even the very building was destroyed where laws had been passed against their faith. It seems probable

Catesby's confidants at first were only Thomas Percy, a relative of the earl of Northumberland, and one of the band of pensioners; Thomas Winter, a Worcestershire gentleman, who had managed the negotiations with Spain; John Wright and Robert Keys, gentlemen, of London; Thomas Bates, a trusty servant of Catesby; and Guy Fawkes, an experienced soldier from the Netherlands. They proposed to effect their horrible purpose when the parliament met in February, 1605; and, accordingly, Percy hired a house close adjoining, where, in December, 1604, they shut themselves in, with twenty days' store of provisions, and laboured until Christmas in digging through the wall, Fawkes, on whose vigilance, as the only experienced military man among them, they greatly relied, keeping watch. They resumed their labours after Christmas, but, finding themselves unequal to the task, they associated Christopher Wright and Robert Winter with them, the whole taking an oath of secresy, and promising not to desist from their purpose, at the hands of Henry Garnett, John Gerrard, and Oswald Tesmond, Jesuits, who, indeed, are charged with being the originators of the design; but this has not been satisfactorily provedh.

that it was intended to warn members of their own creed not to attend the house at its opening, in ambiguous terms, as was done to lord Monteagle, and perhaps to others; it is certain that the earl of Northumberland absented himself from the parliament, as did the lords Montague, Mordaunt, and Stourton, for which they were all prosecuted in the Starchamber.

h It seems quite certain, however, that they were cordial participators in it. Garnett long maintained that he knew nothing of the conspiracy; then he said he had knowledge of it only under the seal of confession; but he allowed that he held it lawful to equivocate rather than confess anything to his own injury. As a natural consequence his denials were disbelieved, and he was tried, condemned, and executed; Tesmond and Gerrard escaped to the continent.